She followed Raphael to the door and walked inside when he held it open for her. The warmth swathed her immediately. She smiled as she walked further into the building. The smell of books rushed into her nose and right behind that the smell of cookies followed.
“You just missed story time, but you made it in time for treats.” A cheerful voice called out from around the corner of one of the many bookshelves. Raphael pushed her gently in the direction of the voice, and as they rounded the rows of books, Emma found a group of children sitting on a large carpeted area. Each hovered over a small white paper plate containing a cookie and some grapes next to a juice box.
“Hi.” That same cheerful voice grabbed Emma’s attention from the room full of children. “I’m Darla.”
The woman held out her hand to her. Emma took it and returned the warm smile given to her by the woman named Darla. “I’m Emma and this is my guardian angel.” She motioned to the huge form next to her. Raphael bowed his head slightly to Darla who didn’t even flinch at the words, guardian angel.
“It’s very nice to meet you and we are honored to have a guardian angel in our library,” Darla said to Raphael, not missing a beat, with the same warm smile. “Please come in and have some snacks with us.” She motioned for them to follow her. As they walked up to the carpeted area, all of the children stopped what they were doing and looked up at Raphael with wide, curious eyes. He gave them a nod and a smile and that was all it took for them to accept him.
“Kids, this is Emma. This is her first time here at story time so please give her a warm welcome,” Darla announced to the group.
Emma took a seat on the carpet with the other kids while Raphael sat in the offered chair. Immediately Emma was bombarded by questions from the others and in no time she was swapping stories with the group. They wanted to know everything about her, but Emma wasn’t ready to share her pain with others yet so she gave them a watered down version of how she ended up in Yellville. After their snacks, Darla and another librarian set up tables for them with craft supplies. Darla explained that they would be making Christmas ornaments for their trees using duct tape and proceeded to show them how it was done.
An hour and a half, ten rolls of duct tape, and many torn strips stuck to the table later, they finally finished their craft. As the kids began to leave with their parents, Emma found herself extremely hesitant to go. She wasn’t ready to leave the safety of the library and return to the sad clown house that seemed weighed down with the hard life her aunt had lived. As she stared at the ornament she’d made, Emma’s heart broke a little more because it was Christmas. There should be a tree to hang the ornament on, but for her there wasn’t. It should be a time of joy and happiness and yet, instead, only grief filled her.
“If you’re constantly waiting around for your circumstances to change so you can be happy, then you will lead a miserable life, Emma Whitmore,” her mother’s voice echoed in her mind. Emma’s mom was big on finding joy in every circumstance. She didn’t like complainers because she believed that each person was master of their own destiny. You were either happy or not happy because you chose it.
“You’re thinking awfully hard,” Darla’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
She looked up at the librarian and nodded. “Yes ma’am. It seems lately I have a lot of hard thinking to do.”
“Well, you’re welcome to come here and do that thinking anytime you want.”
“Thank you,” Emma smiled. “I suppose I better be getting home.”
“And where is home, exactly?” Darla asked.
“I live with my aunt Mildred just a few blocks over,” Emma told her.
“Mildred Jones?”
“Yes ma’am.” The alarm on Darla’s face did not go unnoticed by the eight-year-old. Emma realized that in a town this small there weren’t many secrets. Darla seemed to be thinking something over as she looked at Emma, and finally―seeming to come to a decision―she nodded.
“My niece, Serenity, does mentoring for the elementary schools. I don’t think she has a student right now. Would you be interested in that? Basically she can pick you up, bring you here, and help you with your homework; also she’ll do crafts with you and sort of be like a big sister.”
Emma knew what she was doing. Darla was worried about her and trying to find a way to help without being too obvious about it. She appreciated it, though she hated feeling helpless. “That would be nice.” Darla beamed, obviously pleased and relieved. “Great! I’ll let her know and she can pick you up from school on Monday. If your aunt has a problem with it, I’ll be happy to talk with her.” Darla’s voice had taken on a stern tone, and Emma realized that this sweet woman was no pushover despite her easy going disposition. She had mama bear written all over her face.
“I doubt she will care, if she even notices,” Emma admitted. She stood to go and Raphael was immediately by her side. Just as she reached the door she turned and looked back at Darla. “What’s your niece’s name again?”
“Serenity. Serenity Tillman,” Darla answered.
Emma felt her stomach drop as the name registered with her brain. Serenity Tillman was the girl from her dream. She also had realized that the library she was standing had been the one from her dream the night Dair had come to see her. Looked like she was right on track to fulfill her destiny. Now if she could just not be too human and screw it up.
Serenity would like to say that she didn’t look at the clock every five minutes as she went about her mundane tasks at the clinic. She would like to say that her foot didn’t tap impatiently and that she didn’t keep looking out the window wondering if Dair would show up early, or how he would show up even. Would he just pop up or would he use the door like a normal customer? Or would he just wait for her in the parking lot? (She really hoped he would just wait outside).
