How are things going at home?
Love you.
Chrissie
She left out the part that she danced with a good-looking guy. Her mom didn’t need to know all the details. Chrissie pushed send and put her laptop back on the nightstand. Heavy sleep fell over her body like a thick quilt, and she dozed before she even knew what happened.
The nightmare didn’t haunt her tonight. Instead, she dreamed the most wonderful dream ever. She was in a beautiful garden with large, colorful blossoms of every color. Exotic birds called to their mates from the branches. Heavy floral fragrances mingled with fresh clean air. The sound of water running off in the distance sang to her, but she didn’t know which of the many paths led to it. Though the water wasn’t what she was really trying to find, someone was waiting for her at its edge. A large orange blossom with five points like a star twirled in her hand. Not knowing which path to take, she continued to follow the trail she was on and wandered into a dark and damp cave.
She walked toward a light that glowed like a beacon and which lead her out into the streets of a village that made her feel very melancholy.
More than anything, Chrissie wanted romance to fill her life. After her last dismal breakup, she had decided that being in love wasn’t in her near future. She was just going to enjoy her last six months in Venezuela working in the clinic and enjoying the friends she had made here.
“Earth to Chrissie.” Marla snapped her fingers in front of Chrissie’s nose.
Suddenly, Chrissie found herself sitting at her desk in the clinic. Papers piled around her, her hand falling asleep from leaning on it.
“Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about Trey.”
“That good-for-nothing son of a …” Marla began to swear under her breath.
“Hey, I’m over it,” Chrissie lied, even though the pain was still raw.
The painful truth he had left her for a Dallas socialite. Trey and his new girlfriend were going to be married tomorrow. Chrissie’s mom called a few weeks ago with the news that she had just gotten a wedding announcement in the mail. Why would you send your ex-girlfriend a wedding announcement? Especially, when you’re marrying the tramp you cheated on her with.
“Whatever.” Marla obviously didn’t believe Chrissie for a second. The New Yorker was feisty and known to be tough as nails when it came to dealing with unruly patients, and as a bonus, she had a built-in lie detector. Marla and Chrissie were complete opposites who, like magnets, were inseparable.
Marla’s dark Italian features helped her blend into the ethnic crowd dancing in the streets. Chrissie stuck out like a sore thumb, with her straight blonde hair and fair skin color. In contrast to her light-blue eyes, her tanned skin from her outdoor adventures was her one feature that helped her look like she belonged so close to the Equator.
Marla and Chrissie walked outside down the cobblestone street, enjoying the live band and merchant booths selling their goods. Chrissie felt like someone had been following them. She tried to shake off the shivers.
She glanced back and made eye contact with her stalker. He quickly diverted his eyes, trying to look busy perusing a table of knickknacks. He was super attractive, in his faded blue jeans and a white button-up shirt that fit perfectly across his broad chest. His neat haircut and freshly shaven face made her believe that he was a guy who put effort into himself, but was confident enough in his style that he didn’t tuck in his shirt. He walked casually with his hands in his pockets to the other side of the street.
Chrissie nudged Marla. “Did you get a look at him?” She pointed to the handsome stranger. “I have a feeling that he’s been following us.”
“Yeah, I saw the creep two blocks away.” Marla shrugged her shoulders. “He is hot, though.”
The music started to liven up, and everyone accumulated in the middle of the street under the strands of lights that hung above them and began dancing. Chrissie danced and twirled around Marla, trying to get her to dance.
“I don’t dance. I look silly.” Marla stood with her arms across her chest while tapping her foot.
“Aw, come on! Loosen up! We only have six more months left before we have to go back to the States. Let’s make the best of it!” Chrissie grabbed Marla’s hands and pulled her deeper into the crowd, where Marla finally loosened up.
“I think I need a few shots of tequila.”
The music slowed down to a slow dance, and the people dispersed or coupled up to continue to dance. Marla disappeared.
