Harmony (Part 9 Of 16)

Posted on September 1st, 2010 in Short Stories by kimber

Read Part 1 Here

$

“Charlie.” A smile spread wide on Eduardo’s lips as he strode toward the older woman.

Lips Stacy had tasted. Once. And she wanted to taste again. It was wrong, so wrong. How can she be about to commit herself to one man and crave the taste, the touch, the proximity of another?

Eduardo and Javier exchanged greetings with Charlie. They laughed at some inside joke Stacy didn’t understand.

“Charlie, this is Stacy Walker. She is a teacher from America. Charlie is a teacher also and a dear friend.”

“Stacy.” The woman leaned forward. Stacy did too. There was an awkward kissing of cheeks.
It was a very Central American thing, the kissing, the touching. There was no dishonor in kissing, Eduardo said. It was expected. Some of the tension eased from Stacy’s shoulders. She was not a bad person.

“You are a teacher, honey?” Charlie said in English softened by a rolling Southern accent. “Are you on sabbatical?”

Something like that. “Summer break. I go back in September.”

“Stacy will be staying in the village.” Eduardo’s arm circled her waist. “Do you know of someone wishing a boarder?”

The woman’s eyes lit up. “You could stay with me.” Stacy’s hand was covered. “I’ll cook for you. We could have pizza and burgers and…,” Charlie’s face softened as though she hadn’t had those foods in a while. “That is, if you want, honey.”

Stacy glanced up at Eduardo. He nodded, looking pleased. “I’d love that,” she murmured.

“We’ll move you in right…,”

“We have to go. The Boss, he waits for you, Eduardo.” Javier interrupted, his expression anxious. “Very bad mood. He threatens to,” He made a slicing movement with his hand across his throat. “everyone.”

A chill fell over Stacy. Had she put Eduardo at risk with his boss, this crime boss they were both so loyal to? “Eduardo…”

“I will see him. Explain,” Eduardo reassured her. “He would never hurt you. Don’t worry.” He hugged her.

He misunderstood. “It is not me I’m worried about. It is you.”

Their bodies touching, Stacy felt him tremble. “You worry… about me?” he asked, eyes wide with disbelief.

Had no one ever worried about him before? “Of course.”

“Of course, you worry… about me,” he repeated, his normally strong voice weak.

“I got you into trouble.” That was why she was worried, because she was responsible, and because Eduardo was a nice person and… that was it.

He stepped away, shaking himself. “No, no trouble.” Javier’s raised eyebrow said the opposite. “The Boss will not hurt me. I promise. You stay here. I will be back in an hour or two for our big breakfast.”

“You haven’t eaten?” Charlie chirped happily. “I could make bacon and eggs and pancakes.”

It was not exactly the Belizean meal Stacy had been anticipating. “That would be nice,” Eduardo agreed to it anyway. “I will text you, Charlie, when I am done.”

“Eduardo, the Boss.” Javier shifted impatiently.

Eduardo didn’t acknowledge him. “You will be okay? Here with Charlie?” He looked concerned, about her.

She was concerned about him. “I’ll be okay. Will you…,”

He squeezed her waist. “I’ll be okay. You don’t worry… about me.”

“Eduardo,” Javier cautioned.

“You go.” Charlie shooed him away.

“Yes, yes, I go.” Eduardo raised his hands. He paused. Then he surged forward. His big hand on her hip, the heat of his palm felt through her clothes, he kissed her on the lips quickly.

By the time, Stacy recovered from the contact, he was gone. Charlie eyed her, a slight smile illuminating her face. “Your man will be hours, Stacy. I’ll make us a snack.”

He was not her man. She should correct Charlie. She didn’t. She followed the woman into the house.

$

Read Part 10 September 8th

Harmony (Part 8 Of 16)

Posted on August 25th, 2010 in Short Stories by kimber

Read Part 1 Here

$

Eduardo searched through her backpack the next morning, his stomach growling. Nothing. No food. “We will eat a big breakfast once we get to the village,” he promised.

“What will we have?” She winced as she combed through her snarled hair.

“Here, let me.” He took the comb from her, sitting behind her, gathering her hair up in his hands. It was the color of raw honey. Pearl earrings glistened in her ears. “We will have fryjack, lots of fryjack.” He carefully separated the strands with his fingers as he had often seen mothers do with their little girls.

“Hhhmmm… is that like a pancake?” She was no little girl. Her eyes closed, her head lulled back. He wanted to kiss that exposed neck. “I like pancakes.”

“Better than pancake.” She’d changed her clothes, this blouse bright and frilly and feminine. It suited her. “And we will have black bean and egg.”

“That sounds yummy.”

She sounded yummy. He combed, singing softly, happy to care for her. Javier would come for them soon, the shooting long done. Until then it was him and her and a beautiful Belizean morning. “Stacy”

“Eduardo.” Her eyes opened. She turned her head slightly.

