Broad Street Goddesses Page 3

  “Nope, not horrible at all, you’re an honest woman with a past… I find that absolutely delicious! I can’t wait to hear the stories!”

  ~

  Paige looked into the claw footed tub and admired her handiwork. The slick clean insides were going to feel amazing once she slipped into liquid hot yummy-ness. A wave of deJaVue pulsed through her like the flicker of a candle. Placing her fingers under the stream of water, she waited for the hot. Kicking off her jeans and pulling the shirt over her head she tested the water again. She pulled her hair up into a clip and waited, bare butt against the cold edge of porcelain with a finger under the spigot. Eerily familiar feelings gnawed the edges of her awareness while Wally perched himself on the edge of the tub watching her every move. When the hot water finally showed up Paige slipped in, a few degrees above comfortable, just the way she liked it. Every muscle in her body was melting like hot wax. She closed her eyes and let her body float. Three days of fatigue, one extreme hangover and at least a year of anxiety radiated out of her into the water. The feeling was divine.

  As she watched the red and orange swirls a screen unfolded behind her closed eyes. She began to feel the sensation of pulling a bath tub out the side door of the mansion into the secluded garden into a group of men who’d gathered. She talked sweetly to the men as water was brought out in buckets and quietly poured over the white rolled enameled lip. The men came forward boldly tossing gold nuggets into the tub until it gleamed in the sun and the entire bottom was covered with glittering gleaming gold. The men easily parted with their weekly wages for just a glimpse of what had proven to be a very valuable commodity… her smooth, firm body. With her robe loosely tied, she stood before appreciative eyes filled with desire. The sense of power filled her with a wicked thrill. Slowly, she gathered her waist long red hair unto a bundle and pinned it up. Allowing the neck of her robe to slip off of one shoulder and baring the top of one bosom, she grabbed for the silk, giggled and checked the appreciation level among the crowd of at least three dozen. She felt her smile become wide and sweet concealing her calculating eyes that danced from face to face looking for the one who had the most to offer. There was a certain gleam in a man’s eye when he’s got a larger than usual pocket full of gold. She recognized it instantly. Against the groans of highly aroused men, she smiled brightly at one freshly scrubbed man with his hat in his hands. He stepped forward and gently handed her a walnut sized gold nugget bowing as if she were the queen of England. She smiled appreciatively and handed him a long handled bath brush. Turning her back to the crowd of men, she allowed her robe to slowly slip into a brilliant blue silk puddle on the bare ground. The feeling of a breeze hardened her nipples. She turned toward them and heard the appreciative moans, pointed her pretty foot toward the tub and slipped into the water.

  Stabs of chilly water woke her up. She was disoriented and cold to the bone. As if she’d done it a hundred times before, she flipped the drain with one foot and used the other to turn on the hot water, never opening her eyes. Warmth crept back into the tub. She was back in the naughty dream of bathing before miners for gold. The bump against her leg brought a lazy grimace. Must be Wally batting at soap bubbles… another bump against her side, weird. She opened her eyes to shoo the cat but he wasn’t there. Paige stared into the water at some kind of black and brown goop swirling up through the drain. She flailed out of the tub, squealing and slipping to the floor on the wet tiles. Her bare skin felt like squid sliming over the cold marble floor.

  “Holy Hell! What is that?” she checked to see if anything had stuck to her legs. Clinging to a towel she crawled back to the tub and looked inside. Her nose crinkled up. She was unscathed. Whatever it was could be classified as foul and obviously what she scrubbed out of the tub earlier in the day. Wally appeared, leaned down to the water taking a sniff and sneezed, his nose twitched in disgust. From Paige’s vantage point on the tile floor she noticed rollers tucked beneath the claw feet on the bottom of the tub. It became almost impossible to shake the chill of curiosity after that.

  CHAPTER 4

  “A barn dance?” Paige laughed. She was still shocked by her picturesque little town.

  “Sure, we do it every year at the old fire station; it’s a fundraiser for the cowbells.” Etta said rifling through Paige’s closet.

  “And the proper attire for this affair would be?” Paige raised an eyebrow.

