“Bullshit.” Rick gave her a fulminating look. “She came on to me, same as every other bitch under the age of sixty in this burg. When I took her up on the offer, she suddenly turned all righteous. Little cock tease, that’s all she is. Just like you, Ms. Tightass Truitt. You’re both the kind that gets a man worked up and then yells rape when he tries to get a sample of what they’re offering.”
“One more word,” Elias said softly, “and you won’t be in any condition to ask for more samples from any female.”
Arlene flung back her head. “You’re lying, Rick Swinton. I’ve been preparing myself for the Journey, just like Gwendolyn told us to do. We’re all supposed to be getting ready to move to a higher plane where sex will be a pure, nonphysical experience.”
“Give me a break,” Swinton muttered.
“And what’s more,” Arlene shot back, “if I was going to fool around, it wouldn’t be with you. I’ve got me a fine boyfriend, and I’m going to make sure he comes with me when it’s time to go aboard the ships. And I’ll tell you something else, if Gwendolyn knew how you acted when her back was turned, she’d send you packing.”
“Goddamned little bitch.” Rick backed up hurriedly when Elias moved in the shadows. “Keep your hands off me, Winters.”
“Oh, let him be,” Arlene said with acute disgust. “I’m all right, and you can bet I won’t let him get me alone again. He’s perverted, if you ask me. You should see what he’s got inside his motor home. And he thinks it’s sexy. Well, I can tell you none of it will matter after next Monday night.”
“You can say that again.” Rick swung around and stalked off down a dark corridor formed by several campers and some motor homes.
Charity gave Arlene a small hug. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine.” Arlene heaved a deep sigh. “Rick’s a sneaky little twerp who uses his position as Gwendolyn’s assistant to try to get it on with every female Voyager in sight. First time he’s ever tried anything with me, though.”
Elias stirred. “You said that if Gwendolyn knew about his behavior, she’d get rid of him. If that’s the case, why don’t you tell her?”
“The thing is, she’s got so much on her mind right now.” Arlene looked uneasy. “Most of us only see her at the evening sundown chant. She spends the rest of her time in her motor home preparing for Monday night. Rick’s the only one who’s allowed to interrupt her when she’s meditating or pursuing her studies.”
“I could get her attention for you,” Elias offered. “No problem.”
“I don’t want to cause her any trouble,” Arlene said quickly. “Rick Swinton isn’t important. He’s such a turkey, I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets left behind when the aliens come.”
“Don’t worry,” Elias said. “Something tells me that Swinton won’t be going on board any starship at midnight on the fifteenth. And neither will anyone else.”
Arlene straightened her shoulders with grave dignity. “I can see that you’re a nonbeliever. But you and all the others will learn the truth for yourselves. I just wish I could get Newlin to understand. I can’t bear the thought of leaving him behind.”
Charity patted her shoulder. “Newlin cares about you, Arlene. If things don’t work out, remember that he’ll be here waiting for you.”
Tears glistened in Arlene’s eyes. She wiped them away with the back of her hand. “But I want him to come with me to see the galaxy. If he stays behind, he’ll be dead and turned to dust by the time I get back.”
Elias looked at her. “Sometimes the surface of the water is so distorted by a passing storm that you can’t see any truth in it.”
Arlene blinked away a few more tears and stared at him uncomprehendingly. “Huh?”
Charity gave her another little hug. “Don’t worry about it, Arlene. Elias can be a little obscure. It’s not his fault. He was raised that way. Come on, we’ll walk you back to your trailer.”
“You don’t have to do that. I’m okay, honest.” Arlene gave Charity an anxious glance. “You won’t tell Newlin about what just happened, will you?”
Charity hesitated. “If that’s what you want.”
“What I really want is for Newlin to come with me on the spaceship.” Arlene turned and trailed off into the shadows.
“I hope she’s not going to be too depressed on Monday night when nothing happens,” Charity said a short while later as she and Elias walked home.
