Falling In (6 page)

When she
opened her eyes again, she looked out to the last tiny sliver of the sun as it
dipped down and disappeared in a flash.

“No,”
she finally responded.  “This really is paradise, isn’t it?”

Two
plates of food abruptly appeared between them.

“Eat up,
kids,” a random, middle-aged woman said before she forced the meals into their
hands and scurried off.

Audrey
stared greedily at her dinner and said, “Who could say no to that?”

Without
reservation, she dug into it.  The first thing that she went after was the
burger, followed closely by big bites of potato salad, charred corn and
biscuits that had been cracked open and drizzled with honey so sweet that it
made her teeth hurt.

“Either
I was about to die from starvation,” she said through a mouthful, “or this is
the best damn food I’ve ever tasted.”

Liam,
who was only about a quarter of the way in, set his plate down.

“Do you
want another beer?”

Though
her head was already swimming, Audrey decided to let herself enjoy the night,
whether that meant three beers or thirteen.  After nodding, she swallowed the
bite in her mouth and responded, “I can get it.”

Liam
shook his head and hopped up.  When he did, he barely grazed her rosy cheek
with one of his fingers.

“Don’t
worry about it.  I’ll be right back.”

Her
plate of food thoroughly obliterated, Audrey fell back onto the grass with her
arms and legs splayed out, sure that her stomach was going to explode.  She
eyed the first twinkling stars of the night.  It was still early in the evening
and she could already see more of them than she ever saw in Chicago.  They
peeked out through the passing clouds, which were more and more infrequent and
moved by at a brisk pace.

“Did I
lose you?”

Audrey
tilted her head back and replied, “Not yet.”

Liam
smiled and set two open beers onto the lid of a small cooler to keep them from
tipping over.  When that was done, he laid down a foot or two away and put both
arms behind his head.

“So tell
me,” Audrey said.  “How did a guy like you end up living in a place like this?”

She
could feel his leg scoot just a hair closer, making her stomach twist around
her dinner like a snake.

“I made
some lucky investments with my music royalties before the housing bubble
finally popped.  With the money I made, I was able to come down here and set up
shop.”

Audrey
was even more intrigued.

“You
were in a band?”

“For a
few years.  We got to travel a bit, so that was pretty cool.”

Though
she couldn’t see it, handfuls of party-goers started to break away and leave as
the night went on.  Overhead, the bright wash of glowing stars intensified
against the silky black skies.  The view was so good that Audrey could spot the
cloudy arm of the Milky Way as it stretched all the way across, from one
horizon to the other.

After a
little while, Liam sat back up and kicked off his shoes.

“What
about you?”

The
obvious question made Audrey suddenly tense up.

“What do
you want to know?”

Liam
grabbed a beer and swallowed down a big, powerful swig before he responded, “I
want to know what kind of kick-ass job you have where you can just up and leave
for two weeks at a time.”

The mention
of her job--and everything that she lost soon after--threatened to temper her
good mood.

“I
actually got laid off right before I came down,” she said as plainly as she
could.

“Oh,
sorry.”

“It’s
okay.  I needed a break anyway.”  She turned over on her side and looked down
the hill.  Almost everyone was gone, with only a few stragglers that hung back. 
It wasn’t too late, but the town’s average age was heavily skewed toward the
high end, which made for a lot of folks turning in well before midnight.  “So
what instrument did you play?”

“Oh,” he
said and reached over her.  “This bad boy.”

He set a
guitar case between them and popped it open.  When he did, the powerful scent
of good, skunky weed hit her like a wall.  It was a smell that brought back
many memories of when she and Max were young and in love.

“Do you
smoke?”

She
finally sat up and stretched out the cramped muscles in her back.

“I do
today.”

Liam
smirked and pulled a battered acoustic guitar out.   After setting it over his
crossed legs, he went back in and dug around for a minute, eventually pulling
out a small joint and a black lighter.  When he flicked the latter to life, it
only exaggerated his chiseled features, leaving behind an almost artistic
spattering of shadows.

He
puffed on the joint a few times, sending up a wall of smoke that nearly
obscured him.  It wasn’t until he exhaled and blew the haze away that Audrey
could see his gorgeous features again.

“Be
careful,” he said and extended it to her.  “This stuff will knock you on your
ass.”

Audrey
eyed it suspiciously.