  “Don’t you have a square dancing dress?” Etta jabbed, flipping from one garment to the next in Paige’s closet.

  “Hell no I don’t have one. What color is your square dancing dress?” Paige was trying to picture Etta in crinoline skirts and pigtails.

  “Well your Donna Karan will be totally unappreciated by the crowd.” Etta pulled out the little black dress, “Great lines though.” Shoving it back into the closet she pulled out a denim jacket and a pair of jeans. “You have any boots?”

  “Pointy little cowboy boots?” Paige blinked her eyes and then squinted at Etta daring her to confirm.

  “Whatever you have will work. I’ll be back in an hour. Will you be ready?”

  “Yeah I just have to saddle up the donkey, then I’m good to go.”

  Etta smirked and patted Paige’s hand, “It’s your debut! Everyone’s heard about you, now they’re dying to meet you. It’s been two whole weeks since you rode into town. Best you show them who you are before they make up stories. Besides there are eligible men, and they know how to dance.”

  “I’m not dancing. I not dating and I’m not sure it’s a good idea to go at all.”

  “You can’t be a remodeling hermit forever Paige. Just don’t dance with Ernie from the hardware store, he’s got roaming hands… well unless you’re into short balding men in overalls.”

  “I do have a thing for overalls… bought two pairs just last week!” Paige watched Etta move toward the stairs.

  “See you in an hour.”

  Etta returned an hour later in a pretty peasant skirt and an off the shoulder top, hair pulled up with some configuration of scarf woven through and casually falling to her shoulders. Paige didn’t know how she managed to embody the image of a free spirited Goddess every damned day. It was mystical and part of what she had come to love about Etta.

  “Denim and diamonds…nice choice,” Etta said as she examined Paige carefully, “Beautiful actually. Can I reconsider the non-lesbian clause in our friendship?”

  “Sure! If I can borrow that top next time.”

  True to prediction, there were hay bales to sit on, a country swing band playing on a makeshift stage and decorations made of red and yellow crepe paper, so authentically sweet it made her smile. Women in jeans with fringed shirts wore cowgirl hats complete with glitter and spangles. Ornate dresses with full skirts and pointy little cowboy boots were everywhere. Men duded out in their finest cowboy shirts and boots and hung out around the beer keg at the wine barrel bar as women set up the dessert table.

  “Etta, this is unbelievable!” Paige said in awe.

  “Told ya’. Come on let’s get a beer.”

  Paige was definitely the center of attention as they walked through the party. She didn’t feel critiqued really, it was more curiosity. The smiles she received felt sincere. She had a flashback of the adoration she felt in her bathing dream and blushed at the memory.

  “Can I offer you a beer young lady,” the timid voice of Ernie spoke behind her.

  “Thanks Ernie, I’d love a beer.” Etta grabbed the long amber neck and raised an eyebrow to Paige, jerking her head toward Jake, who was leaning on the bar lazily drinking a beer and smiled right at her. She looked around and sure enough, he was smiling at her, so she smiled back, with a slight wave. Jake grabbed a crutch and came hobbling over to her.

  “I’m afraid I’m a lousy dance partner tonight, but I’d love to buy you a beer,” Shoving the brim of his hat up with the tip of his bottle, his infectious wide smile flirted with her.

  “This is all just too much. You guys are out of some kind of nov
el… I’ve never been part of anything like this.” She accepted a beer.

  “That looks painful!” Paige looked at the crutches in his hand.

  “Basketball… It’s a long story.”

  “Where is Betty?” Paige asked, “I want to thank her for helping me out. She saved me the other night.”

  “Yeah, she’s a sweetheart. I saw her a few minutes ago… I think she’s in the kitchen. Her fried chicken’s so good it’ll break your mouth.” Jake looked around the room with a goofy grin, “She was the prettiest girl in the place until you walked in.” His comment lurched in her gut.

  Paige glared back at him, “I’ll talk to you later, Jake.” She had no tolerance for an outrageous flirt who had a girlfriend in the next room! There would not be a repeat performance of her relationship drama here in her new city. Common sense told her to start walking home, which she did, but Etta grabbed her arm and steered her back into the party.

