Midas Touch (21 page)

won’t be on.” Without waiting for a reply, she turned and stalked out.Sandra concentrated on the piles of dirty dishes. Tonight she intended to be out of here on time. In her haste, she dropped and shattered four plates before her shift was over.

Wilma shook her head as she was getting out her purse to leave. “You two better work it out soon,” she said. “We’re running out of dishes.”

“There’s nothing to work out,” Sandra admitted. “I don’t think she’s interested in even trying to see if something might be there. Besides, I’m beginning to get the impression everyone would be happier if I left.”

“Ah, you’ve been listening to Anna. She’s crazy with jealousy.

She has been head-over-heels in love with Cory for years. Can’t you see that?” Wilma found her car keys and slung her purse over her shoulder. “You know when I first saw you I told myself that you were way too smart to be working here. But the more I know you, the more goose-shit green you get. You can’t see what’s right before your nose.”

“Like what?”

Wilma rolled her eyes and stalked off mumbling.

Sandra was so nervous she was nauseous. She rode slowly to Cory’s and sat in the driveway staring at the darkened house.

She considered ringing the doorbell, but Cory had made it clear she was not welcome. After several minutes, she pulled away and headed for her empty motel room.

Cory failed to show at the diner on Sunday and the day passed agonizingly slow for Sandra. She considered calling Nelda and JJ

and canceling the trip to see them, but changed her mind as she stepped out into the warm April night air.

She would be going back to Dallas in a week, and work would again claim her life. She wanted one more free weekend. She went to her motel room long enough to shower and pack. It was almost midnight when she climbed onto her bike and roared

toward Rockport.

Not wanting to arrive at the crack of dawn, Sandra went to Port Aransas and crossed the ferry during the wee hours of the morning. Parking on the beach, she sat in sand beside her bike.

The sounds of the waves gradually eased the tension from her neck and shoulders. The wind blew away her pain and confusion.

She simply sat, not allowing herself to feel anything other than the warm night air settling around her like a soothing hand.

Along with the first hint of light in the east came the shrieking of the gulls. Plovers and killdeers scurried to the water’s edge in search of breakfast. Shrimp boats bobbed on the distant horizon.

Sandra stood and stretched, watching the sun tint the sky pink. As she watched the early rays glint across the water, she made a decision. She would have the deed to the house trans-ferred into Cory’s name and leave it in her office next Sunday night before she left to return to Dallas. By the time Cory found it, Sandra would be gone.

Sandra refused to think about how life would be without Cory. Her eyes burned from sleeplessness. Her body felt bruised and sore. Numb with heartache, she climbed onto her bike. She had loved Carol in the beginning, but never with the intensity she felt for Cory.

Sandra threw back her head and closed her eyes against the pain. “I’d give everything I own just to hear her say she loves me one time,” she whispered to the roaring tide.

It was noon before Sandra rode up the lane to Nelda and JJ’s ranch. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of Cory’s car. She had come after all!

“There you are,” Nelda called as the three of them came around the house. “We were about to give up on you.”

“I got a late start,” Sandra lied, trying not to look at Cory.

Nelda and JJ gave her a quick hug, while Cory stood several feet away.JJ examined Sandra’s bike. “You sure have expensive tastes for a dishwasher,” she remarked, eyeing Sandra.

Too tired to continue the charade, Sandra decided they could either accept her or go to hell. “I’m not normally a dishwasher.”

Cory’s head shot up and gave a small shake. She seemed to be trying to warn Sandra, but Sandra was too tired to care. “No!” JJ

exclaimed sarcastically.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. I was going to be in San Antonio

for a few weeks and wanted something to do.” The reason sounded lame and stupid.

“So you got a job washing dishes?” JJ asked, rocking on her heels.

“She’s slumming,” Cory snapped.

Sandra stepped toward her, intending to verbally defend herself, but JJ grabbed her arm.

“Take me for a spin. I’ve always wanted to ride one of these things.”

Sandra hesitated.

