Technical Difficulties- Ch.1&2

Chapter One1

Amabell pounded the steering wheel in frustration, “Noooo! Don’t do this to me- Please!” but it was no use. The car was going nowhere, “What’s wrong with you?” Amabell often found herself speaking to her dysfunctional possessions: the terminally frozen computer, the sparking toaster, the car… all of them. Currently, she was stopped at the intersection. The light was green, but her car wasn’t going anywhere. The other drivers were expressing their displeasure in the way the horns of their (presumably functional) cars blared. Some were even shouting out through their windows. Amabell blushed to hear the language. Do they kiss their mothers with those mouths? She sighed. She couldn’t even turn on her hazard lights. The car was completely dead. She exited the vehicle and kicked the front wheel. 2

Immediately she regretted this. 3

It is not generally a good idea to kick anything while wearing sandals. She hopped around to the front of her car and sat on the hood. The other cars began to circle past hers and through the intersection. 4

Meanwhile, Amabell was wished that her cell phone to be functional. She had capitulated and bought one only just that week, but she had yet to successfully make a call. She didn’t understand it. She had followed all of the instructions to the letter, so there was no reason for it to persist in being so difficult. The perversity of the inanimate…5

She had been sitting, dangling her legs from the hood of the car for fifteen minutes when the patrol car pulled up behind her. An officer came around and stood in front of her.6

***7

“What seems to be the problem ma’am?” Officer Adam Saint had received a call reporting an unspecified disturbance at the intersection of Lakeshore and 9th. He was amused to see that the disturbance was a tiny redhead sitting on the hood of a car.8

She rolled her eyes, “Well, honestly! What does it look like? My car isn’t working! How did you ever manage to become a police officer if you can’t even deduce that simple fact?”9

Adam tried to hide his smile, “Do you know what’s wrong with your vehicle ma’am?”10

“Yes. I do. It’s not working.”11

Adam chuckled. She had a lot of attitude for such a tiny little person, “Yes, I can see that. Do you know why it’s not working?”12

“Do I look like an auto mechanic?”13

“No ma’am, you do not.” She looked like a cheerleader. Tiny and perky.14

“And stop calling me ‘ma’am’! I’m not a grandmother!”15

“No ma…” he quickly caught himself, “er, miss.”16

“My name is Amabell.”17

“Very well then, Amabell, have you called a towing service?”18

“No officer, I haven’t. My phone isn’t working,” she held it up for his inspection.19

Some people have no respect for the law Adam reflected as he took her phone from her. 20

He dialed the number of a nearby service. The phone began to ring. He handed it wordlessly to her. She snatched it gracelessly from his hand. “Yes. My name is Amabell Stuart and my car is stranded at the corner of Lakeshore and 9th. How long will you be? Forty-five minutes? That’s outrageous! I can’t wait here that long! Fine then! Fine! I’ll see you in forty-five minutes!” She disconnected violently. Next she turned her attention back to Adam, “How did you get the phone to work?” she asked, “I’ve tried everything with it, but nothing works.”21

Adam shrugged, “All you have to do is press the ‘on’ button, dial the number and press send.”22

“But I tried that!” she fumed. She re-opened the phone. He watched her go through the motions of dialing a number. Nothing happened. “See? I told you so. It won’t work!”23

***24

Amabell was becoming more and more frustrated by the moment. The police officer standing in front of her might be easy to look at, but he was very annoying to deal with. He didn’t understand what she was up against. And how dare he be able to make her phone work when she could not? 25

She hopped down to the ground to stand in front of him. This brought her to eye-level with his chest. And an impressive chest it was. She felt a little spark. He would be tall. She thought to herself with further irritation. All the cute ones were. She cursed her own diminutive height as she pushed around him to the driver’s side door. All through high school she had held out the hope that she might one day grow to a respectable height, but here she was, twenty-four years old and still not even five feet tall. The police officer, who must have been over six feet, followed her around.26

“Are you planning on driving away?” he asked as she climbed into the car. 27

“I’m planning on trying. I can’t wait here for forty-five whole minutes!” She turned the key in the ignition. Nothing happened. The police officer raised an eyebrow and she noticed what lovely green eyes he had. How unfair. I always wanted green eyes. Aren’t all redheads supposed to have green eyes? Amabell’s eyes were brown.28

