Green Stone Ring Read online

  Gini could tell the holiday weekend was over. Tuesday her electronic signals alerting her of messages or texts started early and went all day. She had several video calls with Catherine plus files transferred through the cloud. Michael messaged her all day asking questions, and she had conversations about the Christmas gift party for the poor families with children.

  “I hope you got rested up, honey,” Catherine said over the phone.

  Gini put her dishes in the kitchen. “I did. I can see it’s going to be a busy week.”

  “Very, we have to get this bill on the floor before the end of the special session and everyone leaves for the holiday break. Come to DC. We’ll chase them down and tackle someone if we have to.”

  Gini laughed out loud.

  “Is that laughter I hear?”

  “You’re funny.”

  “Have you seen Ric?”

  “Now, why would you ask that?”

  “Because you’re happy?”

  “Catherine, Ric and I are just good friends. I think he has found a girl.”

  “And… her name is Virginia Anderson.”

  “No, her name is Julia.”

  “Oh.” There was a downturn in Catherine’s voice, and the subject dropped.

  “When do you want me there?”

  “Can you come tomorrow?”

  “I can. I’ll let you know the train arrival time.”

  She had just ended her conversation with Catherine when Michael called.

  “Gini, can we meet tonight at the cafe? I want to run some ideas by you and, as you can see, I have lots of questions. I think a face-to-face meeting for a couple of hours would be good.”

  “Sure, I can make that work. I’m off to DC tomorrow, and I have no idea how long I’ll be there.”

  “Good. Five o’clock work for you?”

  “See you at five.”

  “Carol,” Ric called from his office.

  “Yes,” she said stepping up to his door.

  “Take my PET, will you, and see why I can’t get it to work. How can I do business without my PET?”

  She laughed. “Maybe you need to feed it.”

  He was working on some paperwork Mr. Vasquez had sent him.

  “What?” He was puzzled at her comment.

  “Never mind.” She took the device.

  That night Gini and Michael got right down to business. He looked so distinguished and handsome. What a great transformation. About seven-thirty his phone rang.

  “It’s Brenda.”

  She nodded that he should take the call.

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I thought for sure I told you I was meeting with Gini… I know, I know, you’re right you two should meet… I don’t think we’ll be much longer. I have to grab her for advice when she’s available… I’m so sorry… I know you worry… Okay, I’ll be home soon.”

  At nine o’clock they wrapped up the meeting.

  “Now, I have to go home and explain to my wife why I’m with another woman.” He looked at Gini. “Do you need a ride?”

  “No, I’m good to walk.”

  He carefully put his papers in the sectioned compartments in his briefcase. He hugged her, thanked her, and left in a hurry.

  As she was walking out of the door, a male voice behind her said, “Excuse me, ma’am.”

  She turned around to look at him. He had a stupid grin on his face.

  “I’m looking for a pretty lady to dine with tonight. Care to join me?”

  “No,” she said abruptly and quickly walked out the door. Her pace quickened the more she walked, and she constantly turned to see if he was following her, or if she could see a policeman. She started running. After a block, she slowed to a walk; the man wasn’t behind her. She was safe.

  As she went up in the elevator, she realized she had been overreacting to everything—the man in the restaurant, thinking Ric’s kiss was a serious romantic kiss, Franco’s office manager reading her personal message. She needed to stop this nonsense and get back to her life. She was good on her own—she needed no one.

  Gini spent the next four days in Washington, DC. Every day they worked long hours. All they needed to do was get one representative to introduce the bill for special health-care provisions for underprivileged children and children in the foster care system. The health care for the United States had been debated for years. Having government control over the procedures had failed miserably, and the insurance companies fought back hard to keep the government out of the health-care business. The rules and laws had changed so many times and, unfortunately, the poor suffered the most. Many of the children’s programs had been cut, and the children in foster care had simply fallen through the cracks. Various interest groups had pooled their funds and hired Catherine’s lobbying firm to help these defenseless children. Both Catherine and Gini had their hearts completely in the fight. Other staffers of Catherine’s took care of the other lobbying contracts the company held.

  Both walked into Catherine’s place.

  “Can you believe it,” Catherine said joyously. “Finally, finally, we get a commitment.”

  “Thank goodness. I don’t know how long I can keep up this pace. And we didn’t even have to tackle anyone to the ground.” Both ladies laughed.

  “Nearly.” Catherine kicked off her shoes. “It was your charm. You know, Senator Jones can’t say no to you. That was a great strategy getting him to talk to Representative Mathers. And now we will have a bill on the floor of the house. Yay! Shall we get the bottles out?”

  “Oh no, I’m going to take a hot shower and crawl into bed. I want to catch the first train back to Boston tomorrow.”

  “Hot date?”

  “Actually, no, just want my bed, no offense.” There was a bit of disappointment in her voice.

  “None taken. So, you and Ric are off?”

  “Off? Catherine, how many times do I have to tell you.”

  “I know, I know, you are just good friends.”

  “I haven’t heard from him for a while. I think he has a new girl. And he’s very busy. It will be nice just to have nothing to do for a few days.”

