Carly Phillips - Lucky Charm

Gabrielle needed to understand how human beings with free will could have their behavior swayed by things that didn’t exist. She had to somehow comprehend how the man she loved and who she thought had loved her had dumped her because he believed he was cursed.

“I just can’t get over the fact that Richard’s future hinges on an old, ridiculous myth,” Sharon said.

Gabrielle gave her friend a wry smile. “Why not? Mine did.”

Sharon slapped her hand over her mouth, deliberately dramatic. “I’m sorry! What an awful thing for me to bring up. I just wasn’t thinking!”

“It’s fine. I was kidding. The problem is, when people believe in this kind of stuff, their beliefs are based on things that are just so hard to refute. For one thing, history has repeated itself over and over, making it appear as if the original curse on the Corwins has validity.” That was why Gabrielle needed to research it in detail.

Sharon scrunched her nose, her disgust with the subject clear. “You mean, because all the Corwin men have been unlucky in love, people believe that a witch caused it to happen?”

“It’s not just that they’re unlucky in love. It’s also because Mary Perkins’s family, who’ve run the town for years, have used those failures to cement their position. By reminding everyone of the Corwin Curse, the Perkins are able to manipulate those around them, holding on to their power by playing on people’s fears.”

Sharon nodded. “She’s as much as insinuated that, since she’s the namesake of the original Mary Perkins, she has the power to brew up another curse. Just when Richard thinks he’s making headway in reaching people, she’ll bring up the past and remind people of her power.”

“In what way?” Gabrielle asked, wondering how one woman could have so much sway.

“Well, a large development group came to town to buy property that they wanted to turn into an ocean-front resort. Mary doesn’t want to chance anyone coming in and usurping her position, so she coerced the owners to sell their otherwise profitable land to her at a cheap price rather than to the developers.”

Gabrielle rose and smoothed the wrinkles in her linen skirt. “How? And why in the world would anyone take a lesser price?”

Sharon got up, too. “Mary claimed the town owned the land through eminent domain. She threatened to take the individual landowners to court, informing them she’d win and they’d probably get much less than what she was graciously offering now. She also mentioned she was a direct descendant of the Mary Perkins, and not so subtly reminded those homeowners that she could bankrupt them with a few choice curse words. Darned if they didn’t sell cheap. And of course, after the fact, nobody would admit they’d been threatened, either.” Sharon shrugged.

Pausing by the window, Gabrielle glanced out at her convertible parked on the quiet street. “Well, I can see why Richard has his hands full.” Gabrielle didn’t want to tell her friend that a few lectures might not be enough. Old beliefs were powerful. Too often, not even persuasive reasoning or common sense could overcome them.

“So…we’ve talked about the curse long enough. When are we going to discuss the five-hundred-pound elephant in the room?” Sharon asked.

Gabrielle raised an eyebrow, pretty sure she knew what her friend was referring to but wanting to hear it before she jumped to the wrong conclusion. “Care to elaborate?”

“The man himself? Derek Corwin? I know that seeing him again won’t be easy.”

Gabrielle smirked. “Five hundred pounds? Guess I won’t have to worry about that old attraction rearing its head again after all.”

“Very funny.”

“I thought so.” She shrugged and remained quiet.

Sharon exhaled loudly, breaking the silence. “Okay fine, I get the message. We won’t talk about Derek today. So here’s the plan. I need to stop by the library and pick up my cell phone first, since I left it there last night. Afterward, I thought we’d go shopping. There’s a new mall you’ll love. What do you think?”

Gabrielle nodded. “Sounds good.”

Anything that changed the subject, Gabrielle thought.

She’d become an expert at that. Whenever Sharon tried to impart gossip about Derek, Gabrielle deliberately asked about something else. But that hadn’t stopped Sharon from letting some pertinent facts slip over the years, from Derek’s early marriage to his more recent divorce. Hearing about him only reopened old wounds, but Gabrielle had recently been forced to accept that those wounds had never really healed.

She may have tried to move on with her life, but even all these years later, she hadn’t been successful. It was time she confronted the past. She had no choice. Derek had left her incapable of moving on.

DEREK AND HOLLY MADE A STOP at the library to return a few books and take out some new ones before hitting the mall. Derek dropped her off at the library while he went to get gas and pick up lightbulbs at the hardware store.

Half an hour later, they were on their way. Holly’s mother had called her on her cell phone, and the two spoke for the duration of the ride to the mall. Marlene was loving her trip and had to buy an extra suitcase for all the goodies she’d bought for Holly. After twenty minutes of listening to Holly regale him with stories her mother had told her, getting to the mall almost seemed like a relief.

Which was ironic considering shopping was his least-favorite activity. Normally he preferred to get in and out of stores as quickly as possible. But today, he enjoyed his time with his daughter, hitting shops he’d never been in before, from Limited Too to Abercrombie, and now Bloomingdale’s. His daughter, he realized, had her mother’s genes. She gravitated from store to store, “oohing” and “aahing” over each item, but unlike her mother, she didn’t ask for everything she saw. Although she let him replace the Abercrombie flip-flops Fred had chewed up, she didn’t request anything else.

That puzzled him.

They ended up in Bloomingdale’s. The escalator down to the girls’ department let them off in bedding, where a huge sign proclaimed Summer White Sale. He suddenly remembered what he was missing at home. “I need some new towels. Mind if we take a detour?”

