Burning for You (Blackwater) (6 page)

I consider that Gabe has probably
already heard something through the gossip grapevine.  “I’m in the process of a
divorce.”  Sort of.  “Actually, I left my soon-to-be-ex-husband yesterday
morning and came here right after.  It’s pretty fresh.”

“Ah,” Gabe says.  “I won’t ask for
the sticky details.  Why should I?  We just met.”  He laughs at this.  I’m not
sure if it’s supposed to be a joke or not.  “Well I’m honored to be the first
person with whom you celebrate your newfound liberation,” he continues.  “Don’t
let me drink alone.”

“Oh, I won’t,” I say, smiling a bit
and taking a large gulp of the Merlot.  He’s right, I should be celebrating. 
I’ve been so on edge about Michael and the fact that I haven’t heard from him, I’ve
forgotten to be happy about my freedom from a miserable marriage.  “This is
very good,” I tell Gabe.

“It is,” he agrees.  “I always get
the best.”  The waiter returns holding a snail plate with a large oven mitt on
up to his elbow, looking slightly hilarious to me.  The plate contains six
holes full of delicious butter and chardonnay soaked escargot, liberally coated
in garlic and herbs.  I think about how if I’m going to get kissed tonight, I
ought to ease up on the garlic, but if Gabe is eating it as well, then no harm,
no foul.  There is crusty bread to soak up the wonderful butter-wine sauce and
I eat my designated three snails with relish.  “It’s good to see a girl who has
an appetite,” Gabe comments, looking at me over his glass.  I smile. 

“My mother would argue that it’s
not very feminine,” I say, “but then again, that kind of mentality caused my
sister to develop anorexia.”

“Have you seen Heidi since you came
back to Blackwater?” Gabe asks me.  I recall that Gabe apparently knows everyone.

I shake my head.  “I plan to call
on her tomorrow and see how she is.  Are you good friends with Heidi?”

Gabe nods.  “I’m very fond of your
sister and her husband, Jack Bellamy,” Gabe mentions.  “Jack and I are great
friends.  I stood up in their wedding as best man.”

“I missed that wedding,” I say. 
“Then again, you knew that.  Was it nice?”

Gabe nods.  “Very nice.  Jane
Cousineau was maid of honor, and Eleanor Dubois – now Laurent – was a
bridesmaid as well.  I believe you and Eleanor are around the same age?”

“We were best friends before I left
for Chicago,” I remark.  And her husband was my boyfriend, I think to myself.

Our waiter removes the snail plate
and the small plates where we’ve left bread crumbs behind.  My glass is
refilled and I drink some more, quickly.  The wine is good, and I’m deep in a
conversation about some touchy subjects, two factors which tend to get me drunk
very quickly.  “The Wellington should be out shortly, Sir,” the waiter says to
Gabe, touching him on the shoulder.  It’s the first thing the waiter has said
all night.  Gabe nods and the waiter walks away.

“So what do you do, Gabe?” I ask
him.  “I think it’s my turn for a question now.”

“Certainly,” he says, smiling and
crossing his arms.  I notice he’s wearing gold cufflinks in the shape of an
“O”.  What does that stand for?  “I’m in real estate.”

“Real estate?” I ask, not expecting
that answer at all.  He doesn’t look like a realtor.

“Real estate and construction,”
Gabe clarifies.  “My degree is in architecture.”

“Oh, wow,” I say.  “You have to be
artistic to be an architect, don’t you?  I can’t even draw a stick figure.”

He laughs.  “It’s a delicate
combination of art and math,” he explains.  “I lean more toward the planning
and negotiations side of the business, though.  I also travel a lot.  Projects
in France, Italy, Belgium and some in the states.  Mostly foreign projects,
though.”

“Oh,” I say, not sure how to
respond.  Either he’s showing off or I’m just not used to money…or success. 
Being married to a call center supervisor certainly does ground a person.  I’ve
forgotten what people with money talk like.  “Well that must be exciting,” is
all I can come up with, sounding politely lame.

Gabe nods.  “I like to travel. 
It’s….” his voice trails off, and I see he’s looking past me at something
behind me, toward the entrance.  His yellow eyes are narrowed and have
tightened into half-moon slits.  His jaw clenches tightly.  He seems so
captivated that I can’t help but swivel around and see what he might be looking
at.

I catch my breath when I see who is
standing at the entrance to Chez George.  My heart begins to pound and my chest
feels like it might explode.  The strange stirring within me is back.

It’s Ash Lavanne, my catalyst.

He is not alone. 

