Matters of the Heart

by Heather M Green

  Adri shook her head and mused, “I don’t know about you, Sophie. You seem to have a thing for felons.”

  I turned quick eyes to Sophie while she balked at Adri’s statement. “You can’t even compare the two,” Sophie protested. “Remember we weren’t going to resurrect potentially embarrassing situations from our past?” She shot Adri a pointed look.

  “The stories she could tell...,” Adri continued dramatically. “When it comes to men, she’s pretty much seen it all. Remember the guy who took you to his great aunt what’s-her-name’s open casket viewing/funeral?”

  “On a date?” I asked, incredulous. “Were you close friends of the family?”

  “Never met her,” Sophie said with a shake of her head. “First date.”

  “And last,” Adri shivered.

  Andy hooted. “Tell us more.”

  I nodded mutely in agreement. I admit my curiosity was getting the best of me. Not to mention the fact that I was interested in any past relationships Sophie may have been involved in.

  “Adri makes it all sound more interesting than it really is.” Sophie assured us, then sighed when we continued to look at her expectantly. “Fine. I almost dated a convicted felon.”

  Andy crowed from the back seat. “Our good little Sophie dating serial killers.”

  “Oh, come on,” Sophie argued. “It wasn’t like that.”

  “What was it like then?” Andy laughed.

  “A friend of my mother’s told me she wanted to introduce me to her son. He didn’t live in the area, so she said I’d need to write to him. I was thinking email pal’s or something. I mean, people meet online all the time, right? I told her I’d be willing to exchange a few emails. But when I got an envelope in the mail with his name and Dominguez State Jail in the return address, I opted out of the correspondence exchange.”

  “That’s cold, Sophie,” Andy called to the front seat. “You could have been his inspiration to leave behind a life of crime. Now you will never know.” Adri giggled.

  “I’ll never know,” Sophie agreed.

  “Hey. What was his name again?” Andy asked, his voice earnest. “I think I saw that name on a wall in the post office the other day.”

  “He was already locked up, genius, not at large. And they don’t put them on the walls anymore,” I told him.

  “Too bad,” Adri said. “I’ll bet he’d be there if they did.”

  “You cannot make me feel bad about turning away a prison inmate,” Sophie replied. “My mother was horrified that her good friend would even think of such a thing.”

  “She wasn’t about to turn her lovely minor daughter over to the hands of a criminal,” Adri laughed.

  “I was eighteen,” Sophie argued without any conviction. “I just couldn’t see myself playing Bonnie and Clyde.”

  “Never been on your bucket list, huh?” I teased, squeezing her hand.

  “No. But now that I know you fall under that category, I’d be willing to rethink it.”

  I laughed out loud and squeezed her hand again. She was adorable. It took all my willpower to not lean over and kiss her. How could anyone, criminal or not, resist her? I was finding it harder and harder to.

  "How long ‘til we’re there?” Adri asked.

  “Just a while more,” Sophie promised. She clapped her hands to her chest in excitement. I could tell she was having a hard time sitting still. “Oh, Adri, you are going to love it. It's so cool," she gushed. "And we get to see anemones, crabs, sea stars..." She ticked them off on her fingers as she listed them.

  "Would you keep her under control up there, James?" Andy complained. "You two study whatever you want, Adri and I will do our own thing." He bumped Adri with his shoulder and she blushed.

  “San Antonio, why don’t you dazzle us with some oceanic trivia,” I suggested.

  Andy and Adri groaned from the back seat. Which made my grin widen. I hadn’t felt this happy or content in...well, I couldn’t remember when.

  “If you insist,” she grinned back at me. “Did you know that sea lions are the first non human mammal with the proven ability to keep a beat?”

  “Fascinating,” Andy remarked dryly.

  “And did you also know-”

  “No more,” Adri interrupted. “Please. We beg you.”

  “Fine,” Sophie sniffed. “Your loss.” Then she threw me a surreptitious grin.