“What?” 
Liam pushed the case out of the way and slid in closer, with his
performance-worn guitar cradled comfortably in his lap.  “You don’t have to.  I
can put it away if you want.”

Audrey
grabbed his arm as he started to withdraw it.

“No,
it’s fine.  I just don’t want to embarrass myself.”

Liam
chuckled and pushed up next to her.  “Here,” he said and slipped his hand
around the back of her neck.  “I’ll help you out.”

He took
a long, deep drag off of the joint.  They were so close together that its
burning red tip glowed bright near Audrey’s nose.  She could feel the throbbing
heat as it radiated out onto her skin, which glistened from the moisture-laden
air around them.  Before she even knew what was happening, Liam’s lips grazed
against hers and he exhaled the heavy smoke into her lungs.  When she couldn’t
take much more, she pulled back slightly but his tight grip kept her close.

Audrey
held the sweet, delicious fog in for as long as she could before exhaling a
massive, billowing cloud between them.  She wasn’t even done before Liam pulled
her in again--this time for a kiss--and forced whatever smoke remained to seep
out of her nose in tenuous, white tendrils that wafted up and disappeared into
the glittering sky.

When
their lips met, she closed her eyes and let herself melt into the handsome
stranger as he smashed the joint into the ground and used both hands to pull
her closer.  Between their massaging tongues, the lingering notes of marijuana
skipped and danced over her taste buds.  Hard chills raced through her spine
and made her quiver under Liam’s powerful grip.

By the
time they finally separated, Audrey didn’t know what to say.  The storm brewing
in her head was so ferocious that she couldn’t even form a thought, let alone
an intelligent statement that would diffuse the situation.

“I, uh,”
she said through quick breaths and opened her eyes.  “I need to be getting back
home soon.  I’m really tired.”

Though
she wanted to stay right there in his arms until the sun came back up, it
wasn’t far from the truth.  There was also the small issue of her husband,
which she already struggled with.  But it felt so good when Liam kissed her; so
unlike anything she ever felt before.

Should
I feel like this?

“I’m
sorry.”  He finally let go of her and put his guitar aside.  “I didn’t meant
to-”

Audrey
didn’t want him to feel bad.

“Please
don’t apologize,” she said and ran her thumb over the coarse stubble on his
cheek.

Liam
smiled and jumped up.  Once on his feet, he helped Audrey up and flung the
guitar case’s strap across his broad chest.

“Let’s
get you home.”

In
silence, they walked down to where they first met that night.  When they
arrived, Audrey grabbed the bike, rolled it toward her and threw her body onto
the creaky seat.  As soon as she started to push the pedal down, her dirty
sandal slipped off and her body was thrust forward.  She stumbled sloppily for
the second time that night and--like he did before--Liam grabbed her just in
time.

“Look,
you can’t tell me that you’re fine,” he said though small fits of laughter. 
“I’ve never been to Kim’s place.  How far away is it?”

Her face
felt like it was on fire with embarrassment as she answered softly, “It’s only
like a mile away.”  She pointed a wobbling finger in a general direction, “That
way.”

“Get off
there.  I’ll walk both of you home.”

Liam
took her arm and removed her from the bike.  When she got both feet on the
ground safely, one important piece of her outfit was missing: the bandage. 
Audrey’s heart sank but she knew that there was no sense in trying to hide it
again.

He
lifted her arm up to better position it in the light.  Staring back at both of
them were the scattered, small wounds that started to scab over but were still
red and puffy around the edges.  There were so many that her entire wrist was
still a bit larger than the other.

“What
the hell happened to you?”

Audrey’s
tongue felt tied.  She didn’t want to lie anymore, but she also didn’t want to
scare Liam away.  Even though she knew that she was still married to Max--and
in spite of the fact that the man holding her hand was still a stranger--she
needed to know why she was so helplessly drawn to him.  It wasn’t a feeling
that she was willing to sweep under the rug.

She
turned and swept away the damp hair that clung to her face.

“Would
you accept it if I said I didn’t want to talk about it?”

“Of
course, but I’m going to get it out of you eventually,” he teased.

Audrey’s
shoulders sank with relief and she puffed out a heavy sigh.

Her
handsome companion jabbed her with his elbow and said, “Now come on, you lush.”

Audrey’s
feet started to move forward with Liam at the lead, but they felt like they
were encased in concrete.  With every step and bump in the road, she thought it
might be her last.

