For Better or Cursed

“I got hungry.”

“Rosebuds delivers.”

“Aunt Flo had other plans.”

“Oh, so this is Aunt Flo’s fault. Then why isn’t she in the back seat?”

“I was being a gentleman.”

“Don’t say that too loud, I might hear you and get the wrong idea.”

He smiled. “Look, Cate, I’ll do anything you want, just don’t let cousin Charlie near me.”

She had to smile back. He looked too cute. “So tell me, Sir Gallant, aside from your general maladies, why can’t you get out of here?”

“My foot is stuck under the front seat.”

“Not quite as much room back there as your limo, huh?”

“Do you ever stop?”

Cate dropped her gaze for a moment and took a breath, and that’s when she remembered the problem with the front passenger seat. It had a bolt missing and a gaping hole in the slider thing. If you put anything near it or around it when someone slid the seat back, that anything would get gobbled up. She’d lost a new pair of shoes once and it had torn a pair of Gina’s best pants right off her leg just two weeks before.

Both Gina and Cate had intended to have their dad fix it in his body shop, but neither of them had made the effort to get it over to him, and as long as no one sat in the back seat…so much for that theory.

She looked up again, and was about to tell him the missing-bolt story, but he was staring at her. He had the most gorgeous eyes, with thick long eyelashes, and the way his hair fell across his forehead reminded her of the reason she had fallen in love with him in the first place. Rudy had the ability, with just one sweet look, to make a girl believe everything he said.

It was that other Rudy, the evil-twin Rudy, who had been in her office earlier; aggravating her temper, causing irrational behavior in an otherwise completely rational person. He was the Rudy she knew.

“You’re right,” she said. “I’m sorry. So…you’re stuck.”

“A temporary condition, I’m sure.” He twisted himself around to face the front.

Aunt Flo stuck her head in the car. “Your dad says we’re gonna have to call the fire department. Vinney McCally is on tonight. He knows how to work them Jaws of Life.”

“That might be a little extreme and I’ve got…” Cate said, but before she could finish her sentence the sound of sirens echoed through the neighborhood.

“Oops, too late,” Aunt Flo declared and pulled herself out of the car to look down the street. Cate stepped out, as well.

“Ya know, it’s times like these that I don’t blame Rudy for leaving this place,” Cate told her aunt.

Rudy rolled down the back window. “Tell me there’s an actual fire somewhere and that sound isn’t for me,” he said with genuine concern in his voice.

Cate smiled down at him, then turned away as the hook-and-ladder pulled up alongside the tiny car and three burly firemen jumped out, Vinney McCally being one of them.

“It’s for you,” she told Rudy.

Rudy sat back and sighed.

Vinney walked over to Cate, dressed in complete catastrophe gear. “Cate, is it the old man? Don’t worry about a thing. I’m here now. Where is he, Cate? It’s gonna be all right.”

Vinney McCally was one of those short but powerful kind of guys. The gymnast type who worked out more than he should and had to buy his clothes three sizes too big just to fit across his double-wide chest.

Cate had dated him for a little while until he started talking marriage. That’s when a tree fell on him one Sunday afternoon in Lincoln Park while he walked his mother’s schnauzer.

The schnauzer got away without a scratch, but Vinney was pinned under a limb for two hours. When it was all over and he was lying on a table in the emergency room with a fractured pelvis and a broken arm, Vinney whispered into Cate’s ear, “I’m breaking up with you. Please go home and take your curse with you.”

It was during that time, while he lay there in a broken heap, that he decided to become a Chicago fireman. He told everyone that if he could survive dating Cate Falco, he could certainly survive fires and dangerous accidents.

“It’s not my father. It’s Rudy Bellafini. He’s trapped in the back seat,” she explained.

“Get out!” Vinney said as he hunkered down to get a better look inside.

Rudy smiled and finger waved.

“What d’ya know. Now, that’s a guy I never thought I’d see in this part of town again. But what’s he doin’ in the back seat of your car?” Vinney asked and waved back at Rudy. “You got him trapped in there or somethin’? Trying to get your revenge?”

“No. He did it on his own. His foot is stuck.”

“Geez, Cate. That curse thing just don’t want to let you go, huh? He didn’t propose again, did he?”

Cate’s temper reared up and she lashed out.

“No, Vinney. There were no proposals. He’s just stuck. Can’t a guy get his foot stuck without it being related to some damn curse?”

“Hold on. Don’t have a coronary. I was only kiddin’.”

He leaned inside the open door on the driver’s side of the car. “Hey, man. How ya doin’? It’s been a while.” They shook hands.

“Been better,” Rudy said. “Can you get me out of here, dude?”

