by Wray Ardan
“Ya can call to see how he is. Don’t you just go stoppin’ by.” The nurse firmly guided Jaden to the door.
Even though the woman said Dr. Whiting should be all right, Jaden was ashamed of the pain she’d inflicted on him. She had reminded him of the Mal Rous and all the sorrow they had caused in his life—hurting his grandson, causing Elvina to leave him.
The door closed in her face. She stood there, worried that she had just given Dr. Whiting permission to die.
CHAPTER 15
With his legs stretched out in front of him Briz leaned back on the comfortable sofa in the lobby of the Meadow Seniors’ Facility. He clasped his hands behind his head. While waiting for Jaden, his thoughts revolved around her, her sister, and the morning of his birthday.
When he’d gone to their house that day looking for Jaden, Ava had answered the door. Her stare had grazed his body as if she was going to feed on him. Her lips parted slightly as she reached to move the hair out of his eyes. Then stopped. Her hand, frozen in midair, smelled of freshly applied nail polish.
“Hey, Briz.”
The way she said his name had made him feel as if she were going to massage coconut oil all over him. He’d promised himself that if she asked, he’d make himself say no. She tossed her long auburn mane to one side and gestured for him to come in. When he didn’t move fast enough, she grabbed his arm and pulled him into the house and shut the door behind him.
Briz watched her slink over to the air conditioner, the cool air caressing the perfect figure that her red swimsuit top and shorts pretended to cover. He couldn’t help gawking.
She gave a pouty smile. “It’s about time.”
Time? His eyebrows pinched together.
“Um, is Jaden here?”
“No.” Ava’s pout compressed into an angry pucker, her eyes narrowed. “Why? I thought you were here to ask me on a date.”
“I, I wasn't …” he stuttered, trying to figure out why she’d think that. Then she came at him like a feisty dog, her face morphing into a character from Grimm’s fairy tales. Torn between cowering and laughing at her, his voice went up an octave. “I just wanted to see if Jaden—”
Ava didn’t let him finish.
“What is it with you?” Standing in front of him, she repeatedly poked her finger in his ribs. “She’s an inexperienced fourteen-year-old kid. Why do you even hang out with her?”
“According to Jaden, she’s fifteen. She’ll be sixteen next month.” Briz took hold of Ava’s finger and stepped back. She was such a reactionary princess. He couldn’t help grinning. He’d never been around anyone like her before.
“Fourteen, fifteen, whatever!” Ava pulled her hand from his. “Guess you go for the chaste, immature ones. They are so much easier to control, right?”
“Yeah, sure … that’s it,” he said. He opened the door and stepped outside.
“Hurry up, you’re letting in the heat.”
He refrained from slamming the door.
The very next day Ava freaked him out, acting all flirtatious again and giving him a present.
She really was a piece of work.
“So what kind of bull has she been telling Jaden?” he said out loud.
Briz glanced over at the front desk. No one heard him. Only the Welcome to Meadow Seniors’ Facility sign was staring back at him. Standing, he wove his fingers into his hair and tugged his head back, remembering how that psycho chick had trapped him by his car and kissed him yesterday. And he’d kissed her back. Dropping his hands, he paced back and forth, determined to free himself from the thoughts of Ava’s alluring body and egotistical personality. He could feel his normally calm exterior starting to crack as he berated himself for having been so stupid. It’s true she got his blood pumping. But no matter what, Ava was too high-strung and moody for him. He could never spend time with her. Jaden was sweet and shy, worth the effort. At night alone in his room, he wanted Jaden to be lying next to him. Not Ava.
Briz sat back down. His mind was dreaming up steamy scenarios with Jaden when she walked into the lobby. Her face was pale, her shoulders slouched. He hurried over to her.
“What’s wrong?”
She didn’t reply. Her sylph-like body sank against his. Placing an arm around her slender waist, Briz guided her out to the car. Jaden sat staring out the window.
“Jaden, what happened?”
