Going Going Gone

by Cerian Hebert

  “Instead, you’re happy here?” Nell sipped her wine, but her eyes never left his.

  “I’m very content. I’ve got a beautiful home right on the lake, I’ve got a job that I respect and fulfills me. My family and friends are here. No offense against a place like New York, but what do they have that I can’t get here?”

  “Broadway? The best hot dogs in the world available at any hour of the day or night?” She said it with a chuckle, but Eli wondered how homesick she was for her busy city life.

  “You only say that because you’ve never seen the Monadnock Community Players or had a breakfast burrito at Doug’s Place at six a.m.”

  “Very true. So I’ll reserve my comparisons until I can experience both. What about your ex? She ever make it to Boston or New York?”

  “Nope, she’s still in town. She has her own salon off the highway by Wal-Mart. Either she’s biding her time or her new boyfriend has convinced her that small town life is worth sticking around for. Something I wasn’t able to do.”

  Eli tasted his wine, savoring the sweet flavor on his tongue as he gazed at Nell. For a moment she had a faraway look in her eyes as she stared at the candle flame dancing in the growing darkness. Beyond their table, the gardens were dim in the twilight, the flowers’ colors fading as night took over.

  “Okay, so your turn. Tell me about your ex.”

  “I want to hear about your kids,” Nell replied. There was an expression on her face that made him suspect she’d talk about anything but her ex-husband.

  “After you tell me about Javier. When did you get married?”

  Nell lifted her glass and took a long sip of wine. When she placed it on the table, her mouth set in a thin line. “We married about six months after we met. That was the first mistake. I was new in the fashion industry and worked for his company, which designed clothes for the twenty-something crowd. I was only twenty-four.” She glanced at Eli for the first time and gave him a tight smile. “I really don’t know what he saw in me. He was this gorgeous Spaniard with a smooth line and tons of money. He swept me off my feet with lots of romance, lots of flowers. Anything I wanted. When he asked me to marry him I was all over that. He didn’t want to wait, so I didn’t get the church wedding I always wanted, no family or friends. Just the two of us in a little Las Vegas chapel.”

  Nell drank more of her wine. A pink tinge crept into her cheeks and her finger moved with agitation over the cloth napkin in front of her. “It didn’t take me long to figure out what he really wanted from me. My designs. Javier thought he could get more recognition and money if I were his wife. I went along with it for years. After all, ‘what’s mine is his’ and all that crap.”

  “So, he was just using you all that time?” Eli’s brows rose. He could see pain lingering in her eyes.

  Nell sighed. “I was one of the best designers he had. It wasn’t until I told him that I wanted to add a line that catered to plus-size young women that the shit hit the proverbial fan. There was no market for ‘fat clothes’ according to him, and I’d be killing my career and his career if I did this. It made me that much more determined to do it.”

  Nell obviously wasn’t the kind of woman who would kowtow to a man if it meant going against something she believed in. Eli could respect that. “What happened next?”

  “He tried to bribe me, offered to give me creative control of the company’s Milan, Italy division, but I quit. I decided if he didn’t want to let me try my ideas, then I’d go out and find someone who would.”

  “Bet that didn’t go over well.”

  “Like a lead balloon. But he took care of me. As I tried to build my dream, he was busy behind my back. Had me blackballed so that no decent company would hire me while all along pretending to ‘support’ me.”

  Her lips turned up in a cold smile. “And as if that wasn’t enough, he somehow made it look like I was having an affair with one of the male models we worked with. As soon as he had enough ‘proof,’ he filed for divorce and left me with pretty much nothing but a modest monetary settlement, my car and what little bit of a business I’d built over the months.” Nell paused for another sip of wine. Her eyes once again took on that faraway look, but her jaw clenched and her fist bunched the napkin.

  “His loss,” Eli muttered as their waiter placed the appetizers and two white plates on the table. “So, what did you do?”

