Falling In (8 page)

Dripping
wet from head to toe, the two quietly packed up the kayak and pushed away from
the decimated shell of a town, leaving Audrey to struggle with the conflict
that raged in her broken heart.

---

Audrey’s
phone waited near the sink, where two voicemails were there to greet her when
she arrived.  The first was from Kim, who was just checking in.  The other,
however, was far from being so innocuous.

“Look,”
the recording of Max said angrily into her ear.  “I know that what I did was
wrong, okay?  I know that I should’ve never taken things to where they got...”

Audrey
tapped the counter and waited for the inevitable, which came just as she
expected.

“...but
you shouldn’t have said the things that you did.”  He paused and took a deep
breath in.  “I’m being the bigger person and apologizing first.  I think you
owe it to me to do the same.  Right?  Anyway, call me back as soon as you get
this.”

She
could hear him slam the phone onto the table before the recording ended.  When
it did, she quickly deleted the voicemail and re-dialed Kim.

When Kim
answered, she did so with a chipper tone.

“Hey there! 
I was starting to worry about you.”

“Sorry
about that,” she said and rubbed the back of her neck.  “I went kayaking today
and didn’t bring my phone.”

“Wise
move.  I’ve lost more than one in that ocean.”  She paused and asked, sounding
cautious, “How’re you feeling?”

Audrey
thought about it for a second and was surprised by the answer that she came up
with.

“Pretty
good, actually.”

“Well do
you need anything?”

“No, not
right now.  I think coming out here was the best decision that I’ve made in a
while.”

“Good.” 
Kim sounded pleased.  “Things are creeping along over here, but I’ll call you
back in a few days with an update.”

“Sure. 
Talk to you soon.”

The
women hung up their respective ends and Audrey threw her phone back down.  Only
then did she realize how much less burdened she felt without the thing around.

In spite
of her doubts, the long-missed feeling of butterflies in her stomach made
Audrey feel like she was going to float right out of the open window and into
the dark swamp, where the night-prowlers already started to sound their
creaking cadence.

“I’m
okay,” she whispered to herself.  “I’m okay.”

Chapter
6

Arthur
McBride waited in front of his historic hotel like before: with the day’s paper
spread out in front of his round face.  A nearly-empty cup of coffee sat next
to him on his favorite bench, which faced the quiet intersection.

“Good
morning,” Audrey called to him and absentmindedly checked the bandage on her
wrist.

It was
actually closer to the afternoon.  The clock near the entrance said that it was
almost eleven.

“Nice to
see you again,” he responded and went about his careful paper folding routine. 
That time, however, he tossed it onto the ground and picked up his coffee mug. 
“One of my housekeepers just got back with everything you’ll need.”

“Great. 
But I have to ask: how can you drink coffee?  It’s almost 90 degrees.”

“Eh,” he
said with a shrug.  “You get used to it.”

“Why
does everyone keep saying that about this town?”

Arthur started
toward the lobby and patted her on the shoulder as he passed.

“Some of
the best, most unique things in this world take some getting used to.”

Audrey
couldn’t argue with that, so she decided to get down to business as she
followed him in.

“Do you
have more lights that I can use?  It’s like a cave back...”

Before
she could finish, Audrey shuffled into a room that already looked completely
different.  Two large, bright lights were suspended on poles and faced King
Neptune.  Under their powerful glow, the sad state of its condition was
painfully apparent.  The water damage that she noticed before fanned out pretty
far into the interior and there were dozens of notches where only grey showed
through.

“Someone
already cleaned it?”

Arthur
leaned up against the bar, which was completely wrapped in heavy, white
painter’s cloth.  It was obvious that he took a lot of care in getting the
space ready.

“Yeah,”
he replied and blotted his forehead with his sleeve.  “That cost a small
fortune.  I had to bring some guy up from Tampa who sat here and washed it down
with cotton swabs one inch at a time.  It was something else.”

Audrey
walked around the bar, where every imaginable kind of oil paint, brush, thinner
and tool that she could ever need waited.

“Wow,”
she said over her shoulder.  “You really pulled out all the stops.”

He
slowly started out of the room with his cup of coffee still held tight.

“Of
course.  I expect you to do the same.”

With a
quick wave and no time for Audrey to respond, he disappeared around a corner.

Alone
with the painting for the first time, she climbed a short ladder and carefully
eyed the water-damaged corner, doing her best to figure out how to mix her
colors.  Like riding a bike, the ideas started to flood back as if the dam
holding them back just burst.

