Players Page 29

  “Just ignore it.” Keila said, and laughed when she saw her sister’s scowl.

  “Hey, Keila, great to see you again,” Tyrone greeted her, no longer looking at her sister. Keila directed the round of introductions before Cate, who loved Graciela’s cooking and had been eyeing the picnic baskets, whisked Mia, Graciela, and Gina away to a table.

  Tyrone turned to Tania and said, “You must be the man hater.”

  For the first time in a long time, Tania was left speechless. But she quickly recovered, sticking her hand out to shake Tyrone’s. “That’s me,” she smiled sweetly. And the moment their hands met, the heat again flashed into Tyrone’s eyes. “Now, when do I get to meet Jake Kelly, the important man here?” Tania turned to Keila.

  “Tania!” Keila exclaimed. She turned to look at Tyrone, who was looking both challenged and amused.

  “Are you looking to spew some venom Jake’s way, as well?” he asked.

  “No, I only spew my special man-hating venom when I feel something needs to be nipped in the bud,” Tania replied, still smiling.

  “Some buds are too sturdy to be nipped,” Tyrone raised an eyebrow suggestively, turned, and left Tania fuming.

  “Why that cocky son of a—” but Keila nudged Tania before she could finish her colorful thought.

  They soon found themselves surrounded by a few people she’d met during her visits to Jake’s campaign headquarters and she felt both grateful and anxious that she hadn’t yet seen Jake.

  • • •

  Jake hung his arms over the railing and looked out toward the dark waters, thinking it might be possible to avoid Keila. When he’d surprised his staff with the schooner rental during a pre-Thanksgiving get-together and Cate had asked if she could bring Keila and her family along, there had been no time to think of a good reason why not.

  It hadn’t been as easy as he’d thought to get her out of his mind the past six weeks, but he’d finally fallen into a busy rhythm of community meetings, neighborhood visits, round-table discussions, dinners, and parties, and whether in his thoughts or not, it had been easy to keep the reality of her far away.

  “How do I look?” Tyrone’s voice came up beside him.

  “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me. How do I look?” Tyrone repeated, slightly exasperated.

  “Uh—you look . . . okay?”

  “Damn it. Why can women count on their girlfriends to tell them how they look while men put these barriers up where they can’t ask each other stuff like that?” Tyrone barked, his gestures and expression both showing an excess of male attitude in direct contrast to the words he was speaking.

  “Because we’re men,” Jake answered, his own gesture and expression conveying “duh!”

  Tyrone shrugged, disappointed and clearly offended.

  “You look like a handsome devil,” Jake finally said, dryly. But after more careful consideration, he observed, “Maybe you should get rid of the tie and loosen a few buttons.”

  Tyrone complied, and Jake watched him, amused, until Keila’s mass of golden brown waves caught his eye. He inhaled sharply. With her form-fitting, rust-colored sweater and her Spanish-flamenco-looking wrap, Keila would be hard to ignore. Clearing his throat, Jake turned to Tyrone. “Hey, how do I look?” he asked, in as casual a tone as he could muster.

  Tyrone nodded his approval, “You’re looking good, really rocking that casual look,” he said, taking in Jake’s beige cords and long-sleeved blue Polo.

  And next to Jake, a little voice giggled. Both Tyrone and Jake whirled around to see who was there. A young girl was pressing her lips together, her eyes wide, trying hard not to laugh.

  “You’re Tania Diaz’s daughter, Mia, right?” Tyrone asked.

  Mia bobbed her head, still holding in a fit of giggles.

  “Okay, Mia, what’s it going to take for you to forget you heard our conversation?” Jake turned to her, smiling.

  The girl let out her pent-up laughter. “Oh, the conversation I heard was between you two? I thought I was listening in on my girlfriends from school.”

  “Ouch,” Jake held his chest, feigning pain.

  “I see you take after your mother,” Tyrone remarked.

  “Hey, I was just standing here on the poop, minding my own business. I can’t help it if I overheard you guys obsessing over your outfits.”

  “You were standing where?” Jake asked.

