Every Beat of My Heart Read online

  “We have to take things slow.” I don’t want to get hurt again, she added silently.

  He reached for her, letting his fingertips trace her jawline. “Whatever you want, baby.” He leaned down and there, beneath the umbrella, with the summer rain falling around them, kissed her so solidly that she trembled.

  When he broke the kiss and stepped back, she exhaled her pent-up breath.

  “Go on inside and get out of this rain. I’ll call you. Good night.” He took a few backward steps, then turned and strode back to his truck.

  “Good night,” came her soft reply. She went inside, closing the door behind her. From the front window, she watched him pull off and drive away.

  Then she sat on the sofa, watching the night rain for a long time.

  * * *

  Tuesday morning Rashad was elbow deep in a stack of paperwork on his desk when Gary Hall strode into his office. As far as bosses went, Gary was pretty laid-back most of the time, especially considering his position as head register of deeds. But as Rashad looked up and caught Gary’s eye, he knew this morning would be different. He could easily read the anxiety on Gary’s face.

  Loosening his yellow paisley tie, Gary slid into the seat on the opposite side of Rashad’s desk and blew out a breath.

  In the awkward silence that followed, Rashad took in his boss’s demeanor. His slumped posture, along with the defeated expression on his bearded face let Rashad know that something was about to go down.

  Finally, Gary inhaled, and spoke. “I’ve got something to tell you, Mac, and I wanted to tell you in private, before the staff meeting.”

  Rashad rested his elbows on his desk, lacing his fingertips together. “Sure. What’s up?”

  Another sigh. “I just got word from the county manager’s office that the operating budget has been cut.”

  “Again?” Rashad rolled his eyes. This was the third round of cuts in the past fourteen months.

  “Yes, again. And unfortunately, this time, we’re going to have to make some sacrifices in the ROD office.” Gary’s gaze dropped.

  Rashad knew what was coming. It was the last thing he wanted to hear, but he sensed the negative vibe hanging in the air. “Who, Gary?”

  The fabric of Gary’s brown suit wrinkled as he shrugged his wide shoulders. “I don’t know yet.”

  He said the words his boss didn’t want to say. “But someone is about to lose their job, right?”

  A slow nod was the response.

  “Do we at least know how many people we’ll have to cut?”

  Gary’s brow furrowed. “At least two, five at most, depending on their pay grade.”

  Rashad couldn’t hold back his frustrated groan. The folks in the register of deeds office were some of the hardest-working people in county government. Due to the nature of their work, they handled tons of paperwork, and had more interaction with the county’s citizens than most other staffers. That meant dealing with a lot of rude, irate folks. People who waited until the last minute to file important documents, or who came to the courthouse without proper identification to retrieve documents they’d requested. Now, some of these good, diligent employees were about to lose their livelihood. And with the economy being what it was, the timing was awful.

  Gary spoke up. “There’s one more thing. I won’t be able to attend the staff meeting this morning, my mother-in-law is going in for hip surgery in two hours and I have to be there.”

  Rashad knew that Gary was a widower, and he respected his decision to take over his mother-in-law’s care after the death of his wife. “Oh, yeah, that is today. I hope Harriet’s surgery goes well, man.

  “Thanks. Unfortunately, that means...” Gary let his words trail off.

  Shit. “You want me to announce the cuts to the staff?”

  “Sorry, Mac. With Kaye out on vacation and me at the hospital with Harriet, you’re the only one left to do it.”

  Rashad groaned again, trailing an open hand over his face. It had been bad enough knowing about the cuts, but to have to be the one to break the news? Shit!

  Gary looked at his leather wristwatch. “I’ve got to get over to the hospital so I can see Harriet before she’s sedated. Again, I’m sorry about this, but there’s no way around it.”

  Rashad nodded. “I understand, Gary. Give Harriet my best, and let me know when she’s out of surgery, okay?”