  Gini was on the train when her earbud announced she had an email. “Read.”

  “Mrs. Legotti, this is Luca, Franco’s assistant. I sent your message down with one of our suppliers. He’ll give it to Franco. I’m sure he will contact you as soon as he returns to Shijiazhuang. If there’s anything I can do for you, please let me know. Luca.”

  How many people were going to read her email? Probably the whole village at this point. She shook her head. Why had she sent that stupid message, anyway?

  Another announcement came through her earbud. “Text, Ric Santini.”

  “Read text,” she said.

  “I assume you’re busy in DC, that’s why you haven’t responded to my messages. Let me know when you’ll be back.”

  Messages? Her heart was thumping, and she felt out of breath. She scrolled through her PET for emails and saw nothing, then through her text messages. Nothing there either. Why was she reacting this way? She took a deep breath and put her hand on her chest. Let it go, she thought. But she couldn’t, she listened to the message again. He definitely said she hadn’t responded to his messages.

  “Call Ric Santini,” she commanded.

  “Hey, Gini,” he answered, upbeat. “Where the heck are you?”

  “I’m on the train.”

  “Going which way?”

  “Back to Boston. I wanted to catch an earlier one, but ended up sleeping longer than I wanted.”

  “What time do you get in?”

  Ric could hear the jingle of glasses.

  “My ticket says three twenty-seven on track sixteen.”

  “I’ll pick you up.”

  “Okay.” Gini realized she had forgotten to call Jimmy.

  Ric stood at the end of the platform on Track 16. People began to pour out of the train. He had no idea if Gini was in first or second class. Then he saw her. As she approached the t
urnstile, he walked toward her. She looked ruffled. Her curls were frayed, and she had no makeup on, not that she needed any. He smiled to himself when he saw she was wearing tennis shoes. He hadn’t seen her in tennis shoes since college. When she saw him, she smiled a tired smile and waved. He walked up to her when she passed the crowd coming through, then reached over and took the handle of her roller bag.

  “Hey, sweets.”

  Gini folded her arms up to her chest and fell into Ric’s body. She snuggled tight to him. He let go of the roller handle and put his arms around her.

  She cocked her head up to see him. “I’m so tired.”

  “I can see that.” He put his hand on the back of her head and leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. He wanted to stay there forever with his arms around her.

  “Come on,” he said grabbing the bag again and putting his arm around her shoulders. “Let’s get you home.”

  “Park in the garage.” She opened her purse and handed him the access key card.

  Inside the condo, she asked, “You want something to drink?”

  “A cup of coffee if you have it.” He sat down on the couch.

  A few minutes later she brought coffee for him and tea for her. She set the cups on the table in front of the couch.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  She walked back into her bedroom. When she returned, she was barefooted. She turned on the TV to the game at a low volume and then she went over to the couch and sat down next to Ric, and pulled her legs up on the couch. He put his arm up on top of the cushion.

  “How long were you in DC?”

  “Since Wednesday.” She sipped her tea. “Oh, my gosh, I don’t think we have ever worked so hard. But it paid off, yes, it paid off.”

  “How so?”

  Gini sat up. She crossed her legs Indian style and moved closer to him, her knee touching his thigh.

  “They are going to introduce our bill tomorrow on the House floor.”

  “That’s terrific.”

  “You have no idea how excited we are.” She put her cup on the table. “You said I hadn’t responded to your messages.”

  “I understand, you’ve been busy.”

  “No, the only message I got from you is the one on the train.”

  “My darn PET, I’ve been having trouble with it all week. I think it’s time to update to a new one. I can’t run my business if I can’t get messages in or out.

  “What drives you so hard to make all these trips to DC?”

  “I do it for the children, especially the underprivileged and the handicapped. Those kids don’t have a chance.” She picked up her teacup from the table and stood up. “Someone has to help them.” She turned around facing him, still holding the cup.

  “The health laws are so confusing. Each state has their ideas on how to interpret them. And then throw in the insurance companies, and all you have is a big mess.” Her speech was caring but to the point. “And there are parents who don’t think their kids should be vaccinated because of misinformation that indicates the shots do more harm than help. Now, we have diseases that were eradicated at one point and have come back as epidemics because the kids aren’t protected.

  “What about the poor handicapped child in the system? The institutes are overcrowded and understaffed. And foster families, many of them, are just keeping their heads above water. Trying to get the right insurance takes hours and reams of paper. Bureaucracy has got everything tied up in knots.”

  Ric had his elbow on the couch arm. He leaned his head on his hand. What she was saying was true. He wanted to hear more.

  “And the insurance companies think they know better than the doctors. What’s wrong with that picture? What does a family do when a child is dying, and the insurance denies medication and treatment because it isn’t indicated for that procedure? Bureaucracy is killing us. Catherine and I are trying to get the legislators to look at all the issues—health issues—and make some sense of them. A simple sign up for insurance, let the doctors treat the patients and help the parents. It doesn’t have to be so hard.” She put her right hand over her heart. “The politicians need to let go of their pet projects and give the people what they want. The right to have good health care and medical treatment. We need to save our children.”

