car
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Joey Light
and looked at her. “Ever heard of natural-grain bread and vegetables…the green ones that are good for you.”
“Ooooh.” She made a face at him and slammed the car door. “Sea kelp and green beans. Not on your life. You can have whatever you like. I’m not opposed to watching someone eat that stuff. Come on, MacDaniels. Let’s look this town over. I’m sure I can find something to spend money on. There’s got to be a few touristy shops mixed in with the basic ones.”
They walked close to each other from the parking lot to the sidewalks of the street. It was fairly quiet. A few visitors milled here and there, cameras hanging around their necks. Locals went about their business of putting dimes in parking meters, unloading delivery trucks, and pumping gas in their cars. An older man sat on a rickety wooden chair in front of the gas station doing absolutely nothing but looking around. Sterling threw her hand up to him and he responded with a nod and a weary smile.
Joe decided it might be a good time to coax some information out of her. The direct approach of demanding to know her game hadn’t worked so he would try a different way. “New York is certainly a different world than this. That old man sitting in front of the gas station could be arrested for loitering.”
“You ought to know. I don’t suppose D.C. is much different. I’ll bet you were a fair but firm cop. Am I right?”
She did it again, changed the direction of the conversation. He put his hands in his pockets to stifle the urge to throttle her. “I was good at my job.”
“Do you miss it?” she asked innocently as she paused to look in the window of a curio shop.
“I don’t miss anything.” He looked away from the shop toward the docks.
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Sterling’s Reasons
“Really?” She looked at him and reminded herself to be patient—and patiently goad him. “Must be nice to be able to simply cut yourself off from everything that meant something to you.”
“Some things you have no control over.”
She turned her most innocent face to him. “Name one.”
He pretended interest in the shop window now, simply to avoid her eyes. “I merely said I didn’t miss anything. It didn’t call for a lengthy discussion.”
Sterling looked at his reflection in the window. Yeah, she thought, yes you do.
You miss everything.
“Look at that castle,” she cried delightedly. “Isn’t it beautiful? Look at all those little steps. They’re cut so precisely.” She moved to get a better look and squealed again. “When you move around, it winks and sparkles with a rainbow of colors. Emerald. The emerald castle. It makes me really believe in the impossible. It sets my imagination fleeing up the steps and into the arms of my Prince Charming. I love it.”
She scooted around Joe and into the store. She flashed him an excited grin.
He watched her bounce to the young sales clerk and practically drag her over to the three-inch-high piece of cut crystal to inquire about the price. The clerk turned it up and showed Sterling the price tag. A frown creased her forehead and then her face fell in disappointment. She thought for only a second before she shook her head and thanked the woman.
She walked back to join Joe and took one more longing look at the piece of glass, and then the frown was gone and replaced with a shine of expectation of what the next shop might offer.
“You can afford a Porsche but not a chunk of glass?” He fell in step beside her. Her shoulder brushed his.
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Joey Light
“Eighty dollars? It’s wonderful and magical and plays with my mind, but I am sensible most of the time. Now here’s a good place. Probably nothing over fifty-nine cents.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him in behind her, but he didn’t miss the second wistful glance she threw back toward her castle.
It was a real tourist junk shop. Straw hats
www.samhainpublishing.com
51
Joey Light
and looked at her. “Ever heard of natural-grain bread and vegetables…the green ones that are good for you.”
“Ooooh.” She made a face at him and slammed the car door. “Sea kelp and green beans. Not on your life. You can have whatever you like. I’m not opposed to watching someone eat that stuff. Come on, MacDaniels. Let’s look this town over. I’m sure I can find something to spend money on. There’s got to be a few touristy shops mixed in with the basic ones.”
They walked close to each other from the parking lot to the sidewalks of the street. It was fairly quiet. A few visitors milled here and there, cameras hanging around their necks. Locals went about their business of putting dimes in parking meters, unloading delivery trucks, and pumping gas in their cars. An older man sat on a rickety wooden chair in front of the gas station doing absolutely nothing but looking around. Sterling threw her hand up to him and he responded with a nod and a weary smile.
Joe decided it might be a good time to coax some information out of her. The direct approach of demanding to know her game hadn’t worked so he would try a different way. “New York is certainly a different world than this. That old man sitting in front of the gas station could be arrested for loitering.”
“You ought to know. I don’t suppose D.C. is much different. I’ll bet you were a fair but firm cop. Am I right?”
She did it again, changed the direction of the conversation. He put his hands in his pockets to stifle the urge to throttle her. “I was good at my job.”
“Do you miss it?” she asked innocently as she paused to look in the window of a curio shop.
“I don’t miss anything.” He looked away from the shop toward the docks.
52
www.samhainpublishing.com
Sterling’s Reasons
“Really?” She looked at him and reminded herself to be patient—and patiently goad him. “Must be nice to be able to simply cut yourself off from everything that meant something to you.”
“Some things you have no control over.”
She turned her most innocent face to him. “Name one.”
He pretended interest in the shop window now, simply to avoid her eyes. “I merely said I didn’t miss anything. It didn’t call for a lengthy discussion.”
Sterling looked at his reflection in the window. Yeah, she thought, yes you do.
You miss everything.
“Look at that castle,” she cried delightedly. “Isn’t it beautiful? Look at all those little steps. They’re cut so precisely.” She moved to get a better look and squealed again. “When you move around, it winks and sparkles with a rainbow of colors. Emerald. The emerald castle. It makes me really believe in the impossible. It sets my imagination fleeing up the steps and into the arms of my Prince Charming. I love it.”
She scooted around Joe and into the store. She flashed him an excited grin.
He watched her bounce to the young sales clerk and practically drag her over to the three-inch-high piece of cut crystal to inquire about the price. The clerk turned it up and showed Sterling the price tag. A frown creased her forehead and then her face fell in disappointment. She thought for only a second before she shook her head and thanked the woman.
She walked back to join Joe and took one more longing look at the piece of glass, and then the frown was gone and replaced with a shine of expectation of what the next shop might offer.
“You can afford a Porsche but not a chunk of glass?” He fell in step beside her. Her shoulder brushed his.
www.samhainpublishing.com
53
Joey Light
“Eighty dollars? It’s wonderful and magical and plays with my mind, but I am sensible most of the time. Now here’s a good place. Probably nothing over fifty-nine cents.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him in behind her, but he didn’t miss the second wistful glance she threw back toward her castle.
It was a real tourist junk shop. Straw hats
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