Half to Death

by Robin Alexander

  “I hope I measure up,” I said over my shoulder as I walked back into the kitchen.

  I heard her mumble something and exhale loudly.

  We were grinning like two schoolgirls with a secret when we sat to eat. “This is delicious,” Jade said after her first bite of fish. “I hope I measure up when I cook for you,” she said with a wink.

  “I have no doubts in your abilities,” I said cockily. Jade averted her gaze as her face flushed. “I’ve been pondering something, and I’d like to know if you’d be interested.”

  She looked at me expectantly as she wiped her mouth with her napkin.

  “Miranda rented a beach house on Alligator Point last year. She thinks she can get the owners to give me a good deal on it.” My heart melted when I saw the excitement on Jade’s face. “We could get it for a week and still be able to work during the day. It’s only a twenty-minute drive. But we could spend our nights and a weekend—”

  “Whatever the cost is, I’ll pay it.”

  “I’ll take that as a yes then?” I said with a laugh.

  “Yes, yes, yes. I can make the reservation or I can give you my credit card.” Jade was practically bouncing up and down in her seat.

  “It’s my treat.” I took a bite of the fish and realized that my excitement had trumped my appetite.

  Jade shook her head and put her fork down. “We go everywhere in your car and you’ve fed me for a while now. This will be my treat.”

  “I buy the groceries then. Deal?”

  Jade narrowed her eyes. “I’ll think about that. How soon can we make the reservation?”

  “I can call Miranda after dinner if you want.”

  “Yes.” Jade nodded and went back to eating quickly.

  *******

  By the end of the evening, we’d made reservations for the following week. We’d check in at the beach house at three o’clock Saturday, and it would be ours. We were giddy and excited as we planned what we’d bring and the meals we’d cook.

  “I hate to have to leave you,” Jade said when it began to get late. “If we want to get an early start tomorrow, I should probably go.”

  “I’m so glad you gave me a second chance.”

  She smiled as she stood and held her hand out. I took it, and she pulled me up from the couch effortlessly. “And I’m so glad you didn’t give up.”

  She was happy. I could feel her joy flowing through me as we walked to the door. “So I’ll come by your place and pick you up around seven?” I said, confirming the plan as she stood leaning against the front door.

  “I wrote my address down. It’s next to your computer. If you have any problems finding me, just call.” She squeezed my hand. “Do I need to keep distance between us to kiss you good night?”

  “I think I’ll be pretty focused on what I’m feeling,” I said with a smile.

  Jade pulled me against her until our bodies fit snug. A tiny sigh escaped me as she stared into my eyes before lowering her lips to mine. The kiss began tender and sweet, but as her desire met with mine, it coalesced into a white hot heat that started in the pit of my stomach and spread over me like wildfire. Jade moaned as I fisted my hands in her hair and pushed her harder against the door. I stopped short of grinding my hips into hers.

  She groaned loudly as I pulled away from her. “I never knew torment could be so sweet.” She blinked a couple of times as she looked at me. “Are you okay? Was it too much?”

  “I’m not okay.” Jade’s face fell as the words slipped out of my mouth. “I didn’t see anything, that’s not it. I just meant to say that your kisses turn me inside out.”

  Jade’s look of concern turned into a wide smile. “Kissing you has the same effect on me. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “I look forward to it,” I said as she opened the door and walked across the porch with a spring in her step.

  ********

  I tossed and turned for an hour before I got up and poured myself a glass of wine in hopes that it would relax me. Thoughts of Jade filled my mind and mingled with the excitement of the time I would spend with her. When she’d held me in her arms that night, her feelings matched mine—excitement, arousal, joy, and hope.

  I couldn’t see myself wanting anyone else like I did her. I wanted to be the cause of her laughter. I wanted to hold her when things weren’t going well. I wanted…my mind seized upon what was happening to me, though my heart already knew. I had fallen from the precipice—actually, I jumped. Heedless of potential heartbreak with no safety net in sight, I leapt, determined to enjoy the fall.