Even though I barely know him, I
feel jealous, almost to the point of being sick.  The woman with him is petite
and curvy in all of the right places, looking like a miniscule doll compared to
long and lean Ash Lavanne.  Her skin is the most beautiful shade of golden caramel,
and her heavily lashed eyes are large and dark.  She’s wearing an aquamarine
sheath dress in a Grecian goddess style that makes me feel like an underdressed
school girl in my matching skirt and sweater.  Her hair is pulled back severely
from her round face, showing off her delicate features, and it cascades down
her back in a dark waterfall down to her hips.  When I take my eyes off of her
and focus on Ash, I see him looking right at me.  Embarrassed, I quickly whirl
around and away from him to face Gabe.

Gabe is glaring as his animal eyes
bore into my own.  My face burns as the heat rushes to it, flushing heavily. 
I’m not sure what I did wrong – I only turned to see what he was looking at –
but I feel guilty.  With impeccable timing, our waiter sets down two plates
with our beef Wellington in front of us.  “Anything else I can get for you,
Sir?” he asks.

“Another bottle,” Gabe demands in a
growl.  My eyes widen at his harsh tone, but the waiter doesn’t blink.  He
slinks off and I watch Gabe as he cuts into the beef Wellington savagely. 

“Are you alright?” I ask him. 
“What was that?”

He looks up at me, his eyes
narrowing.  “I’m a very possessive man, Leah, and I don’t usually like the
woman I’m out with to focus on any man but me.”  His lips curl into a sadistic
smile and I rub my sweaty hands against my legs.  Well this date has gone sour
pretty quickly, I think. 

“I was just looking where you
were,” I explain.  “You seemed to react before I turned around though.  Does it
have to do with Ash Lavanne walking in here?”

Gabe looks surprised.  “How do you
know Ash?  Didn’t you say you just got into town?”

I nod.  “I did, but I got into a
car accident on Center and Emerald.  You know that awful traffic light?”  Gabe
acknowledges that he does with a nod.  “I rear ended him right in the middle of
the intersection.”

“Interesting,” Gabe says.  Then he
is quiet, back to his food.  I don’t feel terribly hungry anymore but I decide
to fill the awkwardness with trying the beef.  I can practically cut it with a
spoon, it’s so tender, and it tastes like butter.  Heavenly.

“This is amazing,” I tell Gabe,
trying to change the subject.  “I’m so glad you took me here.”  I am trying to
lighten up his mood, but he appears that he won’t budge.  A shadow casts over
the table and I look up and gasp.  Ash and his pretty companion are standing
next to our table.

“Miss Holt, we seem to be running
into each other rather frequently,” Ash says with small smile on his face.  “I
hope you are well this evening.”  He glances at Gabe, who continues to stare
directly at me, as though Ash isn’t even standing and talking to us.  “Hello
Gabe.”

“Ash,” Gabe says, nodding, finally
tearing his eyes off of me.  “Miss Martin.”

“Erika Martin, this is Miss Leah
Holt,” Ash continues, ignoring Gabe’s tone.  “She rear ended me at the
intersection of Center and Emerald.”

“How fun for you,” she says in a
deep purr.  “Nice to meet you, Leah.”

“Nice to meet you,” I say.  “That’s
a beautiful dress.”

“Thank you,” she says.  She turns
to Ash and smiles.  “Shall we make our way to our table?  I’m famished.”  She
giggles slightly and takes Ash’s arm possessively, shooting me a “he’s mine”
glance.  I blink, unaware of why I would have caused such a reaction from her. 
All I’ve done is say hello.  Unless she can hear the blood racing through my
veins…perhaps she actually can.

Ash doesn’t move, though.  “I
didn’t expect to see you here tonight, Miss Holt,” he continues, frowning.  “Or
in Gabe’s company.”

I look at Gabe, whose face has
darkened, making him look ugly and terrifying.  His wide mouth has tightened
into a grimace and his hands clench the edge of the table.

“Well, here I am,” I say, not
really knowing how to respond.  “Or, rather, here we are.”

Ash gives a curt nod.  “Let’s go,”
he says to Erika.  She is looking at Ash pensively and then at me.  She bites
her pouting bottom lip and lets Ash lead her away to a table across the
restaurant.  It’s directly in my line of sight, which is distracting when I can
tell Gabe is so ruffled by that chance meeting.

“What was that about?” I ask Gabe,
downing the remainder of my glass of wine in one expert gulp.  He doesn’t say
anything at first, and so I start to eat again.  The Wellington is too good to
waste, even though I’ve seemed to have lost my appetite.

