Pier Lights (13 page)

“Crutches?”

“Yeah, she’s good on ’em but I held the
doors anyway, just, you know, as part of the job. And delivering
food isn’t part of my job but I couldn’t resist doing it for her.
Gonna take this?”

Dio accepted the bag and looked in. His
stomach growled louder at the smell. A hamburger. Maybe two
hamburgers. Fries. Damn he loved her about now. Crutches. She’d
injured herself? At the club?

No more long walks.

“Where did she go?”

The orderly shrugged. “Got into a waiting
cab, though it had its light off like it was off duty, and took
off.”

An off duty cab? “See the driver?”

“Barely. Short stocky guy with a wide smile,
at least wide for the lady. Can’t imagine they were together
though, you know? He had to be twenty years older than she is. Had
a funny hat. Can’t tell you what it’s called.”

Dio grinned. Maybe he could find her before
Tuesday. “Thanks.” He dug out his wallet and tipped the guy a $20.
As he left, Dio sat and devoured the two hamburgers, every last
fry, and the cheesecake at the bottom. Even warm, the thing was
wonderful.

If she was with Harry, Lina ... Caroline ...
would be fine tonight. Leave it to Harry to find those who most
needed help.

Caroline settled onto the couch and wrapped
tight in the old soft worn blanket. Funny that she felt more secure
in Harry and Nelda’s small house than she did in her apartment on
her own.

Just leave.
His words rang through her head. Why had she taken
the time and trouble to send food? Because she put up with too
much. Because her heart was too soft. It wasn’t. She’d made it not
too soft over the years. She’d had enough of that.

But the orderly said Dio hadn’t been out of
his mom’s room since he got there early evening. And his stomach
had growled. He needed to eat. And she couldn’t stand the thought
of him not eating. The orderly also said he was kind of a scary
sight but it didn’t scare him none. He’d even told some of the
nurses who talked about the ‘monster’ in room 369 to shut the hell
up ’cause you shouldn’t talk about patients or visitors that way.
He figured he wouldn’t get reported since he’d turn the cards and
tell their supervisor what they were saying.

Scary looking. Dio? He was afraid she would
think he was.

Oh Dio. You should have just turned around
to talk to me, to let me prove it to you.

Maybe she’d go back in the morning and try
again. Except she had to search for a place to live. And a job.
First things first. From what she overheard, the poor woman would
be there for several days, if all went well. Lina had time.

~17~

As Caroline made her way through the row of
columns under the pier, she thought of a wedding she had seen there
before she moved away. She could nearly see herself in a long white
gown – yes, she could wear white anyway; lots of women did and few
of them were white-worthy, traditionally speaking – and a soft veil
treading down the long path of sand with Dio at the end as her
prize. Weddings were generally on the pier, not under them, but for
her and Dio, under would be more appropriate.

Stupid. Stop thinking such stupid things,
Lina.

With a sigh, she paused to rest. Her palms
throbbed. They would get over it eventually and just behave again.
They needed to behave soon. She was too irritable to have to deal
with aching palms on top of an aching foot and her aching
heart.

Just leave, Lina.

With another sigh, she made her way farther
down, nearly two thirds of the way by now, and stopped to rest her
palms again. Luckily the sand was fairly well packed on the long
path beneath the pier. It wasn’t too hard to manipulate on her
crutches, or she was getting used to them again.

She shoved her hands against her face. She
didn’t want to be used to them. She was nearly a prima ballerina,
or principal dancer as they were called these days. All those
years, those hard soul-tiring, excruciating years of working her
way up: the pain, the exhaustion, the mental fight of it ... gone.
Useless. So she’d stepped on a few people on her way up. Everyone
on top did. That’s how it worked. Everything worked that way. You
were nice and you got stepped on and got nowhere or you did the
stepping and got to the top. She wanted to be on the top. Just
once.

As she looked out over the water, at the
seagulls drifting along the breeze over the water waiting for any
opportunity for a meal, Caroline realized that wasn’t what she
wanted. Not now. Now she only wanted to dance. And she’d screwed
herself out of it.

