“You bitch.”
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t see the rug.”
Mark pulled her up by the hair and pushed her across the room. “You did that on purpose.”
“No, I didn’t. I’ll get you another drink.” Panic gripped her. She didn’t want him to get angry and give her another beating.
“You fucking bitch,” he said in a rage.
He grabbed a two-by-four piece of wood that was about three feet in length. It was an old piece of wood, and it had a nail at the end of it. He came up to her and swung the wood across her back. The nail caught on her skin and ripped it open. Blood shot out all over, and she fell to the floor of the boat.
Marissa screamed. Her eyes felt heavy as she peeled them open. She bolted upward in the bed, gasping for air. She put her hand behind her to the ugly scar, which went across her back and to her side. She swore she could still feel the nail ripping her skin as if it had just happened.
When she had calmed herself and her heart rate had returned to normal, she laid back in the bed and soon her thoughts drifted toward Riley. Was Riley abusive too, and was that why he ended up divorcing Rachel? She didn’t know why she was glad to hear that he was divorced. It would be so nice to have his arms wrapped around her.
What did his badge mean to him? He took an oath to protect and serve the people in Quartz County. Would he protect her too? He told her she was attractive. Did he say that to all women? She wanted to believe in someone, to trust someone, but her years of abuse by Mark had scattered what self-image and self-esteem she had. She didn’t trust a soul. Would she ever be able to overcome this?
* * * *
After eating his dinner and putting the dishes in the dishwasher, Riley relaxed in his recliner. He had found out a little more information about Marissa. She’d already told him that she wasn’t married and had no children. Today she told him she went to Nevada State University and got a degree in gemology. That was more than he knew before, but she was still secretive and not forthcoming.
He surfed the television channels, but found nothing of interest. He paid enough for his satellite disc that there should be something worthwhile to watch! His mind drifted back to Marissa. He couldn’t figure her out. Why did he want to figure her out? He turned the television off and went and sat on his porch, looking down at the house.
She was lovely to look at, but her body language spoke volumes. From the first day he laid eyes on her, he was attracted to her, and his libido was too. What brought her back to town? That old Volkswagen she had, a ‘beetle bug’ they used to call them, didn’t fit her. Where did she get the vehicle? She was a mystery to him, and adding her beauty to the mix intrigued him even more. I will try to get to know her better, maybe even date her.
This was the first time he’d wanted to date anyone since he dated MaryLou and she got drunk and made a scene at the Rock Creek Inn. Everyone in town must have been there that night, and it was an embarrassment he hoped never to experience again. The guys at the fire department had wasted no time teasing him about it. He didn’t know why he always had the misfortune of finding women who started out being okay but ended up being an embarrassment to him, or it would be someone who didn’t want him. It could be the same with Marissa too.
When he’d told her about the activities that went on in town during the summer, she’d just stared at him, her expression unchangeable. In fact, when she did react, she looked like she was trying to come up with excuses not to go. What could he do to get her more active and interested in the town and being around everyone? Why was she so distrustful? He’d love to give her a nice big bear hug and hold her close to him. Sometimes, all someone needed was to feel cared for and valued. What was her story? Would she go to the Chicken Feed with him if he asked her?
Chapter 5
There was a knock at her door, and Marissa opened it to find Stephen Hawkins, the county inspector, standing on her porch. He was also a former classmate. Marissa looked up at him. He must have grown another two feet since he graduated, and he had gray hair at his temples.
“Hey, Marissa. How are you doing?” He cocked his head.
“Fine, Stephen. How are you?”
“I’m doing good. So you’re back living in your parents’ home, eh?”
“Yes. The sheriff has threatened to remove me from the house unless I get it inspected.”
“Well, let me take a look and see what we have here.”
“Okay.” Marissa stepped aside to let him enter.
“So what’ve you been doing since high school?”
Hmm, someone else who wants to know my business. “Not much. Digging for sapphires and panning for gold when I can.”
“I hear that Red Rock River is a hotbed for gold and sapphires.” Stephen opened the fuse box and looked at the wiring. “How long has it been since your parents lived in this house?”
“They died five years ago.”
Stephen walked around the inside of the house, checking wall plugs, looking for openings. He looked at the furnace, the hot water tank, and under the sink at the plumbing. After that he went outside and checked around the house and then came back in to give Marissa his report.
“Overall, I think the house is sound and stable. There are no termites or critters around. However, you do have field mice, and you’ll want to set traps to get rid of them. The electrical wiring is old, but it looks good, and your fuse box is okay. You know that your hot water tank and furnace don’t work, right?”
“Yes. I plan to get them working by the end of summer.”
“Your plumbing looks okay, and the water from the well looks good. Outside, you have wood lath openings you will want to get replaced. You may have bats, and you’ll want to have someone come in and get them out of the attic. Other than that, everything’s good.”
“Okay. Thanks for stopping by and doing the inspection. That ought to please the sheriff since he was the one who insisted on it.” Her tone harden.