“She’ll have Newlin to comfort her.”
Startled by the brusque tone of his voice, Charity gave him a searching look. It was impossible to see his expression in the darkness.
“Elias?”
“Yes?”
“You’re sure you’re okay? Rick didn’t get a punch in, did he?”
“I’m okay.”
Charity relaxed slightly. “That was very kind of you to go to Arlene’s assistance.”
Elias did not respond. He was obviously lost in his own churning thoughts.
Charity knew a no-trespassing sign when she saw one. She stopped talking and allowed the sounds of the night and the cove to fill the tense silence.
When they reached her cottage, she took out her key and walked up the porch steps to her front door. Elias made no attempt to follow her. He stood waiting at the bottom of the steps as she fitted her key into the lock.
She looked back at him as she opened the door, wondering what he would say if she invited him inside. The porch light etched his face in sharp, contrasting planes of light and shadow. He looked very remote, very distant. Back in control. She decided that in this mood he would refuse an offer of tea or a nightcap.
“Thanks for asking me to join you on your evening walk.” Deliberately she infused her voice with as much forced brightness as possible. “It was interesting, to say the least.”
“Charity?”
She froze warily in the doorway. “Yes?”
“Did I scare you?”
Of all the things she might have expected him to say at that moment, his question was one she would never have imagined. “Scare me? You mean, with the way you tackled Rick Swinton? Don’t be silly. Of course you didn’t scare me. I was glad you tossed him out of the motor home. He deserved to land on his rear in the dirt. Arlene’s right. He’s a little twerp.”
“I’m not talking about Swinton.”
“Oh.”
“I’m talking about us,” Elias said very softly.
Her mouth went dry. She knew now that he was referring to the devastating intensity of the kiss they had shared. A kiss that had left him as shaken as it had her, she thought with rising satisfaction. Not that he would ever admit it.
Suddenly she felt incredibly cheerful. Incredibly sexy. Downright flirtatious. She folded her arms beneath her breasts and propped one shoulder against the doorjamb, trying for an air of unruffled, sophisticated aplomb.
“Do I look scared?” she asked.
“No.”
She smiled. “What are you up to, Elias Winters?”
“Don’t you know?”
“Enlighten me.”
He held her eyes with unwavering intensity. There was no humor in that gaze. None at all. For Elias this was deadly serious, Charity realized. She felt a little sorry for him.
“I’m trying to start an affair with you,” Elias said.
It took a determined effort, but she managed to get her mouth closed after a few stunned seconds. “I thought you were the subtle type.”
“Is that an affirmative or a negative response?”
Charity struggled to maintain a few shreds of her composure. Damn if she would let him turn her into a babbling idiot. She took refuge in her old executive style.
“It’s an I’ll-get-back-to-you-on-that response,” she said.
He nodded, accepting her words without comment. “Good night, Charity.”
“Good night.” Charity stepped back into the safety of her tiny hallway and very carefully closed and locked the door. Then she sagged weakly against it.
<
br /> After a moment, she recovered sufficiently to go to the window and peek through the blinds. But she was too late to see Elias leave. He had already vanished into the night.
5
Volcanoes simmer beneath the deepest seas.
—“On the Way of Water,” from the journal of Hayden Stone
He had not scared Charity, but he had certainly done a hell of a job scaring himself.
Two days later Elias still could not stop brooding over the kiss on the bluff.
He had just wanted to test the waters. Wade in the shallows. Check to see if the attraction was mutual. He had not expected to get caught by a riptide and swept out to sea before he knew what hit him.
Years of daily exercise, both physical and mental, designed to cultivate maximum internal balance and self-discipline, all gone in an instant. So much for playing it cool.
It had taken an hour of contemplation beside the garden pool, a cold shower, and a shot of whiskey to control the hungry need that had set his senses on edge Wednesday night. The temptation to walk back to Charity’s cottage, knock on the door, and ask her to take him into her bed had nearly unhinged him.
