Sara’s eyes cracked and gradually got wide. “Oh, God! I’m standing on air.” Below her, in the middle of the rock face, was one of the most striking waterfalls she’d ever seen. It gushed from a hole in the hill and fell several hundred feet before splattering into a small pool. From there, it continued its journey, down the hillside until it joined the river. No doubt to Jared, it was a spectacular sight, but her knees were shaking.
She shut her eyes again. “I’ve seen it. Now, would you please get me away from the edge of this rock?” Her voice was a little rougher than she’d intended. It was an exhilarating experience, but one she could’ve happily lived without.
He pulled her back and held her. “I’m sorry. I thought you would like it. I’ve scared you again, and I said I wouldn’t do that. Forgive me?” He smiled his sexy smile, the one that made her heart race.
“Only if you promise never to do that again,” she said and playfully wagged a finger in his face. “Next time, I might not be so forgiving.” She glanced at the time on her phone; it was almost seven.
“Ready to go back?” he prompted, disappointingly.
“No, but I’m concerned. It’s gonna be dark soon, and the way in here was a little gnarly.”
“Let’s go back, eat and head home. If we get back in time, I’ll take you to the house again. I wanna show you my sketches and the Navajo room. If you give me a kiss, I’ll even let you have my copy of Twilight.”
Sara frowned. “You’re not playing fair,” she laughed.
Jared pressed his lips together and turned. “Fine, if you don’t wanna kiss me, it’s alright, I understand. I won’t throw myself at you,” he said straight-faced.
She put her arms around his neck. “Can I have a little help here?” Even on her tiptoes, she wasn’t tall enough to reach him.
He laughed, put his arms around her waist and lifted her up. “How’s that?” he breathed against her lips.
“What’s this about me not wanting to kiss you?” She covered his mouth with hers. He deepened the kiss, groaned and pulled her closer. “Sara, you shouldn’t kiss me like that!” he breathed through her hair.
Her head was still spinning. “Why?”
“Just trust me,” he said and pulled away. “It’s not that I don’t like it, I do. I’m just not sure I can control myself or that I even want to.”
“And losing control with me would be bad?”
“Yes! It would. I won’t take advantage of you. Besides, Lucy would kill me. Let’s get back to the bike.” He took her hand and led her down the path again. “I’m starving, and you’re right. It’ll be dark soon. I’ve been here many times, but I still don’t wanna drive outta here in the dark.”
~ ~ ~
They sat and ate their sandwiches. When they’d finished, Jared played Sara’s guitar, and they sang a few songs, packed up and left. “This is the most fun I’ve had in ages. What are we doing tomorrow?”
She laughed. “I think I should spend some time with Lucy.”
“Yeah, I suppose you should,” he sighed. “I’m finding it hard to imagine a day without seeing you.”
Sara took a slow breath. “I have a question for you.”
“Shoot!”
“Are you full-blooded Navajo?”
Jared swallowed hard. “From the top of my head to the soles of my boots and all the parts in between, why? Does your mother have something against Native Americans?”
“Probably,” she snorted, “but that’s not why I asked. Aren’t you suppose to, you know, marry your own kind?”
He guffawed. “I can marry whoever I want, Sara. I’m supposed to marry my perfect match, but we don’t need to worry about that right now, do we?”
Her face flushed. “I didn’t mean,” she broke off. “Oh, gosh! I put my foot in it that time, didn’t I?” She tucked her chin.
“I don’t mind,” he chuckled and pulled her into his arms. After he’d kissed her, they got on the bike and headed home. On the journey back, Jared was quiet. Despite his generous nature, Sara feared she’d said something out of line. They’d only just met. She hadn’t been fishing for a proposal from him, but she was curious. In some cultures, royalty lived by a different set of standards. In his culture, he was considered royalty. She would never force him to choose between her and his family. If it came to that, she hoped she was strong enough to let him go.
------------
When they got back to Wisteria Hall, Jared parked the bike and put away their helmets. He still hadn’t said anything, and the silence made Sara nervous. He took her hand and led her into the kitchen where he poured them a glass of iced tea. “Why don’t you phone Lucy, and let her know we’re back. I wouldn’t want her thinking the worst of me.”
“Yeah, sure.” She stepped outside for some privacy. “Luce, it’s me. We’re back.”
“Oh, good! Where are you?”
