PluckingthePearl

by Afton Locke

  Get through the day, she told herself. And then the day after. She could do this.

  Halfway through the morning, something rolled on her table. Assuming it was a pebble, she reached out to sweep it out of her way but stopped when she noticed how round it was.

  Forgetting about her work, she cleaned off the mud clinging to the white orb, which was about half the size of a pea.

  “It’s a pearl! I found a pearl!” she yelled.

  The steady thumping of knives on oyster blocks around her came to a halt. “Somebody fetch Mr. Rockfield,” Leroy called out. “We got a pearl.”

  Pearl’s excitement from her unexpected find turned to dread at the thought of seeing Caleb face-to-face. Now she wished someone else had found it. After all, her life wasn’t the least bit pearly now.

  “A pearl for Pearl,” Jimmy commented as he peered at her hand to get a closer look. “How about that. Do you know with all the oysters I’ve shucked, I never once got me a pearl?”

  She avoided his gaze as her rejection hung unspoken between them.

  Moments later, she heard familiar footsteps that sent such an unexpected thrill through her body she had to look down.

  “Miss Wilson, I understand you found a pearl?”

  Seeing Caleb’s face reminded her of the unshed tears she’d seen in his eyes when they’d said goodbye on his boat. It reminded her, too, of the passion that had contorted it when she’d lowered her pussy so slowly onto his cock. The remaining soreness there vanished behind a sudden flame of heat.

  “Caleb, look!” She held the pearl out to him. “I just found it.”

  His pale gaze froze and she soon realized her mistake. “Forgive me, Mr. Rockfield.”

  He smiled politely. “Well, I can’t fault you for being excited but according to company policy, that pearl belongs to me.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  She used all her concentration to transfer the pearl from her hand to his without dropping it and without touching him. Her hand shook so much she failed at both, having to grab his hand with both of hers to keep the pearl from falling. The touch of his warm, familiar skin nearly undid her. She needed those hands on her face, her breasts and between her legs where liquid warmth trickled inside her panties.

  His fingers closed around the pearl and he brought his hand to his chest while his eyes glittered with everything they’d meant to each other.

  “I-I’ll put this away for safekeeping,” he said. “Thank you for giving it to me.”

  So this was the second pearl she’d given him.

  After he left, she found Jimmy staring at her with a look of disbelief in his eyes. He must have noticed when she’d called Caleb by his first name. Had her love and desire shown on her face too? The hurt in Jimmy’s eyes told her it had.

  “Jimmy, are you all right?” she asked. “Would you like to go somewhere and talk?”

  His jaw worked as he shook his head. “No, Pearl. I already know everything I need to know.”

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  * * * * *

  Later that afternoon, Pearl entered Caleb’s office after the floor supervisor had summoned her there.

  “You wanted to see me, Cal—Mr. Rockfield?”

  “Close the door and have a seat,” he told her.

  “You aren’t— It’s the middle of the day,” she said, “and we agreed—”

  He shot her a warm smile that melted her inside as he leaned back in his chair. “We’re just going to talk.”

  She watched as he opened his hand face-up on the desk, revealing the small pearl resting on his palm.

  “Do you know why oysters make pearls?” he asked.

  “They begin as grains of sand, don’t they?”

  He nodded. “They come from adversity. The sand irritates the oyster and it responds by coating it with these beautiful, lustrous layers. Isn’t that something?”

  Pearl found it difficult to breathe as she watched his fingertip stroke the round object. Her nipples throbbed, longing to be in its place. Why had he summoned her to discuss oysters and pearls?

  She gripped the arms of her chair, about to stand up. “I should get back to work.”

  He pinned her with his pale stare. “I have a new job for you that will turn your sand into a pearl. Mine too.”

  “I told you I won’t accept charity,” she insisted.

  “It’s not. My cleaning lady just quit and convinced me I’m so important I need a full-time housekeeper.”

  Hearing the name of her mama’s profession made her lean forward in her chair. “Really?”

  “I think it would be the perfect solution, don’t you?”

  She put her hands to her face. “Do I? It does sound perfect. I slept in a barn last night.”

  Caleb’s chair jerked forward with a wrenching squeak. “You what?”

  “Aunt Wilma threw me out when she heard I wasn’t going to marry Jimmy.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Now I really refuse to take no for an answer.”

  “Yes. I can…move in this evening.” Pearl could hardly believe the words she was saying. After resigning herself to only seeing Caleb occasionally at a distance, she was about to live in his house.

  He grasped the pearl and extended his arm across the desk. “I believe this belongs to you.”

  She held out her hand. “I thought it was yours.”

  “It’s ours.”

  Pearl slipped the small orb into her dress pocket as she walked out of his office, smiling for the first time since she’d left the private island. She would have a roof over her head again and honest work that she was good at while spending time with the man she adored. It was perfect. It was a dream.

  The only thing that worried her was how tempting it would be to have Caleb so close in such private quarters. Despite what she’d already done, she wasn’t about to succumb to fornication again.

