There was a flock of Mourning Doves in the grass and this one flew up into the birdbath for a drink so I could snap a picture. The rest of them stayed in the grass so they were essentially invisible in a picture.
I decided that the lighted present needed a friend so I went downstairs to dig out Abercrombie Elf to sit beside the box. DD and I made a pair of these one Christmas Eve ages ago and he's still one of my favorite decorations.
09 December--Barbara Malcolm, The Seaview.
We were hailed as if lost children found when we stepped up onto the sand-covered floor of Johnno's Beach Bar.
It seemed to take hours for Luke and Stanley, Edward, Silas, Zeke, and 'Nando Gomez to drink up and leave. I didn't order any food for the group like I usually did, no conch fritters or fresh pineapple spears to nibble on, nothing. Iggy sat beside me at the bar and when I turned to speak to 'Nando and Edward who seemed to be at least three drinks ahead of everyone else, I sensed him leaning down to touch his nose to my neck and sniff. Just that small touch made me shiver.
Finally they all decided to go drive over to Shoal Bay to visit another bar. I never go along so their invitation was only half-hearted. Evidently Iggy was exempt from their pleas because he was Silas' uncle and therefore considered too old for bar hopping. We both turned on our bar stools calling out good-byes and waving off the others before turning back toward the bar where our drinks stood waiting in puddles of condensation.
Iggy turned toward me and caught my knees between his as I turned. His hands reached for mine and stopped my motion so that we faced each other. He leaned toward me, his dark brown eyes glimmering in the flickering light from the tiki torches around the bar. "I thought they would never leave," he said in a low voice so that his brother, Johnno, who was behind the bar that night wouldn't hear.
My chest felt tight with his nearness and my breath came in little gasps. "I know, I was about ready to fire the lot of them just to make them go away." As tempted as I was to lean just the smallest fraction forward and feel his lips on mine again, I knew that we were still basically sitting in the middle of my new neighborhood, on display for everyone to see and comment on. I took a deep breath. "Would you be interested in walking me home?" I knew he saw the glint in my eyes too.
He gave a nod and released my hands. Both of us swiveled to the bar, picked up our glasses, drained them, and got up to leave.
Johnno's voice boomed out. "First you drive off my son and the customers he came in with and now you are leaving too?" He walked toward us with his bar towel over his shoulder and his arms folded across his chest.
"We did no such thing, Johnno. Are you deaf?" Iggy said. "Those boys took off for Captain Mike's in Shoal Bay. He has a cook-out and jump-up tonight. All of the little tourist girls will be there shaking their booties. Draws the young men like bees to nectar."
Johnno shook his head. "And you are not drawn to that nectar, eh, Iggy? Got your own brand of honey, bro?"
I felt Iggy tense and I jumped in. "I worked Iggy so hard this week and I am so beat myself from sewing curtains from enough material to make a boat cover that I asked him to walk me over to Sydans; I'm feeling my rum a bit tonight."
Iggy took my arm and helped me slide off my stool. "See you tomorrow, brother," he said over his shoulder as we walked out onto the sand. Once we were away from the lights of the beach bar and past the Sandy Ground Police Station building with its glaring security lights, Iggy slid his arm around my waist and pulled me to him. He was so much taller than me that my head fell back exposing my neck. He dipped his lips to the pulse that I could feel throbbing there. I groaned and felt my knees go weak.
"We should not be doing that out here." I reluctantly pushed him away. "This road is too busy, kids are playing, tourist couples strolling, and I think the residents have some sort of 'Rose radar.' It seems like every time I'm out for a walk or coming back from a meal voices come out of the darkness on all sides wishing me good night."
Iggy chuckled. "They are all very interested in the woman who is brave enough to get the Seaview Hotel up and running again."
"Brave or maybe foolish," I said. "It's too soon to tell whether I've made a good business decision or the worst decision of my life."
Today's toss was a small tote of old home movies that are too deteriorated to be copied onto DVDs. It's a shame to dump them but there's no way to save them. I have trays of slides that I need to go through and pick out the ones that I want to save on CDs. Maybe I'll do that this winter.
Didn't write today, I took a walk instead. It was too nice outside to stay indoors.
--Barbara
1 comment:
Glad you had some fine feathered visitors today. And virtual visitors on your Zoom meeting. Your toffee looks perfect. I'm going to take that on over the weekend.
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