To try to get to the top.

Stupid, stupid,
stupid
Caroline.

No sense dwelling in bygones, she supposed.
With a stretch of her fingers and a rub of her palms, she continued
on. To the end. As far as she could go without getting wet. She
should have worn her suit under her clothes. She could try to
swim.

She should be out looking for work, for
shelter. Harry dropped her off at the pier on his way to look for
paying passengers. He’d found one as soon as he turned his sign on.
Lina grinned. She was glad he found a fare. It was fair. He helped
her for free. It was only fair that it helped in return somehow.
Someday she would return the favor. Somehow.

She would. Caroline would pull herself right
back together, Dio or no Dio, and she would still come out on top
in something. Maybe karma was a bitch, but she could be one, too,
and she would win.

Dio just missed her. Nelda said they’d gone
to the pier. Harry was dropping her off and heading out to
work.

The pier. Even with his mask, Dio did not
want to be on the pier during the day. He didn’t want the
stares.

He hated to leave his mom alone at the
hospital, but he’d finally broken down and told her about Caroline,
only the main points, not the details. The wicked old woman, sweet
as she was inside, asked how good the girl was in bed. After Dio
got over the shock, after she said she was young once, also, and no
fairy tale princess herself, he admitted he could spend a lot of
years to come with her, and with her alone.

She told him to find Caroline, to bring her
back to the hospital since she’d been rude enough to be asleep last
time the girl visited. Dio told her Caroline didn’t know yet, that
she knew to an extent, but he hadn’t let her see him. The old woman
called him a vain arrogant exasperating fool. And she sent him to
find the girl and try again.

He didn’t dare drive too fast, in case he
ran into the same officer since he didn’t have a sick mother with
him this time. He headed to the pier, although he wasn’t sure he’d
have the guts to get out and walk around to look for her. She
wouldn’t go too far too fast on crutches in the sand. Or maybe she
hadn’t gone into the sand. Maybe she’d be on the sidewalk, or had
gone into town, or... She could go anywhere from there.

Something told him to look where he’d first
seen her watching him.

Dio parked as close as possible, turned off
the engine, and drummed his fingers against the steering wheel.
Someone looked in at him then away again. So what if they did? So
what if they all veered as far around him as they could get? There
was only one person, at this point, whose reaction mattered. Harry
said to give it a shot. She was a tough girl, he said. He wouldn’t
say anything about the crutches except she was on them and managed
well with them, even packed her own stuff and got it down her
stairs and to her car with them.

Dio wished he’d been there to help. He
thanked Harry greatly for being there to help, for letting her stay
with them overnight.

Gritting his teeth against the possible
furor, Dio shoved a hand through his hair and got out of the car.
He saw the reactions range from fear to annoyance. He figured the
mask itself wouldn’t be so bad if he was a small scraggly guy. With
his build, though, his weight lifter build as it had been called
more than once, most reactions were of fear.

So be it. He had to find her.

Taking his chances, Dio headed underneath
the pier. Yes, that was likely to go well. A monster hiding under
the pier. That would be good. He could see it now. At least it
wasn’t dusk. The sun was bright. He was in jeans and a T-shirt, as
innocent looking as he possibly could.

“Hey.”

He looked over at the voice. A young kid.
Someone who worked there. “Yeah?”

“You can’t... How about you take that off?
You’re kinda freaking people out.”

“And why is that? I’m only walking.”

“Yeah but man, come on. People are kinda
freaked out about ski masks, you know. So unless there’s a reason,
I have to ask you to take it off so we can all go about our
business.” He stayed a good distance away. Other people around
stared.

“It’s not a ski mask. It only covers part of
my face, none of my hair.”

“Whatever, man. It’s freaking people
out.”

“You want me to take it off so I don’t freak
people out?” Dio chuckled. “You’ve got that backwards. I have it on
so I don’t freak people out. Have a nice day.” He continued his
path to the pier, to under the pier.

“Come on, man, don’t make me call my
supervisor. Just humor me, all right? You seem like a decent enough
guy. Let’s keep this easy and civil and all. Yes?”

