Until the Stars Fall From the Sky (7 page)

I shrug and nod as tears begin to well in the corners of my eyes. I’m afraid to be hopeful given all of our obstacles. A relationship does seem impossible, despite all of Jeff’s reassurances. “If this guy is half the man I think he is; he is going to rock my world,” I whisper candidly.

Heather looks shocked and remorseful at the revelation, “Sweet Pea, you need to tell me to hush. I’m like a herd of hyper Chihuahuas taking an arthritic Saint Bernard for a walk. How can I help?”

“I need a formal dress,” I admit sheepishly, “I’m almost out of the peach shampoo too.”

Heather actually claps in delight, drawing the attention of a group of people at the next table. She whips out a tape measure from the depths of her purse. “Do you trust me?” she demands as she starts dragging me toward the bathroom.

“Of course I do. You are my best friend.” With that confident reply, I’ve just cast her in the role of Fairy God Mother in my personal Disney princess movie.

I pause outside Mr. Carter’s office as I organize my thoughts. I talked a big game with Kiera, but
I’m well aware that the conversation that I’m about to have could have long-term implications for my legal career before it even begins. The analytical voice in my head recognizes that the most responsible move for my career would be to politely call Kiera and move on. It’s ironic that it’s the voice of my Grandfather that rings the loudest. “Son, everybody has somebody who’s their everything. When you meet her nothing is ever going to be the same,
No-sir-ee!”
No, I guess not Grandpa. I guess not.
I straighten my spine and knock on my supervisor’s door.

“Sir, do you have a minute?” I ask, trying not to sound nervous.

“What’s on your mind Mr. Whitaker?” he inquires, leaning back in his large leather chair.

“Something has come up in my personal life that has professional liability ramifications,” I state, dreading the consequences.

I watch as Mr. Carter’s eyebrows shoot to his hairline. Running his hands through his hair, he shakes his head in dismay as he growls at me, “At least tell me that you were smart enough to use a condom, and she wasn’t from the vice unit?”

I stare at him blankly until I realize that he’s really serious and wants a response to those allegations.

“No, sir. It’s nothing sordid. I met a woman during my summer job that I suspect I’m going to marry one day if things go well. However, she works for Juvenile Services as a trauma intake specialist.” I clarify, trying my best to stay in one spot and not pace like a child at the principal’s office.

“Why did you pursue her if you knew there would be a conflict?” Mr. Carter
demands as he levels his icy blue gaze at me.

“I work in central Oregon during the summers, sir. I just recently discovered she works in our county,” I respond, “I am willing to not work on juvenile cases to limit this office's potential liability.”

“Are you willing to jeopardize your career for a summer fling, Mr. Whitaker?” he asks as he takes his glasses off and wipes them with a handkerchief.

“If I thought she was just a summer fling, the answer would clearly be
‘no’, because I have invested far too much to get where I am today. However, I have a sense that things are going to be very serious between us. I’m willing to lay it on the line for Kiera. It’s as simple as that,” I announce with stark certainty.

“Son, are you sure?” He asks again, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Sir, with all due respect, where did you meet your wife?” I retort, as I glance at him with laser focus.

Mr. Carter flushes slightly and loosens his tie as he responds flatly, “On a case.”

“Under what circumstances were those again?” I push.

“She was defense counsel,” he replies with a look of resignation.

“Was it worth the risk?” I inquire, honestly curious.

“Only every damn day, kid.” Mr. Carter responds with a grin.

~*~

The next day I have some free time during my lunch hour, so I head to the little gift shop downtown. I smile as I find a mug that spells out “Hot Chocolate” as elements on the periodic table. I purchase some gourmet hot chocolate packets and candy to fill it. I top it off with a whimsical silk Gerber daisy. I choose a gift bag with pretty wild flowers and take my treasures to the check out line. A grandmotherly lady eyes my haul and gives me a knowing look. “In trouble with the wife, I see?”
she comments.

“No,” I respond with a surprised snicker, “I am surprising my new girlfriend at work.”

