Sweet Water

by Lena North

  Mrs. C had explained to me that everyone paid what they could, and when Anetta’s family had covered their costs, the rest would go to the local school. I put my envelope in the slot like everyone else, and I knew the amount in mine was probably bigger than everyone else’s, but it was totally worth it to me. Pay what you can, they said. So I did. Besides, after the gathering at Mrs. C’s, and then walking into the party wearing my beautiful dress, together with a group where I felt like I belonged – I would gladly have given them every cent I owned.

  I’d been to the restaurant several times, but when we slowly made our way through the crowd, I remembered the last time I’d been to a celebration there. I’d smiled politely, but hadn’t talked to anyone but Daniele, and I’d stood to the side. I had felt different, and part of that was because I’d been one scolding and a puke from a burn-out, but I knew that other things had changed too. The blouse I’d worn the last time had been almost the same model as the dress I wore and my hair had been styled the same way, but this time I enjoyed the movement of the material against my skin and how my long hair felt like a caress over my back. As I accepted a glass of white wine and asked for sparkling water to top it off with, I chatted with the young girl behind the bar.

  Then I turned to Snow and Mrs. C who had gotten their own spritzers and raised my glass.

  “Ladies,” I said, but when they raised their glasses, I held up my hand. “I’d really appreciate it if you would call me Jiminella. Someone told me that people who don’t know me call me Jinx, and you have both given me gifts that no money in this world can ever pay for. All I can give you is me.”

  The music suddenly started, and there was a loud whoop of joy around us as people rushed toward the dance floor. It was a catchy tune with a distinct back beat, and I recognized it as one of the songs from the islands far out in the ocean. To my surprise, I looked forward to being asked to dance.

  “I don’t know what to say,” Snow whispered and I saw that her eyes were shiny.

  “Humph,” Mrs. C said, although her voice was a little hoarse. “No need to say anything, Snow. Jiminella doesn’t realize yet that what she’s given the whole village has been more than enough payback as if that was ever needed.”

  Then she raised her glass.

  “Cheers, girls.”

  We echoed her cheer and sipped from our glasses. Then Mrs. C nudged me slightly and nodded toward the dance floor. Dante was walking through the crowd, stopping every now and then to exchange a word but making his way toward me. He was wearing black dress pants and a fitted, dark gray shirt, and he’d not tied his hair back. The thick, golden, straight fall reached well below his shoulders, and it should look feminine, I thought, but together with the short beard, it just made him absolutely beautiful. I could feel my cheeks heating, and my breath stutter, just as my heart did.

  “Wow,” I whispered before I could stop myself.

  “The d’Augustines were always good on the dancefloor,” Mrs. C murmured.

  “Um,” I said and stretched out my glass toward her.

  I heard Snow snort out laughter, and I think a very girly giggle came from Mrs. C, but I ignored them and walked toward Dante.

  “Dance with me?” he murmured.

  “Okay,” I whispered, but added as a warning, “I might step on your toes.”

  “I know my way around a dancefloor, Nellie. I won’t let you stumble,” he said.

  My cheeks heated up even more, but he gave me no time to think. With a firm hold of my hand he walked me into the crowd on the deck and then he swung me around.

  He had not been lying about his abilities, and after a few seconds of nervousness, I had no problems following him at all. I realized that even though he’d been part of the gatherings at Mrs. C’s, he’d never danced with us. Many hadn’t so I’d not thought much about it, and in a way, I appreciated that he’d let me learn on my own.

  We swayed with the music, and when the band moved on to another song from the islands, this time with a quicker beat, we followed it without problems. He swung me around, and the stiffness I had felt when I practiced all alone in my condo was gone. We twisted and turned, and I couldn’t stop the wide grin that spread on my face. Then I remembered what Mrs. C had said about having good moves on the dancefloor.

  If Mrs. C was correct, then I should probably drag him off to bed, post haste, I thought.

  Dante stumbled and pulled me closer.

  “Uh, what was that?” he murmured.

  I slowly turned my face up and looked at him.

  “You heard that?” I asked, which was stupid because he obviously had.