“You seem anxious today,” Jackson said as he finished drying a golden retriever he’d just bathed. “Everything okay?”
How to answer that? Did she simply say, yes, everything is fine? Or did she go for honesty and bust out with, nope, not okay because I met an immortal legend last night who admitted to being ‘in like’ with me and wants to pursue a relationship, and I said yes and now I can’t wait to see him again? That probably wouldn’t go over too well. “I’m fine, just a little distracted with some stuff.” Okay, so that wasn’t lying, it was just veering from the real issue. Veering was okay, right? At first she didn’t think Jackson was going to leave it alone but finally he just shrugged.
To her relief, the end of her shift came without any tall dark strangers popping out of thin air into the middle of the veterinary clinic waiting room. Serenity wrote down her hours on her time card as she clocked out, her hands practically shaking. Part of her wanted to run to the parking lot, but the other part, the one with some dignity left, wouldn’t let her feet go faster than a normal walk.
When she reached the front door, Serenity took a deep breath and let it out slow before pushing it open. Jackson had said he would lock up so she didn’t have to do anything other than walk out to her car. True to his word, Dair was waiting for her. His huge frame was leaning against her car with his arms crossed over his chest. The black clothing and dark hair and eyes made him look dangerous. His legs were crossed at the ankles and he looked for all the world that he had nothing better to be doing than standing there waiting on her.
Serenity’s steps nearly faltered as her eyes met his. The smoldering look he had zeroed in on her had her heart speeding up and her palms growing clammy. She attempted to rub them inconspicuously on her jeans, but the crooked smile he shot her told her that the move did not go unnoticed.
“Hey,” she said once she was standing a few feet from him. His masculine scent blew in her direction as the winter wind kicked up, and she wanted to get closer, but again her dignity kept her in place.
“Hello, Serenity.” Dair’s smooth voice reminded her of those Dove chocolate commercials where they showed the melted chocolate being stirred maki
ng her want to dip her whole hand in and not just a finger. It was dark and rich and quite possibly made him as lickable as a spoon covered in the stuff. Don’t think about any licking of any kind Sarah, she chastised herself.
“How was your morning?” he asked her.
“Long,” Serenity answered honestly, which seemed to be a recurring theme when it came to his absence. This brought a chuckle from him which had her blushing.
“As was mine,” he admitted completely unashamed.
Needing to look away from his intense stare, Serenity glanced down at the frozen ground. The snow that had fallen the previous night was quickly being turned to brown slush as people and cars continually mucked it up. After a few minutes of awkward silence, she decided she was being ridiculous. So what if she embarrassed herself, she wasn’t going to change who she was to impress Dair, sexy immortal or not.
“So what do you want to do today?” she asked him as she once again met his dark eyes. He had pushed off of the car and was now standing at his full height, causing her to have to tilt her head up to look at him.
He shrugged his muscular shoulders. “I’ll go with whatever you want to do.”
“Well, I hate to break it to you, but there isn’t a whole lot of exciting things to do in the quaint little town of Yellville. So our options are limited. We could grab a pizza and head back to my aunt and uncle’s house.”
“Pizza sounds good. Will your aunt and uncle be home?”
Serenity shook her head. “Darla is taking some soup to a friend that just had surgery, and Wayne is helping a neighbor brand some cattle.”
“I can see where you get your helpful nature.”
She shrugged as she motioned for him to get in the car. “If not me, than who? I don’t think we should wait on someone else to help if we are able.”
Dair walked around to the passenger side and somehow folded his large body into the front seat. “That’s not the behavior I’m used to seeing in humans,” he admitted.
“That’s sad,” she said as she started the car and made her way towards the Mama’s pizza, Yellville’s lone pizza joint.
“I’ve been thinking of things I wanted to ask you,” Dair said as he tapped out a rhythm with his hand on his thigh in a strangely human fashion.
“Oh?”
“Nothing too personal,” he said quickly.
She smiled. “Okay, shoot.”
“Favorite color?”
Serenity glanced over at him noticing once again the deep black onyx eyes and for an instant she wanted to say black, which would have been truthful. But she decided that that might come off a little too cheesy. So she answered with her next favorite color. “Teal.” The slight upturn of his lips told her that he knew she wasn’t being completely honest.
“Favorite kind of music?”
“Singer/songwriter type stuff like Brandie Carlisle or The Civil Wars.”
“Favorite food?”
“Well, I’m from the South so pretty much any good, home cooked meal.”
She pulled into the parking lot of the pizza place and held up her finger. “Hold the rest of those. I’ll be right back.” Serenity shouldn’t have bothered saying anything because Dair was already getting out of the car.
“You don’t really believe I would let you pay for our meal do you?” He shook his head. “I might not have ever dated, but even I know that the male should be providing the food for his female.”
Serenity’s head tilted to the side as her brow furrowed. “That’s a very archaic way of putting it.” She followed him inside and decided not to protest when he went to the counter and paid for the pizza. She also decided to ignore the way the cashier was unable to tear her eyes off of him as she rang him up. Once back in the car her mind was still mulling over what Dair had said.