“If it wasn’t working before, why would you think it would start now?”29

She sighed, “Because I need it to.”30

He shrugged, “Do you want me to give it a try?”31

“Go for it.” She was willing to try anything, but had pretty much resigned herself to waiting for the tow truck. She climbed over to the passenger seat. He crammed his tall frame into the driver’s spot. The seat was set so far forward that his knees were up by the steering wheel. He turned the key in the ignition. The car roared to life.32

***33

“Figures.” Adam heard her mumble. And then, “would you please dial back the towing service so that I can tell them their presence is no longer required?”34

Adam decided to comply without saying a word. No reason to agitate a woman who was so clearly unstable. He dialed and then squeezed out of the car while she spoke with the towing service. When she hung up, he said, “I’ll follow you home in case it stops working again.”35

She looked like she wanted to make some kind of retort, but instead she only said, “Thank you,” as she buckled herself into her seat. She pulled out into the intersection and made a left. He followed right behind her.36

***37

Adam noticed with amusement that Amabell’s odd and circuitous route kept her far from stop signs and stoplights. She seemed determined not to risk stopping her vehicle for any reason. Finally, after having toured around most of the city’s available back roads she pulled up into the driveway of a small duplex and exited the vehicle. He pulled up to the curb. She came up to the window and addressed him.38

“Thank you again for following to make sure I got here safely. As you can see, I’m fine now. You can leave,” and so saying she turned on her heel and was quickly behind the door and out of his sight.39

Adam pulled away and continued absently to patrol the streets for the remainder of his shift. For some reason he could not excise Amabell’s image from his mind and the sight of her legs dangling from the hood of her car followed him all the way home.40

***41

As soon as she had the door shut, Amabell pressed her back against it and slid down to the floor. How embarrassing! First she was stuck in traffic, the joke of all the other motorists, then that cute cop had to pull up and make her feel even lower. First he was able make her phone work and then her car! He probably thought she was a complete head case who caused traffic jams for amusement. She groaned and thumped her head against the door. She felt a nudge against her leg and opened her eyes. A three and a half foot cream coloured snake with two pink vertical stripes curled toward her.42

“Rosie! Honey, what are you doing out of your cage?” Amabell picked up the snake and cuddled it into her arms. Rosie was a two-year-old rosy boa with a talent for escape, “Okay, sweetie, I’ll hold you for a while, but you have to learn to stay inside your cage while I’m gone. I can’t take care of you if you get away from me and just think what would happen if Miss Engers saw you!” Miss Engers lived in the other half of the duplex Amabell owned. 43

Miss Engers did not know that Amabell had a pet snake (a miracle considering Rosie’s Houdini-like ability to escape any form of confinement.) 44

She also didn’t know that Amabell bred mice as a food supply for Rosie. Amabell dreaded her ever finding out. It was a difficult thing to find a good tenant. Rosie slid up Amabell’s arm and curled behind her neck, “Okay sweet thing,” Amabell said as she stood, “let’s go find a book to read.” 45

While her snake did have a certain calming effect on her there was nothing that compared to a good book when it came to relaxation after a difficult day. Today had been miserable. It wasn’t just the difficulty with the car and the police either. If only that had been the only problem! 46

She shuddered. 47

On second thought, she didn’t feel like reading a book right away. First she needed to call someone and vent. She dialled her best friend’s number. Freedom Sunshine Andrews was a law student who worked part time as a clerk in her stepfather’s office. Free’s parents, irritated at having missed living as hippies during the sixties (they weren’t old enough) had taken out their frustration on their helpless daughter and saddled her with a name that had haunted her all through school. She had been Amabell’s best friend ever since they first set eyes on each other’s nameplates in Miss Fox’s second grade class.48

“I’m here, I’m here!” Free’s harried voice came across the line. At this point, Amabell realized she had allowed the phone ring at least seven or eight times.49

“Oh, I’m sorry Free! Did I catch you at a bad time?” she asked.50

“No, it’s fine,” Free caught her breath, “I just got it and I was loaded down with books and files. It just took me a minute to figure out how to dispose of it all quickly without causing an avalanche. How was your day?”51

“Ugh!” Amabell groaned, “It was awful. You must be psychic.”52

“Oh? What happened?”53

“Well, I had a run of the worst clients you can imagine at the bank. First, there was this snot nosed kid who came in to deposit twenty-four dollars in pennies.”54

“Twenty-four dollars in pennies? Ouch!”55

Amabell sighed, “Tell me about it. I don’t know why the kid wasn’t in school. He couldn’t have been more than seven! His stupid pennies weren’t even rolled! He came in and dumped out this huge jar all over my counter and when I told him I couldn’t deposit them like that he had a temper tantrum. It was like the exorcist.”56

