Night Magic (9 page)

When not in the shop helping
customers or taking care of business details, she was with Paul.
Her attempts to keep him at arm's length had failed in big way. She
found it impossible not to respond to him after that night on her
front porch. Her skin tingled deliciously at the memory of his
kiss, so sweet and hot. Thinking about being in his arms filled her
with a scrumptious warmth that streamed over her. Savannah blushed
at the memory of how he so easily evoked such burning desire with
the lightest touch. Yet this strong physical attraction was only
part of it.
I love his mind, too.
Savannah giggled to herself. Without thinking, she
had gradually accepted him into her life. It was as if he had
always belonged there. Her father, not an easy man to please when
it came to men dating his little girl, expressed his approval by
the absence of a scowl whenever his name was mentioned. Yet he did
have his reservations.

"This was a pretty good day, cher. Them
carvings of deer and nutria are sellin' fast. I'm gone have to take
a couple of days to work on some more. Maybe I'll get T-Leon to
work a few extra days helping you in the shop."Antoine held up the
list of the few remaining wood carvings left on the shelf.

"Sure, Poppy. That would be fine." Savannah
had hired the high school student through a program that helped
troubled and low income teens find part-time work. Just a little
attention from Antoine had worked wonders on T-Leon's attitude.
Once sulky and resistant, he now seemed eager to come to work. The
phone rang.

"Hi, Paul. Sure, here she is." Antoine handed
her receiver. Continuing to work, he listened as they made plans to
meet later.

"Y'all goin' out again tonight?"

"Just to the Fish Net. Paul rented a couple
of movies we've both been wanting to see." She smiled to
herself.

"Be careful, sugar. Remember you just met
him."

"I thought you liked Paul. You and Tante
Marie practically pushed us together."

"Paul is a fine young man, but you don't know
much about him." Antoine fidgeted with a pencil.

"What do you mean? Have you heard something?"
Savannah looked up sharply. She could feel her stomach muscles
tighten.

"No, no. Nothing but, well he's working for
Trosclair on that plant you know," Antoine spoke quickly.

"No he's not, poppy. He's an independent
consultant who is being paid by a third party to assess the site
and the possible environmental impact." Savannah knew she sounded a
bit too defensive. It was probably because she still had doubts
about his relationship with Trosclair.

"I just don't want you to get hurt again,
baby. Like with that Devin fella."

"I can take care of myself, thank you." She
softened her tone. She planted a playful kiss on his forehead
before sitting down to continue her work. "You just concentrate on
how you are going to spend all this money you've been making
lately."

"Poo, I don't need much. Maybe I'll get me
some new fishin' gear."

Savannah's mind was only half on the papers
in front of her. Was it her imagination, or had her father seemed
to hold something back? She went over their short conversation
several times. No, he was just being a dutiful father. She pushed
her misgivings away as she remembered the way Paul's handsome face
became beautiful when he smiled at her, the strong outline of his
jaw, the way he tenderly touched her face while they kissed. She
repeated the defense of Paul that she had given to her father to
herself. Reassured, she was finally able to focus the task in front
of her.

*****

"Whew! You wore me out." Paul slumped onto
the couch fanning himself with exaggerated motions.

"Get off it. A big strong man like you ought
to be able to hang. Come on now, get up, get down. Oo-wee."
Savannah swayed rhythmically while pulling him to her.

"Woman, you wanna give me a heart attack?
Rest, I need rest."

"Pitiful." Laughing, she turned off the
seventies disco music. She sat next to him on the couch.

"Whose idea was this anyway?" He groaned.

"Yours, that's who. Watching those old black
exploitation movies went to your head. Only a few minutes ago you
were yelling `Let's get funky! Remember?" She slapped his thigh
playfully.

"I had definitely lost my head." He pulled
her to him. "Ahh, I feel better already." He gave her a passionate
kiss.

"Ummm- what happened to can't catch your
breath and needing rest," she murmured between kisses.

"You giving me mouth to mouth is just the
medicine I need."

