Jade

by Davenport, Maryann

  Matt looked sad for a moment and then shook his head. “That was the last piece Gordon pulled off. By that I mean he was leading on that piece and the team was helping him. The last few years he only assisted most the time.” He glanced at his feet. “The sand started winning.”

  “The sand?”

  “He wasn’t careful enough when he took his turn at charging the furnace and that damned stuff sticks in your lungs and won’t come out once it’s in there. I won’t charge a furnace without wearing a respirator, glasses, a coverall, the whole nine yards. I probably have some metal in me from the first couple of blows I did but I learned how to do it right. I’m careful now.”

  Jade felt a cold chill settle over her at the thought of Matt not being able to breathe. “I’m glad to hear that. Can’t you do anything to get rid of the stuff if you start now?”

  “I think it’s possible with the metal residues but not the silica. The doctor said the pieces that stick in the lungs are curled like fishhooks. He said Gordon probably had a liver full of metals, too. My dad always said he figured anyone who worked with art materials would eventually die from them but it was their choice. My mother was a research nurse and she insists that if you avoid fat, especially the kind from animals, and drink huge quantities of water, you’re able to flush out a lot of the metals. I’m doing that, for what it’s worth. But Gordon, forget it.” He shook his head. “He just didn’t love himself enough.”

  Jade could see that the subject hurt him deeply and decided to change the talk back to the art in front of them. She peeked at the price on the bottom of the cylinder and gasped. “That’s over my budget. Especially since I already blew this year’s allowance for expensive art on that bowl I told you about.”

  Matt nodded and gave her a sad smile. “I would buy it myself if I had the money but if my mother knew the money came from me she’d try to give it back to me. She’s too kind for her own good.”

  After politely declining the selling efforts of the clerks, they headed down the street toward their parking spot. “If you’d really like to see a hot shop, I know of one near here but they don’t know me so they won’t let us watch unless they have a window room. Let’s find out.”

  Just before they got to the edge of Chinatown where old warehouses were being turned into courtyards surrounded by antique shops, candy and coffee shops she spotted an old warehouse with a new sign over the loading dock door. It said Glass Blast. Inside the door the warehouse had been gutted down to its concrete floor and interior concrete walls. The overhead lights looked new and there were slotted steel shelves covering each wall. They were filled with pieces of rusted metal pipes and other used materials. Jade could hear several voices in a room off to the right. When they entered that room the atmosphere changed from a cool breeze off the ocean to a hot dry crackle.

  Most of the light in the room was coming from a hot metal oven about the size of a Volkswagen bug. The smell was heavy like truck exhaust and the people in front of them were wearing everything from tank tops and ball caps to dark glasses and hoods with heavy materials covering their arms.

  Matt grabbed Jade’s hand and headed for the door. “Sorry. We were looking for the window room.”

  Before Jade could catch her breath they were down the hall by a window in an office with stacks of paperwork on two old battered desks. The crew of men seemed to be totally centered on a glowing blue object the size of a water bucket and held at the end of a metal pipe. Two of the men had torches and seemed to be working on two other pipes with small glowing objects on them. All three of them converged on the large work. Suddenly there was shouting and the man holding the large piece staggered to a smaller furnace where the entire concoction was inserted.

  Jade pulled a notebook out of her purse and began to fan herself with it. “You’re right. This is much better. Does it always smell so much like diesel exhaust?”

  “That’s some of that metal toxin I told you about. Those two guys in front where you see them messing with the glory hole should be wearing cotton shirts and a respirator. I could tell by the smell that they’re pulling colored stuff. I don’t think they have the kind of ventilation system they should have either. When will these people learn?” Matt sounded defeated and his eyes looked full of grief.

  “Have you ever talked to this group? Maybe they would welcome your input. They seem to be done for now. They’re coming out.” Jade hurried ahead of Matt and reached the group before he did. “Sir? Excuse me, sir. May I ask you a question, now that you’re taking a short break?”

