Spring Tide Read online

“Wow. You have the smile of an angel.” He tented his hands and bowed. “I hope today brings you every blessing.”

  “You too.” I bit my cheek to keep it together.

  Despite the karmic journey I’d shared with Jeff, it had been a trying eight hours. I’d spent half of the time deveining a thousand pounds of shrimp. Worse, Jermaine was a fascist dictator. Walking around his dominion, he glowered at everyone with biting comments and harsh criticisms about technique or productivity. I had to remind myself it would get better. He’d just take some getting used to.

  When I got home Sarah was seated in a chair, wearing jeans and talking to someone.

  I tossed my backpack into the living room where it landed with a nice, loud thud.

  “Hi!” She smiled.

  “Hi!” I replied and then saw Jericho sitting on the sofa. I pointed a finger at him. “You. How do you know Jeff? He surfs?”

  He laughed. “Don’t think so. Okay, this guy was camping at South Padre a few months back and sucked me into an hour-long discussion about my perspective of the colors in the water from the rising sun. Then he moved on to the inspiration he felt from each wave and its connection to our planetary oneness. I’m married to the ocean, but Jeff takes it to a whole ’nother level. He stops by the house and hangs with Julia every so often. Did he read your aura?”

  “Not yet.” I rolled my neck and it cracked. “But he did tell me he used to be into martial arts, a quest to find inner peace, until he started practicing yoga and that’s when he discovered the untapped energy of the universe.”

  “Who are you talking about?” Sarah said.

  “Jeff’s showing me the ropes. You must meet him. He’s out there, like lost in space out there. Now I’m not sayin’ I don’t like him but—”

  “Oh please,” she adjusted her earring, “you like everybody. Let’s see, what were you voted by our class? Most friendly! You were friends with everybody—nerds, Goths, hippies, jocks, techies, good girls, bad girls, everyone.”

  “You should talk, Miss Most Attractive.” I countered.

  “Was Derek anything?” Jericho asked.

  “Most likely to succeed,” Sarah and I said together.

  “When did you graduate?” Sarah asked him.

  He thought for a moment. “Like four years ago, five.”

  I slapped my Levi’s and looked at Sarah. “Your fashion includes denim? I can’t remember the last time I saw you in jeans.”

  “Nick’s taking me to a minor league baseball game. Yippee.” She applied more lipstick to her pout. “I can’t believe I agreed to go. And you know how he acts at sporting events. Maybe it’ll get rained out.”

  The sky was powder blue—no clouds, no chance.

  “If I’m not home by five, call me and make up some emergency so I’ll have to jet.” She gave a weak wave and went to the door.

  “Sarah, wait,” he got up, “I’ll walk you down. When I got here I saw some guy snooping around your car.”

  “What guy?” Sarah turned back to us.

  “Little guy,” he said.

  “Little guy, plaid shirt, kinda lurky?” I did my best impression.

  He nodded.

  “That’s Aaron.” I reached into my back pocket. “He’s Sarah’s stalker.”

  “There’s somethin’ about him that’s off.”

  I pulled out my keys. “This is getting ridiculous. I’m gonna go talk to him.”

  “The hell you will.” He took them from me.

  I reached for them. “It’s just Aaron.”

  He held them over his head. “Bad feeling, okay?”

  He went with Sarah and came back five minutes later, reporting that Sarah’s car didn’t have slashed tires or an ignition detonating bomb.

  “Sarah should think about a restraining order. I’ve already seen this guy a few times. Who knows how much he’s around?” He stretched out on the couch.

  “Where?”

  “Here, beach, Nick’s, Panda Bear Sandwiches, once at Crazy Jim’s.”

  “Baby, you’re overreacting.” I sat on the arm. “It’s a secure building and ultimately Aaron will give up. He’s working through puppy love. He’s not the first, albeit the oddest, and not the last to fall head over heels for her. He likes to look at her and that’s not a crime. A lot of guys like to look at her.”

  “I don’t like the feeling I get from him. Promise me if you see him, you’ll stay away. Sarah too.”