  “I will.” Gary got up, brushed the wrinkles from his brown slacks and exited, closing the door behind him.

  As the quiet settled over his office, Rashad leaned back in his chair and tried to work out the best way to tell his staff what was coming.

  Less than an hour later, Rashad was standing at the head of the table in the office conference room, looking around at the faces of his colleagues. They had been through every other item on the morning’s agenda, and there was no way of putting off the announcement any longer. Straightening his black-and-silver tie, Rashad cleared his throat.

  “Okay, folks. We’ve covered a lot of ground this morning and I want to thank you all for your cooperation. Now I have to make an announcement, and frankly, the news isn’t all that good.”

  Claudia, single mother of three girls and one-woman office rumor mill, raised her hand.

  Rashad acknowledged her.

  “Is this about the job cuts here in the office?”

  A murmur of hushed conversation swept over the room.

  Rashad’s eyes narrowed a bit, but he was somewhat relieved to have the pressure of making the announcement alleviated. “Yes, and how did you know about that, Claudia?”

  Nonchalant as ever about her nosiness, she shrugged. “I was filing papers right outside your office this morning when Gary went in. He didn’t close your door all the way, so I...overheard.”

  You mean, you eavesdropped. Rashad held back his snicker. “Well, the cat’s out of the bag now. I’m just finding out about this myself, so I don’t have a lot of information for you. All I know is that the cuts were deep this round, and we’re going to lose between two and five staffers here in ROD.”

  The conversations in the room started up again, this time a bit louder. Rashad let the staff members talk amongst themselves for a few moments, knowing they needed some time to process the news.

  Rick Havens, a twenty-seven-year veteran of the office, raised his hand. “When is this going to happen?”

  Rashad looked the older man in the eye. “I wish I knew, but I don’t. I expect it will be pretty soon, though.”

  Rick nodded slowly, a worried expression on his face.

  Rashad clapped his hands together to get everyone’s attention. “All right, I think I’ve held you up long enough for the day. Meeting adjourned.”

  As the staff members began to file out, Rashad gathered his briefcase and tucked his phone into the hip pocket of his slacks. Looking up he noticed Rick Havens still seated at the other end of the table. The older man looked stricken.

  Rashad moved nearer to where he sat. “Rick, you okay?”

  He shook his head slowly. “I’m in the number, I just know it.”

  Rashad placed a hand on his stooped shoulder. “Now, Rick, don’t jump to conclusions. We really don’t know anything yet.”

  His expression blank, Rick continued. “Oh, we know something. We know the county has been trying to force me to retire for the last two years, and this will be the perfect excuse to get rid of me.”

  With the palm of his hand still resting on Rick, Rashad could feel the tension in the older man’s shoulder. “I’ll do whatever I can to look out for you, Rick.” And he meant it.

  “I know you will, Mac. They just don’t understand my situation. I’d love to retire, but I need my salary to take care of my grandkids. They don’t have anybody else right now and until their aunt graduates college, I’m all the
y’ve got.”

  Rashad’s only response was a solemn nod. He knew Rick’s story. Four years ago, Rick’s oldest daughter and son-in-law had been killed in a car accident, leaving him to take care of his two grandchildren. The two little boys were seven and nine, still very young. Rick’s younger daughter was expected to take over the care of the boys, but she still had three semesters left of college before she earned her bachelor’s degree.

  Rick rose from his seat. “If you can do anything to help me, Mac, anything at all, I’d be so grateful.”

  Rashad walked him to the door of the conference room. “I promise to try my best, Rick. But, right now, try not to worry about it, okay?”

  Rick nodded, then turned and disappeared down the narrow corridor.

  Standing in the door of the conference room, Rashad watched him go. Then, with his heart heavy, he began the long walk back to his own office. All the while wondering what he could do for Rick, and the other members of his staff who couldn’t afford to lose their jobs.

