Awake in Cheshire Bay

by H. M. Shander

A half grin appeared on his face as he lifted his head off the pillow. “For sunrise?”

  “It rises at 6:05, but I figure if we leave here in twenty minutes, we’ll be able to catch the whole thing.”

  He grunted and rolled over, but reluctantly got out of my bed. How sweet was that? I actually had a man in my bed. It finally happened. Cedar would be so proud.

  Cedar!

  I grabbed my phone and scrolled through the messages. Her concern in where I’d been all night was fun to read, and I suspected all she did was stare at the various locations while Antonio and I walked all over town. The tracker stayed on my home as the last stop, but it was time to turn it off. Keep her in the dark, just a little. I’d explain it all to her later.

  Coffees ready, I tossed on a sweater and a good pair of runners. Antonio had no qualms about doing the proverbial walk of shame and damn if he didn’t look amazing in his expensive suit jacket and beige pants.

  The best viewpoint to watch the sunrise was on southernmost tip of the peninsula, so we drove through the sleepy town and parked in front of his motel. From the parking lot, it was a leisurely walk.

  “Did you need anything from your room?”

  He shook his head, his blinks long. There hadn’t been much sleep between us, an hour or two tops.

  “Grab your coffee and let’s go.” I, too, should be way more tired than I was, but I was pretty sure I was jacked up on adrenaline and a little something else. The caffeine in the coffee would surely keep me jumping.

  Dawn was brewing as the sky started to lighten. I jumped out of the truck and over to Antonio’s side. Before another breath could escape my lungs, he bent down and tipped up my chin, planting a sweet, passionate-fueled kiss upon my lips. I melted on the spot as the heat grew and a warmth spread across my cheeks.

  Darting my gaze around the desolate parking lot, unable to shake off a feeling of being watched, I turned to scan the motel. And my heart skipped a beat when I spotted her.

  Sorcha. Leaning against the stairwell again. Didn’t the woman sleep?

  “C’mon.” I tugged on Antonio’s hand, and refocused on the reason for being here. Soon, she would have her claws back in him, but for now, he was mine. “Let’s go watch the sunrise and you can give me your best visitor impression. Sunset verses sunrise.”

  “Lead the way.” He was slowly waking up, as the gravelly sound was fading.

  We walked hand in hand through the darkened forest. It was eerily silent as the only bird awake was a hooting owl in the distance. The air was damp and scented with a whiff of coffee whenever Antonio or I had a quick taste. The treetops heavy with dew thinned out to the light inky stain of sky, brightening with the oncoming sunrise.

  “Do you want to walk out to the point?”

  The lighthouse sent beams of light out across the fog-filled bay. If ever there was a morning to witness the birth of a new day, I was grateful Antonio would see this one. It all had the makings of a perfect, Cheshire Bay sunrise. One for the books.

  “Ja, sure.”

  I swallowed down another gulp of coffee, although I’d never felt more awake nor more alive. Sharing something as personal as a sunrise was a new one for me even if it was with someone who was on his way out. Then again, the past few hours had been a series of new adventures.

  The walk was easy going, a musical melody of waves crashing against the rocky escarpment, the air heavy with sea mist, and the far away cry of a gull out on the bay.

  “Isn’t it amazing?” My voice a bare whisper. To me, anything louder would shatter the beauty.

  Antonio glanced around. “No sun?”

  “It’s coming. Just watch.” I pointed to the east at the breach of the horizon with one hand and squeezed his hand with my other. My favourite way to start the day was beginning. “You’ll see.”

  “I like what I look at.” But he wasn’t staring toward the dawn of morning, and he wasn’t watching the lighthouse off in the walkable distance, he was looking right at me.

  The words but the sunrise failed to come out of me as he silenced all syllables with his coffee-tasting lips. The intensity of his sweet kiss grew from delicate to all out powerful, rendering thoughts of a sunrise null and void. It was beyond perfection.

  Breaking apart breathless and wanting more, he stood beside me, and I rested my head against him, my free hand laying on his chest.