Cate had to smile watching laid-back Vinney deal with uptight Rudy.

“Oh, sure, man. Don’t worry about a thing. We’ll have you outta here in no time.”

“Can we do it before the press finds out?”

“They ain’t gonna find out if I don’t tell ’em, now are they?”

“Thanks, dude. I owe you one.”

“Just doing my job, man. Now let’s see what’s going on under there.” He turned around and yelled for one of the other firemen to get a light, and suddenly the whole street lit up like the sun had just come out.

FOR THE NEXT TWO HOURS, Vinney and his rescue team from the Loomis Street Station worked to set Rudy free.

In the end the front passenger seat had to be removed through the roof, which, of course, required a hole. Cate actually cried a little when she saw the roof come off and the seat come out in tiny pieces.

“Don’t worry about it,” Aunt Flo said, as chunks of Cate’s car hit the pavement with a sharp clank. “Rudy told me he’s still got plenty of loot. He’ll get you a brand-new one of them bug cars.”

The ’79 classic Beetle had more sentimental value than retail value, so the replacement idea had little impact. Cate had bought it secondhand when she was a teenager. She had worked a whole year in a hot bakery and saved every dime. She loved that car and had a hard time lending it to her sister…who had promised to take good care of it, which, until Rudy Bellafini came along, she had.

But it wasn’t her sister’s fault, it was Cate’s. She was sure of it now.

When Rudy finally came limping out of the car, using Vinney’s right arm for support, the group, which now consisted of the entire neighborhood plus a couple of lost tourists, cheered.

A male paramedic checked out Rudy’s foot. Cate could tell Rudy was anxious about something, which was good. The sooner she could get him into that ambulance, the better.

“Can you walk?” the paramedic asked.

“I think so. I just want to get inside somewhere.”

He started to take a step but he stumbled. Vinney grabbed Rudy under one arm for support, and the paramedic grabbed the other.

“Easy there, fella. Put your weight on me,” Vinney commanded, his tone official. That was something Cate wasn’t used to. It gave her a new sense of respect for her former boyfriend.

“I guess I’m in worse shape than I thought,” Rudy said with a slight edge to his voice.

“Maybe you should lie down. Take it easy. You might do better at the hospital,” Vinney told him.

“I’ve had enough of hospitals. They can kill ya. No telling who they let in there. I’ll call a cab and go back to my dad’s old house. I’ll be fine there,” he said, but then gazed over at Cate with his “save me” look that she never could refuse.

“Bring him inside,” she told Vinney, guilt oozing into her reasoning. She told herself it would just be for a few hours, just until he was steady on his feet.

“But—” Vinney started to say.

Cate broke in. “He’ll be fine. Nothing’s broken.”

“Whatever you say.” Vinney helped Rudy across the lawn and up the stairs. Gina led the way, opening doors and moving anything and anybody in their path.

“We’ll put him down in a chair in the living room for now,” Cate said, but the living room was crowded with neighbors admiring Henry’s indoor garden, and the dining room was filled with hungry relatives, so they took him to the one place in all the world where Cate thought she would never, ever see Rudy Bellafini again.

Vinney walked him up the stairs to Cate’s bedroom and put him right down in the center of her queen-size, antique, walnut bed.

5

RUDY REMEMBERED all the times he had sneaked up to this bedroom when they were dating, and wondered if he was lying on the same mattress they had made love on countless times.

God she was hot.

It was essentially the same room. Frilly and girly, just the way he liked it.

Of all the bedrooms in all the world, I had to walk, okay, hobble back into this one.

“Hope that foot don’t give you too much trouble,” Vinney said. “Say, if you’re gonna be around for a while, come on over on a Friday night. Got a card game going with some of the old gang. Love to get my hands on a little of that dough I been hearing about.”

“I don’t know. I’m not much of a gambler,” Rudy said with a dismissive tone. “But, hey, thanks for everything, dude.” He stuck out his hand for a closing handshake. Vinney took it and gave him one of those heartfelt shakes, making Rudy feel a bit uneasy. He pulled his hand away.

“Well, I better go,” Vinney said.

“Don’t start any rumors, Vinney McCally. He’s only in here because there was nowhere else to put him,” Cate snapped.

Vinney raised an eyebrow, smiled and lumbered out of the room, dragging his black-booted feet as he went.

“He’s still the same slow guy,” Rudy said once Vinney was out of earshot.

“He just pulled you out of a bad situation and that’s all you can think of to say about him?”

“No. I was just saying—”

“Well, don’t be. Vinney’s a hero.”

