Endless Days (The Firsts)

Chapter one

             
Winds had picked up and pushed her precious flowers over, breaking stems and blooms, rearranged lawn furniture, and sent Cherise’s favorite bird statue to statue heaven.  She sighed as she surveyed the damage, then walked out onto the flagstone patio and bent to pick up the shards of concrete strewn about.  The capriciousness of nature had no concern for the prized possessions of humans.

             
She was sorry to see it shattered, but it didn’t upset her.  She’d lost so much more than this in her life…people who she could barely stand to remember, it hurt so much.  Family who threw her away because she was too gentle to live amongst the chaos and death that had been normal in her life then.  So…these small replaceable things…it was okay.  A few minutes work put things mostly right again, and she went back into her tiny house, poured a hot cup of organic herbal tea, and came back out to sip it on the previously upturned wicker rocking chair she had to admit she really did love.  She was grateful it had survived the wind’s wrath.  The wicker seat was a little worse for the wear as it tugged gently on the light peach colored satin robe she wore.  She was naked beneath it, but her garden was private and she loved the touch of the air against her bare skin.

The birds and squirrels returned and she smiled, set the tea aside and went in to canisters that sat just inside a small shed, then came back out with several large scoops full of birdseed, black oil sunflower seeds, and shelled peanuts.  Many sets of eyes watched her impatiently as she poured it all around a cleared area in front of the patio.  The feeders had blown down, but the animals adapted easily to grazing o
n the hard solid surface.  They were of course, by nature, excellent foragers.  Nothing made Cherise happier here in her new life.  Just…serenity.  What she needed desperately at this point in her life.  She was so grateful to have finally found it.

Two little squirrels ran up to her, chattered,
shook  their tails, and then moved closer yet.  Ahh.  They wanted the
special
food.  Walnut pieces she kept for the brave who would come up and ask for them.  Animals were not afraid of Cherise.  They sensed her…they
knew
her…as they knew she
knew
them.  She had been born with it…the affinity for all life forms…a gift of empathy, of connection to all life.   It was her gift that had become a curse.  Which is why she was here, alone and unknown, in this small American town.  It had been heaven…and she had needed it for so long.

She could breathe again.  Pressure in her mind and in her heart…gone, replaced with calm she had thought she would never know again.  She was happy…and that was all that mattered…for now.  The future would come and it would bring many things, but for now…it was enough.  She was right where she needed to be.

Her telephone chimed…a landline with a cordless phone she could carry with her from her house to her garden.  She no longer had a mobile…uh, cell phone.  Every element of her life was simplified…and that included receiving calls only when she wanted to.  Low tech life.  With limitations.  A small tablet computer lay tucked on a shelf for the few times she needed one.

The squirrels chattered again, the phone still chimed, and she decided to see to the squirrels first.  Most phone conversations were essentially unnecessary.  These t
wo adorable fuzzy tailed imps were not.  After they scampered off with their special treats, she finished off her tea.  Time to dress for work.  And although she knew her body was quite nice, she’d make the proper concession to clothes out on the streets of her adopted town.  She was pretty sure the citizens would appreciate it.  Especially the local women who were still getting used to the beautiful petite brunette who arrived mysteriously in town about a year ago and opened a little
patisserie.
  She knew women…they thought of her as a threat to their small male population, but
mon Dieu
, they could stop worrying.  The last thing Cherise wanted was a romantic relationship.  With her gifts, she would transfer things to a man he would never understand.  No.  Their men were safe.

Cherise usually arrived at her little café earlier than either of her two part time employees, but today she’d needed to…linger.  Today, particularly, for some reason she did not know, she felt an overwhelming need to feel the sun on her skin and just be calm.  No complications, no expectations, nothing to excite. 
Just her and the sound of the birds and the wind.  It was a very good morning.  The small niggling sense that something was coming, she tried to ignore.  Sometimes,
sometimes
, it worked.

But it was getting late and the lunch crowd would show up soon, she knew Margaret needed her there, so she slipped into her work dress and her work persona, and walked through the little town on her way to the café.  This time of morning, no one was out, but she only passed four homes on the way in, since she’d bought a little cottage just outside the
village proper, and had no neighbors other than the small beasts that inhabited the woods behind her home, and the fields across the street.  She had been so lucky to find this place.  Different, in every way, from her home in the French Alps.

Walking to work was cathartic, enjoyable.  She loved it, loved that everything about this place was exactly what she wanted…normal.  Even the women who had been suspicious of her at first were now friends.  Her little shop
La Petite Patisserie
, was doing well and gave her all she needed, enough earnings so she could be comfortable financially with no struggle.  Her family had been shocked that she left their opulent life for one of very basic living, but they didn’t understand her reasons.  They
knew
her reasons, they just didn’t want to accept them.  It was okay.  She was alone here in this foreign land, but she was happy.

