Home to Harmony (11 page)

David had bumped into the twins in town a couple days after the porn-and-pot shout-fest, and they’d practically kissed him on the mouth for saving their asses. Since then, he’d hung out with them a little. It killed the boredom somewhat.

The only annoying thing was how much they hounded him for some of Bogie’s bud. First off, that would be stealing, and, second, these two were too obsessed with getting high. Which was insane with their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Social Nazi, who didn’t know David was back in the sacred circle of their holy boys. They needed to chill out.

He liked Todd and Robert. They weren’t bad for doofus jocks. Besides, since David had found out Brigitte was coming, the whole world seemed kinder and everyone in it more interesting.

After all the planning and dreaming, the big day had arrived. Friends of Brigitte’s who were going camping were dropping her off at the New Mirage highway exit tonight and the Barlows were driving him there to meet her.

“I’ve seen you playing your guitar with Marcus a lot, too,” Christine said, looking way too happy about that.

“Yeah.” He rubbed his fingers together, feeling the calluses that had begun to form. With so little to do, he’d gotten more into his music. Whenever he played he felt like a hot wire burned from his brain to his fingertips to the strings.

That kind of embarrassed him and he’d almost asked Marcus if that made him lame or weak, but he wasn’t sure the guy would understand what he meant.

Marcus didn’t say a lot. Every question David asked him, he turned around so David ended up answering it himself. The dude was tricky that way. But he never jumped on David. He listened and asked questions that made sense without digging at him the way his mother’s always did. Also, Marcus had said he wouldn’t tell Christine what they talked about.

He didn’t think Marcus liked his mom much. Since the Barlow dinner they’d both acted strange, looking the other way or avoiding each other. That was fine with David. He liked Marcus being his friend alone.

“I can’t believe you cleaned your room and changed your sheets. And were those flowers I saw on your desk?”

“Yeah. Bogie told me which ones I could cut.” He’d set up an ice chest with sandwiches and juice, and the best commune food—fresh strawberries, tomatoes, snap peas and Bogie’s cinnamon rolls. He’d bought two candles scented with sandalwood—Brigitte’s favorite. He’d backed off on weed, too, to have some for when she came.

Close as the time was, it seemed forever away—like Christmas as a kid, where every minute of waiting was an hour, every hour a day, every day a year.

“I’m proud of you, David. You’re trying. You finished your schoolwork without me getting after you.”

“Not that big a deal.” He’d wanted to be free of duties this weekend, so he’d done his last assignment the day before.

“Yes, it is. I mean it.” God, there were tears in her eyes. She was building this up too much, making him feel guilty over his true reasons for everything he’d done.

“I know it’s been hard for you being away from Brigitte, but I appreciate how mature you’re acting about it now.”

Ouch. “It’s not that big a deal, like I said.”

“Not too late tonight, okay? Midnight?”

“I’ll come say good-night when I get back.” That way there would be no reason for her to knock at his door and interrupt his time with Brigitte.

“Wow. Great. I would like that.” She looked so startled and so thrilled. The puniest things made her ridiculously happy. He got a stab of regret about lying. Like Marcus had predicted, once he started doing what she wanted, she’d gotten nicer to him.

She loved him. He knew that. He sure wasn’t scared of her the way Todd and Robert were of their show-off parents, who pushed them to be captains of every stupid-ass team and were way more paranoid about pot than Christine.

He was half-planning to go back to Phoenix with Brigitte. If he did that, his mom would be sad, for sure.
It would kill your mother if you left.
That’s what his grandmother had said.

The idea made his stomach sink. But, really, it was just like when kids left for college, the parents ended up relieved not to have to worry about them anymore. She’d be sad at first, then she’d see how right it was.

They hadn’t been alone together since that night on the hammock and standing this close to him made her nerve endings tingle and her muscles tighten.

Lady brushed her leg in greeting.

“I don’t want to keep you from your book, but I wanted to thank you for what you’ve done for David.” Every time she saw them with their heads together, talking or playing music, her heart surged with gratitude and relief.

“I enjoy David. He’s smart and he has a good heart.”

“You’ve really helped him, I’m not kidding. He’s turned the corner. He finished his schoolwork, his attitude’s better… It’s a miracle.” That alone had reassured her that not getting involved with Marcus had been the right decision. What mattered was Marcus helping David. Anything between her and Marcus might interfere with that.