“Well, don’t be too hard on him. We had some serious house fires last summer and a lot of them were caused by electrical wiring. I think he’s trying to keep the community safe.”
After Stephen left, Marissa drove into work. As she puttered around in the back of the store, she noticed that Dave owned three faceting machines. Two of them he used constantly, but the third one was covered, and it didn’t look as if it was ever used.
During a lull at the store, she walked out to the front and asked Dave, “Do you ever use that old faceting machine?”
“No. Why, are you interested in it?”
“Does it work?”
“Yes. It works fine. It’s just my father’s machine.”
“I was wondering if I could borrow it.” It would be great and add more value to the sapphires if she could use the faceting machine. She’d get more money.
“You can buy it if you like.”
“Um, I don’t have any money to buy it.”
“How about I sell it to you for two hundred and fifty dollars, and you can pay me twenty dollars a month until it’s paid off?”
“You’d do that for me?” She was surprised Dave would make an offer like that.
“Yeah. It’s not used here.”
“Okay, that would work for me. Thanks a bunch.”
At the end of the day, she hurried home, intending to go to the river and do sapphire digging and gold panning. She brought the faceting machine in and put it on her dining room table. After changing her clothes, she headed out to Red Rock River.
She pulled her car up onto the land near the shaker box and got out. Reaching into her purse, she pulled the Smith and Wesson out and tucked it into her pant waist on her back. She wrestled the sluice out of the back seat, then the buckets and her tools. She carried the sluice to the river where there were currents, so that the water flowed through it and moved forward. “Man, the water is ice cold!”
When she got the sluice going, she walked back about fifteen feet and looked at the last place her dad had du
g. She dug into the earth at the same spot and dumped the shovelful into the shaker box. She shook the box and then removed the sticks and larger rocks. She put the smaller rocks in the bucket.
Once in a while she stopped and went out to check the sluice. She got her granola bar and water and then wandered over to a large boulder and sat down to rest for a few minutes.
She noticed it was getting dark when she heard the old diesel truck pull up by her car. She scrutinized Campbell as he was getting out.
“You got your own mining business going on?” he rasped.
“Pretty much.” She stood up and brushed her palms together as he meandered his way to stand near her.
“You got a dang sluice too?” His voice croaked as he stared out over the river.
“Yes.”
“Well, I got to hand it to you, you know what the hell you’re doing,” he said, the corner of his mouth lifting in a semblance of a smile.
“Thanks, I think,” she said, peering up at him. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“No. I just stopped by to see what you have going on. I’ll be bringing more gems in for Southerlyn to heat-treat. You still work there?”
“Yes.”
“What do you do there as far as firing the kiln and stuff? Do you look at the rocks and decide which ones will be fired?” Campbell’s voice always sounded gruff to her. Maybe he always sounded that way.
“Yes. I look at the gems through a polariscope and an eye loupe to be sure they are worthy to be fired. Then I clean them and put them in a crucible. I place them in a high temperature heating-treating kiln and turn it on.”
“Why does it take a whole damn week then?”
“It takes a week because once the kiln reaches the correct temperature you have to let it cool down to room temperature. If you don’t and you open the kiln up before it’s completely cooled, the gems will crack.”
“Oh.” His eyebrows waggled as he stood silently for a few minutes. “What colors are most valuable?”
“The reds are most valuable, but the blues are the ones that sell the most. Yellow is rare, and so is white.”
After standing there for a few minutes, Campbell said, “Well, I’ll probably be by the jewelry store in a couple of days. Don’t stay out here too much later. There’s a lot of wildlife and crazy-ass men around here.”
“I’ll be leaving shortly. Thanks.” She stared after him as he walked slowly back to his truck and then drove away.
She stopped for the evening, pulled the sluice out of the water, and brought it up by the car. Lifting the top of the sluice, she found two tiny nuggets of gold. She got a vial from the car and slipped them into it. Things are looking up! After putting the concentrate from the sluice into the bucket, she put the sluice in the car. She dragged the buckets to the car and put them in the trunk and loaded her tools, then headed home.
When she got home, she left the sluice in the back seat, along with her tools. She opened the trunk, lifted out the heavy buckets of gravel, and dragged them to a spot against the porch, next to the steps. As she started up the steps, she heard a vehicle pull into her driveway and she turned to look.
Riley stepped out of the cruiser and walked up to her. “Hello, Marissa.”
“Hi.” What does he want now? Oh yeah, the inspection.
The closer he got to her, the harder her heart beat at the sight of him. She gave him a once-over, starting with his boots and then traveling up his blue jeans, glancing at the leather belt with a picture of a deer head carved on it, traveling over his hard torso in a plaid shirt with his badge pinned to the pocket.
“How was your day?” he asked with a half-smile.
“It was good. By the way, the inspector was here this morning, and the house passed the inspection.”
“That’s good. Glad to hear that.”
“Really? I thought you didn’t want it to pass so you would have to evict me.” Her eyes shot sparks at him. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him, torn between being suspicious and being irritated.
“No. I just didn’t think the house was safe for you to be in, that’s all. I stopped by because I have something to ask you.”
