Don't go all Neanderthal with her, Nate. Don't screw up this second chance.
I won't.
He hadn't forgotten how miserable the last eighteen years had been.
At the truck, he opened the door for her and brushed his mouth across hers, feeling chilly cheeks and warm lips.
She looked up at him. "I can't wait for you to meet my friends." She giggled.
"Why are you laughing? You're keeping something from me, aren't you? What is it?"
She mimed zipping her lips.
"Okay, don't tell me." He laughed. "But remember the last time you surprised me."
"How could I ever forget?" She broke into laughter.
He did too, when he pictured the shocked and horrified faces of their family and friends standing in his living room bursting to shout 'surprise' when he came prancing from the bathroom, naked and primed to receive his birthday present — her.
"Those were good times."
"The best." He kissed her hand. "There'll be more good memories. You'll see."
She nodded, taking her time to sit. Her wounds gave her more trouble than she let on. He got in behind the wheel and started the truck.
"Boston here we come," he said, backing from the parking spot.
"Coffee first," she said.
On the highway, Nate asked about the Quints.
"Who should I start with?" She drummed her finger on her chin.
"How about Justin?" Nate prompted. She mentioned him twice as often as her other friends. He gathered they were close. Very close, he corrected. If Justin would compete with him for Asia's affection, he wanted to know everything about the man. She looked at him with a sly grin.
"You're interested in him, huh? Let's hope he doesn't take a fancy for you."
It took five seconds for her subtle implication to make sense. "He's gay?"
"Mercilessly."
"Oh," he said, like gays were to be pitied. Realizing how he'd sounded, he did damage control. Justin was very important to Asia and anyone important to her, was important to him. God love her. She didn't have a prejudiced bone in her body.
"I didn't mean anything patronizing or derogatory." He hoped she could determine the depth of his sincerity from the sound of his voice.
"Justin's comfortable with who he is and gets his quota, believe me. Don't feel sorry for him. He has what you and I share only with a same sex partner."
"Funny, with everything you said about him, I never picked up on his sexuality." A thought dawned on him. "Or did you engineer that?"
"Maybe." She smiled, dimpling her cheeks.
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her fingertips. She rested her head against the back of the seat and looked at him. "No second thoughts?"
"Not one."
She turned to stare out the windshield. "I wish Bobby would make his move."
Nate did too. He was anxious to move forward with his life, with their lives. The first on his list after Bobby was out of their lives was to propose to Asia. He was as laissez-faire as the next, but there were some things that should be left to the man to do. Proposing marriage, was one. Second on his to-do list was to marry before year-end. There was no point in waiting. What would they wait for exactly? To determine they weren't making a mistake? To see whether their love for each other would last a lifetime? Whether they fit well together? Wait for someone better? Timing? No better time than the present. They'd lost too much time together as it was. He doubted she'd argue.
***
A chill wind blasted Nate and Asia as they walked the short distance to Aphrodite. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders to hold her steady. Anxious to get inside and out of the weather, he hurried as much as he dared. Not that she'd complained, but her wounds had given her some discomfort on the trip.
A bell above the door jingled when they entered.
"Crystal, I'm back," Asia said.
No one came to greet them.
Nate looked around. There were no customers and no sign of Crystal. The hair on the back of his neck bristled.
"Where is she?" Asia asked. "She shouldn't be leaving the shop unattended. Anyone could have entered and wandered out with merchandise." She took a step forward.
Nate grabbed her coattail and held on until he captured her attention.
She looked at him. "What?" She tucked her hair behind an ear.
"Something isn't right," he said, scrutinizing the store, measuring the silence, gauging the atmosphere.
It took Asia only a second to understand his concern.
"You think Bobby's here? Oh my God." She moved to Nate's side.
He felt naked without his sidearm, but Asia had argued against it. He wished he hadn't obliged her.
"Is there a back entrance?"
"Through that doorway," she said in a hushed voice, pointing.
"What else is back there?"
"Store room and washroom off a hallway."
Nate mentally blocked traffic noise, blaring horns and sirens from his mind to concentrate on what might face him beyond the far wall. It didn't make sense for Bobby to move on Asia in the city.
The air filled with a fragrance Nate was vaguely familiar with. Incense, but he couldn't identify the scent. What in Sam hill was Bobby doing back there?
Nate's first priority was to get Asia somewhere safe, somewhere beyond her brother's reach. He half-turned to her and asked, "Do you have someone nearby you can go to?"
"Uh-huh, but I'm not leaving."
Her tone told him she wasn't budging and it would be futile for him to disagree.
"Okay," he said. "But stay close at my back."
"You got it."
With Asia following on his heels, he walked toward the back of the store.
When they came within a few feet of the doorway, he could hear chanting. One voice and it sounded female. He couldn't understand any of the words and if he could, it wouldn't make a difference. He didn't speak Latin.
He stopped outside the storeroom. Asia pressed against him. He peeked around the doorway. Shelves, packed with store merchandize lined three of the four walls, but the massive inventory wasn't what captured Nate's interest first. In the middle of the floor knelt a petite woman wearing a red velvet cloak. Incense burned in a circle around her. Her back was to them and her arms were spread wide at her sides, her head poising upward.
