The Light of the Blue Pearl (34 page)

When he had asked her to do this she knew at
the time she wouldn’t want to, but she had made a promise all the
same. The last moment at the airport with Ian came flooding back
into her mind; her entire body could feel the anguish she had felt
that day. She really didn’t want to do this.

Before she could talk herself out of it she
heard the phone ringing, she had barely been aware that she had
dialed.

“Hello?” she heard Ian ask. She had missed
his voice so much; suddenly she wondered if this had been such a
good idea; she almost hung up.

“Hi…Ian?” she asked, though she knew it was
him.

“Yeah?” he said. “Who’s this?”

“It’s Ethne,” she said; why she had thought
he would know her voice she didn’t know, but she was slightly
disappointed that he hadn’t.

“Ethne?!” he said, sounding like he had gone
from a slightly tired state to a now electrocuted one. “How are
you?”

“I’m good,” she said, pausing, reluctant to
carry the conversation further. “How are you?”

“I’m good too,” he said. “…I didn’t think
you were going to call,” he confessed finally.

“I didn’t know if I would, honestly,” she
said, wanting to slap herself on the forehead for being so
rude.

“Oh?” he said, the enthusiasm from the shock
had obviously worn off. “Really…why?”

The silence now was even more uncomfortable
than the moment Scott had showed up at her door in Belize.

“Well, it isn’t exactly easy…hurting
you…again, Ian,” she said, as tears started to rise.

She really hadn’t wanted to make this call.
She had finally started to feel relief about knowing what she
wanted, or at least thinking she knew what she wanted. The last
three weeks had been perfect, now she was almost back to that
feeling she had in Dallas – split in the middle.

“Oh,” he said. “Well…I know it probably
wasn’t easy to call me…but I’m glad you did.”

“Really?” she asked. “Even if I don’t have
the news you want to hear?”

“I knew the consequences when I asked the
favor,” he said.

“I suppose,” she said, not entirely
convinced.

“And like I said, as long as you aren’t
alone.” He paused. “I’ll be okay – though I will admit it was
rather difficult saying goodbye to you.”

“Yes…it was,” she agreed.

“So?” he asked. “What’s the verdict?”

“Oh,” she said, rolling her eyes. “That’s a
great way of putting it.”

He laughed. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “I guess.”

She paused again a moment before she told
Ian what had happened, leaving out the details he didn’t need to
know. She hadn’t said she “chose” Scott in those terms, but rather
that she was with him and that she was happy.

He paused before responding to the answer
she had given. “I’m happy for you, Ethne…I really am.”

“Thank you, Ian,” she said; she didn’t know
what else she could say.

After a moment she added, “I really am sorry
if I hurt you, it was really difficult for me…to leave you that
day. I almost changed my mind when I was waiting for the next
plane.”

“Really?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “That was part of the
reason I had told you to leave when you did…it was too hard. I’ve
really missed you, Ian.”

“I know what you mean, Ethne,” he said.
“I’ve been thinking about you pretty much everyday since…it’s
probably a good thing I didn’t have your phone number,” he
laughed.

She would have tried to laugh, but she
couldn’t, she didn’t find any of this funny.

“Sorry,” he said, after a moment. “I didn’t
mean to make this any harder on you.”

“No,” she said. “You didn’t – you’ve
actually been far too kind.”

“Well…,” he said. “I don’t know about that,
but I am glad you are happy.”

Hearing his voice and his laugh again was
tugging at her, the thought that this could be the last time she
might ever talk to him just seemed impossible to believe. She
didn’t want the call to end.

“I have to go, Ethne, I’m sorry…,” he
said.

She could hear voices in the background
trying to pull him away, a tear ran down her cheek before she
answered him.

“Oh,” she said. “Okay…”

It was so quiet for a moment she thought he
had already hung up.

“Sorry about that, my friends are here to
pick me up,” he said. “I’ve postponed them a second.”

“Oh,” she said, again. She felt like she had
a guillotine hanging above her neck and that in a second it would
fall, and she had no control over it.

“So…,” she said. “I guess this is goodbye
then?”

“I guess so…,” he replied. “But you do have
my number…”

“Yeah…,” she said, holding the paper in her
hands, though she actually didn’t need it anymore; she had
memorized the number a long time ago.

“Be happy, Ethne…,” he said. “I love
you.”

Hearing him say the words she knew he felt
was almost more than she could take. She looked down at the pearl
wrapped in the ring sitting upon her finger and remembered the day
he had held it in his hands.

“I love you too, Ian.”

The line went dead before either of them
could say another word.

“Straight to You”
and
“Sands of Time”

Written and Performed by

Twitter: @katsember

http://kat-tracks.com/soundtracks

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoyed my debut novel. I'm
currently working on my next one which is set to be out soon. I
write in a variety of genres including romance and fantasy/sci-fi
and really look forward to hearing your feedback.

If you liked this book, I would greatly
appreciate any help you can give to spread the word about my work.
Please tell your family and friends and if possible leave a comment
or review on my website or on Amazon, Goodreads, B&N, etc.

Thanks for reading!!

K.C. HAWKE

Connect with Me Online:

Website:
http://www.kchawke.com

Twitter:
http://twitter.com/KCHawke

Smashwords:

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/kchawke