Sweet Water

by Lena North

  “Donkeys are not considered stupid in the agricultural community,” I snapped. “It is widely accepted that they are more intelligent than horses, and recent research has shown them to be on par with…”

  He started laughing then and reached for me, but I sidestepped.

  “Nellie,” he murmured and moved until he was right in front of me. Then he put a big hand under my chin, pushing gently until I faced him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that you’re stupid, we both know you’re not. I guess there’s a need for me to clarify, though.”

  I tried to nod, but his hand moved around to cup my cheek.

  “I never told you that we should be friends, I said that I wanted to get to know you better.”

  It wasn’t a question, but he seemed to want an answer, so I nodded because he had said that.

  “I wanted to get to know you better because I like you,” he continued.

  I nodded again because I knew he did.

  “But Nellie, if you thought that we were just friends, didn’t you think that it was a bit odd that we walk around holding hands, that I have my arm around you all the time, and that I call you honey or sweetie?”

  This time it was a question, and one I was confident I knew the answer to.

  “But you’re cuddly,” I said.

  He barked out startled laughter as if I’d made a joke, and asked, “What?”

  “You’re cuddly,” I repeated, and exemplified, “You hug Snow all the time, and call her honey. And you put your arm around Mrs. C, calling her your dear. “

  He started laughing loudly, and when he saw my face, he choked out, “Jiminella, please. Snow? My cousin, who I grew up with? Who’s practically my sister? And Mrs. C. The woman who’s in effect, if not in blood, my grandmother?”

  Oh.

  “But –”

  “I am not cuddly,” he cut me off. “Not at all. I sometimes accidentally hear people’s thoughts if I touch them, you know that. Ask around, sweetie, and everyone will tell you that I never touch anyone.”

  “But, mind speaking –”

  “Nellie,” he interrupted again. “I could have touched your shoulder, or put my index finger on top of your hand or something.”

  I thought about what he’d said, and turned it all around in my head. All the things he’d said since we met sifted through my mind, and I went over the times we’d been together. He patiently let me mull it over, and I suddenly realized that this man knew me. He understood how I worked and when I needed to get all details straightened out, he simply leaned against the wall and waited until I was done.

  I also felt a bit foolish because I started to understand that I’d downplayed every time he’d done something a mere friend wouldn’t do. I’d done it to protect myself from disappointment, but when I thought about it, I suspected that I might have taken it a bit too far.

  “Okay,” I whispered after a while, and he stepped closer again.

  “Okay,” he echoed and caressed my cheek with the back of his hand. “I’m sorry, Nellie. I thought you understood what we were doing.”

  I felt like an idiot because I still didn’t get exactly what he meant, and he must have seen it on my face.

  “The way I saw it, we weren’t just randomly getting to know each other over the past weeks. We have been dating, honey. Everyone in the village practically considers you my girlfriend.”

  What?

  “What?” I wheezed out.

  I knew that I’d been wrong in my assumptions about him, and I wasn’t experienced with relationships, but surely dating involved more than what we’d been doing.

  “But you haven’t even kissed me?” I asked, and continued in a voice that suddenly sounded breathless. “I didn’t understand, but you did, and you haven’t kissed me?”

  “You were throwing up blood not so long ago, Jiminella, and you needed time to heal. I couldn’t very well just –”

  “Oh, will you stop it?” I snapped. “You have got to stop talking about it as if I almost died.”

  “You could have,” he muttered.

  I blinked.

  “Um, no,” I said. “Only zero point fourteen percent of patients with bleeding ulcers actually die from it, so statistically, there was a very limited risk of that.”

  He stared at me and humor crept into his eyes.

  “Honey…” he murmured, and his mouth curved.

  I didn’t get what the joke was so I said nothing, waiting for him to explain, which he didn’t.

  “There’s also something called showing you respect, Nellie,” he said instead. “I wasn’t raised to jump every girl I came across, and absolutely not someone that meant something. I certainly wasn’t going to take advantage of you.”