  “The poop. That’s what this deck is called,” Mia smiled, clearly happy the word had caught his attention. “I learned it in St. Mary’s. It’s a great school; we learn lots of funny stuff like that.”

  “Stuff like what?” Jake asked, amused.

  “Well, to ‘pooh-pooh’ means to shoo someone away. It doesn’t really mean to poop. And though ‘to poop’ is a verb, ‘poop’ is a noun that means the deck at the stern of a ship. So we’re on the poop.”

  “Tell your mom maybe she should consider transferring you to the public school system,” Tyrone suggested.

  “And go co-ed. Never!” Mia teased. “Besides, I like going to an all-girl school. It’s a lot more fun to watch cute boys from far away and feel the really cool butterflies in your stomach than to talk to them up close and get all sick and nauseous.”

  Tyrone shook his head and laughed, but Jake didn’t join in. He’d just caught sight of Keila and his mother close by, engaged in what looked like an intimate conversation.

  “See, that’s exactly what I mean right there,” Mia said, pointing at Jake. “A few minutes ago you looked excited and stuff when you saw my Aunt Keila from far away. And now that she’s closer, you look ill.”

  Tyrone guffawed and Jake ruffled Mia’s hair good-naturedly. “Your aunt does not make me excited. Or ill,” he lied.

  “Then go talk to her,” Tyrone challenged, and both he and Mia exchanged high-fives.

  “Sure,” Jake shrugged, backing away from the two. In truth he knew someone would stop him to talk before he reached Keila and his mother. It was his party, after all. He was the man of the hour.

  • • •

  Patricia Kelly squeezed Keila’s arm affectionately as Keila continued to humor the older woman by talking about when to initiate her yet-unborn grandchildren into the world of music. Patty was intent on having musical grandchildren.

  “I’m thinking the boy can play guitar and the girl can play piano,” Patty sighed. “I can picture them now . . . ”

  While Keila genuinely liked Jake’s mom, picturing Jake’s future children wasn’t as fun for her as it seemed to be for Patty. She couldn’t help but wonder why Mrs. Kelly was making plans for her future grandchildren. Was Jake seeing someone? And if he was, was it serious? She hadn’t heard anything about it on the news, but politicians were known for being secretive little bastards. After all, it had been six weeks since they’d kissed and a lot could happen in six weeks. Heck, her own parents had fallen in love in two days.

  “What’s the matter, hon?” Patty asked her.

  “Uh, nothing’s wrong. I’m just picturing Jake’s future little girl at the piano and his future little son holding a guitar. Cute picture,” she smiled a tight smile, knowing her voice sounded strained.

  Thankfully, Keila’s mother and aunt walked over to them with food. Keila introduced the women, and Patty was soon raving over both women’s pastelón, a lasagna-like creation that had green plantains instead of pasta.

  “But whose do you like better? Graciela’s or mine?” Aunt Gina, who was always competitive when it came to food, wanted to know. Patty diplomatically made excuses as to why she was ill-qualified to judge.

  Then Keila finally saw Jake, talking to some woman. She swallowed hard and pressed her lips together as the symptoms of her foolish and runaway infatuation instantly took over.

  She’d never seen him dressed in anything but suits, ties, and that heart-stopping tuxedo. Tonight, he was preppy and sexy. Not a combination she would’ve thought would make her look twice at a man—she was more into the rebel look. But anyt
hing on a man with those shoulders and that butt had to look good.

  Her aunt Gina then shoved a plate in Keila’s hand and said, “Then you tell us, Keila, whose do you think tastes better today? You can tell us the truth, we won’t hold it against you,” her aunt lied.

  “Yeah right,” Keila mumbled. Loudly she said, “Well, see, I already know which is which. I’ll just go find Robbie and he can decide. Robbie,” she called and waved him over when she spotted him with Tania a few feet way.

  But Patty called, “Jake!” at the same moment and said, “Jake can decide.”

  Both Jake and Robbie walked over, and when the two men saw each other they exchanged enthusiastic greetings, as though they were long-lost friends. The sound of Jake’s deep voice so very near to her did nothing to sooth her.

  Patty took the first paper plate of pastelón and thrust it into Keila’s hand. “Here, you feed him the first one and I’ll feed him the second. We need you to decide which one tastes better,” she turned to her son and explained.

