Fire In The Ice website: http://fireintheice.katlynstewart.com Non-Formatted- Deedra thought her life to be perfect. She was married for years to a highly respected gentleman in the community, and the affluent owner of an upscale restaurant named Fireside Inn. He had taken care of every essential aspect of her life, giving her two beautiful daughters and an exquisite home in the posh bay-front area of Sarasota, Florida. Then without warning, that world had come crashing to the ground. Craig Marlan, the man that sheltered her against all sorrow, was killed in a car accident, a fact that would alter her faith in “Happily ever after.” Deedra was not satisfied with simply being the owner of the stylish restaurant, desperately needing to feel useful and fill the void left in her life. Craig had made it quite clear shortly after their marriage that she should stop working at the restaurant. Her life should be in her home, taking care of the “wifely” duties that a household demanded and await the birth of children. He also felt that her responsibilities should include charitable events and social activities. That his wife, a woman of means, should not be involved in such trivial things as outside employment. She did as he wished. However, the hollowness of life without a man to care for, along with the loneliness of the huge home, forced Deedra to alter what Craig had commanded of her. Deedra decided to return to the restaurant, taking over her late husband’s position, and occasionally filling in as a hostess as well. The work made her feel worthwhile, like it did in the younger days of her life. Consequently, being at the restaurant allowed her the opportunity to interact with people and keep the loneliness at bay. Her dearest friend from youth, Marcy, also worked at the Fireside, starting just days before each other. A little over a year after Craig’s death, Marcy started trying unsuccessfully numerous times to set Deedra up on dates. Regrettably, it had been to no avail. She hated watching from the sideline as Deedra put her whole life into work and children, allowing for no personal life whatsoever. As the time ticked away, everyone could see Deedra slowly slip away into her cold detached world. Marcy was fearful that her dearest friend would never allow her heart to open, nor allow anyone to love her again. “Go out!” Marcy would say to her. “Do something besides work and go home. Maybe have a drink now and again, get a little tipsy, and laugh.” However, no amount of coaxing would budge Deedra. Still, her friend hated seeing how closed off Deedra had become. She was still a young woman with so much life left to live. Marcy held on to the hope that one day, someday, someone would have the capability to break through the ice formed around Deedra’s somber heart. Her still-youthful figure, though hidden under an unflattering waitress uniform, was a joy for the male patrons of the establishment to admire. They could envision the supple roundness of her breasts and hips. Nevertheless, to their disappointment she would turn each of the potential suitors down. Several men, over the last two years, tried using their best tactics to become a suitor for Deedra. Her captivating eyes would mesmerize them. The soft flowing movement of her body hypnotized them. But, alas, Deedra would have no part in it. Over time, the patrons and employees affectionately began calling Deedra “The Ice Princess.” A bit of a side-bar joke spoken softly when she was unable to hear. One male patron would warn another male, “She’s off limits, she’s The Ice Princess, no one can break through her shield.” During the loll between lunch and dinner, Deedra placed a call to the children’s sitter, Mrs. Baker, to check up on the girls. All was well,as she always knew it would be. Mrs. Holly Baker, “Grandma” to Deedra’s girls, had been their nanny for over six years, and a true “God send” after Craig’s death. The children thought of her as their real grandmother. With Craig’s parents never taking an interest in the children, and living abroad, Mrs. Baker became their surrogate grandmother and enjoyed the time spent with the children. Especially since her own children were grown and living lives of their own apart from their mother. Mrs. Baker relished in feeling useful again with the responsibilities of caring for Deedra’s young daughters. Like clockwork, Monday through Friday she was there taking care of any necessary chores Deedra could not get to and looking after the children until she came home. This allowed Deedra the freedom to handle both the business and financial side of her life. With the phone call finished, Deedra walked to the kitchen, stopping to sample the ribs that were so famous to the restaurant. Basically, she was muddling around the Inn to find something to clean to pass the time away. Today would be another slow one. Tourist season was at a halt, with spring in full bloom. During these sluggishly hot summer months, most of the customers that came in were the old regulars that lived in the surrounding area, with the busiest period being on Friday and Saturday nights.. Stopping near the grill, Deedra shared a joke with the head cook, Mark, and was still smiling to herself as she walked back to the front. Out of the corner of her eye, Deedra saw the door open, and then heard the chimes ring, signaling to her that a customer had come in. Back to work, finally! Making a brief stop to check her appearance in the mirror, with a quick smoothing to the uniform and checking to be sure her make-up still looked fresh, she hurried toward the front counter to greet the awaiting patron. At first, she did not pay much attention to the man standing there waiting for someone to seat him. When she did look in his direction, the exact moment her eyes met with this stranger’s, a shiver came over her entire spine, her face was instantly hot. This was no ordinary man. Indeed, he was something that one would see on a G.Q. magazine. Without realizing it, she was studying him head to toe. Had she seen him somewhere before? Perhaps met him? No, No, she thought, unable to place him or his face. Standing before her was this extremely well-built man, she guessed him to be somewhere around 6’5-6’6 or so. The