She shook her head. “Nope.”

They weaved through the displays of sheets and duvets toward the towels, when he realized Holly had stopped in front of a bed made up with a bold pink-purple-and-white pattern.

“What did you find?” he asked.

“Check these out!” Her blue eyes lit up as she pointed to the bed display and matching throw pillows. “My best friend, Robin, has something like this at home. It’s so cool, don’t you think?”

“I sure do. For a girl.” He ruffled the top of her head.

As he spoke, Derek realized that from the day Holly had come to stay with him, she’d used old linen from his father’s house without complaint. It had never dawned on Derek that she might like something new, or to make the room she was living in her own.

“Would you like these for your room here?” he asked.

She turned toward him, her eyes huge. “Really? I can have them?”

He nodded, wanting her to be happy. This bedding seemed to do the trick.

“You’re sure? I mean, we don’t know how long I’m going to be here. And Mom will never let me use them at home since they don’t match my room.” She wrinkled her nose. “It’s probably a lot of money.” She trailed off, obviously disappointed in the conclusion she’d reached.

She was probably right. He hadn’t looked at the price, but whatever the cost, for Holly he’d suck it up. “What’s that sign say?” He pointed to the billboard in the center of the department.

She tucked her long blond hair behind her ear, squinted and read the words. “Sale. But…”

“But nothing. If you’re worried about me spending money, I can afford these. I promise.” Derek wasn’t broke.

He’d just lost a lot in the stock market and had given up most of his assets in the divorce, wanting to spare his daughter the pain of more fighting.

If he’d split his money with his ex, he might never have given the curse a second thought. But he’d willingly given her more than she deserved because he felt responsible for things not working out. Then he’d invested a chunk of his money in a company that was supposed to be a sure thing. Instead, he’d lost nearly everything, depleted the bulk of his assets and decided then and there that the curse was in full force. Even if he hadn’t married Holly’s mother for love.

He’d married Marlene for the little blond reason standing in front of him now. He’d gotten his ex-wife pregnant their second year in college. Like father, like son, Hank had told him, lecturing him over not learning from the past. His father had a point. He’d been careless. But Derek thought it would go differently. His father had been desperately in love with Derek’s mother. Derek didn’t feel that way about Marlene.

It hadn’t mattered. Marlene didn’t believe in abortion, not that he’d have asked it of her. So Derek had stepped up and done the right thing. His father had tried to do the same thing with Vivian, Derek’s mother, but her family had intervened. They’d sent her to a home for unwed mothers, intending to make her give the baby up for adoption. Hank and his brothers had confronted them, paid them a hefty amount of money and taken Derek home. Vivian’s family moved away and to this day, Derek’s mother refused to acknowledge him as her son.

He could never do that to his child. So he’d married Marlene. It made sense, he’d thought at the time. They had fun together and he cared for her. Once he realized she carried his child, he came to see logic in their union. In Marlene, he saw a way to circumvent the curse. They could share a life, a family and a future without risk, because he wasn’t head over heels in love with her.

Their disaster of a marriage and wrenching divorce had proved Derek wrong. It seemed that just being a male Corwin was enough to set the curse in motion.

“Dad?” Holly tugged on his arm.

“Sorry, I was thinking about something.” He cleared his throat. “Why don’t you go find where they have these set up?”

She nodded and began to dart through the short stations and finally waved to him. “Found them!”

“Coming!” His life was different these days, he mused, watching his daughter practically hop up and down in excitement, waiting for him to join her.

He had less money but more time on his hands, which worked well since Holly would be staying with him for the summer.

He kept enough in savings to feel comfortable, but like the other men in his family, he now stopped short of building up wealth that could easily be lost. Life seemed simpler that way even if he did miss the adrenaline rush of taking risks and watching them pay off.

“Look for a package that says queen size,” he told Holly. “And then the pillow cases will probably say king or regular. We want regular.”

“I can’t believe you’re getting me these. I really can’t,” she said as she knelt down and began sorting through the sealed sheet sets.

A sharp pain sliced through his chest. “Hey, Holly? Why wouldn’t I want to buy these for you?”

She glanced up at him. “Promise you won’t be mad?”

He nodded. He couldn’t remember ever being truly angry at her. Then again, he’d worked so many hours a week, he hadn’t been home enough to get mad about anything. And during the past two years, he hadn’t had Holly for more than a short weekend or two, if he was lucky. He’d threatened to fight his ex over custody, but she always had a rational reason why Holly couldn’t come visit. A sleepover at a friend’s, a birthday party she couldn’t miss. It was as if Marlene was punishing him for not being there for her.

Only recently, after she’d gotten engaged to John Bartman, did she soften toward Derek. She’d fallen in love, and John treated her the way Derek should have. She’d finally declared a truce. That had given Derek more access to his daughter and he was grateful.

He smiled at Holly, who rose to face him.

“I promise I won’t get angry.”

Holly drew a deep breath. “Mom used to say that you hated giving her child support, that you considered spending your hard-earned money on me a waste.” She bit her bottom lip with her teeth and her eyes filled with tears.

The knife in his chest twisted deeper. While he wasn’t surprised Marlene had been so bitter, it infuriated him that she’d lie to his daughter about something so serious.

“Did Mom ever not buy you things you wanted or needed?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No! And she hasn’t said that in a really long time. But she did once and I couldn’t ever forget it.” Holly sniffed.