About halfway up the mountain path Jared and Sara paused to take a drink. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and passed the canteen to her. “Now whatever you do, don’t look down. Keep your back pressed against the mountain.”
Sara drew the canteen to her lips and drank thirstily. Inside the insulated container, the water was still cool. She passed it back to him. He slung the strap over his shoulder again. They rested another four or five minutes. Jared stood, signaling it was time to continue. He was sure of their path. She had no idea how high they needed to climb. He took her hand and pulled her to her feet. What do you do when someone says don’t look down? Answer - you look down, and she did. She learned a valuable lesson. No matter how far away the ground is, from that height it seems to pulsate up and down before your eyes. She gasped; her stomach churned.
Jared grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back against the mountain. “I thought I told you not to look down,” he whispered in her ear. His breath sent shivers down her spine, something she didn’t need at this height. She needed to be totally focused on not falling.
“Never tell me not to look down!”
He laughed. Neither the height nor the climb bothered him. It seemed they’d been climbing for hours, and he wasn’t even out of breath. Sara wondered if he’d been born part mountain goat. To her, it didn’t look as if they had made any progress. For each step they took, the mountain seemed to get higher.
~ ~ ~
They climbed for another hour or so. She was glad when they stopped on a ledge, to rest and take another drink. After they’d rested, Jared stood and took Sara’s hand. She glanced around. There was no other way to go but up, straight up. “Where to now?”
Her question was answered when he jumped to the top of the ledge above them, backpack, guitar and all. She stared up at him in disbelief. She folded her arms and firmly planted herself to the spot. She shook her head. “Uh huh, no way, forget it!”
He chuckled and laid on his stomach with his arms hanging over the edge. “Jump and grab my hands. It’s not that far.”
“Jared, I can’t do it!” she squealed.
“Jump up, grab my hands, and I’ll pull you up!”
“I can’t, Jared. I’ll fall. I can’t do this!” The more she thought about it, the more her stomach churned.
He leaned further over the edge and stretched his arms. Now, she didn’t need to jump. All she had to do was reach out to him. “Sara, give me your hands.”
She pressed her lips into a thin line and shook her head.
“Give me your hands,” he stressed. “Come on, Sara. I won’t let you fall. You’re as light as a feather to me.”
She swallowed the bile at the back of her throat. “That’s easy for you to say. You’re the one who was born part mountain goat or wolf, or something. I hate heights!”
Jared sighed. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes, but I don’t….”
“Give me your hand,” he interjected in a soft, even voice. “I will not let you fall,” he enunciated.
She took some slow breaths, half-closed her eyes, and slowly, inch by inch lifted her arms above her head. She breathed a sigh of relief when her fingertips touched his. Jared slid his hands down and locked them around her forearms. “OK angel, deep breath.”
“Jared!” she gasped when her feet left the ground.
He chuckled. She felt something warm wrap around her waist. “You can open your eyes.”
The warmth was his arms. Her feet were planted firmly on solid ground. He looked down at her, with glowing crimson eyes. All she could do was stare. He saw the reflection of his eyes in hers. “Sorry,” he snorted. “I can’t help it. My eyes have a mind of their own when it comes to you.” He leaned closer.
Sara turned her face up for his kiss. “I don’t mind,” she whispered. “I love looking into your eyes, no matter what color they are.” Jared smiled and kissed her.
~ ~ ~
They walked a few feet further and stopped where a large flat rock extended out over the edge. The other end was buried firmly in the mountain. He patted the space beside him. Sara sat. He stretched out his arms. “Now look out there, across the desert, to the horizon.”
Her breath caught. He was right. The view was phenomenal. Unfortunately, she glanced down and immediately felt nauseous again. “Are you sure this rock won’t tumble down the mountainside?”
Jared sniggered. “Angel, this rock was here before the first man set foot on dry ground. You don’t need to worry. It’s not going anywhere.”