  “Well, yeah,” he said calmly, but I could see that he was struggling to hold back laughter.

  “Oopsie,” I said, shimmied down a little and then up again. “Not meant for you,” I added, and then I did another shimmy.

  He threw his head back and laughed, and I laughed with him. I felt happy all the way down to my very core, and I was glad that I was with Dante when I felt it, but the source of my happiness wasn’t him. The source of the happiness was me.

  As the music faded and we slowly stopped dancing, I leaned my head back and smiled up at his beautiful face. Then a loud voice echoed behind me.

  “So, the genius is dancing her days away instead of working in the lab?”

  I recognized immediately who it was.

  Hawker Johns.

  Chapter Sixteen

  d’Augustine

  My heart sank, and I swallowed but didn’t turn. I had been so happy, felt so good, and I knew Hawker had meant it as a joke, but it hadn’t been funny. Not to me.

  Then I was turned and shuffled mostly behind an enormously pissed Dante. Everything had stilled. The band had stopped playing, and everyone seemed frozen.

  Suddenly Danny walked across the dance floor, limping slightly. He stopped next to Dante, and I heard the clicking of high heels. Snow and Mrs. C quickly crossed the floor to stand on Dante’s other side.

  “What?” Hawker drawled and crossed his arms over his chest.

  His face was completely blank, his yellow eyes seemed hard, and his comment echoed through the silence. Tony, Roberto, Anetta, and many of my other friends moved to stand beside and behind me. I was completely surrounded, and I leaned my forehead on Dante’s back, struggling to hold back tears, but not because of Hawker’s stupid comment. The feeling of belonging returned, and couldn’t believe they would all back me up in this way. Dante must have heard my thoughts because he half turned and caressed my cheek.

  “Oh, Nellie, of course, we would,” he whispered and turned back toward the group in front of us.

  I moved a little to peer out between Dante and Snow. Hawker was in the center, with Wilder and Mac on one side. Miller stood on his other side with Kit, and even though his face was just as expressionless as Hawker’s, his eyes met mine, and they looked wary.

  “You were not expected here until the day after tomorrow,” Dante finally said calmly, but not in any way friendly.

  “My daughter’s friend was almost killed, and you expect me to hold back?” Hawker growled.

  I blinked. Almost killed? What the hell had Kit told them?

  “I expected you to trust us to handle the problem like I said we would,” Dante retorted.

  “Huh,” Hawker muttered.

  For some reason that made Dante beyond furious.

  “You were told to stay away, and your version of staying away is to enter the village to insult Jiminella?”

  He’d raised his voice a little, and his anger vibrated through the room. The mood was suddenly so tense you could have cut it with a knife. Snow moved closer to Dante, and I felt Tony and Gianni close in on me. This had started out to be about me, but it seemed to have turned into something more, and I had to try to stop it. I glanced at Hawker but he had locked eyes with Dante, so I nudged Gianni to the side and moved around Mrs. C, giving her shoulders a small hug as I passed her to let her know I was okay.

  “Dante it's oka
y, it was a joke,” I said.

  I kept my voice light and my eyes on Wilder, hoping that she’d help me, but her eyes had narrowed and hardened when I hugged Mrs. C. I could understand why that made her angry, but she was wrong.

  Dante immediately leaned forward, stretched an arm out and pulled me front first into his side. I stumbled but steadied myself by putting an arm around his waist.

  “He made you feel bad, so it wasn't all that funny,” Dante stated, still glaring at Hawker.

  “You can't send people away every time I get upset,” I murmured and leaned back to look at him.

  “Yes I can,” he said with great certainty.

  “What?” I asked, but then I looked around because there was a soft murmur going through the room. My eyes met Snow’s and her mouth curved upward suddenly.

  Dante sighed, and I felt him shifting slightly, so I turned back to him, but he was looking at Daniele. Something I couldn’t identify passed between them. Then Danny smiled, widely and happily, and leaned forward to face me.

  “Yes he can,” he stated.

  Another murmur went through the room, and it was louder. I suddenly realized what just had happened.

  “Do you want them to stay?”

