Sweet Charity (3 page)

Her parents lived out this way, in the house she and her siblings grew up in. Her grandparents lived about three miles from her parents and they all had a big family dinner every other Sunday. It was pretty old school but Charity felt lucky at having all her family so close.

While she thought of it, she made a mental note to stop in at her grandparents’ on her way back home. She’d seen her granny for lunch a week back but she liked to keep an eye on them.

Family was important to Charity, which was one of the many reasons she liked Gabriel. He worked at the family business, he took care of his mother, made sure his father didn’t overdo it but always felt integral to the operations of their business. Family was important to him, too. She liked that in a man.

Priorities were central to any successful life and she didn’t want to be with someone who didn’t care about the things she did. Plus he was Portuguese like her mother. In fact, Charity’s mom and Beatriz, Gabriel’s mom, were good friends and often worked together on planning
festas
. Rosemary, Gabe and Rafe’s sister, had been on the
festa
court along with Charity and they remained close friends to that day. Over Charity’s life, she’d spent a great deal of time with the Bettencourts. They were like her extended family. She enjoyed being with them.

Despite her annoyance, she still felt lighter for admitting her feelings to herself as she took her left turn. The Bettencourt’s house sat on an acre or so just to the south of the actual dairy farm. They had a little retail storefront there as well as a new milk delivery service Raphael had come up with, along with delivery from some of the other local businesses. Fresh fruits, nuts and veggies were available as well.

She pulled up and got out, having long since become accustomed to the smell of cows and cow shit. The presence of a world class university didn’t mean Davis wasn’t still a small town at heart. She saw Beatriz Bettencourt, Gabriel’s mother, behind the counter and waved as she came through the door. The woman was in her late fifties and still looked amazing.

“Morning, Mrs. Bettencourt! I’m looking for Gabriel, is he around?”

Beatriz smiled as she gave Charity the once over. Sly but knowing, that face. Lucky for Charity, Mrs. Bettencourt liked her and if she thought a romance between Charity and Gabriel was a good thing, she’d be a solid ally. Hmpf, he thought he was so smart. Not so much there, boyo. Yet another weapon in her arsenal. Gabriel Bettencourt was going down.

“He seemed agitated this morning so he went for a ride. Would that mood have anything to do with you?”

Charity rolled her eyes. “He’s very stubborn.”

Beatriz laughed. “He is. So are you. That’s good. He’d run right over any woman who wasn’t as strong as he was. I know it’s been a while, but I remember you riding horses in all the
festa
parades. Go on, you know where the stable is.”

Charity smiled and gave the other woman a kiss on both cheeks. “
Obrigado
.” She thanked Beatriz and grabbed her coat from the car before heading to the stable.

Beatriz must have called ahead because one of the hands had a horse ready to go when she arrived and she swung up and into the saddle, getting herself familiar with the horse and her lead before they set out.

Charity hadn’t ridden in two years but she’d done enough as a child and into her young adulthood that it wasn’t hard to find her seat again.

“Last I saw Gabriel, he was out east,” the hand said as he pointed northeast toward a copse of trees off in the far distance.

“Thanks!” she called and rode in that direction.

It was a good ride, enough time to gather her thoughts, work on her mad and at least the cold air helped with her headache.

The Bettencourts’ land was larger than it appeared. The dairy sat on the southern acres but out to the north it was farmland they leased and past that, wilder land that hugged the riverbed.

The air was clean, fresh, the wind blowing opposite the dairy so all she smelled was earth and water and green from the trees. Sometimes being in town so much she tended to forget this part of Davis was so wonderful even though she saw it as she drove past. This was the part of her life she missed and coincidentally, it was the part of Davis Gabe existed in most often. Rugged, earthy, a place where men and women worked long hard hours to bring the rest of the world the things they needed. Charity had always found farming noble but not exotic like most of her classmates and friends back in LA did. Men like Gabe were different from the boys she dated in college, from the ones she dated here in Davis even.