  Sophie

  The miles passed quickly in pleasant scenery and conversation. I grabbed my bag and jumped out of the car as soon as James brought the car to a stop. He pulled a blanket and a basket from the trunk. I skipped down the beach in front of him. Andy and Adri brought up the rear at a more sedate pace.

  James set the basket down on the sand and I took one end of the blanket to help him spread it out. I smiled up at him as I kicked off my flip flops and took a seat on the blanket. "You thought of everything." I gestured to the basket.

  "I even showered so my cleanliness wouldn't be called into question. I know how ornery you get when you’re hungry," he told me. "I have feared for my life the few times we have eaten out."

  "Funny," I told him.

  "You’re such a little girl when you are at the beach," Adri said when she and Andy made it to the blanket.

  I shrugged a shoulder. "What can I say? I love it here. It speaks to me like nothing else does," I admitted seriously.

  "I know how you feel," James replied, looking out toward the water. In that moment, looking at James as he gazed at the sea, I fell in love with him a little more. As if he felt my eyes on him, he turned to look at me. I turned my face quickly to the ocean. I knew my feelings for him would be plain on my face and I wasn't ready to reveal them to him yet.

  James' voice drew my gaze. "I figure we have about thirty minutes or so until the tide traps us at the rock." He spoke directly to me. "If you want to see the tide pools, we'd better save breakfast for later."

  I stood and brushed some sand from my jeans. "What are we waiting for?" I asked and walked confidently toward Haystack Rock.

  "We are going to stay and eat," Andy called to us before we got too far away." We'll catch up." I waved behind me in acknowledgement without turning from my goal.

  Haystack Rock was breathtaking and I leaned my head all the way back to take it all in. Birds who made their nests on its highest points circled overhead, patrolling the seas and searching for their breakfast. The cool morning breeze played with my hair and I sighed contentedly as I brushed it from my face. I shivered and shoved my hands into my hoodie pouch, grateful I had grabbed it before we left.

  James stood next to me, our shoulders barely touching. "I like that you are comfortable with silence,” I told him.

  "There is a lot to be learned and appreciated through observation and contemplation," he responded.

  "There aren't many who know that though. I like that you do."

  He reached down and took my hand in his. "Why the ocean?" he asked.

  "I'm not sure I can describe it. For some people it's the mountains that call to them, speak deeply to their souls. The ocean, in all its powerful fury, has always been a source of calm and peace for me. I just look at it, and my whole body sighs in relief. I feel my breath catch at its beauty and I want to cry with happiness. Does that sound crazy to you?" I looked up at him.

  He squeezed my hand and smiled down at me. "No, but this may sound crazy to you. That's how I feel when I look at a perfect heart, working on its own as it should. It's beautiful, miraculous, and indescribable. How can anyone look at the ocean or the human body without seeing the hand of God? There are times during surgery when I feel as though He is guiding my hands to fix those tiny, delicate little people. To give them a chance to see the ocean and experience this majesty and peace that surrounds you when you stand here and speak to me from your soul."

  "We understand each other then." I glanced from the Haystack to his face.

  A peaceful smile touched his lips as he stared straight ahead at the ocean. "Yes. I believe we do
."

  "What are you guys looking at?" Andy wanted to know at the same time Adri demanded, "Show me these amazing tide pools." I squeezed James' hand in something of an apology and we both turned at the sound of their voices.

  I smiled at Adri. "Right this way." I moved my arm in a sweeping gesture toward the miniature crustacean cities. Adri hooked her arm through mine and James and Andy followed behind.

  Adri and Andy stayed by us longer than I thought they would. When the water got a little too high, they slowly wandered away in search of something else to capture their attention for a few minutes more. It just didn't hold the same appeal for them as it did for us. Well, at least for me. And because James knew the depth of my feelings, he stayed by my side until he knew I'd had my fill.

  I was captivated and speechless by the underwater world before me. The water was so clear, I would have thought I was staring from behind glass had I not been able to reach down and feel the shock of cold water and spongy softness of the anemones beneath my fingertips. I giggled in delight when the green and pink anemones pulled inside themselves at my touch.

