She angled her head and watched the crab picking away. She had some kitchen string, and she had some frozen chicken thighs in the freezer.
Ten minutes later Gab was back down at the dock, a string with a piece of microwave-thawed chicken on the end in one hand, and in the other, an old fishing net that had been her father’s that she remembered seeing in the shed.
Okay, this was supposed to be easy. If she was going to make a fool of herself, she’d do it without an audience, thank you. She got down on her knees and looked into the water. The crab that had been on the pylon was gone. She lowered the chicken into the water and waited. After a couple of minutes, she pulled the string up. No crabs were clutching the chicken. She dropped it back down into the water, frowning.
After several more minutes she was about to give up, positive Justin had been pulling her leg, when she thought she felt a slight tug on the line. Gab leaned forward, holding her breath. She felt another tug; she was sure of it this time. Slowly, she began to bring the line up and then, when there was only about a foot of line still below the surface, she saw the crab. It had one claw in a firm grip on the chicken while it nibbled on the thigh. She held her net up, and bringing the line up only another inch or two, she scooped.
Then she screamed.
JUSTIN PARKED the car in a small pull off on the side of the road and got out. They were in the middle of nowhere with nothing but woods surrounding them. Gab glanced around as she slid out of the car. Why had he brought her here…and what could he possibly be up to?
She watched as he opened the trunk and proceeded to pull out a small folding table, two folding wooden chairs, and a black and gold backpack. He slid the backpack over his arm and then hitched his head toward the inside of the trunk.
“Can you manage the rest?”
Gab looked into the trunk and saw a large picnic basket. She reached in and lifted it out.
“The blanket, too,” Justin said, his mouth quirking with humor.
“We’re going to have a picnic?” She grabbed the blanket and closed the trunk.
Justin nodded, humor dancing in his eyes.
“Okay,” she said with some hesitation. “In the woods?”
“Follow me.” He set off, looking over his shoulder after he’d gone about fifty feet to see if she had. “There’s a path just ahead.”
Gab sighed. She was a trooper, and he seemed excited about his surprise, and when you cared about someone, you sometimes did things you really weren’t thrilled about because it made them happy. Like walking into bug-infested woods without any repellent on, when the sun was going to be setting soon and all the night animals would start lurking about.
There was a path, and Gab followed him into the woods, her uncertainty growing as the trees thickened. They were on a hike, carrying a table and chairs and basket and blanket, and when he’d said to dress comfortably, she’d worn jeans and a button-down white blouse that she’d rolled the sleeves up on…and flip-flops…the perfect foot attire for traipsing through underbrush, fallen branches, and probably poison ivy…and possibly snakes.
She gave an involuntary shiver and scoured the ground. Justin kept walking, seeming unconcerned in the least. In fact, he was whistling. He was actually enjoying their trek to who knew where amongst the vipers and, she knew, spiders for sure, and other things she didn’t even want to think about. Men…she didn’t think she even wanted to understand how their minds worked. It would be so much simpler if they could just be more like women.
She was probably going to need a lot of calamine lotion tomorrow. Did she have any calamine lotion at home?
It seemed liked they’d been walking for oh, maybe a hundred miles, when Justin said over his shoulder, “We’re almost there.”
“Praise Jesus,” she mumbled under her breath. She felt itchy all over. She was probably already breaking out in a rash, and the more she thought about it, she was positive she didn’t have any calamine lotion.
Gab looked around Justin’s broad shoulders and saw something glimmering between the trees just ahead. Water. They’d hiked from the road to the water. They broke out of the woods onto a small crescent-shaped beach that was about thirty feet long and almost as wide. She caught her breath.
“Oh my!” Her gaze swept over the wide expanse of water and marsh that lay in front and to the side of them. “Justin, this is stunning!” And it was.
“Welcome to Black Goat beach.” A huge grin lit up his face and eyes.
She turned in a circle, awed by the natural beauty surrounding her. He’d brought her to a private little paradise where they could have been the only two people in the world.
“How did you ever find this place?”
“My dad used to bring Blake and me here to camp when we were boys.” Justin opened out the table legs and set it up on the sand, close to the water. “I’m not sure how he knew about it. It’s a pretty well-kept secret.” He set the chairs up at the table and then motioned to her for the picnic basket.
She handed it to him and gave him a flirtatious grin. “You come here often?”
He chuckled. “It’s probably been fifteen years or more. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to find it after so long, but—” He set the basket on the sand and spread his arms. “Here we are.”
They spent the next few minutes emptying out the picnic basket and backpack. When they were done, Gab looked in wonder at the table. He’d brought everything for a romantic beachside dinner for two, complete with china and candlesticks.
“You’re dinner awaits, my lady.” He opened his palm, sweeping his arm toward her chair.
They dined on an assortment of fresh fruit, cold chicken, a French baguette, and three different kinds of cheese. They lingered over their food and sipped on Pinot Grigio, while they chatted about everything from their beliefs in the supernatural to the local crabs.
“Speaking of crabs,” Gab said as Justin reached into the picnic basket,”I caught one today.”
