Page 16 of Sangria

I’m thirty-two years old and separated. My soon-to-be ex-husband can’t grasp the idea that I want a divorce. No, want isn’t a strong enough word. I need, or I’m adamant that it happens. He also needs to stay away from me because my body still desires his, even though the sight of him makes me ill. I will never get the images of him and that assistant going at it on the desk out of my mind. She touched what I deemed mine a long time ago, and no amount of groveling from him will ever be able to change my mind.

It’s an hour or longer until the delivery boy drives his car from one end of the parking lot to the other, where I’m parked under a couple of palm trees.

“Ms. Phillips?”

“Yes.” I push the button to open the back hatch and watch through my rearview mirror as he loads an obscene amount of food into the back of my car. My excuse for doing this is because I want the Austin’s to have an enjoyable party and because I can. Maybe this is my way of saying thank you, although I don’t know what for. He’s the one who burned my hand, yet if he hadn’t, I wouldn’t be on my way to his house to hang out with the dance crew from my video.

“Something is really wrong with me,” I say to my reflection.

After the last bit is loaded, the boy appears at my window again and hands me a slip of paper to sign. I leave him a ridiculously stupid tip and thank him. With the Austin’s address in my navigation system, I head in their direction, quickly realizing that they live in a nicer part of town not far from Bel Air.

By the time I pull up to the curb in front of their house, I am completely dumbfounded. It’s not at all what I expected. The front yard is beautiful green shrubbery with a small brick wall encasing the yard. The driveway is long, somewhat steep, and full of cars, leaving me no choice but to fill my arms with bags.

I maneuver my hand to reach the doorbell, only to have the door swing wide open. The woman who answers looks a bit confused but offers to take a couple of the bags from my hands.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting another delivery,” she says as she motions me into the home. The dark cherry floors look vibrant against the white walls and wainscoting. “You can follow me into the kitchen.”

I do as she suggests, finding myself tongue-tied. I made an assumption about these people, and I was clearly off base. The open floor concept is warm and inviting, vastly different from how I feel in my home right now. In the kitchen, another woman smiles and takes the remaining bags from my hands.

“Why on earth did Levi order so much food?” she says as she starts taking the pre-made food from the bags. “Do you have a slip?”

“A slip?” I ask, slightly confused. Don’t these people know who I am?

“For us to sign?”

It hits me that they don’t have any idea who I am and I rather like that. “Oh, I’m with the crew,” I say, nodding my head toward the open patio door where I can hear people splashing in their pool.

“You came?” It’s the sound of Levi’s voice and his accent that has me turning around so quickly that I almost give myself whiplash. “And you brought food?”

I avert my gaze and look at only a smidgen of the food I brought. I shrug and stick my hands into the pockets of my shorts. “I uh. . . ya know there’s more in the car,” I say with a smile. I might as well own my mistake.

“Let’s go get it then,” Levi says, motioning toward the door. He waits for me to pass by him before he follows. We walk silently down his driveway to my Range Rover, and once the back hatch is lifted, he starts laughing.

“Wow.” He takes his hat off, and for the first time, I get a glimpse of his chestnut hair. It’s shorter around the sides, but slightly longer on top. It’s almost as if he just had it cut.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I thought. . . you know what I’ll just say it. I assumed that by having the crew over it’d be putting a burden on you and I didn’t want that so I stopped at the store.”

“Darlin’, I think you’re trying to feed the whole neighborhood.” He reaches into the back and grabs every bag, leaving nothing for me to carry.

“I can help,” I say as I close the back.

He pauses halfway up his driveway and gives me a smile that has me questioning why I’m here. “You already are,” he mumbles. I don’t think he intended for me to hear him clearly, but I did.

levi

Ten

I never expectedZara to show up at Stormy’s makeshift afterparty, but not only did she show up, she brought enough food to feed the entire Bel Air block that we live on. I don’t have the heart to tell her that I am more than capable of providing enough food for everyone.

It seems that when she’s around, I’m saying some ridiculous things, mostly for my own benefit and not for hers. I have a feeling she has stealth hearing because after I tell her that she’s already helping I hear a tiny gasp. Now that could be from some critter roaming through the bushes or the scuff of her shoe as we walk up the inclined driveway, but if I had to bet my prized Stetson that the sound came from her, I would.

As soon as we step onto the concrete porch, she brushes by me to open the door. “Thank you, ma’am,” I say with a wink and hear yet another audible gasp. I sort of like this game, and it makes me curious as to how many times country boy Levi Austin can make this woman lose her breath. Honestly, probably not too many once she realizes that we have absolutely nothing in common.

In the kitchen, Barbara and my mother rush to ease the burden of carrying so many bags. I could’ve made more than one trip, but I’d rather spend some time talking to Zara. It’s been entirely too long since I’ve felt drawn to a woman, let alone one like her. Outside appearances tell me right off that she’ll never fit into my world, nor would I fit into hers. But that doesn’t mean we can’t talk, share a beer, and maybe laugh a little.

“Mama and Barb, this is Zara. She’s the lead singer of Reverend Sister. Stormy was in her video today.”

“The lead, actually, and she did an amazing job.” Zara smiles as she steps forward and shakes their hands. It occurs to me that I didn’t even give her my mother’s name and I feel completely awkward blurting it out now.

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