But Sara was worried. She couldn’t help it. She thought about her dreams, the one with the wooden wolves, and the one where she fell over the cliff. Enjoying the view as Jared did wasn’t easy for her. She frowned and took a slow deep breath. Are the two dreams tied together?
He took out his sketchpad. Sara watched him for a while and took out her notebook and pen. After a short tuning session, she was ready to start composing. With this majestic scene, she expected the ideas to explode in her head. She was right. In no time, she was lost in her own little world, consumed by her music.
~ ~ ~
She glanced up and he was watching her. She smiled and went back to her music. Seconds later, she glanced up again, and he was still staring at her. “What?” she frowned.
“I have a problem.”
She reflected his smile. “What kind of problem?”
“I can’t decide whether to draw something majestic or enjoy something breathtakingly beautiful.”
“Pardon?”
Jared moved closer. He leaned over the guitar and kissed her. “I think I’ll go with enjoying something breathtakingly beautiful.” He kissed her again. “What are you working on?”
“Just something that popped into my head.”
“May I?”
“Sure, but it’s only a rough draft.”
He read over the words. “Sing it.”
Sara played what she thought would be a suitable introduction. “Alright, but it’s a duet. You’ll have to sing the other part.”
Jared sat beside her and held out the notebook so they both could read the words. “I like duets, especially with you,” he said. They sang the song through. Their voices blended perfectly.
“So, what do you think? It’ll sound better with the rest of the band. Can we use it?”
“Definitely, and I like the title too. If you don’t mind, there are a couple of things I’d like to change.”
“What?”
“Your voice has a higher range. Change the key from D to Eb and let’s try it again. This time, instead of repeating the last line twice, let’s do it once.”
Sara nodded, and they sang it again. Jared was right. The changes were an improvement. The chord change didn’t bother him since his singing voice was of a higher range, as well. She put her guitar down and reached for his sketchpad. “Now, lemme see what you’ve been doing.” Her mouth gaped. It was stunning. A digital camera couldn’t have captured what he had. He’d drawn the landscape and used Sara’s face to fill in the clouds and sunset. “How did you do that?”
“Do you like it?”
“Yes. You seem to be talented at everything you do. Are you sure you’re for real?”
He softly smiled. “What do you mean?”
“Well, let’s see,” Sara said and counted the reasons off on her fingers. “You’re an outstanding doctor. You sing. You play guitar, piano, and keyboard. You’re a talented artist and architect. But most of all,” she said and kissed him. “You’re an excellent kisser.”
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her again, long deep, and lingering. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
“Eve was an idiot,” she blurted.
“She was jealous of you. She knew she couldn’t compete. Even when you were only in my dreams, you were real to me. She made a derogatory remark about you, and I let her have it. She knew in no uncertain terms where my loyalties lay. Holding you and kissing you was as real in my dreams as it is now.”
“I wish I could remember some of that. How realistic were your dreams? I mean, how far did we…?”
Jared took her hand. “Did I make love to you?” he interjected. Sara nodded. He smirked. “That’s my secret. I’m not spoiling anything for either of us. When the time comes, it will be as new and special for me as it will be for you.” He kissed her again.
The sun was dropping behind the mountains. He pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her as they gazed at the dazzling sunset. He sighed and kissed the side of her neck. “We’ll need to get back soon. Mother will send out a search party.”
“I’ll bet the view’s spectacular up here at night. You could probably see all the way into eternity.”
“Maybe not eternity, but it is pretty up here, especially during a meteor shower.”
“You’ve been up here during a meteor shower?”
“I’ve spent many hours here, Sara, day and night. I used to come here to sketch my dreams of you and think things through. It’s special to me. That’s why I shared it with you. We could come back and spend the night here sometime. Would you like that?”
“Yes.”
Jared arched an eyebrow and chuckled. “I thought you were afraid of heights.”
“I am, but I’m getting braver. Just make sure, when we come to camp out, we get here in full daylight and don’t leave ’til the next day. I wouldn’t wanna climb the mountain in the dark.”
