“You know how Princess gets when she is parched.”
"I'll take care of it." Ari grabbed a tumbler from the cabinet and a bottled water from the fridge. She knew better than to offer the four-legged princess tap water. The dog would simply refuse to drink it, and its owner would give her a mouthful.
But Lucille was quiet when she brought the cup over. Princess had no barks for Ari either. They both stared at her. They weren’t the only ones. Alanna and most of the regulars were looking Ari’s way.
“You just spoke,” said Miss Lucille. “Well done, dear. Well done, you.”
In addition to feeling like she was under a spotlight, now Ari felt like she was a dog who should be yipping for a treat. Ari pushed the glass toward the dog lover and backed away from the bar. She backed all the way through the passthrough door. But her sister was on her heels, identification cards, and customers forgotten.
"What was that?" said Alanna.
"What was what?" said Adelle looking up from her pots and pans.
"Ari just spoke to Miss Lucille.”
"What do you mean she spoke to her? Like waved hi?"
"No, like spoke to her with words in front of the whole restaurant.”
Adelle sat down her spatula and rounded on Ari. “Did you do that?"
"It's not a big deal," said Ari.
"This is a big deal,” said Alanna. “What's happened to you?”
"Nothing's happened," said Ari.
"Something's happened,” Adelle insisted. "This is a breakthrough. Finally, after all these years, what that creep Eric Prince did to you is finally wearing off."
"Don't say his name,” hushed Alanna. “Don't even bring him up. We don’t want her to relapse.”
"You know he's in town,” said Adelle.
“Well, he better stay away from here. Especially now that our Ari is finally healing. I'm so proud of you."
Her sisters wrapped her up in a double embrace. Ari's voice was caught in her throat as their arms wrapped around her and squeezed. How was she going to tell her sisters that the very cause of her voice loss just might be the cure? Even before that, how was she going to see Prince again without them finding out before she was ready to tell them?
Chapter Fifteen
Prince slowed his steps as he walked down the marina. He checked his reflection in the store window. His shirt was free of wrinkles, though he kept tugging at it. His pants were spotless without the grime of sand or dirt on them, though he kept brushing at the fabric.
The bags under his eyes had lost some weight after the fitful sleep he'd had last night. In his dreams, Prince didn't see the red of a bomb blast. He didn’t hear the pleas of a father to save his family. Neither did he dream of his own father and the pain and anxiety the lieutenant could bring about. Instead, Prince dreamed of thick tresses of red hair waving in the wind. He heard an angel's voice crooning in his ear.
Just the thought of Ariana settled his soul, be he awake or asleep. When he’d woke from a restful night of sleep, he’d been restless. He'd paced around the houseboat all day, finding little to occupy his thoughts but her. He'd looked online to see when her family’s restaurant would open. It had been a struggle to wait thirty minutes until after opening time to leave the houseboat in search of her.
Prince didn't want to seem too eager. The problem was that he was all too eager. He’d tried to slow his steps on the way here, but his feet kept speeding up. She'd agreed to see him tonight for dinner. But that didn't mean he couldn't happen by her place of work at lunchtime.
There were only a few cars parked outside Carol on the Bay this morning. Which might mean that if Ari was working, then she wouldn't be too busy. Perhaps she could come and sit and talk with him. Or not talk, if that's what she wanted.
He'd come to know that the woman was shy. That was fine by him. He'd never been the greatest conversationalist. He simply liked being with her. He knew he would be content just to sit beside her. Maybe hold her hand. Maybe have her croon a few lyrics in his ear.
"Hey! Prince!”
The shout came close to his ear. Prince winced, hunching his shoulders up defensively as he turned. When he looked around, he came face to face with Ursula.
"How? Are you? Today?"
Ursula stood a foot in front of him. She shouted her words, slowly. Enunciating each loud syllable, as though she was an American overseas in a foreign land trying to be understood by the locals.
"I'm fine, Ursula,” he said in a normal tone.
