Blood Moon (9 page)

“Huh, good point.”

The bookstore was located on the corner of Main Street and 3
^rd
Street and Darby always parked her little car on 3
^rd
Street close to the back door, which was about sixty feet or so from the corner.
 
She and Rowan got out of the car and went in the front door, greeting Allison as they came in. After talking to Allison for a minute or two, they headed for the stock room and started to work.

About a half an hour later, there was a loud commotion in the front of the store and Allison was talking loudly.
 
Nothing ever frazzled Allison, so this got Darby’s attention right away.
 
She walked up to the front of the store to see what was going on.
 
A beautiful, petite woman was at the front desk with Allison. She had long brown hair, flawless skin, and gorgeous green eyes.
 
On seeing Darby heading towards her, Allison’s face changed from frantic to panic.
 

“Is everything all right?” Darby asked.

“This woman...” Allison started.

The beauty interrupted, “I’m Cheral Oktane. I was trying to tell this woman that I accidentally backed up into a car on the street and was hoping the owner might be here so I could exchange info with them.”

“That’s very nice of you. Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Darby asked.

“No. I’m fine, thank you.”

“What car was it?”

Allison blurted, “It’s your car, Darby!”

A wave of nausea passed over Darby, but she kept her composure. “Well now, it’s just a car, let’s go check it out, shall we?”
 

As they walked to the door Cheral spoke to her, but Darby was only hearing bits and pieces.
 
Something about she had been here before……foot slipped off clutch...parallel parking……blah blah blah.

As they turned the corner on Third Street, she could see a nice black SUV parked there, but couldn’t see her car.
 
As they drew nearer, she could see her cute little blue car had been destroyed.
 
GEEZ, did she drive over it?
Darby thought.

Both front fenders were like the bellows of an accordion and the hood matched them. The fenders dug in so far back that they punctured both front tires, and even if it had been drivable she wouldn’t be able to see over the hood.
WOW. Hard to believe she was just backing up for parking.
 
Looked more like she started two blocks away and accelerated into it.
 

The tears started to well in her eyes –
stupid really,
she thought to herself,
getting so emotional about a car. It’s not like it could feel the owie it had
, but that didn’t make Darby feel any better.
 
And all the while the woman was talking, none of which Darby heard. She was still too busy trying to control her tears and breathing.
 

Luckily, Rowan came out and started dealing with the pretty woman while Darby just stood there and stared.
 
The SUV had one of those heavy-duty, tube-like bumpers on the back and apparently that was what had done the Venetian blind effect on Darby’s car.
 
Given the height of the truck and the tube bumper, there was hardly a scratch on the SUV. It looked to Rowan as if the woman had taken a running start to do the damage inflicted on the car.
 

Rowan was great. She got all the information from Cheral that was needed for the insurance and even called a tow truck and Devon. Devon showed up instantly as Rowan knew he would.
 
When he did, he had Darby in his arms and helped her to the car. Rowan was still trying to get information from Cheral when she noticed the woman completely stopped talking. She watched Devon like a vulture sizing up its prey. Rowan watched her watching Devon and it sent goose bumps up the back of her neck and through her scalp.
 
This woman, who had not shown any remorse whatsoever about demolishing Darby’s car, was now grinning some kind of devilishly evil smile. Though Rowan hoped she was overreacting to this woman, she couldn’t help but feel the woman had just picked her next target. Rowan kept quiet as the woman’s eyes followed Devon getting in the car and driving away.
 
Finally with them gone, the woman turned to Rowan who was staring suspiciously.
 

“What?” the woman demanded. “He’s very handsome.”
 

“Yes, he is! He is also very taken.”

“Obviously,” Cheral laughed, although Rowan wasn’t sure if it was a laugh of affirmation or a laugh at the challenge to obtain an easy prize. Either way, she didn’t like it. She finished up with her as quickly as she could and went into the bookstore, where she called Allison’s brother and asked him for a ride home.

Chapter 8

Dean and Blake headed for the airport on a Thursday morning. Dean didn’t say much on the ride there and it was apparent to Blake he was nervous.
 
If it hadn’t been morning, Blake would have suggested a couple of beers to Dean to relax him a bit for the ride.
 
He was glad it wasn’t a very long flight and that there were no layovers. He felt sure if there had been, Dean might have made a break for the door and gone home on foot.
 

They got their baggage checked, had boarding passes in hand, and the rental car turned in. Now it was just the waiting game.
 
Blake suggested to Dean maybe he should get a book or a magazine to keep himself occupied and his mind off of flying 10,000+ feet above the ground. Dean opted for a book of Sudoku puzzles.
 
“Good choice,” Blake said, thinking to himself: that
ought to keep him busy
.

Blake wasn’t sure if he should give Dean the window seat or not.
 
Excited first time flyers often wanted this seat as it was fun watching during takeoff.
 
Given Dean’s stress level, he wasn’t sure that was such a good idea.
 
As for Blake, he preferred the aisle seat.
 
With his very long legs, he could stretch them into the aisle when the beverage cart wasn’t passing.
 
He decided to give Dean the choice and thankfully he chose the window seat.

They got settled in their seats when the stewardess went through her speech about emergencies.
 
Dean followed along with the plastic-covered pamphlet in the back of the seat in front of him.
 
He gave Blake a reprimanding look when he didn’t pull his out and follow along, so Blake dutifully pulled his out to make Dean feel better.