  Aaron, Joel, anyone else? I checked my watch. “Ummm, why aren’t you at work and aren’t you hating the couch right now?”

  “I make my own schedule and the couch is quicksand.” He tried to sit up. “Other than Jeff, how was your day?”

  “You know how it is.” I pushed him down and crawled on top of him, a bold move for me. “New job, new people, Jermaine’s super nitpicky. Holy shit, like I’ve never cleaned shrimp before!”

  The couch of doom wasn’t accommodating to two and before my lips could touch his, I was flat on my back on the floor. In one lithe motion he was next to me, lightly kissing my neck, his fingers sweeping my hair from my face. He kissed me deeply, his body held an inch above mine. The tension in my neck and back was diluted as the current pulled me out and my mind settled at the bottom like a shipwreck. It was like he knew I needed the deluge, to come down from Jermaine’s harassment. He stopped, put his forehead against mine, and I breathed in the scent of saltwater.

  “I really, really like that,” I said.

  “Likewise.”

  I sat up, came out of the bends and staggered to the kitchen for water and a snack. I selected a cluster of grapes from the produce bin and went back to him.

  “Swim?” I popped one into his mouth.

  “Surf?”

  “You surf, I’ll swim?”

  “I’ll swim with you, you surf with me, and then we’ll call Jeff and see if he wants to hunt for rainbows.”

  “I’m down with the rainbow thing, but I’m tellin’ you right now, surfing’s not in me.” I shoved a handful of grapes in my mouth and went back to my room to change.

  We went to his house and he decided we’d surf first. The first hour I caught one out of every thirty waves. The second hour I caught one out of every thirty waves. Judging and timing a wave was truly the hardest thing on earth to do. Once it was obvious I was frustrated, he ran inside to get towels and water, sticking me with rinsing off the boards.

  _______

  I survived my second shift.

  Walking the parking lot of The Landing on the way to my car, I read the none-too-clever vanity plates of the patrons.

  “Hello, Kris.”

  I turned around and almost bumped into tall, dark, and handsome. “Well hello, Troy. How’ve you been?”

  “Just biding my time, as we all are.”

  “Did you have lunch here?”

  “The snapper. It was incredible.”

  “Nice.” I had a hand in that fish, literally, and took my props.

  “How’s Jericho?”

  “Great. Are you friends?”

  I heard the back door of the restaurant open and close, followed by what sounded like a chant, but I kept staring at Troy, taken by his poise and the crisp lines of his white shirt. He gave me a smile and a two-finger salute and then walked toward the street. Jeff appeared next to me.

  “That guy has an intense ambiance. I see shades of …” Jeff’s hand rose to his nose, “oh man, I lost it.”

  According to Cosmic Jeff, my aura was white, gold, and purple and Jericho’s was light blue, dark blue, and pink, the outer layer extending over twenty-five feet. I couldn’t even imagine what Troy’s would be.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “Julia, make it stop. It’s been three months and I can’t take it anymore.”

  “It started when you connected?” She itched the inside of her ear.

  “Yeah.”

  “I’ll do what I can but you might have to live with it. Is it loud?”

  “No, yes, it depends. It’s const
ant from within a half mile of her.”

  “That’s impressive.” She placed her hands on the sides of his head. “Projection is rare, very specific to purpose. This one has a very special path, of that I’m sure. That she’s making use before awareness is extraordinary.”

  “Just do something. Making use … she’s making me mental.”

  Light from her eyes streamed into his. She whispered, stopped her light, and stepped back from him. “Better?”

  “We’ll find out. She slept for three days, but there’s nothing. Why isn’t anything happening?”

  “Because she isn’t ready. You already have her. Be patient.”

  _______

  Sylvia’s cat was hungry, his cries perforating the wall of my bedroom in thirty-minute intervals. By one in the morning, I was about to climb the walls. Jericho, however, was dead to the world.

  I went next door and knocked—no answer. Of course. I went back to bed and put a pillow over my head.

