Brenda's Dreams
Chapter Six

Brenda entered the dinning room and stopped short. Sitting at one of the tables
was the man from the beach, who was looking back at her and from the looks of
it wasn't very enthused about it.

Well, she wasn't very happy about it either, but she wasn't going to run away.
She would mutter a quick greeting of hello and then seat herself as far away from
him as she could.

“Hello there,” Brenda said as she neared his table. She hadn't meant to look at
him directly, but was powerless to stop herself. Their eyes met and held.

Brenda looked down quickly to break the contact. She felt herself start to blush.
Why does he affect me like this? I don't even know him and yet I feel a strong
connection to him.

"Would you like to have dinner with me?" he asked.

Brenda looked back up at him. She was undecided as what to do. His tone of
voice was flat and suggested he was not interested. He was just being friendly.

"Thank you, but I don't..."

"It would sure help my aching feet," said a woman's voice that came from behind
Brenda. She turned and saw a middle-aged waitress holding an order pad.

"I'm working both the counter and the dinning room tonight. During the
off-season they don't hire much help since business is slow."

The man rose and pulled out a chair for Brenda. She shrugged her shoulders
and sat down. His fingers accidentally sliding along her back as he finished
sliding the chair under the table. Her breath caught as his brief touch tingled
along her spine and into her brain.

Okay, so he was attractive. Very attractive! She reacted to him, but never in a
million years was she going to get involved with him, no matter what his sex
appeal was.

"What's good tonight?" He asked the waitress.

"I had the roast beef and mashed potatoes with green beans on the side."

"That sounds good, I haven't had a meal like that in a long time. I'll have that," he
said as he handed the menu back to the waitress.

The waitress turned to Brenda. "And you?"

"I'll have the same." Brenda handed her menu back to her. "Separate checks,
please."

Brenda, cast a glance at her dinner companion. She had expected him to argue,
but he mearly shrugged his shoulders. Maybe he wasn't like Sonny at all. If
Sonny had been here he would have insisted on paying for her meal as well.
Brenda shook her head. This was the last time she would be trapped in a
situation where she couldn't avoid him.

The man did his best not to stare at the woman across the table from him. He'd
both wanted her to be there and, at the same time, hopped that she would refuse
to eat with him. Damn it, he'd come to the Cape to get away from his troubles,
not get himself
into more trouble.

She was nothing like Miranda, and he'd known that since the minute she had
scared him in the dunes. For one thing Miranda wouldn't be caught dead wearing
a sweatshirt and sweats or even jeans. She always dressed as if she was going
out on the town. This woman obviously didn't care about what she wore.

It had been weird, the night she had come to the Cape. He has watched as her
car drove up to the house while he was walking along the beach. When he had
came back from his walk, he had glanced at the house and saw that it was in
total darkness. Something had made him look at one of the upstairs windows.
Somehow he had known that a woman was there and she was staring at him, but
what was she offering him? Nothing.

He took another look at her. She was a very beautiful woman, he had seen his
share of them so he should know. Miranda was one. Yet, this woman was
something special and somehow she had used that something special to draw
him to her. Stop it! Why was he thinking like that? He just needed to stay away
from her.

"Since we keep bumping into each other, don't you think its time to introduce
ourselves?" She asked after the waitress brought their roast beef dinners.

He nodded reluctantly and extended his hand. "I'm Jax."

"I'm Brenda."

Good she hadn't told him her last name. That suited him just fine. If something
happened to pass between them, which he was going to avoid at all costs, It
would just be a casual filing between two strangers passing in the night. The
New York plates on her car meant that she was only visiting the Cape like he
was. They would go their separate ways and never have to see each other
again.

He shouldn't see her again as it was, shouldn't have invited her to sit with him.
And he especially shouldn't be wondering how those velvet lips would feel against
his own.

Damn it, he wanted her more then he could ever remember wanting a woman,
especially Miranda. Why did this woman have to appear at the worst possible
time in his life?

************

The next morning was spring-warm, the sky a lazy blue with wisps of clouds on
the horizon. Brenda was glad the rain had gone. Today was a day for being
outside she thought as she finished washing her breakfast dishes. A day to enjoy
the sun and sand. A day for just herself.

A picnic would be nice. The only problem was having a picnic by herself would
be no fun. Of course she could take Larry Silver with her. He would be more
than happy to join her. First he needed his breakfast. She opened the
refrigerator and took out the bread crumbs and meat she had from last night then
left the house.

Yes, Larry would be the perfect partner. He would be better than Jax and the
complications that seeing him again might arise.

Because the both had their cars last night, it had been relatively easy to say a
quick good-bye after dinner and head for home. At least that was what she had
done. It was hard telling what Jax had done. Maybe he had friends in the area,
but she didn't think so. He was probably here for the same reason she was.
Privacy and solitude which was just fine with her. She had enough problems
without adding him to the equation.

The sun shimmered on the water, enticing Brenda to take off her shoes and go
barefoot. But when she tested the water with her toes, she immediately retreated
to the warm sand. The day might be acting like its spring time, but the North
Atlantic still showed itself as winter, making the water very cold.

Brenda didn't see Larry Silver anywhere, so she decided to head further down the
beach to look for him. She turned east first, but after walking a little ways she
turned back west and walked past her house and down the beach towards Jax's
place. She hoped that he was gone because she didn't want to have any more
contact with him.

When she was just about even with Jax's house, she saw the seagull flap into
view, dragging his injured wing in the sand. A line of gulls, perched atop an
overturned rowboat a few yards away watched and waited.

"Oh no you don't," she yelled at them. "You guys can find your own food. You
still got two good wings."

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted movement from the house. Great, just
great. Jax was home. She hoped she didn't think that she had come to see him.
Maybe if she didn't look in his direction he won't have to acknowledge seeing her,
and then we won't have to pretend to be polite to each other when we would just
want to be alone.

As if driven by something then her own will, her head turned until she was facing
the house. Jax stood barefoot on the doorstep. He was wearing the jogging
shorts he had on the day before and a blue T-shirt. A tingling sensation fluttered
in her stomach when she saw him.

"I fed Larry this morning," he called to her. "Save your food for his lunch."

"If I can figure out how to give it to him and not every gull in sight at the same
time."

"We could take him across Nauset Beach to have lunch with us."

We? She wondered. Us? She tried to ignore the thrill that shot through her
when she thought of sharing the day with Jax.

No, she told herself, I won't go with him. I'll say no right here and now.

"You can't get to Nauset Beach without a boat," she found herself saying instead.

Jax descended the stairs and walked towards her. "I've rented a motorboat. The
didn't have the sailboats ready yet."

So he was a sailboat person, as was she. Brenda smiled at him, warming up to
the idea of sharing a picnic with him. She was going to enjoy this day to the
fullest while it lasted.

Besides, what was one more day? In two more days she would be gone back to
California and would never have to see Jax again. Surely there was no harm in
spending today with him. What could be more casual then a picnic?

"I'll bring our lunch," she told him.