She didn’t respond.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m okay.” Her words were garbled. “I am, really. I need to get home. Ava’s going to … I have to feed the little cretins—”
Briz grinned. Did she just call Ava a cretin? Leaning nearer, he said, “I can hardly hear you.”
Jaden cleared her throat. “I need to get home. I have stuff to do before Ava picks me up. I’m helping at the estate tonight.” Gazing out the passenger window, she added, “Unless you know somebody called Hubs.”
“Yeah, everyone knows who Hubs is.”
Jaden turned to him, the spark back in her eyes. “You know him?”
“He’s not all there,” Briz said. “But he’s a good guy. I heard when he was a kid he was bitten by some kind of wild animal.”
“Wild animal. Close enough,” Jaden mumbled.
She sat up straight. “Can you take me to him?”
“Sure, no problem.” Briz didn’t ask why she wanted to meet him. He knew that she would tell him when she was ready.
During the drive back to town Jaden didn’t say another word. Neither did Briz. The silence gave him time to think.
Every now and then he peeked over at her remembering the first time they’d met. He’d seen her going into Twyla Mae’s, the coffee shop and quasi-bookstore that was supposed to be the bayou’s version of a SoHo hangout. Walking behind her Briz had smiled when he checked out her backpack. A series of small ink drawings decorated the sides, showing the earth being held in masculine hands, the earth having its life squeezed out of it, then tossed into a trash can, its tiny speech balloon saying, “Help me.” He wondered if she was the artist. On the flap were written a couple of website URLs. The girl was a walking billboard, encouraging onlookers to save the planet.
Then he lowered his eyes to take in the way her hips swayed.
Turning around, she caught him at it, gave him an indignant look, and marched over to the book aisle.
He waited a minute, then strolled over. Grinning, he watched her out of the corner of his eye. She was looking at a volume he’d just read.
Gathering his nerve, he said, “It’s a good book.”
She put it back on the shelf.
Scratching the back of his head, he chuckled. “Don’t hold it against the author just because I liked it.”
This time she smiled.
“Hi, I’m Briz.”
“Jaden.”
Her voice was as smooth as the jade ring she was twisting around her finger. Her features exotic.
A woman who appeared to be her mother walked over carrying a to-go cup of coffee. “Jade, you ready?”
Jaden grabbed the book he’d recommended, gave him another smile, and followed her mom to the line at the register.
Briz stood there rubbing his chin. He walked over to the cashier and asked for a pen and a piece of scratch paper. He wrote down his number. Handing it to Jaden, he told her to give him a call if she liked the book. He could recommend some others.
He knew there was a good chance that she would toss his number out.
It took her a couple of days, but she did call. From the graphics on her backpack and the fact that they’d met in the bookstore, he knew they had a lot in common. As soon as they started talking, Briz thought, not only is she a babe, she’s smart and makes me laugh. I want to know her well enough so she’ll let me call her Jade.
He had no intention of pushing himself on her. Determined not to repeat any past mistakes, he wanted to take it slow.
CHAPTER 16
The image of Dr. Whiting slumped down in his chair remained fixed
in Jaden’s mind. Exhaling a long slow breath she glanced over at Briz. He responded with a faint smile. As the car turned off the highway onto the narrow road leading to Belle Fleur, Jaden asked him what he knew about Hubs. He couldn’t tell her much. He said the local kids enjoyed picking on the guy, who lived in a trailer in the old part of town. This trailer stood behind a coffee shop, where Hubs cleaned and did odd jobs for the owner.
Briz was parking the car in front of a vintage Airstream trailer when a slender man came out the back door of the café.
Hubs.
Jaden knew it was him. Limping toward his metal home, his head drooped and swayed slightly. If he held his head erect he’d be as tall as Briz. She assumed that these physical problems were childhood injuries from the Mal Rous’ attack.
Briz jumped from the car and greeted him as if they were old pals. “Hi, Hubs. This is my friend Jaden.”
That “friend” word again. It wailed loud as a siren in Jaden's head, fueling her melancholy. Hubs looked up and nodded hello. He had a kind and gentle face.