  * * * * *

  Caleb’s heart beat a mile a minute when he parked in front of his home and helped Pearl out of the car. As he looked at his two-story Victorian house, he wondered if the green shutters and white pillars looked too pretentious. Would it be the day she’d seen him on the mayor’s yacht all over again?

  Instead of objecting, she walked over to touch the trunk of his big oak tree and smell his rosebushes. After climbing the porch steps, he opened the door and showed her inside. If circumstances were different, he’d carry her over the threshold as his wife. He wasn’t complaining. This arrangement would be almost as good.

  Her earthy scent tantalized him as she walked past, making his cock harden with anticipation. She still wore her hair in a long braid he longed to play with.

  “Caleb, it’s all so grand,” she said as she walked around the big parlor.

  Just as he had on the island, he saw everything for the first time through her eyes. He’d never thought of his white clapboard house on the waterfront as grand but after living in the Johnson shack, it must look like a palace to her.

  “Gertrude, my late wife, decorated it,” he said. “It’s too formal for me but I never bothered to change it.”

  When Pearl ran her hand down the floor-length damask drapes, the look of wonder on her face flooded his chest with warmth. It was a big improvement from the dead expression in her eyes today at work. She’d looked as broken as a crushed oyster shell. If only he could have hugged and comforted her in front of everyone as he’d longed to do.

  He’d suspected her homecoming would be difficult but the last thing he expected to hear was that she’d spent the night in a barn. It crushed him even more to realize he’d been the cause of her misery.

  At least now he could give her the life she deserved.

  “It almost reminds me of…Annapolis.” She lifted the blue drapery tassel and ran her fingers through the fringe. “Of home.”

  He put his arm around her. “Then this is where you belong, honey. At least you won’t be freezing this winter on Crab Creek.”

  Looking at his fireplace,
he pictured them in front of it making love. Pearl would be anything but cold this winter…

  She turned and put her hand to her chest as she crossed the parlor. “You have a piano.”

  “That was my wife’s too,” he admitted, following her. “A man comes to tune it once a year. All you have to do is dust it.”

  As she ran her hand over the wooden flap covering the keys and nodded, he wished there weren’t so many reminders of Gertrude. Pearl deserved a house she could decorate as her own. All in due time, he thought. Their life together was just now getting started.

  “It needs cleaning and polishing too,” she added. “The dust is ground in around the hinges.”

  “Ida only cleaned once a week and she was getting on in years,” he said, “so things have gotten a bit neglected.”

  She shot him a smile that went straight to his balls. “Don’t worry. I’m going to make this house spotless.”

  “Well, you don’t have to wear yourself out.” Caleb didn’t want her to be too tired to make love.

  “You hired me to be your housekeeper.” She raised her chin. “I intend to earn my keep. I can even clean your car.”

  He looked out the window where she pointed to it. “That won’t be necessary.”

  “I still can’t believe you drive an old Model T,” she added. “I expected the king of Oyster Island to have something fancier.”

  “I’m not a fancy man,” he replied with a shrug. “The island is so small I walk most everywhere anyway except to work.”

  She turned from the window. “Show me the rest.”

  Caleb couldn’t help smiling as he took her arm and led her toward the kitchen. He’d finally met someone who worked as hard as he did.

  “Wait. What’s this?” she asked, stopping in front of the dark room next to it.

  “My study.” He flipped on the light.

  As if drawn to it, she walked toward the painting on the wall. “Is this…your father?”

  “It is.”

  A strange warmth settled in his chest as he turned out the light after them and continued to the kitchen. It was as if he was showing her the rooms of his life, not just his house.

  “You’ll figure out where everything is as you go,” he said.

  The look of wonder on her face returned. “You have an electric stove. Tell me what you like to eat so I’ll know what to cook.”

  He tugged on her arm. “Later. Let’s get your luggage. I want to show you the upstairs.”

  Especially his bed.

  With her suitcase in one hand and her arm in the other, he climbed the wide staircase with her. It probably looked pretentious too with its varnished treads and decorative molding. He wished now his late wife had had simpler tastes in housing.

  After briefly showing her the bathroom and two spare bedrooms, he brought her into his room. It took up a large portion of the back of the house. Two windows revealed a view of the water. The remains of sunset spilled across the water while dusk cast deep shadows into the room.

  He set her suitcase down beside his heavy four-poster bed, thinking it never looked so good. No more oyster table, boat or sandy hut. This time he was going to fuck her in a real bed like a true lady deserved.

  “It’s very grand and fits a man of your stature,” she said. “Where is my room? I’m tired and dirty.”

  He imagined she was after spending the night in a barn. The thought made him want her even more—wild, messy and screaming with passion.

  Caleb took her in his arms. “Your room is here and you’ll have to wash up later. I want you now, in my bed.”

  Something cold slid down his spine when she turned her head away from his kiss and pushed him away.

  He hoped she was just tired but he had a feeling that wasn’t it. Even after shucking all day, her passion during those evening cleaning session had been tireless. Did she regret not marrying Jimmy? Was she just using him to have a roof over her head?

  “Is something wrong or are you just tired?” he asked.

  She crossed her arms and bit her lower lip. Watching even that simple action made the tip of his cock throb. If they stood in this bedroom much longer he was going to throw her on that bed if she liked it or not.

