Eternal Island (Book 1 in the Eternal Series) (26 page)

“How about… 2 to 10?”

“How about 3 to 8 and I take all of the after hours, including weekends? We will work 5 to 7 on weekends and you keep the money made during those hours.”

Again, the hand travelled to his chin, and then his face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Deal. I am very happy. I will see you both at three tomorrow. I get to go home two hours early every day now.”

“I can only heal pain and injuries. I don’t know anything about delivering babies, so that one’s still yours,” Ariana said as Lidia’s image popped into her head.

“That’s okay, you will learn. See you tomorrow,” the Shaman said as he ushered them to the door, waving good bye with a big smile on his face.

Ariana still had her mouth open as the little man shut the door.

“I got a raise and I don’t have to work in the kitchen any longer, woop-woop.” Becky did a little dance and Ariana had to laugh. Becky rushed at Ariana and gave her a big hug. “Thank you. Thank you so much. I was only making fifty dollars a week after room and board working in that hot ass kitchen.”

As the girls got back in the car, Ariana asked. “How much is room and board a week?”

“A hundred and fifty for a suite like ours or a hundred for a single room with a small bathroom. The problem with suites, though, is you might end up getting stuck with an unpleasant roommate. I got lucky. I’ve got the best roomie in the whole world,” Becky shrieked hugging Ariana again.

“That’s pretty reasonable, I guess. They feed us and we don’t have to pay extra for utilities,” Ariana mused as she continued her journey down Palm Tree Street.

“What do you mean by ‘us’ and ‘we’? You ain’t gonna have to give anybody a dime, Princess. You do know that’s what you are, don’t you? One of these days – and I have a feeling we won’t have long to wait – the King is gonna ask you to be his Queen, so you’d better figure out your speech ’cause he will probably do it in front of a whole bunch of people.”

Ariana couldn’t breathe, all of a sudden. She pulled the car over and slammed on the breaks.

“Holy shit, girl, are you alright? I didn’t mean to scare you, but it’s the truth and I just didn’t want you to act like this whenever it happened.” Becky opened the glove compartment, pulled out the owners’ manual and started fanning Ariana with it. “It ain’t a bad thing. You couldn’t catch you a better looking fish. He would do anything for you, so calm down. This is where you want to be, right?” When Ariana just kept hyperventilating Becky repeated herself. “Right? Don’t tell me you didn’t see this coming. He’s in love with you and now that he knows you love him, too, it’s only a matter of time. You okay?”

Ariana tried taking deep slow breaths. “I just watched my husband go to Heaven last night, Becky. I don’t think I’m ready for marriage yet. I love Abe, but I don’t know anything about him. Michael proposed to me three times before I finally set a date. We dated for two years before we got married.”

Becky grinned. “Well, you’ll be lucky if you have two weeks, but I’m willing to bet you don’t have two days.”

Again with the not being able to breathe. “I’ve got to talk to him before he does anything stupid. I’ll feel really bad if I have to refuse him in public.”

“Ariana, why can’t you just say yes? Any girl on the island would kill to be in your shoes. Well, not me; I kinda like Jonah. And not Rainey, either. She is swooning over some guy in her dreams, literally, a dream walker. But, yeah, any other girl would kill to be where you are.” Becky decided a little rehearsal was in order, to get Ariana used to the things to come. “Here,” she said. “I’ll be Abe and you be, well, you. Ariana, my sweet, precious, darling, baby doll, I love you more than AB Negative blood. You are the apple in my pie, will you be my bride?”

Waiting… waiting… waiting. “Ariana, it’s your turn. This is where you’re supposed to say…”

“Oh, hell, I know what I’m supposed to say. Yes, damn it, yes. And it’s the apple of your eye; nothing to do with pies.”

“Well, I sure hope you say it a little nicer than that, but at least you said it. Say it again.”

“Yes,” Ariana said rolling her eyes.

“Do it again.”

“You feel like walking?”

“No, why?”

“Shut the hell up and show me where the spa is, then.” Ariana stepped on the accelerator, the tires spun and the car skidded sideways for a short distance.

“It’s on the other side of the island. You’re gonna turn right on 85 Mile Highway. We get to see what this baby can do, and if you won’t do it, sister, come sit over here and let me drive.”