“Come on,” JJ urged and hopped on. She patted the seat in front of her. “Hurry up or I may want to drive. We’ll meet you two at the barn in an hour,” JJ called to the others. “Nelda, bring the lunches we packed.”

Sandra slapped her leg and stormed back to the bike. “Here,”

she said, handing JJ the extra helmet before yanking on her own.

“Hold on,” she snapped as
the machine sprang to life. They roared down the lane to the highway, leaving a trail of dust.

JJ tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to a road coming up. Sandra continued to follow JJ’s
tapped-out directions until they turned onto a narrow road riddled with potholes. She eased the throttle back and cruised down the road that led to a small sandy stretch of beach.

“Stop here!”
JJ
yelled over the engine.

Sandra killed the engine.

“Come on,” JJ said and led the way. They walked a short distance across the sand and through a small grove of trees.

As they emerged from the trees, Sandra’s breath caught at the beauty of the cove before them.

“I like to come here when I need to think,” JJ explained, sitting on the sand and folding her feet beneath her. “Things aren’t going very well between you and Cory, are they?”

Sandra stretched out beside her. “They aren’t going at all,”

she admitted.

“She’s scared. There’s too much about you she doesn’t know.”

“Why can’t she take me for what I am now?”

“Because, that’s not who you really are.”

“You don’t seem to be having a problem with it,” Sandra said, staring up at the older woman.

“I’m not in love with you,” JJ responded bluntly.

Sandra was left without a retort. JJ didn’t know Cory as well as she thought if she believed that.

JJ traced patterns in the sand with her finger. “Cory has a tendency to take in strays.”

Sandra started to rise, but JJ placed a hand on her shoulder and stopped her. “I’m not calling you a stray, so don’t get a burr up your butt. Cory’s got a mothering complex or something.

Haven’t you noticed how she’s always trying to help someone?”

Sandra thought about how Cory gave Anna rides to work.

Sandra handed out meals to any homeless person who knocked at the kitchen door. She donated the leftover food from the restaurant to a local shelter. Sandra relaxed and

“Four years ago she hired a woman to paint the diner,” JJ

explained. “They got involved and the woman moved in with her. Three months later, she skipped town with practically every penny Cory had. Cory almost lost the diner. That financial setback cost her the house she wanted. I guess you know the house sold to an out of town firm last week.”

Sandra eyed her to see if she suspected anything, but JJ

seemed to be simply relating the facts. “Do you think I’m after her money?”

JJ
looked at her for a long moment, and shook her head. “No.

I think you could probably buy everything Cory owns and not blink an eye.”

Guilty as
charged, Sandra looked away.

“I thought so,” JJ snorted. Sandra’s actions had confirmed her suspicions. “Who are you anyway?”

Sandra sighed and brushed her hair from her face. “Nobody really. The whole thing seems pretty silly now.” She trickled sand between her fingers. “My doctor suggested I get away for awhile and rest.”

“And you decided washing dishes was rest?” JJ
asked in-credulously.

“I took the job to be near Cory, but in the long run it worked.

I’m too busy to think while I’m working, and too tired to think when I’m not.”

JJ nodded. “I can understand that.”

“JJ,” Sandra said as
she sat up. “I love her and I swear I’d never intentionally do anything to hurt her.”

JJ blinked and looked away. “Unfortunately, it’s the people we love the most who we normally hurt the most, and it’s never intentional.”

“So I should leave and let her get on with her life?”

“Once you leave, you can never go back. The loss will hurt you a little more every year.”

“Sounds like the voice of experience.” Sandra took JJ’s
hand.

JJ turned to her. Sandra was surprised to see tears. “I walked away from something that meant more than life itself to me, and I’ve never stopped regretting it.”

“Why did you leave?”

“I let someone convince me I was doing the right thing. That my leaving would be best.”

“And it wasn’t?”

Instead of answering, JJ looked at her watch and hopped up.

“We need to get back or we’ll be late.”