  My belly flipped, and my insides started to tingle as I stared at him, thinking that this was sweet, and having heard a lot about his parents, I could see where he was coming from. It was also kind of stupid.

  “I thought you didn’t want to,” I admitted.

  He stared at me for the longest time, and then a crooked smile twisted the tips of his mouth upward.

  “I knew you were inexperienced, but I clearly had no clue. Oh yes, Nellie, I wanted.”

  “Really?” I whispered, and my hands at his waist held him harder because my knees suddenly felt like jelly.

  “Yeah, Jiminella. Really,” he murmured.

  When he still didn’t move, I told him, “I actually wouldn’t mind if you took a little advantage of me, Dante.”

  “Really?” he asked but the soft tone and the smile on his face told me he was joking.

  Then he leaned down and touched his lips to mine. His tongue slid out and over my lips, and then into my mouth, briefly and gently. His hand slid into my hair and tilted my head back, so our gazes held.

  “Okay?” he asked.

  “Okay, what?” I asked back, not prepared to assume I understood what he meant ever again.

  “Okay, you got what I said. Okay, you liked my kiss. And you’re okay with being my girl?”

  I smiled and let my fingertips slide up across his back.

  “Yes, Dante. Okay to all of that,” I said.

  Then I got up on my toes and leaned my head back. He understood what I wanted and kissed me again, and this time it wasn’t gentle. Or brief.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Partay

  “I’m Dante’s girlfriend,” I whispered into Joe’s ear when I woke the next morning.

  I felt more than a little bit stupid, but I was too happy to care, and Joe cared even less. He groaned a long satisfied groan as he stretched and turned at the same time.

  He ended up on his back, but his head twisted around until it was turned to me. He looked at me, and I held his dark eyes, slowly letting my hand move over his lean body. “Thank you,” I whispered, and then I got up on an elbow and started rubbing his belly.

  “Are you awake?” Mrs. C whispered from the door, and then she snorted. “I knew that dog wasn’t on the floor where he should be.”

  Joe turned his head slowly to look at her, but he didn’t move.

  “I swear he’s smirking,” Mrs. C chuckled.

  I climbed over Joe who didn’t show any inclination to move, and said calmly, “He saved me, so he can sleep wherever he wants.”

  Her face softened then, and she walked into my room to let her hand slide over the top of his head.

  “I know, Jinx. And I’ve made him a breakfast he’ll never forget.”

  Joe immediately twisted his agile limbs around, jumped off the bed and disappeared through the door in a golden blur. We stared at the empty doorway, and then at each other.

  “That dog,” Mrs. C smiled. “More human than most people I know.”

  I thought about that as I walked with her to the kitchen. It wasn’t possible for Joe to understand what we were talking about, was it? Wilder could talk to birds, though, and Dante and I could speak in our minds. Maybe my dog could understand what we were talking about?

  I decided to start
testing his abilities later because right then he was busy gobbling down something that smelled utterly awful, so I thought I’d leave him to it, and called Kit instead. We’d talked the night before, though only briefly, so I wanted to check in again and discuss what to do about added security at the lab. The intruder had clearly had a particular interest in the pool, and the box we kept at the bottom of it. I was sure it had been a man, and it had been someone who had the skills to disable the alarm and pick our locks.

  Kit picked up on the first signal, but it turned out that he was less worried than me.

  “Jinx, he was an amateur. We did a video call with Dante, and he showed us. It was a simple cut of the power cables to the alarm, and the locks we put in were good but not state of the art.”

  “You’ve talked to Dante?” I asked, wondering how early they had gotten out of bed and both grateful that they’d letting me sleep and miffed that I hadn’t been there to take a look at how he got in. I also didn’t believe it was as easy as a simple cutting off some cables. I’d seen the alarm activate, and then it had been shut down. Cutting the cables wouldn’t do that.

  “Sure, hours ago. Look, we’ll all be down next week, we can go through everything then.”