She
paused and asked, “What about your stuff?”

He shook
his head and squeezed her hand.

“This is
Cedar Key, not Compton.  I’ll get it tomorrow.”

Under
the sparking stars, Audrey complied with his guidance forward.  She clung
tightly to his warm, rough hand the entire way.  Neither one said much, though
neither let their tight grip on the other go slack, either.

The pair
made their final turn onto the property, though they walked slower the closer
that they got.  Now that the home’s slanting roof was in view, their pace
decreased to a crawl.  Despite their efforts, they arrived at the base of the
stairs at almost 1 in the morning.

A
quarter moon hung high over their heads as Liam propped the bike up against the
railing and shifted the guitar case on his back.

“Consider
yourself delivered.”

Audrey
pulled him in for a long hug and took in his earthy, spicy scent.

“Thanks. 
Do you want to crash on the couch?”

He
pulled back and finally released her hand.  Without him, it suddenly felt cold
and lonely.

“My
house actually isn’t far.”

“Are you
sure?”

Liam
flashed his toothy smile and responded, “Of course.”

There
was a brief moment of silence as the two of them wrestled with the evening’s
events.

“Can I
call you tomorrow?”

“Yeah,”
Audrey said and started up the stairs.  “Maybe you should.”

He simply
nodded and watched until the front door shut behind her.  Once inside of the
house, Audrey raced up the stairs and took her turn watching as he moseyed off
of the property and disappeared into the night.

She
lowered down into the oversized sill, which was conveniently stocked with
different sizes and colors of pillows and sat at one end of the short hall. 
Her shoes dropped to the floor with a thud as she kicked them off and climbed
in to the small nook.

Unsure
of what to think, she leaned forward and pressed her forehead against the
glass.  Of all the things that she prepared herself for after Max dropped his
bombshell at their dinner, a handsome bad boy who liked her wasn’t one of them.

She
sighed and licked her lips, where a faint hint of Liam lingered.  Before long,
all of the tempting possibilities danced like sugar plums through her head and
lulled her into a deep, much-needed slumber.

Chapter
5

As would
be the case for a few mornings in the small, seaside town, the noisy birds
stirred Audrey from where she sat the night before, slumped over in the
upstairs windowsill.  She sniffled and peeled her sticky forehead off of the
glass.  Without even looking, she could feel the hot disk where it would to be
red for a while.

“Great,”
she groaned and slipped down from her makeshift nest.

The skin
on her feet felt like it was being pricked with thousands of tiny needles as she
dragged down the hall and started a steaming hot shower.

It was
almost three hours later--close to 10 in the morning--when she rolled up to the
Island Hotel.  Under the gently fluttering flags that adorned the front, Arthur
was seated on a stone bench with a newspaper that was spread open over his lap.

“It’s
really quiet around here.”  Audrey pulled in just a few feet away and climbed off
of the bike.  “Like a ghost town or something.”

Arthur
meticulously folded his paper and didn’t speak again until it was done.

“It
happens a lot, but I wouldn’t call it creepy.”

“I
guess.  I’ve been here a few days now and I still can’t get used to how desolate
it is sometimes.”

 “That’s
why some people love it here,” he stood up, tucked the newspaper under his arm
and wagged a finger at her.  “Once you’re here long enough, you’ll understand.”

Too
bad I’m only here for two weeks.

Preferring
instead to get down to brass tacks, Audrey responded, “So you wanted to see
me?”

“Yes,”
he said and stretched out his back.  “I was wondering if you would be
interested in touching up a painting for me.”

Audrey’s
mind wandered back to the brief conversation they had at the party.

“Oh, I
don’t know.  It’s been a long time and-”

“Nonsense,”
he interrupted and started on his way inside.  “Follow me.”

Audrey
let him take the lead, though she was surprised to find that she remembered
much of the building very, very well.  The same thing went for the
locally-famous painting of Neptune himself, bursting up from the seas
surrounded by all kinds of creatures with his trident in hand.  When they got
back to the bar, she slipped behind it and pulled herself up onto where the
liquor bottles once stood.  Arthur had been kind enough to move every last one
onto a table near a window.

Her
knees planted onto the narrow ledge, Audrey ran her hands over the battered
painting.  Every ripple and bump that was left by the previous artist’s brush
strokes tickled the sensitive pads of her fingertips.  Just like the town, they
had their own colorful story to tell.