Scary. Very scary.
But he was back in control now, he assured himself. Two days of intense Tal Kek Chara workouts had reestablished the balance of his inner flow.
Sort of.
Elias stood behind his counter with Crazy Otis stationed beside him on the fake tree limb. Together they watched as Charity moved up and down the crowded aisles of Charms & Virtues, clipboard in hand.
With a woman like this, you had to be careful what you asked for, Elias reflected. This morning he had foolishly asked for some business marketing advice.
At the time he had been pleased with the subtle maneuver. He had thought to use the request as an excuse to spend more time with her. He had envisioned giving her tea in the intimate privacy of the tiny office behind the cash register counter.
But she had taken his request far too seriously. She was attacking the job of whipping his business into shape with gusto.
If she had experienced any serious aftereffects from that out-of-control kiss two days ago, they certainly didn’t show, he thought morosely. “I’ll get back to you on that,” she had said when he’d told her that he wanted to have an affair. It was as if she had sensed the weakness in him and knew herself to be in the driver’s seat.
Dangerous. But a challenge he could not resist.
“We’ll have to find Hayden’s supplier files and order info.” Charity paused to pick up a pen off a stack marked Spy Pens—Write Your Secret Messages in Invisible Ink. “I have no idea where he got most of this stuff.”
“There’s a big stack of order catalogs in the office,” Elias offered.
He studied the graceful, vulnerable curve of the nape of her neck. He was sorely tempted to come out from behind the barricade of the sales counter and see what would happen if he touched that sexy place beneath her hair. He resisted the urge. He had the raw fire of unrequited lust tamped down now, but the force of it was undiminished. Unfortunately the flames burned all the hotter for being banked.
Control was everything in Tal Kek Chara.
“Check the business records in his old filing cabinet. There should be invoices from the companies he used on a regular basis.” Charity put aside the invisible ink pen and blew dust off a collection of tiny, carved wooden boxes. “I’ll have Newlin bring over one of our extra feather dusters. A clean shop has eye appeal.”
“I don’t know.” Elias surveyed the layer of grime on top of the fortune-teller’s booth. “I think the dust adds atmosphere.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Charity brushed her hands together. “It makes the place look untended. Also, you really should do something to improve the lighting in here. It looks like the inside of a cave.”
“A couple of kids wandered in yesterday afternoon. I think they liked the spooky effect.”
“Anything that makes it hard for your customers to see what you have to sell doesn’t help business.” Charity picked up a small box and probed curiously at the latch.
“Uh, Charity, be careful with that. Those little chests are filled with—”
“Don’t get me wrong. I agree that it’s a good idea to maintain an air of mystery in a shop like Charms & Virtues, but you don’t want to overdo it. Maybe some old-fashioned lamps, especially in the back section, would be the—aaaah!”
A large, furry spider leaped out of the box.
“Oh-my-god!” Charity shrieked again and hurled box and spider into the air.
“Heh-heh-heh.” Crazy Otis sidled along his perch, shiny eyes glittering evilly.
“I tried to tell you.” Elias came around from behind the counter and started down the aisle. “Those are gag boxes. They’ve all got fake spiders on springs stuffed inside.”
Charity recovered quickly. “I should have known better than to fool around with any of this stuff.” She shoved the spider back into the box and firmly closed the lid. “As long as I live, I will never understand the appeal of this type of merchandise.”
“I think it’s a kid thing.”
“Well, as I was saying, I recommend that you get some attractive lighting fixtures in here as soon as possible. But first things first. You’ve got to dust.” She broke off on a delicate sneeze.
“I’ll see what I can do.” He watched her yank a tissue out of her skirt pocket. “Charity, would you have dinner at my place with me tonight?”
Her eyes widened above the tissue that she held to her nose. “Dinner?”
The door swung open at that moment. Irritated by the interruption, Elias glanced toward the front of the shop. The last thing he wanted right now was a customer.