“I’m glad to hear that,” he said. “But don’t be surprised if he relapses some. Progress is usually two steps forward, one step back.”

She groaned in mock dismay. “I thought we were beyond the folk sayings. All I know is David’s got a new light in his eyes. He cleaned his room and put flowers in it, for heaven’s sake. He’s fine with the curfew I gave him tonight. He even offered to come tell me good-night when he gets back from New Mirage.”

“Like I said…”

“Two steps forward, one back. Yeah, got it, Doctor Downer. I don’t care what you say. It’s like I have the old David back.”

“I’m glad, Christine.” He smiled.

“So…good then… That’s all I had to say.” It felt lovely to stand with him, though. “You probably need to get to work. You pushed through your writer’s block?”

“I did, yes. Largely thanks to you.”

“To me?”

“After the Barlow dinner, on the porch that night, uh, I got kicked out of my stall. I went back to my room and wrote.”

“You mean because we made out? Really?” She laughed.

He gave her a sheepish look. So cute.

“Wow. Because I got you…stirred up?”

“The dynamic concerns enzymes that control energy, focus and the sense of well-being.”

“God, way to ruin it with science.” She slapped playfully at him. “I was all excited about being your muse.”

“You were,” he said. “And, seriously, I also think it helped when you reminded me of all the blows I absorbed last year. Talking it out, I could see why I might have been, well, less productive, and that helped break the block, too.”

“I’m so glad, Marcus.” Tenderness and pride filled her, but she couldn’t get all emotional about it. “So you’ll mention me in the acknowledgements? For
stimulating
your…thoughts?
Arousing
your interest?”

He laughed, low and deep and rich.

“Your eyes twinkle when you laugh, did you know that?”

“I didn’t. No.”

“You should do it more. Laugh, I mean.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to spend more time with you, Christine, since you make me laugh more than I have in a long while.” He searched her face. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too.” There was a moment of silence while the ribbon of connection tugged them together again. It was sexual attraction, sure, but it was more than that. She felt good with Marcus. Talking and joking with him cheered her up. She liked the way he listened so closely and accepted her without judgment. She liked the way his mind worked, so different from her own thinking. Hell, she was as hot for his personality as she was for his body.

Lady ran a few yards toward the cottonwood grove, then turned to bark at them, as if to urge them to come along.

“Looks like Lady has a plan,” Christine said. “Could you spare time for a walk to the river?”

“Sure,” he said.

They set off slowly, talking comfortably, bumping arms as they walked. Marcus was so handsome against the dusk sky, sturdy and strong and all man. Lady loped ahead, then circled back, seeming delighted they’d come along with her.

As they entered the cottonwoods, the evening breeze picked up, lifting her hair from her shoulders. The toads and crickets were tuning up for their nightly performance.

At the edge of the river, they sat on broad, smooth rocks. Lady ran off to explore. “When I was a kid, this was my secret place,” she said. “And, believe me, with all the madness at Harmony House, I needed it. Not to mention all the arguments with Aurora.”

“You both have strong opinions.”

“But only one of us was right.” She laughed. “How does she seem to you these days? Health-wise?”

“Stronger and her color’s better. How about to you?”

“Better than when we got here three weeks ago, that’s for sure. The truck crash worries me. What if she had a stroke?”

“Have you seen any behavioral or physical changes?”

“Not really. For a second there, she seemed loving and kind, but that passed.” She smiled. “I guess she’s okay.”

“How are you feeling about being here now?”

“Not bad. I like what we’re doing at the clay works. It’s satisfying. And I’m getting a kick out of making ceramics. I made this great set of goblets the other day. Aurora helped me glaze them and didn’t bitch at me at all about my technique.”

“Maybe she did have a stroke.”

“You’re funny, too.”

“Only around you.” He smiled, looking at her with affection.

Embarrassed, she gazed out across the water, which slid silkily downstream. “It’s nice to use my hands, I guess. I’ve enjoyed being in the greenhouse with Bogie, too, planting things. Something about the air in there feels good to me.”

“Sounds to me like you’re enjoying yourself.”