  She half smiled and picked up his coffee cup. “Do you want more coffee?”

  He stood up and put his arm around her. “Gins, you’ll get through to our leaders. You’re the right woman for the job. By the way, for not being a coffee drinker, that was a pretty good cup of coffee.”

  “All I did was put the pod in the hole and pour in the water.”

  “See, it was good because your fingers did the work.”

  “Oh, Ric, you make me laugh.”

  “That’s good. Laughter helps the soul. It releases endorphins.”

  She looked at him and scrunched her eyebrows.

  “I’m serious. It helps to release stress. No more coffee, thanks.”

  She put both cups back on the table, and they sat back down on the couch. “Too bad we missed the game,” she said.

  A minute later, he turned to talk to her. She was completely relaxed, asleep. Her hand slid down next to his leg. He moved closer to her and carefully took the blanket from the back of the couch and laid it on top of her. He pulled her head over to his shoulder and reached his arm down around her. She snuggled into his body without waking.

  He sat quietly listening to the football game on the TV. Her hand rested on his leg. He rubbed his finger gently over the green stone ring on her finger.

  At six-thirty, Gini woke up with a jolt.

  Ric grabbed her. “It’s okay.”

  She sat up and looked at him. “Ric!”

  He smiled. “You fell asleep almost in mid-sentence.”

  “I did?” She sat for a minute clearing her head.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked.

  She turned and looked at him. “I am.”

  “I’ll order something in.”

  “No,” she said getting up. “I have something I can fix.”

  She went to the kitchen. By eight o’clock she was dishing a soup-like dish with big chunks of chicken. The broth was full of curry and chilies. She warmed a frozen half loaf of French bread, steamed some fresh asparagus she had in the refrigerator, and tossed a salad, drizzling it with olive oil and balsamic glaze.

  They sat at the breakfast bar.

  “Impressive, very impressive,” he said.

  “Gins, we are doing the Junior League Christmas Ball next Saturday. I want you to go with me.”

  “Junior League, they have a ball?”

  “It’s a big blowout. I know you’ll have fun.”

  “They have been trying to get me to join for a couple of years.”

  “Why haven’t you?” He scooped another spoonful of broth.

  “I just don’t feel I can give them the time they deserve. I would want to be a worthy member.”

  Ric brushed his hand down her back. “Will you go with me?”

  “You sure you don’t want to go with Julia?” She was serious.

  “No.”

  “I’m sure she would love to go.”

  “No,” he repeated.

  “I thought you liked her.”

  “Gini.” He looked her straight in the eyes. “No!”

  Their eyes locked. She quickly looked away.

  “Sure. Is it like a real ball? Fancy dresses—”

  “White tie,” he interrupted.

  Gini smiled a big smile. “Yes, I want to go to the ball!”

  They got up from the bar, and they both carried their dishes to the sink.

  “Next weekend is going to be a zinger. I have so many functions at the hotel; I should just move in there. It would save me time instead of running back and forth to my house.”

  “You can use my place if you want.”

  “Really?”

  “Of course, silly, I’m so close. Yes.”

  “Boy,
Gins, that would save me next Saturday if I could change here before we go, that would be great.”

  “Absolutely! What are friends for?”

  Gini needed to buy two dresses; one for the ball and one for the big party at the Kennedy Library the following Saturday. On Monday, she looked online at the boutiques on Newbury Street to see if there was anything she liked. The one for the ball had to be perfect. She hopped on the subway and went to Pierre Chow’s shop. She had always liked his dresses and found just what she wanted.

  Ric went by Gini’s after work Tuesday evening. They walked over to the seafood restaurant across from the aquarium.

  “Ms. Anderson, Mr. Santini,” the maitre d’ said. “Which table?”

  Gini turned to the left and pointed to the one she liked back by the windows.

  “My usual,” Ric said.

  The maitre d’ laughed. Gini gave Ric a look.

  “I’ll tell you what,” the maitre d’ said. “How about one in our new room?”

  He took them to an archway that entered into a private, almost-empty room. It was quiet and away from the rest of the restaurant.

  “You like?”

  They both nodded yes.

  “What are you getting?” Ric asked.

  “I always get the same thing.”

  “Then why are you looking at the menu?”

  “I wanted to see if they have any new holiday desserts.”

  “Ms. Anderson.” The waiter looked at her. They ordered.

  “Do you remember when we came here in college?” Gini asked. “We could only afford it for a special occasion. Now, I come here all the time. Obviously, you too, since they know you by name.”

  “A lot.”

  When they were done with their meal, the waiter put another menu on the table.

  She picked it up and flashed a gleaming grin. “They do have a holiday dessert.”

  Ric loved she was smiling again. He loved her sweet dimples, her shining white teeth, and her excitement. He reached over and took her left hand. There was no ring on her finger.

  Gini loved the fact she had nothing to do all week. Ric, on the other hand, was super busy. He called every day at different times to see if he could take a break at her place. She loved him just popping in. It reminded her of home in California, when Ric and Franco were always at her house. No special treatment, just family dropping by.