  “Thank you.” I threw the words out into the open ocean air.

  “For me?”

  “To whatever caused your plane to malfunction and have you land in my world. I never knew I could feel this.”

  He turned me to face him, a hint of fear in his eyes. “Feel?”

  “Happy, so unbelievably happy.”

  A sadness washed over him, and he looked deeply into my eyes, a lone finger trailing down my cheek. “I go soon.”

  “I know.” And knowing that, a tiny splinter streaked across my heart.

  We walked back to the motel holding hands and were greeted by the Captain, as he descended the stairs in a full panic.

  “Mr. Welsh, it is time to depart.” He tapped his Rolex in rapid fashion.

  Sorcha came up beside me, a smug smile on her face. “Party time is over. Mr. Welsh has a meeting at nine. The clients have agreed to meet in Victoria, and it’s imperative he attends.”

  My gaze flittered between the two men and over to Sorcha. Antonio had said it was cancelled, yet the Pilot was insistent it was going to happen. Wasn’t Antonio the boss? Didn’t he have final say?

  Sorcha ignored me and spoke only to Antonio. “We have an inbound right now picking you up immediately. There it is.” A satisfied grin pushed against the apples of her cheeks.

  I glanced up the road to the black limo driving down the hill. Like a train wreck, I was unable to stop watching as it approached and parked in the empty lot.

  “Monsieur Welsh?” The chauffeur opened the passenger door.

  “Antonio?”

  He strode up to me and touched my cheek with a sadness in his eyes. “I go. We knew this day ends.”

  I understood but I didn’t want to let him go, too afraid to never see him again. That had been part of the deal – not to get too close, but somewhere through the night it happened, and my heart splintered at the thought.

  “Time to go. Your plane is on final approach.” Sorcha produced his suitcase and handed it to the chauffeur. She stood uncomfortably close to us.

  How the hell did she have access to his room?

  “Ember.”

  Tears formed as I tried to ignore her, and take in all of Antonio, but I had no response to his heartbreaking word.

  He held my face and kissed me, but it was different; it was more emotional, fueled by pain and desire. “Bad bye.”

  “What?” I was sure I’d misheard.

  “There no good about this.”

  “Mr. Welsh, please.” The Captain urged him into the vehicle and climbed in after.

  Sorcha stayed by my side and turned her back to the car. “Don’t get too upset by this. He does this at every layover, makes every woman feel like she’s his entire universe.” She ran her gaze over me. “You’re nothing special, just another notch on his belt. You should get tested.”

  In a move I didn’t anticipate, she reached out and hugged me before stepping back to the car.

  I blinked hard.

  What the hell was that? Tested?

  The chauffeur closed the door, tipped his hat, and drove them away. Just like that. No fanfare, nothing.

  I covered my heart with one hand and stared as the wheels rolled over the gravel and back onto the road, questioning what Sorcha has said. It had to be a lie, either that or I was the most gullible woman in the world to believe what had happened between us was all an act. My instinct told me it was real, it had to be. I’d felt it to my very core.

  How dare Sorcha plant a seed of doubt. Antonio was far too caring to have played me for a fool. He was the real deal. I knew it. I trusted my instincts, which over the
years, have never failed. Tonight—this morning—the last eighteen hours, it had all been real.

  If true love was like it was in the movies, he’d stop the limo and come back to sweep me off my feet and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt I wasn’t another notch.

  “Wait!” Like the world’s biggest idiot, I ran after the limo, but it kept going, cresting the hill, and taking a sharp left.

  I ran back down to my truck. I could see him off at the airport, it would be so romantic. My chance wasn’t gone yet.

  I put the pedal to the metal, but my old beater of a truck didn’t stand a chance at catching the top-of-the-line limousine. And where had that come from? The nearest major city was at least two hours away.

  I raced down main street, pulling hard onto the highway leading to the airport. How fast was the limo moving as I didn’t see it on the road? Taking another hard turn, the tires squealed, and the engine groaned as I redlined it to the airport building, tucked just off the highway. My truck nearly hit the building when I slammed on the brakes, but the limo was nowhere to be seen.