She
scurried down the ladder and started to work.  Even though it was quite a bit
cooler in the building, the blazing lights that illuminated her work area made
little beads of sweat start to form on the gentle slope of her nose.

Perhaps
because it was a welcome respite from her restless thoughts, Audrey went about
her work with a determined focus.  It felt so good to paint the way that she
used to and just let the time slip by without the worries that seemed to weigh
her down all the time.

Before
she knew it, an old grandfather clock near the front desk chimed a single time,
signaling that it was already 1.  Audrey stopped, mid-stroke, and set down
everything that she held.  With two hands clasped tightly together, she
stretched out her back, careful not to tip over her small ladder.  All the way
down, her spine crackled and popped from being stuck in one position for so
long.

“That
sounds like it felt good.”

She
hopped down to find Liam, who waited with a soft-sided cooler slung over his
shoulder.

“It
did.”  She walked around to meet him.  “What are you doing here?”

He
raised his shoulder--and the cooler--toward her and replied, “I thought you
might get hungry, so I made us a little something.”

“Oh
really?”

Audrey
didn’t know how to thank him.  It had been a long time since anyone did
something so nice.

“Yeah. 
Where’s Arthur?”

“I’m not
sure.  I was kind of in the zone.”

“I could
see that.”

She
started to feel a little nervous and responded warily, “And how long were you
standing there?”

Liam
laughed, “Not long.  I just parked my bike outside a few minutes ago.”

“Good,”
she said with relief and turned back to check out her work from a distance.

In the
couple of hours that she worked, all of the water stains were covered and she
started down onto Neptune’s infamous trident.  All of her additions were subtle
and smooth, only brightening the colors that once resided there to their former
glory.

Feeling
pleased with herself, Audrey crossed her arms over the growing rumbles in
stomach.

“So what
did you bring me?”

She
tried to grab the cooler, but Liam jerked his shoulder away at the last minute,
forcing her to stumble forward and into his arms.  He gave her a quick, strong
hug and left his arm over her shoulder, which he used to start both of them out
of the room.

“You’re
feisty today, huh?”

“Me?” 
She said jokingly, “I would never.”

It
wasn’t until they entered the breezy hallway that Audrey realized just how hot
her work room was.  The crisp sea air flooded past the small, glistening beads
of sweat the studded her body, giving her a cool shiver.

“There
he is,” Liam said and pointed toward the check-in area.  “Hey Arthur!”

The
hotel’s ever-smiling owner looked up from whatever he was doing and waved.

“What
brings you here, Mr. Stone?”

“I
thought you two might be hungry, so I stopped by with some lunch.”

When he
and Audrey arrived at the counter--with his arm still wrapped tightly around
her shoulder--Arthur’s eyes briefly glanced at where his hand sat.  He was,
however, quick to look away and not mention it.  If there was one thing to be
said about the man, nobody could deny that he had plenty of tact.

“That
sounds like a great idea.  Why don’t you two go around back and I’ll bring out
something to drink.”

“You got
it.”

Through
a lonely door at the other end of the hallway, Liam and Audrey exited at the
rear of the building.  It wasn’t until they arrived at a wooden table
surrounded by four matching chairs that she realized it wasn’t somewhere she
had been before.

Unlike
the front part of the hotel, the view from where they settled in next to each
other was like its own little beach.  Though they could see the ocean from
where they sat, it was a modest distance away.  Separating it from where Liam
carefully unpacked the meal, yards of small, undulating sand dunes lay spiked
with tall bunches of wild grass.

“Check
it out,” Liam said, drawing her attention away from the beautiful vista.  “The
deli got some prosciutto and salami in from Genoa the other day.  I’ve been
waiting for this stuff to get here for a minute.”

He
pulled a tightly-wrapped, flattened sandwich out of the cooler and started to
peel away the sticky layers of plastic that covered it.

“I think
your lunch got squashed, bud.”

He shook
his head and pulled a chef’s knife out of the cooler.

“It’s
supposed to be like that.  It’s called a ‘picnic sandwich’.”

Audrey
leaned back in her seat and pulled her knees up to her chest.  She watched him
carefully unpack the food and slice it into more manageable wedges.

“That’s
a thing?”

“Yep. 
You basically you make it with relishes or dressings, meat and whatever else
you want, then press it overnight to let all the flavors combine.”