  “We’re quitting for a couple of hours. What can I do for you, Sweetie?” The man talking was heavy in the upper body, had a scraggly beard and a red bandana wrapped around his balding head. His smile revealed several crooked yellow teeth.

  Jade suddenly realized how much he looked like a pirate and gulped. “Well, I noticed that some of your people didn’t seem to have the usual safety equipment. I’d hate to see any of you scarred for life or get that stuff in your lungs. Would you like to order that kind of safety equipment?”

  Matt stepped next to her and gave her a scolding look. “She’s new to hot shops. She’s really just concerned about you.”

  A couple of the men in the crowd snickered but a shorter thinner man turned around and joined the trio. “I’m Adrian and this is my place. I’d be interested. Do you have a catalog?” The big man seemed to sneer at them before he walked away to join the others.

  “Well, yes, but that would be a new line for me. I have this gentleman with me who could advise you. Matt, this is Adrian.” She gave Matt her brightest smile.

  He smiled and shook Adrian’s hand. “I could order the stuff for you. Would you like me to come back at a more convenient time and show you some samples and take an order?”

  “You bet. I’ve been trying to get my partners to take this safety thing more seriously and this is just what I need. These guys are pretty macho but we had someone get burned last week and I could smell lawsuit all over the place. I mean what if it had been some punty boy out of the local crowd? You got a card?”

  Matt looked surprised and then reached into the pocket of his dress slacks. “Yeah. Matter of fact, I do.” He handed him the white typed card. “Would tomorrow morning suit you?”

  “You bet. We’ll be working a gather sometime after eight. So you can catch me before that or in the afternoon.” He turned away and joined the other men while they wandered out the loading door.

  Jade gave Matt a puzzled look when she looked around at the empty building.

  “You guys coming or you spending the night?” Adrian looked back through the door frame.

  Jade dashed through the door with Matt striding easily behind her. “Thanks. Nice meeting you.”

  Adrian pulled the door shut, snapped the padlock on it, and jumped down to the paving. He joined in the conversation with the rest of his crew and appeared to forget about the couple behind them.

  “Are the people who work on glass always so unaware of anything around them?”

  Matt led her to a small table under an umbrella in a cobblestone courtyard. “I guess that’s often the case. I’m just used to it.”

  The little shops which surrounded the courtyard reminded Jade of similar places in Paris where her parents had taken her when she was ten.

  “If you ever decide to try glass blowing you’ll see how it swallows you up. You have this vision in your mind of what you want to create and you get so intent on leading the team to make it happen you lose track of time, of the heat, even of who you are. It’s an amazing feeling that stays with you if you are able to create something unique and wonderful with all that work. And, after you’re all done and stop to take a break, you’re so wiped out all you can think of is eating a steak and a plate full of food while you belt down a gallon of beer.” He stood up and indicated the shop behind him. “I’ll get us a couple cups of coffee. Do you want cream or flavoring?”

  “Just a little vanilla. Thank you.” While Matt
was in the shop she watched him through the glass door. He had an easy grace and the girl who waited on him gave him several seductive smiles. Jade was surprised at his solemn face when he turned around. She wondered if he was always such a serious man.

  “Here we go.” He glanced at his watch. “I don’t have any other appointments until seven o’clock tonight, so, is there anything else you’d like to see?”

  Jade’s watch said the time was 3:45. “I’d take you to dinner but it’s probably too early for you.”

  “We could walk around Fisherman’s Wharf and work up an appetite.”

  “Perfect. I’m staying at the Hyatt there. You can drop me on the way back to your pickup.”

  Matt’s raised eyebrows made Jade frown at him.

  “Don’t jump to fancy conclusions. I’m staying at the economy version on Taylor.”

  “I meant it as a compliment. I simply assumed you were doing so well with your company you could afford the best.”

  “Even if I ever get that rich I wouldn’t do it. My dad calls me the original pinch penny. He always tells people I didn’t get that from him. That’s definitely true. If he ever runs low on money he’s going to be in big trouble. He has to go first class all the way. I’m sure he’ll go broke before he settles for anything less.”