  Nell brought her attention back to him and smirked. “I figured I started out with nothing but my talent and even though no one seemed to want me, I wasn’t going to let Javier beat me out of what I’ve always dreamed of doing. I got a little studio apartment in a cruddy part of town, a decent computer, some fabric and a sewing machine and started Inner Goddess Fashions.”

  “Catering to plus-sized women?”

  Nell forked a piece of calamari off the larger plate and dropped it on hers. “Yup. I grew up as an overweight girl and had to deal with the plus size sections of department stores. I was so sick of the idea that the majority of the clothes for plus sizes had pictures of kitties or various cartoon characters. What twenty-year-old girl who can’t fit into something smaller than a fourteen wants to dress that way? Is it supposed to be incentive to lose weight? I was determined to create trendy clothes for people like me.”

  “I think that’s awesome. Good for you!”

  “Thanks, I appreciate it. It took me a while to get up and running. Dear Javier not only screwed me out of getting work with any major fashion designer, but none of the big stores would touch my work. I found a few little shops who’d carry my designs, but I mainly relied on internet orders, which turned out to be pretty lucrative.”

  “And where are you now? You look like you’re a very successful businesswoman.”

  “Well, I hold my own and I’m moving back up in the world. I still run my own company, it’s still small, but I have a few designers with me and I’ve managed to bounce back from the damage Javier did to my career. This is a big year for me. I’ll be having my first show in two months.”

  “Congratulations. I’m glad you were able to rise above your ex-husband. And I hope he’s stewing over it.”

  Nell laughed, but it didn’t hold much humor. “He’s married to a twenty-year-old model and he’s still doing just fine. He got what he wanted in the end, but I don’t dwell on it. Life is too short to brood. I could waste my time and try to go after him for what I think I deserve or I can put the same energy into building my own company. I’d rather see Inner Goddess in every store. It’s much more rewarding.”

  Nell sat back in her chair. The tension in her jaw relaxed and she gave him a warm smile. “Now, tell me about your kids.”

  Eli didn’t have any problem with filling up some time talking about Emma and Dylan. He hoped he wasn’t boring the life out of Nell, but she laughed at his anecdotes. She seemed completely interested, even when he brought out the picture he kept of them in his wallet.

  “Dylan is your spitting image,” she commented as she studied the picture. “He’s going to be a heartbreaker when he grows up. And look at those eyes on Emma. They are beautiful kids, Eli.”

  When she handed the picture over, their fingers brushed. Back in the sixth grade he held a girl’s hand for the very first time. It had been the most exciting moment of his young life, in a different way than any other moment because this beautiful girl had wanted to hold his hand. This felt exactly like that moment, as if he was twelve years old again and the prettiest girl in the whole school had decided to like him.

  But they weren’t children, and the woman across from him who rested her hand on the table in an invitation for him to take it was more exciting than anyone he’d ever met. He laid his kids’ picture next to his empty plate and reached out, lacing his fingers through hers. Her skin was warm and smooth and she tightened her hold on his hand. For a long moment they sat in silence. Eli drew his gaze away from her hand and the finger that stroked his thumb, and focused on her face. Her eyes didn’t waver from his, no coy batting of the
eyelashes, just a level gaze and the slightest upward tilt of her lips.

  The waiter broke their moment, gathering their dishes and asking if they wanted coffee and dessert.

  “I couldn’t eat another bite,” Nell conceded, and patted her belly lightly.

  Eli agreed and asked for the check. He didn’t want the evening to end, it was much too soon, but they couldn’t sit there and gaze into each other’s eyes all evening. At least not at the restaurant. Unfortunately there weren’t too many spots they could go and continue their date.

  “You want to reconsider coffee?” Eli asked, squeezing her hand. “I make a mean cup and I don’t want to say goodbye yet.”