  I turned to speak to James just as he leaned forward to see what had captured my attention. We bumped heads and I jerked back quickly. I put my hand down to keep myself from falling over and gasped when it was swallowed up in cold water. Some poor sea creature, disturbed with my inconsiderate hand placement, scuttled about and I pulled back, startled. I lost my balance, falling into James, and sat hard in his lap.

  "Whoa. Sorry," I told him, scrambling to get off him.

  "It's okay," he assured me as he stood. "Except I'm experiencing deja-vu from the 'peeing my pants' incident."

  My eyes got big as understanding dawned and I put my hand over my mouth to stop the giggle that threatened. "James, I am so sorry," I told him between laughs.

  "Yes. I can hear how upset you are about the whole thing," he observed. "You are going to have to walk behind me for the rest of the day to block the wind and preserve my ego."

  "Wait until Andy hears about this."

  "Oh, Andy isn't going to hear about this."

  "He's not?" I asked innocently.

  "No. He's not." The threatening tone of his voice was downplayed by the humorous glint in his eyes.

  He lunged at me, but I side stepped him and took off running. I looked behind me and shrieked when I saw he was almost on top of me. I stepped to the side and put on the brakes. He ran past me a few feet before he managed to stop and turn. I stooped down to pick up some wet sand and held it up between us hoping to use it as a deterrent. He wasn't deterred in the least. He grinned wickedly and kept coming at me.

  "Put it down, and you won't get hurt."

  "I'm not afraid of you, Doctor," I said, though my voice shook with laughter.

  When he was an arms length away, he lunged for me. His clean hand grabbed my gritty one and he pressed his fingers between my own, sandwiching the wet sand between our fingers, forcing it out and onto the beach. He gently tugged me closer, his eyes never leaving mine. The laughter died on my lips when I saw his eyes change from teasing to intense. My breath caught in my throat.

  "You're eyes are very green today, San Antonio," he said softly, his gaze penetrating. But the way he said my nickname sounded different this time. More intense. More...something.

  “Did you know that reindeer eyeballs turn blue in winter to help them see at lower light levels?” I asked nervously. I rolled my eyes and growled in frustration while James chuckled softly.

  "You are just trying to distract me," I breathed.

  "No." He tugged on my hand again, pulling me closer, and snagged my waist with his arm. "I think you are trying to distract me."

  "Is it working?" I managed to breathe out.

  "Maybe a little," he said before he lowered his head and placed his lips on mine. Suddenly the wonders of the ocean and the beach took on new meaning. As James' lips moved slowly over mine, I knew this small spot of heaven on earth would be forever changed for me. I'd never look at another ocean wave, sandy beach, or rising rocky cliff without seeing James.

  “We should have done that a long time ago,” I murmured breathlessly when we drew apart. “What were we thinking?”

  “Well, I was thinking that you were a married woman and I was already having trouble steering clear of you without adding kissing into the mix.” I laughed at that and leaned in to kiss him again.

  James

  I was still thinking about our conversation on the way back to Portland later that afternoon. No one, not Andy, Kaley, or even my father understood me deep down like Sophie seemed to. Even though our passions in life were for different things, our feelings about them were similar. We had connected on a deeper level and that scared me. But when it had come right down to it and I was at the edge of the proverbial cliff, I chose to dive right in. I knew what I was doing when I kissed her and I did it willingly. The water was very fine. Now there was no turning back. Attaching the names of all the cities in Texas to her couldn’t make her ‘just one of the guys’. I could drown in her and never care about coming to the surface.

  When we pulled into her brother's driveway, I put the car in park and climbed out. I caught Sophie's hand in mine on the way to the house. "Are your shorts dry so Andy isn't laughing at you while you tell me goodbye?" Sophie wanted to know when we stood on the porch.

  "I don't know. Let's test it." I put my hands on Sophie's shoulders and turned us so my back was to the car. With a smile, I lowered my face slowly toward her. She went up on her toes as if she couldn’t wait and met me halfway.