The few people out on the streets this early had turned to stare. At least they weren’t pointing at the near deaf man. Their confused gazes were on the shouting Ursula.
"Good," she shouted as she leaned in.
Prince stepped back. "I'm hard of hearing, Ursula. I’m not completely deaf."
Not yet anyway. The doctors had warned him it was a possibility. Prince was still not willing to accept the fact that his full hearing would never return even so many months after the bombing.
Ursula pursed her lips as though she didn't understand his words. He knew he’d said them loud and clear. He hadn’t missed anything she’d said. The people the next town over had likely heard her.
"You don't have to shout,” Prince clarified.
"Oh. Okay. Well, it's good seeing you."
He could barely hear her now that she was speaking at a normal volume. But it wasn't a hearing thing. Prince just wasn't interested in anything she had to say. He wanted to get inside. He wanted to get to Ari.
"Since you're here, why don't I let you buy me lunch. You know, for old times.” Ursula stepped into his space then. Her arms snaked around him, bringing to mind tentacles ensnaring his body. “We could catch up. Maybe start some brand new times."
Prince pursed his lips as he regarded Ursula. She’d been an early bloomer as a teenager, filling out in all the right places. She was still a beautiful woman. But there was an oldness to her face that had nothing to do with her age. She was a beauty queen preserved in a jar. But her canner had filled the jar with pickling juice. She looked pruned around the eyes and mouth. Likely from all the disapproving stares, she doled out to those she deemed beneath her.
Prince had once looked at others as though they were beneath him. Because that’s how he’d been taught to view others. It was how his own father had seen him. But Prince’s time in the military had taught him to think of others, to view himself as part of a team, as part of something bigger.
Now when he looked at others, his first thoughts were not of worth. It was of friend or foe. Innocent or enemy. Ursula looked every bit the enemy foe.
Prince didn't ask himself the cliché question; what had he seen in her? She had been his reflection when they were younger. He wasn't that lost, angry boy anymore. Life had dealt him a blow, but it had also brought him a boon; Ariana Carol.
“You're not taking me here." Ursula chucked her finger to the Carol karaoke bar.
"What's wrong with here?" asked Prince.
“Neither of us would be welcome in there,” Ursula scoffed. “Wait? Don’t you remember?”
“Remember what?”
"The Christmas Gala? Right before you left?"
Prince didn't remember much from his time here. He certainly didn't remember any Christmases. Any time his family was forced to spend time together, it never started or ended well.
"You remember Ariana Carol and what you did to her?"
The ringing got louder in his ears. What he did to her? What had he done to her?
"She never sang again after that. I don't think she ever spoke again."
The door to the restaurant opened, and a redhead poked her head out. The woman was the spitting image of Ari, but not quite. It was the same short-haired-not-Ari he’d seen the other day at the restaurant. This not-Ari didn’t offer him a shy smile. Her blue gaze shot hot daggers at him enough to make the former EOD Specialist flinch.
"I know you two aren’t thinking of coming in here," said the not-Ari in a voice deeper tha
n Prince’s Ari. The tenor of her voice scratched at Prince’s inner ear.
"As if we'd eat your garbage chowder. Come on, Prince."
Ursula’s tentacles suctioned onto Prince’s arms. He was so disoriented that when she tugged, he followed. Prince felt his feet moving as his mind tried to work out what just happened. Both now and in the past.
What had he done to Ari?
Chapter Sixteen
Ari took a deep inhale. Her shoulders lifted with the breath. Her chest expanded as her lungs filled. Her ears were perked, listening for the note that would announce her entry. After much fanfare of keys, drums, and strings, the note came. Ari threw back her head and belted out the lyrics.
This time the lyrics of Adelle’s song poured from Ari without missing a single beat or word. Ari took a breath to fill her lungs. The next stanza came from somewhere deeper than her diaphragm. It came from her heart. Maybe even her soul.
