Authors: Gina Ardito
Chapter Eighteen
Shane made the necessary introductions while his mother climbed
into the back seat of the car. “Mom, this is Adara Berros. Adara, my mom,
Pauline Griffin.”
“Wait, Mrs. Griffin,” Adara replied, opening her door. “Why
don’t you sit in the front?”
Mom placed a staying hand on Adara’s shoulder. “No, no,
dear. Stay there. I’m quite content to sit in the back with Tyler. And please,
call me Pauline.”
Shane bit back a smile at their easy exchange. In seventeen
years of dating, not one of his girlfriends ever made it past the “Mrs.
Griffin” stage. Yet Adara earned that privilege on her very first meeting. He
knew she was something special. Apparently, Mom noticed it, too.
Swooping up Tyler in his arms, he told Adara, “And this is
Tyler.” He slipped the wriggly boy into his booster seat and buckled him in.
“Tyler, this is Miss Berros.”
Adara held her hand out. “I’m very pleased to meet you,
Tyler.”
The little boy, apparently thrilled to be treated as a
grown-up, shook her hand, his expression solemn. “Nice to meet you, too, Miss
Berros.”
“Adara,” she corrected. “I have a feeling we’re going to be
fast friends.”
Tyler flashed his trademark jack o’lantern grin—the tooth
fairy had paid him for his two bottom front teeth only a week ago. “Are you the
lady who beat up the bad guys like Prufrock?”
She cast a confused glance at Shane. “Prufrock?”
He closed Tyler’s door and slid into the driver’s seat
before replying, “Prufrock is a taco-eating stegosaurus on KidTV. He fights
crime with his stunning karate moves and fiery tongue.”
“Oh.
That
Prufrock.”
“Did you really beat up a bad guy who was twice as big as
you? With karate?”
She stole another glance in Shane’s direction. He read the
question in her eyes and nodded to let her know it was okay to tell the boy the
truth. “Yes, I did.”
“Do you think you could teach me to do that?”
“Well, I could show you a few tricks, I suppose. When we get
to our destination.”
“Which reminds me, Shane,” Mom chimed in. “What is our
destination? What exactly is going on?”
“I just thought it was time we took a family vacation. We’re
going to KidLand in Florida.”
Tyler could barely keep his little body still inside the
booster seat’s restraints. He bounced crazily, his feet kicking the back of
Shane’s seat. “Really?”
“Really. I had some accrued vacation coming and decided now
was the perfect time to see Prufrock and all his crime-fighting friends in
person.”
“Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! Nana, did you hear that? I’m gonna
meet Prufrock in person.”
His mother offered an indulgent smile. “So I hear.”
“Did you pack my Prufrock doll?”
A glance in the rearview mirror at his mother’s quick frown
told him the answer to Tyler’s innocent question.
“Actually,” he said, “I thought we’d buy you a brand new
one.”
“Maybe bigger?”
“Absolutely. Let’s get off the Island first, and we’ll find
a toy store somewhere in Jersey, okay, pal?”
“You bet, Uncle Shane.”
Shane breathed a heavy sigh of relief. They really dodged a
bullet there. He probably should have told his mother to pack a few things, but
his concern for their safety overrode all logical thought. Of course, the next
dilemma was just as imperative to solve quickly. Not one of them had any
clothing or luggage with them. With luck, the toy store they found would be in
a mall, or at least near a department store. Thank God money wasn’t an issue.
Disconcerting as it might be to admit, he owed Tedior Pha a
tremendous debt of gratitude. The billfold Pha had so easily handed over
contained a little more than five thousand dollars in cash. As to any monies
they spent on this trip, however, he’d keep an accurate account and repay it
all as soon as possible.
He hated owing anyone anything, but most particularly the
irksome Mr. Pha. Yet, he had to admit he might have underestimated the pretty
boy from Cyprus. Adara had insisted the man was harmless, and true, when the
proverbial shit hit the fan, only Tedior Pha came through to help.
God, I hope I haven’t made a mistake in trusting him…
~~~~
After stops at a toy store, a department store, and a fast
food place for dinner, the miles flew by for Adara. Nothing filled the void but
an endless stream of streetlights and highways and Tyler’s nonsensical chatter
about his favorite superhero. By the time they reached the border of New Jersey
and Delaware, Adara considered herself the foremost authority on Prufrock the
Nuclear Stegosaurus and his band of Wasteoids, even though she’d never seen the
television show.
