Concealed Attractions (Cedar Island Tales) (8 page)

“Bird
watchers like it, too
. Bald
eagles winter over near the river
, so we see lots of them around here most of the year
.
B
ut not
everyone likes to climb up here,
especially since that rock slide loosened so much of the shale.  It can be dangerous when we go down. I know a way to get around it, but it takes more time to go that way, so we shouldn’t sta
y up here too long
.”

“Your dad likes you to stay close to home, does
n’t he? He reminds me of my Dad,
when he used to worry
about who my big sister was dat
ing.”
He picked up a stone and threw it over the side of the hill.

Does he think this is a date?
Her pulse picked up at the thought.  She
glanced
sidelong at him, glad he was looking at
the view and not her
.
“
I wish he wasn’t so strict
. My dad doesn’t
like
me
go
ing
out.”
As if she’d ever date again if he ever found out what she’d done, that she
was pregnant.

“
That’s probably his way of saying he cares about you.” Ben’s eyes, luminous in the sun, seemed to glow. “
Joel is having a party
on his boat next weekend,
to celebrate
my birthday.
You’
re
coming
, aren’t you
? The
rest of the
clinic gang
will be there
.” He leaned back
against
the rock
where
she was
sitting
and stretched his legs in front of him.

His voice sound like he cared
, that he wanted her to be part of the group
. She hadn’t to
ld Joel she’d be free when he’d
invited her. She wondered what it would be like to hold
Ben’s
hand. His long fingers seemed to know just where to place the scalpel or a stitch. What would it be like to kiss him? He looked sexy, lying in the sun, his lips slightly parted, his eyes closed against the sun, his thick lashes dark against his skin.
But she’d vowed not to get serious about a guy. Look what had happened with Steve. She couldn’t afford another disaster. But the party sounded like fun. Wasn’t fun part of what summer was supposed to be?

“I’ll ask my d
ad. If I tell him Joel will be there, maybe he’ll say it’s
okay
.”

“Tell him it’s not a date if that’s what he’s worried about.
I’m just giving you a ride to the harbor.”
He rested his head on his arms and his hair ruffled in the breeze
.
She lay back next to him, her back warmed by the sun-heated stone,
a hint of his aftershave
on the breeze
—it reminded her of something spicy—
and listened to the silence, broken only by the sound of the win
d as it moved among the trees, disappointed that h
e’d given her a reason not to think it was a date—so her dad woul
dn’t think it was, anyway. S
he like
d the idea of a date with him. But
maybe Ben thought of her as
just
another clinic employee, a friend, not really a date
, not someone he’d ever want to date
.

She dared herself to lean closer and asked, “A
re we supposed to bring you presents—to this birthday party of yours?”

“No need
. Just being there is enough.”
He
opened his eyes and sat up
.  “Come on
. We should head back,
in case we have trouble with
the Green Monster
. I don’t want your dad thinking I didn’t plan to get you home on time.”

Glad
that he seemed sensitive to her father’s stated
instruction
,
Danni
reached for her backpack and followed him down the trail.
Maybe the next time, her dad wouldn’t ask so many questions.
A half
hour later, they reached the car.

Ben
turn
ed
the ignition, the car gave a loud bang and a huge puff of smoke
and
immediately
stalled out. Several tries to start it again failed.

Ben groaned.
“Here, slide over and get behind the wheel. I’m going to pop the hood and see if I can find out why it keeps
dying.”
 

After he fiddled with some wires,
Danni
started the car,
Ben
closed the hood, and jumped into the passenger side
as they began to move slowly down the hill toward the road
.

“Don’t brake, just keep it moving. If we don’t have to stop, maybe we can get it to the top of the next hill and coast
into town
.”

She laughed. “All five miles? Fat chance.”

She
ex
changed seats
with him just over
the crest of the hill, and
the car
coasted down the other side until the engine caught again with another
huge
puff of
smoke before the engine settled into a rough gargling
sort of
ride.
At the end of her driveway,
Ben
left the engine running,
jumped out, opened her door, and waved to
Danni
’s mom.

“See you tomorrow.” 
Before the car could stall again, he backed it away and pointed its pea-green nose toward Joel’s house near the clinic.

Danni waved at Ben and entered the house. She’d changed her mind about confiding in Ben, her heart thumping at the thought that maybe he’d stop liking her if he knew. If only she weren’t pregnant.  But what she was going to do about that still escaped her.