  “You’re coming here?” I asked.

  “Yes, and your guard dog said it was okay,” he replied.

  “Joe?” I asked stupidly, realizing immediately that he’d made a not so funny reference to Dante.

  “Jesus, Jinx, how many admirers do you have these days?” he snorted, and to my surprise, he added, “Some doctor called Wilder last night, shouting at her that you were being kidnapped, abducted, abused and God knows what. It took Wilder quite some time to calm him down, and Miller had to step in. He even drove down to Prosper this morning to have a chat with the man.”

  “What?” I shouted.

  Shit. I had forgotten about Jamie calling, but seriously? Abducted and abused, who did he think I was?

  “Don’t worry, things have been slow for a while, and we all needed the laugh,” he said, and added, “She put him on loudspeaker and Mickey had half a pillow stuffed in his mouth to hold his laughter back. Do you know what the good doctor called you?”

  “What?” I repeated, not sure if I wanted to know.

  “Our national treasure.”

  My eyes bugged out, and my jaw fell, but I had absolutely no reply to that. Kit was laughing hysterically, and I choked out a small laugh, but it was more because of the surprise than anything else.

  “Then Olly told him, and you know how he speaks, in that deep drawl…” he broke off and laughed some more. Finally, he mimicked Olly to perfection, “I’m not so sure I agree, Doc Jamieson. Jinx might be built, but not exactly as a museum.”

  I started laughing for real then. Jesus, they were crazy.

  Suddenly I missed them all so much. I could easily picture the scene Kit was describing. They would have been at Double H, in the living room. There probably would have been a fire going, even though it was the warm season. Someone, most likely Mary, would have made tea or brought some beer from the kitchen. There would have been laughter, and hilarious insults would have been flying around.

  “I miss you guys,” I said quietly.

  Before Kit could say anything in return, there was a sound from the door, and I turned to find Dante standing there. His eyes were guarded, and I knew that he’d heard.

  “Kit…” I said slowly, “Maybe we could meet up? Wilder and Mac, Mary, Olly… At Carson’s, have him grill something for us?”

  I heard Kit say something that I thought was affirmative but I kept my eyes on Dante. He didn’t move, and his face had hardened slightly. I wondered if I was doing the right thing, but surely he didn’t expect me to run around asking him for permission every time I wanted to do something.

  “Great,” I interrupted Kit who was already talking about dates that might work. “Dante and I can probably adjust whatever we have planned to make it work with your schedules, so just figure out a day that works, and we’ll be there.”

  There was a short silence, and then he chuckled.

  “Right,” he said. “Won’t Joe mind?”

  I laughed then because I felt good. In a roundabout way, I'd let my friends know that I was a part of a couple, and I’d never done that before. Dante’s eyes were softer, and I hoped he understood how big this had been for me.

  “Joe won’t mind at all. We’ll bring him, so tell your dad to save some good bones.”

  “You have a dog?” he guessed.

  “The best dog ever. Mary gave him to me,” I confirmed.

  “Really?” he said, but then he continued quickly, “Okay, Jinx. We’ll talk more tomorrow, yeah?”

  We closed the call, and I barely had time to put the phone down before I was wrapped up in Dante’s arms.

  “Nellie.”

  Just that one word, flowing through me, and then his mouth on mine. Dante had absolutely understood.

  ***

  Mrs. C’s kitchen and living room were not the silent, pristine space I’d walked into all those weeks ago. There seemed to be women everywhere, and they'd all brought makeup bags, clothes, and scarves. The floor was littered with the high heeled shoes everyone in the village appeared to love to a degree that I thought was almost an obsession. Joe was prancing around, fully aware that he was the only male creature in the house and looking like he inspected his harem. There weren’t more than twenty of us, although it sounded like at least a hundred.

  “I’m so sorry, Mrs. C,” I said, put an arm around the older woman’s waist, and leaned my head heavily on her shoulder. “You know I have no clue about these things. You should have stopped me.”