“Where did she go?” Chrissie turned around in circles, trying to catch a glimpse of her friend.
“Who?” said a deep masculine voice so close to her ear that it caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up.
She turned around and looked into the very deep blue eyes of the handsome stranger who’d followed her.
“My friend Marla.”
“I saw her go over there to the sangría stand.” He pointed to Marla, who waved back, smiling.
“The little stink. What good is she? Leaving me hanging like that.”
A chuckle rose from the stranger’s chest. “I think she left at just the right time. Would you like to dance?” He held out his hand for her.
Chrissie eyed him warily. “You’re not some sort of weirdo, are you?”
“Not unless you consider a comic book collection weird.”
“Do you live in your mom’s basement?”
“Nope, I own my own house.”
“Trey lived in his parents’ basement … hmm. You’re already beating Trey by a landslide.” She cocked her head to the side. “You’re safe.” Chrissie smiled and let him lead her out to the middle of the street. “What song is this?”
“Adoro.”
“I like it.”
“It talks about how this man loves every part of his love, and she is the whole reason for his existence.”
Wouldn’t it be lovely to be cared for like that? I wonder what that would be like.
“Wow, but that happens every day,” Chrissie said sarcastically.
“You sound cynical.”
“Experience has taught me to be cynical.” Chrissie smiled brightly. “But you are a stranger who doesn’t need to hear my sad sob story. Are we dancing the tango?”
“Yes.” The stranger dipped Chrissie back. “And you are dancing it very well.”
“I took ballroom dancing for a semester in college. I wish I knew it better, but we only covered it for two weeks.”
“Well, all you need in your step is passion.” His smoldering stare caused Chrissie to stop breathing for a second. She was mesmerized by his gaze, causing her to linger in the depth of his eyes.
Snap out of it! You can’t go ga-ga for some strange dude you just met on the street. Trey was suave too.
“Ha, ha. What is passion?” Chrissie meant her response to be funny, but it came out snarky instead.
“You just haven’t found the right man to show it to you,” stranger-dude smiled.
Chrissie gulped down a huge ball of air stuck in her throat. “So, do you live around here?”
“Yes.”
Chrissie expected him to expound, but he didn’t. The music ended.
The handsome stranger walked away and waved. “Thank you for the dance, Chrissie.”
I didn’t give him my name …
“Wait! How do you know my name?”
He only paused to yell back over the music, “Arturo told me.”
Was she still dreaming, or was this an actual memory? It felt so real, and in the present. The time turned to day. Chrissie stopped by Arturo’s produce stand on her way to the clinic the next morning. He was busy arranging mangoes in a basket.
“Arturo?”
“Yes, mija?” Arturo smiled his best winning smile.
“So, Arturo, I danced with this gorgeous man last night who said you had given him my name. Who was he?” Chrissie picked up a banana and put it into her bag.
“Gorgeous? You thought he was very good-looking, no?�
��
“Yes . . . No. I mean, don’t change the subject. Who is he?” She wasn’t about to let Arturo weasel his way out of this one. The dear friend had won a spot in her heart the first month she came to the quiet little Spanish town, but he wasn’t off the hook.
“Brant Winston.” Arturo went back to arranging his produce in orderly baskets, being careful not to bruise the sun-ripened fruit. “Now get to work and stop bothering this old man.” Under the shade of Arturo’s straw hat, Chrissie could see a faint smile.
Halfway down the block, Marla waited for Chrissie. “Hey, you man-eater.”
“Stop it. I am not.”
“Okay, maybe you’re not. But you did dance with that hunky stalker. He could stalk my as . . .”
“Don’t say it. You know how I feel about curse words.” Chrissie placed her hands on her hips and began tapping her foot. “My mom always told me curse words were unattractive. How do you expect to catch your classy man with a mouth of a sailor?”
“All right, Miss Goodie Goodie. But I did dig up some dirt on Brant Winston.”
