The Light of the Blue Pearl (17 page)

“You think so?” he asked, with an incredibly
cute grin on his face. She absolutely hated having to talk to Ian
about Scott, the same way she would have felt the other way
around.

“This other guy though, was actually the one
who sent me on the trip,” she confessed, realizing now that she
might have to explain the bizarre circumstances of the trip, or
perhaps not – maybe she could omit a little of the
crazy
.

“He is my boss actually, and one day decided
I needed cheering up I guess, so he sent me to Belize,” she said,
keeping the details at a minimum. “We didn’t start dating until I
got back, and even then he had to do a lot of convincing too, so
don’t feel bad. I have really missed you though, Ian. I’ve thought
about you a lot.”

“Did you tell him about me?” he asked.

“No,” she said. “I didn’t know at the time
that he wanted to date me, I didn’t want to hurt his feelings; you
can understand that I hope?”

“Yeah, I do,” he said, chuckling. “That
probably wouldn’t have gone over well.”

She laughed. “My thoughts exactly.”

“I was actually trying to decide whether or
not I should keep dating him when I ran into you,” she said, hoping
that didn’t spring any false hope for him. If she decided against
it, the odds were not in Ian’s favor either.

“Why?” he asked.

“Because of my condition,” she said, knowing
full well nobody could understand her thinking but her; she was
going to have to figure this out on her own.

“Well, I know it’s none of my business,” he
said. “But I don’t think you should stop seeing him just because of
that. I know I wouldn’t want you to, I’m sure he feels the same
way.”

She looked up and nodded at him. If Scott
couldn’t convince her, it wasn’t likely that Ian could either.

Although, while looking at him all of the
memories of their time together flooded back, and with them so did
the butterflies. She remembered the night walking on the beach, how
comfortable she had been with him, how attracted they were to each
other. How they had only kissed was beyond her, but she supposed
that was probably all on her too.

She realized now that maybe having coffee
with Ian had been a mistake, even if it had been completely
unplanned. She had felt bad enough never telling Scott about Ian,
but now she was sitting and having coffee with the guy while Scott
was at work worrying about her.

She suddenly felt a huge pang of guilt. She
had feelings for Ian, and he for her, and they both knew it. The
only one who didn’t know it was Scott.

It seemed Ian could read her mind and he
stood up. “I should probably go, Ethne; I don’t want to complicate
things more for you.”

“Oh, Ian,” she said. “I’m sorry you feel
that way…I know you’re right, but I have missed you too and I am so
grateful you brought this back to me.”

She stood up and hugged him, feeling his
heart beating quickly against hers. The hug lasted a lot longer
than she had planned. After they separated and were looking into
each other’s eyes she could tell they both wanted the same thing,
but neither of them said anything.

Instead he picked up his coat and hung it
over his arm. “Will you be okay getting home?” he asked. “Don’t
take this the wrong way – you look a little tired.”

She laughed a little. “Well, honestly I am
feeling quite tired, I probably walked farther than I should have
today. I might just wait here a while longer before I go.”

“Ethne, I don’t feel right leaving you here
like this, let me give you a ride home,” he said.

She would have put up more of a fight given
the circumstances, but she was exhausted.

“Okay,” she said finally, standing up and
walking to his car with him.

“I still can’t believe you came all this way
to see me…to give me this,” she said.

“Well, I only wish I’d come sooner,” he
said. “Though by the sounds of things that probably wouldn’t have
made a difference.”

“It’s hard to say,” she said.

He looked over at her then. “What do you
mean?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she said. “Realizing she had just
opened a can of worms that should not have been opened – things
were hard enough as it was.”

“No, tell me,” he insisted.

“I just meant that I really missed you, that
I really hadn’t wanted to leave that day, and had Scott not come
into the picture, I would have been wondering about you – that’s
all.”

“Well, I suppose it doesn’t help to dwell on
what might have been,” he said, doing his best to make her, and
himself, feel better. “Do you love this guy?” he finally asked.

She paused for a second before answering. “I
don’t know…I think so.”

“Well,” he said. “He is a very lucky guy
then – I hope you give him a chance, Ethne, you deserve to be
happy.”

He opened the door for her and helped her
climb in. Her legs were simply exhausted, like two shaking branches
on a tree in the wind, though part of that may have been nerves –
it had been quite a shock to see Ian again.

She gave him directions to her house and he
helped her to her door.

They hugged goodbye, lingering perhaps a
little too long, knowing they would likely not see each other
again. She kissed him on the cheek.

“Thank you again, Ian,” she said, not quite
wanting to let him go this time.

“No problem, Ethne,” he said in the casual
way he had about him. “And hey, if things don’t work out with you
guys, you know where I live…Miami – you can come find
me
this time.”

She laughed at him, even though she was sad
to see him go, he always seemed to make her feel better. She waved
to him as he got back in his car and drove away. She hadn’t noticed
Scott’s car parked on the street. With the box holding her precious
pearl in her hand she unlocked her door and went inside.

T
he house was quiet
when she went inside; she was getting so used to having Scott
around a quiet house was not as common as it used to be.

Even though she felt tired, she almost
wished she wasn’t home already – the house was going to feel quite
empty until Scott got back.

She was a little relieved he hadn’t been
around though when Ian had brought her home, saved her an
uncomfortable afternoon of explaining.

As she walked into the living room she
suddenly got a weird feeling that she wasn’t alone. When she
rounded the corner to the kitchen she saw Scott sitting at the
dining room table and a new waffle maker sitting on the counter
with a huge bow on it.

“Hi!” she said. “What are you doing back so
soon? – and what’s this?” she asked, looking at the shiny new
appliance.

Excited at the prospect the afternoon might
not be a quiet one, she walked over and wrapped her arms around him
from behind and kissed him on the neck.