“At Jared’s. He’s showing me his drawings and artifacts.”
“Oh, I see. You must be talking about his Navajo room. You’ll enjoy that. Are you sure you don’t want me to keep your dinner warm?”
“Um, no, that’s OK. I’ll either eat here or fix a sandwich when I get back.”
“OK, um, Sara,” Lucy said apprehensively. She braced herself and waited for the worst. “Kaye called. I covered for you, but as you might’ve guessed, she’s upset. This is the second time she’s called, and you haven’t been here. If you don’t talk to her soon, knowing my sister, she’ll come up here to check on you.”
“I’ll call her in the morning. I’ve had too good of a day for her to spoil it now.”
“Sara,” she drew out. “You’re a big girl, and I know you’re responsible. Jared’s a close friend. I’d trust him with my life, but....”
“But what?”
“Just be careful, kid. This is the first serious relationship you’ve been in since, well, you know, since Jeff. I don’t wanna see you get hurt again. Just be sure this time sweetie.” She waited. “Uh, oh. That sounded like my sister, didn’t it?”
“Yeah, a little,” Sara chuckled.
“I’m sorry, kid. It’s just, well, you’re living with me, and you’re my responsibility, OK? I’m not prying, just be careful.”
“I will, Luce. I’ll be home in a little while.”
~ ~ ~
Jared looked up when Sara entered the room. “Is everything alright?”
“Mother’s getting edgy. I’ll call her in the morning, let her yell a while and get it outta her system.”
“Your mother, and I are gonna get along like cats and dogs,” he smiled.
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
He kissed her cheek and took her hand. “Stop worrying about your mother. We’ll get along or we won’t. It’s that simple. Come on. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane.”
“Sure.”
He led her upstairs, to what she assumed was his bedroom. She took a slow breath and followed him in. This was the first time she’d been alone with him in his bedroom. She was head over heels in love with him, but she was a little nervous.
He smirked, knelt by the bed and pulled out a battered suitcase. “Here, go through these,” he said and handed her a stack of papers. “I’ll see if I can find my earlier stuff.”
Sara laid the folder on the bed and knelt on the floor.
Jared smirked again. “I’m not gonna attack you, Sara. Unless you want me to.” He scrambled around in the closet and pulled out a portfolio. “When you’re finished going through those, I’ll show you the Navajo room.”
Sara thumbed through the sketches. “Is this what Arizona looks like?”
“Yes, but the sketches don’t do it justice.”
“They’re extremely realistic and so many colors. Are you sure you didn’t exaggerate the sunset a little?”
He frowned. “No, Sara,” he said with a slight bite in his voice. “When it comes to my art, I’m a perfectionist. I want it to look as real as possible. I might add the odd blade of grass or a leaf to a bush, but I don’t over embellish.”
He watched her reaction as she looked at the smaller stack of sketches. He softly cleared his throat. “I um, I did some of those while I was in high school. A couple might be disturbing, but try and keep an open mind. Remember what I said about you and my dreams.”
Sara softly smiled and glanced up. “When it comes to you, I always do.”
Jared knelt beside her and brushed the back of his fingers across her cheek. “I’m glad.”
The four sketches had been drawn on older paper. Sara brought her hand to her mouth. “Oh, my! This is me, when I was ten. I remember the birthday cake. It was in the shape of a wolf, baying at the moon. My mother and grandmother searched all over Shreveport, trying to find the right shape of cake pan.”
She held up another sketch. “This one was on my thirteenth birthday. I felt so alone. All the local boys laughed at me because of my braces. They called me metal mouth.” She held up the next sketch. “This one was at my sixteenth birthday party, my first real party. You’ve even drawn the locket. My ex-boyfriend and I broke up about a month after that. I found out Jeff was two timing me. I was heartbroken. I slung the locket into the river.” She sighed.
Jared grinned slightly. “Yeah, I know. I enjoyed that part. I was jealous. It was hard to watch him touching you and seeing you look at him the way you did.” He snorted. “Like I said, I’ve been dreaming about you for a long time.”
Sara laughed at the irony of it all. “It’s just unbelievable. It seems you have been dreaming about me. Did someone, in a previous life, assign you as my guardian angel?”
He swallowed the lump in his throat. “There are a couple more sketches, on my easel, in the Navajo room. Do you wanna see them too?” She nodded.