Before he could stop her, Asia dashed from behind him.
"It's Crystal," she said over her shoulder as she walked to the woman. "My God, you scared us half to death. I thought you were an intruder."
Nate exhaled a breath of relief. He recognized her now from Asia's description. Toothpick slim, black curly hair, incorrigible thirty-something widow who insisted her new neighbor was her dead husband reincarnated.
Crystal jumped to her feet, turned and gaped at Asia, like she'd been caught with her hand in the till. "I didn't expect you this soon." She grinned. "It arrived," she said, bouncing in place.
"Really?" Asia darted into the circle and knelt beside the book.
Its size reminded him of the Bibles of the forties and fifties. The paper seemed translucent, like onionskin, and the writing seemed old English script. He didn't see what the hoopla was about. With Asia occupied with Crystal and their latest shipment, Nate looked around the storeroom to ensure there wasn't anyone hidden among the unpacked crates and boxes. From there, he checked the washroom and the lock on the rear door. Everything appeared undisturbed.
He re-entered the storeroom to find Asia running her hand over the pages of the book as tenderly and lovingly as a mother would stroke a newborn's face, her face beaming with energy.
Caught up in her excitement, Nate found himself grinning like a Cheshire cat. When she turned the cover over, he read the title. The Book of Good Spells. Unless Crystal had accidentally conjured up a demon or evil spirit, which he didn't see any evidence of, there was no cause for alarm.
"How long were you standing there?" Crystal asked. "I didn't hear the door." H
er face reddened. Whatever spell she attempted to cast, would obviously embarrass her. She didn't look like someone who became easily self-conscious. She peered at Nate as though becoming aware of him only then.
Asia made the introductions.
Crystal shrugged out of the robe and hung the garment on a peg near the door.
"It might be a good idea to get surveillance cameras in here," Nate said when they stood in the middle of the shop. "And an alarm system, too. Something more modern and dependable than a bell above the door."
Both women laughed.
He didn't know what they'd found funny and waited for Asia to explain. She pointed to a sign that indicated Aphrodite was protected by the forces of evil. Offenders should believe or suffer the consequences.
Nate suspected the anti-theft device had more to do with the 'no cash' policy of the shop. Later, he would have a serious discussion with Asia about security. Now, he wanted to look around and strolled between the rows of shelves.
The shop wasn't anything like he'd imagined. When he thought of Aphrodite, whips, handcuffs and spiked collars had come to mind. Pot lights in the ceiling shone on the merchandize, making colored glass sparkle and tissue paper glisten. Aphrodite featured deco boxes, gift bags, ribbons and bows. He moved on to flowers, berries and blooms of every color, shape and size imaginable. From what he could tell, everything was made of natural ingredients, most he recognized; those he didn't, he couldn't pronounce. He meandered between the rows, looking, inspecting and appraising as a customer would. Twenty dollars for a candle? He choked. Thirty-five dollars for gems that looked more like rocks the sea regurgitated. He wondered their purpose and squinted to read the fine writing. Wart removal. Really? It amazed him that people bought these items.
He couldn't find a speck of dust anywhere. Floor, shelves, walls, ceilings...He wanted to buy one of everything in the store. Two of some things, like those itty-bitty camphor nuggets. He felt at odds with himself and out of place. He was here, yet he wasn't. Asia had said the shop would have an effect on him.
He'd scoffed. Imagine being affected by scents, oils and pebbles. Anyone might, but not him.
Inventory was making him horny. He wanted to react. It didn't matter with whom, apparently. His desire was global and not limited to specific persons or genders, but inanimate objects, as well. The floor. The ceiling. He loved this shop. He loved the world.
What was the matter with him?
Asia snuck up on him and laughed when he jumped.
"May I help you?" she asked, tongue in cheek.
"Just looking, thank you," he said, playing along.
"You seemed intense. What were you hoping to find?"
He said the first thing that came into his mind. "Dust." Even that was strange. Other than hating the household chore, he'd never given the word any thought.
"Oh, you won't find any here. The turnover's too swift."
Asia left to tend to a customer.
He experienced the sudden, almost uncontrollable, urge to drop to his knees and propose. Marry me. His heart spoke the words. Did she hear them? He looked at her.
She peered over her shoulder at him and winked.
No, it wasn't possible. He shook his head.
As though sensing his distress, Asia reminded him that he wanted to pay a visit on his cop buddy, Jeremy Ryan.
"Are you sure you'll be okay here?" He looked at Crystal, who couldn't seem to stop smiling.
"I'm fine." Asia put her arm around her friend and said, "Crystal will keep me safe."
He should have doubted that. The woman weighed no more than a bag of pretzels and seemed to have the mentality of a third-grader and the energy of a crack-head, though he could find no evidence of the latter.
"If you're sure," he said, aching to leave, yet aching to stay.
"I'm sure. I can get more work done if you're not here to distract me." She pinched his bottom.
He yipped. How could he have forgotten Asia's playfulness? "I'll be back at three."