“Oh honey! We have to do it up right then,” with that pronouncement, she closes her station and starts whipping out an entire craft aisle. There is an assortment of crepe paper, ribbons and three kinds of confetti. By the time she is done schooling me on the proper way to wrap a gift with love, I’ve signed a personal notecard with a calligraphy pen and scented the letter with potpourri. Who knew it would be so complicated to surprise someone at work?

I take my creation and drop it off with my friend, Ty
ler. Ty is a reserve officer with the sheriff’s office and has business in Kiera’s office today, so he is going on a secret mission for me. Time seems to be moving backwards as I Shepardize cases I’m reviewing for a legal brief I need to complete before today at five. I read the same line three times before I realize that it’s
dicta
and not the controlling language in the case. I am frustrated by my lack of focus because this level of distraction is so out of character for me. Finally, my phone vibrates in my pocket.

Wow! :D

I take it from her goofy emoticon that she likes my present. I figured she would, but I never take this stuff for granted.

Do you like it? Not too nerdy?

Yes. It was very sweat. Thanks

*sweet Ugh! Stupid autocorrect! I <3 chocolate almost as much as Half and Half.

What color is your dress going to be?

IDK. Heather has to make a decision between copper and green or so I’m told. Why?

Full service date, remember? ;-)

Oh…umm…OK… I’ve never had anybody care about that stuff before.

Obviously, you’ve been dating the wrong class of guys.

Tell me something I don’t know. ;) LOL TTYL

~*~

Fortunately, Mr. Carter lets the law clerks leave a couple of hours early on Friday. I stop to get a haircut on the way home. When I tell him it’s my first formal date with my girl, he gives me an old fashioned shave for free. I run by Ty’s place on the way home to swap rigs so that Kiera doesn’t have to ride in my death trap.

I pause to get my mail. I thumb through it with disinterest until I see a letter from the Blue Lake Merchant’s Association. I’ve already received my final paycheck as a lifeguard from the city, and I told them that because of the bar exam, I probably wouldn’t be back next year. As I open the letter, I am surprised when a check flutters to the floor. I bend to pick it up, and I collapse to the floor in shock when I catch a glimpse of the amount. I rub my eyes to clear them, certain that I have misread the amount.

No, it’s all there in black and white – Pay to the order of: Jeffery C. Whitaker
, the sum of $20,000.00. I’m tempted to look around for hidden cameras. This kind of stuff doesn’t happen to me. There must be a catch. I pick up the letter that accompanied the check and try to make sense of it all.

Dear Mr. Whitaker:

We hope that you will accept this scholarship gift as a token of our appreciation. We, the Merchants of Blue Lake, consider you to be our adopted son and want to thank you for your 10 years of excellent life saving services and the outstanding image you have provided as a representative of our city. We hope you return to Blue Lake after you complete graduate school.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Winters

Merchant Association President

I have to read it three times before the reality sinks in. Oh my God! This is real! I’m not going to have to cobble jobs together. This one check represents half my tuition for the year. I have already received a couple of smaller merit based ones and am waiting for my grades from the summer session online class to see if I qualified for a third.

Lucky
comes over to nudge me, and I realize I’m behind schedule. I use him to balance as I stand up on shaky legs. I shower and brush my teeth carefully. I splash on some cologne. I smile as I remember how much Kiera appreciated my cologne the last time we were together. I wonder if she still smells like exotic tea. Why is the mere thought of her enough to leave me in a semi-hard state most of the time?

I walk over to my closet and pull out my black suit. I pair it with a white shirt and a peach colored tie with thin green stripes. I stick a clean handkerchief in my inside breast pocket along with my phone and two extra ten dollar bills. I grab my wallet and the box from the fridge. I program her address into the GPS in Ty’s Blazer and reach for my Tic-Tacs.
Damn
,
I left them in my bomber jacket.
I know it’s like a nervous tick for me, but I want everything to be perfect.

When I get to her house, I realize
I’m 18 minutes early. I turn on the radio and jump a little as country music blasts through Ty’s premium speakers. Even
I
recognize Taylor Swift as she is singing about white horses and disappointed princesses. It is a stark reminder of what I have at stake tonight. Abruptly, my thoughts are interrupted by a tennis ball hitting the glass by my head. Instinctively, I roll down the window and look for the source of the intrusion.