“Oh my God! What did you do?”57

“Well, I tried talking to his mom, but she was just ignoring the whole thing. She was doing her banking with Elaine,” Amabell did not get along with Elaine, “After a couple minutes of trying to get her attention, I just gave up and got out the penny rolls. I showed the kid how to roll a couple and then he just took the whole lot and plopped himself into the middle of the floor to roll the stupid things. He was there for an hour and his mother just talked to Elaine and ignored the little brat the whole time. I couldn’t believe it!”58

“I don’t blame you, that’s pretty rough.”59

“Yeah, and Mr. Evans wasn’t exactly impressed about having that kid sitting there so long either. He’s very concerned about the image of the bank.”60

“Uh oh, what did he do?”61

“Well, he didn’t really do anything. He just stood by and glared disapprovingly with those fishy eyes of his.”62

“Ick, that’s creepy.”63

“Yeah, and that’s not even all, I got Smelly Pete today.”64

“Eww!”65

“Yeah,” Smelly Pete was a hygienically challenged old man with a tremor and a lisp that came in every day without fail and deposited a five dollar bill into his account. He was a bit of a mystery at the bank. All of the tellers were curious as to why he came in so frequently for the same transaction, but no one wanted to spend the extra time in his presence to find out his reasons.66

“Please tell me that was all that happened today,” Free said sympathetically.67

“I only wish,” Amabell chuckled and continued, “Businessman Bob came in again today to ask me out for lunch.”68

“Is he that really slimy middle aged salesman who’s always hitting on all the tellers?”69

“Got it in one. He’s got to be twice my age and I always feel like he’s mentally undressing me. He really bothers Mary too, but since she’s away visiting her parents this week, I had his undivided attention.” Mary was Amabell and Free’s other best friend. They had all known each other forever, “I think that he even gives Elaine the creeps. The only teller he hasn’t hit on is Clodagh, and when you consider that she’s been married forty years and has six children…”70

“I see your point.”71

“Yeah, and to top off all the rotten customers, the fire alarm went off again today! We’re all getting to be on first name basis with the fire chief and know one can figure out what’s causing it to go off like that. We’ve had repair men in to look at the system too many times to count.”72

“Wow. Sounds like you had a day for sure.”73

“You’re telling me!” Amabell laughed, “That’s not even it either!”74

“There’s more?” Free groaned.75

“You better believe it. When it rains…”76

“…it pours”77

“That’s for sure.”78

“So? What happened?”79

“Well, halfway home I stopped at a red light and my car died.”80

“Not again? How many times has that car given out on you?”81

“Couldn’t begin to tell you how many times. And the worst thing is that whenever I take it in to my mechanic to get him to look at it, he never finds anything wrong. I’m convinced he thinks I’m a total head case.”82

“Well, he’s not far wrong there!” Free said with a laugh.83

“Whatever,” Amabell muttered, “so anyway, there I am stopped at the intersection, and road rage erupts all around me! It was horrible. Everyone honking their horns and shouting- I thought they were all going to attack me! So finally, I get out of the car and make a show of kicking the darn thing to make it clear that I’m not blocking traffic on purpose. So then I’m just standing there cursing the fact that I had the bright idea to wear sandals to work…”84

“Ouch.”85

“Yeah. So finally I just ended up sitting on the hood of the stupid car and watching traffic go by. I tried to call the towing place on my phone, but of course it didn’t work.”86

“I think you should get your money back on that phone- it’s never worked for you.” Free interjected.87

Amabell ignored Free and continued, “So, there I am, sitting on my car, when along come the police…”88

Free gasped, “You’re kidding!”89

“Don’t I wish. There was only one though, and he didn’t arrest me even though,” and Amabell blushed at this, “I think I was maybe just a little rude to him.”90

“Oh no! You didn’t!” Amabell was notorious for letting her mouth get her into trouble.91

“I’m afraid I did,” Amabell sighed, “which is a shame, because he was really cute.”92

“Do tell.”93

“Well, he was very tall, but I can’t really hold that against him,” Amabell said generously, “after all, it’s not as though people can control their height.”94

“True enough,” Free laughed. Free was six inches taller than Amabell.95

“He had these amazing green eyes too. I was seriously coveting them for myself.”96

“Of course you were- everyone knows what a grave injustice you think it is that you are forced to live with brown eyes. Now repeat after me- ‘I have lovely eyes’”97

