Solace

————————Prologue————————

NOW

Dan stood and looked up at the clear sky. It was a beautiful day, and he hated it for that. The sky was clear and blue and the grass was the kind of green normally reserved for movie posters. There were birds singing and flowers blossoming and he stood there trying to make it rain with the sheer volume of his hate. But the sky remained stubbornly blue and the temperature remained pleasantly mild.

"Why can't it be raining?" He asked as he lowered his head and walked back across the empty lawn to his car.

Behind him a wisp, a breath of pale white fog seemed to defy the warmth of the day as it lingered under a tree. Just faintly visible was a smudge of red there in the shade before a breeze blew across the space and the wisp was gone.

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FIVE YEARS EARLIER

Dan sighed in exasperation as he reread the text on his phone, and he never saw her coming. He was walking along with his head down one moment and the next he had collided with someone. He automatically wrapped his free arm around the other person as he went over, bearing the smaller figure down and turning so he could take the fall and spare the stranger his weight atop them. As a result he landed heavily in a puddle, splashing filthy water onto other pedestrians and soaking himself to the skin instantly. He groaned I annoyance and discomfort as he tried to focus on who had just hit him. But as soon as he was able to see all other thoughts fled his mind as he found himself looking into the green eyes of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life.

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Roberta had been similarly distracted as she almost ran to her afternoon appointment. She had a lot to do and couldn't afford to be late today. She strode with confidence and she was looking at the addresses of the buildings as she rounded the corner. She felt the impact and cried out, knew she was going over and felt the helpless distress that went with an uncontrolled fall. But then the person she had hit grabbed her waist and twisted and she came to rest atop them. She pushed her long red hair out of her face and looked down at the person she had just hit. It was a good looking man, his hair cut short and a bit of beard stubble on his chin. He had strong blue-grey eyes and she smiled at him sheepishly.

"Umm, sorry. I should have been watching where I..."

"Sorry, that was my fault completely." He said at the same time and they both laughed.

She got herself disentangled and helped him up and saw with some worry that he was soaked from landing in the puddle on the side of the road.

"Ohh, I'm so..." she said as she tried to brush him off but it was no use, he was going to have to change his clothes. "Darnit!" She said with a pout and he laughed a little. "What's so funny?"

"The look on your face... it's absolutely adorable." He said with a grin and she blushed a little.

"Well, I feel bad but you don't have to be a jerk about it." She said half-heartedly as she looked away and then right back at him, her eyes watching him through her eyelashes. She wanted to feel annoyed or angry, but she couldn't hold onto negative emotions for some reason and she kept looking back to him.

"I'm sorry, but really it's not anyone's fault. I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going, and it looks like you weren't either. I'm Dan, by the way, Dan Beckham." He held out his hand and she took it.

"Roberta Reynolds, but you can call me Bobbi." She said and he smiled and they just stood there and held hands for a long moment while the bustle of the street went around them. It was like they existed in a perfect, still moment in time like a bubble trapped in glass. There was an indescribable tension between them for a long moment before she spoke again. "Let me do something to apologize."

"Let me take you to dinner to apologize." He said at the same time and they laughed again. She blushed and hid her smile behind her hand, something she did when she was really in a good mood.

"So dinner?" He asked and she nodded. "Tonight?" She nodded again and they exchanged numbers. She had no idea why she had agreed to that so readily, it just wasn't something she did. But at the same time there was no other course for her to take, though she couldn't say why. Afterward they stood there just looking at each other for a long time before her phone buzzed in her hand. The spell that held them was broken and the day came rushing back as she glanced at the phone and saw that it was a client and she somehow managed to make even swearing adorable.

"Ohhh, ssssugarplums. I'm late." She said and then she bit her lip and blushed as she looked at him again. He laughed and gave the best looking smile she had ever seen on a man.

"Go ahead. I'll call in a while. What time are you off for the day?" He asked and she relaxed a bit.

"Five thirty or so, call me around then." She said as she backed a little away, wanting to stay, but needing to go to her appointment.