  *******

  I heard an alarm going off in the distance. I burrowed deeper into my warm spot, wishing that someone would turn it off, but it kept blaring until I opened one eye. An empty wineglass sat on the coffee table in front of me, and my face was sticking to the leather of the couch. I sat straight up and looked around the room until I realized where I was. A thrill coursed through me as I jumped up and headed for the shower.

  I didn’t bother drying my hair. Instead, I pulled it through the back of my favorite ball cap and grabbed my things. Kaylie was bright and chipper as I bounded into the store. “Got it all under control, boss. Go enjoy your day.”

  “Is that a VW Bug I see in the parking lot?”

  She nodded with a grin. “It’s all mine.”

  “Congratulations, sweetie,” I said as I squeezed her arm. “I have my cell. Call me if you need anything.”

  “Miranda already called me and said not to bother you even if the store caught on fire. I’m supposed to call her.”

  “I love that woman!” I laughed as I went back to the house to get one item I’d forgotten, then I was on my way to Jade.

  *******

  The apartment where she lived was not the ghetto, but it wasn’t in one of the nicer areas. She looked a bit nervous as she invited me in and gave me a quick kiss. Guy greeted me the minute I walked in the door and rubbed his body all over my legs until I petted him.

  “Would you like some coffee?” Jade asked as she went into the kitchen.

  “That’d be great. I didn’t have time to make any this morning.” I looked around her sparse living room. A daybed she used as a sofa was the only thing in there. Except for the fishnet hanging in the corner, there was nothing on the walls. Her bedroom door was opened, and I peeked in, seeing only a double bed and a table beside it with a lamp. To me, it looked like the home of someone who wanted to be able to pack up and move fast.

  The corner with the fishnet was the only thing that indicated the personality of the occupant. There was a small shelf beneath the net where Jade had arranged her shells. I slipped the bag from beneath my arm and pulled out the plaque I’d bought in the store in Apalachicola and placed it on the shelf. I heard Jade gasp when she walked into the room.

  “Do you like it?” I asked as she handed me a cup.

  “I love it.” She looked at me and smiled. “That’s what you bought that day and wouldn’t admit.”

  I shrugged. “The odds of me finding anything else with your real name are slim. I couldn’t pass it up.”

  She leaned over and kissed me again. “Thank you.” She sighed and looked around. “My place isn’t much. I’m kind of embarrassed of it actually. That’s why I asked you to take Guy home with you the day you picked him up.”

  My first impulse was to make an excuse. To say something like “well, you’re not here often,” but I wanted to hear what she had to say, so I looked at her expectantly.

  “I told you that I move a lot.” She held out her hand, indicating for me to take a seat, then joined me on the daybed. “I got into the habit of not collecting a lot of things. It was just easier to pack.”

  “But you said you liked it here, even thought about putting down a root or two.” I tried to keep the panic out of my voice and was disgusted to realize I’d failed.

  She took my hand in hers and nodded to the corner where she kept her shells. “That’s my first root. Don’t look so worried.”<
br />
  I smiled as relief washed over me from her words and the truth I felt in her touch. “Drink your coffee fast. I want to find enough shells today to make two or three roots.”

  Jade laughed and shook her head. “The shells aren’t the root. It’s the memory associated with them.”

  “Aw, that earned you a kiss.” I leaned in with the intention of brushing her lips quickly with mine, but that was not to be. We pulled away breathlessly minutes later. “We better make this coffee to go,” I said as I stood.

  *******

  We went old school and had the Beach Boys blaring on the stereo with the windows down. I grinned when we crossed Ochlockonee Bay, and when I glanced at Jade, she was, too. Something about seeing the water made my heart start pumping, and from the expression I noted on Jade’s face, she felt the same way.

  I pointed to a road at my left. “Alligator Point is down that way, remember?”

  “Hey, can we drive down there a sec and see where we’re gonna stay?”

