They rode in virtual silence, listening to the music and singing along. Five miles northeast of Shreveport, Jared stopped at a gas station and bought sandwiches. After a quick kiss, they flew down the road again, staying on the main highway another four or five miles. He slowed and turned down a grassy derelict road.
“Wow, this is off the beaten path.”
He chuckled. “If you think this is remote, wait ’til we get where we’re going.”
~ ~ ~
The blacktop ended at what looked like a cow trail. They followed it for at least another thirty minutes, twisting and weaving around trees and rocks. Sometimes they crossed over or through tiny streams as the road slowly narrowed to a path along the hillside. Sara looked down and gasped.
“Did I forget to tell you not to look down?” he softly chuckled.
“Oh, ha ha, he he.”
She shrieked when he revved the engine and went up an incline. He laughed. “Sara, I’m not gonna let anything happen to you. I could probably do this with my eyes shut.”
“Don’t!” she gasped. “If you don’t mind, I’d prefer you kept your eyes open.”
Jared laughed again; he was enjoying this. He didn’t seem at all bothered. He twisted through the trail as if it were a major interstate highway.
Sara squealed and gasped, at some of the sights.
“You might wanna close your eyes again.”
She looked at a rickety plank path, leading across what appeared to be a canyon to her. She squeezed Jared almost as tight as she’d squeezed her eyes. “Oh, my God!” He was right. She didn’t want to see how high they were. They climbed a steeper incline on the other side of the canyon. She kept her eyes tightly shut. “Don’t worry, angel. You’re not gonna fall.” He leaped over a narrow bank and bounced safely down on the other side.
Sara drew in a slow breath and waited for her stomach to catch up with them. He’d left it on the other side of the bank. He was getting a lot of pleasure from her reactions. He laughed again. “We’re almost there.” She swore they continued climbing at least another five minutes.
~ ~ ~
Much to her relief, Jared stopped and shut off the engine. He helped her off the bike. “You can open your eyes now.” He took off his helmet. “We’re here.” He unfastened her helmet, smiled and brushed the back of his fingers across her cheek.
Sara’s legs felt like wet noodles. Her stomach churned from the butterflies that had taken up permanent residence there. Not only from the ride, but because her stomach turned over every time he looked at her. She hesitated, testing her balance. “How did you know my eyes were closed?”
He smiled, cradled her chin in his palm and stared deeply into her eyes. “You tensed your muscles against my back,” he said and gently pressed his lips to hers.
She put her hands behind his neck, threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled him closer. What begun as an innocent kiss, quickly became something else. Jared covered her mouth and pressed the entire length of his body against hers, feeding her longing. She didn’t want it to end.
He stiffened, put his hands on her shoulders and held her a few inches from his body. He closed his eyes and took a slow, deep breath. He softly groaned. “Sara, do you have any idea, how much restraint I’m using right now? You’re dangerous! You’re too loveable and too kissable. I’ve never needed anyone like I need you. It’s as if I need you to breathe. You’re my air.”
He kissed her again. She felt as if her body would spontaneously combust. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t speak. All she could do was burn under his moist hot lips. Her body ached for his.
When they finally came up for air, Sara felt weak and dizzy. How could a kiss affect so many senses at once? She swayed. Jared grabbed her shoulders and steadied her. “Sara, are you OK?”
Her heart pounded. She drew in a calming breath and waited for her head to stop spinning. “I’m fine, but I need to sit down before I fall.”
He wrapped an arm around her waist and opened his saddlebag. He tucked a multicolored blanket under his arm and led her under a giant cypress tree. Holding one corner of the blanket, he flung it open and spread it over the ground. He took her hand, and they sat down. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her against his chest. “Better?”
Sara nodded. She inhaled deeply, filling her senses with his masculine smell, a mingling of his scent and cologne. She ran a hand over the raised designs on the blanket. They were soft but tickled her palm. She smiled. “This is beautiful. Is it…?”
Jared smiled. “It’s real,” he whispered through her hair. “Mother made it for my sixteenth birthday. I’ve got another one with a wolf baying at the moon. My grandmother made it for me the last Christmas she lived. She was always making me little gifts. My Navajo room is full of all kinds of beads. I’ve got more dreamcatchers than the sandman.” He sighed and pressed his lips to her temple. “She even laughs at my corny jokes.”
A burning question seared Sara’s mind. Would his family accept her or be as prejudiced as her mother? Kaye abhorred interracial marriage, especially those with Native Americans. “Jared, will your family like me?” He mulled it over. Sara misunderstood his hesitation. “They probably won’t,” her voice fell.
“They’re gonna love you, Sara, especially when they hear you sing. I’ll teach you some native songs so you can impress my granddad.”
“Does your entire family live in Arizona?”
“They do now. It used to be only my granddad, on my father’s side. We lived in El Dorado, Texas. My parents moved to Arizona when Granddad had a stroke. They’ve been back in Arizona, for about three or four years now.”
“How did you end up in Louisiana?”
Jared exhaled, apparently trying to avoid a painful subject.
Her breath caught. “Never mind, it’s none of my business. You don’t have to tell me. I don’t need to know your past,” she whispered, shocked at how brave she’d become around him.