“Ash Lavanne doesn’t like me much,”
he tells me, finally, watching me eat.  “And he appears to like you very much.”

“I don’t really know him,” I say. 
“I only just met him yesterday.”

“So you’ve said,” Gabe says.  “I’ve
known him almost my entire life.”

“Oh?” I ask, curious to know more. 
“Did you go to school together?”

“No,” Gabe says.  “The Lavannes
have private tutors.  Our families are closely linked.”  He doesn’t offer
anything else, but I’m dying to get more information.

“What does he do?” I ask.  “Are the
Lavannes very wealthy?”

Gabe snorts.  “As far as I know,
Ash doesn’t do anything except indulge his self and spend money.  He’s never
worked a day in his life.  The Lavannes are extremely wealthy.  They own a
vineyard.”

“Well I suppose with all of that
money, he doesn’t have to work,” I offer.  I can’t eat another bite and put my
utensils down.  “I’ve never heard of the Lavannes.  You said they were all
tutored.  I guess that would explain why we didn’t have any Lavannes in
school.”

“Yes, it would,” Gabe says.  “Are
we going to talk about Ash Lavanne all night long?  I was hoping we could get
to know each other better.”

“I’m sorry,” I say.  “It’s just
that I feel like although I lived in Blackwater most of my life, I barely know
my own town.  I guess I never fit in here in the first place, and now I’m
starting to truly realize it.”

Gabe’s face relaxes, finally.  “I
know what you mean, Leah,” he says, reaching for my hand across the table. 
“I’ve always been an outsider here.  I gave up on needing to feel accepted a long
time ago.”  He holds my gaze, making me shift in my seat uncomfortably.  “That’s
why I think we ran into each other today in the woods.  I think we belong
together.  I can feel it.”  His hand is cold and dry and for some reason, I
feel like I can’t breathe from his touch.  I stand up suddenly, yanking my hand
away and grabbing my purse.

“Excuse me,” I tell him quickly,
huffing and taking short and quick breaths.  “I think I’m having an asthma
attack.”  I rush toward the back of the restaurant, leaving him by himself at
the table.  I know I’m being rude, but I feel like my lungs are going to
explode and I might pass out.

I find the bathroom and am blinded
by a plethora of tiny white tiles, bright lights and a wall of mirrors.  A look
at my own face reveals that I resemble someone who’s been hit by a bus followed
by a train followed by an airplane.  Even my hair has come loose from its knot,
and my face is pale, accompanied by some blotchy spots on my cheeks.  “Worst
lighting ever,” I murmur to myself, though I fear it’s not the lighting, it’s
me.  I lean against the sink and puff my inhaler, finding a bit of relief as my
airways open up.  I can breathe more calmly and evenly.  Once I have my
breathing under control, I attempt to splash cold water on my cheeks without
ruining my eye makeup.

The bathroom door opens, and it’s
Erika, looking composed and beautiful, causing some more  jealousy to seep
through me.  “Are you alright?” she asks me.  “I saw you rush in here.  You
didn’t look well at all.”

“Asthma attack,” I explain.  She
nods and puts her purse down on a counter and opens it, pulling a small vial
out of it with a clear, pale pink liquid inside. 

“Take this,” she says.  “The whole
thing.  You’ll feel better.”

“What is it?” I ask her
skeptically.  She hands me the vial and I turn it around, looking for a label
or anything to indicate that she’s not about to poison me.

“Relax, it won’t kill you,” she
says.  “I’m a pharmacist.”

I look at her, bewildered.  “I’ve
never seen a pharmacist that looks like you.”  She laughs.  “This doesn’t
really look like a prescription, either.”

“Well, pharmacist by day,
apothecary by night,” she tells me.  “My elementals are air and earth. 
Therefore I have a natural ability to heal and also the ability to utilize and
manipulate natural resources.  It makes me the perfect apothecary.”

“I didn’t know anyone could have
two elementals,” I say.

Erika smiles.  “Lots of people have
dual elementals.  So drink up, lady.” 

I shrug and twist off the top of
the vial and toast the air.  “Bottoms up,” I say, and tip the vial back into my
mouth.  It’s sweet, like honey, but bitter as well.  “Whew,” I say.  “I hope
you didn’t just poison me.”

“If I wanted to, I could,” Erika
says.  I begin to cough uncomfortably.  She laughs.  “Trust me, I didn’t.  Ash
would kill me if I did.  Now hand me the empty vial.  I can reuse that.  We’re
going to get your out of here, now.”