When Bees Sing - Part 1

Chapter 12

Sadie played with the radio and fidgeted the entire ride back to the hotel. She didn't know what to do, but knew who she wanted to do. Him.

There was no denying it anymore. She enjoyed spending time with him. He made her laugh and put her at ease. And damnit, she was attracted to him. His kiss, full of passion and promise, excited her and thinking about it set her heart jumping.

Her heart jumping? Wait a minute, when had her heart entered the picture? Yes, she liked him, but when had she started liking him? When had he worked his way through her damaged soul and made her feel again? She didn't know the answers to the questions, but for some weird, unexplainable reason, this new development annoyed her. She'd come on this trip to clear her mind and heart, not get them both all jumbled up again. She jabbed at another button on the console.

"Lucy, if you change that radio station one more time, I'm going to cut your hand off." Derry took her hand in his, kissed it and held on, resting it on his outer thigh.

Her heart fluttered again and fingers tingled causing her irritation to kick up a notch. She pulled her hand back and crossed her arms in front of her. Her body once again was betraying her. No matter how strongly her mind didn't want a hot island fling, her heart, skin and other parts wanted otherwise. She hoped if she held herself together she wouldn't jump into his arms and end up with another empty love affair.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She stared out the side window.

"Liar."

"I'm fine."

He sang, "Liar, liar, pants on fire."

"Shut up."

Scowling, she watched the side of the road and counted the short, concrete poles. At seventy-eight, the jeep stopped at the hotel's front door. Sadie dragged her eyes away from the glass doors and turned, prepared with an excuse to avoid dinner and an evening with him. She needed to figure out her emotions now that they had involved themselves in her vacation. The words didn't need to leave her mouth. Derry refused to look at her and stared straight out the windshield with his hands clutching the steering wheel. Her frustration threatened to suffocate her and she climbed out of the jeep, slamming the door behind her.

Sadie grabbed her shopping bags from the back seat and looked at him. He made no movement. "Fine. Thanks. Bye." She spat out the words and turned to storm through the hotel's automatic sliding doors.

The walk through the lobby took thirty seconds and Sadie remembered her footsteps the night before when she left the hotel in distress. Although her feet headed in the opposite direction, the same catalyst urged their frustrated stomping. Sadie growled as she hit the elevator button, "Men!"

She blew into her room like a tempest and tossed her bags on the loveseat. Hot tears formed and she rubbed her palms against her eyes. "Ugh, I said no more crying."

In the bathroom, she splashed cold water on her face and stared at herself in the mirror. "What is wrong with me?"

The distraught face had no answer and no sympathy for her current dilemma: attraction and feelings for a sexy, funny, charming man. She grabbed a clean towel and dried her face with it. Then her gaze returned to her reflection.

"You need to make a decision, Sadie. Either you live in the past or move on. You can't stay stuck in a life that's not yours anymore. This vacation is a nice respite from your recent stay in hell, and a nice example of how life could be if you really tried it again. So you need to commit - either decide to never smile again or allow yourself some joy and live...really live your life."