  Paige politely met dozens of folks and tried to remember their names. Ernie, true to prediction, asked her to dance. He was at least two inches shorter than Paige. His thin grey hair had been slicked to one side and he was wearing Brute aftershave. Pearl buttons strained on his shirt that was just a size too small. Paige was flattered that he looked so proud to be dancing with her. Even though he glanced into her cleavage a few times, his hands never roamed. Ernie was actually a very good dancer. Paige shot Etta a sly look from the dance floor as Ernie spun her around. Etta laughed so hard Paige thought beer was going to come out her nose. Paige rolled her eyes at Etta over the top of Ernie’s head, and then thanked him for the dance with a little curtsy and tilt of her head.

  “You made that look effortless and sweet.” Etta said handing Paige another beer.

  “Ernie was almost chivalrous,” Paige raised one eyebrow, “Almost.”

  “I don’t know why you chose to dance with Ernie when you clearly had Jake’s full attention. He’ll be off those crutches in a day or two.”

  “He’s not my type.” Paige said shortly.

  “All the women here adore him. He’s very likeable.” Etta quipped.

  “Apparently…” Paige felt pissy and ready to leave. She took a swig of beer and looked away from Etta and straight into the eyes of a woman approaching from the kitchen.

  The woman walked directly up to her, extending a delicate hand, “Hello Paige, I’m Mim.” There was a slight hint of southern drawl in her voice that was petal soft. She was about sixty years old. Her hair had gone completely white-silver and was cut into a bob, no bangs, one side tucked neatly behind her ear. Barely over five feet tall, she was elegant and eclectic.

  “Pleasure to meet you, Mim,” Paige hesitated hoping she’d pronounced her name correctly.

  “The pleasure is all mine,” Mim cooed back. The darkness of her eyes shined like she knew the secret to everything. In a sea of red plastic cups and crate paper decorations, Mim stood in a long russet velvet duster fringed at the wrists and hemline with aurora borealis beads dangling and catching the light as she moved with a crystal glass full of deep red wine. she was clearly the queen of the dance. Her jewelry was unique, gold, amethyst and carnelian bent into flowing and circular shapes.

  Etta turned toward Mim and kissed her on the cheek, “Paige you’ll just love Mim’s art! She’s got several pieces in my gallery and her jewelry is simply the best!”

  “Is this one of your pieces?” Paige reached out to touch the medallion hanging from the long chain.

  “Yes, I call it ‘the mother’. I’d never sell this piece, you see I was inspired by the harvest rituals of the Celtic culture while I toured Europe a few years back.” Mim waved her wine glass into the air as if the memory of the ritual unfolded before her. Paige was mystified as Mim started to tell the story.

  Etta, not wanting to get drug deep into the conversation interjected, “Paige has taken on quite a project, Mim, she’s bought the old girl uptown. Going to turn her into a Bed and Breakfast,” Etta said raising an excited eyebrow.

  “Fabulous!” Mim opened her arms widely, slipping carelessly from her story to making eye contact with Paige, “You look perfect for the job! I bet you’ll bring that old girl a shiny new face and a whole new life.” Mim winked in slow motion, and then pulled Paige into an unexpected hug. Paige felt as if she’d been blessed by the Holy Mother herself.

  CHAPTER 5

  Tearing off the damaged and splitting pickets and posts of her front porch, the boards radiated heat in the afternoon sun through her thin canvas tennis shoes into her feet. She was infuriated by her constant preoccupation with Jake. Paige pulled a ballast from the railing and threw it into the dumpster off the side of the porch with gusto. How in the world could he have come onto her at the dance? She ripped off another piece of shoddy wood and tossed it. She’d been furious about it for days. Wondering why she didn’t see Jake and Betty together, she came to a romantic conclusion; they were so comfortable they didn’t require constant contact. A little streak of jealousy ran through her. Of course her attraction to him was bothersome. She damn sure wasn’t going to get into an emotional gut bucket with an attached man again! She assessed her work and flipped on the Shop-Vac to clean up her mess before she began priming the wood of the new ballasts leaning against the mansion.

