Page 20 of Earl
He couldn’t wait to hear her voice and if he went one day without talking to her, he felt like crap. Her voice lulled him to sleep at nights and even though it also made him feel damned uncomfortable, he treasured their conversations.
She gave his life purpose.
“So, what are you doing for Halloween?”
She laughed and told him her tradition of going to a Halloween themed party and handing out candies to children in her neighborhood.
*****
Cathy set about straightening up the place, her mind not really on the mundane task. She had someone coming in a few days of the week to do the heavy lifting like laundry and dusting, but she preferred to do the everyday chores by herself.
She had grown up without having anything to her name and it had become a wonder to her when she started making more than enough money to purchase genuinely nice house and designer clothes, when she had become so accustomed to hand me downs. It took her awhile to realize that she was well off.
She had money in the bank, an accountant who took very good care of her money and made certain she invested in lucrative holdings. She gave a lot to charity, her way of giving back for what she had been blessed with.
She never had to worry about where her next meal was coming from or about feeling cold and uncomfortable. She was able to buy anything she wanted, and it was something she never took for granted.
She worked damn hard and was very talented. She had very wealthy and influential friends, Monique Romano being one ofthem as well as Justin who was an international model. She was satisfied with her life, or at least, she thought she was.
Earl had called her early this morning to say that he was already on his way to Europe, and she wished him a safe journey.
“I’ll call you as soon as I land.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know I don’t, but I want to.”
And she was counting the hours until he landed. He had said Europe and had not been specific. Was he going to the UK, or it could be Italy or Spain or even France. Why hadn’t he said his destination? She wondered as she swiped the cloth over the glossy marble fireplace.
When she was looking for a house, she had been very specific and fussy about it. After never having a place to call her own, she had wanted a home. The place had been owned by a wealthy old couple who decided that the cold was no longer what they wanted to contend with.
When her realtor called excitedly to tell her that she found what Cathy was looking for, she had been skeptical at first until she saw the place. It was a modest enough cottage type home with rugged and weathered red bricks making up the exterior. It was not so much the house that had caught her attention but the grounds.
It had a lot of land, with maple, oak, cedar and an orange and apple grove. It was a farm without the animals, and she had fallen in love instantly.
She loved the wide-open spaces, the bubbling brook, the gazebo standing next to it and the abundance of flowers growing wild. She had not cared about the price and had been determined that it be hers.
She had barely had to change anything and to her delight, the couple had agreed to sell her most of the antique furnishings they had collected over the years.
Cathy had made it into a home. She much preferred living here to some sterile apartment with all the modern amenities. She had a pool installed and a sturdy swing made on one of the strong oak trees.
Justin had teased her about wanting to capture her childhood. And he was right. She had not had much of one and now that she could afford to do as she damn well pleased, she wanted to indulge.
Sitting down on the ottoman, she twisted the dust rag around her fingers restlessly. She had agreed to meet Earl as soon as he came back, and she instinctively knew he was no longer going to be put off. The fear lodging inside her throat was suffocating.
What if he didn’t like what he saw? Could she bear another disappointment? She had started to have feelings for him, very strong ones. If for some reason, he decided that they were not suited, she had no idea what she would do.
*****
The flight was interminable. The contract he had taken out of his briefcase after takeoff was opened on the elegant desk unread, the words blurring together. It was ridiculous, but he felt as if he was leaving something unresolved. As if he was leaving the woman he was falling in love with for her to meet someone else.
He had never asked if she was pursuing some other guy online. Shaking his head at illogical thought, he turned his mind to something other than what was tormenting him. He wanted to meet her. A smile touched his lips as he recalled their last conversation, about her being afraid that he was going to be disappointed in her.
As if that was even a remote possibility. He was sure she was as beautiful as her voice or even more so. And that she was desirable as hell. He did not want to form a picture of what she looked like, he preferred to leave that until they met.
He did not want a preconceived notion of her. Dismissing the eager flight attendant who came forward with a breakfast menu, he concentrated on the cup of excellent coffee he had ordered.
He was not hungry. It amazed him that in the past, was it only a mere two weeks since he started talking to her? He found it difficult to believe that it was such a short space of time, considering how impactful it was.