Page 8 of Shining Pearls
I’d never felt so sore, tired, and lazy in my entire life. I was rounding the bend on my second full day in bed, and I didn’t even want to think about getting up. This depression was worse than the flu.
Aunt Mimi and Dean checked in on me periodically, but I really just wanted to be left alone. I was a ‘suffer in silence’ kind of gal all the way to my core. My hope was that I could just sleep off this wretched feeling, like one would a hangover. That plan didn’t seem to be working out so far, though.
When I was awake, I felt nauseous with the realization that the only man I had ever loved was reunited with the only woman he had ever loved. They were probably locked in a naked embrace at this very moment. If I had been in Claire’s shoes and deprived of Alex’s body for over a year, I would be desperate for him. I already was, and it had only been a couple of days since I’d been with him.
Knowing how marvelous it was to have Alex’s glorious sensual attention made it nearly impossible to stop thinking about their intimate reacquaintance with each other. They had most certainly already made love. Why wouldn’t they? He was back with the woman he belonged to––his soul mate.
Claire would have been angry with him over his tryst with me, but he had probably already explained it away as a meaningless dalliance that was merely a way for him to survive without her. She wouldn’t be able to blame him for long. He was too charming and madly in love with her for him to remain on the receiving end of her fury.
Instead, she would most likely blame me for sleeping with her husband. I had always been considered an outsider in this small Maine town, but now I was likely to be completely shunned. The only two people firmly in my corner were Aunt Mimi and Dean, but I wouldn’t blame them if they shifted sides after the way I’ve been moping in bed and grouching at them since Claire’s return.
Almost as if I had summoned them, there was a knock on my door before the duo entered my room. I turned away, planning on ignoring them, but Aunt Mimi had evidently had enough of my sulking. She yanked the embroidered quilt off me before walking over to swish open my curtains and blinds.
Piercing light made me wince and squint my eyes. I didn’t have the blanket to pull over my head, so I used my elbow as a shield over my face.
“I’ve had enough of this hogwash. It’s time for you to get up and at ’em.” Aunt Mimi used her no-nonsense tone.
“I don’t feel good,” I mumbled from under my arm.
Aunt Mimi’s chipper voice was like nails on a chalkboard to my ears when she said, “And you never will feel good if you don’t crawl out of this bed and find a way to start living your life. You’ve wallowed in your own filth long enough.”
The mattress sank down and Dean began massaging the shoulder closest to him. “Would you like some hot tea or some soup? You really need to eat something.”
Frustrated with both of them, I lowered my arm. “Did you two really think I would fall for the good cop, bad cop routine?”
Dean had the decency to sheepishly look away at being called out on their obvious ploy, but Mimi simply glared in my direction.
Evidently opting to continue with her designated role, my aunt said, “I’m so disappointed in you. I thought you were a strong, independent woman, but here you are getting all weepy and pathetic over a man. I expected more from you, Jo-Jo.”
There was little on earth that I hated more than the ‘disappointed in you’ speech. My deeply-embedded urge to be a people-pleasing perfectionist became fidgety at the mere idea of letting anyone down. I slowly sat up and bent my knees. Feeling dizzy from the movement, I rested my elbows on my knees and dropped my head into my hands.
Dean scooted closer and began kneading both shoulders. I tried to focus on how marvelous the pressure felt on my sore muscles, but all I could think about was my churning stomach.
Aunt Mimi was staring out my window. “I hate that blasted lighthouse,” she said under her breath.
It was such an odd thing to say out of the blue like that. I wanted to ask her why she would dislike the town’s most renowned landmark or why she would buy a house overlooking it if she despised it, but my nausea was refusing to be ignored. Not wanting them to see what was about to happen, I covered my mouth and said, “Please leave me alone.”
They both stubbornly ignored me. Realizing I didn’t have time to make it to the bathroom, I picked up the bowl I’d been keeping next to my bed for just this type of occasion and vomited into it.
As much as it embarrassed me to get sick in front of them, at least now they would realize that I wasn’t just being lazy. I really didn’t feel well.
Dean handed me a box of Kleenex, so I used several to wipe off my mouth before setting the bowl aside and flopping back down on the bed.
Aunt Mimi made quick work of retrieving a wash cloth dampened with cool water. She sat on the opposite side of the bed from Dean and gingerly pressed the wet rag to my forehead.
I closed my eyes, but sensed that the two were sharing a concerned look over me. Not wanting them to worry, I said, “I’ll be fine. I just have a flu bug or something.”
Mimi cleared her throat, seeming uncomfortable. This woman had no problem screeching across her crowded diner to tell a customer it had been “too damn long” since they’d been in, so I couldn’t imagine what was making her edgy. Peering one eye open, I gave her a wary look.
My aunt’s eyes darted to Dean before resting back on my face. Her hand fluttered up to fidget with the collar of the frumpy waitress uniform she wore, despite being the owner of the diner.
I wasn’t at all sure I wanted to hear whatever she had to say, but my curiosity got the best of me. “What?”
“Well, umm.” She swallowed audibly and stared vacantly out the window before forging on. “You and Alex used birth control, right?”
She had whispered the words ‘birth control’ as if they were the naughtiest to ever pass through her lips, even though we all knew they weren’t even close.
Dean stiffened at my side over my aunt’s brash question. He and I were close friends, but we didn’t ever directly address our love lives with each other.