  Did I have the wrong airport? Were they going to drive across the island to Victoria? I hopped out of the truck and ran to the door, shaking the locked door on the building as hard as possible. No one was inside.

  The building wasn’t that long, so I ran the outside, turning at the corner. Part of the runway lay before me. I rounded the corner, and despair and a ragging heartache smacked me in the gut and slapped me across the face. There was no plane on the tarmac, and no limo parked nearby either.

  No chance for a grand gesture at love, despite finally knowing I wanted it. Notch or not, I needed to know where I stood with him. If only I had a way to contact him. He was always on his phone, but I didn’t know the name of his company, or even what city he worked in, but his number would be listed somewhere, and I knew just the person to obtain it for me.

  Cedar.

  She’d illegally tapped into a person’s account to access personal information. She could do it again.

  Chapter Ten

  Repeatedly, I buzzed Cedar’s apartment. Over and over again until she responded. But she didn’t answer over the intercom.

  Mitch opened the glass door at the entrance to the building. “What the hell, Amber?”

  “Oh, please, you’ve got to help me.”

  “What’s going on?” Cedar stood behind Mitch and pushed herself into my line of sight. “What’s wrong?” Cedar let go of Mitch and wrapped her arm around me.

  “He left. She said I didn’t mean anything. But there were feelings. I know it. I need to get in contact with him. I need to know the truth. I need his number. I wasn’t ready to stay goodbye. Please, you need to help me.”

  Her warm hand touched my shoulder. “You’re not making any sense. Come upstairs, and I’ll get you some tea.”

  “I don’t want any tea.” It came out sharp and bitter. “I need his contact information. And you can get it for me.” I fell to my knees, and gave her my sweetest, plea filled request. “Please, you are the only one who can access the information in the computer.”

  Her eyes went large. “Are you asking me to break into confidential information.”

  “Yes, yes.” I rose and pulled on her arms. “Please. I just need a number. Nine little numbers. Easy peasy.”

  “I can’t do that. I’m on probation.” She tugged me up to my feet. “What is this all about, and please calm down.”

  My focus jumped between her and Mitch, and over to the door, and back outside. “He left but we weren’t ready.”

  “Who?”

  “Antonio and his crew.” I stared, begging her to remember.

  She threw a glance to Mitch before focusing on me. “Amber, I’m so confused. Who’s crew?”

  “Antonio.”

  “I don’t know who that is?” She shook her head.

  My breath was catching in my chest and the words were getting harder to speak. I pleaded to her and Mitch. “You’re. Wasting. Time. Please.”

  Cedar slapped me across the cheek and stepped back, her jaw dropping from her own actions. “Oh god, I’m so sorry. You were getting hysterical.”

  Mitch’s eyes widened, but he didn’t do a thing aside from flip his gaze between her fiancée and me.

  I held my hand against the angry mark, and after taking a much-needed deep breath, let my silent tears fall.

  “What’s going on? Tell me what happened. C’mon.” She wrapped her fingers through mine and gently pulled me in the hallway, leading the way up the stairs to their floor and over to their apartment.

  “Now sit. Mitch, get her some ice.” My best friend sat beside me, her voice heavy with concern. “Who’s Antonio?”

  “The guy you sent over to see me yesterday.”

  “And he left?”

  She was so calm, and her voice was so soothing, it took me a second to collect my bearings. “With his crew. The ones who flew in here. They said he had a meeting.”

  “Oh, okay. Things are becoming clearer. Now, just breathe.”

  I inhaled and took the small bag of ice Mitch offered me.

  “Again, I’m really sorry for slapping you.”

  “No, it’s okay. Forget about it.” Inhaling another deep breath, I then exhaled in a slow steady count of three. “I probably would’ve done the same to you.”

  She nodded. “Fill me in on this guy because you said you loved him?”

