PluckingthePearl by Afton Locke Page A

had taken a risk coming here with the mayor. As
usual, he had no common sense when it came to her.
    It was wrong to come, he thought. He had his world and she
had hers. Mixing the two as he’d done today had stirred up things better left
alone. Now that he saw how she lived, he had a harder time accepting the way
things were.
    He jumped when he realized his brother was by his side.
    “You startled me, Henry. How long have you been standing
there?”
    Henry leaned on the railing, looking at Pearl too. “Long
enough. Caleb, I’m thinking something right now and I sure hope I’m wrong.”
    Caleb pushed himself away from the railing feeling the sun
burn the scratches on the back of his neck. “You are wrong. Let’s get
the hell out of here.”
    He said the last sentence louder than he intended but he had
to convince his brother he had no interest in the girl hanging clothes. As he
headed toward the captain, he wrung his hands again. First Leroy last night and
now this. Two close calls in two days were too damn many.
    Besides that, a bit of marsh grass sped past them in the
water, telling him the tide was going out and quickly. The mayor would not be
pleased if his expensive boat got stranded in swamp mud at low tide, possibly
ruining the motor.
    Caleb vowed to be much more careful from now on.
    * * * * *
    Wearing her best dress—the blue one she’d traveled here
in—Pearl walked out of the Baptist church on Sunday with her family, using her
hat to fan herself from the heat. Children laughed as they ran across the
grassy area behind the church while women spread quilts on the ground and
opened baskets of food.
    Being away from the oyster plant for two days felt strange.
She’d spent most of yesterday helping Wilma and Sadie with chores while Leroy
chopped extra wood for the upcoming winter.
    The last thing she’d expected to see was Caleb perched on a
big yacht. She couldn’t hear everything the men said but she’d heard enough.
    Let’s get the hell out of here.
    Even now, Caleb’s cold words left a sour feeling in her
stomach. Hadn’t Leroy warned her about getting hurt? Afterward, the Johnsons
and their neighbors had chattered about the biggest boat that had ever ventured
into Crab Creek. No one could figure out why the mayor had come.
    But Pearl knew. Caleb must have wanted to see where she
lived. She didn’t know whether to feel flattered or angry. He had no business
prying into that part of her life. When they were together, the color of their
skin and the differences in their lives didn’t seem to matter. When he touched
her, they were one.
    Yesterday they couldn’t have looked more different—him
standing on that fancy boat like a rich king while she pinned rags to a
clothesline. She hoped he’d satisfied his curiosity. He probably wanted nothing
more to do with her. Never again would he make her body feel as if the earth
had split in half.
    This was her life, she reminded herself as she watched Wilma
and Sadie fuss over the picnic basket. It could be worse. She had family, a
home and food to eat. Leroy even cared about her. True to his word, he hadn’t
said anything about her secret.
    She helped the women unpack the food and sat on the edge of
the faded quilt while Charlie eased himself into a chair. When she saw Jimmy
head toward them, she wished she felt the same magical spark Caleb gave her
instead of nothing.
    “Hello, Jimmy.” When Sadie batted her lashes at him, Wilma
elbowed her.
    “There’s a spot beside Pearl,” her aunt said.
    Jimmy smiled at her after he sat down. “You look real pretty
today, Pearl. Did you enjoy the service?”
    Pearl struggled to pull her thoughts away from Caleb and the
yacht. The man beside her had a kind, handsome face. More importantly, he could
give her a future. It was time she stopped listening to her crazy body—making
obscene demands like harder and faster —and started thinking with
her head.
    Jimmy asked her where she was from and she found