There was a wildness in him, at the same time a sturdy reliability, a sort of steadfastness she found incredibly alluring. Gabriel Bettencourt was the kind of man who
did
things. He made things happen. A silly thought flitted through her head about camping with him. He’d be one of those guys who’d frown on bringing a truck full of gear. He’d make fires and cook fish he caught that day over them. He’d probably look really good naked in the starlight too.

But for the moment, she had bigger fish of the tall, dark and very handsome persuasion to fry. One who looked remarkably good with his denim jacket lined in wool, faded jeans and scuffed boots. The modern touch of a wool watch cap only made him more sexy.

It couldn’t be.
Gabe heard her voice, calling his name. He needed to have sex or something. Aural hallucinations were clearly a symptom of his useless obsession with Charity.

“Gabriel David Bettencourt, wait up!”

He reined his horse around and faced what was a lot more like an angry goddess than a hallucination. She rode toward him, her hair flying away from her gorgeous face, her legs encased in dark denim. She looked natural there seated on the mare but also exotic with her perfectly manicured nails.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, hoping he didn’t sound as lovesick as he felt.

“Nice to see you, too,” she snapped, those green eyes flashing. “I’m here because you ran out on me last night.”

“I’m surprised you remember any of it. I didn’t run out on you. I dumped your drunk ass in bed and went home like a gentleman.”

“Gentleman! Bah!”

He nearly laughed but wisely decided she might try to hurt him if he did.

“Are you insinuating I wasn’t a gentleman?”

“First of all, did I ask you to be a gentleman? If I recall, I asked you to have sex with me. I don’t want you to be a gentleman. Why are you so obsessed with that on my account anyway? When have I asked you to be anything but genuine?”

“So I’m not genuinely gentlemanly?”

“Gabe! I am going to kick you in the wedding tackle if you don’t stop being so obtuse. What is the issue? Seriously. This thing has been between us for years. I know I’m not imagining it. I know you kissed me back last night and I sure as hell know it was different than it’s been before. It was
hot.
You grabbed my hair, you gave me all I wanted and more. How can you be like that one minute and act like I’m stinkier than a cow patty the next? You’re giving me a complex. Am I horrible? Was that your pity kiss?”

“What on earth would make you think you were horrible? Charity, you’re beautiful. You know that. You’re constantly being chased around by men all over Davis.” He hated the look on her face.

“Are you my friend?”

He jerked back. “Of course I am. We’ve been friends since third grade.”

“Then why are you dodging my questions? Come on. Give me a break. I’ve been chasing you and chasing you and it’s humiliating now. Put me out of my misery if that’s the case. If you don’t find me attractive just say so. Then I can lick my wounds and in a few months we can be friends again, sans the flirting. Because, Gabe, I am crushing on you in a major way. I have been for a very long time. Please. Just tell me.”

She’d been so bold to come out here and tell him all this stuff, he had to be honest. And the knowledge she’d been yearning for him as much as he had her drove him to clamp down on the smile he wanted to give her.

“Yes, okay? I am attracted to you. A man would have to be blind not to be attracted to you. But we’re friends and I don’t want to ruin that.”

The soft look on her face slid away into annoyance. “
Friends
! You just want to be friends? Why did you kiss me back last night then? You want to have sex with me, just admit it, you big wimp. I came out here, I’m being totally honest and you’re dancing around like a lawyer instead of a dairy farmer. Let Belle do the lawyering, bucko, she’s good at it. Give. Me. A. Straight. Answer.”

He scrubbed his hands over his face. “You’re a pain in the ass. I kissed you because I want to kiss you every time I see you and yes, I want to fuck you, too. But it doesn’t mean we should.”

“We need to discuss this mess. You’re coming to dinner at my house tonight. Seven. Don’t be late.” She turned her horse around and rode off, leaving him behind, his mouth still hanging open.

Dinner. She’d made it thousands of times. Had made it for men dozens of times so why did she feel like such a moron? Charity browsed through the racks of clothing in her shop, looking for something new to wear that night for dinner with Gabriel.

“Charity, I’ve seen you snare more than one male. Why let this one be any different? Come on, I really think you need to tell me the whole story. I’ve been begging you for years now,” Faith said.

