Kate Hoffmann - A Fare To Remember

“This is where I chose to make my life,” Sabina said. “Near my grandmother, and our friends.”

“And what if you had a reason to leave?”

“What possible reason would I have to leave?” Sabina asked. “Money? I have all I need for now.”

“What if you got married?” Alex challenged. “Moved to a new city, a new state?”

“And why would I have to move? Why couldn’t my husband live here with me?”

Alec glanced around. “It’s a little small for a family, don’t you think?” The moment the words left his lips, Alec regretted saying them. He wasn’t planning their future together, he was merely posing a hypothetical question. Still, he was desperate to know where he stood with her.

Did Sabina consider this just a simple one-night stand? Or did she imagine them in a relationship, falling in love and then getting married? For so long, he’d avoided even the thought of commitment. But now Alec understood the allure. To spend every night in bed with a woman like Sabina would be like a little slice of heaven on earth.

He pulled her closer, tucking her backside into the curve of his body. “I like your apartment,” he said, his lips pressed against her shoulder. “It feels like a home.”

Sabina sighed as if willing to give up the argument for now. Alec closed his eyes and let his thoughts drift. It did feel like home, lying in her bed with his arms wrapped around her naked body. This was all a man really needed out of life, he mused. He could be satisfied with this and nothing more.

But Alec knew from experience that sooner or later reality would creep back in. For him, it had always been sooner. But this time, he’d found something special, something he was willing to protect at all costs.

Sabina wriggled in his embrace. “Why are we talking about this?” She tossed the covers back and crawled out of bed. “I’m getting dressed and then I’m going to go fetch us dinner. You can relax.”

“I’ll come with you,” Alec said.

“No,” Sabina said. “You’ll just slow me down with those crutches. And I’m starving. Thai or pizza?”

“Thai,” he said. “Noodles with peanut sauce.”

“To drink?”

“Beer. Always drink beer with Thai food.”

She grabbed a light cotton dress from her closet and pulled it over her, then slipped into a pair of sandals. Bending over the bed, she gave him a quick kiss. But Alec slipped his hand around her nape and held her close, lingering over her lips for a long moment.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she said.

As he listened to her leave, he realized just what had happened in Sabina’s bedroom. He’d crossed a line, stepped into something that he’d never experienced before. He didn’t want to spend a single minute away from her. Already, the world seemed empty without her near.

Alec rolled over and stared at the ceiling. Was this what love felt like? He threw his arm over his eyes and cursed softly. He thought when it finally happened to him it would come slowly, giving him time to be certain of his feelings. But this had hit him like the express train to Brooklyn, knocking him flat on his ass and jumbling his senses.

ALEC STOOD IN THE HALLWAY outside Sabina’s apartment. She’d left the apartment an hour earlier to tend the shop, telling him she’d bring coffee and bagels back once Chloe arrived for work. He’d spent the past four nights in her bed, falling asleep with her in his arms, then rushed back to his house the next morning to shower and change before work.

But today was Saturday, and he’d decided that now would be a good time to settle things once and for all. It was time to shoot the elephant in the room, or at least move it to other quarters. Alec reached up to rap on Ruta’s apartment door, but it swung open in front of him before he could touch it.

She stood in the doorway, dressed not in her Gypsy costume, but in a simple pair of trousers and a teal polo shirt. She looked so young, her gray hair drawn back into a ponytail and her feet bare. Alec was drawn to her eyes, the same pretty violet that Sabina’s were.

“You have come to talk to me,” Ruta said. “I have been expecting you.”

Alec observed her dubiously. “How did you know I was here?”

“I felt your presence,” Ruta said.

“Or you were watching out the peephole?” Alec asked.

Ruta gave him a grudging smile. “Not much goes on in this building that I do not know about.” Her blunt words made her meaning perfectly clear. She knew he was sleeping with Sabina and she wasn’t pleased. Still, she hadn’t cursed him, that was a positive sign.

“We need to talk,” Alec said. “We need to sit down and discuss an offer for this building. I’m not going to badger you like my father did. I ask that you listen and then give me an answer one way or another. I promise I’ll make a fair offer if you’ll give me a fair hearing. May I come in?”