He kissed the side of her neck again. “It would mean you’d have to spend the night with me.”
“And?”
“The whole night, Sara, alone… with me… in the dark.”
She sighed. “What’s the matter, can’t trust yourself?”
“Around you, in one word, no!”
He took her hand and led her back to the ledge. A familiar feeling of nausea crept up the back of her throat. Maybe she wasn’t over her fear of heights, after all. He studied her fear-filled eyes. “Alright,” he drew out. “I’ll give you a choice. I can lower you down, or go down, and you can fall into my arms.”
She gulped. She didn’t like either choice, but she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life on the mountaintop, either. She chose the first option. No matter how much she trusted him, there was no way she could free fall over the ledge into his arms. Besides, she was afraid she might knock him off balance.
~ ~ ~
Jared lowered her down. She pressed her back tightly against the mountain and waited for him to lead the way. Climbing down wasn’t as tiring as climbing up, but she was happy, when rock turned to sand beneath her feet.
They poured water from the canteens into their hands, let the horses drink and mounted them. “OK, angel, I know you were scared up there, but be honest. Was it worth it?”
Sara smiled, remembering how it had felt when he’d kissed her. “It was worth it.” They shared a long and lingering kiss and headed back for the ranch.
------------
Jared was right. Nadine was getting concerned. He kissed her cheek. “Mother, I might not live here anymore, but I still know my way around!”
She smiled. “So, did you have a good time? Where did you take her?”
“Mother’s Mountain, and yes, we had a good time.” He failed to mention anything about the climb or the perch on the side of the mountain.
“What did you think, Sara? It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I don’t know why Jared felt he had to leave.”
He rolled his eyes. “Mother, we’ve been over this. I left to find Sara.” He took her hand. “And I found her.”
Nadine faked a smile and swallowed hard. “Yes, you did, and we’re not letting her get away, are we?”
“Nope!”
“So what did you do today?”
He sighed. “She insists on seeing my drawings. I have to watch her or she’ll swipe them and frame them.”
Nadine glared at him. “If I hadn’t kept some of them, they would’ve been gone long ago.” She flipped the cover back. “Nizhoni, Shiyaazh!” she gasped.
Sara frowned. There were those words again.
Jared tucked his sketchpad under his arm. “Yes, Mother, they are, but, you can’t have them! They’re for mine and Sara’s collection.”
She exhaled and smiled knowingly. “I’ll fix you two a snack. You missed dinner, but I saved you some. I figured you’d be starving when you got back.”
“Thanks, Mother.”
Sara waited until Nadine was out of earshot, and leaned close; she didn’t want her overhearing. “I need to know something. Those two words she used when she looked at your sketches. What do they mean?”
“You mean Nizhoni and Shiyaazh?” Sara nodded. He smiled, put an arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head. “They’re Navajo. Nizhoni means beautiful or pretty, and when spoken by a mother Shiyaazh means my son. It’s Shiye, when used by a father.” The words rolled off his tongue with ease. She would have trouble pronouncing them, never mind what they meant.
She looked deeply into his eyes. “Tell me how to say I love you,” she whispered against his lips.
Jared smirked. “I… love… you.”
Sara narrowed her eyes. “That wasn’t what I meant.”
He softly chuckled and tilted her face up. “Ayóó'ánííníshní,” he whispered.
“Ayóó'ánííníshní,” she repeated and kissed him. “Would you teach me your language and tell me more about your people? I hate looking stupid.”
“They aren’t my people, Sara. They’re yours now too and trust me,” he smiled and kissed her again. “I’ll teach you the words you need to know. There are only a few. We don’t use the language much in our generation, but the older generation does. Regardless of what you do, you could never look stupid. You can’t learn Navajo overnight. You’ll have to practice, and I’ll expect you to study.”
Her eyes lit. “When can we start?”
Jared softly laughed and tugged her to the kitchen. “It’ll have to wait. Mother’s right, I’m starving!”