Savannah's giggle was soon smothered by his
tender assault. As he took her mouth completely, she felt the
hammering of his heart against her breasts. Or maybe it was hers;
lost in him she could not tell the difference. But it didn't
matter. All that mattered was what they had right here, right now.
She squirmed deliciously, helping his hands roam in places that
ached for his touch. His tongue caressed hers, and then darted
across her lips. With one last simultaneous shudder, they
parted.

"Wow." He shook his head trying to regain his
equilibrium. Paul marveled at the power of one kiss from this
sensuous woman.

"And how." Savannah pulled her blouse
straight. Wiping her face with a paper napkin, she sat back against
the couch away from him.

"Take it slow, right?" His eyes were bright
with passion. The question burned between them.

Savannah gazed at him searchingly. They
talked for hours about all kinds of subjects. Paul's commitment to
giving of himself to the community, his fervor about working with
young people impressed her. This intellectual admiration fanned the
flames of desire, deepening each time they were together. A
powerful desire that tugged against her inner voice cautioning her
to be wary.

"Yes." She sighed. "Sometimes I feel as if I
have always known you. Other times, you seem so, I don't know,
remote."

"Hey, no fair. I was anything but remote a
minute ago." He inched toward her leering.

"Be serious. We've been seeing each other for
almost two months now and I don't think we have ever really
talked."

"Sure we have. You know all about me. Where
I'm from, where I went to school. You have my whole life history.
How about something cold to drink." He got up suddenly.

"No, thanks." Savannah fell silent. She
stared straight ahead, a small frown on her face.

"What about another movie? Let's see, we got
one more great action packed thriller that is sure to satisfy your
crave for cliff hanging excitement." He waved the cassette in the
air. When there was no response, he sat next to her heavily.
Putting his arm around her shoulder, he tried to pull her to
him.

"Think I'll go on home." Savannah looked at
him, not moving.

"Sure, if that's what you want." He drew away
abruptly. Reaching for his car keys and jacket, he spoke over his
shoulder. "It is kind of late, and I told Sam I'd finish up some
last surveys from another job so we could start that report."

The drive to Savannah's house was a tense
one. She sat as near to the window at possible, staring out into
the darkness at the almost invisible scenery. Paul stole glances at
her, trying to think of something to say.

"I'll be going back to Lafayette for
Thanksgiving. But I'll be back that night." Paul waited but got no
answer. "Maybe we can see each other?" The Jeep slowed to a stop in
front of her house.

"When you want to share, is that it? Only
when you feel comfortable being close. Well, the holidays are a
time for being with those you feel close to, Paul. Right now, I
don't think that includes us."

"Baby, come on now. What do you want from
me?" Paul reached out to her but she opened the door and got
out.

"More than you're willing to give obviously."
Slamming the door, she hurried across the yard into the house
before he could respond.

*****

“Hey, man. Open up. Paul, you in
there?”Groaning, he rolled over and went deeper under the covers.
He tried to block out the pounding that seemed to be in his head.
Muttering curse words, he finally got up. He eyes, red and
scratchy, blinked painfully in the weak winter morning light.
Stumbling towards the bedroom door, his little toe slammed against
the leg of the chair.

“Damn! What do you want?” Paul yanked the
door to the trailer open. “Oh, you.” Paul waved in his partner.

“Zow-wee, you look like hell. You either had
a real good time or a real bad one, ha!” Sam laughed loud at his
own joke, ignoring his friend’s dark look.

“
What do you want at this
hour?” Paul flopped down on the couch stretching out.

“Just passing through on my way to Metairie.
I’ve been in Baton Rouge. Thought you might want to hear the latest
on this permit thing.”

“Yeah?” Paul sat up suddenly wide awake.

“Word is Batton Chemical has got some heavy
hitters on their side. Keeping the permit is a done deal.”

“Nothing in our report indicates they should
do anything else. That site is as safe as any could be.”

“You know and I know how hard it is to
correlate rates of illness, or even mortality rates, to the impact
of industrial by-products. When they throw in lifestyles, lunar
phases, whatever, it muddies the water so nothing definitive can be
put in those reports.”