“I have lovely eyes.”98

“The song is called ‘Brown Eyed Girl’, not ‘Green Eyed Girl’”99

Amabell rolled her brown eyes, well familiar with this routine by now, “The song is called ‘Brown Eyed Girl’, not ‘Green Eyed Girl’” she parroted, “Are we done now?”100

“Well…” Free pretended to think it over, “I suppose so. Now tell me more about this cop. That’s an order!”101

“Okay, well I already told you that he was tall and green eyed.”102

“Yes you did. Now get on with the rest of the details.”103

“Well really! Maybe I would get on with the details if you would stop interrupting!”104

“Sorry!” Free interjected contritely.105

“You’re interrupting again!” Amabell said warningly, but she laughed so that Free would know not to take her too seriously, “So, anyway, like I was saying before I was interrupted,” she paused significantly. Free didn’t say a word. She knew better. Amabell continued, “He was tall with green eyes…”106

Free dissolved into laughter. Amabell was unaffected.107

“He was tall with green eyes, and he had dark hair that was just a little bit curly. I love hair that has just a little curl.”108

Free had now managed to compose herself, “Okay, do continue.”109

“He also had a dimple in his left cheek.”110

“Oooh! A dimple. I love dimples!”111

“I know you do, that’s why I took special care to notice. But what he looks like is beside the point anyway, I’m still not done my story!”112

“Oh, right. Go ahead. I’m listening. I’m fascinated.”113

“Whatever.”114

“Tell me!”115

“Okay, so this cop comes up to talk to me, and I totally sass him…”116

“Right…”117

“Yeah. He was all like, ‘What are you doing sitting on your car in the middle of the road?’ and I said, ‘Hello! My car’s broken! What do you want me to do?’ And then he asks whether I’ve called for a tow truck. I tell him ‘no’ so he takes my phone and dials the place. Of course the phone would work for him.”118

“He got your phone to work?”119

“Yeah. So I talked to the towing place, and they said they couldn’t be there for forty-five minute. I threw a fit over the phone and said I couldn’t wait that long…”120

“Cuz yeah, that’s the way to get great service,” Free spoke in a voice laden with irony.121

“Whatever, so finally I just said, ‘fine! I’ll see you in forty-five minutes and hung up. Then I tried calling you, but the phone wasn’t working again.”122

“Of course.”123

“So I tried the car again and surprise, surprise, nothing happened.”124

“Oh dear.”125

“Then the cop asked if he could try.”126

“Did you let him?”127

“I was desperate. Of course I let him.”128

“Did it work?”129

“Of course it did,” Amabell sighed, “it’s only when I try and make it work that it doesn’t. Story of my life.”130

Free laughed, “yeah, remember that time in driver’s ed when…”131

“Better left forgotten,” Amabell interrupted, “Let’s not go there.”132

“Fine, so then what?”133

“Then I figured that the cop must have some sort of magic touch, so I asked him to dial the towing service again so that I could cancel. He did and I did and then he offered to follow me home in case my car had another fit.”134

“So, he knows where you live?”135

“Sure does.”136

“Hmm.”137

“Hmm, what?”138

“Nothing.”139

“Right. So he followed me home and I avoided all stop signs and lights and here I am.”140

“Ah. A very entertaining story.”141

“Only if you’re not living it.”142

“True.”143

“Oh, and I forgot, Rosie escaped again.” Rosie was now curled up on Amabell’s lap and thankfully had abandoned all escape attempts for the time being.144

“Again? How far did she get this time?”145

“She met me at the door.”146

“Well, at least she didn’t get outside then. I’ll bet that you were glad to see her though.”147

“I was. It’s always nice to see a friendly face after a really bad day.”148

“If Rosie’s face can really be described as friendly,” Neither Free nor Mary saw what Amabell could possibly enjoy about having a pet snake.149

“Don’t be mean, you’ll hurt her feelings.”150

“Whatever. So, do you want to do something this weekend?”151

“Sure. What have you got in mind?”152

“We could go to a bar.”153

Amabell wrinkled her nose. She hated bars, “Can I bring Rosie?”154

Free laughed, “I don’t think they’d let you get past the door.”155

“I’m okay with that.”156

“Alright. Fine. I get it. You don’t like bars.”157

“How observant you are.”158

“You know it! So. Suggestions?”159

“I don’t know. We could go see a movie or something,” Amabell suggested hopefully.160