~ ~ ~
Sara hadn’t realized how hungry she was until she saw the food. Nadine had put plates of sandwich stuff and a pitcher of iced tea on the table. “Which do you want, white or brown, and do you want everything on your sandwich?”
“Yes, please, and I prefer brown bread to white,” she said.
Jared fixed her a roast beef sandwich. Without asking, he cut it in half and gave it to her. She thought the sandwich was delicious. He said his mother had grilled the roast over hickory chips, which gave the meat its spicy flavor.
“Have you ever thought about moving back to Arizona and buying a house here?”
He arched an eyebrow. “Not really – why?”
“Oh, no reason, I was curious.”
He eyed her over the top of his sandwich. One of his sketches flashed through his mind. “Do you really like it here?” he prompted, trying to put her off. “It’s awfully hot and dry and not to mention, dusty.”
“I had noticed, but I like it here. Besides, you belong here. You fit in. It’s like the land is a part of you or you’re part of it.”
Jared washed his hands at the sink. “Now don’t you start! I have enough trouble with Mother and Myra. I thought you liked living at Wisteria Hall.”
“I do, for the amount of time I’ve lived there. But, what if I’d lived in Arizona? Do you think you and Eve would’ve,” she broke off. “I mean, would you have left?”
He finished drying his hands and angrily tossed the towel on the counter. He turned. Sara could tell by the expression on his face, he was upset. “I don’t know, Sara. Does it matter?”
“Well, yes, it does, to me anyway.”
He pressed his lips into a thin line. “Why?”
“I don’t know, it just does,” she exhaled. She hated how he avoided subjects he wasn’t comfortable with. She gathered the leftover food. She didn’t know where to put anything, but it was a force of habit for her. She’d been cleaning up after herself since she was seven.
Jared took a slow breath. His eyes stopped glowing. “I don’t know,” he said, in a softer voice. He approached her from behind, put his arms around her and held her against his body. He kissed her shoulder and on the side of her neck. He turned her and tilted her chin. “One thing’s for certain.”
“What?”
“If you’d been here, I never would’ve left.” He leaned closer and brushed his lips over hers, teasing her. His hot breath sent shivers down her spine. She anxiously waited, but he didn’t kiss her. She wasn’t sure which was more effective, his kiss or her expectation of it. He seemed to enjoy teasing her. He must. He did it a lot!
“Jared, how long are we staying?”
“You do like it here, don’t you?” he smirked.
“Yes,” she nodded.
“We’ve gotta get finished with the gig, but then we can come back, and stay until after the convention if you want to. Terry, my partner, is running the clinic for the next two months.”
Sara smiled anxiously. She wanted to see more of Arizona, a lot more. “And he’s OK with this?”
He narrowed his eyes slightly. “Yeah, but don’t get too used to it. Arizona grows on you. She’ll steal your dreams if you let her.”
“I don’t think it would be so bad. I could learn to like it here.”
“Oh, you could, could you?” He playfully flicked the tip of her nose.
“When are we telling your parents about our engagement?
“When did you want to?”
“I don’t know. They’re your parents. When would be a good time?”
Jared laughed. “Sara, anytime would be a good time for us to talk to them about our getting married. They love you, and, to be honest, they’ve been waiting for this day as much as I have. Well, maybe not as much as I have but,” his voice trailed off.
“So when do you wanna tell them?”
“When things get back to normal. After the funeral, I don’t wanna be disrespectful.”
“That makes sense,” she nodded.
“Do you wanna get married here, at Wisteria Hall, or in a church?”
“Considering my fear of heights, this will sound strange, but I wouldn’t mind getting married on Mother’s Mountain.”
“Mother’s Mountain!” Jared snorted. “My, God, Sara, could you pick a harder place to get to?”
Her cheeks showed some color. “I know we can’t. It was only a thought. We could spend our honeymoon there, though, couldn’t we?”
“Sure, if you don’t mind roughing it.”
“I don’t mind.”
“So does this mean you wanna get married in Arizona?”
“I’d love to, but we’d need to check with your parents first.”