Chapter
4

A week later, t
he
docked
Pride ’
n Joy
bobbed
gently
in the wake of
a
nearby
boat
headed out of the harbor
. Joel had
decorated the bridge with multi
colored crepe paper and Bronnie had
add
ed paper Japanese lanterns. Joel was passing out glasses of beer when Ben arrived with
Dannilynn
,
wearing
a
pretty sun
dress and sandals for the occasion
. After they climbed aboard the boat, she
handed
Ben
a small package wrapped in newspaper.

“Hey, you
didn’t have to g
et
me anything.”
He squeezed her hand.

“You haven’t seen it yet.
”
She
act
ed shy when she wouldn’t meet his eyes and then hopeful that he
would like it
when she glanced his way again.

“Well, thanks, anyway.”

A
beautiful woman sat
next to Joel
, sipping her beer and
seeming to
apprais
e
Ben
. “I don’t think we’ve met.
”
H
er long blond hair bl
ew
over her shoulder in the breeze.

Joel did the honors. “Sorry, Angela. The birthday boy is Benjamin Edwards, my
new
extern and all-purpose slave for the year.” He dipped a chip in the spread on the nearby table. “And, the
gift-provider is my other slave,
Dannilynn
Kelly
. She worked for me
the
last
two
summer
s
. That qualifies her as a
glutton for punishment, I guess.” H
e laughed. “Glad you could make it,
Danni
. You just missed Kate and
Pia
. They had to leave early. Have a seat and dig into the dip. I know you like guacamole.”

S
alsa music
issued
from the radio set up in the cabin.
An hour later,
Ben
swayed to the music and nearly sl
ipped
as he balanced on one foot.
 

Bronnie laughed. “You can’t drive home if you’re drunk, so watch your intake, young man.”

“I’ll stick with soda.
”
Ben held up a can of beer
in Danni’s direction
.
She
trad
ed
jibes with Bronnie and dar
ed
Ben to balance with his eyes closed
, which he did with ease, claiming
he
wasn’t really drunk
, just tipsy with happiness
.

When Angela turned off the radio and
announced
that she was cutting the cake, the five of them raise
d their glasses and toasted Ben
—
now an old man of
twenty-four
—
and sang “Happy Birthday
.
”
He bowed
dee
ply
and reached for the gifts piled on the table.

Joel’s present was a procedures record
book
,
to keep track of the different surgeries and other
clinical
skills
Ben
would be
learning
during his externship. 

“Hey, thanks, Joel. This will come in handy.”

Angela gave Ben a sweatshirt from the University of Washington, cross-state rival to Washington State
University
, along with a note requiring that he wear it to no fewer than ten home games.
She kissed him on both cheeks, causing him to blush
.

“I want to see pictures of you
wearing it
at those
games
after you go back for your last year,
whether it’s football or basketball season.”

“You’re trying
to get me killed, aren’t you?” H
e
smirk
ed.

“I know you need to eat, and how little you are being paid
.”
Bronwyn
handed him a gift certificate good for two meals at one of her favorite restaurants
in town
. “You can order out and they deliver, too,” she added when he thanked her.

Ben reached for the little package
Danni
had brought.
“
Love
the original wrapping.”
He winked at her.

“I hope you like it.”
Her voice s
ound
ed shy
again
, not like when they had gone to the Point
and she’d so confident
ly
point
ed
out different aspects of
Cedar Island
.

He removed the paper to reveal a small
book
, written by a young man whose memoir recorded his experiences in the CCC in the mid-1930s.

“Cool! Where did you find this?”

“I talked to the owner of the used
book
store near
Buckley
.” She
looked at her watch
. “I think I’d bette
r be going. I promised my d
ad I wouldn’t stay out too late and
—
”

“You have to
be at
work on time tomorrow
,
” Joel
finished her sentence
.

“
R
ight.”

“I’ll drop you off,
Danni
,” Bronnie offered. 

Ben watched them go then returned to
the stern and sat down, disappointed
that Danni had left.

“She’s a nice girl,” Angela said to Joel, “and very thoughtful. How’d you ever get her to come
to
work for you
again
?”

“My magnanimous pe
rsonality.
”
He reached
up to push a strand of her blond hair away from her face.