The Sapphire Pendant by Girard Dara

Author:Girard, Dara [Girard, Dara]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: ILORI Press
Published: 2010-10-04T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

Jessie woke the next morning, feeling the sun mocking her with its brightness. She sat on the edge of the bed and saw a note under her door. It read:

We’ll talk when I get back. There’s something you should know. Miss me.

Kenneth

PS Kiss this spot. I did.

She smiled in spite of herself. There was a lot she would remember about last night, but most of all their vulnerability. It had frightened her. Why couldn’t they trust each other? Why did she demand it instead of give it? Kenneth was right; love was not about being selfish.

She looked at the sun as it chased shadows across her room, its brightness no longer seeming to mock her. She lifted the blinds and stared at the trees: tall noble witnesses, whispering, their many secrets, to each other in the morning breeze.

“I do know about love,” she said. “I risked winning the pendant for him, didn’t I? That proves it.”

The trees stopped whispering; the sun found solace behind a cloud.

“Cowards,” she murmured, turning to the bed.

And yet she’d saved face again. By declaring herself the loser she wouldn’t have to try to win and face failure. Then she would work for Deborah, knowing in her heart that she hadn’t really lost because she hadn’t tried. She frowned. Her pride was a tricky monster. Kenneth was right; she did see him as trophy. But she also loved him. If she wanted to prove it, she would have to tell him the truth—risking it all.

* * *

He had failed. Hopelessly. He wished he hadn’t gone. Kenneth hit the steering wheel and swore as he drove back from his brother’s place. It didn’t matter that he had set his brother up in a nice apartment; made sure he always had food in the fridge and checked in every now and then to see he had managed to keep his current employment. The alcohol was winning. Eddie had been sober enough to speak coherently, but needing a drink so badly that his hands shook like a patient with Parkinson’s. Kenneth had congratulated himself for keeping an emotional distance from the situation until he saw a wine bottle in the recycling bin. His calm snapped.

“Why the hell are you doing this?” he demanded, waving the bottle in his brother’s face. “Explain it to me because I don’t understand. You have everything a person could want. What do you need this for?”

Eddie sounded tired. “It helps me to think.”

“What do you need to think about? You’ve got a daughter, a job, and a nice place.”

“So what?”

“You have responsibilities you have to take care of.”

“Is that an order?”

Kenneth turned away. Jasmine was right, he couldn’t bring Syrah back here until Eddie sobered up. He had spent so much of his life doing everything he was supposed to do or what people expected him to do, he had forgotten what he needed to do. Right now he had to protect Syrah. His gut clenched. He didn’t like how the words sounded. Eddie wasn’t a bad guy.

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