Hung over the door of her little café tucked between a bookstore and a dress shop, a
n ornately painted, faux icing- covered sign promised many goodies inside.  And when you opened the door, the scent of sugar and spice that wrapped around you was
magnifique
.   Ah.  She was trying very hard to
not
pepper her language with her native French.  She’d practiced a lot, and had her language down to just a slight accent, and if her English was not perfect, it was good enough for the locals.  It had been fun to see if she could pull it off, and she had. 

As Cherise came through the back door into the café’s little kitchen, a slightly overweight woman with her long bright auburn hair pulled up into a loose bun, looked up from the counter.  Her smile was soft and warm.  Cherise thought she was so pretty, her rounded cheeks a
lways a little rosy.

“Oh
,hey, Cheri.  I tried to call you a little while ago.”

“I know.  I’m
sorry, I didn’t get to it in time.  Do you still need something?”

“Nah.
  I couldn’t find the royal icing.  Little Dicky stopped in…you know he loves a ball of that on his cookie.”

Cherise smiled.  “I do.  He is an imp and worse a sugar addict than me.  Did you find it?”

“Yeah, it got pushed behind some new stock.  He’s good.  Got a nice lunch crowd started today.  Weather’s too pretty to stay home, right?”

“Oh, yes. 
Early autumn sunshine with a late summer breeze.  I love it.  Could barely stand to steal myself away.  But I am here, so I will see to the ones in front if you want to cook.  Or other way, Margaret, whatever you wish.”

“Well, I tell you what.  I’ll stay out front and you get the food prep.  That way, you can keep the back door open and enjoy the day.”  She paused.  “You look tired, Cheri. 
You gettin’ enough sleep?”

Cherise tilted her head.  “Ah, yes. 
Enough, anyway.  Not any extra.  Perhaps I will take a day off in a week or two.”

Margaret looked hard at Cherise, her sharp eyes missing nothing…the slimness of her face, the large blue eyes that seemed to see your soul, the shadows under them. 
“Maybe a couple.  I can handle all but the lunch rush, and Chelsea can help me with that.”

Smiling, Cherise tied her apron around her waist. 
“Perhaps.  There is another diner out front.”

Margaret grabbed a menu and went out to welcome the man who had just entered.  Cherise turned away and began lining up the ingredients she would need most for the next hour or so.  A few days off would not help.  She was dreaming again, and that disturbed her sleep so much, she often just got out of the bed and went out to the garden, where, amazingly, the dark was reassuring.  A large bench with puffy cushions was so comfortable, that there, with the brilliant diamonds in the sky shining down on her, both her black cats (brothers), pressed against her, she would sleep again, dreamlessly, for a little while.  But morning always came too soon, and she awoke tired and off-balance most days.  Something, something, something…was coming.

No time to worry about it now.  Now was scrumptious croissant sandwiches, beautiful French breads with fresh salads, and pastries that defied any diet.  She had to admit, her food was
extraordinaire
.  She’d learned from the best, and as usual, when she thought of her dear friend Eugene, who was no longer with the living, she bowed her head and kissed her fingertips to him.  She’d loved the man, a huge black bear of a man who was as fierce as a lion, when needed, or gentle as a lamb.  And,
sacre bleu
, the man could cook.  He had been as a brother to her and she missed him daily.

The orders starting coming as more people arrived for their little piece of French heaven.  The welcome in this town had been so warm when she opened the patisserie, she’d become almost a local celebrity.  People here really like their pastries.  She had to get accustomed to their desire for larger portions, but she knew…she baked for her clients, so if they wanted enormous, they got it.  It reminded her, against her will, of the portions Eugene had prepared for his diners. 
The
vampires
.  Well, they ate a
lot.
  And he could satisfy them all.  So, she did the same for her lovely customers.  No one left unsatisfied.

Except for, perhaps, Johnny Smith.
  While she kneaded the bread, she rolled her eyes.  Thank god he hadn’t been in lately.  He was truly obnoxious.  So certain he was irresistible to women, and particularly to Cherise.  She thought of his hands pawing at her the few times he’d tried, until she had pushed a thought to him that he was repelled by brunettes.  It had worked, but she did not know for how long.  He was handsome, of that she did not doubt, but she could see his aura…and it was dark and dangerous.  He was not a good man.  She didn’t even want him in this town, but he had been here longer than she, and was likely to stay.  She did not suffer bad people.  He had better stay out of her way, lest he find how much power she really had.  Beyond what he would understand.  It was best left bound and unused, though, so she hoped he was done with her for always.