Ruta nodded. “I think you are a gentleman like your grandfather. It is good you do not take after your father. He is a jackass.”

Alec chuckled. “I’d tend to agree with that opinion.”

He followed Ruta into her apartment. Though the layout was a mirror image of Sabina’s place, this apartment was decorated like the interior of a Gypsy wagon.

Rich fabrics draped the walls and windows and an assortment of bizarre items cluttered all available surfaces. A stuffed raven perched on the mantel and a jar full of black pebbles sat on a table near the door. He crossed the room and stood by an ornate Victorian sideboard, examining an intricately carved box, inlaid with ivory.

“This is beautiful,” he said, running his fingers over the top.

“It belonged to my mother,” Ruta explained. “She carried it from the old country. It was filled with all her charms and potions.” She crossed the room and opened the box. She held up a necklace with a small clay pendant on the end. He’d seen Sabina wear one much like it. “This is the charm my mother used to catch my father.” She pulled out another necklace. “And here is the charm that I used to catch my own dear husband. And I gave it to my daughter when she met a man she wanted.”

“And they worked?” Alec asked.

Ruta nodded. “We fall in love fast in our family. I expect Bina will be the same, once she finds the right man. It will happen like a thunderbolt.”

The old woman was very wise. It was no wonder so many came to her to help them solve their problems. She charged far less than a Manhattan psychologist, but she seemed to know human nature just as well. “I didn’t know my grandfather well,” Alec said. “But I can understand why he gave you this building.”

Ruta reached out and took Alec’s hand, giving it a pat. “He was a fine man. A man who loved his wife as much as any man I have ever met.”

“He died when I was nine,” Alec explained. “My grandmother died five years later. I always remembered how happy they were together. You were part of that.”

Ruta shrugged. “Your grandmother would have gotten well whether I told that fortune or not. Her fate was not in my hands.” She pointed to the sofa. “Let us sit down and you will tell about this deal of yours. I will listen and then I will politely refuse you. Or perhaps, this time, I will change my mind.”

“Would you really consider that?” Alec asked, stunned by her admission.

“If the terms are right. But I have terms of my own. I would expect you to take good care of all of my tenants.”

She sat down on the sofa and he sat next to her. “We’d be prepared to find them new places to live, together if they’d like. And they would get a generous settlement that would make them all very comfortable.”

“And if they wanted to stay?”

“I think I could arrange that,” Alec said. He leaned forward, catching her gaze. “Why sell now? What changed your mind?”

“It was something my friend Mario said,” Ruta explained. “As long as I am here, Sabina will feel tied to this place. It is time she set out on her own path in life and stopped following mine. She is a very talented designer, but she is stuck here watching after me and the people in this building. This is not the life I want for her. If I sell, I can give her the money to start her own company. I can give her a future.”

“Maybe this is the life she wants,” Alec said.

Ruta reached out and took his hand again. But this time, she turned his palm up. She traced the lines with her fingertips. “I think you are falling in love with my granddaughter,” she said. “Or are you in love with her already?”

“You can see that there?”

Ruta laughed softly. “No, I see it in your eyes when you look at her. In the way you stand beside her as if you are ready to protect her from anything that might hurt her. You watch out for her the way my husband did for me.”

“It’s crazy, I know,” Alec said. “We’ve known each other just over a week. The moment we met, she had me. For a while, I thought she might have put a spell on me, but now I realize that she’s just the most wonderful woman I’ve ever met.”

“Perhaps it was your destiny that you meet.” She frowned. “I must speak to your grandfather about this. I am certain he would approve.” She turned his hand over and gave it a pat. “So, Alec, what do you plan to do about this?”

Alec braced his elbows on his knees and studied the lines in his palms. “I don’t know how she feels. I don’t think she really trusts me completely.”

“Do you blame her?” Ruta asked.

He shook his head. “I guess not. But I’m happy to wait until she does.”

“Good. Then, let us talk terms. Tell me your offer.”

They talked for a long time, Alec outlining his proposal and Ruta countering with her own ideas. She was a tough negotiator, but she was also fair, understanding his point of view on each matter, though not necessarily agreeing. He sketched out each of the conditions of the sale on the back of a manila envelope, and when he was done, he handed it to her.