WindSwept Narrows: #11 Mariah Peyton

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  “I’ll remember that,” Mariah said softly.

  “There’s basic kitchen stuff in there,” Eloise just smiled happily. “The bathrooms have basic stuff and there are linens in the master bath for the main bedroom, above the kitchen in the loft. Were you serious about looking for a job here? Are you going to want to start your own practice or join one already in existence? I didn’t even ask what you do for a living…Eli called you doctor…”

  “A general physician…family type doctor…”

  “But you weren’t always,” Eloise saw the collection of pain and fear in her eyes. “I’m sorry…I won’t pry…” She hopped to the floor and impulsively hugged Mariah. “I can’t thank you enough for being at the right place…the family has communal meals on Wednesdays at six; we have Sunday brunch from about 730 until ten and then dinner at six. Other wise, we don’t gather that much. We work together, though…but you can have as much peace and quiet as you can stand here, I promise. Do you have clothes and stuff somewhere?”

  “I have some things in a storage facility. Not much, really. I can have it delivered after the New Year,” Mariah sighed and ran two sets of fingers through her hair. “Your home…and the Emporium…it’s like it belongs in another time…another place…I have to wonder if it was any less violent a hundred years ago. Before humans became so good at killing and maiming one another.”

  “Gwen and I have a couple friends who like the attire of the time,” Eloise held her arms out. “This is just for the kid parties…I love dresses…and little heeled boots. Just because. I’ll bring you a couple and for a time, you can put yourself in another mindset. We’re almost the same size…you might be a bit bigger on top, but I have some with laces in front that make them more flexible.”

  “It might be a nice change…thank you. I have a couple changes of jeans and T-shirts…and underwear. All in serious need of a washing machine. I need to get a normal car and do some shopping,” Mariah said with a sigh.

  “Well, if it helps I know the health center at the resort is looking for another physician for their clinic,” Eloise told her. “I don’t know if you know anyone in the area or not…but I can introduce you to Samantha Sheffield and Anya Sheffield…they’re working on staffing it.”

  “Again, thank you, and I’ll take you up on that. I’ll get my resume off the laptop once I get things settled here. It certainly takes one of the stresses out of relocating,” Mariah put a palm up over the yawn she tried to keep inside. “Sorry…”

  “No…you get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning…I’ll bring some clothes by for you before I take off to the Emporium. Francine Kendall is the holistic practitioner at the Resort. I’ll get those numbers together and set up a lunch for us,” Eloise hugged her again. “Thank you…good night, Mariah.”

  “You’re very welcome, Eloise…and thank you,” Mariah locked the door when she went out the inner entrance, her shoulders back against the closed door with a long, tired sigh.

  She wandered absently through the unfamiliar home, checking locks before dropping the two large canvas bags she carried with her onto the floor at the bottom of the bed. She pulled the cover sheet off and went into the large bathroom, opening the drawers to the side of the washer and dryer. Mariah found clean linens and quickly made up the bed, tossing several heavy quilts and blankets to the surface before stripping off the road clothes and dropping things into the washer.

  She dropped her small tote to the counter, pulling out shampoo, rinse and a fragrant shower gel, setting things in the large walk-in shower stall. A few adjustments and stinging hot water was cascading over her, long legs stretched out before her as she sat on the built in tiled bench seat. Her head and arms hung down between her knees, eyes closed and nothing but the heat around her registering.

  It was ten before she opened her eyes again, lying face down and trying to place the surroundings. The previous evening slowly returned to her, dark lashes blinking reluctantly as the sunny room came into focus. She heard the sounds below, recognizing the voices and groaned into the pillow she pulled over her face.

  Wrapping one of the quilts around her, she slowly went down the stairs, one hand holding the quilt, the other raking back the rampantly curling brown hair.

  “Good morning!” Eloise exclaimed brightly. “We come bearing gifts…and food. I know there’s nothing here…and…” she held up a set of keys. “These go to the small red SUV outside. I’m not sure I can go anywhere for awhile without Morgan, so it’ll just sit unused. I’d like you to use it until you get around to getting your own.”