Shortly after eight o’clock, Tyler’s little body surrendered
to sleep, and the adults finally had the chance to speak. Unfortunately, no one
seemed to know where to start. An uncomfortable silence permeated the car,
itching under Adara’s skin and making her squirm. Finally, she could take no
more.
“I’m terribly sorry I dragged your family into my mess,
Pauline. If I had any idea it would come to this, I never would have—”
Pauline’s velvety hand brushed the hair on the right side of
Adara’s neck. A longing as old as time swept over her. A longing for the
comforting touch of the woman who’d nursed her wounds, wiped her tears, and
held her close, her mother. Her hand clutched her medallion at her throat. With
a shudder, she released the clinging emotion.
“Don’t blame yourself, Adara. I don’t know how we came to be
here, but I’m sure it will all work out in the end. Sometimes, we must turn our
fates over to a higher power and trust in the future. Once we’re settled in
Florida and have some time alone, we’ll discuss how we arrived at this place in
time and, perhaps, where we shall go from here.”
What a gracious lady. By all rights, Pauline could be
screaming like a banshee right now. About how Adara ruined their lives,
uprooting them all without a care for anyone but herself. But, no. Pauline not
only refused to hold Adara’s crimes against her, she offered redemption and
hope. It was an act of supreme self-sacrifice, something only a loving mother
could do.
Again, a wave of loneliness engulfed her, dragging her down
beneath an ocean of self-pity. Oh, how she missed her mother.
Staring out at the white lines zipping by beneath the car,
she wondered if her mother could see her now. In the hospital before she died,
she’d promised that she would always watch over her daughter.
Are you there, Mom? Can you see me now? What should I do?
I can’t keep endangering this wonderful family. And I can’t marry Ted, no
matter how enticing an offer he makes me.
If her mother heard, she made no reply. No signs showed up
on I-95, no perfect song came on the radio. That’s when the realization struck
with the force of a sledgehammer.
Adara would have to finish this mess on her own, totally and
completely alone.
~~~~
“Poor child,” Hera said from her marble throne on Mt.
Olympus. “She believes herself alone in this battle.”
“She
is
alone,” Rhea reminded her daughter-in-law.
“Even Aphrodite cannot help her. Ares’s intrusion into the events by bringing
back that horrid Mr. Cherry has set forth an interesting dilemma. Adara must
sort this conundrum out on her own now. Thankfully, she seems up to the
challenge.”
Eros folded his chubby arms over his slender chest. One
misfortune of remaining as a babe for all eternity was the inability to show
true anger at a series of circumstances. Children always looked too cute to be
taken seriously. Still, a frown marred his perfect features, and he managed to
communicate his displeasure and resentment through blazing eyes and a ramrod
posture. “Adara did not have to be alone,” he said. “If she had accepted my
mother’s proposal, she would be here in her old form, passing the rest of
eternity with the rest of us as an immortal.”
Athena shook her lustrous head. “Ah, Eros, don’t you see?
Upon her birth, I gifted her with wisdom and honor. She uses those gifts now.
Wise enough to know that she does not truly love your mother and principled
enough to reject the marriage proposal and avoid hurting someone she’s grown
fond of, Adara dances a fine line. She is a very worthy adversary for our Ares,
even in her mortal shell.”
“I must admit,” Apollo remarked, “I, too, am quite taken
with Adonis in this form.”
Eros’s frown turned to an o of surprise. Apollo had always
been one of his staunchest supporters. “You, Apollo?
“Indeed. Adara has achieved a venerable stature Adonis could
never attain. Adonis was selfish and reckless. Adara, however, is generous, trustworthy,
and loving. The shame of it is that, as Adara, Adonis truly deserves to be
immortal.”
“And yet,” his twin, Artemis said, “the qualities we so
prize in Adara make it impossible for her to accept Ted’s proposal and become
immortal.”
Athena turned to the golden god seated beside Hera. “What
say you, Zeus? She is your daughter. Will you return to earth to assist her?”