“Are you sure?” he asked, noting the expression in her eyes. “They’re recent sketches.”
“Yes, please,” she stressed. For a minute, she thought he might make her beg.
~ ~ ~
Jared took her hand and led her downstairs to a room at the end of a long dark hallway. He flipped a couple of switches on the wall and opened the door. “This is my Navajo room. I do most of my sketches in here and out back, by the pond.”
Sara’s eyes lit. She wandered around and admired the different artifacts displayed in separate curio cabinets. The pale terracotta walls, resembling earthenware pottery, were adorned with all kinds of Indian trinkets and relics. Some looked as if they might’ve been excavated, but he said they had belonged to his great-grandmother and grandmother. There were several more handwoven blankets and dream catchers there, as well.
Everything looked extremely professional, thanks to Jared’s keen eye for detail. Soft multicolored spotlights shone on the display cases. Native American music quietly played in the background, helping to set the mood. Sara could almost see it. Families sitting around a roaring campfire. Children and grandchildren listening with wide eyes as their grandparents’ recited stories and legends of their people. It was like stepping back in time.
Alongside framed sketches, were portraits of early Native American heroes and leaders from various tribes. Among several pieces of jewelry was a turquoise squash blossom necklace. She recognized the design from a movie she’d seen. Jared said it had belonged to his great-great-grandmother.
Sara wandered around until her eyes fell upon the display cabinet, holding the handwoven blanket of a wolf baying at the moon; the one he’d told her about, earlier. She couldn’t believe how closely their lives had been connected. Her eyes glossed. She swallowed hard. “Jared, it’s the design from my tenth birthday cake, even the golden eyes, and the wolf’s white fur. How did she…?”
“I showed her my sketch,” he broke in. “I asked her if she could do one like it for me. She used special wool. She was extremely talented.” He opened the case. “Here, feel it,” he said and rubbed her hand over the surface of the wolf.
She smiled. “It’s so soft, almost like….”
“Touching real fur, I know,” he finished and smiled. “I used to sleep under it and imagine you were there with me. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Take it.”
“Jared, I couldn’t. It’s priceless!”
He kissed the side of her neck. “You’re priceless. It’s just a blanket. She made it for you anyway. I’ve been keeping it until I found you. Now that I have.…”
“It belongs here,” she interjected in a thick voice.
“You belong here, Sara,” he whispered through her hair. She caressed his face. “Keep it for me.”
He nodded and sighed. “The sketches you wanted to see are over here in the corner.” He switched on an easel lamp and positioned it over his sketchpad.
Sara flipped up the cover; her hand flew to her mouth. All she could do was stare. The colors, the detail, it was almost like being there again. The first sketch was of her crawling out of the trunk of her car. He’d even drawn himself standing behind her with Lucy walking away. It felt a little weird, seeing the expression on his face for the first time.
The last sketch made her knees weak. He was holding her out over the cliff; a scene that had played out earlier that day. She reasoned he could’ve acted out today’s scene from a dream, but he’d captured the worried expression on her face. She wasn’t sure how. Her back had been turned to him, yet, he’d sketched the ribbon which had blown from her hair. Is he inside my head? Seeing through my eyes? God! This is surreal!
“Say something, Sara.”
“I, um, I don’t know what to say. It’s so overwhelming.”
“There’s more, but I’m not sure you’re ready to see them.”
She frowned and waited for an explanation.
Jared opened a small drawer below his easel and brought out a small leather bound book. “I didn’t only draw the images from my dreams. I documented most of our conversations in this diary.” He lovingly ran a finger over the cover and cradled it to his chest. “Until recently, through the whole experience, there’s been one thing missing, your name. No matter how much I begged, you wouldn’t tell me. You said you couldn’t. I put a question mark where your name should’ve been. I replaced it last night.”
She studied his eyes. “You seem sure, I’m the girl from your dreams. What if you’re wrong?”
“I’m not.” He smiled and handed her the diary.
Hesitantly, she took the little book and ran a hand over it. The cover was scarred and worn, but the brass lock remained untarnished. He’d apparently taken good care of it.
He placed a tiny key in her other hand and closed her fingers around it. “I’d rather you read it when you’re alone. It’ll probably be a little confusing. You might need time alone to think about what’s in it.” He tucked his chin and smirked. “It can be embarrassingly graphic at times, but remember what I said. I’m a perfectionist.”