“There’s nothing good playing.”161

“Oh.” Neither of them spoke for a while as they considered their options. 162

Free finally broke the silence, “We’ll figure something out.”163

***164

Later that night, after having banished Rosie back to her cage and having admonished her to remain there, Amabell ordered a pizza and settled down to watch a chick flick with the obligatory box of tissues. She scanned her collection of videos and finally settled on “The Princess Bride.” It was one of her favourites. 165

Finally, the pizza arrived and she paid the delivery boy. The pizza was loaded with tons of mushrooms- just the way she loved it. She settled down blissfully with the pizza and the remote control. Does it get any better than this? She sighed happily and immersed herself in the events taking place on the screen.166

Several hours and three movies later the pizza was cold and the tissue box was going on empty. Amabell decided it was long past time to call it a night and packed up the rest of the pizza and sent herself to bed, yawning her way up the stairs. That night, her dreams were haunted by green eyes and curly brown hair…167

Chapter Two168

In the morning, in spite of having had an unsatisfactory night of sleep, Amabell was in good spirits. She sang in the shower and was still cheerfully humming as she brewed herself a cup of coffee. She even made toast. The coffee maker was working, the toaster was working, and life was beautiful. She danced her way to her car and started it effortlessly. Today is going to be a fantastic day. And truly, all the signs were there. Traffic was light on the way to work and her favourite parking spot was still available when she arrived.169

Elaine raised an elegant eyebrow at her cheerful entry, “What’s got you so excited this morning?”170

But not even the gossipy bottle blond could put a damper on Amabell’s ebullient mood, “Nothing at all!” she smiled, “Can’t a girl be happy for no reason?”171

Elaine didn’t look convinced, but she shrugged, “Whatever you say, but the last time I had a look like that on my face, I had a very good reason,” then she winked.172

Amabell shuddered, “You’re putting pictures in my mind Elaine- Please don’t.”173

Rhonda laughed at that, “Don’t worry Amabell, none of us have seen Elaine smile like that in a long time.” Rhonda was another of Elaine’s ilk- gossipy with leanings toward cattiness. But since she was usually pretty funny about it, people got along better with her than with Elaine. Even Elaine never seemed to mind being the butt of Rhonda’s jokes.174

“I’m glad to hear it,” Amabell said with a laugh, “but for the record, I ate pizza and watched movies last night. It was fun, but not the exciting night you lot seem to think I had. I honestly don’t know why I’m in such a good mood today, but you won’t hear me complaining about it!”175

Gradually the other employees trickled in (except for Mary who was still away visiting her parents) and the bank opened to the public. The day went more smoothly than she could remember any day ever having gone. The customers were polite and cheerful, the fire alarm didn’t go off and her till didn’t malfunction even once.176

She was still flying high as she drove home after work. Or at least she was until she turned onto her street. There was a police car parked in front of her duplex as well as an animal control van. Oh no. What’s going on? Amabell’s thoughts raced. She pulled up behind the police car and leapt out of her car. She raced up to the duplex. Miss Engers stood at the front door in hysterics as a police officer and someone Amabell presumed belonged to the animal control van tried to calm her. With a start she recognized the same cop who had followed her home the previous day. 177

“What’s going on?” she asked nervously.178

Miss Engers raced over to Amabell and surprised her with a tight embrace, “Oh, Amabell dear, it was horrible! I was sitting in my chair watching my stories,” Miss Engers was an avid soap opera devotee and she referred to her favourite programs as her ‘stories’, “when suddenly I looked toward the hallway and there was this great, horrid snake coming toward me!” 179

Amabell felt a sinking sensation in her stomach. 180

Rosie. 181

Miss Engers continued, oblivious to Amabell’s discomfort, “It gave me such a fright, so I called 911 and these lovely young men came to help me.” She gestured to the cute cop and to Mr. Animal Control.182

The cop stepped forward and introduced himself, “Hello again Miss Stuart, I’m Officer Adam Saint.”183

Amabell extracted herself from Miss Engers clutches and addressed Officer Saint, “Hello again,” she said with a weak smile, “I’m awfully sorry to cause you so much trouble.”184

***185

Adam grinned, “No trouble at all. It’s not your fault you were having car trouble,” When Adam had heard about the 911 call from the familiar address he had jumped at the opportunity to respond to it. He had been unaccountably excited about the possibility of once again seeing the lovely, if odd Amabell Stuart again. She was as pretty as he remembered- long red hair, chocolaty brown eyes and pale creamy skin. However, she did appear to be slightly nervous. Her eyes slid anxiously toward her neighbour and she edged away.186