  I made a U-turn that had the Mustang fishtailing. We were laughing until Jade spotted the bear crossing sign. “They have bears here?”

  “Yep, black bears. Every now and then, one will get crazy with the trash diving, and Wildlife Management has to come get it. They release it deeper in the wild. It’s not good for them to get too used to people food.”

  I turned left onto a side street when the road veered to the right and hoped I was going the right way. I’d only looked at the map once, but Miranda had given pretty good directions. “It’s gonna be to our right on a road called Trout.” We passed Tarpon and Grouper before Jade pointed to the sign we wanted. I turned onto a smaller blacktop. At the end sat the white house with a blue stripe around it sitting high on piers.

  “What a cute place.” Jade craned her neck, so she could see more of it. “I wish we were staying this week instead of next.”

  “Me too, but it’ll give us something to look forward to while we work.”

  Jade looked at me then. “I already have something to look forward to every day—you.”

  “Aw, that earned you another kiss, but you’re not going to get it here. I don’t wanna be caught making out on this road.”

  She laughed. “Then hurry up and drive, so I can collect.”

  I pulled back onto the road, and we looked at the houses along the way. Some were bunched together, but most were spread out. “I’d like to own one of these someday. The water isn’t as pretty here because of the river silt, but it’s not as commercialized, either. I think what I like most is the solitude.”

  Jade was thoughtful for a moment. “You could call it Sloan’s Solitude.”

  “I like the sound of that.” What I wanted to say is when I got the house, it would be ours, and she could name it whatever she wanted.

  *******

  St. George Island was a bit more crowded than the first time we visited, so we hiked a good ways until we settled on a private spot. We spread out our blanket and pinned it down with the cooler and our sandals. Jade looked around before pulling off her shirt to reveal a sports bar like the ones she wore at work. She made no move to pull off her board shorts, and I was half glad she wasn’t going to parade around in a bikini. I didn’t think my heart could take it, and I’d probably pass out or drown in the surf.

  I pulled my shirt off and started spraying myself with sun block. Jade lowered her glasses and looked at my bathing suit top. “Does that come with a matching pair of bottoms?”

  “It does, but I’ll never wear them out in public. I’m too modest and too chunky.”

  “You’re not the least bit chunky. To be honest, I thought you were perfect the first day I saw you at the gym.”

  “Then why did you put me on that killer exercise program?” I sat beside her.

  “You told me in the questionnaire what you wanted your body to look like, so I wrote up a program for you to achieve those results. As a trainer, I think everyone should be fit, but you looked great just the way you were.” She held up her hand. “That’s not to say you don’t look great now.”

  “Excellent save.” I held up my can of SPF 50. “Sunblock?”

  “Yes, please.” Jade held her hand out for the can, but I did the spraying myself and enjoyed the yelp that accompanied the dance she did when the spray hit her skin. “That was mean,” she said, trying to keep a straight face. “There will be paybacks.”

  I settled down on the blanket. “You deserve it for something. I just can’t remember what.”

  Every sunny day has at least one cloud and ours happened to be two small ones—sunburned, drunk, and obnoxious. Jade and I had been sunning ourselves for about an hour when the two guys passed where we were lying. One whistled, and Jade lifted her head and looked in their direction. The more boisterous of the two grunted and said, “Your momma and poppa must be proud of you. You are one hot bitch.”

  I sat up and pointed down the beach. “The straight drunk girls are that way.” I flopped back down and resumed sunning.

  “Prick,” Jade said lowly.

  “Yep, and that prick is going to be crying for his mommy tomorrow. I don’t think I’ve seen a boiled lobster that shade of red.”

  Jade looked back at me, nostrils flaring and wide-eyed with anger. I was getting my first glimpse of her temper, and it seemed to be on the hot side. “What goes through someone’s mind to say something like that? Did he think he’d get a favorable response?”

  I shaded my eyes with my hand. “He’ll probably use that same line again, and some girl as pickled as he is will think it’s cute.”

