Chapter Six
Goddess
damn it, Charisse couldn’t believe she’d just ruined another canvas.
It had been like this for the last four days… ever since Nate had showed up so
unexpectedly on her rock. Sighing in exasperation, she placed a fresh
canvas on the easel and took a deep calming breath and then another one.
It
was a beautiful blue sky day, soft fluffy baby clouds were sprinkled across the
skyline, the sea relatively calm. Hard to believe there was only a week
or two left of Summer.
Not that fall or
winter were particularly harsh here in Queensland, but certainly the nights
would get chilly and there would be fewer daylight hours to paint
by. Worse comes to worse, she could paint inside the cabin next to
the small wood fire heater she’d had installed. It was quite a cosy set
up with its small kitchen and there was even a bed in case she got caught out
on Bettina by bad weather.
Blinking,
Charisse looked down at the canvas, damn, not ruined, but not exactly what
she’d intended to paint either. Giving up, she turned and repositioned
the easel, if she was going to paint Kaleidoscope Cove beach and the gothic
monstrosity on top of it, then she might as well just give in to the impulse,
otherwise she’d get nothing achieved today whatsoever.
Under
her breath she hummed a medley of 70’s TV shows, starting with the Brady Bunch,
leading into I Dream of Jeannie, The Partridge Family and Welcome Back
Kotter. By late afternoon, with the sun well overhead and scorching
down she was more than ready to take a break. Storing her brushes, she
arched her back and finally took a good long look at what she’d spent the day
working on. Hmmm, that was new… and kind of strange. Her work was
normally grounded in the here and now, but what she’d painted today… it was
part fantasy, and all wishful thinking.
Kaleidoscope
Folly was no longer a run-down scary mess, in her painting it was a stately
beautiful home with a large veranda encompassing the ground floor. The
roof was now red and shingled, gleaming bright above the fresh coat of white
paint that decorated the place along with new wrought ironwork that gilded the
edges without over doing it. In her interpretation, the turrets at either
end of the house each had a flag flying on their highest point and big new wide
windows on every floor.
She’d
painted in an extensive garden with an entertainment area and a large expanse
of green grass leading to the cliff’s edge, replacing the current crop of
scrubby bushes, crabgrass and weeds. Except for what she’d done to the
house and the grounds that was all she’d changed… no hold it, there on the
private beach, she’d added a red and white striped beach shack. Wow, who
knew she could be so fanciful. Well, she supposed after spending fifteen
years looking at the property she had some definite ideas of what its potential
could be.
“Hey
there Cyd.”
She
gasped, spinning to discover Nate standing behind her, dripping wet.
Wearing cut off dark grey shorts and work boots. Seriously, did the man
not own a t-shirt? And what was up with him always swimming in his
boots? “Nate, you scared me… what are you doing here?” Goddess, how
much paint had she accidently smeared across her face? And damn, she was
wearing her oldest and ugliest muumuu, why hadn’t she thrown it away already.
“I
was bored and needed a break… decided to take a swim and I heard something.”
“You
heard something?” Oh Goddess, had she accidently lured him to the
rock? Except Bettina was being awfully quiet today; watchful, bordering
on sly and secretive, she-rock wasn’t even yanking on the bond as she’d done on
Nate’s previous visit. What was the sneaky bitch up to?
And
once more Nate was holding an actual conversation with her without drooling,
fawning over her, or even showing the slightest bit of interest in her for that
matter.
Although who could blame the
man.
Along with the hideous muumuu she
was wearing an exceedingly sensible but rather unflattering sunhat, dark
sunglasses and as always, zinc cream, was smeared across her nose, protecting
her from sun damage and developing freckles.
Nate
was looking around the rock as if searching for something. “It was kind
of a droning… or a humming.
A weird
combination of the two. You don’t have one of those wind farms nearby do
you? I’ve read they can affect some people’s hearing strangely.”
Charisse
fought hard not to stamp her foot, the man was infuriating, yet again insulting
her, even if he didn’t know it. “There are no wind farms nearby.
Maybe you should get Nell to check you over if you’re hearing strange
things.” Or perhaps he should get some sleep she was tempted to
say. The man looked tired. And who wouldn’t be, he seemed to be up
at dawn, worked all day outside and as soon as the sun set he worked inside the
house. Not that she was stalking him or anything, just catching the
occasional glimpse of him… every ten minutes or so, when she found herself
looking up at the Folly. “I was about to grab a drink… do you want
one?” Her words weren’t exactly gracious but suddenly she was feeling
kind of parched.
“Hey,
is that my place? Wow.”
Nate
walked up next to her, careful to stay out of touching distance. His
fingers itched to brush that glossy pony-tail back over her shoulder and ease
her out of that orange blanket thing she was wearing. The colour was dreadful
but he kind of liked that it was so worn it was all but transparent in places,
was that a mole or a birthmark on her waist? Hmm she was wearing sandals
today, nice feet… cute toes.
By
the Sands, he needed to pull himself together, why had he given in to the
impulse to swim out here today? Because he was a fool, he scolded
himself. Maat, this woman had some strange pull over him, from head to
toe, inside and out, she fascinated him.
Even
though he’d sworn he wouldn’t get involved, he was now beyond intrigued to work
out the mystery behind her all but encased soul. Especially after his
last physical contact with her when the damn thing had zapped him with static
electricity, or was that Charisse protecting herself subconsciously? Just
what was the woman’s magic?
Hmm,
mysteries on top of mysteries… and he’d been worried he’d be bored out here in
the sticks.
“I
was just playing around.” Charisse was already walking away towards the
cabin. Grabbing two drinks from the cooler she turned, swallowing a gasp
of surprise to find Nate had followed her, standing only inches away.