JUSTIN PULLED another bottle of wine out of the picnic basket and uncorked it.
“You caught a crab? How’d you do that?” He watched her, entranced. Her face was a kaleidoscope of ever changing expression. Right now, her eyes danced with mirth, and the corners of her lips twitched with humor.
“Well, I was sitting on my dock watching this crab eating stuff on the side of the pylon, and I started thinking about how you said you could catch them with a string and some chicken.”
He leaned forward, resting his chin in his hand. “So you thought you’d give it a try.”
“Yes, and at first I thought maybe you had just been teasing me, but then I felt something tug, just like you said…and it was a crab…and I caught it…in a net I found in the shed.”
“You caught one crab. That’s a light lunch. Did you steam it?”
She shook her head, grinning at him. “No. I ran from it.”
He put his other elbow on the table and threaded his fingers together, propping his chin in his hands. “I can’t wait to hear why that happened.”
“I had it in the net, and it was lunging around, and it startled me.”
“The crab was lunging around?”
“Yes, and snapping. And when it lunged at me, I screamed and dropped the net.” She set her beautiful blue eyes on him and frowned. “It wasn’t funny at the time.”
“What did the crab do when you dropped the net?”
“It tried to attack me. I was barefoot, and it was between me and the grass, and the thing got up on its back legs and stretched out these huge claws and was snapping them at me. Did you know they can run sideways!”
She became even more animated, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was full of life. It didn’t matter if she was looking at him over a glass of wine or running away from a crab; she radiated it. And he could think of nothing more pleasurable than living it with her.
“So anyway,” she continued, “it was backing me up to the end of the dock, and I’m like, jumping from one foot to the othe
r, hoping it wasn’t going to make a meal out of one of my toes. And I tried to go around it, and it lunged at me again, and then I let out another scream that Delaney could probably hear across the bay, but I managed to leap over the thing and run off the dock and up to the house.”
Justin’s shoulders started to shake, and it was all he could do to contain his laughter. He could just picture her jumping from foot to foot, letting out little screams as she did, and trying to avoid the crab’s claws.
“And what happened to the crab?”
“I didn’t go back down to check. It’s probably still down there waiting for me.” She attempted a reproachful grimace. “You didn’t tell me they were such vicious little things.”
“Does this mean you don’t want to go crabbing with me out on the river?”
She snorted. “The only way I’ll get that close to a crab again is if it’s been sautéed in butter and garlic, or made into one of those nice little cakes. Or steamed, with Old Bay. I think I’d like that.”
“Well,” Justin said, thoroughly amused by her story. “I’ll take you to dinner at one of our local crab houses one night soon. Once you’ve feasted on some fresh steamed crabs, you’ll be singing those vicious little things’ praises.”
“Come on.” He pushed his chair back in the sand and stood up. “It’s time for dessert.” He grabbed the blanket that was next to the table and pulled a small white box out of the basket. It held six large chocolate covered strawberries that he’d bought on his way back from lunch that afternoon.
“Dessert too? Are you trying to seduce me, Morrison?”
“Chocolate.” He held up the box and grinned broadly, knowing she had a weakness for it.
“I knew it. You are trying to seduce me.”
“Am I succeeding?”
“Yes. I already told you I’m easy.”
“Ummhmm, but only for me, right?”
She nodded slowly, a soft smile on her lips and in her eyes. “For some reason.”
She helped him spread out the blanket and then kicked off her flip-flops.
Justin sat down. “If you want to take off anything else, I won’t be offended.” He chuckled when she rolled her eyes at him.
He patted the place beside him and she sat down, crossing her legs and then leaning back on her hands. He wished he’d brought a camera so he could capture her in that moment. She looked so earthy, so uncomplicated and beautiful that he felt compelled to thank whatever forces had deigned him worthy enough to send her his way. Yeah, he was one lucky bastard, and in way deeper than he’d ever planned. He hadn’t seen it coming. It had just happened. One day he looked at her and realized he’d fallen in love.
“I wanted to bring you here to see the sunset.” He opened the box and lifted out one of the strawberries. Her eyes grew wide when she saw it, and her expression turned to one of sheer pleasure. Chuckling at her delight, he leaned forward and held the treat to her mouth. She smiled seductively and took a bite. She closed her eyes, moaning as she began to chew. The laughter died in his throat and feeding her the rest of the strawberry became slow torture.
“More?” he asked, his blood running hot.
Gabriella licked her lips. “What about you?”
In reply he traced her mouth with his fingertips. He knew what he wanted for dessert, but he’d brought her here to watch the sunset, and if he followed his desires, he’d be making love to her on the sand when the sun went down. He would control his urges until they got back to his apartment. He gave a sigh of regret and reached for another berry.
“There are more than enough.” He held a second one out to her. She took it and smiled her thanks. Justin got himself a strawberry and bit into it, catching a stray drop of juice with his tongue. He glanced over at her to voice his own praise for the dessert and caught her staring at his mouth. He ran his tongue over his bottom lip.