“Yes?”
“Are you busy Saturday?”
“Yes. Pretty busy, why?”
His face took on a disappointed expression. “I was hoping you might consider going to the Firemen’s Fried Chicken Feed with me. Do you think you could take time out of your busy schedule to go with me?”
“We’ve been a bone of contention to each other ever since I got here. Why would you ask me to go to this with you?” She grew nervous and more suspicious. Dropping her hands to her side, she clenched them into fists and then released them.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come across to you as if you were a bone of contention to me. I just thought you might like to go and get reacquainted with the folks in town again and enjoy some good fried chicken.” Riley came over to where she was, and she could smell the faint Stetson’s cologne on him. She looked up into his eyes, then dropped her gaze to the ground and wrapped her arms in front of her, as if warding him off.
“Sorry, I’m already going with Heidi and her kids.”
“Oh, okay then. Maybe we can do something together another time,” Riley said quietly.
She didn’t answer him. She peered at him until he turned to leave. Why did he suddenly want to go out with her? What was he after? Guys didn’t just ask girls to go out with them for no reason.
Riley stopped in the middle of the yard and turned to look back at Marissa. “Did you find any gold at the river?”
“A few small nuggets.”
“I see.” Riley stared at her. “In case you didn’t know, even though it’s late spring, they’re predicting snow accumulations tonight and tomorrow morning.”
“How will that affect the Firemen’s Fried Chicken Feed?” Maybe they wouldn’t have it due to snow. She could only hope.
“We’ll move it into the community hall.”
“Oh. I remembered Frankenburg often had snow as late as May, so I was a little surprised when I got here and there wasn’t any.”
“We had an early thaw this year. Just a friendly word of advice—you may want to get rid of that Volkswagen and get a vehicle that can handle the winter months. That car won’t make it up the hill to your house.”
“I’ve thought about that.” She had thought about it, but right now, she wasn’t sure what she could do about it. There was no way she could afford a car payment with her salary.
“Well, have a good evening then.” Riley gave her a lopsided grin then turned and walked to the cruiser. He got in and backed out of her driveway.
* * * *
That night, plagued by nightmares again, she got up and went to the kitchen for a drink of water. She wandered through the house sipping the water until she stood looking out the dining room window. She stared up at the log home up the hill with the lights on and wondered who lived there. She imagined the view was probably spectacular.
She went back to bed and finally managed to fall back to sleep. When she woke up her body was tingling with all kinds of pleasant sensations. She had just dreamed of Riley making love to her. He had entered her and she was about to explode with the release she sought when she had been pulled out of her sleep. Her body was heated and sweaty, and her panties were wet. She hadn’t had feelings like that for a man in such a long time that she thought she would never have those feelings again.
Glancing at the clock she saw that it was three AM. She grabbed her sleeping bag, got a glass of water from the kitchen, and went out and sat in the chair on the back porch. Snowflakes drifted from the sky, covering the landscape in a blanket of white fluff. Looking up at the log home, she noticed that the lights were off. Someday, I’m going to own a beautiful home like that.
She grabbed a large strainer, scooped up the rocks from her bucket, and placed it on the table. She turned her radio on to listen to music. Shania Twain
was singing one of her greatest hits, Forever And For Always. Marissa couldn’t imagine ever being loved like that. Did that kind of love even exist? Could someone love you so much you know when they miss you? Wasn’t it all just fairy tales?
She turned on an old lamp and searched through the handful of rocks for gems. In the midst of the pile, there were three sapphires. One was blue, and the others were yellow. She got her father’s old eye loupe and looked through them. Hmm, clear as day. There were no cracks in them, and the colors were beautiful and flawless.
She found some quartz she could use to practice cutting. It had been a while since she’d used a faceting machine, and this was an old one. She went back in the house and started it up. After a few tries, she got it down and facet her first sapphire. When she finish, she had a beautiful yellow sapphire. She pulled out the scale and the gem weighed in at one point five carats. Once she had got a bunch of them, she knew just who to call to sell them to.
By the time Marissa walked out her front door, there were two inches of snow on the ground. Her little Volkswagen slid down the hill heading into town, and she almost missed the turn. Riley was right, the car didn’t do well on snowy roads.
The workday went by quickly. At the end of the day she received her first paycheck. She went to the bank and opened an account, then stopped at Glen’s Food Mart. It seemed as if it had been years since she’d done any grocery shopping, and she brought a list. After she got back home and put the food away, she made herself a turkey sandwich with deli salad and washed it down with water. All the snow had melted by the time she walked out of the house and grabbed more buckets to head back to Red Rock River.
The water was ice cold when she got the sluice going. Even with the work gloves on, her hands were freezing, and she had chills from the coolness of the water. She went over and began digging for the sapphires.
Campbell drove up and parked alongside her vehicle. “Any luck digging there?” he asked, his voice hoarse.
“I found a few, yeah.”
“Well, I got a proposition for you, if you’re interested. And I sure as hell hope you are.”
Blue as Sapphires Page 5