At the
very top of the mural--about three inches from the ceiling--a small patch of
yellow stained the white crest of a wave.

“It
really has been a
long
time, Arthur.”

She
looked over her shoulder to find the old man, who leaned back against the bar
with a knowing smile on his face.

“And I
believe you.”

“Then
why are you asking me?”

“Because,”
he said simply.  “I like you.”

Audrey
turned back to the painting and ran a finger over Neptune’s lackluster trident.

“Forgive
me, but I’m not sure that’s a good enough reason to let me work on this.”

“It’s as
good a reason as anything, in my experience.”

As she
hopped down from the ledge, the old man’s faith in her was both stunning and
flattering.

“I can
have all of the supplies here tomorrow morning,” he said.  “And I’m willing to
pay you a thousand dollars.”

Audrey
felt like she needed to gather her jaw from the floor.  The hefty price tag
that came with the work was tempting, for sure.  After all, she just lost her
job and knew that a divorce could cost a fortune.  It would be stupid for her
to decline.

“Okay,”
she agreed reluctantly.  “But you have to promise to stop me if it starts
looking bad.”

Arthur
nodded and said, “I promise.”

The two
shook hands over the deal.

“You’ll
do fine.”

---

In the
kitchen of her friend’s home, Audrey slowly paced back and forth.  Under her
naked feet, the chilly tile felt so refreshing.  The whole time that she had
been in Florida, the hot, sticky air hung around like a wet blanket, forcing
her to take a cold shower on more than one occasion.

On the
far side of the long, narrow room, an equally long window stretched from end to
end.  It overlooked another span of swamp that looked nearly the same as the
one in front, save for Kim’s elderly neighbor’s home, which sat like a doll
house near a half circle of trees almost a quarter of a mile away.

Audrey
ran her fingers over the rugged edges of tile that covered the counter and went
on walking.

The
responsibility of fixing the Island Hotel’s painting weighed heavily on her,
though not nearly as much as everything else.  She hadn’t returned a single
call from her husband since the plane touched down and it was, without a doubt,
the longest that she went without talking to him in all the time that they were
married.  And though the lack of Max made her feel a little better every day,
the way everything changed so suddenly left Audrey feeling like she would give
anything to go back to how it was before.

Though
her new feelings for Liam held promise, she didn’t know how much fight she had
left.

Just
after opening the fridge and sticking her head in, her phone rang to life.  She
glanced down to it and was immediately relieved when she saw who it was.

“Hello,
stranger,” she said playfully after she answered.

Liam’s
soothing, deep voice bled through the line, “What are you up to today?”

“I just
got back, actually.  Arthur is paying me to touch up the painting in the bar.”

“Really?” 
He sounded a little surprised.  “That thing’s been there for ages.”

She
grabbed a carton of orange juice and threw the fridge door shut.

“I
know.”

While
she knocked back a hearty gulp, Liam spoke again.

“So do
you want to see something cool?”

Audrey
lowered the carton from her lips and raised her eyebrow.

“That’s
a little too ambiguous for my tastes.”

“Okay,”
he said.  “Do you want to see something really fucking cool?”

Audrey
choked on the drink for a second and tried  her best to stifle a laugh from
sending the acidic fluid through her nose.  It took a few seconds, but she
eventually swallowed it down.

“You
sure do have a way with words.”

“Is that
a yes?”

She
glanced down to her left hand, which clenched the carton of juice tightly.  If
she looked hard enough, she could still see the faded tan line from her wedding
band.  Its blurred edges taunted her like a silent reminder of how everything
went wrong, forcing her to remember both the good and the bad.

Desperate
to move away from the shattered remains of her old life, Audrey answered,
“Yeah.  That’s a yes.”

Though
they were only on the phone, she swore that she could hear him smiling through
her speaker.

“Awesome. 
I’ll be back at the dock from last night.  Wear some sneakers; there’s a little
walking involved.”

“I can
manage that.”

“And
don’t bring your phone,” he added.

“Um,”
Audrey chuckled.  Every time he spoke, she could feel the walls surrounding her
heart start to come down.   “That’s a little creepy.”

The line
crackled as he laughed into the phone.

“That’s
not what I meant.  If it doesn’t get wet, it won’t work where we are going
anyway.”

