thin and aged arms over her chest.
“It matters to me.”
“It don’t to me.”
“Are those your favorite flowers?”
“Not mine. My husband’s.” Her voice was sad. Mrs. Bendsfield had weakened with slightly slumped shoulders. Dani didn’t know why. It didn’t piece together. Not yet.
“What do you mean?”
“They’re just flowers, girl. It ain’t no unsolved mystery. My husband picked those flowers for me. I had them wild daisies and lilies in my bouquet on my wedding day. But, they just flowers.”
Memories weren’t just memories. And anything that stood for a memory, sparked a memory, wasn’t just anything.
“My son ain’t your father.” Mrs. Bendsfield surprised her again. She added, “I know what you thought when you left that last time. I know that I wasn’t myself, all that much, but…my son took off long ago. I ain’t seen or heard from him in over forty years. He’s long gone, as far as I’m concerned.”
“Why’d he leave?”
“Ain’t your business.”
“I think it is.”
“I think not,” Mrs. Bendsfield rasped out, harshly. “He’s my son and I have to mourn his absence every day. I don’t have to explain anything, least of all, to one of her rabbits.”
That was the second time Dani had heard Mrs. Bendsfield call her that.
“Is that what you thought of my momma? That she bred like a rabbit?”
Mrs. Bendsfield snorted and shook her head, “She might as well have for all the trouble she caused around these parts. Your momma wasn’t all right in the head. Took a damn near earthquake to get her to see reason one time…” Her voice had trailed off.
Dani jerked in reaction. She remembered, “You said that you took a shovel to my momma. Did you hurt my momma?”
“What?” Mrs. Bendsfield looked again, her thoughts in the past, and murmured distractedly, “No, no. Just a phrase—that’s all I meant. It might’ve helped…if I had taken a shovel.”
“For the record, Mrs. Bendsfield, with all due respect, I don’t believe what you’re saying.”
“My son ain’t your papa. You can believe that!”
“Might so, but you know something about my family and I want to know what that is. I think I have a right to know.”
“You got no right except to live your life. That’s what all you O’Haras are supposed to do. Just live your lives and leave everyone else in your dust, hurting like my Oscar, like…” Mrs. Bendsfield snapped back to attention. “No. My Oscar ain’t your papa. If he were, I’d rather kill myself and dig my own grave afterwards…” She had trailed off again.
“Would it be so terrible? If your son was my father? Would that really be such a terrible thing?”
She had expected anger or hot denial, but Dani was surprised when the fight seemed to evaporate and Mrs. Bendsfield just murmured, saddened, “Yes. Yes, it would, little Dani O’Hara, in ways you can’t conceive.”
Dani stood still, feeling the wind whip against her from every angle.
Mrs. Bendsfield had moved to watch out the window, across the green pasture that fed and nourished her cows. GoldenEye seemed to sense his owner’s gaze and lifted her graceful black and white neck. Her grand doe-like eyes cut across the pasture and she stepped towards her owner’s distress.
Dani didn’t notice any of this. Her eyes were caught and transfixed on the lilies and daisies. And the dolphins. Her momma always talked about the magical dolphins and their healing qualities. They were the protectors of the ocean and they guarded us well. A bitter smile crossed Dani’s engraved features.
Her momma talked about the white dolphin that rode atop the white clouds in the sky. She said that when it was your time of dying or healing, that white dolphin would appear and you only had to grasp her fin and she’d pull you home. Dani always thought home meant their home. It wasn’t what her momma meant and she wondered if her momma had gotten a ride by the white dolphin that she almost revered.
“My momma wasn’t bad.”
Mrs. Bendsfield swung back around and gazed at her, startled, like she’d forgotten her presence was real.
Dani added, “You talk like my momma was awful, but she wasn’t. She was a good momma.”
“Child…” Mrs. Bendsfield said, her eyes hollow, “I don’t care if your momma was good or not. All I know is the pain she wrecked my home with and that’ll stick with me ‘til my dying day when I dig my own grave. My Oscar’s gone and it’s because of your momma.”
“What happened? Tell me what happened.” She insisted, “Tell me what you’re not telling me.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Mrs. Bendsfield looked at her as her white hair slipped out of her haphazard bun. The white strands framed her aged features and her wizarding eyes seemed to sigh on their own.
She murmured, gravely, “It ain’t my secret to tell.”
“It’s not my momma’s. She’s gone. She’s dead.”
“Your momma ain’t the only one in this secret, Dani. There are others involved, even though they don’t know it or not. It’s more their secret than mine.” She nodded. “You get it from them. Not me.”