“Her family just inherited the old Guyon Manor,” Briz added.
Hubs scurried into the trailer and locked the door.
“Good move, Briz.”
“What’d I do?” Briz stared at her and knocked on the door.
Jaden smiled to make up for her Ava-like outburst. Briz didn’t smile back as he continued knocking.
When there was no answer, Jaden reached past Briz and knocked harder. “Hubs, I just saw your—” She glanced at Briz and decided not to say grandfather. Maybe that was another family secret. “I just saw Dr. Whiting. He was going to call you. He said you would be able to help me.”
She knocked again. “Dr. Whiting said you would take me to the triplets. Hubs, I need your help!”
Nothing. No response, not even a “go away” or “leave me alone.” The only sounds Jaden heard were cars driving through the parking lot, the rumbling of an air-conditioner, and mosquitoes buzzing. After knocking on the door for five more minutes, she stopped.
“Jaden …” Briz had been waiting in the shade of the trailer. Now he walked toward her.
She hit her fist against the metal door once more.
“He’s not going to answer.” Briz slid between Jaden and the door. “Come on, I’ll take you home. Dr. Whiting probably hasn’t called him yet.”
“Sure, that must be it.”
Worrying about the doctor, and that the Mal Rous were going to show up on her doorstep, Jaden dragged her feet across the asphalt following Briz to his car. As they drove out of the parking lot, she was looking back at the trailer, still hoping Hubs would emerge, when a static shock rushed up her arm.
She turned to Briz. The warmth of his touch on her wrist fully captured her attention.
“Jaden, I’m sorry I messed things up with Hubs.” Briz glanced in her direction. “I wanted to talk with you …” Squeezing her wrist he said, “… about your sister.”
They stopped at the one and only traffic light in the old part of town. Jaden considered jumping out of the car. She wasn’t interested in hearing Briz tell her that he wanted to be with her sister. Right now, her frustration level was maxed out.
“I don’t know what Ava might have said to you, but I’m not interested in her.”
“What?” Jaden’s heartbeat quickened as Briz entwined his fingers in hers.
“I said, I’m not interested in your sister.”
“She told me the two of you had sex.”
“No way!”
“I saw you kiss her, Briz.”
“She’s the one that kissed me. I just sort of fell into it. She’s really aggressive when she wants … something.”
Jaden’s hand immediately went limp.
“I did not have sex with her! Not even close.” He squeezed Jaden’s hand tighter. “And she kissed me first.” Briz continued trying to squeeze life back into her hand. “Hey, I’m a guy. Pretty lame excuse, but I am. I got in my car and drove home when I realized what a dope I was being. I don’t like her, Jaden!” Jaden tried to pull her hand free, but Briz refused to let go.
Jaden stared straight ahead. She could see Briz looking at her hoping for a sign of forgiveness. Or understanding. Or acknowledgement that guys could be something more than testosterone-driven hounds. Instead she rolled her eyes.
“Since you never returned my calls, I went over to your house a couple of times to see you. I even stuck a note on your door.”
That note was for me?
“You were never home—only Ava. You know, she’s a real case,” Briz said, as he pushed down on the accelerator.
Jaden’s emotions were ricocheting from her heart to her head. She looked out the window. Why was she mad at him for not liking her sister? Why was she acting like a jealous girlfriend when they were only friends?
“She gave me a birthday gift, too.”
“Ava gave you a present?”
“Yeah.” Briz shook her hand as if he’d just scored a point. “That artist’s book you told me about.”
“That harpy!”
Briz cracked up, repeating the word harpy.
“I bought you that book!” Jaden’s sharp tone softened, “Then things just got so crazy, with the poison ivy … and other stuff … I forgot all about it.” With each word, dread crept back into her thoughts as she was reminded that her world now revolved around the Mal Rous.
“Since it’s from you, I’ll actually read it.” With a broad smile Briz added, “Thank you for the thoughtful gift.”