  They parked on Beach Street and wandered through shops and tiny art galleries until they came to Pompeii’s Grotto. “How about here? I have vivid memories of their pasta salads. And they used to have ice cold fresh red grape juice.” The memory made Jade’s mouth water.

  “Lead the way.”

  After they ordered and Jade drank half a glass of grape juice to quench her thirst she noticed that Matt was staring at her as if he would never see her again. “Matt, what is it? You look like you’re going to leave the country for good or something.”

  “I just can’t stand the thought of never seeing you again and I know that will happen if you get to know me. I feel guilty for wasting your time like this but it’s been the best day of my life. I’ve never enjoyed anyone else’s company as much as I have yours.” He took her hand and kissed the palm and then her wrist. His lips felt full and warm and as gentle as rose buds.

  Jade could not pull her hand back but she could not breathe either. She had never felt anything so sensual and exciting before in her life. “Uh, well, I mean...Matt, I’m not going to disappear into thin air or anything. Here...here is my business card. I’ll put my home phone and cell phones on the back.” She felt both relieved and disappointed when he released her hand so she could write on the card. It took all the concentration she could muster to write legibly with her hand tingling.

  “I appreciate this more than you can know but every time I start to get to know a woman, something happens. It’s like a curse or something. Either I get involved in setting up a new hot shop or I get so broke I take an assignment and I only have a couple weeks to get it done or some emergency comes up. The next thing I know I have an angry message on my phone or a note under my door telling me to go to hell and never call again.” Matt’s face drained of all color and his eyes looked bleak.

  “Look, trust me on this. If you can handle me tracking you down to see you if I can’t get hold of you, we’ll see each other. Can you deal with someone as straight forward as me?”

  Matt leaned over the table and gave her a long warm kiss. “I would be forever grateful if you did that. I will do my best to make it easy to be with me but nothing would make me happier than to have you stop at my apartment and give me hell because you couldn’t get me on the phone on a particular day. One way or the other I’ll make it up to you, I swear.”

  “Well, let’s cross that bridge when we come to it. Maybe you let other people take over your agenda too much. Do you tell people no when you don’t want to do something?”

  He looked at her as if he were confused for a moment. “I would run to my mother if she needed me but I doubt she would ask me to. She’s very independent. As far as my customers go I do have some demanding ones. I guess I put up with them because by the time they’re ready to pay me for what they want I’m so broke I can’t remember when I last ate.”

  “What do you spend all your money on? I mean, you did bring the subject up?”

  Matt lifted his palms in a gesture of helplessness. “Usually, I get myself in trouble because I design a new version of safety equipment and talk some crew into trying it out and then it’s really hard to get the money they owe me. By that time I need groceries and gas money because that was the money I used to buy the materials for the prototype I installed in somebody’s hot shop. Other times somebody needs to borrow a few bucks for a doctor bill and they have a hard time paying it back. That reminds me.” He glanced at his watch. “I’d better get you back to your hotel in a few minutes because I don’t want to be late for that appointment. It’s a job for a company that needs some special equipment for welders.”

  Jade shook her head. “I’ll bet you have less than ten bucks on you and your bank account is empty.”

  Matt looked at his hands. “Actually, I have twelve dollars and seventy cents and I don’t have a checking account. I got a special family member deal on a free savings account where my mother banks.”

  “I knew it. I will probably regret this but I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I won’t loan you money but I’ll teach you how to manage it and then you won’t have this problem.”

  “I’ll take you up on it after I deliver this latest shipment from Lee and collect for it. I’ve got to run. I really need this job.”

  “I’m right with you.” Jade dropped the exact amount for the dinner bill on the ticket, added a five dollar bill, and grabbed her purse. “Let’s go.”

  “I thought you said you were a pinch penny.”

  “I am. I like that particular waitress and she always knows when to bring me another red grape juice.”

