True Bliss

by Cameron, Stella

  "I'm just picking up some things," Bliss said. "I'll be back later, but don't wait dinner for me."

  Venus took up her incantation again.

  Polly hummed, "So Long It's Been Good to Know You."

  "Well," Fab said, too loudly. "Are you going to give up the Point, then?"

  Everyone grew still.

  She should have known they'd be worried about the future of Hole Point. "No, I'm not giving it up. This place is special to me. It always will be."

  Even the air seemed to relax. "But you won't be around?" Polly said. "Dumb question. Of course you won't."

  "I'll come and go," she told them. "I don't intend to stay home and do nothing. And I don't want to teach again. So Hole Point remains my thing."

  Vic took the fish from Bliss and set it at the back of a counter. "Better take care of that. Could be worth something." He grinned. "Shit, if things get—"

  "Vic!" Bliss frowned at him.

  "Okay. Sorry about that. Shoot, if the shit—I mean, if the sugar gets any deeper around here I'm going to throw up." He opened the door to leave and Spike ambled in as Vic and Liberty left.

  Polly and Fab busied themselves around the kitchen while their mother moved into a tinkling, tummy-rolling dance.

  "How are the repairs coming on your place, Venus?" Bliss asked. "You must be looking forward to going home."

  "I don't have a place anymore." The woman didn't miss a step. "They raised the rent and I couldn't afford to pay it. There aren't any allowances for extraordinary people with extraordinary talents, unless they make a lot of money. I no longer have a home."

  Sebastian, Bliss noted, avoided meeting her gaze. "There's room at the bungalow," she said. "I'm sure Polly and Fab will be glad to have you as long as you need to stay."

  If Venus was grateful, Bliss noted no sign of it, but the twins stopped working and flashed her their pretty smiles. "I'm going to pick up a swimsuit," she told Sebastian. "You promised me

  a dip in that beautiful pool of yours before the sun decides to quit again."

  Bobby went with Bliss and Sebastian into the great room.

  "Leave them alone, Bobby," Polly called.

  Sebastian ruffled the boy's hair and said, "He's okay."

  Promptly, Bobby ran ahead and up the stairs.

  "He's getting very attached to you," Bliss said. "He's needy, Sebastian."

  "Of course he is. Not a problem. Not to me. I've been there." He went ahead of Bliss, taking the stairs two at a time. "I want to make sure you understand some things about Maryan and Ron."

  "We do need to talk some more," Bliss agreed. "Later, though, huh?"

  "Yeah, later."

  Bobby stood in front of Bliss's door, a brown paper sack in his tanned arms. "I put it up here until you came."

  "What's this?" Sebastian settled a hand on one of Bobby's thin shoulders. "Another engagement present?"

  "Uh-uh."

  Bliss and Sebastian exchanged a look and Bliss said, "Okay."

  In her rooms, the boy put his parcel on the recliner. "I found it. Then I was scared."

  A tightness squeezed Bliss's stomach. "Can't be that bad."

  He drew up his shoulders. "Nan said there's bad stuff around here and we shouldn't let it get close to us."

  "Your nan means well," Sebastian said. "But she's got a big imagination. It's probably because she's so creative."

  "So, what's in the bag?" Bliss reached for it.

  Bobby snatched it up again. "Nan says the police are always bad news. That's what she calls them, bad news. That means they're bad."

  "Not always." If Bliss had her way, Bobby Crow wouldn't look so troubled. He'd have more carefree moments, more chance to just be a child.

  Bobby set down his bag again, opened it, and drew out what it had hidden.

  "Oh, God," Sebastian murmured. He found Bliss's hand.

  She asked, "Where did you find it, Bobby?"

  He scrubbed his eyes with his fists. "I was going to throw it away."

  "Why?"

  "So's the police wouldn't get mad at you."

  "Bobby?" Sebastian dropped to his haunches and looked into the boy's face. "Tell us where it was."

  "In the back of your truck. Under Beater's blankets."

  Bliss stopped breathing. "Sebastian," she whispered. "It's Nose's, isn't it?"