Sara frowned. “Jared, this is private, meant for no one but you.”
He lightly touched her hand. “No secrets, Sara.”
She nodded. “I’ll read it when I get home tonight.”
“It might take longer to digest than you think,” he snorted.
“I don’t care how long it takes. I’ll read it. I promise. Have you shown it or the drawings to anyone else?”
“My granddad knows about the diary. The rest of my family have seen the sketches, but not the diary.”
Sara hugged it. “I won’t share it with anyone, not even Lucy, and certainly not my mother.”
“I don’t know her, but I definitely wouldn’t show it to your mother. I don’t think she would understand.”
Sara gazed into his eyes. “She wouldn’t.”
~ ~ ~
They went back to the kitchen. Jared grabbed his keys from the key rack and checked the time on his phone. “It’s almost one. I guess I better get you home.” He took her guitar case. “I’ll get the car. Meet me out front.”
Sara stepped onto the front porch and stood at the foot of the marble steps.
He screeched to a stop beside her and swung the passenger door open. Sara fastened her seatbelt. She started to say something, but Jared turned the music up, too loud for them to comfortably talk above. His mood had changed; he’d become distant. Clearly, he didn’t want to talk on the way to Lucy’s. She glanced at him sidelong. Did I do something wrong?
------------
Jared parked behind Sara’s car. He put on the parking brake and left the engine idling, obviously he didn’t plan to stay long. He grabbed her guitar case and walked her to the door. Sara unlocked it and turned. She wasn’t sure, what to do or how this magical night would end. He propped her guitar against the house and turned. He put his hands on her shoulders, tilted his head and kissed her, but when she deepened the kiss, he held back.
She was a little surprised and disappointed. “Do you wanna come in for a while?” Please, I’m not ready to let you go.
He swallowed the lump in his throat. He stared into her wide eyes and caressed her cheek with his fingertips. He softly smiled. “I better not,” he softly said. “It’s late. I’ve got a full patient load tomorrow. Afterward, I have a staff meeting.”
Sara’s heart sank. Already he was making excuses not to see her again. She looked at her feet. “I see,” she sighed.
Jared used his index finger to lift her chin. “I’m afraid that’s not all. After tomorrow, I’ve got two days of inspection so I might not see you. I need to concentrate on getting everything ready. If I’ve got you on my mind, I can’t do that.” He walked away.
Rejection soured her stomach. She took a slow breath and fought to maintain her composure. “So,” she drew out, “I won’t see you for what, three days?”
He opened his car door. “Maybe four, depends,” he tossed over his shoulder and got in. He hung his head out the window. “I’ll call you. In the meantime, read the diary.”
Sara waited until he turned around. He blew her a kiss and was gone. She heard his tires squeal against the road as he hit the main highway, shifted gears and disappeared into the night. Silent tears slid down her cheeks. She stood there, dumbfounded for a while and went inside.
~ ~ ~
She showered, put on her bedclothes and crawled between the covers. She glanced at the diary on her nightstand and contemplated reading it, but her hot shower had made her drowsy. She decided to wait until she was fully awake. She half-expected Jared to call as before, so she laid her phone on top of the diary. When he didn’t call, she turned off the light, drifted off to sleep, and soon was dreaming.
~ ~ ~
Sara’s mind relived the day’s events. They were accurate until Jared held her out over the cliff. In her dream, it wasn’t only her ribbon that had gone over the precipice. When she’d reached for it, Jared’s hands had slipped off her waist. She’d fallen for what seemed an eternity. The ribbon of river got bigger and bigger. She decided this was her end, but before she hit bottom, she woke, frightened and crying.
~ ~ ~
The sheets were drenched with sweat. She felt like screaming but held it in. She swiped her phone and read the time. She’d only been asleep for a couple of hours, but to her, it had felt like days. She was afraid to go back to sleep. She didn’t want to know how the dream ended. She grabbed her notebook and jotted down a few words about her dream. A suitable melody resounded in her head. She would’ve played it on Lucy’s piano, but she didn’t want to risk waking her. Sara suffered in silence. She wished she could call Jared. She needed to feel his arms around her. She hoped last night hadn’t been the last time she would see him. If it were, she’d go back into her dream, allow herself to hit bottom and happily die in her sleep.