  Jake and Keila finally looked at each other for the first time in weeks and Keila felt as if his eyes held two hundred and fifty watts of electricity. She immediately looked down at the plate in her hand. Inhaling deeply, she looked up and shoved a fork-full of food into his mouth before he could say hello.

  “Keila and I were just talking about your future children,” Patty remarked as Jake swallowed. He proceeded to choke.

  “Our children?” he said between coughs, staring at Keila, his eyes now bulging.

  “Here, have some punch,” Graciela offered.

  “We were talking about your future children with, you know, your future wife. Whoever she may be.” Keila quickly clarified, lest he choke to death. Uncomfortable, she quickly switched subjects by saying, “Okay, your turn to feed him,” to Patty, who was acting a little too giddy for Keila’s liking. The excited look left as soon as her Aunt Gina swiped the plate away from her, obviously wanting to experience the pleasure of feeding Jake. Few women in her family could resist feeding a good-looking man.

  “Okay. So which one wins?” Gina asked.

  Jake looked reluctant, but brave. Taking a deep breath, he said, “That one,” and pointed to Graciela’s pastelón. Keila’s mom hopped and improvised a mini-cheer. Gina scowled.

  “So,” Tania, who had never even been introduced to Jake, turned to him, grinning. “You remember Robbie from SummerDance, but you forgot my sister. Interesting.”

  Before Jake could answer, Graciela intervened. “Yes, Tania, he forgot Keila and we were not going to vote for him because of it, but he voted for my recipe today so now we’re going to have to reconsider. And now, Graciela’s pastelón for everybody!” she finished, and everyone followed her to a nearby table.

  “I guess I lost your aunt’s vote, then,” Jake shrugged, not really looking at Keila, and about to walk away.

  “Don’t worry; she’s here illegally so she can’t vote.” Keila couldn’t resist replying. At that, Jake whipped his head around to face her.

  “I’m just kidding! She was born and raised here. But did you see your reaction? You’re such a conservative.” Keila smiled up at him, feeling more comfortable now that she had teased him, and he finally looked down at her too, biting his lip, caught and clearly amused. “I like her and was concerned for her, that’s all.”

  Fireworks began to whistle up and explode in the sky in a blast of bright colors. Keila glanced up and laughed nervously because just looking at Jake after so long made the moment seem apt for fireworks.

  She watched as wave after wave of multi-colored flashes and flares coupled with explosive sounds filled the air. The sky above the harbor lit up, and the water below reflected the dazzle, but through it all she was mostly aware of Jake standing beside her. Everyone else remained silent, in awe of the spectacular display of colorful, showering lights. Keila was relieved to have the spectacle at least draw her eyes away from him.

  She heard Tania exclaim, “Hey, Robbie, there’s Jess,” and Keila, who hadn’t seen Robbie’s younger sister in months turned too, glad to have an old friend distract her.

  “Jess!” Robbie called.

  Keila turned toward Robbie and Tania to see the direction in which they were looking and frowned when she saw their faces. Robbie’s mouth was agape and Tania looked furious. Keila followed their gazes and her eyes widened in shock.

  Jess was wrapped in Mark’s arms and they were making out, heavily, on the pier. “Get a room!” someone from the boat laughingly shouted to the pair.

  Keila felt her heart hit her feet one second and a fiery burst of anger ignite her temper the next. But her aunt, her mother, and Tania were all by her side talking at once, saying things like “bendito,” and “pobre Keila,” and trying to shield her from the show.

  Both Jess and Mark finally turned in the direction of the boat. Mark immediately met Keila’s glower. Her mother said, “Come Keila, let’s get you away from those two.”

  But it was too late. Poof! Her temper had burst into flames. “Why that manipulative lying scumbag and that treacherous little—” she breathed in the last word and marched across the boat, stopping to stand on the edge of the plank as a defiant Mark and a guilty-looking Jessica stood on the other end. She heard her niece say, “And she says she’s not feisty,” which made her swallow hard and try to keep her anger in check. She was not feisty, she was just mad.

