Northern Moonlight

by Anisa Claire West

  For a moment, Cara hesitated then said, “Yes, that would be fine. I enjoyed talking with you.”

  “I enjoyed talking with you too.” Max said with twinkling eyes. Sensing that he was about to kiss her, Cara waved a flirtatious good-bye and accompanied a wide-eyed Sabrina to her car. Inside the car, Cara immediately rolled down a window.

  “I’m feeling warm.” Cara burst out, giggling stupidly.

  “You’re feeling flushed.” Sabrina corrected. “It’s all that wine you drank. What got into you anyway, disappearing into the sculpture garden with Max?”

  Cara tossed her hair and laughed. “I don’t know! At first, I thought he was a complete oaf, but then we got to talking about careers and the law…and he’s so interesting!”

  “And now he’s going to call you at my house tomorrow? What’s wrong with you Cara? You’re only in Vermont for the weekend and, more importantly, you’re on the rebound from Bruce! You have no business starting something with Max.” Sabrina scolded as Cara continued to giggle hysterically before expelling a giant hiccup and giggling even more.

  “You have no business telling me what to do.” Cara pointed her finger dramatically at Sabrina. “You have a man, so why shouldn’t I?” She hiccupped again and then stared sulkily at the road ahead.

  “I have a man?” Sabrina snorted. “Sure, that’s been going very well. Gio just left me in the parking lot without even saying good night. I don’t know how many times he thinks he can just dismiss me before it’s his last chance.” Sabrina said with mounting anger.

  Gazing over at her sister, she noted that her eyes were closed, and she appeared to have dozed off. Disenchanted with the whole evening and everyone with whom she had wasted it, Sabrina drove home silently fuming.

  Pulling into the driveway, Sabrina could see that Mrs. Benjamin’s porch light was on and the ground floor of the house was also illuminated. Rushing around to the passenger side of the car, Sabrina hoped that her neighbor wouldn’t notice as she helped Cara hobble into the house in her drunken stupor.

  “Are we going inside now?” Cara queried in a conspicuously loud voice.

  “Hush!” Sabrina hissed, putting a hand over Cara’s mouth. “I don’t want my neighbors to hear you. It’s late, and your voice will wake everyone up.”

  Too tipsy to formulate a response, Cara passively allowed Sabrina to lug her to the front door and safely inside the house without a peep from Mrs. Benjamin. Unceremoniously, she dumped Cara onto the sofa, put out a fresh bowl of food for Softy, and ascended the staircase to her bedroom for a much needed repose.

  The following morning, Sabrina awoke early after a fitful night of sleep. Her first waking thought was how she had carelessly left Cara fully dressed to slumber on the couch. Feeling pangs of guilt, Sabrina made her way to the living room, only to be greeted by an empty couch. A heartbeat later, Cara emerged from the kitchen looking disheveled and irritated.

  “I need some coffee.” She announced.

  Sabrina responded calmly, “Certainly. There’s milk on the top shelf of the refrigerator and sugar in the cupboard above the stove.”

  “Last night was awful, Sabrina.”

  “Was it now?” Sabrina snapped moodily. “I thought you made a new friend.”

  “Yes, that’s the point! I had so much wine that Max began to seem attractive. Now he’s going to call today, and I’ll be stuck going out with him.” She fumbled with the coffeepot as she spoke.

  “Yes, you are going to be stuck going out with him, at least for this weekend. Nobody told you to drink so much. Besides, you’re the last one who should be complaining. You didn’t witness the wreckage inside the gallery.”

  Sabrina proceeded to share with Cara the entire disastrous story of their botched interrogation with Cooper. When she had finished, both women fell silent, each conjecturing about possible reasons for Cooper’s claim of mistaken identity and his extreme reaction to Gio’s mention of the fire.

  Finally, Cara concluded, “On the surface, this investigation seems to have a lot of roadblocks, but I think it’s crystal clear that Gio has been going after the right suspects. One basic principle I learned in my first year criminal law survey is that few criminals work alone. There’s almost always an accomplice. In this case, there is a definite connection between Gio’s uncle and this Cooper guy.”

  “I think that you’re right, Cara. Plus, I have the advantage of having seen both these men face to face and coming away with a very dark impression of both of them. Still, the motive is what’s missing. Gio claimed that his parents were penniless and, as a carpenter, his father couldn’t have made many enemies.” Sabrina pointed out, finally relenting to help her sister prepare the coffee and retrieving pancake mix from the cupboard to make breakfast.

  “The fact that one of the suspects is a family member makes the motive even more difficult to pinpoint, yet the suspect is more obvious. Everyone knows that family members are the first ones to be questioned in homicide mysteries. Was there some kind of sibling rivalry between the uncle and Gio’s dad?” Cara wondered aloud as Sabrina shrugged, pouring ingredients into a measuring cup. Cara went on, “Then there’s the wild card in all of this and that’s Cooper. As a former staff member of the fire department, the reason for his involvement is even more foggy.”

