Page 58 of Sweet Little Thing

“Oh, dear heavens! What have I put on my feet?” we heard her horrified voice from the kitchen. Stone chuckled.

“She’ll have to fix that before she comes back.”

I laughed. “This is going to be the most interesting job I’ve ever had.”

“Yes, it probably will be.”

“How do you know her?” I asked.

He sighed and glanced up at the photo over her mantle. “Gerry’s husband Victor was a business associate of my father’s. My mother used to drop me off at my dad’s office because I was teething, and my crying was too much for her. Granted, she had nannies, but they always quit because my mother drove them crazy. Gerry was there one day with Victor when my mother dropped me off. Dad was upset because he had work, and she’d run off another nanny. Gerry took me with her that day.Throughout the years, they often left me with her. She was the only constant woman in my life from the time I was a baby. The memories I have of my mother are sparse. She came and went, as did my dad’s many wives. But Gerry baked cookies with me, took me to the zoo, read to me, taught me how to ride a bike, and stayed by my side at the hospital after my appendix ruptured when I was ten years old. My mother was in Italy with a friend.” He stopped speaking as Gerry’s footsteps neared.

She was carrying a silver tray with a pretty tea set. “Now, let’s drink a spot of tea and discuss your pay.”

I watched as Stone smiled at her. There was a gentle affection in his eyes that was so out of character. This woman meant more to him than anyone else I’d seen him around, and he trusted me to care for her. This wasn’t a position he chose just anyone to fill. Oddly I realized that his trust in me by bringing me here was an honor.

“There will be times I’m a case, I tell you. Be prepared for that,” she said as she sat up straight with her legs crossed. I noticed she now had matching black flats on her feet.

“I think she witnessed that already, Gerry,” Stone said in an amused drawl.

Geraldine frowned. Then her eyes went wide, and she looked down at her shoes. “Yes, my shoes were a disaster, weren’t they?”

“I have meetings today, Gerry. Why don’t you and Beulah work things out? You can show her around. Let her get the feel of how you like your day to go. I’m a phone call away if either of you need me,” he glanced at me.

“We will be just fine. Don’t you worry about her. I won’t scare her away,” Geraldine told him, winking at me.

Stone stood up, set his cup on the tray, and then kissed her on the cheek again. “I’ll leave her in your care then.” Who was this man and where had he put Stone?

“What meetings do you have? Still handling all Jasper’s affairs for the boy? It’s time you make him figure it out. You’ve got your empire to run. And Victor’s.”

Stone gave a hard shake of his head as if to stop her from saying any more. “Everything’s under control, Gerry,” he said, giving me a tight smile before quickly leaving. I watched him go confused by what she had just said.

Handling Jasper’s affairs?

“That boy works too much,” she said with a sigh. “Do you like to garden? I have a vegetable garden out back. It gives me something to do instead of sitting in this big house all alone every day.” The switch in topics was swift, and then she was up out of her chair, walking over to the window. “He’s a good kid. I often wonder how that’s possible with parents like his. He made it out okay, though.” She glanced back at me. “Can’t say the same for Jasper. That one was stuck with Portia. I fear it ruined him.”

Stone wouldn’t want her saying any of this to me, but I was clinging to every word. It felt as if I’d been living in a haze unaware of all the truths around me but the fog was clearing more and more with each passing hour I was away from Jasper. He had charmed me, given me attention I hadn’t thought I needed but clearly had craved, and I’d been naïve. Hearing Geraldine talk about the two of them, I realized there was no question or doubt. She knew them. Their past. The men they had become.

“Now, tell me about yourself, Beulah. Beginning with where you got that name. It’s Hebrew, you know. It means married.”

I was impressed that she knew the meaning and origin of my name without looking it up. She was a well-educated woman who had lived what appeared to be an elaborate life. And she was kind. She had been a mother to a little boy whose mother neglected him. That alone made me respect her and feel a connection to her. My mother had done the same with my sister.

“My mother heard the name on a television show when she was pregnant with me. She was young, and she thought the name was unique and special. She wanted me to be those things, so she said she named me accordingly.”

Geraldine smiled. “Well, that sounds nice. She was a good mother then? Even though she was young?”

“The very best in the world,” I replied without pause. No matter how many lies revolved in and out of my life, my mother’s love would always remain a solid truth.

I understood that she hadn’t lied to me about Heidi to hurt me. She’d lied to protect Heidi. And because Heidi was her daughter. She hadn’t given her life but she’d given Heidi the other piece of her heart. My sister and I had been Momma’s world. Nothing in life would take that from us.

Chapter

Thirty-Nine

Beulah

Cars were everywhere as I slowly pulled into the small parking lot outside Stone’s apartment. There was a single parking spot beside Stone’s Rover. That was lucky since cars were parked on both sides of the brick-paved road that led to the front of the building. Several were blocking the other cars that had been parked here yesterday when I arrived.

I pulled into the spot, turned off the car, and heard the sound of music pumping through speakers. I reached over to grab my purse from the seat beside me and climbed out of the car. I hadn’t been expected this.

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