  “Caleb, I can’t get into your bed. Not tonight. Not ever.”

  His hearing must be going bad. He grabbed one of the bedposts for support. “What?”

  A deep breath made her chest rise, drawing his attention to her breasts. “You hired me to be your housekeeper. If you expect more than that, I can’t work for you.”

  It felt as if the floor had just dropped beneath his feet. Was this the same woman who’d kissed him on his boat with tears of love in her eyes? He must be having a nightmare.

  “Pearl, don’t tease me to get me more aroused.” A growl filled the back of his throat as he reached for her. “I’ve thought about you all day and I’m out of patience. Hell, I thought I’d lost you for good yesterday.”

  She spun out of his grasp and clutched the edge of his door. “Caleb, don’t touch me. Please.”

  “I’m sorry.” He held out his arms. “I don’t want to force myself on you but I need to hold you. I missed you.”

  But she stayed by the door. He clasped his hands behind his back so he wouldn’t be tempted to touch her.

  “Pearl, what is going on? You at least owe me an explanation.” He winced when an awful thought occurred to him. “My God, did Jimmy attack you or something when you told him you couldn’t marry him?”

  She held up a hand. “No, it’s not that.”

  “Then what?” Caleb yelled in spite of himself. “I can understand if you don’t want to make love right now but you won’t even let me hold you. You’re not acting like the woman I know. I thought you loved me.”

  “I do love you.”

  He frowned and scratched his head. “Did I miss something?”

  To his surprise, she stepped forward and touched his face so briefly it was as if a butterfly had brushed him with its wings. Feeling her touch after she’d pushed him away nearly buckled his knees.

  Despite her small size, she’d filled his entire house with her presence—and an iron resolve he’d never seen in her before—in just moments.

  With all the willpower he could muster, he left his hands at his sides and didn’t touch her. There had to be an explanation. The love was still there in her eyes.

  “Caleb, we can’t be lovers anymore.” She put her hand to her chest. “I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it wouldn’t be right,” she replied.

  He shook his head. What on earth had happened to her? “You seemed to think it was all right on the island. You even got on top of me, remember?”

  She looked away and covered her face with her hand. “Don’t remind me how shameless I acted.”

  “But this is the perfect situation.” He swept his arms wide to indicate the room. “Here, the eyes of the world can’t see what we do. We have to be discreet, of course, when we’re in public. We have to keep the doors locked and can’t stand in front of the windows naked.”

  She shook her head and pressed her lips into a stubborn line. “We can’t act like a married couple if we’re not.”

  He dared to touch her shoulder, feeling triumph when she didn’t pull away. “Pearl, you know I’d marry you if I could.”

  Her lips trembled with emotion. “I know but the point is we can’t.”

  “No one will know what we do here.”

  She slapped her chest. “I’ll know inside.”

  “I guess I’m just a businessman looking at what’s practical.” He let go of her and put a hand on his hip. “To me, keeping up appearances is enough.”

  “Not for me,” she replied.

  “If virtue is so important to you, then why didn’t you marry Jimmy?”

  She clasped her hands together. “Because I didn’t love him. It wouldn’t be fair to him.”

  Caleb rubbed his forehead. “I wish you’d told me
this before I hired you. This isn’t what I expected at all.”

  “I would have but I was afraid someone would overhear in your office in the middle of the day,” she said. “I wouldn’t blame you if you changed your mind.”

  Change his mind? What kind of man would he be to leave her out in the street? Her oyster shucking skills were fair at best and she had no home.

  “What are you suggesting exactly?” he asked.

  “I’ll be a housekeeper in every way,” she said calmly. “I’ll clean, cook and—”

  He waved. “I couldn’t care less about all that. What are the rules?”

  She looked thoughtful as if she were figuring this out as she went along. “We’ll spend time together, of course. We can sit together in the parlor in the evenings, talking and reading.”

  Caleb rolled his eyes. She’d just described his passionless marriage.

  “Am I allowed to kiss you?” he asked.

  “I’m sorry, no. An occasional embrace will be fine as long as it doesn’t last too long.” She looked at him with serious eyes. “The attraction between us is strong so we’ll have to be very careful not to tempt each other.”

  He turned and planted his hands on the edge of the dresser. “You’re asking an awful lot of me.”

  “I know and I appreciate it, Caleb. Companionship has its own joys, you know. It’s better than being strangers.”

  Companionship. He couldn’t even think about her without picturing her naked and moaning with pleasure. After all, their relationship up to now had mostly been a sexual one. Did he really love her or just her body?

  He supposed he was about to find out.

  “What I don’t understand is why,” he said. “How could you change so much in one day?”

  She touched his arm. “Caleb, when I walked into that church Sunday, the reverend was giving a sermon about the sins of fornication. I realized how wrong those things we did together really were.”

  They weren’t wrong, damn it! But he knew better than to argue with her right now.

  “And then Aunt Wilma kicked me out of her house. I was so humiliated.”

  When her voice broke, he turned and pulled her into his arms. To hell with the rules. He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling as if a missing piece of him had just been put back.