  "I'm sure it is," he said, staring at a badly scratched miniature camera, its back gaping open. "Exotic little number. Too bad the film isn't still in it."

  Another hour or so and the sun would set.

  Bliss sat beside Sebastian on the side of his pool and splashed her feet. Mary an and Ron lay side by side on chaises. Using an economical crawl stroke, the beautiful super-model, Zoya, did lazy laps.

  Sebastian and Bliss had decided not to talk to anyone about the camera, or the subsequent lengthy session with the police, until forced to do so. Bobby had made his find the day before and hidden it because he feared Sebastian would get into trouble for "fibbing and stealing." His fears had been quickly put to rest, and his absolute faith in Sebastian rapidly restored. Bliss and Sebastian weren't so certain the police were equally convinced.

  "This is a beautiful house," she told him. "I grew up on the

  lake."

  "Yeah, I know." He settled a hand on her thigh. "I didn't." With the discovery of the camera, from which the police

  clearly assumed the film had been deliberately removed, the joy had gone out of the day.

  "You're not really worried about the police, are you?"

  He stroked her leg absently. "I meant it when I said I don't want you out of my sight."

  She linked her fingers with his on her leg. "No one's going to hurt me."

  "No, they're not. I'll make sure of that."

  Nearby, Zoya pulled herself from the pool and picked up a towel to blot her hair and skin. "Can I get anyone a drink?"

  Bliss and Sebastian declined, as did Maryan and Ron. Zoya strolled into the house.

  "I think Maryan's relaxing with me," Bliss said. "It was sweet of her to buy me more flowers."

  "Place is beginning to look like a funeral parlor."

  She bumped him with a shoulder. "Don't be a cynic. She's trying."

  "Sorry. She is trying. She's also drinking less, thank God."

  Bliss didn't pursue that. "I'm going to take that dip. How about you?"

  "Me, too. Then we'll take a wander around the fair and find some dinner."

  "Sebastian," Zoya called. "Phone for you. Sounds important."

  He said, "Damn," and hopped lithely to his feet. "I'll be right back."

  Bliss slid into the water and watched him move toward the conservatory. His shoulders swung with the natural grace he'd always possessed. She took in every inch of him and her tummy contracted with the desire she'd started to expect whenever she as much as thought about him. Desire? Or lust? She smiled and pushed off the wall with her feet.

  Lust was allowed. Lust was okay.

  She swam to the middle of the pool and heard almost twin splashes as Maryan and Ron dove in to join her. They still made her uncomfortable, but she smiled as she slicked her hair back.

  With his right hand, Ron smacked the surface of the water and sent spray over her face. He laughed. Bliss returned the favor.

  Maybe they'd all be able to get along after all.

  "I've never seen Sebastian look so happy," Maryan said. She wore an embarrassingly low-cut pink swimsuit. "You're good for him."

  "Thanks." Bliss felt a flush of warmth toward the other woman, and gratitude. "He's good for me, too. Isn't it funny how life is? Who'd have expected this after so many years."

  "Not me," Maryan said, smiling.

  "Race you two for the bottom," Ron said and promptly flipped up his bottom and shot downward.

  Maryan looked bored but obligingly followed.

  Bliss, who loved the water, dove after them.

  The center of the pool was deep. She reached the bottom and touched with a hand. Ron's fac
e turned toward hers, a distorted grin stretching his mouth. He twisted over and caught her ankle, and she swatted at him.

  Her head touched the bottom.

  Ron tickled the bottom of her foot and she kicked out at him. In the future she'd call him Iron Lungs. She wanted to go up.

  He saluted and headed upward. Bliss saw Maryan's pink swimsuit headed in the same direction.

  She made to revolve herself. Her scalp hurt.

  Reaching for the top of her head, she pulled.

  Something trapped a length of her hair.

  Looking up, pumping her legs to stay in place, she vaguely saw the bottoms of Ron and Maryan's feet. Then they paddled until she couldn't make them out.

  She pulled again, but couldn't turn to see what held her.

  Panic, deep and dreadful panic swelled. And her lungs swelled.

  The blue water took on a hazy quality. Working frantically, she grappled with her hair.