Her voice trilled perfectly over the ridges. It reached the high note and then dipped down to a low note, a difficult feat that Ari handled with ease. As the song decrescendoed, Ari heard loud applause and boisterous whoops coming from the other side of the sound booth. Adelle was on her feet, hands clapping, fists pumping, grin beaming bright.
"That was amazing, Ari. You nailed it. You killed it. You murdered that song, brought it back to life, and sent it to outer space.”
Ari grinned too. She'd finished the song in one take. That was a rarity with her overachiever producer of a sister who usually had Ari in the booth for half the day, if not more, doing take after take.
"With your vocals alone, this is going to sell. And then I'm probably going to have to fend off producers who want to know about the singer."
Ari shrugged. Just a day ago, the thought of singing live for judgmental record producers would have made her throat close up. Today, she didn't even give them a second thought. Her mind was on singing the song again later tonight. This time for an audience of one.
"What has gotten into you?"
Ari blinked, allowing the image of Prince to dissolve and bringing her sister in focus. Adelle studied Ari like her sister was the meters on her soundboard. Ari was sure that the energy coming off her was spiking into the red zones.
"You've been different these past two days."
Ari ran a hand through her hair. She felt different. She woke up this morning wanting to shout a greeting to the sky instead of keeping quiet.
She looked into her sister's eyes. The three of them were the best of friends. Though there were two years in between each of them, Adelle, Alanna, and Ari had grown up close. More than just family or blood. Her sisters were her true friends. Ari hated keeping secrets from them. But she still wasn't sure how to tell them about Prince.
Alanna had a more forgiving heart. She might understand Ari’s decision to date the man who had, well, traumatized her all those years ago. Though Adelle wrote the most heartwarming ballads, she was also the kind of woman who would call a thing a thing and not romanticize reality. Ari could just hear her oldest sister accuse her of Stockholm Syndrome.
But that’s not what this was. Prince was different. Ari was different. Together she felt they were making each other stronger.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you met someone."
"I have,” Ari admitted.
Adelle whipped around, eyes wide. "You what?"
"I met someone."
"Here? In town? Or online." Adelle’s gaze narrowed. "Oh, Ari, what have I told you about internet dating. Men never put up their true profiles. You might be chatting with some slob in his mother’s basement or a baby daddy looking for a nursemaid to his five kids.”
"I didn't meet him on the internet. He lives here."
“Here? In this town?"
Ari nodded.
"Who?"
Ari bit her lip.
"We don't keep secrets in this family.”
"I know. But this is new. I just... can you just give me a little space. Just to see where it's going."
Adelle studied Ari, her gaze slowly softening. But then she shook her head. “Nope, spill.”
“Adelle!”
"You've never been in a relationship before. You need your sister's guidance. Spill it."
Ari clamped her mouth shut.
"Oh, that won't work. Not with us. When we get to the restaurant, me and Alanna will get it out of you."
There went that plan.
Ari had a twenty-minute reprieve while they walked to the bar. During that time, Adelle proceeded to guess. She called out names. None of them Prince's. She pointed to strangers on the street. Luckily, Prince wasn’t out about town today.
When Adelle pointed to Jett Elison, Ari openly gagged. Adelle threw her head back and laughed. Jett thought he was the most eligible bachelor in town, but he still lived in his mom’s basement and worked the same job at the movie theater that he’d worked back in high school. Free popcorn might’ve been a draw to teen girls, but not grown women.
Adelle was quickly running out of town residents the closer they got to the bar. Ari wasn't going to be able to keep this secret long. Besides, it had been ten years. Surely her sisters were all over the childhood antics of their youth. The Incident had happened to Ari, not them. She had chosen to forgive Prince, though he didn’t know he’d forgiven her. He couldn’t even remember what had happened.
"You will never guess who had the nerve to darken our doorsteps."
That was how Alanna greeted them. It looked like Ari would have another few minutes’ reprieve while her middle sister went through the town gossip. The list of perpetrators couldn’t be that long.