  A couple of minutes later Matt pulled into a ten minute parking slot close to the driveway into the Hyatt’s loading area. “Please call me on my cell phone any time you feel like it. I’ll make sure I check my messages. It just might take me a day or so to get back to you. When can I see you again?” His eyes looked like he was trying to pull her into them.

  “Somehow I don’t picture you making it to Mishap, where I live. I’ll let you know when Lee gets back to me on my cloisonné order and we can get together when the stuff comes in. Okay?” Jade glanced at him while she turned to grab her bag.

  Matt pulled her into his arms and kissed her with so much heat and desperation that she was afraid she would melt to a puddle. But when he let go of her she wanted to crawl back into his arms again. “When can I call you? At night? Morning?” He gunned the engine and turned into the loading area just before a tour bus beat him to the slot in front of the automatic door. Matt pulled back out of the range of the exhaust.

  “Anytime. I’ll check my messages, too. Buy some groceries before you’re tempted to loan somebody the money in your pocket. See you next time.” Jade smiled at him and then waved away his help. “I can handle this. Just get to your appointment.” She jumped down and slammed the door. When she looked back at him he was pulling around the bus and then he was gone.

  She ignored the bell boy’s effort to help her and walked directly to the registration desk.

  “Reservation for Holloway, Jade. That’s with a D as in dog.”

  The clerk held up one finger while she pulled a card out of a rotating file in front of her. The phone rang and she answered it on her head set.

  Jade nodded that she was alone. Alone. Somehow that word felt more and more heavy lately.

  CHAPTER TWO

  After hanging her fresh outfit in the closet and checking the bathroom, Jade strolled down near the hotel restaurant and walked out onto the little balcony. It was seven o’clock. As usual it was too early to go to bed and there was nothing good on television. At least this time she could daydream about Matt Dixon—his strong hands, his tender lips, his desperate eyes.
/>
  Suddenly a different face appeared in her mind. This handsome man was blond, tan, and built like a god. Henry Beekman was the ranch manager for a wealthy man who owned a vacation ranch not far from Jade’s little farm. They had been dating off and on for the last few months but Jade could not seem to keep him in mind. She felt guilty whenever she realized she hadn’t returned one of his calls. In all honesty she had to admit he was simply better than no company at all.

  “Well, it’s time to set that boy free.” Jade turned to go back inside the hotel and ran into the hard muscled chest of another blond hunk.

  “So it’s out with the old boyfriend and on to a new one?” The deep amused voice belonged to a man who was over six feet tall and smelled of bourbon. “My name is Maxwell Tomas and I’d love to buy you a drink. What say we get acquainted?”

  “No, thank you. It’s most kind of you but my new boyfriend would object strenuously and that would cause an awful scene. Good night.” Jade darted around him and into the reception area.

  “No need to hurry away, little lady. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

  Jade spotted an elevator with a glowing up arrow above it and an old woman in it. She darted in and hit the Close button.

  “You look like you’ve got a posse following you, honey. You all right?” The woman gave her a sly wink.

  “Uh, sure. I’m fine.” That was two people in a row who sounded like something out of an old Western movie. This was downtown San Francisco. What were the odds?

  After Jade pulled off her dark green pantsuit and white satin blouse to take a shower, she crawled into a pair of silky blue pajamas. She finally got to sleep by using her old standby insomnia remedy—an old episode from a 1950’s family TV series.

  The next morning, breakfast did not appeal to her so she had coffee and cereal in her room from packets in her overnight bag and hot water from the coffee pot on the counter. She felt like she did not relax until she was strapped in her seat and her plane was in the air over the bay. The book she had bought in the airport gift shop turned out to be dumb rather than funny and she settled for Wiley Coyote cartoons with the kid in the next seat. By the time they touched down in Eugene he had told her his life story and obtained her business card in case he ever looked for work in Mishap after he graduated from high school. Jade was grateful that the Eugene terminal wasn’t half as big or crowded as San Francisco’s had been.