After meeting Nelda and Cory at the barn, they spent the rest of the afternoon riding over the sixty acres Nelda and JJ

owned. The tension between Sandra and Cory eased as the day progressed. By the time they left to go fishing that night, everyone was in high spirits. They piled the gear into the bed of Nelda and JJ’s truck. Sandra and Cory squeezed into the small rear seat. Nelda drove a few miles beyond the cove where JJ and Sandra had talked earlier in the afternoon. Sandra wondered what it was that JJ had given up. Her musing was cut short by the truck stopping.

“We’ll meet back here in three hours,” JJ said as they unloaded

the fishing gear.

Cory checked her watch. “All right.”

“Why are we splitting up?” Sandra asked as she and Cory set off in the opposite direction from JJ and Nelda.

“Nelda is convinced that the fish can smell people. She swears she’s never caught anything when she’s been fishing with more than one person.” Cory laughed. “I think it’s an excuse to sneak off in the dark with JJ. You watch. They won’t have a single fish when they come back, but they’ll both be smiling.”

Sandra laughed. “I think it’s great they love each other so much. I can’t imagine ever finding someone who would love me like that.”

The statement hung awkwardly between them as they walked out to a short pier. Sandra stopped to look at the night sky flooded with stars. “It’s so beautiful,” she murmured. “A billion pinpoints of light.” She closed her eyes and let the salt-laden air embrace her. A breeze tickled the loose tendrils of hair around her face.

Sandra let her imagination flow. The wind became Cory’s hands.

Her face was caressed with the softest of touches, and warm whispers of air trailed along her arms.

Cory’s voice jarred her from her fantasy. “Let’s fish off the end of the pier,” Cory said, leading the way.

A large light was positioned to point its bright illumination out into the water, while providing only a soft glow on the pier.

“Bring your pole over here. I’ll show you how to rig your line,” Cory instructed.

Sandra did as asked. She stood by and watched as
Cory unsnapped a small brass object tied on the line.

This is a swivel. It makes it easier to switch back and forth between an artificial lure or a hook for bait,” Cory explained. As she turned to show Sandra, a gust of wind caught the line and pulled it from Cory’s hand. They reached for it at the same time and their hands touched.

Sandra gasped as a flame of desire shot through her. She captured Cory’s hand within hers. “Stop pushing me away,” she whispered. “I love you. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.

0

I’ll move anywhere you want to live. I’ll spend the rest of my life washing dishes, but please don’t push me away.”

Cory’s free hand slid around Sandra’s neck and pulled her into an urgent kiss. Sandra dropped the pole she held, ignoring its crashing clatter to the pier, and pulled Cory into her arms.

Cory broke the kiss and hugged Sandra tightly, “So help me God, if you’re lying to me, I’ll track you to the ends of the earth,”

she sobbed as she clung to Sandra.

“I’m not lying,” Sandra promised, blinking away the tears that burned her eyes. “I love you,” she whispered into Cory’s ear.

Sandra shivered as Cory’s hands slid under her shirt and caressed her bare breasts.

“I’ve wanted to do this since practically the first moment I saw you,” Cory moaned. The sound caused Sandra’s nipples to tighten more.

“Let’s not waste anymore time,” Sandra pleaded as her lips moved across Cory’s throat. She pulled Cory down to the pier.

“Ouch,” Sandra yelped as a splinter bit into her knee. They pulled apart and began to laugh. “This always works in the movies,”

Sandra grumbled.

“The sand will be worse,” Cory predicted. “Nelda and JJ

won’t be back to the truck for three hours.”

The abandoned fishing tackle was quickly retrieved before they raced back to the truck. They pitched the gear into the truck bed. Sandra caught Cory and kissed her hungrily. “I’ve never made love in a vehicle before,” she said, pulling open the door and climbing in.

“I’m glad they didn’t lock the doors,” Cory said, scrambling in behind Sandra and closing the door. The sounds of the night disappeared once they were inside the truck. Sandra froze as a wave of insecurity crashed over her. She wanted to make Cory happy. She wanted to be the greatest lover Cory had ever known, but little pins of doubt began to pierce her confidence. Carol’s cruel jabs came back and threatened to puncture her courage.

Sandra’s heart pounded in her ears. She was on the verge of leaping from the truck when Cory’s hand brushed against her