“Can I talk to you?” she whispered urgently. Adam’s curiosity was piqued.187

“Sure, come right over here,” he gestured to a spot near his cruiser, “what can I do for you?”188

“Well, um…” she paused. She looked really frightened. 189

“Is something the matter?” He reached out and put his hand on her arm to steady her. He felt a frisson of electricity at the contact and had to concentrate to keep himself from showing his reaction.190

“…the snake…” she continued. He was afraid she would fall right over.191

“Here, it’s okay,” he tucked her up next to him against the car. She was so small. She fit perfectly at his side.192

***193

Amabell was in a state of pure panic. She almost didn’t notice the delicious feel of being pressed up against the gorgeous Officer Saint. 194

Almost. 195

Okay, that was a lie. She would have been reveling in it, but she was too worried about Rosie.196

“You don’t have to worry about the snake,” he continued. He seemed as oblivious to the effect he was having on her as he was to the cause of her distress. She edged away.197

“About the snake…” she shot another nervous glance toward Miss Engers, “well, you see, the thing is, well um…” she drifted off again.198

“Yes?”199

“It’s my snake!” she bit off abruptly. Her eyes were wide with shock. “She’s harmless, really! I swear it! I don’t know how she got out of her cage, but can I please have her back?”200

***201

Adam laughed. She kept on surprising him. He wondered if he’d get to see her again. “You have a pet snake?”202

“Yes,” her eyes were wide and liquid. She looked like she was about to cry.203

“Shh, it’s okay,” he hugged her next to him again. He just couldn’t seem to help himself. He liked touching her, “We’ll get your snake back. It’ll be fine,” He called George, the man from animal control, over to come and talk with them.204

“What can I do for you Adam?” asked George. He and Adam had been friends for several years205

“Well,” said Adam, “apparently the runaway snake you just picked up belongs to this young lady here.”206

“Please can I have her back?” Amabell asked hopefully, “I don’t know how she got out of her cage, but I’d miss her terribly if you took her away.”207

George chucked, “You’ll probably be able to get her back, but first I’d like to inspect where you’ve been keeping her. I’d just like to make sure that there’s as little chance as possible of her escaping again.”208

Adam saw Amabell’s eyes widen and her cheeks colour. George didn’t seem to notice. Adam deduced that this was probably not the first time her snake had made a break for it. He stifled a smile. This girl was pure entertainment.209

***210

Oh my God! I’m never going to get Rosie back! Amabell’s thoughts were panicked. They’re going to take her away from me! The conversation blurred around her. She could tell the two men were still speaking with each other, but she wasn’t registering a single word. She could still feel Adam’s arm around her. 211

Paradoxically, even though she was terribly worried about the fate of her snake, she felt safe in his arms. And warm. And she felt a tingle of awareness, of… electricity. She tilted her head to gaze up at Adam’s face. Objectively, she decided he was quite handsome. His features were straight and even, with elegant cheekbones, and his skin was smooth and not much darker than her own pale shade. With surprise she noted that he appeared to be about her own age. Her first impression had been that he was older. He had a certain air of… competence. 212

Yes that’s was it was. 213

He seemed like the sort of person who knew what he was about and who knew how to get things done. Also, he was much taller than she was. Amabell knew that she was as bad as anyone when it came to using height as a way of gauging a person’s age. As much as she hated it when people assumed she was very young because of her height, she would still automatically assume that someone tall must be older than she was. She turned her attention to his eyes. 214

They were quite simply beautiful. 215

Mossy green with lashes that were long and dark. Suddenly, he looked down at her and caught her staring. His eyes darkened and she could feel her cheeks warm. For a few moments they just stayed that way, caught in each other’s gaze. Amabell’s breathing increased and she could feel his heart speeding as well. He leaned in as if to taste her lips, but was brought up short when George, who apparently oblivious to everything but the situation with the snake brought them back to earth.216

“So,” he said, “Shall we go inside and have a look at the snake’s habitat?”217

“Yes, let’s” answered Amabell. Her voice was breathy and slightly strained. She was glad of the reminder that they were not alone, but she could not help but fantasize about what might have happened… Maybe later. She extracted herself from Adam’s arms and led the way to her front door. She felt cold without him by her side. 218

