Celia's Knight (California Love Trilogy Book 3) Read online

  Chapter 16

  A House Guest

  Every time Martin talked with Randi he felt refreshed and ready to face the day. Today, he was even ready to face Celia and her memory issues. He was so at ease with the fact that Randi was okay with him visiting Celia he stopped by Tony’s to pick up a Tony Burger and those special fries she loved.

  This was one thing that was very strange about Celia. She normally didn’t want to touch finger food, but a Tony Burger - that was a different story. He pulled into the ‘take out’ lane, and with his baseball hat and glasses, no one seemed to care who he was.

  It was a busy California Saturday and everyone was out and about shopping, eating or just running errands in general. He wore a t-shirt as well as a long sleeved black shirt. It was a nice January day but the hospital would be cold inside.

  It was around lunchtime when he got to the hospital, and since he knew what room Celia was in, went straight there. Though he was in a good mood, he didn’t want to ruin it with a run-in with Vicky so early in the day.

  Tapping on the door he heard someone call, ‘come in’. The voice didn’t sound like Celia’s, and when he entered, he found a nurse changing her IV. The look Celia gave him wasn’t a good one. He figured it had something to do with the fact that he hadn’t made time to visit her the day before.

  He had meant to, but never made it. He wasn’t sure what the nurse would say about the food so he kept his hands behind his back and gave her a smile as she stepped out of the room. Once the door was closed he sat the bag on the table. “I thought you might be hungry for something besides hospital food.”

  “That’s what I had for a snack this morning. I haven’t eaten since so, yes. It smells good.”

  “Would you like me to set it out for you?”

  “Sure. Knock yourself out.” Her tone was not that of the old Celia so he wondered what was going on. She must have caught the expression on his face because she looked at him with her brows furrowed.

  “Have you talked with my mother this morning?”

  “No. I came straight in. I’m sorry I didn’t make it over yesterday. I don’t have a good excuse. I see you received the flowers.”

  “Yes. Nice gesture. And since you haven’t spoken to my mother, I’ll give you the good news. My memory is just fine. The doctor’s aren’t sure what triggered it but the events of the last few weeks have returned, and I remember everything.”

  “I see,” Martin said, knowing that she was back to hating him. In a way that was good, but he didn’t want them to be like this. He knew better than to offer her a handshake and ask, ‘can’t we be friends?’

  “How are you feeling? Is the pain any better?”

  She turned looking at him with a disgusted look. “Are you talking about my body or my broken heart?”

  Martin let out a short sigh as he placed her burger and fries on the table. He noticed her grimace a time or two as she raised the bed into a sitting position.

  It did bother him to see her in this condition, but he wasn’t sure she would believe him. He needed to say something and address the matter.

  There was no use in changing his stance on what their relationship had come to so he didn’t pull any punches, but he also wasn’t as blunt as he could have been. “I’m not sure anything I say will sound genuine.”

  “Then why bother?” she snipped.

  “I don’t know. Maybe I’m sorry I hurt you. I don’t expect and I’m not asking for forgiveness. I just want you to know I’m sorry. I didn’t respect your feelings. I was self-centered and I owe you a huge apology.”

  She didn’t say anything; she just began to eat. He was sorry he had hurt her, and if he could go back, he would change things. He knew that saying things like, ‘I tried to get you to cancel the party’ or ‘I told you it wasn’t the right time’ wouldn’t matter.

  He stepped back feeling his presence wouldn’t do anything but hurt. He didn’t expect her to accept his apology. He was relieved she hadn’t thrown the food at him, so before she asked him to leave, he spoke, “If you need anything, let me know.”

  “Do you really mean that?”

  “Yes,” he said. He wasn’t sure what she had in mind but he turned waiting to see what she had to say.

  “I’ll need a place to stay. The apartment I’m in right now isn’t set up for a person in a wheelchair. I assume I’ll be in the wheelchair for about six weeks.

  “I understand. What do you have in mind?”

  When she turned and looked at him, he had an idea of what she wanted. He started going over the answers he could give her. What would Randi say? Would she care? Did he need to consult Randi before he said ‘yes’ or ‘no’?

  “I’d like to stay at the house. My mother will be here helping me out. She’ll need a place to stay. Mike and I will be working out plans and we will need a place to meet since I won’t be able to come and go as easily as I once could.”

  “That’s true.” He crossed his arms and waited.

  She looked at him with a bit of a smirk. “I want to stay in the house for this time. You can come and go as you please with your little twit of a girlfriend.”

  That was not going to happen Martin thought, but then again, he didn’t want to tell her ‘no’. She deserved something for all he’d put her through and he nodded. “I’ll arrange it. You can stay for eight weeks.”

  “I plan on staying a lot longer than that. I want to buy the house. You still plan on selling it, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Good. I’ll have my mother go to my apartment and get the things I’ll need. When I can, I’ll talk to a couple of banks and see if I can the loan started.”

  Martin nodded. They both knew that Celia would never have that kind of clout. He felt sorry for her but not so much that he was willing to just let her have the house. In time, they’d work things out. Right now she needed something positive to focus on, and for now, he was willing to let her have her way.