“Wow,”
she said, feeling a little impressed.  “So you like to cook?”

Done
with the sandwiches, he tucked the knife back into the cooler and uncapped a
glass bowl full of fresh, juice-laden fruit.

“Not as
much as I like to eat.”

“Fair
enough,” Audrey laughed.

Arthur
appeared behind her with a tray of glasses and a tall, globe-like pitcher of
lemonade.  Between the square ice cubes, thinly-shaved slivers of lemons and
limes mingled with each other, further marinating the sweet brew.

Liam
looked up with his pearly smile and welcomed him.

“Have a
seat, old man.”

Arthur
plunked down the tray and sank into the seat on Audrey’s other side.

“I may
be old,” he said with a smirk.  “But I’ll still whip your ass at chess any
day.”

“It’s
true,” Liam confessed and pulled a few paper plates and plastic forks out of
his bag.  “How many times have I beat you?”

Arthur
scoffed, “Two too many.”

Liam
winked at Audrey and went back to work, serving each of them a triangle of the
sandwich and a heaping scoop of the tropical fruit salad.  As he did, Arthur
poured three glasses of the lemonade that he brought.

When
they were done, Liam settled back into his seat and shoved a golden chunk of
pineapple in his mouth.  A small bead of its juice rolled past his full lips
and into the light stubble that shadowed his chin.

“Dig in,
guys.”

Audrey
didn’t need an invitation; she was starving.

True to
Liam’s word, the sandwich had layers of Italian meats and sliced artichokes
under a dressed salad of greens and balsamic, covered with a red pepper relish
that fragranced the entire lot, all of which was pressed tightly between two
chewy pieces of bread.  When Audrey bit into it, she let her head fall back as
the complex mingling of flavors danced over her taste buds.  All of the
textures and tastes melded together perfectly, from the spicy meats and arugula
to the sweet balsamic and pungent garlic.

“Oh
god,” she said with her mouth still full.  “Where have you been all my life?”

Arthur
was kind enough to swallow his bite before he responded, “Liam here is quite
the cook.  I don’t think anyone misses a party at his place.”

“That’s
true, too.  It’s always a full house.  Which reminds me,” he said and pointed
to the hotel’s owner.  “You still owe me a bottle of rum.”

“Ask
Bessie, I know she’s good for it.”

The two
laughed, which prompted Audrey to cut in.

“Who’s
Bessie?”

“An
alligator.”

“Excuse
me?”

Liam
quickly took down another bite of his sandwich and continued, “There’s this big
bitch of an alligator that comes around sometimes that we call Bessie.  Anyway,
she showed up during a party last month and Arthur here thought that she would
appreciate a drink.”

“Did
she?”

“Um, not
much, no,” Arthur replied through quick laughs.

“But she
did appreciate smashing the bottle and chasing this guy around the yard for a
second.  I’ve never seen him move so fast.”

Audrey laughed
and polished off the last piece of her sandwich.  After that, she dove into the
fruit that sat in a pool of sugary, fresh juice with the fork that she was
given.  When it hit her taste buds, the sweetness was deliciously kept in check
by a tart spritzing of lime juice.  Each flavor, from the pineapple and mangoes
to the melon and citrus were perfectly balanced.

“I didn’t
know that you Cedar Key folks partied like that,” she said.

“Not all
of us,” Arthur answered.  “But everyone at least knows how to have a good
time.”

Liam
nodded his head in agreement and the three went on, finishing their meal
quietly amidst the peaceful beach that surrounded them.  By the time that they
finished and packed away the mess, it was almost 3.

Liam
stood up from his chair and stretched his arms above his head with a groan,
allowing the bottom of his shirt to pull up and expose part of the thin trail
of light hair that ducked down below the waist of his jeans.  It was a tempting
peek for Audrey; one that she found hard to tear her gaze away from.

“Hey
Arthur, do you think I can borrow Audrey for the rest of the day?”

Hearing
him say her name managed to pry her eyes up to meet his.

“Why’s
that?”

Liam’s
arms rested atop his messy hair as he looked down to answer her question.

“I’m
playing with a friend over in Yankeetown and wanted you to come and watch.”

Audrey
turned to Arthur, who sat back in his chair with both hands folded over his
round, full belly.

“I
suppose that would be fine.”  He looked to Audrey.  “Can you be back tomorrow
to finish?”