A Fare To Remember_ Just Whistle_Driven - Vicki Lewis Thompson [101]
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.
CHAPTER FIVE
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