Inamorata
Somewhere the night of July 22 or 23 (the night of the first bonding)--Terri
Caroline's head was simply reeling. What had she had to drink at that little dinner party?? Good Lord, but this was going to make having those drinks with Mason awfully difficult if she couldn't think straight. It wouldn't do if he thought she was already drunk!
Instead of more alcohol, she texted Mason to ask him to meet her at another time or place. He suggested the local coffee shop near the boardwalk. The place would be crawling with the music crowd, but that was all right. She could get something to drink there that wasn't likely to have her makin' a right fool out of herself in front of the man, and apparently he had an artist doing some kind of thing there. She breathed a sigh of relief and changed her clothes. No need to be all fancified for a coffee date, right?
Slipping into a pair of lightweight dark blue capris and a sleeveless lavender and white top, Caroline slipped her feet into white sandals, checked the time, and then hustled. It was almost 10:00. Their schedules had been a little hectic today but he'd insisted that it would be fine, he was a night-owl anyway with being in the music business.
She opened the cafe's door just three minutes after 10, and she glanced around to find him. Not spotting him immediately, she asked for Mr. McAllistar at the hostess counter.
A heavy hand rested on Carolyn's shoulder, and a deep voice boomed, "Is this woman bothering you?" Despite his attempt to disguise his voice, she could easily tell it was Mason. When she spun, there he was. Tall, wearing a dark long sleeve shirt open two buttons at the collar, and very new looking boot cut jeans. He stepped back, alarmed by the look on her face.
"What's wrong?" he asked, concern obvious in his tone. "You look like you thought I was a boogey man gonna eat you right up!"
Her hand flew to her chest and Caroline barely stifled the squeal that welled in her throat. "Oh, Mason! Good Lord, you scared the life outta me!" Her face colored a soft rose in embarrassment and she started to laugh. She had no idea what he'd said, her wits too scattered to have read his lips even though she'd turned in time, but the concern is clear in his face. "I didn't expect you to jump out of the crowd behind me, that's all," she told him with a smile. "Should we get a table?"
The hostess behind her says, "If you want something farther from the stage, Mr. McAllistar," such as it is, "we can move you outside." The place isn't that busy tonight -- either the guy with the guitar has driven them out or the tourists are looking for nightclubs not coffee places at 10:00 at night.
Caroline says in an easy tone, "It's good to see you." He's blessedly normal in a life turned upside down.
"Outside is fine," Mason said easily to the waitress. "The guy on the guitar is my friend and client," he smiled a cheshire cat smile. "I'll have plenty of chances to listen to him, especially on the radio."
Mason crooked his arm, and bowed, taking Caroline through the crowd to the cafe seating outside. The hushed tones of the music actually sounded better then the indifferent acoustics inside.
Caroline hoped that he wasn't talking to her as they walked behind the hostess to the table. It'd be quite embarrassing to have to ask him to repeat. She was going to have to tell him sooner or later, and she'd become accustomed to sooner being better. But she'd like to at least sit down first.
He held a chair for Caroline, pushing it under the table, then slid another chair to very close proximity. Shifting forward, his jeans rubbing lightly against her leg under the table as he nodded to the bartender on the patio, holding up two fingers.
"You're still a Michelob Dark Light, right?" he asked. "I recall you had a fondness for juleps in the summertime, but they make an awful excuse for mint slushy here." He reached over with gentle fingers to lift her chin, and looked warmly into her eyes.
"If you get a hankering for juleps, I still have a reputation for crushing mint just right," he said, wiggling his eyebrows playfully.
She couldn't help but laugh. "That'll work just fine," Caroline replied easily, not wanting to rock the boat. "But only if you take me home after. I'm afraid that with the wine I had at dinner, my head's still a little light." Not that she ever had a huge tolerance to start with. She leans her elbows on the table, her face turning just slightly into his hand but her eyes never leaving his face. "Mason.... damn, it's good to see you again, handsome," she admits in that gentle drawl. Catching her bottom lip between her teeth to worry at it briefly, she leans in to brush a soft, lingering kiss along his lips. Nothing too forward, but enough to let him know that she did indeed miss him.
Mason returned the kiss as his hand glided from her chin across the gentle curve of her jaw, his fingers tangling in her long honey blond hair. As their lips parted, he sighed. "You're more beautiful then when you left," he sighed. He leaned forward and rubbed his nose against the slightly upturned tip of her nose, laughing as he smiled.
"There must be something in those Georgia peaches," he joked. "You taste even sweeter then I remember."
"You do know how to turn a girl's head, that's for sure," Caroline quipped lightly.
The bartender arrived with the two beers, and Mason turned to pay, but kept his left arm stretched across the back of Carolyn's chair. Lifting his glass, he tapped his bottle against hers. "To good friends, better memories, and the possibility of an even more memorable future!"
Touching her bottle to his, Caroline took a long swallow of the drink. The only reason she knew that the music inside had stopped was the thrum of applause that caused a subtle tremor in the old wood of the porch they were sitting on. She glanced briefly toward the cafe to see the guitar player talking to the crowd. Regret flashed through her. It was the one thing she missed more than anything else -- the sound of music in all its forms.