“I never said he wasn’t,” Rudy said, feeling totally awkward. If he could be anywhere at that moment, it would not be in Cate’s bed. At least not like this…with her lying next to him, naked, perhaps…but not when he was completely immobile and as helpless as a kid. The mental visual of Cate’s naked body gave him a total body rush, and when Cate leaned over to remove his shoes he felt excitement in his groin. He liked everything about the situation, until she dropped his foot, hard, on the bed.

The flush of excitement immediately vanished. What was it lately with angry women and his feet? “Look, I’m sorry about what I said or didn’t say about Vinney.”

He could see her anger soften. At least he had said the right words that time.

“Let me get you a couple aspirins. They should help with the pain. If it gets worse, I have something stronger. I’ll be right back,” she told him, and left the room.

Rudy had to admit that his body hurt like hell, but it already felt a little better to be in a prone position. He pulled another one of the pillows under his head and looked around. The girl still had a thing for pink.

He pushed himself up on his elbows so he could check himself in a mirror above the dresser.

“See anyone you like?” Cate asked.

He jumped with the sound of her voice.

“You shouldn’t sneak up on a guy like that, especially in my condition.”

She smiled, sat down next to him on the bed and handed him three aspirin and a glass of water. “Here. This should take care of your condition.”

He dutifully took the pills.

“Try to relax. It’s been a long day.”

Rudy was unexpectedly overcome with emotions for Cate, for their past, for his walking out on her and for how much he would like to just kiss her. Right there on her bed, the way he used to. He could almost feel her lips on his. “Look, Cate, I want to tell you how sorry I am about your car. I’ll have another one here tomorrow morning. Would a Lexus be all right?”

Cate smiled her apparent approval. “A Lexus would be fine.”

“And, Cate, I want to thank you for taking me in like this.” He was watching how she moved. How she looked, and that butt of hers. Outstanding. “And, I want to—”

He tried to get the words out, but he didn’t know where to begin. They needed to talk. “I want to tell you—”

“That you’re sorry for…”

That was it. He would tell her that he was sorry for everything. Women liked it when you gave them a blanket apology, but she interrupted him before he could say anything.

“…the way you treated me this afternoon.”

“Yes.”

God, she has the best mouth.

“Yes, what?” she asked.

“This is ridiculous. I have something important I want to tell you.” Just then he had a powerful recollection of how her lips felt on his.

Warm.

How she tasted.

A little sweet.

How her body fit under his.

Perfectly.

“So, then, say it,” she said. Her lips puckering with the word so.

She abruptly stood up, breaking his lip trance, put her hands on her hips and waited.

The moment had obviously passed.

“Do you want something to eat?” she asked.

“Sure.”

“I’ll get you some pasta. The tomato sauce is good for you. It’s loaded with vitamin C and lycopene.” She turned and walked away.

“No. Don’t go, Cate.”

She turned back around in the doorway. “You can tell me what you want to say after you eat. My mom used to say that apologies are always easier on a full stomach. I think she was right.”

“I’m sorry about your mom, Cate.”

“Thanks.”

But she’d gone before he could holler wait.

He really did want to tell her how sorry he was that he had skipped out on her. Explain a few things. How he’d been uncertain about marriage. Back then he couldn’t think past the moment, let alone a lifetime. She had her whole life planned out, all he had was a dream.

He had used skiing as an excuse for his escape—she wouldn’t understand his passion. She’d want babies and a mortgage. So he ran, but he never stopped loving her. Never stopped thinking about her. He knew for a fact that she was the reason why he’d been so good at the moguls game. Every time the competition got tough, he’d think of Cate and work harder at the sport to erase her from his thoughts. He’d been so certain she’d gotten married to some other guy, and now to find out she hadn’t really sent him spinning.

He couldn’t figure her out. Women like Allison, he was all over, but Cate was in a league of her own.

He’d like to tell her that his leaving had been for some noble cause, like he was saving her from his un-committable self or something equally as honorable, but he wasn’t up to lying to Cate.

Not now.

Not when she had actually taken him into her home and he was lying in her bed. He suddenly wished he could go back in time and change his obviously wrong-headed decision.

CATE MADE HER WAY down the hallway past Gina’s bedroom, then past her mother’s old room, and started down the stairs.

The voices from the dining room echoed through the narrow stairway. Dinner for six or eight had apparently turned into dinner for the neighborhood.

Usually she liked a houseful of family and friends, but not tonight, especially now when her emotions were running around making her say and do stupid things. Who was that girl out on the front lawn who’d invited Rudy Bellafini into her house? Into her bedroom? And into her bed? It certainly wasn’t the same Cate who threw him out of her office that afternoon.

Guilt. That’s what drove her. Guilt over her car and her refusal to work on his battered body. He was right. She had been unprofessional about the whole thing.