“But…”
“I’ve had enough of your family. I don’t want anything more from anyone with the name of O’Hara.” Mrs. Bendsfield harrumphed and she stumbled out of her reverie and took a faltering step towards the door.
“Wait.”
She stopped and looked back, “I know who your daddy is and he comes around every now and then. He checks in on you three and he was at your little sister’s funeral. I saw him then too.”
The milking door, white and rickety, shut behind her.
‘He checks in on you three.’ Those had been Mrs. Bendsfield’s words and Dani realized where she might find her father, but she needed to see him.
As she left and walked past Mrs. Bendsfield, her hand cupped underneath GoldenEye’s eager lips, with grain in hand, their eyes met. Dani knew that she wouldn’t return. Mrs. Bensfield wanted to be left alone and the wish would be granted—at least by Dani. Anyone else, Dani couldn’t promise that, but for now, she’d keep what she knew to herself until she finally knew what it all meant.
She headed for the cave, knowing she would find Jonah there.
Trenton spotted her first as he popped up from a dive. He flashed a blinding white smile, even more dazzling against the backdrop of his black wet suit, and called out, “Hey, Dani. You come to help us dive?”
“Maybe,” she murmured and sat on the edge with her toes dipped into the water. She rolled up the ends of her pant legs and waited as Trenton dived back down and a second later, Jonah popped in his stead.
“Hi.” Jonah grinned as he hoisted himself up beside her. “What are you doing here?” He moved his bucket between them and rubbed off the dirt and grime from the mussels. Scooping some mussels into the river, he washed the dirt from them.
The shells gleamed as the sunshine hit off their black shells.
“Jake stopped by yesterday.”
Jonah paused in his washing.
She continued, “He said you have a fight brewing.”
He was listening, sitting there and waiting.
“It’s with Boone’s brother, isn’t it?”
“It is.” He nodded, the teasing left in a flash. “But I can’t really talk about it. I can talk about how this mussel is going to save our town’s economy so we don’t need to keep exploiting the river, but, about that…I can’t. I’m sorry, Dani.”
Dani nodded. She understood.
Jonah frowned and asked, “You said that Jake told you I was heading into a fight? How’d he know about that?”
She shrugged. “He said the police make it their business to know what’s going on, in case they need to protect someone.”
“That’s bullshit,” Jonah cursed swiftly. He kept washing off the mussels as he added, “Jake’s interested because you’re my business
. He’s never been interested before and if he says the police are involved, that’s even more bullshit. The police force around this town don’t want anything to do with my ‘battles.’ They want the conglomerates to come into town because it means more money and they can hire on more staff. They don’t think sometimes.”
“Well, I don’t think Drew Quandry is going to threaten me. Boone wouldn’t want that.”
Jonah watched her. The mussel was left frozen in his hand as he sat still and watched the sadness enter her once more. It was defined from the set of her shoulders, the droop of her eyelids, and even the slight clench of her jaw. As if she couldn’t fight off the wave of sadness any longer. Dani closed her eyes a moment and felt the water’s cool touch against her skin.
Trenton broke the silence as he broke the surface. “Man. I just hit another bed.”
“You did?” Without thought, Jonah transferred the mussel he’d been holding to Dani and jumped into the river.
Trenton dived after him.
Dani spotted a loose pair of goggles and snorkel. She grabbed them without thinking, shimmied out of her pants, and dived in after them. It was dark in the water, but she followed the trail of bubbles and within another moment, she saw Jonah’s and Trenton’s floating figures as they ducked inside another cave of the river.
Dani kicked her legs and a put forth a burst of speed until she was behind Jonah. She tapped on his shoulder and when he whirled in shock, his eyes widened when Dani pointed to his mouthpiece and her own.
He nodded, took a deep breath from his oxygen tank, and removed it.
Dani had expected him to give her the oxygen mouthpiece, but instead Jonah fused his lips over hers and breathed out his air of oxygen. His lips lingered over hers another moment before he replaced his lips with the oxygen tank and Dani drew in enough breaths to tide her over.
He took his own until they could trade evenly and still remain under the water. Trenton waited patiently, but he tapped Jonah’s shoulder and jerked his head towards the bed again. He skimmed it with a flashlight and Dani’s eyes widened at the vision of black mussels upon black mussels. There were possibly twenty dozen and they were blanketed by fish who ducked to grab the decoy fish from their mussel lips.
Dani caught a flash of something within the bed and swam below to grab it.
Her hand pushed through the swarm of fish and she felt the cool slide of mussels against her hand, but her fingers dug into the river’s bottom until she felt the cool slide of a black pearl.