He nodded and she smiled prettily and then she reluctantly turned to go. But she glanced back at him several times before she was out of sight, and Dan was still standing in the puddle and smiling as he watched her. When she was out of sight, he looked down at himself, at the filthy, ankle deep water he was standing in and his soaked and likely ruined clothes and he sighed heavily. But he looked up where she had gone and smiled again. He was cold and filthy and wet and happier than he had been in a very long time, though he had no idea why.

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Bobbi was waiting nervously at her door when his car rolled up. She had changed out of her casual, comfortable pantsuit and into something a bit more feminine for the evening. She was wearing a loose, billowy brown skirt and a comfortable spaghetti-strap top of the same colour with a beige jacket. Her long red hair was loose and her green eyes were behind plain wire-rimmed glasses. She had on comfortable flats and stockings and she felt good. She had just closed a very good deal despite being late to the meeting and she was smiling after her conversation with Dan. He was funny and nice and she had a very good feeling about him. He pulled up in a plain Toyota and got out to walk up to her door, but she came out as soon as she saw him getting out of the car. He was dressed in black jeans and a plain white tee with a denim jacket on over it. He looked good and he slowed to a stop as he saw her.

"You know, I was about to wear that same thing. Boy am I glad I didn't." He said and she laughed. He loved to listen to that laugh already and he had just met her. It was musical and infectious and her joy was clear in every note of the laugh.

"Well..." she said as she clasped her hands behind her back and looked up at the purple sky shading toward full dark. "...if you want to go change, I won't judge."

It was a good ice breaker and they both shared a laugh as he stepped up close to her. When she looked into his eyes it was as good as a done deal. There was something there, something powerful and clear to them both. It was all already over, everything but the formalities at least, and they both knew it. Still, there was a lot that couldn't be skipped despite that strong first impression. They stared for a long time, silent and awed by what was before them. Absently her hand found his and they just held on, fingers laced and so close that they could feel each other's warmth. She licked her lips as he leaned in and they shared a first soft kiss without ever having to talk about it. In the instant that their lips met, both of them felt complete. It wasn't a kiss of lust, not one of promise or passion, just a touching of the lips, very soft and sweet and yet it was perfect, the most perfect kiss that either of them had ever felt before.

They broke apart and just stared at one another and she clung to his hand hard, needing the anchor to keep her from floating away right then and there. She felt good and she was happy and the sudden voice from behind her almost had her levitating with alarm.

"Will you two get a room, or do I need to turn the hose on you like a couple of cats in heat?" Came a voice from the house and Bobbi turned with huge eyes to see Karen standing on the stoop with a huge smile on her face. She heard a laugh from Dan and turned back to him with a narrow-eyed scowl.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist." Karen said as she walked down closer and Bobbi sighed in exasperation.

"Dan, this is my roommate, business partner and shoulder-devil Karen Miller." Bobbi said flatly.

"Pleased to meet you, Karen." Dan said with a smile and he offered a hand.

Karen was taller than Bobbi and when she shook his hand he could feel that she was strong as well. Where Bobbi was short, just a hair over five-two, and petite, Karen was tall and curvy and proud of it. Her hair was dark and cut short and professional and she wore hip-hugging jeans and a tight baby-tee. There was nothing subtle about Karen at all and she was proud of it.

"Likewise, Dan. But if you don't have her home by eleven, I'm calling the cops." Karen said with humour dancing in her eyes. "She's still sixteen, mister and we take a dim view of pre-verts and molesters in these parts." She said in an imitation southern drawl and Bobbi stared at her with huge eyes as Dan laughed a little.

"Oh, I'll have her back afore then, sheriff." He said in his own best southern drawl and mimed tipping a hat at her. Karen snorted a little and rolled her eyes.

The three of them chatted for a bit and Karen waved and headed back for the house as Dan and Bobbi walked down to his car. He held the door for her like a gentleman and when he sat down in the other seat she was blushing furiously with her head down.