  “You guys are being way, way too kind…” Dark eyes swung over the variety of colors in the dresses spread out over the sofa and chairs. She looked at Eloise, dressed today in the style of what was called a day dress women wore in the early nineteen hundreds. The hem stopped between her knees and ankles, the sleeves fitted to her wrists and the top form hugging and modestly low with a nice trail of lace.

  “We have a group of friends who believe in paying it forward,” Gwen said simply. “I brought a couple sweaters and a cloak for you.”

  Mariah couldn’t stop the bubble of laughter as she crossed and lifted one of the dresses. “I can not remember the last time I dressed like a girl…it’s always been scrubs or…or a uniform the last ten years,” she finished with a quiet sigh. “I hadn’t realized it had been that long even,” she sunk into one of the chairs.

  “A uniform…” Eloise looked at Gwen. “You were in the military.”

  “Yeah…five years after med school,” Mariah lifted the dark green dress. She had wanted different. She had wanted something far, far from where she had been that last few years. “Then…here I am…thirty six and I think it’s a mid-life crisis,” she confided with a little laugh. “I was discharged in Vegas, got my bike out of storage, had it tuned and hit the road. I wanted something so far from the desert…and this is where I grew up. Seems like eons ago…”

  “Well…I promised you privacy…but we can be invasive,” Eloise said with a little crinkle of her nose.

  Mariah held the quilt to her and went to the counter stool, gratefully removing the lid from a tall glass of juice.

  “I don’t have any family,” she began, peering at them over the rim of the glass. “My mother died when I was little and my father when I was in Iraq on the hospital ship. Never had cousins or any of that…they say you kind of become a family until in the military and it’s a little true. The other part of you is afraid to allow anyone close because there was no telling how long they’d be…I just want to apologize in advance,” she looked at them both honestly. “I haven’t got a handle on…on my temper…and I don’t want to hurt either of you…or your family.”

  “Mariah…it’s okay…honest. You should have lived through the twins getting used to a family that wasn’t going to disappear on them in the middle of the night,” Gwen told her, heat stinging her eyes at the memories. “Maybe that’s why you were where you were last night. Because Eloise needed you and somewhere in the universe, it knew you needed us.”

  “That’s an interesting perspective,” she said quietly, taking a bite of the fruit from the bowl on the tray. “Well…guess I should get dressed and get familiar with the area again.”

  “We…come prepared…” Eloise held up a sheet of paper. “The car has GPS. This is the location of the local good grocers…the clothing places you might like and even a couple other places, including how to get to the Emporium.”

  “I brought a pair of ankle boots, but I wasn’t sure of your size…” Gwen held up the boots. “They go well with the dresses. People in this area are used to several people in our friends circle who dress like this, they’ve come to just smile at us. We’re known as the eccentric Paddington’s. If being different makes us eccentric, so be it.”

  “I think what’s best is we can wear dresses or jeans and sweaters,” Eloise said with a nod. “Or the occasional elf suit…”

  Mariah gulped the rest of the juice and stoo
d up. “I’ll get some under things….” She looked from one of the shaking heads to the other. “No?”

  “A bra…and panties…but each dress has a cotton and lace slip beneath it. We make them…so we kind of tailored the patterns to suit us…” Gwen said easily. “We’ll wait here…and help…”

  “Unless you’d rather we just leave,” Eloise said hurriedly.

  “No…no…please…I’ll be right back down,” Mariah went up into the loft and found her clothing, carrying her wallet and small pack down with her. “Okay…I’m ready…”

  “I even brought a brush and some hair baubles…” Eloise held up the small basket of decorations and clips.

  “Dad wasn’t good at girl stuff,” Mariah recalled lovingly. “I kind of grew up a little on the tomboy side for a long time…”

  “Well…I’m sure one of our dad’s would gladly adopt you,” Gwen told her, helping her lace the front of the green dress she had selected.