***219

Adam followed slowly behind Amabell. He was quite bemused by the encounter. He knew that he had come very close to kissing her. It was not a great surprise in and of itself that he would want to kiss her, but he was shocked that he had forgotten himself so completely that he had almost done so in front of George. He made a promise to himself that he would kiss her, and that when he did they would be alone. 220

For the time being, he had to be satisfied with view of her from behind as she bounced up the steps to her front door. She led George into the spare room, which housed the aquarium that was home to her snake. Adam didn’t know much about snakes or aquariums, but he couldn’t tell how such a large snake could have escaped from that particular dwelling. Apparently George agreed. He was walking around the aquarium shaking his head.221

“This is like Alcatraz for snakes,” As George spoke, Adam noticed Amabell beginning to look hopeful, “I don’t know how the snake got out, but my guess is that it was just a one time fluke,” Adam saw Amabell blink, but he didn’t think George noticed. George continued, addressing Amabell, “I don’t have any trouble with the idea of leaving this snake in your custody. It’s clear that you take very good care of it and that it isn’t a danger to anyone.”222

“Thank you so much!” Adam laughed as Amabell practically jumped on top of George in her eagerness to thank him. George appeared bemused to find his arms suddenly full of the tiny redhead.223

Adam cleared his throat in an attempt to hide a laugh, “Careful George,” he admonished, “your wife might be jealous.”224

George blushed and carefully deposited Amabell back on her feet, “I’ll, um… I’ll go get your snake,” and no sooner had he finished speaking than he was out the door.225

Amabell appeared contrite, “I think I scared him off.”226

Adam allowed himself to laugh out loud, “Nah, he’s just embarrassed to be seen blushing. He’s fine.”227

“If you say so,” Amabell didn’t look convinced.228

“I do indeed say so,” Adam declared, and then, before he could stop himself, “Would you go out to dinner with me tonight?”229

Amabell’s fair skin flooded with colour. Speaking of blushes… Adam thought to himself. “I… Uh… I…” Amabell stammered, “I have to go get my snake!” Amabell’s dash out the door make George’s exodus seem comparable in speed to that of a turtle. A turtle with a broken leg. Adam stared after her. 230

Was it something I said?231

***232

Amabell was kicking herself as she watched Officer Adam’s patrol car and the animal control van pull away. Why did I panic? It’s a date. It’s not the end of the world! But Amabell was forced to admit to herself that as much as she was attracted to Adam, the idea of a date petrified her. She had always been uneasy around the opposite sex, and they had seemed to sense that about her so that all the way through high school and university she had never once been asked out on a date. Not even once. I’m twenty-four and I’ve never even been kissed! She numbly re-entered her house and slid down to the ground in front of the door with Rosie still in her arms. The front entryway was coming to be her favourite place to have post-Adam meltdowns.233

“Why, why, why?” she entreated as she gazed up at the ceiling, “Why am I such an idiot? Why am I getting so worked up over a guy that I don’t even know?” Well. It doesn’t hurt that he’s gorgeous, said a little voice inside her head, “Great,” she muttered, “now I’m talking to myself,” she groaned and hugged Rosie closer to her. The snake didn’t seem to mind, “not that it matters if I happen to be completely mad… After that stunt I’m sure that’s the last I’ll be seeing of Officer Adam Saint,” she pounded the back of her head against the door three times. “Ouch!” she yelped, “that was stupid. And now I have a headache,” she rubbed her head. She sat a while longer and contemplated the ceiling. Then for a change, she contemplated Rosie’s stripes.234

“Do you know what Rosie?” she asked after a while, “I need some ice cream,” Rosie’s tongue slithered out, “Yeah, sweetie, I know. You don’t like ice cream. It’s too cold. Don’t worry, I’m putting you back into Alcatraz before I get my snack,” Rosie hissed again, “Now, Rosie,” Amabell admonished, “please be a good girl and don’t escape this time,” she struggled to her feet under the weight of the snake, “come on, let’s go. You have such a nice cage!” she injected false enthusiasm into her voice as she carried Rosie back to the cage in question. And then, “Would it really kill you to remain inside of it for a short while? It’s not as though I don’t ever take you out and hold you, I expect you get more handling than most snakes,” and she smiled, “and that, pretty girl, is why you are so friendly.”235