When her eyes turned back to Mason, it was still there in her face but only as a passing sadness. "So... usually I wait to decide about telling a gentleman my situation until I've decided whether to have a third date with him or not. It's generally easy enough to fake. You, my dear," she teases with a smile, "have already gone well beyond three dates, and in light of that I'm going to simply lay it on the table for you. When you're speakin' to me, I need you to keep your face in my direction or touch me to let me know you need me to look." She takes another swallow of her beer, her tone matter-of-fact. "I'm deaf as a stone post."
Mason did a double take, his head tilted to the side as he sized her up, to see if she was fooling with him, or if she was serious. The look of lose and regret convinced him that this was a topic she would never joke about.
"What, I mean, when... How, Carolyn?" He spoke slowly and loudly, exaggerating the motions of his mouth to make his meaning as clear as possible. "Scratch that. You don't need to tell me anything you're not ready to say."
He quickly turned up his bottle, and with a few swallows nearly emptied the beer. Shaking his head, he looked stonily into her face, and said just as slowly and over-precisely, "Tough break, kid. You always loved music, and dancing, and talking. Can... can the doctors do something?"
Yep... and there he goes. Doing the thing that she hates. Caroline smiles at him and reaches out to tap his cheek lightly. "Don't do that," she tells him mildly. "The more you exaggerate the movements, the more I have to work for it. Just talk to me as you always have." Tilting her head, her expression clearing, she says, "I just need to be able to see you do it, that's all. As to the how..."
Eh, the shrug says eloquently. "That last trip I took after college, off to Europe with the girls? We were in Belfast and too close to a car bomb. They don't know if it's permanent. A cochlear implant may be viable. It just takes time to work through." Caroline carefully lays the groundwork for possible recovery -- she does remember the nice Colonel telling her that, somewhere in the swimming memories of the evening, she might regain her hearing. Better to be safe than sorry. "I still love dancing and talkin'... I just won't be takin' over the lead like you always complained about," she teases him lightly. There is no self-pity in her. "I just figured I better let you know up front... we've been friends too long for me to dance around it with you."
Mason slapped his forehead with the heel of his free hand. "Well, Carolyn, I got to say you're handling this better then I am." Tilting his head back, he killed the last swallow of his beer. "So, how about those juleps now, and you can fill me in on everything that's happened since you left me broken hearted when you went to Europe."
She laughs at him. "You do go on," Caroline comments mildly. "As if you didn't have half a dozen cuties waitin' in the wings when I went on that trip." Although she had been supposed to return to Natchez immediately thereafter and didn't. If he waited for her, she doesn't honestly realize that. She takes a swallow of the beer in her hand, leaving the bottle half full. "But now if you're offerin' homemade juleps, who'm I to turn it down?" She stands, her movements graceful. "When I moved back, I bought a place. It'd been one that the family rented out for a time, but I've always loved it. Got it for a steal," she confides. Of course... since her Mama owned it and one of Mama's cousins handled the sale, well.... you know how that goes around here.
On the drive to his place, Mason was attentive, listening as she filled him in on the changes and news. He spoke to her only when stopped at lights. In a matter of only a few moments, he pulled into the driveway of a modest looking ranch style house. He led the way to the front door, and let Carolyn in. The living room was fairly Spartan, a couch, a recliner and big screen tv. In one corner was a bar with a sink, and small fridge tucked under the counter. "Take a seat, and I'll work up a love potion to try to weaken your resolve, ok?"
Mason made two sizable drinks, and carried them over to the couch. "Well, I kicked myself for months that I didn't take that trip to Europe with you, but I had two acts that were going to be at South by Southwest. So, from Austin to Vegas, clinging on the edges of nearly making it for a few years. The band that DID make it changed management and so back to Natchez to try to find another talented kid to coax along until he gets his break, and breaks off from me."
He shrugged. "I did come home once, during the Vegas years. Your cousin said you were living in Atlanta. I thought about trying to look you up there. Even booked a gig for the band in Atlanta. Then the carpet got pulled, and the other band didn't leave, they just faded away."
He looped his arm over the back of the couch, and lightly caressed Carolyn's far shoulder. "I wasn't totally alone, but this ain't no line. I've been lonely since we split."
Mason held her hand, and leaned forward to nuzzle the hollow of her neck softly, then lifted his head to look her eye to eye. "Carolyn, I'm not an old man, but I am getting older. Too old to want to chase tail. I want to look for one woman, and chase after the rest of my life with her." He smiled, and kissed her lightly on the cheek.
"All I ask from the woman who leads me of the chase is not to run so fast, or near so far this time."
Oh my... now isn't that just enough to make a girl's heart beat about a million miles an hour? Caroline flushes lightly and murmurs, "I don't know if you're talkin' my language yet, but... it sure could be fun to find out." She shifts a bit to nibble along his jaw. "I'm not that girl anymore, Mason. The one who ran off when things got a little serious. I can't promise it'll work out, but I'd sure like to spend some time with you."
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