She turned to him. “I guess I am. I’ve been so fixated on the problems with David and the work at hand, arguing with Aurora and all, that I haven’t really noticed.” She thought about that for a second. “I dreaded coming back here so much, I just hoped I could gut it out without going to war with Aurora.”

“And now…?”

She threw a stone at the river. “Now I don’t mind being here so much.”

“Not exactly high praise.”

“Okay, I like it here. There, I said it.” And she realized it was true.

“Enough to stay?”

“What?” She jolted at the question. “No. Of course not. Why would you say that?”

He shrugged. “Just wondering.”

“Aurora keeps making comments like that. It’s so weird. Not like her at all. I figure she’s anxious about her health.”

“A brush with mortality sometimes makes people want to redress past failures. She may be trying to resolve your conflicted relationship.”

“So why doesn’t she say that and get it over with?”

“She seems to be indirect about her needs and feelings.”

“You got that, did you?” She smiled. “My theory is that once she’s stronger, she’ll shove me out the door.”

“And you’re eager to leave?”

“Once Aurora’s back on her feet, yes.” She shrugged. “Besides, if I were to stay, there’d have to be major changes around here.”

“Like better water pressure?”

“Oh, absolutely. DSL Internet, too.”

“That goes without saying.”

“We’d have to paint the place, get some landscaping done. Do something about the smell.”

“Sell the goats?”

“No can do. The cheese is
heaven.
” She laughed again, then looked at him. “What about you, Marcus? How much longer will you be here?”

“Long enough to finish the book. A couple months at least. For now, I’m about to send off a proposal to some agents.”

She was pleased he’d be here as long as she would. “And after that? Back in L.A.?”

“I’m not sure. I’m looking into some public health funding for Carlos’s clinic.”

“Really?”

“Yes. My ex-wife has some leads for me on rural health grants.”

“You’re on good terms with her?”

“We’ve always been civil.”

“That’s very mature of you.”

“Or it means I didn’t allow a deep connection between us.”

“It takes two to tango, Marcus.”

He laughed. “A folk saying? I believe you could have a future in the mental health field, Ms. Waters.”

“Thank you, Dr. B., but, really, no relationship is one-sided. Both people contribute to the problems. Even I, complete relationship screwup that I am, know that much.”

“That may be true. But, as I was saying about my plans, I’m looking into funds for Carlos and working on my book. And, frankly, I’m glad to feel awake and alive again.”

“And all thanks to me getting you turned on.”

“Whatever works.” His smile was swift.

“You know, afterward, I almost ran after you.”

“Really?” He lifted his eyebrows. “To what end?”

“To what end? Jesus. To jump your bones, what else?”

“I see. Interesting.”

“Interesting? That’s all you can say?” She shifted closer and he leaned in, too. She took in his features, his mouth so close, a hunger in his eyes she recognized because she felt it, too.

“What made you stop?”

“Bogie, actually. On my way to you, I noticed him in the greenhouse and remembered that I hadn’t spent time with him the way I’d meant to, that I didn’t know how he was doing.”

“So, you felt guilty?”

“At first. Then I remembered David was next door to you and what if he saw me at your door? Plus, I figured you’d be asleep and think I was an idiot.”

“Oh, I doubt that.”

“What would you have done?” she whispered, her mouth very near to his. This close, she noticed swirls of darker color in the crystalline green of his eyes.

“If I were smart I’d have declined.” He cupped her face with his strong palms. “But…?”

“But I would have welcomed you with open arms,” he said in a rush. He leaned in to kiss her softly.

“Marcus,” she said, kissing him back, putting her arms around him and holding on. Waves of desire crashed against the breakwater of her good sense. Marcus was struggling, too—his fight for restraint obvious in the tension in his body.

They both began to shake.

Marcus broke off the kiss, cradling her face in his warm hands. “I can’t stop wanting you. No matter what I do.”

His words sent a white-hot ribbon of hunger twisting through her body. She needed this. She needed him.

“Let’s go to my room,” she said. “We can slip in without anyone seeing.”

“What about David?”

“He’s in town until midnight. It’s perfect.”

He watched her, clearly dying for a way to justify succumbing to the heat and need racing through them both.

“We’re adults. We can keep it simple, can’t we?”

“We can try,” he said, crushing her against him, burying his mouth in her neck. “We can sure as hell try.”