  In the high pitched whirring of the vacuum cleaner she heard a clear and unmistakably female voice, “You’re still a fool...”

  She jerked her head around and the only other life form on the porch was Wally. In the six years they had been roomies, he had never talked. Walking down the front steps she scanned the yard, no one there.

  “Hello?” Paige looked down the side of the house. Invisible fingers touched her hand, sending chills up her arm and across her shoulders. She shook off the uncomfortable sensation and laughed, returning to the task at hand.

  Mastering the art of the saws-all, the drill and the pneumatic nail gun was a piece of cake compared to the stubborn can of primer that refused to be opened. She’d used a screwdriver, a hammer, and now she looked at the tortured rim chewed all to hell realizing it had gotten the best of her. Wally looked at the can, fell on his side and started batting at it.

  “Nice try,” Paige eyed the cat.

  “Always have the right tool for the job.” He was in her yard again! “Try this.” Jake tossed up a funky looking tool on his keychain and it worked like a cinch as she popped open the can.

  Her shoulders fell and she looked at him standing at the base of her stairs, leaning heavily on the rail. His crutches were gone, but she could tell his foot was still giving him grief. Paige looked him square in the face, “What is it about you? Do you have some deep seeded hero envy? I really am able to do this on my own.”

  “I know you are. I just had the right tool,” he looked satisfied.

  “Why is it on your keychain?” She called down the stairs at him.

  “Well it’s called a church key and it’s been on my key ring since I was in high school. A guy’s gotta’ have a way to get into his root beer quickly. At least that’s what I used to tell Auntie Mim.” He winked at her.

  “Ah yes, Mim…” she said on a breath. Jake climbed the stairs with a wince here and there until he was at the top and eye level to Paige.

  “Well my Aunt by proxy. She went to high school with my mom and they’d been great friends. She raised us after our parents and grandparents died.” He looked out over the yard quickly and cleared his throat, “Anything else I can do? Any jelly jars you’re having trouble with?” His crooked smile was intentionally charming and flirtatious, Paige was sure of it. She narrowed her eyes at him but thought immediately about a stuck door in the upstairs hall.

  “Actually, I can’t seem to get…” she stopped short the instant she began to talk and looked at his foot, cursing herself for finding him easy to talk to.

  “What is it?” he saw her gaze was on his foot, “Come on, I’ve been advised that moderate exercise is what I need at this point.”

  “Well, there
is a door stuck in the hallway upstairs. What kind of tool do you recommend for that job? Or do you have something on your keychain?” She smiled raising one eyebrow, crossing her arms. Flirting, she was flirting with him and she couldn’t stop!

  “Sounds like its either wood swelled up or paint sealing around the edges. Do you have a utility knife?”

  “The curiosity is killing me.” she said, “I’ll grab it in the kitchen.”

  “I’m free for the rest of the day… closed the office early,” holding the door, he limped in behind her,

  “It’s the only stuck door upstairs, I’ll get the knife.”

  The door was standing open by the time Paige got up the stair. Jake was nowhere to be seen. She looked past the opened door up a flight of stairs. Naturally, there was an attic. Every house she’d ever known had a crawl space to the attic. She grabbed onto the railing and went right up.

  “It’s pretty cool up here!” Jake yelled when he heard the squeak of her steps coming up.

  The stairs were walled in on both sides until she ascended into an open space filled with dingy light. Benches and shelves were in one corner flanked by windows. One of several doors on the other side was open and she assumed that’s where Jake could be found. Walking though the doorway, trying to soak it all in, she looked for Jake.

  “Wow,” was all Paige could say. She leaned in through the open door and looked inside to see trunks and boxes stacked high through the room. She didn’t see him, so she yelled out. With a sharp whomp, everything went sideways. The next thing Paige knew he was hovering over her prone body, surrounded by the smell of him, spicy and warm. They were arguing in her dream. Her heart hurt, the love she had for him was all consuming. He was telling her something that hurt her, he wouldn’t look into her eyes. She wished him closer. She could never get close enough. His voice cut right through the dream she was in.