  I gently kissed her soft lips. She pulled back way too soon, but I couldn’t kiss her like I wanted to in front of Andy and Adri anyway, so I said, “So far, so good. I don't hear any laughter." I glanced over my shoulder at the car and then back to Sophie. "I’m glad you forced me from my bed at an unearthly hour today.” She smiled up at me again and it was all I could do to not cover her lips with mine.

  I lifted my hand and rested it on her cheek. She leaned into my palm and closed her eyes, a small smile still on her lips. "Thanks for today," she murmured. "It was nice."

  I leaned down and kissed her once more then took her by the shoulders and turned her toward the door. With a soft shove I told her, “You’d better go while I still let you.”

  “My, my, doctor…” she drawled as she smiled over her shoulder at me. She waved goodbye to Andy and made a 'come on' motion with her hand to Adri. “See you Monday.”

  Chapter 21

  Sophie

  “What a therapeutic day,” Adri sighed as she entered the kitchen and plopped an armful of shopping bags on the table.

  "We maked cookies again, Adwi," Jeran announced proudly. "Have one."

  Adri snatched a cookie off the cooling rack on the counter and sank into a chair. “I think I’d like to marry a really rich man so I can shop all day every day,” she said between bites of cookie. “These are really good, Jeran,” she commented and smiled at the little flour covered boy standing on the chair that had been pushed up against the counter.

  “Me and Aunt Sophie maked them,” he told her proudly. “I got to put in the gwedients.”

  “And you did an excellent job, you little cookie monster,” I poked him in his tummy with the spatula.

  He shrieked and stumbled down off the chair. Adri opened her arms to him. “I’ll save you,” she called dramatically and he plowed into her, holding his arms up for rescue. A puff of flour filled the air when his body collided with hers.

  “What in those bags?” he asked pointing to the mound.

  “Oh, I’ll show you,” Adri gushed excitedly while wiping flour from her clothes.

  I grinned wryly wondering how long clothes and shoes would keep Jeran’s attention. Adri opened the first bag and Jeran reached in. He pulled out a shirt and without a second glance, dropped it on the floor. “Whe’s the toys?” he wondered peering into the bag again.

  I laughed as Adri huffed and snatched her shirt from the d
usty floor. “Jeran, I think I hear mommy,” I told him when I heard the toilet flush down the hall and the bathroom door open. “Go ask her if she wants a cookie.”

  “Mommy…” Jeran called as he slid off Adri’s lap and barreled out of the kitchen.

  I turned off the oven timer and lifted another sheet of cookies out. “Are you still going to the gym with Andy tonight?”

  “Yes! Do you want to see my toes?” I glanced over at her as she shrugged off her heels to show me her new pedicure.

  “Cute,” I responded. “But Andy won’t even see your toes. I don’t think he’d care overly much even if he did.”

  “I know. But it’s like clean underwear,” she informed me as she admired her toes then slipped her feet back into her shoes and stood to collect her bags from the table.

  I gave her a questioning look. “How do you figure?”

  If something happens, at least I’m not caught with medical people inspecting me and gagging over gross feet with chipped paint.”

  I laughed and shook my head at her logic. "Do you two want to do something after the gym? I could text James and see if he's not busy."

  "You could just text him anyway. You don't need me for an excuse," Adri teased.

  "I know. I've heard about this amusement park with rides and roller skating. What do you think?"

  "Give him a call. Let me know. I'm going to go change for the gym."

  James

  Sophie: Plans tonight?

  James: With you? Hope so:)

  Sophie: Roller skating?

  James: Funny

  Sophie: Serious

  "So, roller skating, huh?" I asked when she answered her phone.

  "Adri and I wondered if you and Andy wanted to get together after they go to the gym. I've heard about this amusement park a couple miles from here and thought we could check it out. My treat."

  "Do you know how long it's been since I've laced up a pair of roller skates?"

  "Too long if you’re asking me that."

  "Way too long. But since I can't seem to tell you no, come get us when Adri is ready."