“Will you stop sneaking up on me? Sit… there.” She pointed to the
nearest chair under the cabin’s make-shift veranda, setting his drink down
carefully on the nearby low table so she would be in no danger of touching
him.
“I
like your interpretation of the house.” Nate sighed as he relaxed back
into the canvas chair, stretching his legs out in front of him. “It’s
very similar to what I have in mind actually, though what I’m aiming for is a
little less… fussy.”
“You
can say girlie, I won’t be offended.”
Nate
just smiled, taking a sip of his soda, it really was peaceful out here,
especially now that the annoying droning had quit. “Why paint way out
here in the middle of nowhere?
It must
be a hassle to get your supplies over and the completed paintings to shore?”
Charisse
shrugged, tugging off her oversized white sunhat, adjusting her
pony-tail. “Maybe I’m just one of those eccentric artistic types.”
“No.”
Nate shook his head, refusing to accept that explanation.
“Quirky
and temperamental then?” Charisse offered.
“Definitely
not quirky and not so much temperamental as… high maintenance, I think.”
Charisse
spluttered out some soda that had gone down the wrong way. “I am not high
maintenance.”
“Tell
me you don’t love getting your own way?”
“Who
doesn’t?” Insisted Charisse; pulling off her sunglasses so he could get
the full effect of her haughty glare.
Nate
met her glare and offered her an easy smile. “You expect every man you
meet to fall at your feet and worship you.”
“Actually,
I often pray for the exact opposite reaction.”
“Oh,
I can see it bores you silly, that’s why you’ve set up the challenge.”
“The
challenge?”
Charisse enquired, bemused.
“What
else would you call those hideous blankets and hats you insist upon wearing?”
“Well
I consider them sun smart for a start. Everyone knows how damaging the
sun’s rays can be. How can you possibly interpret what I choose to wear
out here as a challenge? A challenge to whom exactly?”
She looked around at the surrounding empty
seas.
“To
the simple yet highly predictable male of the species. So far, when it
comes to the men in your life, I’m betting you hold all the cards, call all the
plays, make all the decisions. So you’ve instigated this test…” He
waved a hand in her general direction. “Waiting for some guy to come
along with half a clue, see straight through all your props and challenge you
right back.”
“Challenge
me back?” Charisse shook her head. “You know nothing about me.”
“I
bet you’ve never had a long term relationship. In fact just to prove my
point, if you can name one man… just one, that you’ve had a long term relationship
with… I’ll decorate the Folly to the specifications of your painting.”
“Define
long term?” She asked warily.
Nate
cocked his head, that teasing twinkle in his eyes sparking like solar flares
off the sun. “I won’t even set the bar too high… let’s say, more than
three weeks.”
“Um…
er.” Charisse was racking her brain, there had to be someone she’d dated
for longer than three weeks. Suddenly she snapped her fingers.
“Damian West!”
“How
old were you when you went out together?”
“What
does that have to do anything?” Charisse fisted her hand into the
voluminous material of her dress.
“Humour
me.” Nate insisted.
“I
was nine and he was ten.” Charisse muttered under her breath.
“It
doesn’t count if the relationship occurred before you turned sixteen.”
“Damn
you.” Charisse accused, shaking her head, her mind a complete mental
blank, not one name leaping out at her. “It doesn’t prove anything.
I have a very demanding… career. It’s hard finding someone who
understands the time and dedication I require for my painting.” Not to
mention the fact that too long in her company men historically had become
rather too compliant… vegetative even, always agreeing with her, some
forgetting how to swallow. It seemed unfair to expose any man to that
risk, besides she’d yet to come across a man who didn’t bore her stupid after a
few nights together. Okay, so maybe she did need someone
challenging. “Well what about you, Mr expert-on-women… where’s your long
term better half?”
“Ah-huh,
we were talking about you.”
“Well
now we’re discussing you. According to Hadleigh, you’re some kind of
world-class super flirt when it comes to the ladies, so where’s Ms Perfect?”
“I
suppose I’m in the same boat as you, my career has always taken precedence.”
Charisse
waved a hand in the air dismissively. “So you’re trying to tell me that
Vaughn and Drum’s recent meld marriages are an anomaly?”
“It
did take them over a hundred years to find their mates. Not surprisingly
really… it requires a special kind of woman to get involved with a Maat
warrior.” Nate shifted, relaxing even lower in the chair.
“Do
you ever get tired of killing bad guys?”
He
frowned for a moment, considering her question. “It’s what I was born…
made to do.”
Charisse
smiled. “That’s not exactly a no.”
Nate
shrugged. “I can’t imagine doing anything else… it’s fulfilling, hard
work, weirdly funny at times but ultimately… mostly satisfying.”
Charisse
scrunched up her nose. “Mostly satisfying? That’s a strange way to
describe it. Is that why you decided to move here and renovate the Folly,
to broaden your horizons?”
“You
sure ask a lot of questions for a girl whose world view seems kind of narrow to
me. Between this rock and your house is what… six miles? How often
do you stray further than that?”
“I
go out… all the time.” Charisse fumbled for her sunglasses, but they had
slipped from her lap to the sand beneath her seat.
“Okay,
so let’s extend that radius to… eight, maybe ten miles. Let’s face it, if
it wasn’t for your cousins, you’d be practically a hermit.”
“I’m
not a recluse, I just like peace and quiet when I paint. And it’s not as
if I could ever get lonely out here, people like your good self are always just
dropping by to say hello, annoy me with silly questions and guzzle my sodas.”
“Ah
Cyd, you need to have your world shaken up on a regular basis, otherwise you’ll
become complacent.”