A florid-faced man dressed in gentlemen’s-cut slacks, a white shirt that strained at the buttons, and taupe nubuck shoes stood in the entrance. His eyes gleamed determinedly behind the lenses of oversized aviator glasses. He carried an expensive leather briefcase in one chubby hand. The square, diamond-studded ring on his left pinky was so large that Elias could see it very clearly from where he stood in the middle of the shop.
Charity blew her nose and turned quickly. “Oh, hello, Leighton. What are you doing here? Have you met Elias Winters? Elias, this is Leighton Pitt. The owner of Pitt Realty.”
Elias nodded brusquely. “Pitt.”
“Winters,” Leighton sang out in a jovial voice that boomed off the walls. “Pleased to meet you.” He started forward, broad hand outstretched.
Elias shook hands reluctantly and as briefly as possible. As he had feared, Leighton’s palm was unpleasantly damp. As soon as the ancient ritual was completed, Elias surreptitiously wiped his hand off on the side of his jeans. He caught the amused glint in Charity’s eyes just as he finished.
“Charity,” Leighton turned to her. “Nice to see you. Fantastic day, isn’t it? Been a chilly summer. Hope we get to keep this warm weather for a while.”
“Good for business,” Charity murmured politely.
“That it is, that it is.” Leighton swung back to Elias. “Winters, you’re just the man I want to see. Can you spare a few minutes? I’d like to talk to you about a business matter that I think you’ll find very interesting.”
“Can it wait?” Elias asked. “Charity was just giving me some tips on running this place.”
Leighton winked broadly and chuckled. “As if you need consulting advice when it comes to business.”
Charity glanced at her watch with an exaggerated expression of amazement. “Heavens, will you look at the time. Elias, I’ve got to run. I promised Newlin he could go to lunch early today. Arlene is coming over from the Voyagers’ campground to join him.”
“About tonight,” Elias said grimly.
She gave him a brilliant smile. “As it happens, I’m free this evening.”
“Six-thirty,” he said swiftly. “I’ll walk over and pick you up.”
“That’s not necessary. I can find my own way. Your place isn’t that f
ar from mine.” She glanced at Leighton. “See you later, Leighton.”
He gave her a brisk nod, his attention clearly focused on whatever presentation he planned to make to Elias. “You bet. Enjoy the great weather while you can.”
Elias watched wistfully as Charity disappeared out the front door. She was wearing one of her floaty little cotton dresses again today, and the sunlight outside the shop revealed the sexy silhouette of her legs.
“Well, Winters, what say we get down to business, eh?”
Elias suppressed a groan as he turned back to his visitor. “If this is about real estate, I’ve already got a house.”
“I know, Hayden Stone’s old place out on the bluff.” Leighton frowned. “You know, I could find you something in much better condition with a similar view.”
“Don’t bother. The cottage suits me just fine.”
“Sure, you bet. That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about today, anyway.”
“What did you want to discuss?”
Leighton glanced toward the door as if to make certain that they were still alone. Then he winked again. His teeth sparkled in a confidential, man-to-man smile. “I know who you are, Winters, and I think I can guess why you’re here in town.”
“What a coincidence. I know who I am, too. And I also know why I’m here. If that’s all you wanted to talk about, I’ve got work to do.”
“Hey, hey, hey.” Leighton flapped his hand. “Take it easy. No offense intended. Just wanted you to realize that you’re not the only one in town who knows the real score.”
“Real score?”
“Look, I’ll level with you.” Leighton leaned in closer. The fragrance of a recently digested breath mint wafted through the air. “I’m aware that off-shore money is planning to move into Whispering Waters Cove in the next six months. I know all about the plans for a world-class resort and spa the company wants to develop here. Going to be built along the same lines as the properties the outfit developed in Hawaii, right? Except with an emphasis on golf instead of sunbathing, of course.”
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