  “It wasn’t you,” she said with a smile.

  “I know,” I groaned, “But still. When Snow asked if we could gather here before the party tonight, you must have known…” I made a mad dash and slapped Joe firmly on his nose. “No. Bad dog. I’ve told you a million times that shoes are for feet, not for teeth.”

  Anetta laughed loudly and took her shoe out of my hand.

  “Dogs don’t understand words, Jinx. Feet and teeth will sound the same to him.”

  “Huh,” I said skeptically.

  I’d tried several times to prove that Joe understood human speech, but he didn’t. At least not at all when he didn’t want to. Sometimes I still wondered, though, so I’d keep trying.

  “Relax, Jinx. We’re all used to dogs, and we keep an eye on him,” Anetta said, balancing precariously on one high heel, adjusting the strap on the other. “He’s gorgeous, have you noticed that his fur is –”

  “Yeah,” I interrupted as I started to move because she was in no way the first to comment on Joe’s fur. “Dante. Same color,” I called over my shoulder and moved back to Mrs. C.

  She was bringing out trays of finger food, and I saw some of the others put bottles of wine and soft drinks on the kitchen counter.

  “Oh, Mrs. C, you shouldn’t have…” I murmured.

  “Of course I should have,” she said calmly, but then she smiled at my worry. “You are good at some things, Jinx. I am good at other things, and this is one of them. I enjoyed it, just as I enjoy having a house full of laughter and happiness. Please let me?”

  My eyes suddenly started to burn, and I hugged her.

  “I never had a grandmother,” I whispered.

  Then I realized what I’d said and tried to step back, but she wouldn’t let me. We stood there a few seconds, and then she whispered, “Thank you, Jinx.”

  Sounds from the door made us move apart, but I didn’t want to let go of her just yet, so I kept my arm around her waist, watching as another group of women entered the house, laughing and cheering.

  “You and Snow invited some of your friends. I invited some of mine,” she said with a satisfied smile as the ladies she spent time knitting and sewing with entered the house.

  I thought that a group of older women would put a damper on the mood, but I couldn’t have been more
wrong. As we put the final touches on our appearances, there was chatter and giggles, glasses were clinked, and every now and then someone called out for a certain song to be played. Eventually, things seemed to calm down, and we were sitting on couches and chairs, waiting for everyone to gather up their belongings.

  “Your first summer party, Jinx. Are you looking forward to it?” Anetta asked me.

  “Yes,” I answered truthfully, but added, “I’ve practiced dancing, but I’m still worried that I’ll miss the steps.”

  “Pick someone who’s got good moves, and he’ll lead you through it,” she said confidently.

  “Ooh, a man with the moves,” one of the older women crooned, and everyone laughed.

  “That’s right,” Anetta’s mother said with a wink at her daughter. “You should always look for a man who’s a good dancer.”

  I raised my brows at Anetta who clearly understood the joke, but she just laughed and shook her head at her mother. Mrs. C took pity on me and clarified.

  “Well, Jinx… around here we always say that if they have good moves on the dance floor, then they have good moves in other places.”

  The whole room exploded in cheers, and after a stunned moment, I laughed too, so hard I had to lean on Snow. Our eyes met, and she looked so happy.

  “It goes both ways, Jinx,” I heard Mrs. C say and turned to her. “I used to have some good moves myself,” she added primly, and another round of raunchy whoops erupted.

  I looked at Snow again, and she bugged her eyes out at me, but then we giggled with the others.

  “Time to go!” someone called out, and everyone immediately gathered up trays, glasses, bottles and bowls. In no time at all, everything was disposed in neat piles in the kitchen, and we were walking the short distance down to the beach.

  The party would be at the restaurant Anetta’s family owned, and a big dance floor had been built up as an extension to their deck. The construction looked like it belonged to the building and I guessed that they brought it out each year for this celebration. There was an old barrel standing by the entrance, and as we passed, everyone put envelopes with money through a small slot at the top.