Honor was still giggling over Melody’s goof when she passed by Helen’s office and caught her curious eye. She decided to stop to say hello, and shared Melody’s unfortunate mixed metaphor. When they finally stopped laughing, Honor reminded Helen, “I’ll be leaving for Florida tomorrow afternoon. Do you need anything from me before I go?”
“Nope. I got all those invoices out already. By the way, how are things going between you and Cody?”
“I’ll find out tonight. I’m taking your advice about keeping him interested in our conversations. I’m going to buy a Spiderman coloring book on the way home, so we can talk about the characters on each page. I’ll let you know if it works.”
Honor left, still clutching the folder containing the accounting report and Melody’s information. She suspected the Jaguar belonged to Miss Barely Legal, William’s child bride, but she would have to wait until she returned to Florida to confirm that hunch.
The day was evaporating. She met with her engineering team to finalize their long-distance work routines. At the end of the meeting, Pete Cross spoke up. “Quit worrying so much, Honor. I know I speak for the whole group when I say we’re fine with you telecommuting -- that is, as long as you never forget your Blackberry again.”
Honor grinned. She had developed an extraordinary team of engineers. No matter what happened, no one could take that accomplishment from her.
***
When she left the office that night, Honor dashed across the street to a drugstore and began searching the low children’s book shelf for a Spiderman coloring book that Cody didn’t already own. While she was stooped down, she caught sight of William coming into the store, and he was not alone. He and Yvonne strode down the aisle opposite where Honor was crouched, without noticing her.
She heard William’s seductive voice ask, “Ribbed for her pleasure or cherry-tasting?”
Yvonne tittered like a schoolgirl, completely smitten by William. “Why not both?” she teased.
William laughed and they headed for the counter to pay for the condoms.
Honor sat down on the floor, repulsed. When he had asked her for a divorce, William claimed it was because he found his soul mate. But here he was, cheating on Miss Barely Legal only a few months after she had given birth to his baby. It crossed Honor’s mind that Miss Barely Legal had herself, knowingly bedded a married man, and in terms of karma, what goes around, comes around. But she felt sorry for the girl, nonetheless.
She picked out a coloring book and walked to the check-out counter, where a friendly, elderly woman was operating the register. “I’ll bet your little boy is going to love this.”
Honor didn’t correct the woman. “I’m sure he will… he loves anything with a web on it. Listen, that man and woman who just left…do they come in here often?”
The clerk glanced toward the exit. “I’ve never seen the woman before, but the guy has been a regular for years. He does pretty well with the ladies… always seems to have a new one hanging on his arm. Personally, I don’t get it. He must have a lot of money or something. Why? Do you know him?”
“I thought I did,” Honor mumbled.
She left the store and stopped for a slice of pizza before going home. Though she tried to focus on savoring the Chicago deep-dish slice, her mind insisted on replaying the scene between William and Yvonne. Feeling gullible and foolish, she wondered how many times a similar scenario had played out while she was still married to the rat bastard. She was thankful those days were over.
Suddenly she realized how much she wanted to be in Florida, talking to Josh and feeling his arms around her. She wanted to rock Cody to sleep. She wanted to visit with Darcy and Margaret in her dreams and thank them for teaching her the value of developing allies and standing up for herself. And she didn’t want to sell her mother’s home when the renovations were complete. With her thoughts clear, she decided, “It’s time for my sisters to learn about my new life.”
At her condo, she poured a large glass of wine and curled up in a comfortable chair. Her first call was to her sister, Charity.
“Hi, Cherry. Brace yourself. I’ve decided to start commuting between Chicago and Belleair, and I want to buy-out your share of Mom’s house.”
“What? Are you crazy? You have the perfect life… a beautiful condo in a fantastic city, plenty of cash and no obligations. I dream about leading your life. And why would you want to spend any more time in sleepy old Belleair than you absolutely have to?”
“Because…”
“Wait a minute…this decision to uproot your life involves a man, doesn’t it?”
“Well, I am seeing a special man, but my decision really has more to do with some stuff I learned during my stay at the Belleview Biltmore Resort. It’s about living my own life and keeping my priorities straight.”
Cherry interrupted again. “What is it about that place? Mom had to stay there every couple months to ‘get her fix,’ and now you’re talking the same way she used to.”
“About that...did you ever hear Mom talk about spirits haunting the Belleview Biltmore?”
“Yeah,” Cherry replied cautiously.
It wasn’t the answer Honor expected. “Really? What did she say?”
“It happened one summer while you were at camp and Chase was staying with Grandma. Mom decided to take me with her to the Resort for one of her weekends. I remember being all excited about having a sleep away with Mom, just the two of us. She told me the hotel was haunted, and if I was lucky, I would see a few ghosts. I thought she was joking. Anyway, the whole weekend, Mom insisted we take long naps in the afternoon and go to bed early. I remember being really bored. Every time we woke up, she asked me if I saw any ghosts in my dreams, and she seemed disappointed that I didn’t. It was all pretty creepy, if you ask me. I just went with her the one time, which was fine with me. Why are you asking me about this, anyway?”
“Just curious.”