  Dante putting the question to me openly surprised me, and with the current situation at hand I didn’t have time to formulate an eloquent answer, but I tried to let him know how I felt as quickly as I could.

  “They’re my friends. Hawker is not your average guy by any means, and he’s a badass, but he’s not bad if you know what I mean? I also really like Miller, and I know you’re upset with him but he did apologize, and he’s Kits uncle. And Dante… Wilder is my friend. I like her so much, and I want to talk to her because I want to brag about you. And all Hawker did was try to make a joke, which he tries to do sometimes, and it’s never particularly funny, although you can’t tell him because he’s scary –”

  “Jeez,” Dante snorted out loud and bent down toward me a little. “A simple yes or no would have been enough.”

  “Oh,” I said, and added quickly, “Yes.”

  I nodded for good measure, and his lips twitched. Then he straightened and turned to the group in front of us.

  “d’Augustine,” Hawker said calmly.

  His face was still impassive, but I could see how the corners of his lips were twitching. The ugly mood from before was suddenly fading away, and in the background, the musicians started playing again. Wilder looked straight at me, and she didn’t hold her grin back at all, and neither did Mac who winked at me and made a small face.

  “Johns,” Dante said and let go of me.

  Hawker took a few steps forward, and they shook hands. Then he turned to me.

  “I’m sorry, Jinx. I tried to make a joke, but I can see how you would have perceived it as an insult.”

  “Apology accepted, Hawker,” I said, and was about to shake his hand when another loud, boisterous voice boomed through the room.

  “Darlings! Why the tense mood? I was promised a party and this –”

  Bozo had entered the room, followed by Carson, and when he saw me, he froze. Then he took a step backward, forcing Carson to sidestep, which he did with a nimble ease that told me it wasn’t the first time he’d been made to do that. With one hand firmly pressed to the green gauze that made up the outer layer of his blouse, Bo made a few gasps that I was quite sure were fake.

  “Hey, Boz –” I started.

  “Who made that dress?” he said.

  There was a soft strangled sound somewhere to the side, but no one moved.

  “Hey, B –” I tried again, but he cut me off again.

  “I want to know who made that dress, Jiminella-bella.”

  It wasn’t a question and then a tall, thin woman who I recognized as Martha’s cousin stepped forward.

  “Muh,” she said, and Bo turned slowly toward her. She cleared her throat and whispered, “Me… or I, eh, did.”

  Bo looked at her for a few seconds and then he turned to me.

  “I will talk to you later, my lovely Jinxy girl, but I have more important things to deal with. I love that dress. LOVE,” he exclaimed and thumped his heart. “No,” he suddenly snapped and put a hand toward my face as if I had tried to interrupt him which I hadn’t done, not even a little, although I had started grinning. “I shit you in no possible way. There’s apparently more than one genius in this village, so you will just have to wait,” he stated.

  Then he flounced toward Martha’s cousin who looked like she was about to faint. While Bo had expressed his love for my dress, there had been a flurry of handshakes and greetings behind me, people had started dancing again, and I should have moved over to talk to my friends, but the entertainment that was Bo Draper had sidetracked me.

  Then Bozo’s eyes hit Dante.

  “Well, hello there, hunkalicious,” he drawled out slowly and veered off toward Dante who blanched a little but held his ground.

  “Hello, Bo,” he said.

  “Are you ready to take a walk on the wild side with me?” Bo asked, tilting his head to the side and pouting his expertly painted, pale pink lips a little.

  Snow pressed her lips together so tightly they’d almost disappeared, and I heard quiet chuckles from around us. I quickly turned my eyes to Dante, wondering how he’d handle this situation because I’d started to realize that he was more than a little old-fashioned in a lot of things. Suddenly, he looked at me and to my surprise, he shrugged and sighed loudly.

  “I’m sorry, Nellie,” he said, and added apologetically, “We’ve had so much fun, but I’ve always wanted to walk on the wild side.”

  My eyes widened, but when he put his hand on my shoulder I heard him chuckle, and then he turned to Bo who stood frozen with a look of disbelief on his face.