  Chapter 6

  Lina sat next to her mother on the old sage-colored sofa Tuesday evening, rifling through a stack of appointment notices. Every two weeks, Lina came to her mother’s small house to help her sort through her appointments and organize her medicines.

  Carla used the tip of her index finger to push her red-rimmed glasses up on the bridge of her nose. “How are things going at work, baby?”

  Lina smiled. No matter how old she got her mother still thought of her as her baby. “Great. We’re still making preparations for me to start my senior partnership, and we’ve won two cases over the last couple of weeks.”

  Carla’s lips turned up into a bright smile. “Senior partner. I’m so proud of you, Lina.”

  She couldn’t help smiling back. “Thanks, Mama.”

  For a few moments, silence fell between them as Carla dropped her pills into the compartments of a plastic pill sorter, and Lina jotted down appointment dates in the notebook they kept solely for that purpose. Lina reflected on her days growing up in this house with her mother and her late father, Bradford. He’d been a serious man, and about as old-fashioned as they came. Still, Lina had loved her father dearly. The twelve years since his passing had softened the pain of losing him, but she doubted the sting would ever fully go away.

  Closing the lid on the pill sorter, Carla set it aside. “I miss my Brad. Can’t believe it’s been twelve years since he left here.”

  She could sense the shared pain flowing between them. Bradford had died of aggressive late-stage prostate cancer, with only months between his diagnosis and his death. “I miss him, too, Mama. Sometimes I wonder what he would say about my life now.”

  “I think he’d be proud of you, in his own way. Even though you haven’t traveled the path he preferred, there’s no denying your accomplishments, baby.”

  A smile lifted the corners of Lina’s mouth. She remembered her father as a man who had a very clear idea of the roles of men and women, one that no amount of reasoning could change. She imagined he’d be disappointed that she was almost thirty-five and still single, because he’d always placed emphasis on marriage and family.

  Her eyes holding a wistful, faraway gaze, Carla broke the silence. “Your father was so set in his ways. I guess it’s to be expected, he was eleven years older than me. Yes, my Bradford was a ‘my way or the highway’ man.”

  She nodded, agreeing with her mother’s words. Her father’s tenure in the army as a captain had left him with a hard exterior manner. On the inside, though, he’d remained loving and fiercely protective of his wife and only daughter.

  “I was nineteen when we married. I knew nothing about life, and your father was thirty years old, and had already done ten years in the service. He promised me he’d take care of me, and that I’d never have to work a day in my life. Kept his promise, too. But he was so stubborn, sometimes I wanted to box his ears.”

  Lina closed the notebook and set the pen aside. “All he wanted for me was to settle down with a soldier and do the army-wife thing. I don’t know if I could have deviated much further from that.”

  “I know. Here you are single and practicing law, of all things. Your father had his ideas of what was men’s work and what was women’s work, and I know he thought lawyers ought to be men. Still, I saw this coming.”

  She cocked an eyebrow. “Really, Mama?”

  “Sure I did. You were always involved in politics in middle and high school. You were class president in your junior and senior years. And remember the way you used to dominate on debate team? Nobody ever wanted to go up against Long-Winded Lina.”

  She chuckled, amused that her mother remembered all that. She had been a force of nature during debates, known to argue a point until her opponents gave in. Once, she’d argued so passionately in favor of allowing girls on the football team that her opponent had conceded, on the condition that she stop talking. “You’re pretty perceptive, Mama.”

  “Maybe so. Or maybe I’m just more open-minded than your father was.”

  Lina knew her mother was probably right. Even though her father had attended her debates, he’d likely never considered her talents could be put to use in the workforce. Her thoughts drifted to Rashad, and she wondered what he might be up to today.

  “So, tell me about your date with Rashad. Are you two back on good terms?”

  “Yes, Mama. I think we are. We had a lovely time, other than getting caught in the rain.” She recalled the exhilarating feeling of running through the downpour to get back to his truck, and the sweet warmth of his kiss. The memories made her heart flutter, and if she were honest with herself, she couldn’t wait to see him again.