“So you know his name too? Why am I the only one who doesn’t know about Mr. GQ?”
“Just found it out this morning. Our next-door neighbor is a gossip, and she gave me all the goods on the guy.” Marla dug into her purse for a stick of gum and came up empty handed. “It helps to have connections.” She shrugged.
“Spill it,” Chrissie demanded.
“On one condition. Find out if he has a single brother for me.” Marla wiggled her brows in insinuation.
“That good, huh? He must be fabulous if you want to date his brother.”
“Yep, that good. First of all, he’s very wealthy. He sells exotic flowers and other plants all over the world. Second, he’s in his early thirties and single, as far as we know. Third, he lives up on the mountain somewhere. No one in the village knows where.”
“So, he’s handsome, rich, single, and mysterious. What’s the downside?”
“None yet. I couldn’t dig anything up. Everyone here respects him. He sort of takes care of the villagers, but my source wouldn’t expound. My Chatty Kathy suddenly got not-so-chatty at that point. ” Marla pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
Chrissie yanked it out of her mouth and ground it into the dirt with her tennis shoe.
“Hey!” Marla yelled. “Stop destroying all my cigarettes. Last week, you cut a whole pack in half.”
“You should’ve learned by now not to smoke around me. As nurses, we know better than to smoke. Besides, Daddy says it’ll make your butt wrinkly and fall off.”
“And you believed him?”
“Are you going to find out if it’s true or not? It’s a nasty habit, being a smoke stack. Did you listen at all in all those nursing classes?”
“All right, all right, I won’t smoke,” Marla handed the rest of her pack over to Chrissie. “Just make sure you find the rest of those ciggies a nice home.” She looked longingly at the pack. “I think I might be grouchy today.”
“Nonsense. You’ll be as happy as you want to be. Besides, I thought you didn’t feel the urge to smoke anymore.”
“I don’t. But they’re so expensive, and I brought a month’s worth.”
“So you’re going to smoke them all in a week? You told me last night you’d smoked your last cigarette.”
“Actually, it’s more of a habit to smoke than an addiction. But I got to thinking today that if I didn’t smoke, I wouldn’t get as many breaks.” Marla folded her arms unhappily. “Okay, Miss Sunshine. You’re always bubbly and happy. What do you smoke?”
“Rainbows I buy off the street from a leprechaun.”
“Ah, stop it.” The corner of Marla’s mouth twitched into a smile.
As Marla and Chrissie neared the front entrance of the clinic, they saw Brant exiting the clinic with a curvy exotic beauty. Marla stepped around the side of the building to spy, pulling Chrissie in tight behind her.
“Hey! What are you doing?” Chrissie yelled.
“Shush! We’re spying on Brant.” Marla peeked around the corner as Chrissie looked over her shoulder.
Brant followed the lovely dark woman to a new red Ferrari. He opened her door for her on the driver’s side. They looked like they were angry at each other and might fight.
“I can’t hear what they’re saying,” Chrissie said.
“Me neither.” Marla frowned. “But it doesn’t look good for the two little love birds. Maybe he wasn’t so single.”
The woman got into her car and peeled out of the parking lot, spraying loose gravel all around. Brant stomped off and got into a big truck, leaving much more calmly than the woman.
“I wonder what that was about.” Chrissie stepped out from behind the corner and resumed her walk to the clinic.
“I wish I had super-human hearing,” Marla picked up her step to keep up with Chrissie.
“That was pretty good entertainment for a few moments. Now back to work.” Chrissie shrugged. “He probably did me a favor, being seen with an attractive woman like that. It stopped me before I got too curious about him. The last thing I want is another Trey experience and to be humiliated all over again.”
“Aren’t you the least bit interested in this handsome stranger?” Marla nudged Chrissie gently.
“Nope, too risky.” Chrissie walked into the clinic and clocked in for the day. Deep down inside, Brant did captivate her, but she couldn’t risk another heartbreak any time soon if she hoped to keep any positive attitudes about love and relationships.