  I was up again at five-thirty, not that I wanted to be. The cat was going bananas. At seven, I pulled on shorts and went to Sylvia’s. I knocked, waited, and knocked again. I tried the knob and it turned. I didn’t feel right about waltzing in but was scared to death she’d blacked out in the shower, hit her head, or worse.

  Holding Bongos, I wandered her apartment and called her name several times, becoming a little bit more shocked with every corner I turned. Her purse was on the shelf in the bathroom. Hesitantly, I picked it up and inspected the contents. Only somewhat consoled that she wasn’t face down on the carpet, I left.

  Jericho was sitting at the kitchen island—shirtless, beautiful, and incoherent. He was also drinking coffee that had been on the burner for hours.

  I took the mug from his hand and started a fresh pot. “It only takes a few minutes. I can’t believe you were drinking that. Yuck.”

  “Where were you?” He stared at the coffeemaker.

  “Next door. Bongos—”

  He jumped off the stool. “You promised you wouldn’t go over there!”

  “Ah no, you are not gonna get in my face ’cause I did the right thing.”

  He walked to the other side of the kitchen, his mouth a thin line.

  “J, no one was there.”

  “That’s not the point, Kris.”

  I poured a cup and put it on the island. “The cat’s manic. And for crying out loud, I was right next door for two whole minutes with the door open within reach of you.”

  Sarah surfaced and took his cup off the counter. “Today, we kill Sylvia and then we kill her cat.”

  I picked a piece of lint off her nightie. “I checked on Bongos, have no idea what’s wrong. He has tons of food, water, a clean litter box.”

  She put her face directly in front of mine. “I need my sleep. The cat must die. And don’t even think about bringing it over here. I’m allergic, remember?”

  “I know, I know, I know. Listen,” I put my hand to my ear, “he’s calm now. But if he starts flipping out again I’m sleeping at J’s tonight and you might wanna go to Nick’s until I figure something out.”

  “You know full well I can’t stay there! His room smells like a gym bag filled with cheese grits.”

  On cue, Nick came out of Sarah’s room and kissed her head. “Good a.m., hosers.” He reached into his shorts pocket and tossed me a set of keys. “From my mom. You might wanna wash stuff and don’t tell her—”

  “About the throw pillows you set on fire. I won’t.” I put the set by the frog pot thingy. “How’d you sleep, Nick?”

  “Like the babe I am.”

  Sarah rolled her eyes, looked at the boys and then at me as if to ask why they’d slept and we hadn’t. “So was Sylvia passed out on her kitchen table or what?”

  “She wasn’t there at all and what’s bothering me is that when I was at her place with Derek—” I cleared my throat, “with Derek a few weeks ago to show him the cat’s gift for rhythm, her condo was chaos. Today, it was spic-n-span. The bed was made, the trash cans were emptied and everything, and she left without her purse. She never goes anywhere without her purse. It holds her flask.”

  “Maybe she got a new purse. She’s got great taste, totally choice clothes. Although, you notice she wears black all the time like a devil worshipper. Then again, black is timeless.” She stirred sweetener into her cup. “Anyway, she probably hired someone to come in and clean for her. She can afford it.”

  “How? I don’t think she works.”

  “She told me once that her divorce settlement was more than generous. Her husband was cheating on her. She was laughing ’cause she was cheating on him too, but didn’t get caught.”

  “But, dude, her purse had her wallet, her ID, credit cards …”

  Jericho hadn’t moved, but his face was reacting to our discussion, his eyes glowing in short bursts. He abruptly got his things and left, making the excuse that he had some last-minute work to do at the marina.

  At ten in the evening, I shut down my computer, put my feet up on the desk in my room, and let my head fall back.

  Jericho walked in and tossed his keys on the dresser. “How’s the cat?”

  “Been quiet for hours.”

  Before I could say anything else, he picked me up and put us both down on my polka dot quilt.

  “I’m sorry I went freak spaz on you this morning.” He tucked my hair behind my ear.

  “What do you know about Sylvia?”

  “I think she’s with Joel, maybe went on a trip with him even though he’s a monster. Look, I got all mad at you because I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and then was feeling a little bitter that you’d rather live in Nick’s hole of scum than at my place. I’m sorry, okay?”