He kissed her, a light, harmless brush against that full mouth. Her lips parted with the contact so he kissed her again. Harder. Longer. Not a kiss a lover would give but not a kiss of a friend either.

Although he wanted more, he didn’t risk rushing her. He reluctantly drew back, returning to combing her hair, trying to act like nothing happened, like a missing piece of his heart hadn’t been found. She stared straight ahead, the emotions flying across her face easy to read. Passion, bemusement, realization, guilt.

“About…, that is…, I mean…,” A pause. “Daniel asked me to marry him,” she blurted out.

Had she been thinking of that half man while kissing him? “Do you see him here? No. I don’t. This has nothing to do with your almost fiancé.”

“It does. I’m an honorable woman, Eduardo.”

“And I dishonored you?” He drew himself up, offended at the implication. “I would never dishonor you.” She was a treasure.

“We…,” She waved her hand.

Could she not even say the words? He set down the comb not trusting himself to be gentle.
“We kissed. That is all. There is no dishonor in kissing.”

“It shouldn’t happen again.”

Eduardo didn’t agree because it would happen again, many, many times.

$

Read Part 9 September 1st

Harmony (Part 7 Of 16)

Posted on August 18th, 2010 in Short Stories by kimber

Read Part 1 Here

$

“Like a Belizean sky, you are, you are.” Stacy joined in with the ‘you are’s’ as Eduardo added his own lyrics to “Eres Tú”. They lay under the stars, staring up, Stacy’s body so close, he felt her warmth.

It was a comfortable bed but no hotel room in Dangriga. Still his little dove didn’t complain. She smiled and sang. Eduardo could stay here forever. If not for… He checked his phone again.

“Any word?” Although she had not met the children, she sounded as worried as he was.

“No.” She would like Paz, he knew it. She wouldn’t see his imperfections like some others did. “That is good.” He said more for himself than her. “Javier would only contact me if there was a problem.”

“Eduardo?” She rolled onto her side, facing him.

He did the same. All he could see was the outline of her face, the moonlight reflecting off her blonde hair. “Yes, Stacy.”

“Thank you.” She touched his chest. “For today.”

He captured her hand, turning her wrist to kiss it. “It was nothing.” It was everything. Her pulse beat strong under his thumb.

“Tomorrow you will take me to Dangriga.”

“If you like.”

She didn’t speak. A lonely bird called out in the night. She wiggled a little closer to him.
He put his arm around her. “If you had time, I would take you to my village.” Have her meet his friends, the children, Paz.

“I have time.” He barely heard her words. “I have two more weeks before I go home.”

Two weeks. She could fall in love with him in two weeks. “In two weeks, I would show you my Belize.” She’d see how beautiful it was and then she’d choose him

“I’d like that.”

$

Read Part 8 August 25th

Harmony (Part 6 Of 16)

Posted on August 11th, 2010 in Short Stories by kimber

Read Part 1 Here

$

Stacy woke with her head on Eduardo’s shoulder. It felt right there. Comforting. He was comforting, so sure of everything. Was he right about Daniel? No. Daniel had said he loved her. Twice. Although he was not one for excessive displays of emotion, that didn’t mean he didn’t feel love. He loved her. He did.

There was a humming between their bodies. Eduardo pulled out his phone, looked at the screen, and frowned.

“Is your friend coming?”

“No.” He held out the phone to her. “The Boss wants all the men to stay near to the village. He worries that the bad men will cause trouble tonight.”

Stacy read the message. There was a mention of taking care of children. “You have children?”

“Of my heart, not of my blood. The village children.” He snatched back the phone. “It is nothing. Javier assures me of their safety.”

It was not nothing. Children of his heart. Like Izel, the little Mexican girl who captured her affections last year. She’d cried when Stacy told her she was going to a new school. Daniel had pushed those feelings aside, telling her there’d be more little girls at the new school. He hadn’t understood. But she understood Eduardo now. “You wish you were there…,”

“Then I would not be here.” Eduardo summoned up a smile. “And I would not have met you.”

“And I would have died.” Dead in Belize. Her parents and Daniel might have worried but they wouldn’t have known something was wrong. Not for two more weeks, when she didn’t return.

“You should not be traveling alone, little dove.” He rummaged through her backpack treating is as his own. “If I was your almost fiancé, I would travel with you.” He pulled out the patties she purchased before crossing the border.

She had asked him. “Daniel was working.” And his idea of a vacation was a five star resort in the Mediterranean. “He couldn’t come.” She took the patty Eduardo passed her and bit into it, the spices hot in her mouth.

“He decided not to come. There is always choice. I chose to be with you today.” He chewed on a patty. “He chose not to be.”

Stacy didn’t want to talk about it. “Are we walking again?” Her body ached and the sun was setting, but she was rested after her nap and her stomach was full. The big man stood up, looked around, they were in a cozy clearing.

“No. We walked enough. Now, we build our bedroom. We sleep here tonight.”

Read Part 7 August 18

Next Page »