Gabriella’s mouth dropped open slightly and her eyes flared, two blue flames sparked by desire. It was good to know he wasn’t the only one.
Justin threw the stem over his head, set the box between them so she could help herself, and leaned back on his elbows.
He pointed out to the horizon. “Look, the sun’s just starting to drop.” The marshes on their left turned to gold, and fire streaked across the sky in shades of orange and red. Justin sat back up and reached out to bring Gabriella in front of him. She sat between his legs and leaned back against his chest, the top of her head nestled under his chin. They fit together perfectly.
Wrapping his arms around her waist, Justin settled Gabriella against him. The evening began to fade from brilliant red and orange into purple, reflecting off the water in rippling shades of liquid color. He was glad he’d brought her here.
He glanced down and took in her peaceful expression. She looked up at him and smiled softly.
“Beautiful,” she said, “truly beautiful.”
“Yes.” He bent his head and slid his lips over hers and whispered, “Yes, you are.”
JUSTIN ROLLED over in bed the next morning and reached for Gabriella but came up with an armful of air. He opened his eyes and was disappointed when he saw her buttoning the last button of her blouse.
“Come here,” he said, hoping to coax her back into bed for a little morning loving.
“Can’t.” She bent over and picked up her flip-flops, dangling them from her fingers. I need to get home, and if I come over there, I know what’s going to happen.”
He glanced at the clock next to the bed. “It’s only six thirty.”
“I know, but I’ve got a busy day and so do you.”
“Yeah, but I don’t have to leave until seven fifty-nine. That’s the nice thing about having a one minute commute.”
She gave him a crooked smile but looked resolute about leaving.
He leaned up on one elbow. “Will you at least wait until I put on some pants and a shirt so I can walk you out to your car?”
He slid out from under the covers and reached for the jeans he’d tossed onto the bottom of the bed the night before. Gabriella looked away but not before he’d noticed her give him a full body scan.
“I’ll wait in the living room.” She turned and headed for the doorway.
“You don’t like the view in here?”
“I like it too much,” she admitted, which made him smile. The woman had no guile. She flirted with him and enjoyed their banter as much as he did, but she always played straight. She never pretended disinterest or tried to hide her attraction to him, and he found her honest reactions extremely appealing.
He enjoyed being with her on so many levels. She was easy to talk to, maybe because she was so good at listening. She was funny, and fun, and he’d laughed more with her than any woman he could remember.
When he walked out into the living room, she was standing just outside the apartment door on the stairway landing.
“Were you afraid I might try to change your mind?”
“Yes.” A broad grin lit up her face, and then she turned and started down the steps, leaving him no choice but to follow.
When they got to her car, Gabriella got in and rolled down the window.
“Why don’t we stay in and watch a movie tonight?” Justin suggested, thinking it would be nice to spend a quiet evening with her. “I’ll order a pizza for dinner.”
“If you get bacon and tomatoes on half, it’s a deal.”
He bent down and kissed her goodbye. “Whatever your heart desires, sugar.” He watched her pull away and then went back into the building, taking the steps up to the apartment two at a time. He felt like he was on top of the world.
An hour later he was showered, dressed, and after a quick breakfast of cereal with blueberries, he went downstairs and unlocked the front doors to the building. Sylvia, his office manager, arrived a few minutes later. She was in her early forties. She’d lived her whole life in Glebe Point. Her dad had coached him when he played little league baseball. She’d married her high school sweetheart, and they had t
wo sets of twins. She was sweet, practical, and could have run circles around any of the administrative staff at the prestigious firm he’d left behind in DC. He was lucky to have her.
Justin walked into his office and looked over his daily planner. His first appointment was due to arrive any minute. He had another one at ten thirty, a phone consultation at two, and then two back-to-back client meetings later that afternoon. In between, he was meeting an old friend for lunch. They’d grown up together, played ball together, and attended the same law school. They’d gotten into their fair share of trouble together, too, Justin thought, and grinned to himself.
His buddy had gotten engaged right out of law school and settled down in New Jersey, but the engagement went sour within a year, and he’d moved back to the area and set up practice in Logan, which was only twenty-five miles away. Aside from renewing their friendship, they could refer each other clients who needed help in an area that was more in line with the other’s expertise.
Justin clicked on his emails but got distracted by the smell of coffee. He got up and walked out to the reception area to get a cup just as his first client arrived.
“Good morning, Mr. Brewer.” Justin extended an open hand in greeting. “I was just going to get myself a cup of coffee before our meeting. Would you like one?”
“Yes, thank you.”
Justin poured them both a cup and then ushered the client into his office and closed the door.
Gabriella stretched her neck as she washed the breakfast dishes. She glanced out the window and down to the little cove bordering her property. She was going to spend the night with Justin again tonight. She was happy they had this time. She wanted to be with him, but it was obvious the reason he kept suggesting she come there was because he hated her house. More accurately, he hated her father, and her house was an in-the-face reminder of the man he despised, the man he held responsible for the death his parents.
Letters to Gabriella Page 18