Ariana smiled at Becky. “You wish! I’ve got this.” She took the ninety degree turn at forty miles per hour and pushed the pedal all the way to the floor.

C
HAPTER 37

Lidia sat in room three of the Shaman’s clinic. He had told her everything was fine with her and the baby the other night, but he insisted she come in for a check-up and an ultrasound as soon as she felt well enough.

She didn’t know how far along she was, but she was a decent witch, so she could sense that there was another heartbeat in her body, and it was strong. Already, she could feel the baby move around and there was a fairly good sized bulge making up her lower abdomen. She was actually surprised that Max hadn’t figured out sooner that she was with child but, thinking about it, he hadn’t paid her any attention in months, and she was doing a great job of wearing clothes that hid her condition. The last time they’d held each other was the night Abe informed him he was to be second in command. That had been over three months ago, so she knew she had less than four and a half months before she would get to hold the only thing in the world that mattered to her.

He Who Heals finally came into the room. “Are you feeling okay, my dear? You look a little worried.”

Lidia sighed. “I will feel better after you tell me again that everything is alright. I just have this feeling…”

“Nonsense, my child. Every expecting mother worries, you’re not the only one. I wouldn’t be surprised if you dream of the young having three eyes or horns on its head.”

“You know about my dreams?” Lidia asked astonished. “I didn’t tell anyone and…”

The Shaman chuckled. “Lidia, Lidia, calm down. Like I said, every woman who is to have a baby will worry and have strange dreams; it is completely normal. Your hormone levels are high, so just relax and lay back and we will get you a picture of your new little bundle of joy.”

The Shaman raised Lidia’s shirt up to her breasts and tucked a cloth in the top of her pants to keep the jelly from ruining her clothes.

“This may be a little cold. I didn’t know you were coming in today, or I would have had it warmed for you. Now, tell me, what would you like to have? A boy or a girl?”

The Shaman squirted the gel on her abdomen.

“Holy Cow, that’s cold! I don’t care if it’s a girl or a boy as long as it’s healthy. I’ve been sick a lot lately. Is that normal?”

“Hmmm.”

Lidia sat up quick, looking at the monitor the Shaman seemed puzzled over.

“What’s wrong with it?”

He Who Heals actually let out a full belly laugh. “Lidia, you are fine. You are having morning sickness. Not a serious condition. Almost all women experience it during pregnancy. And yes, you might be having a little more sickness than normal because you are having more than one baby. This –”

“What?” Lidia shouted.

“Yes. See? Look. This one here is a… boy and this one… ha, it’s a girl. You are… sixteen weeks along. You are pregnant by a vampire, yes?”

Lidia couldn’t speak, all she could do was nod and stare at the monitor with her mouth hanging open.

“Yes, then you are due September twentieth, and do keep in mind that you might not be able to carry them full term.” The Shaman rolled his stool over to a cabinet and took out a bottle of pills. “Take one of these a day, every day. Those babies, especially since they are a vampire descendant, are draining you of your body’s nutrition and vitamins. Eat something with them and they won’t make you feel as sick. Now, off you go. Go spread the wonderful news.” He handed her a towel to wipe the gel off her stomach.

“But…”

The Shaman took her hands in his. “You will be fine, Lidia. You have wonderful friends who are going to bend over backwards to help you. You are not alone, you never were. You just have to let people get closer. Have a good day, and I will see you in three weeks. If I’m not here, just ask for Ariana. She’s just agreed to join me a short while ago. She will be fully trained and competent in the use of all my equipment by the time you come back.”

That finally distracted her worrisome mind. “She came by and accepted the job? I’m so happy for her. That is good news indeed.”

He frowned. “Yeah, and her little friend too. I am going to have to go out and hurt people on the island on purpose just so I have enough money to pay my hired help.”

“Becky, too? Oh, yea!” Lidia clapped and got off the table. She walked to the door as the Shaman stopped at the counter.

“Here. Here is your picture. Go show everyone.” He smiled at her warmly.

§ § §

Lance pulled in his driveway at seven forty five. He unlocked the side door off the carport to find soft music playing and little tea candles lit all over the house. Red rose petals left a thin trail through the kitchen, towards the hall. He grinned.

