Passion and Pearls (The pearl series) (3 page)

The next morning dawned with crisp morning air and a feeling of anticipation. Aqua was awake early and planned to enjoy the leisurely stroll through
the store
getting ready for this special day. First order of the day was a cup of tea and then a shower. She had pull
ed
her hair back into a sedate style that hopefully would portray a suitable business professional appearance. Then again if she’d been thinking about it she might have noticed the dark purple sundress was wild and outgoing and hair style or not, she looked somewhat exotic and people couldn’t help take that second look. Soon Aqua was busy putting the delivered food trays out and getting the last minute preparations ready. Then it was time and Aqua wiped her hands on her dress, showing a little trace of nervousness as she unlocked the doors and started her new life.

People came as is customary in smaller towns to check out the new business
.
A
steady stream of folks wished Aqua well and checked inventory and prices and bought a few things in the process. The little sitting area in the book section was well received and at the end of the day, there were a couple people still sitting there visiting when Aqua stopped by to let them know the store would be closing soon.  She was quite happy about that too, it was time to sit, put her feet up and relax.  It had been quite a day, a happy and successful day.   Aqua efficiently went through the closing up process and prepared the deposit for the bank.  With the bank bag locked in the safe and the front door closed Aqua went to the back to recheck if the back door was locked.

There was a faint noise outside, almost like a whisper. It called to her and she knew this had to be the new Satin. Satin
would be
like her previous two cats, dark black with superior attitudes. She had been sad before when her previous cat had died but now, this third time around she knew that Satin always came back to her in kitten form. It was one of those strange things that happened to her.  Aqua opened the door and called his name, here came a tiny back ball of fur through the door to rub against Aqua’s legs. She scooped him up and gave him a kiss, snuggling the little bundle as she told him how much she’d missed him and lovingly scolded him for taking so long to come back to her. Taking her little bundle upstairs, Aqua got out his dishes and filled the bowls with water and Satin’s favorite food. He ate heartily and then went exploring. Knowing he’d find his blanket on the foot of her bed and be ready to sleep soon, Aqua fixed herself some dinner and sat to think about the day as she ate.

The rest of the week and the next couple afterwards were busy and wonderful. If this continued even half as well as it was, she’d be doing just fine with the new business. A
bonus was the people she’d met,
like
Wanda who worked at the bakery next door. She worked from 4 a.m. until 1 p.m. and their friendship had grown to the point that Wanda would stop by the store every weekday and visit with Aqua for an hour or so before heading home. Wanda and Aqua had decided that this Friday evening was ‘party time’ and they were laughingly plotting the demise of the boring duo and the blossoming of the new wild women that were going to hit the town.

The pair met up that evening and headed to the Acorn for drinks. Although most people knew Wanda, Aqua was new to the area and people stopped by to be introduced regularly. Fairly soon the place was loud and full of happy partygoers.  Aqua was watching Wanda dancing with a tall lanky cowboy that seemed so shy it made Aqua smile just thinking about how tortured he
looked
when asking
Wanda
to
dance. Wanda was a dark beauty that offset Aqua’s paler looks. Wanda was as outgoing and vocal as they come. There was no holding back with her, if she thought it, she said it. Aqua had to cover a chuckle as Wanda had informed the cowboy it was about time he’d gotten his nerve up, what did he think, that she was going to wait all evening? He’d fumbled but Wanda had just taken his hand and said “men” with so much feeling that Aqua had laughed as the couple had headed to the dance floor.

Aqua was sitting alone nursing the long island iced tea she’d ordered when two large biker type men came in. They were the type that most small town folks were instantly worried about. Long hair, leather clothes and tattoos rounded out their look. Aqua noticed the way other patrons were backing off and avoiding contact with the two men. She felt sorry for them, that was too much like the treatment she had gotten back in her home town. All the tables were full and the two men were standing looking around when a feeling of trust came over Aqua. She knew this feeling, she somehow knew she could trust the two men and with that in mind, lifted her hand and waved the two over. They were surprised at the request but wandered over to her table.