  Chapter 4

  If anyone had told a seventeen-year-old Nell that there’d come a day when Elijah Knight would invite her back to his place for coffee, she’d have told them to check themselves into the psychiatric ward at the closest hospital. Yet there she was, following him up the flagstone path to the front door of his house, a large log home surrounded by tall pines and junipers. A breeze came off the pond and drifted against her cheeks. It certainly felt wonderful, but did nothing to quell her jangling nerves.

  “It’s nothing fancy,” Eli remarked as he opened the tall glass and wood front door. “Nothing like what you’re used to, I’m sure.”

  Nell chuckled. What she was used to—before New York—was the house they’d just spent the morning working on. Her apartment in the city wasn’t all glitz and glamour. She liked the touches of home she’d brought with her, the charm of New England living.

  “I’m sure it’ll be fine,” she assured him.

  Eli flicked a switch, filling the large living room with warm, pale yellow light from an overhead rustic chandelier made of what looked like oak. The room was cozy, despite the huge windows that completely covered the back wall. He’d tempered the honey-colored paneling with simple landscapes, and framed photos of Emma and Dylan. It was a room for comfort, for family.

  “What beautiful furniture. Gwen and Mark have an armoire just like this. Must be by a local artisan.” Nell put her hand on the dark cherry entertainment center that matched the frame of the red, navy and cream plaid sofa and chairs.

  “About as local as you can get. My shop is behind my barn. Being a volunteer fireman doesn’t pay too well so I have to earn my living elsewhere.” Eli said it with no boasting, but she heard a sense of pride fill his voice. And for good reason. His furniture was simple, sturdy, and would sell for big bucks in any store in New York.

  “I might just have to commission you to make an armoire like Gwen’s for me.”

  Eli smiled, flashing his white teeth. “Would be my pleasure. How about that coffee?”

  Nell joined him in the kitchen while he put the pot on, further admiring his decorating style. It had been her experience that bachelors had no sense of colors or patterns. Unless they were, as in Javier’s case, wealthy enough to be able to afford a decorator.

  Not that she could compare Javier’s cold, sparsely furnished penthouse with the warmth she felt in Eli’s cozy “cabin.” Even after living with her ex for three years, Nell had still hated touching things or relaxing on the sofa for fear of messing something up. It hadn’t been a place she could envision children playing or dogs romping. Of course, Javier hadn’t been a child type of guy or a dog lover. Both came with too much responsibility.

  There’d been a time early on in her relationship with him that she would’ve agreed, but that was only to gain his acceptance. Before long, she’d wanted to have a child, or even a cat. Something that would bring some warmth into her life.

  Nell wandered to the sliding glass doors at the far end of the kitchen. The backyard was bathed in darkness, but she supposed there was a deck and lawn that led to the pond.

  “There’s a light switch right there by the hutch. Would you like your coffee outside?”

  Nell nodded as she switched the light on and pushed back the slider and screen. The evening air flooded her in its cool embrace. She walked outside and shut the screen behind her.

  Pure silence gave way to the sound of the lake lapping up against the shore. With enough light from the moon, Nell left the deck and walked toward the water.

  It had been years since she’d surrounded herself with a night that didn’t include the sound of cars and people and the obnoxious bright lights of the city.

  Obnoxious? She’d never thought of them that way before. Tonight, however, the peace Eli’s home offered was better than anything else. A dock stretched out into the black water with two tiny solar powered lamps that burned brightly on end-posts. They reflected off the small waves rolling toward the shore. Other lights dotted the shoreline of the pond like stars against the black backdrop of the forest.

  Growing up, she’d been to Long Bow Pond on several occasions. There was a good beach on the opposite side where her mother used to take her and Gwen. They hadn’t been the most wonderful times. She hated wearing a bathing suit. Instead, she would swim in shorts and an oversized tee shirt, which brought endless teasing from the other kids at the beach, including the “A” group. Finally, she’d refused to come to the beach. Nothing on earth was worth the tormenting she received.

  And now she was at the home of one of those “A groupers,” and she was contemplating getting to know him just a little better. For some reason it angered her, that her initial plan of using him for manual labor and nothing else was transforming into a more personal interest. She didn’t know what to make of it, or do about it.