She
leaned up against the fridge, took a big drink of the sweet liquid and replied,
“This just keeps getting better and better.”

 “Come
on,” he said with light-hearted exasperation.  “You’ll be safe with me.”

The
simple way that the words rolled off of Liam’s tongue was vastly different from
the way that they made Audrey feel.  They were small words--individually
insignificant--but spoken together, they made her heart stutter.  By then, all
that she could ask for was to be safe; to be able to put her guard down for
just a little while without everything in her life imploding.

“Okay,”
she resigned.  “I’ll be there in forty minutes.”

“Sounds
good.  See you soon.”

She hung
up the phone and put the last few drops of OJ back into the fridge, doing her
very best to stifle the school-girl giggles that threatened to spill out.  It
was something that she knew she wasn’t supposed to feel, but Audrey couldn’t
help herself.  She longed for the tender affection that the fire between them
promised, even if it meant that she would have to put herself--and her
heart--in his hands.

The cell
phone was still warm from being cradled between her head and ear as she let it
fall from her grasp.  It clattered and clanked down with a little skid and
eventually landed near the edge of the sink.

Knowing
full well that the phone wasn’t the only thing that she wanted to leave behind,
Audrey quickly showered again and dressed.  Before she could change her mind,
she forced herself--and the rattling, green bicycle--down the rickety road that
led off of the property.

---

Waiting
with his red kayak at his feet, Liam’s loose mop of hair shone brightly under
the blazing sun.  When he caught sight of Audrey, he looked away from checking
the vessel out and greeted her.

“Fancy
meeting you here.”

Audrey
parked her bike just as a soft gust of tropical air blew her loose locks back
behind the shoulders of her thin, white blouse.  It was sheer enough to let her
pink bikini top show through, along with the gently sloping curves that led to
her hips.  Similarly, the loose ends of the strings tying the matching bottoms
together poked out from the waist of her denim shorts.

“Yes,”
she laughed and started down the dock.  “What a surprise.”

Liam
stood up and hugged her when she was close enough.

“I hope
you brought your paddling arms.”

“Why? 
Have you been bad?”

He
raised an eyebrow with a chuckle and responded, “Maybe, but I can’t tell you
all of my secrets, now can I?”

Though
it wasn’t intentional, his comment made a pang of guilt hit Audrey’s stomach.

“Of
course not.”  She paused and looked beyond him.  “Where are we going?”

Liam
finally let his hands drop, but not before he made his palms graze the
fluttering strings on her hips.

“Hop in
and I’ll tell you.”

Audrey
helped him lower the surprisingly light boat into the water, which was almost
as warm as a relaxing bath.  Not long after, Liam joined her and pushed them
away from the dock.

“I’ll
bet you didn’t know that this town was already wiped off the face of the map
once,” he said with a smug--if not adorable--look on his face.  “In-”

“1896,”
Audrey cut in.

Liam’s
eyes rolled back and he groaned.  If he didn’t already have a calling, Audrey
thought that he would probably do well as an actor.

“There
you go again.  First Arthur at the party and now this.  How could you possibly
know all of that?”

“I hate
to say it, but Arthur had his hand in that, too.  When I met him, he told me a
little about the history of the town.”

He
grabbed the paddles from near their feet and handed one over.

“Did he
tell you that the old town is actually somewhere else?”

“No. 
What do you mean?”

He
turned around started to paddle, which prompted Audrey to do the same.

“I’m
taking you to Atsena Otie Key,” he said and pointed to a little island not too
far away.   “That’s where most of the town was
before
the hurricane in
1896.  After it was wiped out by a ten foot storm surge, the surviving
residents moved it to where it is now.”

Under
the smooth strokes of their oars, the crystal blue water rippled by with
random, brightly-colored fish that darted around.  Audrey watched to her right
as the tall mangroves slowly passed by with their long, arched roots dipped
like hesitant toes into the ocean.

“That
sounds-”

“Pretty
fucking cool?”

Audrey
chuckled and nodded her head.

“Yeah, I
guess it does.”

It
didn’t take long to reach the abandoned island, though the gently rolling waves
didn’t help much as they paddled up to a dock that showed its age.  Half of its
boards already gave up and dangled from where they once proudly sat.  Liam took
off his shoes and socks, then hopped out and pulled the kayak up onto the
pearly white sand, which was studded with hundreds of untouched shells.