“There’s room here if you want to sit,” Aqua offered. Within minutes, the three were visiting when Wanda and her Cowboy came back and sat down. Introductions were done and all seemed well other than the look of fear in Joe, the cowboy’s eyes. The conversation got louder and soon the group was bantering back and forth and enjoying the evening. Even Joe was putting in a comment or two in response to gentle teasing by Wanda.

That’s when the commotion started. A few local boys had drunk a little too much and were looking for trouble. Problem was the five of them thought Buck and Sam (the biker boys) were just the kind of trouble they wanted. They walked up to the table and started insisting Buck and Sam leave “their” bar and women alone. The tone at the table turned instantly. This was nothing new for the two travelers and they immediately stood their ground. Aqua, Wanda and Joe all tried to defuse the situation but the local boys were just too far gone for that. Luckily Tiny, the bar owner, had already called the police department so when the first punch was thrown, Blu was already on his way. Buck the smaller of the two bikers stood between the fighting Sam and the girls in his version of protecting them. When Wanda yelled that they would hurt Sam, Buck just laughed and patted Wanda on the shoulder and told her not to worry. Sam was smiling as he took the local boys on and was doing damn well considering the five to one odds. That’s when Blu walked in.

It took a few minutes for Blu’s voice was heard over the commotion. He did finally get between the fighters and got everyone to stop throwing punches. Aqua rushed over to Sam to make sure he was ok. Sam was still smiling and winked at her then whispered, “That was fun, wish I’d had a bit more time to play.” Aqua could not help herself and started laughing. Blu had just turned and saw Sam whispering and caught Aqua’s laugh, he wasn’t pleased. The local boys were telling Blu a completely different story to what had happened.

Wanda finally got fed up and walked up to the one being the most vocal of the five and slugged him on the arm, telling him “shut up you dumb idiot, you started it and you’re just pissed cause Sam here was holding his own against the five of ya.  Why don’t you go home and sleep it off before you really piss me off.”

Blu had to hide his grin at that one. But the boy decided she had a point and shut up. Blu talked to them a bit then sent them home in a cab with orders that he best not hear from them again tonight.

Sam and Buck decided they’d have enough fun for the evening and after thanking Aqua, Wanda and Joe for sharing their table and for the ‘fun’, they left as well.

Blu made the rounds at the bar, letting folks see him so they knew he was aware who was drinking and who wasn’t. When he made it back to Aqua’s table she was sitting by herself nursing her drink and smiling. “That went well,” she told him. He looked at her funny and she couldn’t help but chuckle again. “Blu you are just so serious sometimes that I can’t help but want to see what it takes to surprise you.”

“Well darl’n, you did it this time, I didn’t peg you as the biker type,” he replied.

“I’m not sure I have a type, but they just wanted to get a drink and relax, they were actually really nice guys,” Aqua explained.

“Ok, so where’s Wanda?” Blu asked looking around.

“She and Joe left me to drink alone” and Aqua smiled again, “guess I’m walking home
all by my lonesome
.”

“You’re walking huh? I suppose, as a public service, I should give you a ride home.  You know for the safety and welfare of the community,” Blu offered.

“Sounds good to me
.
” Aqua got up and the pair walked out to the waiting police car. Blu drove to the back of Aqua’s store and stopped the car, turning the engine off. Aqua smiled at him and asked if he’d like to come up for a cup of coffee. Blu was not sure what he wanted, he like this woman and even though he’d done some research on AIDs he was still a bit nervous about getting too involved. But before he could think it over he was getting out of the car.

Up in the kitchen Aqua went about making coffee, gave a treat to Satin, and scratched his ears a little. Satin sat and looked at Blu as he was eating his treat.  “He’s ok you know,” Aqua told the cat and with a disdainful look at her, the cat licked his paws and left the room in that arrogant way only a cat can.

“Guess he’s not convinced,” chuckled Blu.

“Yeah, well sometimes he’s just a bit jealous and besides he knows I’ll do what I want anyway,” laughed Aqua.