largest frame on a man she had ever seen. He dwarfed her small frame from where he stood. Without consciously meaning to, her eyes followed the chiseled powerfully built definitions of his arms. They seemed to ooze out from his tight black t-shirt. Her eyes wandered from the shirt to the way the faded blue jeans fit his body as though they were made of liquid. Her mind’s eye could almost imagine the hard edges of his thighs. Allowing her eyes to move back up the wide dimensions of this man, she focused in on the deeply bronzed skin and well-weathered face, only adding to the allure of this stranger. The hair, the gorgeous full mane of long, black silky hair, with a white cowboy hat, was a marked distinction to his deeply tanned face. This only added to the extraordinary beauty of this man. Deedra’s mind continued wandering with no concept of time or the fact that he might be watching her. She explored the strong points of his appearance. The solid curve of his jaw line. The way his long hair lay to either side of his well-developed neck. The broad shoulders. He was a like a dream, a beautifully built specimen. Even more so than this, Deedra was taken by complete surprise that her skin felt like little needles pricking away at her skin. Her heart was beating wildly, as though she were a young schoolgirl seeing a famous rock star for the first time. Deedra tried quickly to regain her composure, unaware of how long she had been standing there staring at this man. Secretly she was praying he had not noticed her stare. Taking in a deep slow breath, she walked closer to the man. “Good afternoon, sir! Could I see you to a table or a booth?” she asked nervously, realizing her voice was cracking. Her mouth was as dry as if cotton were in it. What is wrong with me? she wondered, clearing her throat so that it seemed as if she had a bit of a cold. His reply caught her off guard even more than she already was. “You sure can, darlin’, make it a booth—for two!” He smiled, his voice deep, husky, with a distinctive slow southern drawl. A flirty smile pursed across his large expressive lips. “Will someone be joining you, sir?” she asked innocently, her voice still not up to par. “No, lil lady, just you!” he replied. If he had not made her nervous enough before, she was literally shaking now, being putting on the spot this way. In her silent words to herself, she decided the best way to handle this awkward situation was to pretend she did not hear him. Besides, at this moment, words seemed to be eluding her anyway. “Right this way!” she said, using her best manager-trained voice. Deedra turned to walk in front of him, leading him down the middle of the aisle, guiding him between the tables on either side of them. As soon as they reached the booth she was to sit him at, she stepped to the side and laid the menu down on the booth’s Oak wood tabletop. Rapidly, as though in a hurry, Deedra went into the spew of information about his waitress and the specials of the day. She wanted to leave as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, she was not able to finish before being interrupted. “Well, honey, you never answered my question, are you gonna sit with me, or not?” Deedra paused for a moment, taking in another deep breath. Yet again, his question caught her off guard. Feeling her face returning to red like it had been just minutes before, the only thing she could think to do was look down at the floor, staring at the dark black well-used cowboy boots, and try to find words to articulate. Where were the comebacks she usually had with other flirting customer’s? Where was her self-assuredness? Always before, she could find something quick to say to ease the situation. This sudden inability to speak her mind had her dumbfounded. After all, this was her domain, never had she shown fear of going toe to toe with anyone here. This place offered her protection. Yet, something about this man made her overly anxious and unable to utter anything without sounding absurd. Finally, in one last attempt to muster up what little bit courage she could find, Deedra turned her face up to meet his. “Sir, can I please bring you something to drink?” she asked, jaw squared, without so much as an acknowledgment to his question. “Yeah,” he answered in a tone that sounded perturbed for not getting the answers he was looking for. I’ll have to try this again, he thought. “How ’bout you bring me the biggest jug of tea you got, sweet, sweet tea!” He snickered to himself. “Oh, and sweeten it with your fingers, darlin’.” “Yes sir, sweet tea it is,” she answered. “Your waitress’s name will be Marie and she will be with you shortly.” She stammered the words out swiftly, nearly running the sentences together. She hoped that her aloofness would get the point across to him that she did not want to be bothered by someone such as himself. She expected that because of the lack of dialogue on her part, he would stop asking questions that she did not dare try to answer. What crossed her mind at this moment was the need to run. Get away. For some unknown reason, the mere sight of him made her extremely nervous in her own skin. Nervous perhaps because she knew he was watching every movement she made, every word that formed from her lips. Now that she had been able to get his drink order and tell him about his waitress, she could quickly turn and walk away. Unfortunately, she was not getting away fast enough—she heard his voice loud and clear. “Hey. Tell me your name, lil lady,” he requested, his voice strong and loud. For a moment she stood there, feet frozen to the floor, swallowing the hard lump in her throat. She did not have the nerve to look around the room for fear that other customers overheard and were watching her reaction. Why can’t he just leave me alone? When I didn’t answer him that should have told him something. Arrogant Jerk! Why must he be so difficult? This man should not be any different, she should be able to just flit about and walk away without feeling the least bit apprehensive. She had accomplished it a million times before. So then, why was her stomach so full of butterflies that she thought she might be sick? “Deedra,” she quickly muttered aloud to him, without turning back to tell