"Eric Prince."
Ari gulped. Her back was to her sisters, so neither of them saw the expression on her face.
"Are you kidding me?" said Adelle
"And you'll never guess who he was with. Ursula Spade.”
Now Ari did turn.
"Don't worry, Ari. I told them both not to show their faces around here. Can you believe the nerve? After what they did to you."
But Ari wasn't listening any longer. Prince had been out with Ursula, his girlfriend, while he’d lived here? And they'd come here? But why? Had this all been some prank? Something in her heart told her that couldn't be right.
Ari’s shoulders slumped. She felt like she couldn't get enough air. She needed to get out of the bar.
"Ari? You okay? See, even now, he's still having this effect on her."
"No," Ari insisted. "I'm fine. I just need some fresh air."
Ari dashed out the back door before either of her sisters could say another word. Or worse; see her tears.
Ari was able to hold the tears in all the way down the marina. Her feed tore up the ground until it was sand beneath her feet. She held it together until she made it to her secret place near the waves. But when she lifted her head so that the tears could fall, she saw that she was not alone.
Chapter Seventeen
"Why didn't you tell me?" Prince demanded the moment he saw Ari.
Her steps came to a halt, and then he saw the tears. He had her in his arms in an instant. Were the tears his fault as well? Or had someone else hurt her?
He didn’t care. He just needed to make her pain go away. To make it all go away for her.
Her tears didn’t fall as she laid her head on his chest. He would’ve known. He would’ve felt their wetness. He would’ve felt her heaves and sighs.
Instead, Ari stilled. She didn’t stiffen. She felt at ease in his arms, peaceful even. But how was this possible when he’d hurt her? He needed to be close to her at the same time that he could barely bring himself to look at her. Prince pulled away so that he could see her face.
Ari opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Prince knew that he hadn't missed a single word. He was staring at her so intensely. She stared back.
There was a heaviness in her eyes that hadn't been there before. Or maybe it had, and he hadn't seen it because he'd been too focused on what he wan
ted, on what he was feeling. Had he ever truly looked at her?
How could he not remember hurting her so badly all those years ago? His words had set off a bomb that ruined her life. A bomb of his making. And he didn't even remember crossing the fuses.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked again. He lifted his hand to her face but stopped. He ached to cup her chin and pull her lips to him. To kiss away the unshed tears in her eyes. Instead, he let her go.
Ari took a deep breath. She parted and then pursed her lips. Even now, she was having trouble speaking, all because of the wounds he'd inflicted on her so long ago. When she spoke, her words made no sense.
"Where's your date?"
Prince frowned. Had he heard her right? He stepped closer, giving her his good ear. "Say that again."
Ari took another deep breath. Her shoulders went straighter, her chin jutted higher. "Where's Ursula?”
Prince shrugged, still not following her words. What did Ursula have to do with anything? Unless Ursula had been tormenting Ari all this time. Prince wouldn't put it past the woman. Hurt people, hurt people.
"Did she say something to you?" Prince reached out for Ari's arm, but she jerked it away.
"She didn't need to. Why would you bring her to my family’s bar on your date? You can't be that cruel."
Prince needed to sit down. The world was spinning, and he had nothing to hold onto. "You think I'm dating Ursula?”
Ari's chin wobbled. Prince knew she was angry, knew it was because she misunderstood. But he couldn't help himself any longer.
He cupped her cheek in his palms. He pressed his forehead to hers. He breathed in that sweet scent that belonged only to her.
"I was coming to see you. I ran into Ursula on the way."
Again, Ari pursed her lips. It was as though she wanted to believe, but she was too afraid. Prince wiped his thumb over her lower lip and felt it tremble.
“Ursula isn't the woman I want to be with. I'm not the boy I was when we were together. She and I have nothing in common. I don’t care if I never see her again in this lifetime.”
Sweet Carol Page 6