She grabbed it and swam back to Jonah’s waiting mouthpiece. After she’d took in her first breath, she lifted up the black pearl and both men nodded in affirming approval.
Jonah removed the mouthpiece and kissed her hard. When they pulled back for air, they saw that Trenton had swam back to the surface. Jonah dipped his head again and his lips found hers. They swam back to the surface at a slower pace and saw Trenton shifting through the mussels in their bucket.
He grinned. “Thought you two wanted a moment.”
Jonah ignored him. “You should keep the pearl, Dani. Call it a severance package for your investment you gave us.”
“They’re beautiful.” So transfixed from the pearl, Dani missed the lingering gazed of both men on her. Her hair was wet, her shirt had become a second skin, and her eyes glowed in anticipation and delight from the earth’s jewel she held in her hand.
Trenton coughed and looked away.
Jonah’s eyes darkened and he stepped forward.
“I’m…I’m…going.” Trenton dove back into the river with their bucket.
As he swam out from the canal, Dani looked up. “Where’s he going?”
Jonah took a second to answer. “He’s going back to start documenting our find. He’ll be back in a couple hours to start tagging the location so we can ‘claim’ this bed too.”
“Oh.” Dani grinned again. “I’m not one for jewelry, but this pearl is gorgeous.”
Jonah stepped closer and lifted the pearl so the sunlight glinted just off it. Dani saw the waves of color inside the pearl and Jonah murmured, “The legend of Oro, a god of peace and fertility, gave a pearl oyster to his bride for love. A lot of legends talk about pearls encase love and bless the lonely with a future love. You see this soft blue overtone on this pearl?”
“Yeah.” Dani held her breath as Jonah stepped still closer. His fingers brushed along hers and she felt his chest rise and fall beside her.
“Not only is this pearl the only naturally occurring freshwater pearl, but it doesn’t have the green overtone the Tahitian black water pearls have. In fact, if those pearls don’t have the green overtone, they’re considered not as unique. They’re not wanted, but this pearl—it doesn’t have a green overtone. It has a blue overtone.”
“And that’s good?”
“That’s very very good. This pearl is probably worth around nine thousand on its own.”
Dani chuckled. “And I just had to pay fifty thousand for it.”
“That you did.” Jonah laughed as his hands closed her fingers over the pearl and he tugged her against him.
Dani’s eyes softened as her arms fit around his shoulders. They fit together and Jonah dipped to kiss her. The heat enflamed again, as it had before, and Dani responded before asking, “So what does this pearl mean?”
Jonah’s hand slipped to her hip and he pressed her closer. She felt him fully and heard his response, as his mouth bent just beside her ear, “These pearls will bring peace and fertility to Craigstown and Falls River. That’s what this means.”
“Hmm mmm?”
“And what about right now?”
Jonah dipped and carried her as he jumped into the river.
Dani shrieked in delight and clasped her arms tighter around him.
Laughing, Jonah braced his arms against the edge as he trapped Dani within. He leaned forward and nipped at the side of her mouth. He trailed kisses along her chin to her ear and as one of his hands curved around her hip and he pressed against her, he whispered, “Remember when you called me ‘god’ before?”
An amused grin teased at her mouth as he pressed kisses to each corner again.
“Hmmm mmm?” She tipped her head and Jonah’s searching lips found her neck and sent shivers of lust ricocheting throughout her body.
“I’m going to take you there again.”
And he did.
Jonah spent the night that night and Dani remained awake. At three in the morning, she slipped from the bed and wrapped a blanket around herself as she perched on a chair inside the indoor porch. She realized a bonfire was still burning at the Smith’s home across the lake. She propped open the door and heard the drunken laughter.
“Hey.” Jonah yawned and padded to the lounger beside her. He reached for the bottom end of her blanket and tugged it over his lap. “Did you have a nightmare?” he asked as if they sat across each other for morning coffee.
“No.” Dani moved in her seat to turn his way. She rested her head against the back of her seat and watched him in the moonlight. It filtered over him and accentuated his chiseled cheekbones and soft bedroom eyes. “I have come to the conclusion that my life is a mess.”
Jonah grinned. “How’s that?”
“I’m sleeping with you. My ex-fiancé is in town and we still haven’t had ‘the talk.’ Jake has jealousy issues and he’s engaged to my sister.”
Jonah snorted. “That’s not a mess. That just sounds like a small town soap fest. It’s something Aiden would love to hear about. You’d make her day if she got a hold of your drama. She’d sit for hours and help you fix everything and in the end, you and me would be married in my sister’s—who really means the best—fantasy.”
“I’ve never done the friendship thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“Isn’t that what girlfriends are supposed to share with their friends? All their troubles and woes?”