Page 4 of Now and Forever
Completely remorseless, Gaige grinned and ran a hand through his gleaming hair. "You know how it is, sometimes you just need a self-care day."
Grayson just gave him a flat look before his deep blue eyes shifted back to her, warming once more. "It was nice meeting you, Miss Ray."
Finally, with the grace from God, she managed to find her voice again. "It was nice meeting you too."
"That's doubtful by your petrified expression," Gaige murmured and gently grabbed her by the shoulders, directing her to the bathroom. "Go shower and change. Maybe that will cure your shock."
Mortified, she stole one last glance at Grayson's face and discovered he was still watching her before she promptly escaped to the bathroom as instructed.
As the vivid memory faded, Golden found herself back in the present, sitting in the middle of her massive bed. The wrought iron structure had been too heavy and too arduous to move leaving it here for the tenants to use. And luckily it was still here when she got back. All Golden had to do when she moved in was order a mattress and toss it on top.
Laying back against the cool sheets, she stared at the card in her hand."Welcome back — Grayson Rosebank."The scrawlingblack script even reminded her of the handsome businessman. That fateful meeting years ago had ruined her. No other boy or man had ever compared to the indomitable Grayson Rosebank.
But even the warmth of that old memory her first crush invoked couldn't battle against the shudder of embarrassment and pang of hurt that crept up her spine from the last memory she had of him.
Turning over in the bed, until her face was pressed against the sheets, Golden let out a groan. She couldn’t think of it. Wouldn't think of it! No, those details of that fateful summer night two years ago would remain tucked away, a part of her life she was content to forget.
Chapter four
Golden let out three sneezes in a row.
Holding her shirt up over her nose, she squinted into the overstuffed room. The storage locker somehow held all of her aunt's furniture. Antique armoires to ornately carved davenports to dozens of little end tables and bookcases tucked here and there amongst the other furniture like a jigsaw puzzle. The last time she had been here was when she had overseen the movers filling up the space.
Working her way through the very narrow path that ran through the dusty collection, Golden tried to survey each piece. She really needed to put some furniture in the house, it was getting a little depressing. Besides the bed, there wasn't one other piece of furniture in the entire house.
Taking another step forward to peer around a large bookcase, Golden paused at the familiar blue glass peeking out of some bubble wrap. It was one of her aunt's favorite Tiffany lamps. Golden smiled and ran her fingertips along the lamp's metaledge. The gaudy lamp had been one of the first things she really noticed when she first came to live with her aunt Marisol. They had just completed the three-hour journey from Austin to Stardust. Golden had been instructed to sit in the living room while her aunt made them lunch. At that time, it had been a couple of years since her mom died— two terrible years. Golden hardly said anything as her aunt cooked and talked, she just stared at the lamp sitting on the side table, picking one object out of the cluttered room to focus on. But Aunt Marisol had been patient and kind and above all accepting of her.
Grabbing the lamp, Golden made her way back down the cramped aisle just as her watch buzzed. Looking at it, Golden cursed under her breath. Time had flown by. It was nearly time for her appointment at the college. She walked back out of the storage locker and caught sight of the attendant walking down the hall.
Catching her eye, he nodded to her locker. "Did you find anything you wanted to get delivered?"
Golden nodded and held up the paper he had given her earlier when she arrived. "Yeah, I am going to get a dining table, the couch in the back, the beige dresser just by the door, and two nightstands out. I put the tape on each one so you can find it in that mess."
The man gave her a polite, understanding smile and took her paper. "Sure thing. We will have it brought over first thing in the morning."
With her lamp in hand and the delivery signed and paid for, she walked quickly to the bus stop.
"Too bad I didn't keep Aunt Marisol's car," she grumbled to herself for the millionth time.
It was one of the few things of her aunt's she had let Gaige sell. If it hadn't been for Gaige's help during that difficult time, she didn't know where she would have been.
On the bus, Golden set her lamp on the seat beside her and pulled out her phone. She shot a text to Gaige.
Me: On the bus and heading towards Oakes University to enroll for classes. Wish me luck.
The reply came back immediately.
Gaige: You don't need luck; you need a car. Let me buy you one, goddammit. I can smell the bus people from here.
Golden glanced down the aisle at the two little kids sitting with their mom at the front of the bus and then at the old man reading his paper a few rows away from her. She scowled down at her phone. That uppity little shit. This bus was a paradise compared to New York buses.
Me: There is no smell. And if there was, it would be your elitism coming through the phone harassing these people.
His reply was a selfie of his unconcerned face. From the people behind him, she could tell he was in the middle of class.
Currently taking classes at Harvard, Gaige was on track to follow his father's footsteps in law. As the bus turned up a hill, Golden looked out the window and watched the shimmering blue coast in the distance. It was funny, from what sheunderstood, Grayson had a law degree and an MBA, only one of which he used regularly at his publishing firm and the other occasionally for the family company, Rosebank Capital Management.
Gaige: Since you won't take a car or use the credit card I sent you, I take it you're going to find a job.