But he was so full of himself.

The group sitting around the table was rather loud, everyone talking at the same time about totally different subjects. Her Dad sat in his usual spot at the head of the table, while everyone else squeezed in where they could.

Gina was there, along with Henry, Vinney and his rescue team, cousin Charlie, a few neighbors and the lady from Henry’s funeral home who could never stop crying. Henry once dated her when they were in high school, but they broke up right after graduation. The details were always somewhat sketchy.

Cate slipped right past everyone and headed into the kitchen.

“I almost got it ready,” Aunt Flo said, standing over two massive bowls of pasta. She ladled on the thick red sauce from the giant stainless steel pot sitting on the kitchen table.

“I added a few more tomatoes, a little bit more basil, some more garlic, a couple sprigs of parsley, and what do ya know, we got more than enough to feed this bunch.”

“It looks good, but why is everybody here? Don’t they have homes of their own?”

Aunt Flo spooned on the freshly grated Parmesan cheese. “Suddenly you got a problem with your friends and family around your dinner table?”

“No…yes. I mean, is there no privacy left in the world?”

“Sure there is. When you’re in the ground you’ll get plenty of privacy, but right now you got a roomful. Be thankful, doll.” She picked up a bowl and nodded toward the other one, throwing a green dish towel over her shoulder. “Grab that and let’s go. Everybody’s hungry for your pasta. You should be happy I did you a favor. Rudy’s back and he’s in your bed. What more do you want? A special invitation? Now you can get your revenge on the louse and break your curse. You got the control. I wish that devil Pinky would come back so easy.”

She winked and walked out of the kitchen. Cate picked up the other bowl and followed, wondering if Aunt Flo’s people-management skills couldn’t be put to better use at the UN, or even divorce court.

CATE MANAGED TO BREAK AWAY from the group to bring Rudy a plate of pasta. She carried it up on a tray, along with a few slices of bread and a glass of red wine.

When she stepped into the room, he was lying on his side, apparently fast asleep. The sight of him contentedly sleeping in the middle of her bed brought back way too many memories. She immediately knew this had been a bad idea. She should have let him go to the hospital.

“You can’t sleep here,” Cate said. “You have to go back to Rudyworld.”

No response. He didn’t budge. Rudy Bellafini was fast asleep in Cate Falco’s bed.

Or was he?

She put the tray down on the nightstand.

“I know you can hear me. You can’t sleep here. Everybody will start talking, teasing, and you know how this neighborhood is. One of them will call the Times and I’ll get caught up in your scandal. I don’t want it. Wake up, Rudy. Come on.” She knelt on the bed to get closer to him and gave him a nudge, but he didn’t move.

The man always could sleep through anything.

She reached out to nudge him again, but then pulled back when she looked at his face. God, how she had loved that face of his—those beautiful curled eyelashes, that strong chin with the slight dimple right in the middle. Most people didn’t notice his dimple, but she did. She could always tell when he was stretching the truth or trying to backpedal out of some mess he’d gotten himself into. His dimple would suddenly appear. It was his silly dimple that had attracted her in the first place.

She gently touched his chin, then moved his hair off his forehead. He had such gorgeous hair, dark and rich with auburn highlights.

He moved and reached out for her. She wanted to pull away but didn’t. There was a part of her that was still totally attracted to him, like a deer in his headlights.

She slid down on her side of the bed, facing him. He pulled her in tight, tighter, holding her against his muscled body. He felt warm against her body, warm and comfortable. Too comfortable. They always did fit together like they were made for each other. All the pieces fit like they were supposed to. Like God himself had planned their bodies for each other and no one else. She could feel his sleepy breath on her neck. The sensation made her skin tingle and her eyes water. She tried to move away.

He dreamily opened his eyes and kissed her.

She returned the kiss gently. His lips felt hot against hers, just the way she had remembered them. Then she kissed him with all the passion she had stored up for the past ten years. Could she let herself fall all over again for the man who had left her brokenhearted?

She pulled out of the kiss and looked into his eyes, searching for his love, but it wasn’t there. He blinked a few times and said, “Turn the light out, Allison. I want to sleep.” Then his eyes closed and his breathing took on an even rhythm.

Allison!

Some things never change.

There she was swooning over perfect fits and sexy dimples while he thought she was the woman who had caused all his physical pain in the first place.

Rudy Bellafini was back all right, but not for her love—for her therapy. It was as if he had planned to get caught in the back seat of her VW just to win her sympathy, and big sucker Cate was falling for it.

She turned on every light in the room and walked out slamming the door behind her, then stomped down the stairs in search of Aunt Flo. It was time to end this curse once and for all.

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