  Chapter 17

  There’s No Place Like Home

  The smile on Celia’s face was genuine. It hadn’t been just for Martin. She was going to move back into her home. She loved that house. It was more room than she needed, and she knew that, but it was her dream home.

  Some day she hoped that her parents could retire and move in with her and this house would be perfect for that. She did need to get a real job. She wasn’t sure if flipping houses would be enough income to purchase the house.

  Mike seemed pretty knowledgeable on the topic of houses. She would talk to him about it and see. She popped another fry in her mouth and wanted to laugh. What would Randi think about this? She doubted that Martin would be staying there with her but she didn’t care.

  She couldn’t wait to tell her mother and the rest of her family. She had put off sending out her new address. Now, she would just send out an e-mail blast letting everyone know she was moving back in. She’d figure out some way to make it all sound like she’d put Martin in his place. It would help her feel better and boost her ego.

  The food was good but she noticed that Martin hadn’t been as thorough as Mike. He hadn’t brought her anything to drink. She looked around and reached for a glass of water. It would do for now.

  She so wished that she had her phone so she could send Mike a message. She wanted to ask him about the house and if he had any idea how much they might be able to clear on it when it sold. They were on their way to look at an apartment she’d been thinking about renting when he spotted the old monster.

  He stopped and they’d gotten out and looked it over. She smiled remembering how he looked that day – he was like a kid in a candy store.

  “Man this place is something else! I can’t believe it’s for sale.”

  “Why? Look at it,” Celia said, and crossed her arms. “It’s two stories and looks like it was built in the 1800’s. Who would want something like this?”

  “It’s not that old. Come on. Let’s go look around.” Mike took off up
the steps and started peeping in one window and then another. Celia walked behind him with a skeptical look on her face. She didn’t see the interest until he started tossing out numbers.

  He had started by saying, “Well, if we could get it for a price in the low 60’s and turn that into a number in the high 80’s, we might manage to turn a fair profit.”

  “You really think you could sell this place?” Celia cleaned off a spot on the window and looked inside the house. “It looks clean, but I don’t see a microwave or a trash compactor or anywhere to put either.”

  “That we could fix. There’s a fine line when remodeling an older house to include modern conveniences. You have to be careful to not lose the original aura of the house. I love working on places like this but I haven’t had the time in the last year.”

  “You like this sort of thing?”

  “I love it. Normally, I can do the bulk of the work myself and hire workers for the more mundane tasks. It’s a good way to make some cash. I usually let the house stand good for the loan. I won’t go into the boring details, but there’s not a lot of out of pocket money when you have a good credit rating and a good flip record.”

  The conversation had moved on to what and how. The next thing she knew, she was offering to help fund some of the purchases. She knew that he was being overly kind to call her a partner, but then again, she was working with him. She was in charge of getting the permits, payroll for the men and, in general, the errand girl.

  Celia knew the asking price on the home she and Martin had bought. As she came down from her high of knowing she was moving back into Martin’s house, it hit her. She would never be able to afford that house on her own. She had no real job, no property to use as collateral and no prospects of getting either.

  She would have about six to eight weeks to come up with something and then she’d be husband hunting or house hunting again. She’d really thought that things would work out with Martin and that this part of her life would be over. She knew now that she should have gone to college, but ever since she was a little girl, she’d been treated differently because of her looks.

  In middle school, all of the boys gave her candy and bought her trinkets. In high school she was given jewelry, taken to the best parties and events. Her family wasn’t rich, as Martin liked to say, but they did okay.

  Her looks opened a lot of doors for her. A perk from her dad’s position was that every year she got to attend the Kentucky Derby. This, along with many other high society events, put her on the path that led her to California and meeting Martin.

  Celia leaned back and recalled her first real experience with wealth. She’d met a young executive who had a taste for gambling. He loved spending money, and pretty women. Much to her parent’s dismay, after dating him for only one week she ran off with him. They wound up in Paris where she lived with him for two years.

  It was an exciting time in her life but it ended just as it had started, quickly, at the Kentucky Derby. She stayed with her parents for a year, just enjoying her family and working on and off as an Administrative Assistant or a Personal Secretary.

  When she turned twenty-two, she wanted to travel but didn’t really have the money to do so. She started entering every contest she could find and six months later won a walk-on roll on a popular TV show that was filmed in Las Vegas. All she had to do was walk by wearing a bathing suit.

  It didn’t take her long to catch the eye of one of the directors, and after a couple days of filming, she was off to Hollywood. Three years later, she met Martin Taylor and in two whirlwind days, they were an item.

  Now here she was again looking and wondering what to do with her life. She knew it wasn’t practical to depend on men for her livelihood, but at this age, she wasn’t sure what else she had to offer.

  She didn’t want to spend five or more years of her life going to school. She couldn’t afford to live in California on a secretary’s salary. She needed to think seriously about her options, but for now, she was just going to revel in the fact that she was once again going to be the lady of the manor. If it was temporary, then so be it. She would take this one day at a time.