“I seem to remember Mom took Chase with her one weekend, too. You know, I should think about taking each of my girls on special sleep-away trips. We could…”
“Listen, Cherry, the reason I called is to see if you would like to come down to Florida for a visit before the renovation gets underway. I’m inviting Patty and Chase, too.”
“That sounds like fun, but I’ll have to take a look at my calendar to see if I can get away. You know, the girls keep me so busy…”
“This is important to me. Try to work it out and let me know tomorrow, okay?”
As soon as they hung up, Honor dialed Patience’s number. A recording invited her to leave a message.
“Hi, Patty. We have lots to talk about. I’ve decided to buy Mom’s house and I’m hoping to get all of us girls together in Belleair for a few days real soon. Call me as soon as you get this message and I’ll fill you in on the details. Love ya!”
Lastly, Honor called Chastity, the easy-going baby of the family, who was in favor of Honor keeping the old family home.
“That’s cool. I didn’t like thinking about other people living in our house,” Chase said. “What will you do about your company in Chicago?”
“Things are up in the air, but for now, I’ll telecommute. I’ll know more soon,” Honor hedged. “In the meantime, I’m staying at the Belleview Biltmore for a little while longer, and I’m hoping to talk you, Cherry and Patty into coming down for a few days… sort of a Macklin sisters’ reunion before the remodeling gets underway. Are you game?”
“I wouldn’t mind coming down, as long as we all stay at Mom’s house and not that hotel.”
“I’m intrigued. Why would you rather sleep in an empty house than at a luxury Resort?”
“Didn’t you ever hear the story about my weekend there with Mom?”
“No… tell me.”
“I was just a little kid, and I know it’s silly, but I had some nightmares there, and they scared me so much that I never went back.”
“What did you dream about?” Honor coaxed.
“It doesn’t matter. I just think the hotel is creepy and would rather not stay there, okay?”
Honor was certain Chase’s nightmare was actually an encounter with the spirit realm, but decided to wait until Chase was in Florida before revealing her own experiences there.
“No problem… we can stay at Mom’s, but I want to introduce you guys to the new man in my life, Josh, and his little boy, Cody.”
Chase squealed, “Yippee! I’m so glad you’re finally over William.” She hesitated a moment, then confessed, “I guess it’s okay to tell you now. William hit on me the last time I came to visit you in Chicago.”
Honor cringed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to mess up your marriage.”
“Well, I’m sorry that happened to you. I saw him slipping around with his assistant, Yvonne, earlier tonight, so he probably cheated on me a lot.”
“Yuck, he’s with Yvonne? That bag of bones? Wonder what he’s up to? I mean, men like William are all about using women. His kind runs after young girls to use their bodies, but you have to wonder…what’s he using Yvonne for?” Chased clucked her tongue. “Watch your back, Honor. He could be trying to gain Yvonne’s loyalty so she’ll manipulate company records or lie for him. I’ve seen women like her do some crazy shit for men.”
“I hope you’re wrong, but thanks for the warning. I have to run, but I’ll try to call back tomorrow to lock in a date for our reunion.”
When they hung up, Honor poured herself another glass of wine, fetched the coloring book and then dialed Josh and Cody on her computer. Helen’s idea about using the book to hold Cody’s attention worked perfectly. They discussed each of the Spiderman characters and which crayons Cody would choose to color their costumes. Then he showed her his scraped elbow.
“I forgot I wasn’t supposed to run by the pool and I fell down,” he explained.
“Aw, poor Cody. If you put your elbow on the computer screen, I’ll kiss it and make it better.”
After her kiss, Cody inspected his scrape and declared, “Kisses don’t work over the computer.”
Honor pretended to be shocked. “That didn’t work? Well when I get back to Florida tomorrow, I’ll have to kiss it right!”
Cody grinned at the news of her return and nodded his agreement.
Off-screen, she heard Josh say, “Okay Cody, it’s time for bed. Say ‘goodnight’ to Honor.”
Cody mumbled his farewell while climbing off the chair, then Josh’s face appeared on her monitor, his blue eyes sparkling.
“Hey, did I mention my whole body hurts? I’m think I’m gonna need lots of kisses all over.”
Honor laughed. “I’ll bet.”
He gave her a wink. “Bye for now. I’ll call your cell after I get Cody to sleep.”
Honor decided to see how much of her packing she could get done before Josh called and was pleased with her efforts. By the time the phone rang, she was packing the last of her things—some sexy lingerie.
She told Josh everything that had transpired over the last two days, starting with forming The Circle and ending with Chase’s warning that William might be using Yvonne to help hide his criminal activity.
Josh whistled. “Wow. Busy couple of days, huh? For what it’s worth, I agree with your sister. William does seem like the kind of scumbag who would take advantage of a woman like that. But even together, they’re no match for you. I mean, look at what you’re capable of. You just created a whole organization in a single night!”
Honor blushed. “Give me a break. It’s not an organization. It’s a little group.”
“Well, maybe it’s a little group right now, but all you have to do is give it a catchy motto and it could go national.”
Honor giggled. “A catchy motto?”
“Sure—something like - ‘In the circle of life, we’re the part that comes after the Girl Scouts and before the Red Hats.’” He chuckled. “Well, you’ll think of something better.”
“Yeah, right.”
“What can I say? I expect big things from you.”