  “That’s good to hear. You know I’m happy so long as you are.”

  Lina draped her arm around her mother’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “Thanks. I appreciate your attitude about this. My friends are always complaining to me about their meddling mothers, but you never do that to me.” And Monk’s piano will be the perfect gift to thank you for being a wonderful mother. When it came time for the bidding, Lina was determined to get the piano for her mother, even if it put a dent in her IRA.

  Carla’s responding smile was soft. “You know me. I’ve got my own life to attend to, and I’m not hurting for grandchildren. I know you’ll settle down and give them to me when the time comes.”

  She kissed her mother’s smooth brown cheek. One of the things she loved most about her mother was her laid-back manner. At sixty-one, Carla wasn’t sitting around the house knitting and waiting to have grandchildren bestowed on her; she went out and lived her life. She had book club meetings, wine tastings, played golf and bridge. Her active lifestyle kept her in shape, and helped to ease some of the ailments that came with her age.

  “Do any of your prescriptions need refilling?”

  Carla shook her head. “Not just yet. I’ll need more glucosamine pretty soon, though.”

  Lina nodded, tapping a note into her smartphone to remind herself to pick up a bottle of the joint supplement. While her mother took a good number of pills, only three were prescriptions, to treat hypertension, diabetes and nerve pain. All the other pills were vitamins and supplements to help her energy level and overall health.

  “I think I’m squared away, baby. Go on home and get some sleep. Senior partners need their rest.” Carla winked at her daughter.

  Lina gave her mother another kiss on the cheek before rising from her seat. Grabbing her keys, purse and phone, she strolled toward the door. “Bye, Mama. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  Remote control in hand, her mother turned on the wall-mounted television over the fireplace. “Goodnight, baby.”

  Leaving her mother to enjoy her nightly sitcoms, Lina opened the front door and slipped out into the night.

  * * *

  Rashad took a moment to mak
e sure his locks were secured at his nape before grasping the door handle of the restaurant and walking in. The place was packed, as it usually was during the lunch hour on Wednesdays. Its downtown location made it a popular midday stop for employees of the many businesses and government agencies located nearby. Inhaling deeply the scents of garlic and oregano in the air, he scanned the interior for Lina.

  Navigating around the crowd of people waiting for to-go orders at the counter, he wove his way farther into the restaurant, still searching for her. Finally he spotted her, sitting at a two-person table in the corner. The table’s location was a prime one, right in front of the large window looking out on the street. A smile stretched the corners of his mouth as he took in the sight of her.

  She sat on the chair facing him, but she hadn’t yet looked up from the magazine she was reading. Her shapely body, draped in a sunny yellow sheath dress, was perched demurely on the edge of the seat. Her long legs were crossed in front of her. The strappy high heels on her feet matched the dress and set off her bronze skin tone. She looked gorgeous, and he wondered how the male lawyers who argued against her in court managed to concentrate.

  He made his way to the table and touched her bare shoulder. “Hey, beautiful.”

  She looked up from the magazine, gifting him with a bright smile. “Hey, yourself.”

  He angled her face a bit more to his liking with his hand, and placed a soft kiss on her lips. Moving away before he was tempted to do more, he grasped the back of the empty chair and pulled it out. As he took his seat, he asked, “How long have you been here?”

  She glanced at her gold wristwatch. “About thirty minutes. I know how crowded it gets here, so I took an early lunch to get us a good table.”

  “Good thinking. Thanks for doing that.”

  “No problem.” She gestured to the open magazine. “Besides, I’ve been trying to get a minute to read this issue for over a week now.”

  He watched her as she spoke, taking in the sight of her glossy, berry-colored lips. Lips he wanted to kiss again. His desire for her warmed his blood, and he reached to his throat to loosen his tie and let some of the heat building inside him escape.