The mighty Zeus held up a hand. “Only if it is absolutely
necessary. Each of you has gifted Adara with the skills and talents she needs
to best Ares at this game. I would have her prove her worth before she joins us
here. Adonis never showed himself as more than a pretty face and a fair hunter,
regardless of Aphrodite’s affection for him.”
Artemis sighed. “It is a sticky situation, to be sure. And
none of us knows how it will play out in the end.”
“I do,” a sly voice interjected.
Several heads turned to the tiny gray spider dangling from a
thin line attached to a wisp of cloud overhead.
“I wove the web to its conclusion. I know exactly how it
will all turn out.”
“Well, do not tell us, dear Arachne,” Athena said, waving
her hand. “I, for one, am enjoying the chase and do not wish to spoil the
surprises to come.”
Chapter Nineteen
Around midnight, Shane pulled into the parking lot of an
all-suite motel in North Carolina. Tyler still slept on, and by now, Pauline
had also dozed off. Despite her lack of sleep the night before, Adara could not
will her eyes to close. Too many thoughts crowded her mind, pushing and shoving
for attention like frantic Christmas Eve shoppers nearing their midnight
deadline.
“Stay with them while I get us a room,” Shane whispered as
he parked near the motel’s office.
She nodded and watched him leave the car then turned to look
at the sleeping occupants behind her. Whether awake or asleep, Tyler was an
adorable little boy. Yet, even in slumber, a dark cloud hovered over his
cherubic face. Pauline had the same profile as her son, a bit more weathered
and lined with age, but the noble brow, aquiline nose, and slightly jutting
chin were all Shane’s. She, too, wore a mournful expression while she slept.
It was an expression Adara knew well, one she saw in her own
mirror often these days. The expression of a person who had lost someone dear
and now found day-to-day life too agonizing to bear. Tyler had lost his mother,
Pauline her daughter. All in one fell swoop.
Adara shook her head in pity. At least when her mother died,
the loss didn’t affect anyone else. And she’d been an adult, prepared for the
inevitable, after weeks of watching Mom waste away in a hospital bed while
pancreatic cancer slowly ate her insides. These two poor individuals had their
loved one snatched from them too soon, too violently, and with no warning or
time to prepare.
The quick opening of the car door jolted her heart into her
throat, but only signaled Shane’s return. Stifling her shocked gasp, she
swallowed her heart and faced forward again in the car.
“All set.” Shane handed her the key. “Go on up and make
yourself comfortable. Room 241. Straight up the stairs there. Do me a favor,
and pull down one of the beds when you get inside. I’ll carry Tyler up, and
it’ll be smoother if we can transfer him from the car straight to a bed. If he
wakes, it could be hours before I can get him down again.”
“What about your mother?”
“Oh, she’ll fall right back to sleep once we have her
upstairs.” He grinned. “Don’t worry about Mom. I’ll wake her first, then get
Tyler. The room has two double beds. You take one, Mom and Tyler will share the
other. I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“A little cramped, isn’t it?”
“Cramped, but safe. Now, go.”
“Okay.” She opened the door and stepped out onto the crunchy
gravel, the room key dangling from her loose grip. “Why don’t you give me the
overnight bag we packed? I can take that up with me.”
“Great. Thanks.” Shane opened the trunk and pulled out the
bag, price tag still intact.
When Adara reached for the bag, her fingertips brushed his.
The simple contact released a fluttering of feathers in her stomach. Ticklish and
disarming, they wafted into her bloodstream, prickling the fine hairs on her
arms. What was it about him that made her so jumpy? Even Ted’s supremely good
looks didn’t have this effect on her.
Beneath the yellowish hum of the street lamps, he cocked his
head to stare at her. “You okay?”
Bag and key in hand, she nodded and headed up the wooden
staircase to their room.
The suite wasn’t overly large, but it was tastefully
decorated and clean. After noting the small sofa, the dining table for two, and
the obligatory paintings of tree-lined lakes at sunrise decorating the walls,
she dropped the key on the table and took the bag into the bedroom area. A pair
of double beds, with autumnal flower-patterned matching bedspreads, mastered
the tiny cubicle. To the right stood a miniscule closet, complete with hangers
that could not be removed from the rack. On the left, a doorway led to a white
tiled bathroom with a shower stall, no tub.