“So what’s the answer? I can’t say the site
is unsuitable based on my data or comparisons to other similar
sites with plants.”

“And more good news, your report helped them
back up what they were going to do anyway.” Sam munched on a large
apple. “The news will hit the papers tomorrow. Too late for it to
get into today’s editions.”

“Damn, just what I need.”

“Since it can’t be my news that has you
looking so dogged out, must be trouble in love land.”

“Three nights ago we had the `We’ve never
really talked’ conversation. We haven’t spoken since then.” Paul
started a pot of coffee.

“And?” Sam scratched his chin.

“And nothing.” Paul shrugged.

“You been in here since then drowning in
misery? No wonder you look like so bad.”

“Of course not. I’ve been working. A lot.”
Paul shot back. He pointed to several stacks of papers.

“Bad news, man. Maybe it’s for the best. Time
to start packing up.”

“I guess.” Paul stared out of the kitchen
window. He could not accept defeat so easily. Paul wanted Savannah
in way and with a depth that he had never experienced before. And
he was sure that she wanted him as much. The heat of her kiss had
left a brand on his heart.

“Listen, did you ever consider that she’s
trying to pump you for inside scoop on your report for Batton
Chemicals?”

“Wait a minute, Savannah has never tried...”
Paul blinked as if Sam had struck him.

“Really? Don’t tell me you haven’t discussed
it at all.” Sam went on despite Paul’s attempts at protest. “You
did, admit it.”

“Naturally we did. It’s all anybody in town
has been talking about. But--“

“Shown a great deal of interest in your work
too, I bet. Look, her dad is the unofficial leader of the
opposition. Seems she got real cozy a little fast after dumping on
you at first. Don’t forget, the lady’s a lawyer. They are masters
at hiding their true strategy.”

“You are wrong, man. Very wrong.” Paul shook
his head, reaching over to plug in the coffee maker.

“If you say so, but her need to get inside
your life even more tells me something different.”

“They all want to do that, it’s a woman
thing. Not some devious plot. You’re still paranoid after Sheila.”
Paul went into the bedroom to get dressed.

“Hey, I had faith in her just like you have
in Ms. St. Julien. A word to the wise, my brother.”

“I didn’t even hear that. Let’s go. I want to
finish up so I can see Savannah. I want her to hear the news from
me first.”

*****

"What if he's just into the same old hit and
run routine? What if he was getting close to me so he could find
out about daddy's next move to oppose Trosclair?" Savannah paced
the length of the living room in front of Charice.

"So he's been asking a lot of questions?"
Charice watched go back and forth.

"Well, no," Savannah admitted. "But he could
be bidding his time. You know, buttering me up so he can."

"Sit down, please. I'm getting queasy trying
to follow you. You're making no sense, girl. Everybody in this
little town knows exactly what your daddy plans to do. Paul would
have to be pretty stupid not to figure it out without pumping you
for information. And stupid he ain't." Charice took another sip of
diet cola.

"Maybe so, but something is going on with
him. He talks, but when we get too much into his family he starts
changing the subject."

"Let's see, his parents live in Crowley, he's
got two brothers and two sisters. Sounds like he's been saying
quite a lot to me."

"But something is missing. You know, it's
more to it than that. I can feel it. I should have followed my
first mind. He came on like a jerk the first time I met him."
Savannah sat down with a thud. "The fact that he hasn't called
shows he's got something up with him. Good riddance." Savannah
punched the throw pillow.

"Yeah, you look relieved to me all right. And
he's finished his survey and report so he may be leaving soon. That
ought to make you feel even better." Charice eyed her friend
closely.

"That's another thing, that report. It was a
cop out. He didn't even address the issue of alternative
sites."

"They hired him to assess that site, he did.
Stop all that noise you two." Charice shouted into the next room at
her daughters fighting over the television. "Let me get them home
before they kill each other. I say give him a break. In fact, you
ought to give him a call."