  “It’s too early in the morning for this, Cara. Let’s just have some breakfast and let go of the investigation for a while,” Sabrina said, beginning to understand how Gio must have felt those times when she pushed the topic.

  “OK, fine with me.” Cara said. “Do you have any maple syrup?” She joked, bursting into laughter on the last two words.

  In spite of her troubled mood, Sabrina laughed along with her sister and quipped, “If there’s anything I’ve got around here, it’s maple syrup!”

  The sisters were soaking up their pancakes with the last bit of melty butter and sticky syrup when the phone rang. Sabrina answered it and moments later gestured for Cara to come to the phone.

  “Is it Max?” Cara asked, putting her head down on the table.

  “Who else would be calling you here?” Sabrina asked testily, shoving the phone at her sister.

  While they talked, Sabrina cleared away the plates and refilled Softy’s bowl with cool tap water. A few moments later, Cara set down the receiver as Sabrina commented, “That was fast.”

  “Well, it didn’t take long for him to make his move. We’re going out to dinner tonight. I asked him if he wanted you and Gio to come along, but he said that Gio was working.” The mention of Gio made Sabrina feel feverish and set her heart to palpitating, but she said nothing.

  Wringing her wet hands with a dishtowel, Sabrina advised, “Be nice to him, Cara. Even if you don’t like him, at least have a pleasant dinner. And don’t drink too much wine.”

  “You’re very insulting, Sabrina. I don’t need to a how-to course in having dinner with a man!”

  With that, Cara stormed into the living room and turned on the television. The sisters spent the rest of the day without communicating, and when evening descended, Max was at the door with a bouquet of daffodils for Cara, claiming that they reminded him of her yellow dress. Cara accepted the flowers graciously and handed them to Sabrina to put in water. Then, the two were off, leaving Sabrina to brainstorm about how to spend her Saturday night. Gio still hadn’t called, and she alternated between irritated and concerned based on what had transpired at the gallery.

  Daring to venture out on her own, Sabrina went to see a double feature at the local movie theater. She bought an obscenely large tub of buttered popcorn and munched through the movies, ever mindful that couples surrounded her. By the time the movies finished, she felt numb from having spent four hours in front of a screen and drove home yawning.

  Walking through the front door, she expected to see Cara curled up on the couch, waiting to tell her about her date with Max. Instead, the house was empty, and Sabrina frowned, looking at the clock and seeing that it was after midnight. In Sabrina’
s estimation, Max should have already brought her sister home. It was inappropriate for him to keep her out so late on a first date, especially when she was staying with family. After an hour of checking by the window and tapping her fingernails on the coffee table, Sabrina was becoming very worried.

  The only person she could contact was Gio, as she did not have Max’s phone number. Swallowing notions of pride that pleaded with her not to call, she reached for the receiver and dialed Gio’s number. He answered on the first ring, sounding wide awake, likely having just returned from his shift.

  “Gio, it’s Sabrina.” She said with as much friendliness as she could muster.

  “Hi, is everything alright?” Gio replied.

  “I’m fine, but I’m a little worried about my sister. Max had a dinner date with her and hasn’t brought her home yet.” Sabrina said and was promptly outraged when she detected low, breathy laughter from the other line. “Is there something amusing about what I just said?”

  “Slightly, yes. You’re acting like a mother hen. There’s no need to worry about Cara. She’s not a teenager. I would consider the lengthiness of their date as a sign that they’re getting along.”

  “And I would consider it a sign that Max is disrespectful of boundaries and propriety!” Sabrina screeched.

  “Propriety? Calm down, Primrose. I can see that night isn’t your best time. Perhaps there’s a full moon?” More laughter could be heard from his end.

  “I’m sorry I called you. You’re ridiculous.” Sabrina said, shaking her head.

  “Primrose, can’t you ever laugh at yourself? You’re so much fun to tease, it’s too bad you don’t enjoy it as much as I do.” Gio said good-humoredly. When Sabrina didn’t respond, he said, more seriously, “I’m glad you called in any case. I just got in from work and was going to hit the sack since I’m on the schedule tomorrow as well. Could I see you Monday, after your sister goes back to New York?”

  Sabrina thought about his offer and sighed as she gave her reply. “Yes, Gio, you can see me Monday.”

  “Great. I’ll be there around six. Wear whatever you like and bring a picnic basket. You pack the food, I’ll provide the champagne. And as for Max, I’ve known him since high school, and your sister is perfectly safe with him. I can’t vouch for what they’re doing, or not doing, but I can tell you that he wouldn’t harm her. Goodnight. Sweet dreams, Primrose.”

  The telephone clicked, leaving Sabrina listening to an abrasive dial tone. Maddened by his irreverence, Sabrina slammed the phone down and jumped off the couch. As she was walking towards the stairs, the door swung open and in floated Cara looking radiant.