him. She quickly walked away before he could ask anything else of her. The stranger watched her walk away, the same devilish smirk planted across his lips, very pleased with himself that he had gotten under this woman’s skin. He could tell she was intrigued the moment he entered the restaurant. She liked what she saw. He observed the flickering of her eyes as they moved over his long frame. No way to denounce the nervousness in her voice. This woman wanted to be a challenge, she was pretending to be standoffish. He liked this new game, if she wanted to play. After all, Challenge was his middle name. It was what made him who he was. He enjoyed the idea of keeping people on their toes around him. It thrilled him to make people nervous. Especially a woman, someone as unique as this waitress was. He had surveyed her as well. What man would not? The manner in which the black shiny fabric hugged the full supple curves of her short frame. The ringlet curls of golden strawberry blonde hair that framed her face and the wisp of curls that spiraled wildly from outside the loosely fitted bun atop her head. Hard not to notice the shapely legs barely hidden from view by sheer black stockings. Yes, a perfect challenge, an unexpected dare. He chuckled to himself. Though he should stop thinking about her and concentrate on the menu in his hands. Disappearing in the foreground of the kitchen, Deedra told Marie she had a customer waiting. Never had she remembered being this easily annoyed in her life, but in some way, he had gotten to her. A man she did not even know, making her this nervous and apprehensive. Especially someone with the ability to make it difficult for her to speak in a normal tone. Marcy was standing near the back room taking her break when Deedra came through. Inquisitively she asked about the fine looking man that Deedra had seated. It was apparent that all the female employees had noticed him. It was hard not to. Each of the waitresses were whispering wishes about what they could do with a man like that. In a half handed gesture as if slapping at a fly, Deedra tried brushing him off as if it had been nothing. Trying her best to make Marcy believe she really had not noticed much about him at all, she could not give her any answers. Nevertheless, typically curious Marcy knew better and kept on with her questions anyway. Deedra remained silent and blasé. The questions kept coming anyway, until finally Deedra spoke up. “Oh come on, Marcy, he’s really nothing more than just an arrogant, self important man. Thinks he is something special!” Deedra’s words sounded cold, and a bit on edge from listening to Marcy ramble. “Really nothing more!” Instantly, the response turned the inquisitive Marcy’s head. Typically, Deedra had only the nicest things to say about someone, even if she wasn’t very fond of them. Her spirit had always been so easygoing, never a cross word, and seldom an angry look in her eyes. Even when something got on her nerves, or she was upset at an employee, Deedra always spoke with tact and grace. So she knew by what she had said, the aloofness of the words, Deedra did not just see him as “just some arrogant man.” The thought brought a wide smile to Marcy’s face, with the realization that this man could affect her like this. She would have to see for herself, and check this man out. Sneaking around the tables to get a good look, pretending to be cleaning, she watched the movements of this man. She inspected the long glistening hair and the well-defined muscular features. Marcy silently watched as he ate, wondering to herself if he devoured a woman the same way he devoured the barbecued rib he was holding in between his large fingers. She could hear his voice as he spoke to Marie; the bass-toned deep sexy southern drawl lured her in even more. Huge dark eyes, Marcy guessed them to be a deep brown and wished she could get closer to see the actual color of them. It was not hard to notice that he looked rough around the edges. It only added to the sensuality of this man. The appearance of his face told her he was an outdoorsy kind of a man. No longer did she have to wonder why Deedra was acting the way she was. Even though she was happily married, Marcy could see that sexuality oozed from his veins. It pleased Marcy that at long last someone had made Deedra’s heart skip a beat, maybe even chip away a minuscule piece of ice surrounding her heart. Her friend had kept herself hidden for so long from any man, shutting down any feeling or emotional connection to them. This man, this stranger, was exactly like the man Deedra had fantasized she would marry someday, when she was a teen. Exactly as she told Marcy, she had dreamed him to be. However, telling Deedra that, well, she would never admit to the dreams she had in her past, and only argue the point. After all, according to Deedra, Craig supposedly was what she wanted in a man. That is what she tried to convince Marcy to believe in when Deedra and Craig started dating. Marcy just never assumed it for a moment. Craig was nothing like any of the dreams she had. Deedra did not even know what a real man was when she married Craig. “Maybe, just maybe,” Marcy considered, “Deedra is finally waking up to the possibilities that there is happiness out there for her.” Pacing the kitchen floor, Deedra pretended as if she wasn’t waiting for Marcy to return from her investigation. In being so nervous and apprehensive about this gentleman, this stranger, she had one of the other waitresses take over her post. She didn’t want him to see how uneasy he made her. Like it or not though, her thoughts were on this man; she hated the fact that they were. There was no clear understanding as to why she felt like a fool when she had been near him. Nor could she comprehend why a part of her was actually waiting for her friend to return and tell her every little tidbit she had learned about him. Standing in the foreground of the kitchen, hiding like a child from a monster, she was too fearful to talk to this man, look at this man. Afraid of her own thoughts. Oh to be home, safe in her bed at this moment. Strange feelings were in the pit of her stomach totally unanswered by her own self......
Copyright © 2004 Katlyn Stewart |