“What are you thinking so hard about?” he asked her after several minutes of silence.
“The whole the male should be providing the food for his female. It sounds so caveman like. We live in a different time now. It isn’t necessary for men to hunt for their food and the women to wait for them to bring home something for them to cook.”
Dair nodded. “I understand that, but the changing times haven’t changed how humans were fundamentally designed.”
“And how is that?”
His eyes narrowed as he looked at her. “Why do I think I might be walking into a trap?”
Serenity laughed. “I promise not to jump to any conclusions. I’ll let you make your point.”
He continued to stare at her. Finally, he decided she was being truthful. “Males and females were created with specific roles in mind. That’s not to say that they can’t adapt to other roles, but from the beginning of their creation, man was created to provide, protect, and shelter his female. Woman was created with the drive to nurture, support, and love. She is his helpmate and her role is just as vital as his. When the whole women’s rights movement came about, it was hard for most of us immortals to watch. The roles became so distorted and the need to prove equality became more important than fulfilling the Creator’s plan for man and woman. I am not saying that a woman is in any way weaker than a man. In some ways she is much stronger. All I’m saying is their roles are different, and when they are living out those roles, they have much more contentment than when they are fighting against the design originally intended for them. So even though men no longer go out and hunt, or battle enemies, there is still a very strong drive in them to provide for and protect their families. I think that many men would never confess to that because of how society has emasculated them. Television shows make the men in families out to be a joke instead of being the leader of the family. They portray wives as being manipulative and unwilling to allow their male to take responsibility for his family. Not very many males will stand up to this because they would be crucified as a sexist pig. Those who think that the feminist movement hasn’t affected this world in both positive and negative ways are blind.”
Serenity was speechless. Not because she didn’t agree with him, but because Dair seemed so passionate about the topic. She had to admit there was something very, very attractive about a man who was willing to take control, to lead, and to protect. “You feel very strongly about this,” she observed out loud.
“I’ve watched the world for centuries and in so many ways humanity shoots itself in the foot because they rebel against their very design. It’s frustrating not to be able to do anything, to just be a spectator.”
Serenity turned into her aunt and uncle’s driveway, parked the car, and climbed out with Dair following. “I can understand that. So, forgive me if this seems insensitive, but you’re not human.”
Dair smiled. “Correct.”
“But yet you still have the same drive as human males? Everything you’ve described, you feel that?”
“It seems so,” he admitted as they entered the house and headed for the kitchen. Dair set the pizza on the dining room table and waited for Serenity to hand him a plate.
After his speech, she wasn’t surprised when he put a slice of pizza on the plate he was holding and then held it out to her. She laughed. “Is this you hunting for me?”
Then his entirely too sexy lips split into a smile that had her heart speeding up. “It is a small thing, I know. But to provide a meal for you brings me satisfaction. I’m as surprised as you are.”
She took a seat and Dair took the one next to her. Their knees were so close they nearly touched and, silly as it was, Serenity desperately wanted them to. Once again Dair seemed to know what she was thinking because he shifted his leg until it was resting against hers. When she looked up at him, her eyes a little wider than usual, he winked at her. Her face immediately flushed and she looked down at her half eaten pizza. The immortal should be banned from smiling or winking. It was just too sexy.
“Do you have any questions for me?” he asked just before taking a large bite of his own slice.
“Let’s go with the same ones you asked me.”
/> He swallowed before responding. Even his swallowing is sexy, she thought to herself and then mentally kicked herself for thinking such a thing.
“My favorite color is red, my favorite music is classical, and my favorite food is pizza,” he said and grinned as he held up his nearly eaten slice.
Serenity laughed; she couldn’t help it; the darn guy was entirely too cute, among other things, for his own good. After lunch Serenity washed their plates while Dair watched her. She didn’t want to admit it, but his attention was slightly flattering.
“So do you need to eat?” She asked attempting to distract herself from his scrutiny.
Dair shook his head. “I do not need sustenance to live. But, I can eat and do enjoy doing so on occasion.”
There was another pause and he simply continued to watch her.
“You aren’t going to offer to help?” she asked as she glanced at him over her shoulder.
A wicked grin spread across his face and his dark eyes seemed to smolder. “I know that it would be the gentlemanly thing to do, but if I come over there to help you, I lose the incredible view that I have from my current vantage point.”
Serenity was so shocked by his blunt comment that she dropped the dish she had been drying. Dair moved so fast that she hardly saw him. He caught the plate before it could hit the floor. Breathless from more than just his speed, all she could do was stare at him.
“Did I scare you?”
For a moment Serenity couldn’t find her voice. She cleared her throat before finally answering. “Which time? With the comment or the action?”
“Both,” he answered as he took a step towards her and another until he was standing less than a few inches from her.
“I wouldn’t say scared so much as shocked.”