My heart literally skips a beat when I see her. Kiera was cute, quirky and even sexy on our previous encount
ers; I’m not expecting the Kiera that resembles a fashion model. Her hair is glorious, settling around her shoulders in soft copper waves. A man could get lost in that hair. My fingers itch with the need to touch it. She is wearing a dark green strapless dress. It has a cool metallic sheen to it, and she is wearing copper colored shoes with delicate straps. I notice these shoes have butterflies on the heels too. Belatedly, I remember to close my gaping mouth.

Kiera giggles when she sees my dazed expression, “What are you staring at, PC? Even trucker’s daughters know how to put on some spit-n-polish for a date. Are you coming in the house or are you going to sit in the driveway all night?” With that flurry of speech, she spins around and goes inside. I follow her like a lost puppy.

Somehow I regain my power of speech, “Pip, while you need absolutely no polish to be stunning to me, you look exquisite tonight.  I’m going to have to protect you from all the other jealous dates at dinner.”

Kiera rolls her eyes at me as she snorts, “Yeah right! It’s not as if anyone would ever be jealous of me.
”

I give her a knowing smile, “Just wait, I bet I have the most beautiful partner there.” I pull the wrist corsage from behind my back and give it to her, “I brought this for you as part as your full-service date.”

She studies the artfully arranged miniature peach roses, ferns and baby’s breath. She whirls her chair around and quickly leaves the room. I stand there in astonished confusion.
Well, that wasn’t the reaction I was hoping to get. How do I get this date back on track after such a colossal blunder?

Just as
I’m pondering my next move, Kiera comes back into the room with a radiant smile on her face. She has swept one side of her hair back and she has the wrist corsage attached to a fancy comb behind her ear. She pulls me down to a kneeling position “That’s better. You’re so tall; I’m going to get a crick in my neck. I hope you don’t mind that I modified it a little. I’m afraid if I wear it on my wrist, it might get caught in my spokes. It is so beautiful. I didn’t want it to get ruined. You are the first guy to bother to get me flowers. So far, you’ve got the record since you not only gave them to me once, but twice.” Kiera explains as she leans in and brushes a feather-light kiss on my lips.

Every cell in my body is screaming at my brain to take the kiss deeper as I inhale her sweet, spicy scent and thread my fingers through her shiny, impossibly soft hair. For about three seconds, I forget that
I’m a gentleman, then my fingers trail over her collarbone and hit the edge of her strapless dress. I tear my mouth away and stand up. I walk a few steps away and try to subtlety turn my back so I can adjust my suddenly painful erection. “Oh God Pip, give me a minute to catch my breath and to remember why we got all gussied up. At the moment, I’d just as soon stay here and make out with you.” As I glance over at Kiera, I notice that she is breathing a little heavy too.

“Umm, I’m just going to go fix my lipstick and my bra because it suddenly feels too tight. You can adjust whatever you need to,” Kiera casually remarks. She suddenly blushes bright red and gets a horrified expression on her face as she exclaims, “Oh Soufflé! Did I just say that out loud? Dandelions! I knew my dad’s habit of talking about every bodily function known to mankind was going to come back to haunt me.”

A startled laugh escapes me because she is such a puzzling mix of slightly bawdy bartender and prim schoolteacher with her frank admission of desire and faux cuss words. “I don’t know about that, Pip. Discussing bodily functions with you sounds like a spectacular idea. Especially if there are visual aids.” I say with an exaggerated leer.

“Why PC, I thought you were a gentleman,” Kiera responds folding her hands on her lap primly.
Before I can take her too seriously, she gives me a saucy smile.

“Only if you want me to be,” I answer honestly, my voice hoarse, even to my own ears. She is so beautiful that I keep forgetting to breathe.

Kiera wheels toward the bathroom and winks over her shoulder, “I’ll have to think on that one, PC.”

The forty-five minutes it takes to drive to the conference center pass
ed by in the blink of an eye as Kiera and I talk about life. Remarkably, given how nerdy my tastes tend to run, we are fans of the same television shows, movies and music. I think she is even more ecstatic than I am over my unexpected windfall. It is remarkably moving to have my own cheerleader. A guy could get used to this. She starts to tell me about her math class that is giving her fits.