  “And feel free to borrow either of our mom’s for a girls day out…they know where all the fun spas are in the area,” Eloise confided with a laugh.

  “I’ve got a dinner set up for tonight,” Gwen said as she finished the laces and nodded in approval. “Samantha and Anya will be there with their spouses. We’ll be there, too. But I told them you were looking for a position and they about jumped through the phone. You just might need a little…”

  “Advance knowledge,” Eloise chose her words carefully.

  “We took the day off…so…we’re taking you to the mall and will fill you in on the type of reclamation that's going on in the area,” Gwen explained easily. “But…given the way you launched yourself into helping Eloise yesterday, we believe you’ll fit in perfectly.”

  “You two give off the most incredible positive energy,” Mariah looked from one to the other, still amazed. At them and at herself. She fit her foot into one of the boots and nodded. “It’s very comfortable.”

  “Already broke in,” Eloise told her with a grin. “We were raised positive, but disgustingly realistic and logical.”

  Mariah spent the next five hours in a whirl of what it must be like to have two sisters. She laughed, tried on tons of clothes and boots and ate lunch at three in the afternoon. They spent an hour in the grocery store and fifteen minutes unloading the large SUV they had used to shop with. It was shortly before five when Gwen drove them to the resort.

  “This is unbelievable,” Mariah let herself drink in the massive buildings and lights. She’d spent the afternoon asking questions and getting the basic principles of the reclamation. She knew about the apartment complex being built and the school in the planning stages.

  “This is after two long years of planning,” Eloise said with a sigh. “We’ve been working so long to find people with…with altruistic beliefs and common sense that explained that while all people are necessary, not all are capable.”

  “I watched so many physicians leave with these huge plans to locate someplace where they could build a lucrative practice…or they intended to specialize and build their fortunes,” Mariah shook her head, hands gathering the cloak when she stepped into the winds. “I think I like my nice quiet apartment much better than…three thousand square feet with gold faucets and a five car garage.”

  ****

  Morgan stood at the bar that had been set up for the dinner, leaning on the stool. His gaze drifted between his watch and the main entrance.

  “You need to relax,” Ethan said from behind him, requesting an ale and shaking his head. “She’s okay. Gwen sent me a quick text while they were carrying bags into the kitchen.”

  “I know. Eloise sent me a note telling me she was safe every hour,” he exhaled slowly, looking around to see Logan and Ian enter with their wives.

  “Am I in time?” Eli Baker came in from the side, hastily straightening his collar.

  “If you mean are they here yet, no,” Morgan answered, his gaze going to the main entrance. “But they are now…”

  Anya and Samantha headed toward the women entering.

  “I’m with them…we’ll be in for dinner in about thirty minutes,” Ian said with a glance at his watch.

  “Why do you get to go with them?” Logan asked.

  “’Cause I got the MD license plates,” Ian said with a chuckle, running to catch up with them as Gwen and Eloise joined the guys.

  “We had a fantastic day!” Eloise declared, hugging Morgan and giving him a long kiss. “Why are you here?”

  “Breathe, Elle…” Morgan told her with a chuckle. “It’s not police business.”

  “We thought it might make Mariah feel a little more comfortable if she wasn’t the odd one out,” Ethan added with a hopeful smile at Gwen.

  “And in what world am I that gullible?” Gwen asked her new husband with an arched brow.

  “Really,” Eloise looked over Eli with narrowed eyes.

  “Are they always this suspicious?” Eli asked, looking from one guy to the other.

  “If you’re serious, you’ll learn it comes with a unique breed of female,” Ethan answered with a casual shrug.

  “Do you think they’re getting along?” Eloise asked, glancing at Logan. “I really hope it’s good…”

  “From what I know…as soon as you gave Sam her name, she had Cassidy and Abby doing background and research," Logan took a long slow drink from the glass in his hand. “Anya and Ian are suitably impressed and want to sign her up tonight. So…yeah, I think if the salary is right…they’re getting along.”