  I wrapped my arms around my chest, the impossibility of having fallen for someone who was a complete stranger less than 24 hours ago. “We hit it off, Mr. Welsh and me. I mean, not at first, but after I drove him to the motel, we just sort of clicked. We had a nice dinner, went for a walk to watch the sunset and splashed in the bay.” I skipped over our first sexual encounter. “After that, we walked around town and danced under the stars. We talked, he understood me. The first guy ever to just get me. This morning we watched the sunrise, having not slept all night.”

  It had all been so perfect. Too perfect, maybe. Like those too good to be true kind of moments.

  My tone soured, as an image of Sorcha popped into my head. “Suddenly, his crew have his luggage and are pushing him to go, how he has a meeting. And the pilot, she said I was just another notch in his belt and that I should get tested.” My shoulders rolled in and my focus went blurry. “Somehow, over the night, I fell for him, and I don’t believe Sorcha, but I can ask him if you can get me his number.”

  I wasn’t ready to let the best night of my life end so abruptly. I wanted more. I wanted Antonio.

  “Oh, Am.” She wrapped me in a hug, a sympathetic smile blossoming on her face. “You had the night.”

  “The night?”

  “Everyone gets that one special night where they stay up all night long. It only happens with your soulmate.”

  I burst into tears. “And he’s gone, see what I mean?”

  “I’m so sorry. You were supposed to have a good time, not fall for the guy.”

  “Can I get you anything to drink?” Mitch asked from the safety of his kitchen.

  Wild women weren’t his forte, and I still hadn’t forgiven him for the temporary wedge he put between him and Cedar, even if they did work through it. Mitch had cheated on her, albeit shortly after they started going out, years ago.

  I blinked and stared at them both, and at the clock hanging in their living room. “Oh, damn. You’re supposed to be going to work.” Cedar was dressed in her work uniform. “I’m so sorry.” I rose and headed to the door. “Can you do me a favour, though? When you get to work, can you see where the plane left from? I went to the airport and there was no plane or limo for that matter. He just vanished. There must be a log of it somewhere, right? He left for Victoria.”

  “I’ll see what I can do, and I can check with the tower.” Cedar nodded and looked over at Mitch. “Why don’t we drive you home and let you get some rest?”

  I nodded. Sleep would be a good idea, but I needed to do some searching first.

  “I
’ll take your keys, Amber.” Mitch stayed a respectable distance but extended his hand.

  I tossed him the keys and followed them out.

  After they dropped me and my truck off, I curled up with my computer and searched the internet. I had to know. If I was a notch, then there would be dozens of pictures with him and some form of arm candy at every event under the sun, right?

  I typed in his name.

  Antonio Welsh. A dozen hits about a basketball player.

  Mr. Antonio Welsh. More basketball, a few other sites leading to information on some governor out of the states.

  Mr. Welsh. A million results but nothing that came to anything remotely similar, and an image search showed no one familiar.

  My brain was foggy and figured I needed a location to go with the name. I typed in Antonio Welsh Italy. Yeah, that was a mistake. Nothing of relevance.

  What was his sister’s name? Maybe that would help? And where was she from again? Not expecting anything, I typed in Maia Welsh Naples. The top ten results were interesting as most of them highlighted a Maya WELCH.

  Hmmm. I rubbed my aching temples.

  What about? Antonio Welch?

  What if with the crew’s weak accents, and the way Antonio struggled to pronounce any hard ‘c’, it just came out sounding like Welsh? I hit the return button and a whole new listing of sites appeared, and these were more interesting with business names attached to the hits, and not just about the basketball star.

  I scrolled through pages of images, finally spotting something that bore a resemblance. I clicked, and there he was.

  At a ball in Cyprus, with a gorgeous redhead tucked in beside him.

  On his boat with a rail-thin blonde in the tiniest bikini, as caught by some paparazzi and sold to the highest bidder.

  Another in front of a fancy car, with yet another gal.

  In front of a private jet, another redhead in a tight black dress hanging on his arm.

  It had been an act. The whole damn thing. I wasn’t anything special. I had been played.

  One night or not, I’d let emotions get tangled into the mess, and fell for the dream that a foreign hottie would find me worthy of wanting to be with me for more than a quick overnight.