“Well, little hummingbird, looks like you found a better use for my roses than leaving them in a vase to die.” Lance ran his shaky fingers through his hair and slowly followed the trail of petals down the hall to his bedroom.

At the sound of his voice, Janie walked out of his bathroom in a dark blue see-through night gown that went all the way to the floor. The smell of roses mixed with Janie’s floral body wash, overwhelming his senses. He was a mere man, for God’s sake! Men were not meant to multitask. One sense at a time was all he could manage. He gave up on the sense of smell to concentrate on sight instead, which also meant his jaw muscles were left unattended.

His mouth fell open in awe as his eyes feasted on Janie’s petite figure. He could see the swell of her breasts, barely hidden by a multicoloured flowery pattern at the top of her gown. Lance let his eyes continue their journey down her body, knowing that any minute now his heart would skip right out of his chest. Her waist was so tiny and he almost lost it as his gaze snagged on a tiny piece of material that could hardly be called panties. He didn’t care what they were, but he did know they were coming off.

Lance dropped his lunchbox in the doorway and started running toward her.

Janie threw her palm out, facing him. “Stop!”

He almost tripped over his own feet, trying to obey her.

“You are going to take it slow. This isn’t a race, you know?”

It took a lot of concentration for Lance to manage a slow walk; his vision had almost gone blurry with the effort. Finally, she was right in front of him. Her eyes were so full of love for him, so deep, he wondered how he could have ever been so stupid as to say those nasty things to her.

“Yes, Ma’am.” He bent his head and kissed her soft lips gently and soon the soft kisses turned into deep hungry kisses for them both.

Lance picked her up in his arms and carried her to the bed, where he laid her down gently. He laid down beside her and locked her in his gaze.

“I’m so sorry, Janie. I won’t ever hurt you again, I promise. I love you, Janie Mason, and if you still want to, I’m willing to help you find Ariana.”

Janie attacked him then, yanking his shirt over his head and reaching for the button on his jeans.

“Whoa, whoa, Janie,” he said as her hands snaked around the back of his neck and pulled him down to her mouth. “Not a race, remember?” Lance mumbled, breathing hard. This was her last chance to slow down, or he wouldn’t be held responsible for his actions. He managed to break her hold and took her face in his hands. “You’ll regret this if we don’t take it slow. Please, we don’t have to hurry. I want to remember this night for the rest of my life.”

She smiled up at him. “I do, too, Lance. Make love to me.”

C
HAPTER 38

Ariana and Becky had been bathed in fragrant soaps and rose petals, manicured, pedicured, had their facials and make-up done and they were finally getting their hair styled. Who knew that being pampered could be so exhausting?

“Ariana, your hair is so beautiful. Why can’t I get mine to do that?” Becky whined.

Ariana laughed. “Maybe because mine is a good foot longer than yours.”

Ariana’s hair was curled in long spirals that hung to the small of her back. The beautician had put the left side of her hair up in bobby pins so her ear was showing. She had tiny diamond studs in her ears that Janie had saved three months for and gifted to her on her last birthday.

“You look beautiful,” the beautician said as she unbuttoned the cape that was fastened around Ariana’s neck. “Come to the counter and I’ll ring you up.”

“I’m paying for both of us,” Ariana said as she got Abe’s credit card out of her purse.

“Okay, that’ll be… four hundred eighty-seven dollars.”

“Oh my God, are you serious? I mean, we look good, but damn,” Becky said.

Ariana smiled as she handed the card over. “Abe knew very well how much it would cost or he wouldn’t have insisted that we come, and that he’d be paying. I’m starving. Abe said we should eat at The Plateau, you ever been there?”

“No, it’s too expensive for my pocketbook. But I heard it’s the bomb.”

“Good, let’s go try it out. Sooner or later the man will learn not to give a girl his credit card and tell her to have fun with it.”

They both laughed as they went to the alley where the car was parked.

“Who is that?” Becky asked, pointing to a man standing beside Ariana’s car.

“I don’t know. Maybe he just likes the car. Just keep your mouth shut, okay? Maybe he won’t say anything and just go away.”

Becky nodded.

Ariana walked to the driver’s door, keeping her eyes averted from the man who was clearly staring them down. She reached for the door handle and felt a hand grab her elbow. A hard object pressed into her ribs.