  On one hand, Eli was a handsome, appealing companion who was interested in getting to know her. There was no doubt about that. She’d had a wonderful evening with him and didn’t want to see it end so soon; found herself pleased when he suggested they come here instead of taking her back to her sister’s house.

  Yet she remembered just who he was, the ace on the baseball team, the guy who had it all and didn’t spare any kindness for the “have-nots” in school. The one who wasn’t above teasing those who he deemed beneath him. She’d been a “have-not,” pure and simple.

  “Coffee is up on the deck.” Eli’s voice wrapped around her like the clear air off the pond. She hadn’t heard him approach, but she’d been deep in her thoughts of what she should do.

  Instead of replying, she kicked off a sandal and, holding onto one of the solar-powered lampposts, dipped her foot into the water. It was pleasantly cool, as if it held onto some of the heat of the sun, yet affected by the night air.

  “Turn around,” she murmured.

  “Why?” Eli sounded surprised. In the pale light cast by the moon, she saw his dark brows rise as he gave her a crooked smile.

  “Just do it,” she insisted.

  Eli shrugged and turned toward the house, his arms crossed against his chest.

  Nell had never been extremely uninhibited, but the feel of the water against her toes and the freshness of the night emboldened her. With quick fingers, she loosened the buttons on her dress until it slid off her body into a pool of dark fabric at her feet. Deftly she unhooked her bra and let it fall on top of the dress, followed by the satin panties she wore. She fixed her eyes on Eli’s back, but he kept his eyes directed at the house. Some men would sneak a peek, but Eli was honorable. Or just not too curious.

  Nell stepped off the dock and dove smoothly into the dark water.

  As soon as Eli heard the splash he whipped around, not even considering the fact that Nell had asked him not to. But she was no longer standing on the dock. Her clothes were in a pile at the edge, and within moments he could make out her head above the water.

  His first instinct was just to be dumbfounded. She didn’t seem to be the skinny dipping sort, but unless she wore a bathing suit under her bra and underwear, that was exactly what she’d done.

  His next instinct was to join her.

  “Come on in,” she invited, brushing beads of water from her face. “I’ll turn around while you get undressed.”

  Eli froze. What he wanted to do
was to rip off his clothes and dive in after her. Even though he could only see her face and neck above the water, his imagination went wild with images of what must be hiding under the surface, like a sexy, supple body with full breasts, rounded hips and a butt that was every man’s fantasy. He wanted to wrap her legs around his waist and . . .

  “Well, you coming in?” Nell broke his concentration and Eli watched in awe as her toes peeked out of the water when she floated on her back. Eli could make out one dark nipple just below the surface of the water. It was the final delicious, tantalizing straw. The strain against his jeans was too much.

  “Okay, turn around,” he requested, his voice rough.

  Nell gave him a playful smile. His view of her breast faded away into the dark water and she turned to face away from the dock.

  “I haven’t done this in years,” Eli confessed, tossing his shirt next to her crumpled dress.

  In response, Nell giggled, making him think her mind wasn’t on skinny-dipping, but something far sweeter. If that was the case, then they were definitely on the same page. His body was ready for her, blood racing fast to his lower regions that demanded satisfaction.

  Down, boy. We’re just swimming here.

  But thinking those words were a hell of a lot easier than convincing his libido of the fact. As soon as he kicked his pants aside he plunged into the water, letting the silky dark water envelop him in its cool clutches. Moving more by instinct than anything, Eli brushed close to Nell’s bare leg, the length of his body gliding against hers. Whatever dampening effect the cold water had to the erection she’d inspired was squashed. The hardness in his groin returned full force and as he surfaced, he stood back from Nell so she wouldn’t know.

  Unless she asked.

  “Now, isn’t this better?” she asked, swimming nearer to him. Her voice was inviting, as smooth as the water, but a great deal hotter.