  Caught in a drain.

  Her brain clamored. Her hair had snagged on a drain. Pulling, tearing, she squirmed. Too much hair.

  Her swollen lungs began to release their air. She mustn't let them.

  Burning in her throat.

  She wanted to scream. Inside her head she yelled for help.

  Bubbles streamed upward from her nose.

  The hair was under the drain, under the rim, battened down there. Desperately, she groped for some way to release the grill and found a screw.

  She managed a turn.

  No air.

  The water pressed in, pressed her body, her insides.

  No air in her lungs.

  She had to take a breath.

  Chlorine burned her eyes, stung her nose. Her fingers stopped working.

  Drowning.

  A roar filled her ears, seeped over her brain. If she breathed, she'd drown. The roaring got louder. The water crushed her, then cradled her. Warm water.

  Her eyes closed. It grew more quiet. No need to fight anymore.

  She opened her mouth to breathe in the warm, cradling water.

  Twenty-four

  Sebastian slammed down the phone on Morris Winters. Warning him to stay away from his daughter! As if they were both still kids to be manipulated.

  The phone rang again. He looked at it, turned away and walked outside. Mentioning the call to Bliss would only upset her. Damn it, they were going to be happy. No one would get in the way of that.

  Scooping water into each other's faces, Maryan and Ron shrieked and shouted in the shallow end of the pool.

  Sebastian smiled and looked around for Bliss. She must be swimming. He walked to the edge and scanned the surface. Not a sign of her. And she wasn't on one of the chaises. Lowering sun glittered off the nearby lake.

  He glanced down, hesitated an instant, and dived. Bliss! She was on the bottom of the pool.

  When he reached her, wrapped an arm around her, he couldn't pull her with him.

  Her hair was caught in a drain. Running on instinct, he found a central screw, jammed a thumbnail into the groove and turned. She swung sluggishly against him. He raised an arm and surged to the surface.

  Dragging her from the pool, he gripped her middle and let her hang forward, slapped the middle of her back while water poured from her mouth and nose.

  "Call Medic 1," he yelled, stretching her on her back. "Maryan! Call Medic 1!"

  He heard the babble of voices as the others approached. "Come on," he muttered, lifting Bliss's chin. "Come on, sweetheart."

  He brought the heel of one hand down in the middle of her chest, tipped her chin even higher—and her eyes opened. She reached for his wrist with fingers that couldn't hold on.

  "Oh, my God," Sebastian said when her breath crossed his face. Gradually her eyes focused. "Bliss, you almost drowned. Oh, thank God!"

  He registered three pairs of ankles nearby but could only look at Bliss.

  "Still want the medics?" Ron asked.

  Bliss coughed and said, "No." She rubbed her scalp and tried to sit up. "Caught. I couldn't unscrew it."

  "What happened?" Maryan asked in a voice that trembled. "We were all in the water. Playing around. She was right behind us."

  "Drain," Bliss gasped. "I tried to unscrew it."

  Sebastian frowned. He picked her up and carried her toward the house.

  "I bet she turned the screw the wrong way," Ron said, hurrying along beside them. "Geez, I didn't even notice she wasn't with us anymore."

  Grim suspicion sickened Sebastian. "You wouldn't think her hair would go underneath unless the screw was loose, would you? It should have come free as soon as she moved. Makes you wonder how the screw tightened down again."

  Vague threats. An "accident" that almost killed Bliss. An accident that had killed Nose. Sebastian observed the preoccupied way Bliss pushed strawberries and cream around her dish and figured she was mulling the same thoughts.

  The colorful melee of people at the fair streamed through the

  lengthening shadows. She'd insisted she was fine, insisted getting out and having some "fun" would be the best medicine— for both of them. Her face was still so pale.

  They sat at a table in the driveway between a multistory car park and the massive block of Bellevue Square's shops. Stalls of arts and crafts ranged the rest of the drive and stretched throughout the lower level of the car park.

  "You don't really want that, do you?" he asked.

  Bliss pushed her paper plate away. "I thought I did."

  "Sweetheart, would you just let me get a doctor to check you over?"

