Chapter 18 #2
River put her hand over her heart. “Did you just compliment me on something other than my incredible good looks?”
“Shut up or I’ll take it back.”
“Nope. We have a witness.” She winked at Cari, then looked at Marina seriously. “Really. Why did you come tonight? You had to know you’d be staring down the barrel.”
Marina finally stopped drumming her nails on the table and met River’s gaze.
“Honestly, it really was curiosity. My client had other people here considering the media side of things. I wanted to see you…I mean, how you’d handle it, and how the community was going to react.
” She looked away. “I thought I could stay in the background, but I guess it isn’t my style, even subconsciously. ”
That was probably an understatement, but River wasn’t about to throw gas on that flame. “Okay. So tell me what you heard? What did you see?”
Marina stared off into the darkness of the park as she appeared to consider the question.
“I saw a whole lot of people who want to be part of a cause.” Cari tilted her head, her gaze far off.
“I mean, I don’t know how many were actually from here, and how many were just here to be part of whatever Adriana is doing.
But that’s a whole lot of people who are behind her, for whatever reason. And she’s really persuasive.”
Marina was watching Cari as she spoke, and River took the moment to simply look at her.
Dressed in a thick sweater with a leather jacket over it, she was cozy evenings by a fireside and long walks along the river while it snowed.
Her dark eyes were her most expressive feature, and River wondered just how hard she’d worked to train herself to look so beige most of the time, when beneath that surface raged a cacophony of colorful emotions.
River could practically feel them pushing against the walls she’d built to keep them at bay.
And then Marina sighed. “I saw a group of people who will lose.” She shook her head.
“No matter how many anecdotes, no matter how many times you tell people it’s a community who needs its place, this crowd will get bored and disperse when it becomes about legal wrangling.
Public dissent isn’t sustainable in the face of corporate money. Money always wins.”
River’s heart sank. “What a dismal view of the world. Of humanity.”
Marina gave her a sad smile. “I’ve been a lawyer for a long time.
I’ve seen the reality time and time again, River.
If you really want to help these people you say you care about, you should get them to do what Mrs. Crabtree did.
Get real valuations and counter with real offers.
Because eventually, they’ll be gone. Better they leave with more in their pockets than idealism.
” She held up her hand. “But I’ll never admit to saying anything of the sort. ”
She stood and tugged at Cari, who continued to stare at River dreamily. She startled and got up, and they walked away together.
“Marina,” River called out. She waited until Marina turned around. “You’re wrong. People can fight if it’s for something, or someone, they really care about. When they know they deserve more.”
Marina waved. “I told you once, River. I’m never wrong.”
River shook her head as they walked away, and if she had to guess, she’d say that Marina put just a little more sway into her hips, as she knew full well that River wouldn’t be able to keep from staring. And then they turned a corner and were out of sight, and River sat alone in the empty park.
She lay back on the bench and looked at the sky.
A few stars were actually visible tonight, and she nearly wished on one.
But what was it she’d wish for? That Black Pinnacle would just poof away and leave them alone?
Or that somehow she and Marina would end up on the same side?
That made her chuckle. Even if they weren’t facing each other down, they were opposites in big ways.
While it could make for hot nights, it could also make for explosive opposition in every other way. Who needed that?
She jumped off the bench and walked home. As she crossed the main street, she saw a crowd gathered outside Goat and Girl, and she smiled. The media attention could end up helping the local businesses, which was a damn good side effect.
When she got to her little front gate, she paused.
Shamus sat in the front living room window, his hackles raised as he stared at the trees to River’s left.
River followed his line of sight and sure enough, there was the mysterious ghost who’d been hanging around.
She pushed open the gate and stopped in the middle of the stone path.
It floated closer, and she could make out soft features, like they’d been smudged by the artist. Big, dark eyes. Short dark hair cut to shoulder length. A dress of some kind that floated around her, bohemian style.
“How can I help you?” River whispered. “What do you need from me?”
The ghost raised her hand and then dropped it again, like she was frustrated.
“I talk to souls who have passed all the time. Can you not speak?” River moved a step closer, onto the grass. The ghost didn’t move away this time.
But she shook her head, her hands fluttering slightly again. Then she floated back into the trees and was gone.
The sadness, the despair, those didn’t go away with her.
They lingered in the air along with the scent of…
vanilla? River gave up and headed inside.
“Hey, Shamus. It’s a strange one, isn’t it?
” She lifted the giant cat into her arms and smiled as he purred like an engine.
Then he struggled, never one to be held for long, and she set him down.
He trotted off to the kitchen, giving a clear indication that she should follow.
The phone rang, and she answered without looking. “Hey, Audrey. How’s our big guy?”
“He’s fine. Tell me about the rally. I watched it from the hospital room. We’re going to have a long talk about what it means to be a friend when I can see your face. But for now, tell me things.”
River got out a tin of tuna and dumped it in Shamus’s bowl. “Then what do you want me to tell you, if you already know?”
There was a sound a lot like a swear word. “Was your snobby girlfriend put in her place? It didn’t look like it, but without being there, I couldn’t tell. I wish I’d been able to hear what she was really thinking.”
“We had a little chat after everyone was gone.” River had wanted to touch her so bad it almost hurt, but she only acknowledged it now.
“You know, I think I might be right about her. I mean, she’s a beast, but she looked genuinely sad when she gave me some advice that she said she wasn’t giving me.
I think she’s just gotten all twisted up. ”
“No. You’re all twisted up. She’s exactly who she says she is, and don’t you forget it.
She hasn’t pretended to be anything other than the shark she is.
” There was the sound of a door closing.
“Sorry, I’ve moved out in the hall, so I don’t wake the snoring lump in there.
River, I know you like to see the good in just about everyone.
But honey, this one is a swamp, not a lake. ”
“Your comparisons sometimes leave me sleepless while I try to figure them out.” River didn’t have the energy to defend Marina anymore tonight, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something minor had shifted between them.
“Okay, I’ll drop it. What I was actually calling to say is that you standing in front of the camera may mean we get some new customers. But I don’t want to leave the hospital for long stretches of time. Can you handle it on your own?”
River laughed. “Probably not. But I’ll manage. I’ll see if one of the workshop kids wants to help if it turns out we get a stampede of people through the doors.”
There was the sound of a door opening again. “You mock, but I have a good feeling about this. You’ll see. Get some sleep and don’t dream about wicked women.”
“That’s like telling me not to breathe, but I’ll give it a try.”
She hung up and lay back on the couch. Shamus jumped up and stretched out on her like a living blanket. Wicked women. She closed her eyes and fell asleep picturing what Marina looked like when she was naked and begging for River’s touch.