Chapter 36Arabella was in the kitchen making tea when the knock came ot her door. She knew it could not be Adora as that one took off early to hike up to the falls and take pictures. She wanted to portray the falls through the day to see the different shadows and lines. Arabella begged off a hike; she just wanted to sit back and enjoy her tea. She was surprised to find Gabriel at her door.He looked at her with a sheepish grin and looked down toward his feet. She looked to where Gabriels eyes strayed and there, at their feet, stood a picnic basket. Arabella looked back up into Gabriel’s eyes. The God’s help her, she could fall into those beautiful eyes and die happy. Arabella jerked her head to banish her thoughts.She looked at Gabriel and could swear the man was laughing at her. His eyes seemed to twinkle. “Adora’s not here, Gabriel. She is off hiking somewhere and our mountains don’t really work well with cell phones, so I can’t call her.” “It’s not Adora I am looking for fair la
Chapter 37Lucian stared at the couple in their cozy little picnic. Anger stirred in his breast when he saw the smirk on Gabriels face. The man looked pretty smug from where Lucian was standing. Arabella looked at Lucian in surprise and a little anger herself.“You know, Lucian, when someone doesn’t answer a knock at the door that usually means one of two things. One, they are not at home and two, they do not wish to be bothered. Now, which one do you think applies here?”Arabella’s reprimand Lucian who became red in the face until the tip of his ears looked like they could catch fire. He threw her mail down on the table with no regard for the food that sat there. Anger rose but Lucian kept his voice level.“There’s your mail, Arabella. I suggest you notify the mail office that your address is not at Jack’s home.” Lucian kept his cool but inside, he was seething. Marcus had not been able to find out anything about this guy, it was as if he was a ghost. It just did not sit well with Luc
Chapter 38“What are you doing here, Gabriel? I’ll bet Mother doesn’t know what you are up to. Hades, I don’t know what you are up to but maybe Mother would like to know where you are at.” Adora was furious and jealous.Her loyaltes were being pulled in different directions. She came here to find out what was so fascinating about Arabella that Mother protected her and now, Gabriel. What to do about Gabriel.“Don’t preach to me, Adora, I’m sure Mother doesn’t know what you are up to either. By the way, what are you up to?” Gabriel side stepped Adora’s questions and threw a few of his own back at her.”You’ve been around her a lot, Adora. Don’t you find her an unusual human?”“Well, yes but … ““No buts about it.” Gabriel cut Adora off before she could utter another word. “She is as different from humans as we are. I don’t know what it is or why she exists quite frankly. Arabella is an anomaly, don’t you see that Adora? Does that not interest you? We, you and I and many others, come to e
Chapter 39It was time to do something drastic. Lucian tried everything he could think of to bring Arabella back to him. He was at his wits end.“I can help you if you’ll let me.” Lucian took his eyes off the dance floor and Arabella. Adora was standing beside him.“What are you talking about?” He was taken slightly by surprise. Then he laughed at himself. There was no way this woman knew what he was thinking.Adora gave him a mocking smile and pointed to herself. “I know what happened to you two and I know what is happening now. I seem to be in the same boat as you. Maybe, Lucian Alexander, we can help each other.”Lucian stopped staring at Arabella and turned to face Adora giving her his complete attention“What do you mean by saying we are in the same boat. I’m not sure I know what you are talking about.”Adora sighed; Lucian was going to be difficult and make her spell it out for him. Fine!! She would do just that.“Gabriel is mine.” Adora was blunt and to the point. “He has always
Chapter 40Arabella posed in front of the full length mirror admiring her new red dress. She turned to look at her back side. The dress swooped low in the back while the front was mostly lace with an under shift to keep her skin from showing. the material clung to her curves like a second skin. Red stiletto hills complimented the outfit. There was one thing missing to complete the ensemble.Taking the heart necklace from it’s jewelry box, Arabella held it up to her dress. The missing stone was obvious but Arabella wanted to wear it anyway. The complete outfit help draw the eyes away from the empty setting. She made a mental note to get the jewel back from Lucian. One upon a time the necklace symbolized their love; now it was just a beautiful ruby necklace..Arabella checked her makeup in her compact; touched up her lipstick and descended the stairs where Gabriel awaited her. They were going on a real date; something Arabella had not done in years. Dinner and a movie. Arabella smiled a
Chapter 41Arabella placed the red heart necklace around her throat. Gabriel was taking Arabella dining and afterwards they were to hit a club downtown. She smoothed out the hearts as she thought about the missing heart and where it was. She felt a twinge in her own heart as the memories of Lucian came pouring in. Arabella did not try to stop them; it would have been a useless endeavor. She could not believe she had been so young and naive. Well, she wasn’t naive anymore; or young.Finally shaking away the memories, Arabella continued to get ready for her date. For some reason, she was not really looking forward to it. Arabella and Gabriel has been on several dates. He was a wonderful story teller that had Arabella laughing or close to crying. It sounded like Gabriel had been quite the world traveler. So why was he in Boulder? It must be boring after all of the adventures Gabriel pursued.Gabriel sat in Arabella’s living room having some of the same thoughts as Arabella. She asked him,
Chapter 42“How could you? I thought you were my friend.” Arabella yelled. “You, you’re just a wolf in sheep’s clothing, aren’t you? Does Lucian know? Is he in on this too?”Arabella didn’t care how unreasonable she sounded; anger was coming off her in waves. She was almost sick from all that Gabriel told her.“I am your friend, really I am. I …” Arabella did not let Adora continue. There was nothing she could say anyway that would make any of this right.“Just … just don’t say anything.” Arabella ran her hands through hair that was already messy from the same treatment all day. Black, curly locks bounced as Arabella vented her anger. “Of course Lucian would be in on it. After all, it seems to be you three against me. Did you enjoy making a fool of me? Did Lucian and Gabriel? Oh, you are all despicable. Leave, go away and don’t come back. Leave me and mine alone.”Adora and Arabella stood facing off on the veranda outside Arabella’s cabin. Adora come up to see if Arabella wanted to g
Chapter 43Her heart was broken once again. ‘I thought I learned my lesson years ago with what happened with Lucian.’ She thought to herself. ‘What was I thinking? What made me think I could have friends?’ Arabella steadily climbed the mountain, mumbling to herself as she went.Reaching the top, Arabella looked out crossed the world. It’s beauty could not be denied. The world looked so huge it made her feel insignificant. Anyone looking out tfrom here would feel that same feeling of being so small in a large world.Arabella shook her head to clear it of sad musing. She came here to be alone with the world; trying to make sense of all that happened in her life. For now, she was hungry. Reaching into her back pack, Arabella pulled out a squashed sandwich and crushed potato chips. Taking a warm coke from the net on the outside of her pack, Arabella sat down on the rocky ledge.“This is the life,” she whispered, “No one to bother you or fool you. Yeah, this is the life.”A cool breeze ros