She looked up at her friend and sighed. Why not just tell it? “Because this one
is
different. The whatever-it-is between me and Gabriel goes way back. When I was like, oh, sixteen I think, he was seventeen, we were off doing something, can’t remember why but I’m sure we weren’t supposed to be doing it. We were down at the river. It had been hot and we’d been using a tire swing. You know, out over the water, you jump off, whatever.

“We’d been there hours and hours, laughing, playing. About twenty of us. And suddenly he just looked at me. We’d been joking and suddenly it was like he
saw
me. Really saw me as a girl and everything. It started then.”

Faith leaned in, grinning. “How romantic!”

“Okay so I sort of said Gabriel and I had a brief thing and I went to college. It goes like this. He was a year ahead in school and I’d just graduated. I was due to head off to UCLA in the fall but I had all summer to hang out and just have a good time. He had his own place with Rafe, this house out on Bettencourt land actually. There was a party out there pretty much every other night. For a few parties running he and I had had this major chemistry. He’d kissed me at one of them. Nothing super sexual or anything, but it was all simmering beneath the surface.”

“Oh the best kind!” Faith grinned.

“Yep. Anyway, so I came out there and it was late. We’d all been swimming and had come back and I don’t know, I was in his room all the sudden and we were kissing. It was the hottest thing. No guy in high school had
ever
kissed me that way. In fact, until he kissed me again last night, no one had kissed me that way since. That kiss owned me. I wanted him so much. One thing led to another but somewhere along the line it just turned…
awkward
. Uncomfortable. When he was done he just sort of rolled over and apologized.” Charity cringed at the memory and Faith made a sympathetic face.

“Anyway, it was horrible. The single worst sexual experience of my life. I ran out of there and avoided him and all those parties for the rest of the summer and went away to school. I really didn’t talk to him again until I was in my second year and we didn’t really reconnect our friendship until I’d graduated and come back to Davis. We’ve been friends a long time, I wouldn’t want to lose it. But I think we can be more.” She wanted so much more.

“Oh my God, what a horrible story. Ack! Did he ever tell you what happened?”

“Not really. When I moved back here, we just sort of pretended it never happened. I’ve never confronted it directly until last night. I’m gonna know just what his problem is if it kills us both.” She paused. “Faith, I really like Gabriel.
Like
him like him.”

“Well then take him.” Faith shrugged, not doubting Charity’s ability for a moment and it cheered her immensely.

She pulled a dress from the rack and looked it over slowly. It had potential

A pair of mary jane heels with stockings and a garter belt would complete the look. Assuming she could get him to peel away the layers to get that far.

A week until Christmas so they’d be crazy busy until the 23
^rd
when they’d close early and then stay closed until the day after Christmas. The store was packed all day and Charity knew she’d be able to give Faith a nice bonus based on her profits.

Her mother and sister came through the door in the early afternoon with coffee and scones.

“Thought you might need a pick-me-up. Looks like a busy day for you, huh?” Her mother kissed her cheek and picked up a scarf Charity had actually laid aside to give her mother for her birthday in January. “Pretty. I’ll take it.”

“Mom, you were just in here two days ago.” Charity grinned at her sister, Marta, over their mom’s shoulder.

“I know but you get new stuff in all the time. What if I miss something good like this scarf?” Paula Harris was the source of Charity’s love of clothing. When Charity and Marta were young, they’d go out with their mom, their Grandma Dores, their Aunt Carmen and their cousins, and they’d hit garage sales and second-hand stores once a month. As a group, they still managed to get out once every few months even though her grandmother wasn’t as spry as she used to be.

Charity could spot vintage across a room in the back of a rack or folded up and forgotten on a shelf of a junk shop. Her mother had bred a second sense into her and because of that, she had some gorgeous pieces in her closet she’d never have been able to afford without flea markets and thrift stores.

Charity’s shop, Second Time Around, wasn’t a junk shop or a thrift shop. She was very choosy about what she took in, many items on consignment. She also hit her share of garage sales, flea markets and estate sales to find stock. As such, she’d built a unique business for herself and had created a solid profile in town. She was proud of what she’d done
and
that she’d done it in her home town. It was nice that half her customers were family or friends of her family. Coming from a big extended family had many plusses.