Briz’s words and touch had Jaden’s head swirling in a state of cosmic bliss. What Mal Rous? Dr. Whiting, who? What guy wouldn’t respond to Ava’s sexuality? It dripped from her as thick as maple syrup. Actually, if Briz was telling her the truth, the fact that he hadn’t gone for it with Ava said a lot about him.
“Your friendship means a lot to me,” Briz said, squeezing her hand again. “There’s something about you that … I don’t know … reminds me to, to be nicer, or …” His voice faded. “Yeah, I don’t know.”
Great. He thinks I’m Mother Teresa. Jaden shrank down in her seat. Friendship. What had she expected? He’d never actually said he wanted to be with her, only that he didn’t want to be with Ava. The speck of happiness he’d bestowed upon her moments ago was now crushed, run over by the boy driving a Prius.
When they got to her house, Jaden gripped her key, determined to keep it steady even though Briz was standing next to her and her arms and legs were turning into ropey strands of putty. Opening the door she quickly stepped inside, stopping herself from spinning around and blurting out something completely embarrassing, like her loins ached for him.
Then she felt Briz behind her, so close that the heat from his body enveloped her. His fingers slid under the straps of her backpack and he lowered it to the floor. Her arms dangled at her sides and her knees wobbled. Moving his hands over the curve of her lower back, he pressed his palms against her hips, then slowly upward, pausing at her shoulders. Her face flushed. She willingly surrendered as he turned her around to face him. Spreading his legs shoulder-width apart, he leaned down and kissed the crown of her head.
“Jade. It’s you I want to be with.”
That did it. She was a pile of quivering gel. A part of her worried that it was a joke, and that he was going to start laughing at her.
He didn’t.
Briz freed her hair from the clip. Her hair tumbled over her shoulders as he cupped her face in his hands and tilted her head up. Jaden shivered in spite of the sultry air flowing in through the open door. Her pulse quickened. She was certain that at any minute she would awaken from this dream. This is real, she silently chanted, this is real.
She swallowed hard as his lips glided across her cheek, then hovered over her mouth, the warmth of his breath merging with hers. She could hear her breathing keeping time with his, faster than normal, building like an orchestra reaching its crescendo. He hadn’t even kissed her yet.
Then his lips pr
essed against hers. Her palms were damp. The backs of her knees were perspiring. She’d never really kissed anyone before. Not like this.
Repeatedly and lightly he kissed her mouth. She enthusiastically reached her arms up around his neck as his lips melded with hers, separating ever so slightly, inviting her to do the same. And she did. At the same time she was making an effort to imprint this moment in her mind so that she would remember it her entire life—or at least, what was left of it.
Muffled music played in the background. Somewhere in her euphoria it dawned on her that her mother’s cell phone was ringing. But her entire body was vibrating from this slow, tender kiss. She couldn’t have answered the phone if she’d wanted to. She was lost in the sensations surging through her—the heat from Briz’s body as he leaned into her, the pleasure of hearing his barely audible moan.
Long after the phone had stopped ringing, Briz slowly brought the kiss to an end. His hands roamed through Jaden’s hair, gravitating down to her waist, encouraging her to draw closer.
With his mouth next to her ear, he whispered, “Wow.”
“So, you’re really not into Ava?” Jaden asked breathlessly.
“Jade,” Briz’s voice was low, seductive, “you’re the one I’m interested in.”
Jaden tensed up. Her sister had spent years convincing her that at best she was a homely misfit.
Stroking her hair Briz said, “I’d better get going.”
He smiled as Jaden’s swollen lips mouthed no. He brought his mouth back to hers. Where their first kiss had been soft and enticing, making her feel as though she was hovering above the ground, this one was deep, passionate, and intense.
Then Briz stopped abruptly. Raising his head above hers, he took a deep breath. “I really have to go before this gets out of hand.”
All she could do was nod as he left.
Wow is right! He can really kiss.
For the first time, Jaden didn’t feel like one of the guys. She wanted someone, and he wanted her. She was going to enjoy every bliss-filled second of being with him.
Ava’s right. He is delicious. She couldn’t even muster any anger toward her conniving sister.