Having locked up the aquarium, Amabell headed toward the kitchen to have her bowl of ice cream. Her freezer was always kept stocked with peanut butter chocolate chunk, as it was her favourite. She scooped a generous portion into a bowl and settled down to enjoy it on the sofa in her living room. Before seating herself, she set her stereo to play some relaxing music and as she enjoyed the cool flavour of her ice cream, the mellow tones of the cello washed over her easing the tension away. It’s not a big deal. It isn’t, she told herself over and over. Eventually she even began to believe it. Almost.236

***237

Later that evening, while Adam was sharing dinner with his family, his thoughts drifted back to the mystery that was Amabell Stuart. Why had she reacted so violently against the idea of going to dinner with him? Most women didn’t seem to find the prospect of spending time in his company cause for flight. He had thought that he sensed a mutual attraction between them, but clearly he must have been mistaken. Her most recent reaction toward him made that clear. In fact, now that he thought of it, she had seemed hostile toward him at their first meeting as well. Clearly he was being blinded by his strong attraction to her- no matter how he tried to tell himself that nothing could come of their acquaintance, he could not help but imagine the moment of their first kiss, what it would be like to touch her skin, her hair…238

“Adam, are you alright?” asked his mother, “you’ve seemed distracted all evening and you’ve barely touched your dinner.”239

Adam gazed down at his plate, which did indeed still contain rather a large amount of his mother’s specialty, Surprise casserole. The casserole was a bit of a family joke. It got it’s name from the fact that the ingredients were always a surprise to unsuspecting diners. Cecilia Saint never followed the same recipe twice when it came to her famous Surprise casserole. Usually Adam loved his mother’s whimsical cooking, but right at that moment, he was simply to distracted to enjoy it properly.240

“Sorry mum, I guess I’m just a bit distracted by work at the moment,” he apologized. He assured himself that this was not a complete lie, after all, the only times he had seen Amabell were police situations that she had been at the root of.241

Cecilia gave him a look suggesting that she didn’t entirely believe her second son, but she let it go. Adam was grateful. His mother could be a trifle nosy- she liked to be involved in the lives of her children, but she also had a sixth sense about when her prying was not wanted. His father, on the other hand, never seemed to grasp the subtle queues his wife had learned to read.242

“Big case?” asked Noah Saint. The patriarch of the Saint family surpassed mere nosiness to the point of being downright meddlesome. If Adam hadn’t loved his father as much as he did, he would quickly have grown impatient with his interfering ways, “care to tell me about it? I might be able to help. I figure I must have seen near about everything during my time on the force. I’m sure I can be of some help.”243

Luckily, Adam’s older brother, David, who was also in the police services broke in, “I’m sure that Adam can handle whatever it is,” he chuckled, “you don’t need to worry about what goes on down at the station anymore. You retired. Or had you forgotten about that?”244

Noah grumbled, “Just because I don’t happen to be a current member of the police force doesn’t mean my opinions can’t be of use! I have many va…”245

“Yes, we know Dad,” interrupted Adam’s youngest sister, Rebecca. The mischievous seventeen-year-old then did a credible imitation of her father’s often heard rant, “I have many varied experiences in the field of police investigations. The fact that I have attained a certain age does not in any way compromise the skills I have developed. My extensive know-how should be made available to those who have spent less time on the force than I…”246

“Alright, alright,” Cecilia interrupted with a smile, “we get the picture. There is no need to antagonize your father. Eat your casserole.”247

Noah Saint was scowling at his daughter from the end of the table, but at his wife’s words he took an enormous portion of casserole onto his fork and shoveled it into his mouth. He continued to glare as he chewed. Adam was glad to find the family’s attention finally distracted from his preoccupation. He managed to finish most of his own serving of dinner while the rest of his family bantered back and forth. Dinner was always a lively affair when the entire clan got together. Four of the Saint children lived away from home, but Adam imagined that dinnertime was still quite spirited even without their presence as that still left the three younger children. Three teenagers were quite enough to liven up any occasion. Especially when a pair of them were twins. Rebecca and Matthew were as alike as two people opposite in gender could be and they shared above all a common enjoyment of mischief in all its forms. They both though that April Fools ought to be considered a national Holliday and that they had yet to spend a night in the local jail probably had more to do with the police force being comprised mainly of Saint family members than anything else. Law enforcement was ‘the family business’ and had been for years. 248

Apparently though, it was too much to hope for that he should be allowed to get through the meal without further interrogations.249

“So,” said Matthew, “You’re distracted by work…” he paused significantly, “Is that why you were blushing?”250

Adam would not be surprised to see the day that Matthew joined the family business. In spite of his proclivity towards mischief, he certainly had the instinct for it.251