Blake could hear the baggage being loaded below them and with every thump he was sure that he saw Dean jump.
 
Blake thought,
this is going to be a very long flight.
Blake could hear the baggage door closing and Dean jumped again, asking what the noise was.
 

“It’s okay, Dean, they’re just securing the cargo door.
 
Don’t want your boxers blowing out the door and pelting some poor old gal on her walk to the church bingo now, do we?”

“That can happen?”

“No, Dean, not with the cargo door closed. It’s fine. Relax.”

Dean watched out the window as people in orange vests and odd little cars skittered here and there, and the blocks were pulled away from the wheels.

“We’re moving,” Dean almost shouted. His hands gripped the ends of the armrests as if he was holding on for dear life.
 

“Yeah, Dean, we have to move to get in the air.”

“I don’t think I want to do this,” he said and a low, guttural growl came from him.

“It’s a little late for that. You’ve got to get a handle on your emotions; I don’t want you going all wolf on me.”

“Hmmmm, that wouldn’t be good, would it?”

Blake hit the stewardess button and the stewardess, seemingly a bit annoyed, came immediately.

He whispered in her ear that Dean was a first time flyer and feeling very nervous.
 
He was hoping she would make a great effort to get him a beer as soon as possible.

“Yes, sir. I understand,” she said and then went back to her post in the back. Blake could see that she was already taking the beer out of the bin as the captain came over the loud speaker.

Dean’s eyes grew wide when the plane revved its engines and disengaged the brake.
 
Blake looked at him and said, “Think happy thoughts!”

Dean looked at him with his panicked eyes, severely annoyed at the comment. In a couple of seconds the airplane was lifting off and Blake could hear the landing gear being put away. That’s when the stewardess came with the beer and Blake tipped her heavily.
 
Dean didn’t bother with the stupid little plastic cup and downed the beer in amazing time.
 
Thankfully, as Blake hadn’t brought much cash, the second beer lasted longer.

Aside from a bit of turbulence over the Rockies, the flight was uneventful and smooth.
 
Although Dean never touched his Sudoku puzzles, he was enjoying looking down over the mountains and cities as they passed them. The beers had done the trick. Two hours later, they were landing in San Francisco.
 
Dean jumped a little when the plane had landed and the jets were thrown into reverse to slow down, but Blake had the forethought to warn Dean it was coming, so it wasn’t a full out panic.

Since Blake had driven to the airport when he left for Colorado, his car was in long-term parking. Dean didn’t come right out and say it, but when they walked up to the sexy black Audi R8, Blake thought he saw Dean run his fingertips along the sleek lines on his way to the passenger door handle.

Blake handed his cell phone to Dean and asked him to call ahead and let everyone know they had landed and were on their way. “Why? They know we are coming.”

“Yeah, I know, but I just want to give Rowan a heads up in case she doesn’t want to see me yet.”

“She’s going to have to get used to you being around, Blake; you live next door and your brother is madly in love with her sister.
 
You’re going to see one another.”

“Yeah, I know; I just don’t want to be in her face.”

“You keep this up and you are going to make yourself crazy.”
 

“I’m already there. Would you just call, please? I’m trying to be accommodating.”

“You’re being stupid.
 
You ought to go in there and sweep her off her feet and lay one on her.”

“As great as that sounds, that’s not really my style.”

“No? What is your style? Wait around until she invites another guy home and leaves with him for a couple of weeks? Oh, wait, that’s already happening.” He knocked his knuckles on Blake’s head, and Blake tried to duck away. “Hello, that’s why I’m here.”

“Yeah, I know.
 
But I don’t blame her for that.”

“You are going to lose her if you just sit back and watch.”
 

“Maybe I deserve it. Maybe I’m supposed to lose her.”

“And maybe you’re not. Just maybe you should get in there and fight for her. Maybe that’s what she’s waiting for.”

“I’m trying to give her some space,” Blake said.

“She’s had plenty of space and a month and a half to make up her mind. Now it’s time you get your butt in there and do something or she’s going to think you want it this way.”

“How could she possibly think that after all I’ve done?” Blake asked.

“From her point of view, you abandoned her right?” Dean said.

“Yeah.”

“Then you came back and apologized.”

“Yeah.”

“And then in the interest of ‘giving her space’ you left again for a month and a half.”

“So?”

“So to her, maybe she thinks since you left so quickly and for so long that you’ve changed your mind about loving her and this is an easy way to get out of the relationship.”

“Geez, you mean I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.”

“Pretty much! She is a woman, after all, and we know how confusing that is.”

“So you really think I should just go in there, kiss her, and see what happens?” Blake asked.

“Why not? Could it really hurt anything at this point?”

“I suppose not, but I don’t think I can do that.”

“I guess than you’ll never know,” Dean said.

“Know what.”

“If that’s the key - she just wants you to take control and sweep her off her feet, but you’ll never know that if you never try.”

“Are those the moves you’re going to make on her if I don’t?”

“Could be, but I’ll never tell.”

“Hmmm.”

“Well, you know what they say? You snooze, you lose!”

“Yeah, they do say that, don’t they?” Blake said as he threw the car into second gear, pulled into the driveway, and turned off the car.
 
As he and Dean were headed for the trunk of the car, Rowan came running out and jumped into Dean’s arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. Blake grabbed his bag and went into his house and all the while, Dean stared at him, ignoring what Rowan was saying.
 
He knew that hurt; he could see it in Blake’s face when he had turned to see her land in Dean’s arms.