"Sorry about that." She said in a tense tone and Dan shrugged it off.

"It's fine. She clearly cares for you, and yet she has a good sense of humour about it." He said with a smile. "And it's always nice to meet people with a good sense of humour..." He said, but trailed off at her silence. He turned his head and saw Bobbi looking at him with a look of such clear dread that he stopped cold. "What?"

"Don't ever tell Karen that. If she thinks she can get a chuckle out of someone she's relentless. Her sense of humour usually is pretty good but sometimes she goes a bit overboard." Bobbi said as she beseeched him with her eyes. He held her look for as long as he could before her too-serious face made him smile and laugh. She punched his arm and her face screwed up in a stern expression.

"This isn't funny darn you." She said with narrowed eyes. "You don't understand, Dan. She PUNs. You don't know what it's like living with a punster. Everything's a joke to her." Bobbi sat back in the seat and crossed her arms, her head down and her gaze the thousand yard stare of prisoner in a war camp. "Everything's a joke... everything. I was carrying in some milk yesterday when I got home and right in front of our neighbours she called out in a loud voice 'Nice jugs, toots.' I was mortified. They all laughed and I was so embarrassed that I froze."

"So now's a bad time to admit that I pun?" He said and she started to get out of the car, causing him to laugh all the more. He grabbed her arm to stop her and she pulled at him weakly.

"No, not again..." She said as she fell back into her seat and looked at him with her eyes so wide that he could see white all the way around. "Whatever did I do to deserve another punster in my life?" She asked and at the look on her face he laughed all the harder, which caused her to giggle and cover her mouth with her hand again as the infectious humour overtook her.

It was odd to be this quickly comfortable with anyone and Bobbi felt very good right then. As they settled down once more she caught his hand with hers and looked at him with a fond smile. When he saw it he smiled back and leaned in to meet her in another kiss, this one a bit more passionate and suggestive. When they parted she stared at him, her hand at his face, her fingertips just barely touching his skin and the warmth of that touch soaking deep into him. They stared for a while and the connection between them, so instant and strong, deepened. She smiled and after a minute more he started the car and drove her to a little café. It was nothing special, just a little place in the southern part of Toronto that had a view over the lake. The day had been beautiful and the evening was mild and pleasant and they sat on the rooftop patio with drinks as they perused the menu and chatted.

"Well, I went to the U of T right here." She said as she flipped a page. "And that's where I met Karen. It was just one of those luck of the draw sort of things; I showed up at residence with my suitcases and my high-school girl pigtails and optimism and this older girl was right there to crush my dreams and welcome me to the city. I cried all night the first day I was here and Karen was there with chocolate and coffee and bacon the next morning. She took me under her wing and shattered the illusions I had that this was like the small town I grew up in. We've been friends ever since and I can't imagine life without her anymore. Heck we were even both in the same field of study and when I decided to start my own business she was there to help me with that. We moved out of the dorm and into an apartment together, then into that house when we could afford the rent and without her I wouldn't have lasted two days before going back to Saskatchewan."

Dan listened and smiled at the story. The two of them were clearly great friends and the fact that they were business partners was only logical.

"So what is it you do for a living?" He asked as a waitress appeared to drop off their appetizers and take their food orders.

It was one of the special powers that waitresses have to come over just after a question has been asked or when you have just taken a bite of food. The two of them both ordered the same thing, the house special Monte Cristo with waffle-cut fries, and they laughed at that. It was a little odd to Bobbi to have so much in common with another person so quickly, but she liked the way it felt and more importantly she liked the way he made her feel. She dealt with so many people in the course of a day that didn't really listen; they just waited for their turn to talk. But when she was talking to Dan she could tell that he was listening, that he was paying attention and that made her feel great.

"Well..." she said once they were alone again "...I'm a sort of procurement specialist." She said with a little bit of narrowing to her eyes as she tried to put her job into layman's terms. "Sort of a go-between for very busy people; so if someone needs a new office space I meet with them, see what they have already and hear about what they are looking for and I find it for them, everything from real estate to bulk product sales and consignments. Sort of like a professional go-fer, if that makes any sense." She said, knowing that really wasn't what she did.