  “Cara, where have you been? I was worried about you.” Sabrina walked over to her sister and swatted her on the arm.

  “I know it’s late, and you probably didn’t expect me to be out for so long. But Max and I had a wonderful time. He took me to a French restaurant. It was so romantic, it even had a piano player. And we ordered four courses! Oh, the food was sumptuous. And conversation flowed so easily. We have so much in common.” Cara gushed as Sabrina stood there, trying to reserve her opinion. “After we stuffed ourselves, he took me to the waterfront, and we walked for hours along Lake Champlain. We didn’t even realize what time it was. Then, my feet started to hurt from all the walking.” She explained, pointing to her high-heeled shoes. “So we went back to his car and he drove me home.”

  “I’m glad you had such a good time, but he does know you’re going back to New York tomorrow night, doesn’t he?”

  “Yes,” Cara said dreamily, “and he’s coming to visit me next weekend!”

  “But I thought you couldn’t stand the man! Just last night you called him an oaf!” Sabrina argued.

  “I did say that, didn’t I? That just goes to show how dangerous snap judgments are. Max is wonderful.”

  “Don’t you think it’s a little too soon after Bruce to become involved with another man?” Sabrina persisted, though she sensed her opinion meant nothing to Cara.

  “There are no rules in love, Sabrina. And I’m not saying I’m in love…yet. But I definitely want to see Max again. Now, if you’ve asked all the questions on your mental checklist, I would like to get some sleep…and on a bed tonight, not a couch!” Cara raised her voice deliberately.

  “The guest room is prepared for you upstairs. I’m exhausted too, so good night. See you in the morning.” Turning out the lights, Sabrina climbed the stairs for bed.

  In the morning, the sisters awoke late and decided to go out for brunch. When Cara left before sundown, Sabrina was relieved to have her house to herself again. The weekend had brought with it many surprises, and she was not sure if she liked any of them.

  Chapter 12

  Monday was an unlikely night for a romantic picnic, but the sultriness of the spring air made fireworks ripple through Sabrina’s system as she waited for Gio to arrive. She shuddered excitedly thinking how Gio would react when he saw her in her sundress. The cotton frock was a cool shade of blue, a turquoise hue evocative of the sky. The hue complemented her dark hair and eyes, contrasting strikingly with her pale skin. The dress plunged scandalously into the valley of her cleavage. The hem was cut several inches above the knee, and dipped even lower in the back. High-heeled white sandals and a black tortoiseshell clip to hold her gleaming cascade of wavy hair completed the outfit. She applied one last touch of mauve lipstick and jumped as the doorbell rang. Straightening her posture to a confident stance, Sabrina glided down the staircase and opened the door.

  Standing there, with a single white rose, was the man who haunted her every waking moment and nighttime dream, the epitome of manhood with his raven hair freshly chopped into a near crew cut, the musky smell of aftershave emanating from his handsome face, and his eyes alight with instantly piqued desire at the sight of her in the revealing blue dress. He swallowed visibly as he drank in the creaminess of her skin, wanting to forgo the picnic and carry her upstairs to her bedroom for a vigorous night of lovemaking. Gio tried to suppress that impulse as he looked for a long moment at her glowing face. Her deep brown gaze focused on the flower he still held between his fingers.

  “You look so beautiful.” He said, handing her the rose.

  “Thank you,” she accepted the flower, lowering her eyes demurely, still absurdly affected by his compliments to the point of a crimson blush.

  “Uh, are you ready to go?” He asked awkwardly. Her eyes sparkled with amusement as she realized that her appearance made him not only enchanted, but nervous.

  “Yes, I am. Let me just get the picnic basket.”

  Sabrina turned around so he could get an eyeful of the dress’s rear view and felt his eyes penetrating her as she bent down to lift the basket of strawberries, grapes, French bread, and brie cheese she had prepared that afternoon. Sabrina smiled, striding in front of him as he followed her out the door.

  “I have champagne in the truck.” Gio mumbled, still helplessly entranced by Sabrina’s sexually charged beauty in a dress that he wanted to shred with his teeth.

  Sabrina smiled again, immensely satisfied with her delirious effect on him, “I know. That was the plan.”

  “Yeah, that was the plan.” He repeated foolishly, clumsily opening the passenger door. He affixed his hands to her hips and lifted her effortlessly as she slid with grace onto the seat. Gio closed the door and walked round to the driver’s side, feeling not the shadow of an appetite for the food she had lovingly packed for them. As he tried to steady himself with a white-knuckled grasp on the steering wheel, he blurted out, “We’re going camping, you know.”

  Sabrina looked at him in disbelief. “What are you talking about? We’re going on a picnic.”

  “No, actually, I’ve decided to kidnap you and take you camping far away from civilization where no one will ever find you.” He growled the words as Sabrina shrank back in her seat in mock fear.

  “You’re kidnapping me?” She placed a scandalized hand over her mouth. “Let me out of here right now!�
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