Cherry Two

Part 10

Chapter 8

Los Angeles, California

Calley glanced to her left and smiled encouragement. Alain Devereux sat behind the wheel of his father's unmarked Crown Victoria—a police equipped radio car—and tried to concentrate on the exasperating Los Angeles traffic as best he could. There wasn't any doubt in Calley's mind: traffic not withstanding, for the past week she had been Alain's main distraction—a distraction mutual at first sight.

When they were together in the company of others, she felt sure Alain had to fight within himself to tear his eyes away from this newly arrived English second cousin in an effort to concentrate on anything other than her impudent face and perfect figure. The twin gleams of glee in Calley's eyes were distinctly less discreet.

As it turned out this bright morning, they were not in scrutinizing company—only the indifferent and anonymous eyes of motorists on a snarled freeway.

Where the Harbor and Santa Monica Freeways joined, a messy accident, combined with construction and lane closures, caused massive delays. Clearing through the interchange would be slow going by any standard. Visibly frustrated, Alain started pressing the screen on his PDA.

"Hello, Mom, it's me. I'm with Calley stuck in traffic. I checked the other routes. There's no point getting off the freeway, it's all jammed, so we'll have to sit it out. Dad stayed downtown with Steve Cooley and Luke. Luke is going to bring him back."

Sonia replied to her son, but Calley couldn't hear the other side.

"Yes, the meeting went fine. Steve Cooley's a cool guy. I liked him. He liked Calley too." Alain looked across at the girl as the car trickled to a standstill for the umpteenth time. "We'll tell you all about it when we get home. Don't know when that'll be though."

Calley waited as Sonia's unheard voice responded again.

"Sure, Mom, I know we're going out later. I'll do my best. Bye." He shut off the Palm Pilot.

"Where are we going? I forgot," Calley prompted.

The big car lurched forward a few feet then stopped again. "The Riviera Country Club. There's a golf game booked. Looks like Dad won't make it."

"Oh, golf."

"We know you don't play. We thought you'd like to see it and try it."

It was uncanny how much Alain sounded like her father despite a California accent. The similarities to James didn't just end there.

"Do we have to sit here? Can't we go to the beach or something?" Calley tried to look sultry. It seldom worked on anyone other than Alain. She didn't have the technique down yet. The English teen tipped the rim of her straw hat to shade her eyes and squinted. In a certain light she could see her father's profile clear as day. To further complicate things, Alain did not look much like his younger brother, Kent. Their personalities were miles apart too. Handsome Kent came on strong and always tried to compete out of the gate. In the first days after her arrival, when Kent failed to get anywhere with Calley, the sports undergrad lost interest immediately. Kent had a fast agenda that didn't include people that were not instantly beguiled by his bullish version of charm. Conversely Alain never pushed. His favorite word was "cool."

"We are trying to get to the beach—we live there, remember?" Alain said with a hint of derision in his voice. "We're still downtown—miles away from the coast. Can you imagine what this mess will look like when rush hour hits?"