Chrissie’s dream faded to black and into a deeper more restful sleep.
* * *
“She’s slept for two days. We need to wake her.” Brant paced back and forth in front of the door.
“I’ve tried. I can only get her to sit up long enough to drink a couple of ounces of broth.” María sounded defeated. “The only way I knew she was alive was that she was breathing, and she talked in her sleep.”
“The way she ate me under the table the other night, I think she might be a bear in hibernation.” Arturo stuffed his hands in his pockets.
“It isn’t winter, estúpido!” María stared at him angrily.
“It’s never winter here.” Arturo shook his head.
“All right! That’s enough. Arturo, I think you’re right.” Brant tried to diffuse the situation. “Maybe this is her body’s way of healing.”
“Ha!” Arturo shouted with triumph.
“Now, don’t get a big head about it,” María scolded. “I’m sure it was hard enough for him to admit you were right. I’m going to have to search all the books to see if I can find a cure to this.”
“In all your years in the garden, has anyone lived through the Delphne Star poisoning?” Brant leaned against the hall wall with his hands in his pockets.
“No, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen. I only know of two people purposely taking it.” Arturo scratched his head. “One of them took a full week to die, but he had taken the water for at least a hundred years.”
“He’s right. The second was poisoned and he didn’t have any water in him, and he died instantly.” María looked in on Chrissie from the door with worry in her eyes. “Both vials were missing, so who knows what she actually took.”
“I’ve read over Father Delgado’s journals a milliard times. I can’t find anything that matches what’s going on with her.” Brant took his hands out of his pockets in frustration.
“Don’t worry, Brant,” María soothed as she patted his shoulder. “We’ll figure it out. The fact that she isn’t dead now is a very good sign.”
* * *
Chrissie awoke to tense voices in the hall. She hoped she could eavesdrop on more information, but the conversation abruptly stopped just when it was getting good.
Who was the third voice? Was it the Guardian?
Three sets of hurried footsteps left down the hall. Chrissie threw back the covers and sat up in bed. As a nurse, she knew the easiest way to pass out was t
o get out of bed too quickly, so she let her feet dangle off the edge of the bed while she got used to the vertical position. It wasn’t more than a minute before she got bored with the feet-dangling thing and padded her way down the hall to the swimming-pool-sized bath.
All the necessities were still there—shampoo, soap, and towels. No flower petals—that must be a touch that was purely María. She undressed quickly, eager to get into the restorative water. This time, a warm tingle started at her toes and inched up the rest of her body.
This magical water defied her medical knowledge, just as her mysterious ailment defied even the most respected doctors back in the States. The body only had so many ways to react to sickness, and her body had done nearly all of them. She dove under the water to clear her head. Her skin felt like it was breathing the water in and out as it rippled around her.
She swam underwater and looked at the tile mosaic on the bottom of the pool. It was a large tiled rose. It looked strangely similar to the glass one in her reoccurring nightmare. She hadn’t had the nightmare since arriving here, and felt relieved that it was in the past.
At least, she hoped it was.
As nice as the pool was, her stomach growled for nourishment. She hurried and soaped up, hoping María was still cooking breakfast. After rinsing off, she got out and went to her room to get dressed and check her email before heading down to the kitchen. She opened up her laptop and saw that she had one unread message from her mom.
Chrissie,
I’m relieved to hear that you are doing so well! I’ve been going back and forth this whole time, wondering if I did the right thing. Your dad is furious with me. He’s so mad that he still hasn’t spoken to me since you left. But I think he’s beginning to realize we had run out of options, and I did what I thought was best. Arturo has called me every other day and has given me progress updates, thank goodness!
A young Hispanic man came to the door yesterday and asked if you were home. He said you two were old friends from Venezuela. I told him that you had gone back for a short visit. Why didn’t you tell me about that one?
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