  “Are you ready to leave?” Dante asked sweetly, rubbing it in by adding, “Immediately?” Then he ordered me, “Play along, sweetie.”

  “Oh, Dante, no…” I sobbed, and continued wailing, “But you know I would never stand in your way. You have my blessing to walk away, Dante, and may the wild side treat you well.”

  I threw one hand out, waving it a little to indicate the steps down to the beach, and used the other to cover my eyes. I thought that my performance was excellent, but apparently, it wasn’t because I heard Wilder snort out laughter, quickly followed by Snow. I straightened, and my eyes met Dante’s.

  “Jiminella,” he sighed.

  “Brava!” Bozo called out, clapping his hands. “You fooled me, young man, and if Jinx hadn’t been such a godawful actress, who knows what would have happened,” he said, grinned and added, “Carson might just have had to kill you.”

  “Huh,” Dante replied, clearly doubting the wiry man’s abilities to do any bodily harm to him.

  Bo continued toward the now laughing seamstress, but being who he was, he had to have the last word, so he tossed a cheeky comment over his shoulder.

  “I might just dance with you later, Dantelicious.”

  “Oh God,” Dante muttered.

  “I’ll go and talk to Wilder for a while,” I giggled, but added quietly, “Will you be okay, Mr. Mayor?”

  He put an arm around me and pulled me closer. Wilder was watching us, and I wanted to talk to her, but I had to make sure Dante was okay with what just had happened.

  “You understood?” he asked.

  “Yes, I got that you somehow became Mayor here, simply by accepting it. I might be a bad actress, Dante, but I’m still a genius.”

  His warm chuckle filled me, and I leaned my cheek on his chest. His heart was beating steadily under my ear, and I relaxed, standing there, breathing in the sounds of the gathering around us and the scent of the ocean.

  “Are you okay with it?” I asked softly.

  “Yeah,” he answered immediately. “I wasn’t sure I wanted it, you know that, but I do. I can do good things for the village, and for the people here. And…”

  I waited for him to continue, leaning back and w
atching his profile as he gathered his thoughts.

  “Over the last weeks, I’ve realized that I don’t know how to not be Mayor of Marshes. It’s who I am.”

  “It is,” I confirmed, squeezed his waist a little, and let go of him to join my friends.

  Mac hugged me and laughed at my acting skills, but I didn’t mind because he also told me that I looked fantastic.

  Wilder and I looked at each other, and then she whispered, “I’m not a huggsy-kissy kind of girl, Jinx.”

  “I know,” I said calmly. “Neither am I.”

  “Good. So, let’s go and have a chat about why Dantelicious is all over you like a rash, and why you twine around him like ivy whenever you can,” she said.

  “I do not,” I protested, with fake haughtiness.

  “Uh, Jinx,” Mac drawled. “You do.”

  They were both grinning like fools, and maybe they were right, but I couldn’t let them get away with that.

  “Ivy use stem roots to attach itself, which really is a cluster of short, stout roots that cling to surfaces of almost any kind. There’s also ivy that has stem tendrils with touch-sensitive adhesive pads that allow it to stick to virtually any surface. It certainly doesn’t twine. I believe honeysuckle would have been a better analogy,” I smirked, and added, “Or wisteria.”

  “Oh, Jinx,” Wilder sighed, “I’ve missed you so.”

  We walked down the steps and sat down on a bench by the tables that were set up on the beach. Some of the villagers were there, a few of them called out to me, and gossip seemed to have spread like wildfire because it was mostly about my acting skills and how I would have one boyfriend less if I didn’t watch out. I laughed at them and stuck my tongue out at Roberto.

  “Nella!” Happy shouted and ran straight into my arms. “Chips!” he added and threw a bag of chips on the table in front of us.

  “Thank you, my gorgeous,” I said.

  “Happy!” he giggled, and I confirmed both that this was his name and my state of mind.

  “Happy.”

  “Mama says you’ll dance with us later because now you must talk to your friend,” Alejandro said and carefully put two glasses next to the bags of chips. “Sprizzi,” he added, and I grinned at his way of pronouncing the spritzers he'd brought us.