  “Okay.” I pecked his cheek. “I think you’re right. Sylvia had said something about how Joel was taking her to paradise.”

  He coughed.

  “You okay?” I patted his back.

  “Swallowed the wrong way. Hey, I’m leaving for San Fran next Thursday. I’ve been wound tight for a while. I gotta decompress, can’t do it here, need bigger waves. Come out with me.”

  “Can’t. My mom’s coming that Saturday.”

  “Bummer. I wanna meet her. How long’s she staying?”

  “A night. She wants to check out my housing arrangements, and massively reinforce that I will be going to Rice next fall even if she has to drag me by the hair.”

  “Maybe I’m way off here, but you ever thought about cooking school?”

  “Every damn day. It’s complicated. Right now, all I know is that she’s coming and I need to get my shit together for her visit and plan a proper menu.”

  “Kris, you have your shit together more than most.”

  I wasn’t sure I agreed but his kind words made me smile. He smiled back, his eyes shimmering pale blue. I’d seen that before—it happened whenever he was going to kiss me.

  Things were different that time. The sensual perceptions that came whenever his body was on mine were as intense as before but felt much more natural. More than that, I was greatly in tune with the connection we shared, his feelings for me and my feelings for him. And I was a very active participant in the make-out session for a whole fifteen or twenty minutes before falling into the abyss. Before my eyes closed, I’d felt his hand run through my hair and heard his usual whisper, “Sleep well.”

  The rest of the week flew by, Jericho with me whenever I wasn’t at work. He spent hours watching the water but he wasn’t checking the waves and he didn’t go surfing.

  _______

  Sarah was in her bedroom, bags and clothes everywhere.

  “I know you’re not packing, right? Right?” I picked up one of her scarves. “You said you weren’t leaving until Friday, but that can’t be the case because you’d need full command of your wardrobe.”

  “I’m leaving today. After Nick left for athletics this morning I started thinking about it, and you work all week. Derek’s gone too. I thought it might be just as well I go home bef
ore I leave for A&M.” Her chin wiggled and tears fell from her big brown eyes.

  “Don’t cry.” My eyes were wet.

  “Summer went so fast.” She handed me a tissue. “Too fast.”

  Sniffling, I helped her fold her clothes, unable to crack the code for her system of organization, her suitcases arranged by shades of purple and their coordinates. We put all forty pairs of her shoes back in their original boxes and crammed everything into her car. I hugged her, suffocated by blond ringlets. We didn’t say we’d miss each other or that we’d call once or twice a week or every day, because we knew we would.

  I watched her drive away while turning the sea glass pendant in my hand. I’m okay. This wasn’t any different than other times in my life, the beginning of a new segment, like not having Dad around or Mom working two jobs, like the switch from public school to private—a loss of the familiar. But Sarah and Derek had been with me for those changes before, and that day their absence was the change. I wondered if I was making a huge mistake by staying. How stupid was I to think that by coming to Corpus I’d magically have some life-changing discovery, that the change of pace would make it happen. Between the assault, Sylvia, the meganap—I hadn’t found anything. “Daughter of Time” started playing in my mind and I felt better. I’ll find my way.

  _______

  I woke a little after six and went for a run. I needed meditation and struggling to breathe for miles on end somewhat cleared my head and heart from missing Derek and Sarah, even Boy Wonder. I pulled up the GPS app on my tunes. No freakin’ way! It showed that I’d run almost nine miles. Can’t be right. Solar glitch or something. I could practically hear Jericho saying “makes you wonder” and I shook my head in response.

  I made breakfast enchiladas, loved every bite, and then went to Nick’s to inspect the destruction. Other than a few dirty socks and the state of the floor around the toilet, it wasn’t as offensive as I’d remembered. Per Mrs. Black’s suggestion I looked under his bed and found the mother lode. Anything the king of morons hadn’t wanted was jammed beneath the frame: jock strap, moldy sandwich, hedge trimmers, and 3D glasses on the outskirts. With the bedding in the washer, I took three trash bags to the curb.