With the coffee perking and Blu looking a bit nervous Aqua decided it was time to see what he was thinking. “So, Blu, I was wondering if you were going to get around to kissing me tonight or if I’m wasting a great cup of coffee on small talk?”

Aqua enjoyed the
‘
deer in the headlights’ look that c
a
me into Blu’s eyes. “Not sure, I guess I just don’t know the rules,” Blu answered.

Aqua was confused, “rules?” She surmised he was talking about dating rules so taking matters into her own hands she stood up, walked over to his chair, sat in his lap and sliding her hands into his hair pulled him into the kiss that she was wanting. Blu tried to remain still, to let her lead the way and damn did she know how to kiss. With a little sigh Aqua let the kiss end, leaned back and looked into the eyes of the only man to ever confuse her in such a way.

Neither moved, they just stared until Aqua smiled a little and for some reason t
o
o Blu it seemed as if she thought she had the upper hand and was in charge. Well now that just wasn’t acceptable in his mind and with a groan of resignation he stood picking her up as he went, walked to the sofa and settled onto it with her very definitely under him. Then with a smug smile at her shocked expression took her mouth in a kiss that stole her breath away. With her arms sliding around to his back and moving restlessly, Blu deepened the kiss and arched against her letting her feel what she did to him, how much kissing her affected him physically. He sure hoped she didn’t figure out emotionally how involved he was. He was afraid that he was fast approaching the very involved stage with a woman that was dying and physically dangerous for any man to be involved with. That thought stopped Blu and with a deep groan of regret he slowed things down until he could sit up. He rubbed his hands over his face trying to stop the lust that was coursing through his veins.

“I’m sorry, I can’t do this,” he said standing. He looked at this beautiful woman that was willing and wanting to be with him. Knowing he wanted her, more than he should, he shook his head
,
stood
and walked out the door. Nothing could have shocked Aqua more.

As Aqua went through the motions of showering and climbing into bed she went over and over what had happened with Blu. What did she do that sent him running? Did he know about her gifts? She just couldn’t figure out what went wrong and why he took off the way he did. With a sigh and a prayer Aqua settled in for a restless night and decided that what will be, will be and there wasn’t much she could do other than hopefully talk to Blu tomorrow and find out what was going on.

The next day and for several after that, Aqua went about her daily routines.  She worked at the store enjoying every minute of it, although the cloud of doubt from the Blu situation did bother her still. She hadn’t seen him since that night and he didn’t return the two calls she’d made to him. Obviously they weren’t going to talk about what happened and he didn’t want to see her. In fact she was pretty sure he was actively avoiding her. She was so embarrassed about the whole situation by the time a week had gone by that she
had
n’t even talk
ed
to Wanda about it.

Blu on the other hand was trying to pretend that it never happened. He avoided situations that might put Aqua in his path. He went out with his brothers, continued with his life and even asked a nice woman from the golf course snack bar out once. Of course that went terrible as all he could think about was how she wasn’t Aqua and that the whole situation regarding Aqua ’s deadly disease and him avoiding her because of it made him the worst kind of person. He was beating himself up for his lack of compassion on a regular basis. But, still he avoided her and time strolled on by with the seasons changing.

Fall then winter, was fast approaching and with it came the cooler weather, the start of snow and a general feeling of a time of solitude for Aqua. She was used to winters weather wise, but the lack of sunshine often left her melancholy. This year seemed to be worse than others. She was in a new town with a few new friends, but no one special in her life and no family to spend the upcoming holidays with. Because she had met Nancy who ran the food bank and liked her so much, she began volunteering her time helping distribute holiday baskets and heading up food drives. Although Aqua enjoyed the season and really enjoyed helping out she could not help but feel alone. Those were the times that Blu would slip into her mind again. She had not had a single conversation with him since that night he’d took her home and kissed her. He was polite but there was no doubt he was avoiding her and wanted nothing to do with her. This was making Aqua crazy, she kept feeling that he was supposed to be part of her life that there was more to their story but month after month, there had been no real contact.