Джерри Хилл - Gulf Breeze

Pat still stared at the prints. "How do you know what these are? They're not in the goddamn field guide," she said.

"Of course they are," Carly said.

"They're not in my field guide," Pat said.

"They're in all field guides, Pat. Can you go with me, please?" Carly asked again.

"Yes. I'll go with you."

"Good. It's in Corpus. There's no point in you coming all the way out here just to go back again. I'll pick you up."

"Okay. When you get off the ferry, stay on the main road and go to the third light. Go right on Sandpiper. Take the second left, Gulf View…"

"I should probably write this down," Carly said. She found pad and pen. "Okay, right on Sandpiper. Second left, Gulf View."

"Right on Perry's Landing. Fourth house down."

"About two?"

"That's fine. And I'm sorry if I offended you with all this," Pat said, pointing at the brochure that lay between them.

"No. In fact, I should thank you. No one's read it other than you. To me, it made perfect sense. I guess I wasn't looking at it objectively."

"Well, I better head back. Supposed to rain later. My Jeep is still topless."

"Yes, mine too. I guess I'll pull it into the old barn out back."

"Well, if the weather holds, I may be out this way. If not, I'll see you on Wednesday."

"Thanks, Pat. I really appreciate everything you're doing."

"No problem. I'm actually beginning to like it myself. All this environmental stuff is brainwashing me, I think."

Carly walked down the stairs with Pat, just now noticing the dark clouds gathering over the bay. Rain for sure tonight.

"Be careful," she said as Pat slammed the door to her Jeep. She doubted Pat would make it home before the rain hit. She had half a mind to ask her to stay.

Later, as she sat at her computer rewriting the verbiage for the brochure, she thought of Pat. She really had no intention of liking her as much as she did. In fact, after their first meeting, she was certain she could not stand to be in the same room with the woman. But, as Elsa had said, she was a goddess. One of the most attractive women Carly had ever met. Her thoughts went to Carol, the woman who had used her so thoroughly all those years ago. She, too, had been attractive. Too attractive. And Carly had been too blind to see anything but that. Carol had wined and dined her and before Carly knew what happened, she had fallen in love. She had sold her soul. And almost lost her life.

She had vowed she would never again give herself to another person. The pain was too great. She poured herself into her work and was never even tempted by another woman.

Why, then, did Pat Ryan fill her thoughts?

The skies opened as Pat sat helplessly on the ferry. She found the sweatshirt she kept crammed between the seats and pulled it on, cursing herself for not pulling the top up on the Jeep before she left Carly. Little good it would have done. She didn't have the windows with her. By the time she pulled into her driveway and parked under her stilted beach house, she was soaked. Her wet hair was plastered to her back and she went straight to her utility room and stripped off her wet clothes.

After a hot shower, she poured a glass of wine and sat in the dark, watching the lightening as it danced over the gulf.

Her thoughts drifted to Carly and she smiled slightly. Without really trying, she seemed to irritate the woman to no end. Oh, but she was damn cute. Especially when she got riled and her green eyes flashed. Which was often. Pat's normal impatience with people, women, didn't seem to apply to Carly. Pat found she enjoyed the other woman's company. Actually, what Pat found refreshing was Carly's indifference to her. Pat wasn't naive about her looks. She had used to it her advantage on numerous occasions, in fact. But Carly seemed oblivious, even though she was obviously gay. Maybe Carly was involved with someone in Austin. Maybe that was the reason for her indifference.

But still, Pat noticed the attraction she felt for the other woman. She'd hardly recognized it at first…they had been too busy arguing. But the blonde woman who was so devoted to her cause still managed to stir Pat's libido.

The rain that had started on Sunday afternoon lingered until Tuesday. Pat paced back and forth in front of her windows, watching the waves churn angrily against the wet sand. A mist, even a light rain, Pat could handle. She could still get out and run, if nothing else. But this, this continuous downpour had her stuck inside for the second day.

"Fuck it." She had to get out.

She had put the top on the Jeep yesterday morning, but the seats were still damp. She put a dry towel down and turned the heater on high. Pat hated April. Some days, so warm you would swear summer was making an early appearance. Then, like today, cold and damp, making you wonder if the brief winter they enjoyed was still hanging on.

She drove through the downpour, her wipers barely keeping up with the rain. There was only one car at The Shrimp Shack. It was Angel's. She pulled the hood of her raincoat over her cap and ran inside, stopping to wipe her muddy boots on the mat.

"I figured I'd see you today," Angel said.

"I hate this shit. I have cabin fever," she stated.

"Beer?"

"Sure. I've got nothing else to do." Pat looked around the empty bar. "I guess I'm the only one that braved the weather?"

"Oh, we had a handful at lunch, that was it. You eating?"

"No. Had a delicious frozen dinner earlier." Pat took a swallow from her beer, then put it down on the coaster Angel had provided.

"Hey, Lannie has the weekend off. She said to invite you over for dinner Saturday night."

"Please tell me she's not trying to set me up again," Pat said.

"No. She knows you're hopeless."

"So you're actually taking a Saturday off?"

"I'm taking the whole weekend off. We haven't spent an entire weekend together in months."

Pat's cell phone interrupted them and she searched her coat, finally finding it in one of the pockets. She checked the ID before answering.

"Aunt Rachel? What's up?" Pat asked.

"Where are you?"

"Are you checking up on me again?"

"I'm simply trying to find you. Dr. Cambridge called, looking for you. Apparently, you didn't leave her any phone numbers. She said she needed you."

Pat raised her eyebrows and grinned. "She needs me?"

"She found a nest. Egrets. She was very excited."

"It's been raining for two days. When did she get out to find a nest?"

"She didn't go into details. But she was very excited. I told her I would hunt you down."

Pat looked out the window at the steady rain. She didn't relish driving to Rockport and the ranch in this. She certainly didn't want to go outside in it, looking for a damn egret. But, the idea of seeing Carly, a possibly wet and soaked Carly, appealed to her. Oh well, she didn't have anything better to do.

"Okay. You can call her back and tell her I'm on the way to her rescue. I'm just going to finish my beer."

"Tell Angel hello for me."

"And what makes you think I'm here?"

"Where else would you be in this mess?"

The rain had eased up somewhat by the time she turned onto the dirt road of the ranch, but Pat was still thankful Carly had left the gate open for her. She pulled up to Carly's now covered Jeep and ran to the porch. She raised her hand to knock just as the door opened.

"Didn't want me sneaking up on you today?" Pat asked.

"I've been waiting," Carly said. "Come inside." She stood back and let Pat enter, then closed the door behind her. Pat took off her raincoat and pulled off her cap, shaking her long dark hair. Carly could only stare. No woman had the right to look that good in jeans.