"I made a lot of connections when I first moved here through an old boyfriend, and I've added to that as I went. I found out I have a bit of a knack for finding things and an eye for a decent deal so I just capitalized on that and voila, I make a good living. Karen is mostly the paperwork side of things, though there have been a few clients that she had had a better time with than I did, her personality just suits them better than mine. That's where I was going today, to meet up with a client who had been a bit reluctant to work through an intermediary. I work purely on commission so I sort of needed the contract, but they didn't want to fork over a dime until they saw the complete results. And when they saw just how easily I had gotten what they were after they signed. So it was a pretty good day."

She wanted to say that it was a great day, she had signed a contract that would net her a pile of money, easily enough to pay the bills for the rest of the year, and on top of that she had met a guy who was more than just a passing interest to her. She wasn't ready to say that it was anything more than a strong interest... but it was more than just a strong interest. They chatted back and forth for a bit on her job and her background and then she asked what he did for a living.

"Well, I sell cars." He said and she nodded.

"Oh..." It was perhaps the last thing she had expected from him. She had thought a lawyer or an executive for some company or other. But a car salesman was so very... vanilla.

The cars I sell are to people who want something they can only drive a few months of the year and never how the car was meant to be driven." He said with a wry smile. "It's a lucrative job, and there are an amazing number of people who will pay a pile of money for something that sits in a garage for nine months of the year and requires regular and expensive maintenance."

"And I imagine you provide maintenance as well?" She queried with an odd light in her eyes and he smiled, making her smile.

"The full range of service is provided for all of our vehicles." He said with his best professional voice, pretending to adjust his tie as he did. "That's what I was doing today, I had just dropped off a courtesy rental for a client and I was walking back to the gallery to meet with another client." He said casually and she coloured in embarrassment, remembering what he had looked like when they parted. "Thankfully I had picked up my dry cleaning that morning and it was still in my car."

"God, let me pay for the clothes at least." She said and he shook his head and waved it off.

"Nah, its fine, I work on commission too and I finalized a sale today that should pay the bills for a while."

"Well, in that case I just need one of your business cards." She said as she took out her phone for the first time that night. "The client I met with today is looking for a unique present for his grandson and an exotic car is on the short list of things he is willing to foot the bill for. If you won't let me make monetary recompense the least I can do is get you a commission." She said in a quick businesslike voice that brooked no further resistance and she quickly snapped a picture of his card and sent it in a text to her client. Within moments she had a text back and she smiled as she put the phone away again.

"Expect a professional call tomorrow, Mr. Howard Davis, of the Davis family group. He'll mention my name and ask for you personally." She said and he was impressed, she was pretty, smart and quick and that was a lethal combination for him.

Their food had arrived as she was working and they chatted idly over the food and little details were shared back and forth. There was a lot that they had in common and they sat there on the patio until well after eleven chatting and laughing and forming a strong bond. Finally the waitress came and told them that they were closing soon so Dan and Bobbi walked along the waterfront for a long time, hand in hand and laughing at each other's jokes and enjoying the night. Finally they had made their way back to where he had parked and she stopped with her back to the car as he stepped closer. She looked up at him as he leaned down and she smiled as she welcomed his kiss. Her arms went around his neck and his hands rested on her waist as their strong and instant chemistry turned attraction into need and they were very close to the next level of a relationship when her phone rang. She laughed a bit and he stood kissing her neck as she answered it.

"Yes, mother?" Her tone was humourous and he smiled, knowing immediately that it was Karen.

"Tell Dan to stop making out with you, that's all I can hear." She said and Bobbi turned bright red as Dan laughed, leaning against her and the car. "Listen, I'm sure that you are enjoying having your bosoms worshipped, but we have a client coming by at nine AM." She said and Bobbi groaned as she remembered.