Dio turned with a sigh. “Fine.” He eyed the
small crowd waiting for some note-worthy event, he supposed. And he
supposed this would be one. He lifted the thing off his face.

A few people gasped. Others backed away. The
kid’s jaw dropped.

“Happy?”

“Uh...”

Dio pulled it back on. “Yeah, that’s what I
thought. Want to mind your own business now?” He saw the whispers,
saw a woman with her hand to her stomach like she would be
sick.

He continued on his quest.

Would Lina do the same? Caroline. Would
she?

Dio was nearly sick at the thought of
it.

Still, he kept going. He had to at least
talk to her, see if he could do anything to help. He saw her from a
distance, barely outside the water’s touch, between the middle and
left pillars. So beautiful, even from this distance. As he walked,
he admired her dancer’s frame, her strong but delicate shoulders
leading to her ribcage leading to her concave waistline leading to
her nicely rounded feminine hips.

He wanted to set his hands on those hips, to
nuzzle into her neck, around that silky hair, to kiss her jaw, her
ear, her cheek and ... and her lips. He wanted to run his hands
along from her hips up her stomach, up to her perfect breasts she
thought were too small. They weren’t too small. They were perfect,
pert, beautiful, just the right size to cup in his hands as he
teased with his tongue.

With a light groan, Dio told himself to stop
seeing it, to stop focusing on that glorious night of her. Maybe,
though, she would be willing again, before she saw him. Maybe she
didn’t need to see him, would be content with what he could offer.
As much as he hated to wear the stretchy fabric over his face, he
could wear it at home, also. With the promise of her touch, of her
body, he would.

Oh Lina, please be as tough as Harry thinks
you are. I’ll offer you everything I have to offer. Just be tough
for me.

There was someone behind her. Lina felt the
approach. It was much like electricity, the charge just before the
shock from a metal appliance in the winter. Her skin tightened. Her
body tensed. Yet she wasn’t afraid. She’d rarely been afraid of
anyone. She always figured she could hold her own, or even if she
couldn’t, there was no sense being afraid. She could or she
couldn’t. Worrying about it wouldn’t change that.

This wasn’t fear. This...

“Caroline.”

Her eyes clenched. She held her breath.
“Dio.” It came out a whisper.

“Yes.”

He was close but not too close. Her crutches
were at her side. She could brush it off, say it was only a turned
ankle. But she wouldn’t. If he asked, she would tell him the
truth.

“I’m sorry.” His voice was nearly as much a
whisper as her own. “I shouldn’t have told you to go. I didn’t want
you to go. I was...”

“Afraid.” She grabbed a deep breath but kept
her gaze out at the ocean.

“Yes.”

“You don’t have to be.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Dio, I may never dance again. At all. I may
only be able to walk now and then without these crutches, until I
push it too hard and ... and it’s permanent, Dio. This is a
permanent thing. It can’t be fixed. If you can’t deal with that,
say so, or walk away. If you can, then come to me. But don’t come
to me unless you’re willing to come all the way to me.”

Her body trembled as she tried not to shake,
tried not to turn to him and crawl up to his legs and hold on, tell
him not to go. He was silent. She focused on the seagulls, on the
waves, the wakes made from passing motor boats and jet skis. She’d
always wanted to try a jet ski but she couldn’t now. Her foot would
never hold her well enough.

She closed her eyes in the silence and hoped
he was still there. Seagulls cried out. She felt like joining them,
leaping into the water and just going as far as she could out over
the ocean. “Dio?”

“I’m here.”

Her eyes clenched. Her heart nearly stopped.
“Please. Come to me.”

“Lina...”

“I’m not Lina. Lina is fake. I’m Caroline.
My mask is off, as you asked. I’m just Caroline, an ex dancer.
Nothing more.”

“You’re beautiful, Caroline. I love your
name. It’s beautiful, as you are, and you...”

“So are you.”

He snickered. “What you’ve seen?”

“You. I see you, inside of you. And you are.
Dio, please. Come to me. Come all the way to me.”