She was too happy and exhausted to even be
aware that he hadn’t responded to her yet. When she sat down next
to him she saw his face, and a look she’d never seen before. She
suddenly was hit with a feeling of dread that perhaps the afternoon
of explaining was about to commence.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Where have you been?” he asked. “I was
really worried about you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said. “I went for a
walk after you left – ended up walking too far and got really
tired.”

“Are you okay?” he asked, the look on his
face softening only a little.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said. “So, why are you
back from work so soon?”

“I tried to call you – you didn’t pick up, I
got worried,” he said.

He stood up and went into the kitchen to
make some tea, walking as if he was in a daze.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I must have left
my phone off.”

He didn’t look up. She was definitely
getting the feeling that this had less to do with the walk and more
to do with the person who had dropped her off from it.

Her heart started pounding at the thought
that Scott had seen her with Ian.

“Are you sure that’s all it was?” he
asked.

“What do you mean?” she asked, hoping she
was wrong.

His shoulders slumped a little as he walked
over and set her cup of tea down on the table. He sat down next to
her holding his cup tightly in both hands.

“Ethne, I saw you,” he admitted finally,
still not looking her in the eye.

“Saw me?” she asked.

That last question was her final futile
attempt at denial, she knew now that he had seen her.

“Yes, I saw you – just now, hugging another
guy,” he said. “Who was he?”

“Oh,” she said, the only words she could
muster just then; the walk and seeing Ian really had been a bit
much for her. Her mind and body were exhausted, but she knew this
conversation wasn’t going to wait.

“That was Ian,” she said. “I met him on the
plane trip to Belize. He was returning this to me – I had lost it
the last day I was there.”

She set the white box on the table and let
him open it.

“That’s a nice pearl,” he said, with very
little emotion. “Did he give that to you?”

“No, actually,” she said, taking the box
back and picking up the pearl as if it were her protection from the
conversation they were about to have. “I found this while
snorkeling in the Blue Hole.”

“You found it?” he asked, with a little more
interest as he leaned in to take a closer look.

She could tell from his tone that he didn’t
believe her, and she couldn’t blame him, it really was rather hard
to believe.

“Yes, I did,” she said. “I was on my way
back to the boat when the sun hit it; I went to see what it was and
found it laying on one of the shelves of the reef. I think the box
fell out of my pocket right before I got on the plane to come home
– I thought I’d never see it again. Ian must have found it,” she
said, shrugging her shoulders and hoping that would be enough of an
explanation, though that was doubtful she knew.

“Oh, I see,” he said.

After a few moments of silence he finally
looked up into her eyes.

“Was he going home the same day as you
then?”

“What?...oh…no,” she said, feeling like a
cornered cat who had no chance of escape.

“So…then why was he at the airport with
you?”

“Well…he just came to keep me company before
I had to leave – he knew I was rather anxious about flying
home.”

“Oh, so you got to know him a bit then?”

“A little, he was sitting next to me on the
way there, so he kind of got to see my anxiety first hand,” she
said.

“You looked like you knew him pretty well to
me,” he said, standing up and heading back to the kitchen. “And he
did come all the way here to return that to you,” he said, pointing
at the pearl in her hand.

“I am as surprised as you are that he did
that. I would have never expected anyone to do that, although I’m
grateful he did, this pearl meant a lot to me. But honestly, I
don’t even know how he found me, all I had told him was that I was
from San Francisco and worked at a hospital – that’s not a lot to
go on,” she said, hoping it wasn’t going to be necessary to bring
up her feelings for him; she couldn’t see any good coming from
that.

“Ethne, I’m not stupid, I saw your hug,” he
said. “And you kissed him. Just tell me the truth, please?”

She could see it in his eyes that he knew
there was more than she was saying. Obviously she wasn’t wrong in
thinking there was something strong between her and Ian, Scott had
seen it too.

“I don’t really know what to say, Scott,”
she said, staring down at her tea cup that she hadn’t even touched.
“I met the guy on the plane, we chatted a bit – it turned out we
were staying at the same place, so after I arrived he was there
too. I had a lunch and a dinner with him and had told him about my
snorkeling day. I’m not going to lie, I liked him – but you know
me, I don’t date people…well, didn’t date people, so I knew it
wasn’t going to go beyond that.”

She didn’t enjoy this feeling of being
attacked, but knew he had every right to be a little upset. That
was why she had decided not to say anything – she had never
anticipated she would ever see Ian again.

She was starting to feel really tired and
although she knew he wanted more of an explanation, she didn’t know
if she had it in her.

The wave of tiredness was almost too much to
take; she was starting to feel dizzy.

“Ummm…Scott, I think I need to go lie
down.”

The look of hurt in his eyes that she had
seen before was now replaced with a look of concern.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“I think so, I’m just really tired, I think
I overdid it today,” she said.

“Let me help you into bed then,” he said,
walking back over to her and helping her out of the chair.

She looked up at him and still saw a remnant
of sadness in his face.

“Scott, I will tell you more about it later
if you want. But honestly there isn’t much to tell, and I met him
before I even knew about you.”

“Yeah, I know, Ethne,” he said.

They walked quietly to the bedroom together
and he helped her get undressed and settled comfortably into
bed.

After she was all tucked in he stroked her
hair lightly and felt her soft cheek. He leaned over and kissed
her. “I just really care about you, Ethne – I think I’ve fallen in
love with you.”

She smiled at him through her tired haze,
touched his cheek to keep him from pulling away and looked him in
the eye.

“I love you too, Scott,” she said.

His eyes brightened as he smiled at her;
obviously those words put his mind at ease a little after what he
had just seen and heard.

“Well, if that’s true, then tomorrow you
will tell me why you didn’t tell me about that beautiful pearl you
found.”