  “How long has this been going on?” she confronted them.

  They didn’t answer, so she looked at Mark, incredulously. “Did you start seeing her before or after we broke up, Mark?”

  Mark looked at Jess, as if to see if she would comply with a lie, but a miserable-looking Jess was just staring at the floor. So Keila had her answer. Robbie had said Jess had been keeping quiet about a new boyfriend for months, and to top it off, Keila had been the one to introduce them at her mother’s house a few months before. She’d even told Jess where Mark played!

  “You,” Keila pointed to Mark. “Are a self-centered jerk and a hypocrite.”

  “What about you? You and your issues—” Mark began, hotly.

  “I never cheated!” she fisted her hands into little balls, struggling to keep her voice even.

  People began to look their way and Keila decided to simply turn and walk away.

  “Aren’t you even going to hear us out?” Mark called after her.

  Keila threaded her way through a crowd of people still gazing up at the fireworks display and disappeared down some stairs that led her to a cramped galley. Leaning against a cold, metal stove, she tried to gather her thoughts and make sense of her anger. No, she wasn’t in love with Mark at all, but she’d been honest with him. To think she’d felt sorry for him! To think she’d felt guilty!

  And then there was Jess. That hurt even more. To be cheated on with someone she’d babysat, to be betrayed by someone she’d always been very good to. Feeling stupid, gullible, and blind, she wiped an angry tear from her cheek and held her breath, hoping to stop more from spilling, wishing for once she wasn’t so emotional.

  Then Jake came in and stood in front of her in the cramped galley. “So, that was your ex-boyfriend and someone I take it you know,” he said sympathetically, his deep voice so close it reverberated within her and threw her into a second tailspin of emotions.

  Keila nodded, looking up, suddenly feeling she had no business being angry about Mark and Jess when being in Jake’s presence felt so good; the whole thing was too confusing.

  “Do you want me to me to go up and make sure they leave the pier, so you don’t have to face them again when you leave?” he offered.

  Keila shook her head. “You don’t know my aunt Gina and Tania. I’m sure they’ve already gotten rid of him.”

  “Not that you couldn’t have handled it on your own,” he smiled one of his sudden smiles and Keila swallowed hard.

  “I feel so pathetic,” she put her head into her hands. “My quasi ex-boyfriend was trying to get back with me while
seeing my gay, first ex-boyfriend’s little sister behind my back.” While I lusted after Chicago’s possible next mayor, she thought.

  “Um, what?” Jake looked down at her. “Wait, I think I got it, Robbie was your first boyfriend? That girl with your ex was Robbie’s sister?”

  Keila nodded, sighing. “And Tania and my mom probably think I’m more upset than I am and they’ll want to drag me away with them this weekend even though having them fret over me is the last thing I need.”

  Jake lifted her chin with his thumb and made her look into a caring, concerned gaze she’d never seen on him. “What do you need?” he asked.

  Keila stared into his eyes and thought. “Peace, sheet music, and my violin.”

  “Then come away with me.” His gaze was so intent, she was nearly mesmerized.

  “Say what?”

  “You heard me.”

  Hearing him ask her to go away with him filled her with unexpected longing. But he backed away then, abruptly dropping his gaze and putting distance between them. “I need to blow off some steam too so I’m heading to my house by the Kankakee river this weekend, to do some work on it. It’s a big house, plenty of room, and you can practice all you want. It’s only an hour away and . . . I’d like to listen to you play while I work. I think listening to you will relax me.”

  Keila’s mind went on a wild three-second ride where her reason came up with a firm “no”, but her will to do what deep down she really wanted to do overrode her reason. Ignoring the nervous throbs in the pit of her belly she swallowed and murmured, “Okay.”

  They looked at each other, surprise palpable in each, for a long beat. Then Graciela’s concerned voice floated down to them. “Keila, are you down there? We’re all looking for you.”

  Without taking his eyes off her Jake called up, “She’s down here, Mrs. Diaz.” He then leaned toward her, soft gazes and concern gone, collected demeanor back, and instructed, “Pack a bag when you get home. I’ll pick you up at midnight at the same corner I dropped you off last time.”