Chapter 24: Honeymoon-California
"I am not going to spend my honeymoon answering calls from people who want to come and stay!" Shana exclaimed in exasperation as she put the phone down for the sixth time that morning.
Cam looked up and grinned. "Well, that's what you get for owning a haunted bed and breakfast," she chuckled.
Shana rolled her eyes. True to Cam's words of the day before, Siobhan had indeed unwittingly assisted her with PR and marketing. The phone had rung multiple times that morning, from reporters, people wanting to see the crime scene, paranormal researchers, and curious citizens.
Shana stared at the cordless phone in her hand as it rang again, and gnawed her lower lip. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. I want you to go and pack, we're going to go out to our California cabin for the rest of our honeymoon. It's got as much room as we have here but there will be a lot less people calling every five minutes!" She sounded frustrated. "This is supposed to be my honeymoon, I'm supposed to be enjoying my husband, and instead I've spent my time solving murders and laying ghosts and making business plans!"
"And scaring your sister white. Even if some of that was makeup, I think you really did scare her a bit." Cam grinned. "I'll go pack. Anything has to be better than the humidity and heat down here. I love you, Shan, but I really think that if given a choice, Charlie and I are going to be spending most of our time at my cottage on the reservation—it's a lot cooler there!"
"It'll be cooler and a lot less sticky in the California mountains. Trust me. You'll love it up there." Cam gave her a skeptical look, one eyebrow raised, and Shana laughed and gave her a light push in the direction of the stairs. "Come on. Go pack before I get mad and start throwing glass and wine bottles around myself!"
Cam got back upstairs just as Charlie came out of the bathroom. "Where are we going?" he asked as she hauled her duffel bag out from under the bed and started to pack.
"Shana's decided that we're done here and we're going to head to her and Snake Eyes' cabin in California," Cam sighed as she opened a drawer and started pulling out neatly-folded clothing.
Charlie slipped behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist. "You know if you really want to go home, my parents can get a hotel room while their place is being built. We could enjoy our honeymoon together with no one else." He nuzzled her neck, kissed her earlobe.
She melted against him. "I can't do that to your parents, Charlie. No, our—they're my parents now too. And we already had our honeymoon—enjoyed it to the fullest. Shana invited us, and Snake Eyes definitely wanted us along—I think because he thinks that Shana and I are good for each other—so if you really don't mind, I would like to go to California with Shana and Snake Eyes." She grinned suddenly. "And when she told me to go pack, it was practically an order. I don't think I should disobey a Master Sergeant."
Charlie grinned as he pulled his suitcase from under the bed and started loading clothes in it. "Me either. Okay, we can give this a try."
They were all military and they had packed light, so it only took five more phone calls before everyone was ready. Brian had lent them his car for the duration of their stay, and they piled into it.
The first place they stopped was Mr. Anderson's, to give him the keys and inform him of where they were going. "I didn't come here to spend my honeymoon answering phones and giving tours. And the caretaker's cottage isn't finished, so my husband and my friends and I are going to go to our cabin in the California mountains for some peace and quiet. Here's the keys, you have full access to the account with the startup money, and if you could just keep an eye on the progress of the caretaker's cottage renovations and mail me the keys to this address," she gave him the address of Fort Hamilton, in Brooklyn; mail meant for personnel at Joe Base went to Hamilton and then brought over by a trusted officer, so she knew she would get it.
She had a different set of instructions for Mrs. Anderson. "Everything in the house is straightened and the refrigerator is full, so you can move in today if you like and then just bring over your stuff one at a time. However, I do want to warn you that yes, the manor is haunted by the little girl who was murdered. Don't worry, she's intelligent and she's friendly; she scared my sister on my say-so. My sister and I don't have a good relationship. Just say hello once in a while, and she can lift glasses and silverware, so you could ask her help to set tables and stuff? She's very lonely; her mother died of cancer and her dad drank and she was homeless and hungry—that's how she ended up in Damien Kennedy's clutches, he lured her in with promises of food and a place to sleep and then raped tortured and killed her."
"Poor little child. It'll take some getting used to, but I'm sure we'll get along. I'll do my best, anyway." Mrs. Anderson took it in stride.
The Andersons' daughter, who reminded Shana of Courtney with her long blond hair and brilliant smile, promised to take care of the horses and stable; her mare, a tall coppery bay she told them was named 'Phoenix' would be arriving from the boarding stables that afternoon and she would ride her over to the stable to join Sunshine and Storm.
With all those details taken care of, they headed out. Shana pulled her brother's car up outside her house, having already texted him that she was coming, and so it was he who drove them to the airport, he and Shana snickering all the while about the prank she'd played on Siobhan with Sarah's help. According to him, every male in the family had found the entire incident to be incredibly funny, even Siobhan's husband (although Shana was sworn to secrecy about it; she wasn't supposed to know.)
She promised not to tell, and they got on a plane at the airport for California. On the way, Cam used Shana's laptop to find books she wanted to read and download them to her new electronic book, something she hadn't yet had a chance to do since she'd bought the reader earlier in the week.