  “She’s a lot of fun,” Eloise said with a sigh, relaxing with Morgan’s arms around her. She looked over at Eli. “Does he come with a recommendation?”

  Eli choked on his ale, frowning at the thump Ethan issued.

  “We’ve known him a few years,” Morgan conceded after a laugh.

  “He bathes regularly,” Ethan agreed with a wink at Eloise.

  “He’s coming to work for me and Zach, so we know he’s gainfully employed,” Morgan added thoughtfully.

  “Thanks for the glowing endorsement, guys,” Eli took their ribbing good naturedly.

  “She’s a little protective,” Gwen said with a smile.

  “You don’t think Mariah can take care of herself?” Eli asked curiously.

  “I think any woman can be hurt if her defenses are low,” Eloise said quietly. She turned to Morgan, going to her toes and whispering rapidly. “Excuse me…be back in a bit…” She walked off with Gwen at her side, their heads together and voices low.

  “Should I ask?” Eli arched a brow at his friend.

  “Mariah spent the last five years on a hospital ship off the coast of Iraq,” Morgan said quietly. “She went over as soon as she finished med school. Eloise is…protective, like Gwen said.”

  “I promise to mind my manners,” Eli promised seriously his head shaking. “I can’t imagine…five years seeing the kinds of wounds…damn…”

  “Yeah…” Ethan and Morgan took a long drink from their ale.

  Anya and Sam were the first into the room, both beaming happily.

  Logan snagged her around the middle and pulled her close. “I’m guessing the head of the board is pleased?”

  “Amazingly pleased,” Sam kissed him and turned to lean back in his arms, unable to stop the smile at the way his palm slid over the tiny growing bump in her middle.

  “She is perfect for us,” Anya announced, watching Ian cross the room and join them at the bar.

  “Now you can relax a little,” Ian ordered protectively. “Is it dinner time? I’m about starved…” He stopped talking as waiters wheeled in the buffet table Gwen had arranged.

  Chapter Three

  Eli saw the woman enter before the doors were closed on the private dinner and worked hard to reconcile this new version with the woman in black leather on the back of a Harley.

  It was a Christmas festive gown? Dress? He wasn’t certain of the term since it felt like it belonged in a Dickens’ classic. Red ribbon tied the front neatly tog
ether, modestly low with a narrow waist and deep green velvet with an edging of tiny white lace. The free hanging deep brown hair had been pulled back above each of her ears to hang in wide, loose curls.

  He was off to the side and she didn’t see him until he stepped closer. He had seen the momentary panic in her eyes, something he wouldn’t have expected after meeting her the night before. But something deep inside assured him that Mariah Peyton would be a continual surprise.

  Mariah saw him from the corner of her eye, her head tilting slightly when she found him in her memory of the previous evening.

  “Trouble, Detective?” Mariah asked softly, meeting the soft green eyes a few inches above her. She had quickly taken in the leather boots, creased jeans and button down shirt with a suede jacket over top.

  “I hope not, Doctor,” he returned casually, extending his palm. “Perhaps we can dispense with the titles…Eli Baker.”

  “Mariah Peyton,” she returned, her palm comfortable in his. “Was I set up?”

  “I can be a pest,” he admitted with a crooked grin, offering his arm. “How about we fill some plates and discuss it? I assure you, your new friends didn’t set you up. It was totally a guy undertaking.”

  “I see,” Mariah lifted a large plate and began selecting from the hot trays laid out on the table, glancing casually at her new collection of friends. “I suppose I would have been the odd one out…”

  “Something tells me that wouldn’t bother you much, Mariah,” Eli began filling his plate, curiously watching her choices.

  “The guys who had Eloise…are they locked up?” Mariah asked when they joined the others at the large table. It was impossible not to smile when she saw the love and affection between couples and friends around her. It made for a very pleasant change, a small part of her sighed in relief. Maybe the universe did know what she needed after all.