"Uh-huh." She ushered him toward the door. He bent and kissed her rosy cheek. "See you then." She was so hot to him right then. Hot. Hot. Hot. Good God. One more second in that shop and he would have been reduced to a bumbling idiot. He would never mention this to Asia. Not ever.
Outside on the sidewalk, he hiked his jeans on his hips, zipped his jacket and took one quick peek over his shoulder at the shop. He didn't know what he'd expected to see, but the shop wasn't evil or offensive looking. He shook his head and sprinted toward the city center, happy to put distance between him and Aphrodite.
Chapter Eight
At three o'clock, Nate loitered on the sidewalk in front of Aphrodite. Men and women dressed in expensive clothes and carrying attaché cases darted around him as he peered through the front window at Asia tending to customers, a pencil peeking out from above her ear through strands of hair. She clutched a clipboard, intermittently jotting a note or making a comment. As though feeling his presence, she turned and looked directly at him, smiling. She waved him inside. He raised a finger in the air and for a moment considered motioning her outside. No. That would be a coward's way, someone afraid of a few candles and eucalyptus leaves. In mid-motion, he changed the direction of his fingers and signaled 'be-right-there'. Like before, the bell above the door jingled his presence, only this time Crystal ran from the storeroom to greet him. He returned her smile.
"Just here to pick up Asia," he said, still grinning.
"She shouldn't be too much longer. Mrs. Wabush will not be served by anyone but Asia. The old battle axe should consider herself fortunate that anyone wants to wait on her."
Nate couldn't believe his ears. "What did you say?"
"I said the poor woman is beside herself with grief. She recently lost her husband, Married for sixty-two years. What did you think I said?"
"That," he answered, hoping he sounded truthful. "Sixty-two years, huh?"
"I know!" She hit his arm. "Fricking freaking amazing."
Nate jiggled his finger in his ear and swallowed, popping his ear.
Asia hobbled over to him, leaving her customer sniffing fragrances.
He had bad news for her. "I know I said we'd have dinner with your friends but we should head back," he said. "The forecast is for more snow beginning early evening and you should probably give your leg some down time. You've been on it for the last four hours. Did you even stop for lunch?"
"Crystal brought me a sandwich from the diner down the street."
"I bet you ate on your feet."
"Maybe." She stuck her tongue in her cheek and peered at the floor.
"Did you rest your leg at all?" He had his answer when she looked everywhere but at him. "Wait here. I'll grab your coat and purse."
Thirty seconds later, he was back at her side helping her into her jacket and pushing her out the door.
"Get those Christmas decorations up," Asia said over her shoulder. "And give Madame Wabush a sample of the Soo-ka-bi lotion for the calluses on her heels."
In the alley on the side of Aphrodite, Asia turned to Nate and asked, "Can we take a few minutes to check on my apartment?"
"Sure," he said, realizing she would rest easier knowing no one had violated her home. Besides, he wanted to see where she lived.
He slipped his arm around her waist and walked with her to the stairs. He noticed a hand decorated wooden mailbox attached to the bottom post. "You get mail back here?"
"Why do you find that strange?"
"It's an alley, solely meant for ingress and egress and back doors." With that said, he looked around and found nothing he would expect to see in an alley. There were no dumpsters, no debris of any kind, no smells and no cardboard boxes, yet rear entrances on buildings on either side housed businesses. He found that peculiar, but refrained from saying so.
"It's also the main entrance to my home."
"But not your only one. You have access to the upstairs from your store."
"True, but when Aphrodite is clos
ed, I and my visitors use this way."
"What's the address?"
"Seventy-seven South Twenty-fifth Alley Way."
"You're joking."
"Maybe." She grinned and bumped her hip against his.
Somehow, he didn't think she was, but let the subject drop. "Aren't you going to check your box for mail?"
"Nope, my mail is delivered to the shop."
He followed her up the stairs. Before she could turn the doorknob, he stepped in front of her.
"Let me check out the place first."
There wasn't any sign that her apartment had been broken into, but he didn't want to take unnecessary chances.
"You think Bobby might be here?"
"No, but better safe than sorry. The next fifty years belong to us."
She rose on tiptoes and kissed him. "I love you too."
He couldn't let her distract him and turned serious. "Stay here."
He opened the door and scrutinized the kitchen. Nothing seemed out of order. He moved forward through a hall, going from the living room to the bedrooms and bathroom, all of which were as he expected she would keep her home — neat, clean and furnished with antiques and decorated with doilies, crystal and china. Everywhere he looked, he saw Asia. He retraced his steps and came back into the kitchen.
"All clear," he said.
"Bobby wouldn't be so bold," she said, walking to him.
"It makes a certain sense. No one would expect him to hide out in the home of the person he attempted to murder."
"Probably the last place anyone would look. Are you sure he's not in here?" she asked, obviously rethinking the situation.
"Positive. I wouldn't let you inside if I suspected there was even a minute chance you could be harmed." He smiled, hoping to reassure her.
"Okay," she said. "I trust you." She traipsed past him into the hallway.
One Millhaven Lane Page 7