"It's just been so busy, I haven't really had a chance to find something to read," she confessed as Shana was searching the web, using the plane's WiFi, to find a website from which to find books.
"You know, you should consider getting a laptop of your own," she told Cam.
"Don't be silly. Whatever would I do with one?" Cam shrugged.
"This, for example," Shana teased as her laptop loaded the last book and she disconnected the reader, handing it to Cam. "And so we can send emails and messages when you're on the reservation later. Mail can be inefficient and we have limited phone time, you know."
"I'll consider it. I will admit that I've thought about it, but I don't really know what's good out there. I don't pay a lot of attention to electronics—I've never been really good with gadgets."
"How did you get the music on your MP3 player?"
"Um." Cam looked slightly embarrassed. "Adam bought it for me a while back and loaded the music on there. Some of it is stuff I don't really like, but I don' know how to get it off, or put the stuff I do like on there."
Shana laughed at her. "All the more reason why you should get a laptop. Here, let me show you…"
Snake Eyes and Charlie dozed the whole way; as trained military, the instinct drummed into them during training dictated that they should get some sleep while they could; and Snake Eyes was also expecting that once they landed, Shana was going to want to go shopping before they headed up to their cabin. It was something they always did; when they landed, they'd get a rental car, go shopping for whatever she could think of they might need, including groceries; then they'd drive up to the cabin and stay there. Depending on how long they would stay, they might need to make a trip down to get more groceries for the refrigerator, but that was usually the extent of their 'vacations' here at the cabin.
There were, after all, much more interesting things to do inside the cabin…to and with each other.
This time when they landed however, the routine was slightly different. They picked up the rental at the airport, and then went shopping, but instead of just getting groceries and running, they did some major shopping. Shana had found out that Cam had no makeup and seemed determined to get her some, and both girls spent a long time arguing over color and brand. Then Shana practically ordered Charlie and Snake Eyes to 'go do something with yourselves' as she talked Cam into getting their hair properly trimmed, manicure and pedicure.
"Shana, no one's going to see my feet!"Cam complained good-naturedly but went along anyway.
They met the girls outside a high-end famous lingerie store, one that Courtney had modeled for before she joined the Army. Cam balked when she saw Shana about to go in. "Shana, I don't think I really want to go there."
"Oh come on. Just a few girly things. You hardly have anything nice, Cam, spend some money on yourself!"
Cam looked at Charlie and Snake Eyes; Charlie was as red as Shana's hair, and Snake Eyes looked like he was searching for trouble—something, anything, to avoid having to go into that store, where the predominant color was pink, and where the things hanging on the racks didn't even begin to measure up to the word 'decent'. But Shana was not to be denied, and she dragged Cam in with her, Snake Eyes and Charlie following slowly behind as if she were taking them to their execution. Cam balked when she saw the prices, but Shana overrode her. "You're a millionaire now, Cam, you can indulge yourself and buy a few nice things." Then she leaned in and whispered, "Besides, don't you want to look nice for Charlie?"
Cam looked at Charlie, who seemed to have forgotten his earlier disinterest and was now eyeing a mannequin wearing a sheer bit of lace and chiffon and nothing else. She giggled and nudged Shana with an elbow. "I do think he's imagining me in that."
Shana had to smother a chuckle at the way Charlie surreptitiously adjusted his pants around his hips, and gave Cam a merry, wicked grin as she saw a fluttery salesgirl come toward them. "Can I help you today?" she asked. Her words were directed at Shana and Cam, but her eyes were roving all over Charlie's well-muscled, solidly-built frame and Snake Eyes' leaner, wiry, but no less solid build.
"My wife needs some underclothing," Charlie said, but his male ego was obviously inflating exponentially with every appreciative glance he was getting, not only from the salesgirls, but also a few other customers as well. The salesgirl who had spoken, however much she might have appreciated Charlie and Snake Eyes' physiques, apparently wasn't blind to the responsibility of her job, since she quickly offered to measure Cam with a measuring tape. Cam was slightly self-conscious when she took her own bra off inside the dressing room so the woman could measure her and the woman looked shocked when she saw the scars, but Shana spoke quickly. "We're all active serving military. On medical leave after being wounded in a hostile zone." The woman stopped looking shocked and became immediate sympathy. None of Cam's old bras fit right anymore, she'd last purchased them before Rosa did her reconstructive work on her breast, and while the one side of her chest was still smaller than the other, the saleslady found some very pretty items that had padding which could be removed from the cups in order to assure fit. Although Cam complained about the expense, she was not immune to the lure of some very pretty satin-and-lace items that made Charlie have to adjust his pants again.