  "No."

  He suppressed a smile. "I wish you'd say what you mean. Okay, no doctor. But that was quite a shock you had."

  She nodded. "You, too?"

  "Oh, I guess you'd say I was shocked." Leaning toward her, he framed her face. "I nearly lost you just when I've finally found you again. How shocked do you think I was—am?"

  Her eyes grew larger.

  Sebastian kissed her. "I vote for a speedy marriage, then we get away from here for a long honeymoon."

  "I thought you had a business to run."

  "I do. And I can run it from anywhere in the world."

  "I have a business to run."

  "You know how to use a phone, too."

  She looped her arms around his neck, studied his mouth, and brushed her own slowly back and forth over his lips.

  "Mmm. I think we need to go where we can be alone."

  "We're going to do that." Her voice was husky. "But I do want to see Lennox. And take a quick look to make sure there's nothing at the fair I can't live without."

  "You're the only thing I can't live without."

  "Ooh, you know how to make sure I can't think straight anymore."

  "Good." He stood and offered her a hand. "Let's find your friend Lennox's stuff, then go home."

  "You're being very nice to him."

  "No I'm not. I want him to see us together. I'm human. I want to gloat a bit."

  She punched him playfully. "You're rotten."

  "How well you know me."

  By the time they found Lennox, Sebastian had bought Bliss a tiny, pottery water garden, a coat made of bright yellow hand-woven silk, a wooden, heart-shaped box so smooth its opening was invisible, and a set of twelve prints of Seattle she'd paused to admire.

  "No more." She laughed up at him. "I hate everything else at this fair. There isn't another thing I want."

  "Good," he said, and spotted two rows of brass buttons on a navy-blue blazer. Lennox Rood stared hard at Sebastian and he was reminded of the old saying about looks that might kill. "Here's your buddy, Lennox," he told Bliss.

  She spun around and hugged the man!

  Lennox enjoyed every damned second. He hugged right back and smiled over her head until she stepped away.

  Sebastian stuck out a hand and the other man shook it— limply.

  "Sebastian and I are getting married," Bliss said happily. "I wanted you to know. I wanted to be the one to tell you."


  The man deserved admiration. His smile barely slipped before he transformed it into a grin. Within seconds he was pressing one of his paintings on them. "An engagement gift." Sebastian had the fleeting thought that they might actually have to display the gifts they received from Bliss's oddball friends— at least if there was warning that they intended to visit.

  "I'll wrap it for you," Lennox said, and Sebastian felt how the man welcomed a chance to look somewhere other than at Bliss.

  She examined a profusion of brilliant windsocks trailing from wires and all but brushing the ground. "Hah! Look at this one. A big, pink pig."

  Sebastian looked.

  "I hate it." Bliss laughed. "I certainly don't want it!"

  "Could you hold that corner," Lennox said of the brown paper he was using to wrap a painting entitled, Sea Music, for reasons Sebastian couldn't determine.

  Several minutes, and numerous pieces of tape later, he juggled packages and took the latest one beneath an arm. "Thanks," he said, with all the warmth he'd could muster. "Will you visit sometime?"

  Lennox clicked his jaw from side to side and nodded. "Sometime. Take care of her."

  "I wouldn't dare not to." Men certainly lined up to look after Bliss.

  He turned to leave, but didn't immediately see her.

  She emerged from the forest of windsocks, clutched his elbow and hurried him away with only a brief, "bye," to poor old Lennox.

  "I think we'll have to leave," Sebastian told her. "I don't think we can carry anymore."

  She waited until they were out of sight of Lennox's stand before stopping and pulling Sebastian to face her. "We've got trouble. Big trouble."

  "It'll be all right." He refused to believe Ron or Maryan had tried to drown Bliss. "We've just had a bunch of rocky times to go through. We'll get away and everything will be fine."

  "I'm not so sure. I just got another of those damn warnings." Pallor made her eyes an even darker shade of blue. "He told me to stay away from you. Again."

  Sebastian screwed up his eyes. "Who told you? When? We were—"

  "You were busy with the painting. It only took a few seconds."