  She looked back at the two slowly making their way down the beach. “Prick,” she said again.

  “Want to eat or collect a few shells?” I asked, hoping to chill her out.

  “Shells first, food next.” Jade stood, then offered me a hand.

  I felt rage coursing through her and wondered if she would’ve pummeled that guy if he would’ve said more. She certainly wanted to.

  “I forgot to pack the wheelbarrow, so go easy.” I held up a bag. “I brought lots of these, though.”

  Jade forced a smile and took a bag. She looked a lot like she did at the gym when her smile was used to express something she really didn’t mean. She calmed after we walked a while, then got excited about finding a sand dollar. Her childlike enthusiasm was contagious, and soon my bag was as full as hers. “It’s like trick or treating on the beach,” I said. “Did you do that when you were a kid?”

  “Not really.” Jade shook her head. “We always lived out in the country, so going door to door was difficult. My grandmother lived with us until I was twelve, that’s when she passed away.” Jade’s tone was wistful. “She used to take me to the fall festivals. I would eat hot dogs and cotton candy until I was sick.”

  “I’d love to see pictures of you as a child.”

  “There aren’t any.” She averted her gaze. “They were destroyed.”

  “Was it a house fire or something like that? Is that what happened to your parents?”

  Jade thought for a minute as she stared down at the sand. She didn’t look at me when she asked, “The things you said you saw in my mind, was that all you saw?”

  “I saw a conversation you had with your boss about taking Jacquelyn as a client, but that’s it, other than what I’ve already told you.”

  Jade continued to stare at the ground. “I’ll tell you about my parents one day. I’m just not ready to talk about it right now, okay?” Her tone wasn’t angry or dismissive, just sad.

  “I’m sorry I pushed. I was just curious.”

  “It’s okay. Let’s go eat.”

  *******

  Jade was normally a voracious eater, but she only picked at her sandwich, and it took her a long time to finish it. We chatted, but at times, she seemed a million miles away, and I regretted asking about her parents and putting a damper on the day. We packed up our things and headed toward the car by late afternoon. She became chatty again when we started talking a
bout the beach house.

  “I might be able to extend my weekend if I can talk some of the other trainers into subbing for me. If you took off, would you have to close the store?” Jade asked as we loaded the car.

  I debated Miranda’s offer to work for me. I could get Kaylie to come in after school, and Miranda said she’d help, too. “I might be able to work something out if you can give me advance warning.”

  “Okay, I’ll talk to them Monday and see what I can come up with.”

  Jade offered to drive on the way home, and I let her take the wheel. I felt drained from being in the sun all day. “What do you say to picking up Chinese or barbecue, so you won’t have to cook? I’m beat and I bet you are, too.”

  “Barbecue sounds good. I can always cook for you at the beach house.”

  We stopped at a local hot spot on the way into Panacea and decided to eat there when we realized that most of the patrons were dressed like us. A rack of ribs with all the trimmings shared between us had us stuffed to the point of misery.

  “I can tell that dating you is going to force me to start working out much harder,” Jade said. “I’ve eaten more in the past couple of weeks than I have in a month.”

  I dabbed at the corner of her mouth with my napkin. “You needn’t worry. You’ll get your exercise with me.” I meant from all the beach combing we were going to do, but when I saw the sparkle in her eyes, I didn’t correct myself.

  “Do you…would you consider dating anyone else besides me?”

  “Jade, I’m so enamored with you, I can’t look at anyone else. I think what’s happening between us is pretty special, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I do. So it’s fair to say we’re exclusive?”

  I nodded and smiled. “Going steady or whatever you want to call it.”

  She touched my hand, and I felt utter bliss.

  Chapter 19

  “You’re not serious.” Miranda looked between me and Marty. I thought she was going to cry.

  Marty reached over and took her hand. “This is Angel’s call, baby.”

  “I’ve been in Deb’s life a lot longer than Angel.” Miranda’s face flushed red as she looked angrily at us.