By that time the two men standing there watching their girls select feminine undergarments had attracted a lot of attention, and not even Snake Eyes was immune to the flattery. In fact, Shana and Cam were getting a great deal of amusement out of watching their guys try earnestly to pretend they did not notice the looks they were getting. Both men had opted for jeans and t-shirts, and their powerful thigh muscles, Charlie's developed from running obstacle courses and Snake Eyes' leaner, more wiry frame developed from years of martial arts disciplines and active military service, were well-displayed by their choice of clothing. The two men themselves seemed torn between loving the female attention being directed at them and a painful desire to make sure their wives knew they weren't interested in anyone else, all the while trying to maintain the fiction that they were aloof and couldn't care less that they were the only two males in a store that was almost overwhelmingly pink.
Just to prolong the guys' anguish, Shana and Cam spent some time looking through and sniffing through the various designer-fragrance bath supplies; soap and lotion and perfume, and it was then that Shana confessed that she'd been avoiding using her usual peach shampoo because it brought back memories.
"Snake Eyes is going to miss that," Cam said quietly to her as they took a sniff of something that said it had vanilla and rose oil. "The whole time you were gone, he slept in your bed, hugging your pillow so he could smell you and imagine you were there with him. Courtney even made a soapy solution out of your peach shampoo and soaked a pillowcase in it, then let it dry without rinsing it so the smell would be stronger and would last longer."
"I…he…" Shana's eyes were suspiciously bright.
"Shana, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry. I noticed you're using his shampoo right now and I'm sure he doesn't mind."
"But…he associates peaches with me." Shana bit her lip. As much as she hated the memories, that smell was an integral part of what Snake eyes associated with her. "They say..when you lose one sense, everything else becomes a bit more acute."
'He lost his voice, not his sight or taste or anything like that."
"But he lost something. And I know he misses it sometimes, I can see it when he's trying to sign something difficult and he's frustrated because there aren't words to say what he wants to say, or it takes too long." She stared at the shelf of lotions and bath products, then sighed. "All right, come on. Let's go pay for this stuff." The mischievous gleam was back in her eyes. 'I think we've tortured the guys long enough."
Giggling, the two headed for the register.
Shana didn't think much about it the rest of the afternoon—they went to grab dinner at a pizzeria, all of them gratified to see that Cam ate with good appetite and she was definitely putting on weight—then hit the grocery store to stock the refrigerator. Cam seemed to get more and more comfortable as they got farther and farther up the mountain, and as they parked the car and started to walk up the last few feet of hill toward the house without Cam's lungs sounding strained or winded, Shana wondered if the thick, sticky heaviness of Atlanta's humid air had made breathing more difficult for her, because she wasn't getting as tired or as out of breath as she had at the manor. When they finally crowned the top of the hill and Cam saw Shana and Snake eyes' cabin for the first time, she drew a deep breath and smiled hugely in delight. "Oh. Oh, Shana. No wonder you didn't want to stay in Atlanta."
She was as delighted with the place as Shana and Snake Eyes were, and late evening saw her sprawled comfortably on a picnic blanket overlooking the lake with Charlie beside her, both of them comparing knowledge of stars and constellations. Shana heard Charlie begin a story about 'Three Sisters' for the three sisters in the constellation Orion, and she and Snake Eyes took that as their cue to slip into the cabin.
She put away the new clothes and things she'd bought, then went to the bathroom. A moment of indecision as she looked at the tub, then, steeling herself, she turned on the tap and added bubbles to the bath. As she sank in, a brief flash brought back the memories of the tub in Kennedy's bathroom, his attempt to drown her, but that was very quickly eclipsed by the sheer unadulterated pleasure of sinking into a hot bath up to her neck. Eyes closed, she reached for the smooth, rounded bottle of her customary peach shampoo left sitting on the edge of the tub.
A hand brushed hers, pressed another bottle into her hand. She could feel from the texture of the plastic that it was Snake Eyes', and she didn't even bother to open her eyes as she handed it back to him. "Not yours, sweetheart. Mine."
He picked up the bottle of peach shampoo, but instead of handing it to her, he dampened his hands in the water and poured the shampoo into his own hands, worked it into a lather, and started to wash her hair. Gentle, firm, sure, every stroke of his fingertips against her hair and scalp full of love and tenderness, and as the scent of peaches filled her nose, the memories of Kennedy were like a bad dream, fading quickly. Instead what she remembered was all the other times they had done this, all the other times she'd lain in this tub with this man washing her hair, and she opened her eyes, bright green darkening to deep emerald as she tugged at his sleeve. He understood what she was asking, what she was requesting, and without a word he peeled off his clothes and joined her in the tub.
His warm, wet hands on her skin made her shiver and close her eyes in delight; there hadn't been many chances in Atlanta to enjoy finally being married to the one man in the world who could turn her into a panting sex kitten, and this first time, here in the cabin they shared, that they had built, felt like the real beginning to her honeymoon. His lips claimed hers, and she scooted back in the tub so that he too could sit, cross-legged, then smiled happily as she slid up onto his lap, wrapped her arms around his neck, and gave him a hungry, lustful kiss…
It was only later as he was about to slip into sleep that he thought again about the snippet of memory his mind had dredged up, something about a woman's body being more responsive when she was fertile…but he fell asleep before he could finish the thought.