  *****

  Saturday, Mike filled in for one of his managers. He didn’t like working the floor and selling cars, but now and then he had to. It was one thing that made him a well-liked and respected owner. Most of his employees knew him personally and knew they could count on him in a pinch.

  The store closed at noon and he and the Assistant Manager locked up around one p.m. It had been a while since Mike had been at this store so he took the opportunity to look around a bit. He jotted down a few things he wanted to discuss with Kyle Stone, the dealership’s manager then he left.

  He headed to the house where he worked for a couple of hours on the garage. After showering, he made his way to the hotel to pick up Vicky. She had called and asked if he could give her a ride, and since the rest of his Saturday was pretty free, he had told her he could.

  Mike couldn’t put his finger on it but he had noticed some indications that the Carson’s might not have as much financial freedom as they once had. He’d noticed Vicky checking the prices at Tony’s, and since she was asking for a ride, he felt there was more to it than her feeling ill at ease in a taxicab.

  When Vicky got in the vehicle she smiled at him and said, “I just talked to Celia a few minutes ago to let her know I’d be there shortly. She said Martin had been into today. It seems he didn’t know she’d gotten her memory back. I assumed you would mention it to him.”

  “I didn’t feel it was my place. I know you mentioned it on the ride home last night but I thought Celia might want to let him know in her own time.”

  “I don’t think she minded,” Vicky said. “Anyway, everyone knows. I’m just glad that so far we’ve managed to keep the press away from the hospital. I don’t think Celia needs that added stress.”

  “No. I’m sure she doesn’t. She needs to rest and concentrate on getting well. It’s always hard when you break a limb to get back in the swing of day-to-day life.”

  “I’ve never broken anything. I’m thankful for that. I am glad that I’m going to be able to stay with her for a while. I may have to rent a car and quit depending on handsome young men for my transportation needs.”

  Mike chuckled. “If you do, I might be able to get you a deal where I work.” He had decided to keep his life private from Celia and her mother. If something started moving forward, he wanted to know it was not his money they were looking at.

  He knew that he was judging but he felt he had a good reason. He knew Martin would never let him live it down, but he had seen another side of Celia that piqued his interest. Also, heaven only knew he wasn’t getting any younger.

  Vicky spoke bringing him out of his thoughts. “Celia said that if we bring her something to eat later to make it something besides a burger. It seems Martin came bearing the same gift.”

  “We could try pizza, speaking of which, have you eaten today? We could stop and pick something up.”

  “I hate to inconvenience you. I had breakfast. I’ll just let you pick me something up when you get Celia’s.”

  “If you’re sure….”

  “Thanks. I’m fine. I do appreciate the offer. Speaking of Celia, I wonder when they’ll let her go home. I’d like to be able to do more. It seems every time I start, the nurses come in and I have to stop. I know she can’t wait to get out of that bed and into some real clothes.”

  “Yes, I can’t imagine Celia likes those dreary gowns.”

  “She doesn’t. I know my little girl is high strung, but she can be a sweetheart. When she was young she would help around the house. She’s a great cook. I know she doesn’t let anyone know.”

  “I had no idea she could cook.”

  “You better not tell her what we talk about. She likes to keep her secrets. She says when a woman cooks she never gets to go out. She has some strange ideas but she’s a lovely girl.”

  “I won’t mentio
n it. To be honest, I like to cook. I’ve spent the better part of my life living alone so I’ve learned to cook.”

  “Have you been married, if you don’t mind my asking?”

  “I don’t mind and ‘no’. Just haven’t met the right girl.”

  “You will. Give it time.”

  Mike was curious. Was Vicky out to find Celia a husband, or was she out to find Celia a rich husband? He found a place to park and took the keys out of the ignition. When he got out of the car, he looked at it. It was a nice car – a mid-sized sedan - but it didn’t say, ‘I own five auto dealerships’. “Out here, most women are looking for the rich and famous. If you’re average, it’s not so easy.”

  “I suppose so. I think mothers want the best for their children. They want them to do better than they did, to live better and not have to work as hard.”

  “I can understand that. In this day and age, unless you have a great job, it takes two just to make ends meet.”

  “That it does. I think we may have done Celia a disservice as she was growing up. We spoiled our children. We gave them too much. I’m afraid it’s affected them more than we intended.”

  Mike wanted to lighten the mood. He looked at Vicky and playfully asked, “Celia? Spoiled?” Vicky laughed as they walked toward the hospital. They were almost to the door when they saw the press. “Just great!” Mike said.

  “What’s going on?”

  Mike turned. “If I had to guess, I’d say they found out Martin’s here. I don’t think they’ll know us. Just look as if you don’t have a clue what’s going on but if they do start asking questions, ignore them.”

  Chapter 18

  We’re All Human

  Randi glanced at her watch. It was close to ten and she was supposed to be on the job at ten. Her dad called out the front door after her, “Would it be a huge inconvenience if I dropped you off today? I wasn’t planning on needing the car on a Saturday but I just got a text from a friend. He was taken to the hospital with chest pains.”