Wilmington, NC 05 - Murder On The ICW

hair which is getting long, slipped into a dress, and when I came downstairs, Melanie clapped, Cam whistled, and Binkie and Aunt Ruby beamed their approval.
    "She doesn't wear dresses often enough," Melanie said.
    "But when she does -- va , va , va , voom !" Cam laughed.
    Jon arrived promptly at eight, dressed in a handsome dark suit and smelling of cologne and roses. "Hello, gorgeous," he said, his customary greeting for me, but this time he said it with awe, as if holding his breath. And that is exactly what he told me next. "You take my breath away."
    He held his hands behind his back, grinning and waiting, until I said, "What are you hiding?" But the fragrance gave his surprise away.
    At that point he swung his right arm forward dramatically to present me with a huge bouquet of red roses, at least a dozen and a half.
    "Oh, Jon, they're beautiful!" I exclaimed, accepting them. "Thank you." I brushed his lips with mine.
    Aunt Ruby, who had followed me into the reception hall, said, "I'll just take those and put them in water for you, Ashley, darling." She buried her face in the roses. "My stars, don't they smell divine. Now, you young people run along and have fun."
    But Cam and Melanie, and Binkie too, had to say hello first, to hug and shake hands with Jon. I saw then how much more warmly they greeted Jon than they had ever greeted Nick. Your family and friends know what is best for you, I suddenly realized, often times better than you know yourself.
    We got into Jon's Escalade, Jon holding the door for me. How many times had I ridden in that car with him? Traveling to work sites, driving to and from countless lunches and dinners. Once we'd even gone out shagging -- a quasi date -- but never a real, formal date until tonight. I had to admit to feeling just a little bit shy.
    But, I told myself, it's Jon. Dear Jon. I knew him almost as well as I knew myself. Yet, he was capable of surprising me, as he had with his ability to kiss. He was a good lover, thoughtful and slow. But there was more to loving than technique. Ours was good because we never ran out of words; we always had so much to tell each other. And many private jokes to share; a kind of verbal shorthand when we spoke. Life was good for me right now.
    If it weren't for Melanie and the trouble she was in, I'd be floating on Cloud Nine. As Jon took Nun to Front Street and drove north, I told him about how Crystal Lynne had coerced Melanie and me into accepting David Boleyn's invitation to attend a party on his yacht for the next afternoon.
    "She implied that he'd make her life miserable if she didn't get Melanie and me to agree to come. What does it matter to him if we're there or not? It's not like we're friends with the man!"
    Jon said, "I got a call this afternoon from some flunky who works for David. He told me I was expected to put in an appearance -- command performance -- something like that, on the yacht tomorrow. I assume it will be work related, that David wants to review the renovations we've made. Cam's coming too."
    "Well, then with you two there, it will be tolerable. But that Crystal Lynne, she's a mess."
    "Don't sweat it, Ashley. We can stand them for a few hours. We don't have any choice, when you get right down to it. He's our client. If it's not a meeting on his yacht, it will be somewhere else. We can't avoid the man. We just have to put up with his eccentric behavior and see the job through."
    "You are right, as usual, Jon," I said and rested my hand lightly on his thigh.
    "Now can we talk about something more interesting?" he asked with a smile in his voice. "Like us." He glanced over at me and I saw his face take on that special glow it gets when his eyes meet mine.
    "Okay. Where are we going?" I asked.
    "A surprise, but we're almost there, so you'll know soon enough."
    He pulled into a parking space on Front Street near Princess. "Oh, you're taking me to Prima. This is perfect. It's so romantic there."
    "Just what I had in mind," Jon said and got out of the driver's side.
    I started to open the door for myself, then stopped. Let him, I thought. He gets a kick out of performing these little demonstrations of love for me. And I liked it too. I was so used to getting down into the trenches with the men on the job site that it was nice to be treated like and feel like a lady now and again.
    Prima is a relaxing Bistro with a romantic edge. The tables are round with cane chairs drawn up; large canvases with bold colors in oil covered the