He smiled. “It’s not that,” he said slowly, choosing his words wisely. “It’s just, well, complex, either that or incredibly stupid. I’m not sure which. Anyway,” he snorted. “At first, I was running away, but when I settled here and bought Wisteria Hall, I understood, I’d come for other reasons. While at a park in Phoenix, I met a girl from Australia named Eve, who was walking her dog,” he continued without prompting. “She and her family had lived in Phoenix for over a year. Her father was an investment banker. He was setting up a new branch in Scottsdale. The job was supposed to last another year, but in August, he found out they were sending him back to Sydney. I was heartbroken. I didn’t think I could live without Eve. I bit the bullet and prepared for the worst. If she left, I was gonna propose. I figured being married to her couldn’t be worse, than being without her.”
Jared paused briefly and frowned. “I honestly did try. I wined and dined her and popped the question. I told her if she didn’t wanna live in the United States, I’d go back to Australia with her.”
“How did she react?”
“Not as I’d expected her to,” he sighed. “Apparently she was in love with my body, but not me. She said she considered me a good friend, but she didn’t want a serious relationship.”
“Did you tell her, you were in love with her? I mean before you proposed?”
Jared kissed Sara’s neck. “I guess that was my first mistake.”
“But you were in love with her?” She closed her eyes and leaned her head to the side, surrendering to the sensations his lips created in her.
“Yeah,” he snorted. “I guess I was, in a way, but what I feel for you is different. It goes way beyond anything I’ve ever experienced.” He kissed the top of her head. Sara massaged the back of his neck and gently grazed her fingernails over his skin. Jared drew in a quick breath and closed his eyes. Her touch was trying his control again. He needed a distraction.
He cleared his throat. “To make a long story short, she went back, and I ran. I got on my bike, left Arizona, and headed back for El Dorado, home. When I got to our drive, instead of pulling in, I kept going. The next thing I knew, I was passing a Shreveport city limits sign. I got into a game of pool with Steve and Carl and started hanging out with them. When they found out I didn’t have anywhere to stay, they put me up at their place. After a while, Steve tried to fix me up with the girl across the street, your aunt, Lucy. I thought she was pretty and sweet, and all, but my heart was set on finding you.”
Sara arched an eyebrow. So they did have something going. Lucy lied. “Jared, up until about five years ago, I had spent every summer with Lucy. I don’t understand why our paths never crossed.”
He hesitated. “It does seem a little odd. Maybe it’s the master plan you were talking about. Regardless, we’re together now.” He paused again. “Are you sure I’m not boring you?”
“No, you’re not boring me!” she said sincerely. She wanted to know everything about him.
He took a breath. “Alright, but tell me if you get enough.”
“I will, just continue, please!”
Jared smiled. “About three years ago, Gary and I, a friend of mine from the hospital where I worked, got to talking. I told him I wanted to buy a house. He asked me how much I was willing to pay, and how soon I wanted to move in. I told him there was no rush. He said he knew about an old plantation on the other side of Cross Lake, called Wisteria Hall. Unfortunately, it turned out, the house was tied up in a long-term inheritance squabble. The old lady who lived there didn’t wanna sell, but she was in extremely bad health. Gary figured if I waited, perhaps until she passed, her son would put the house on the market - as is.”
“Why was he so eager to sell? People tend to hang on to their ancestral home.”
“He owned a house in Pensacola, and he didn’t like making trips back and forth to take care of the old house. Besides, he hated Louisiana – too humid, too many thunderstorms, and too many tornadoes. Gary and I drove out there one day. He warned me of the state it was in, and he wasn’t kidding. It was a disaster area. Anyone could see why her son didn’t wanna bother with repairing it. I almost backed out, but time was on my side.”
Jared chuckled. “Back then, I didn’t have a lotta cash or collateral for a loan. With no credit record, I couldn’t get a loan anyway. Gary said he’d co-sign for me, but with something in as bad a shape as Wisteria Hall was, I couldn’t let him sink in that deep.”
“What did you do?”
“What do you think I did?” he grinned. “I worked my ass off, and I waited. Sure enough, Gary was right. Several months later, on her birthday, the old woman suffered a massive coronary and died. As it turned out, Gary knew her. He told her son if he decided to sell, he wanted first dibs on the house. Donna Rigden, his cousin, had been treating the old woman for a chronic heart condition. Gary made a deal with her son, and I got the house for pocket change. I was glad because it cost me a fortune to renovate it. I drew up the plans and fashioned it from the house in my dreams. I hired construction crews and builders and....”
“Wait a minute!” Sara broke in. “You drew up the plans? From your dreams?” she prompted with cynicism.
“Yeah,” he chuckled. “The house plans had been in my head for a long time. Once the paperwork was outta the way, I drew up the blueprints.” Sara opened her mouth, but before she could speak, Jared continued, obviously inspired to share the whole story with her.
“I started sketching when I was ten. That’s one of the reasons I enjoyed visiting my grandparents. I used my pastels to sketch the landscapes. Mother has some of them. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d kept them all. She was always showing off my artwork.” Jared snorted.
“Anyway, getting back to the house, it took almost a year for the builders to finish the renovations. The pond was the worst. My crew drained it, cleaned it out, and refilled it. I researched water plants and insisted the aquatic specialists put back, mostly indigenous ones. I wanted everything to be as near to the house in my dreams as was possible. Some of them fought me on my unreasonable designs as they put it, but I stood my ground.”
“You should have. It was your house. You were the one paying their salaries. I’m sorry. I’ve interrupted you again. Please, go on.”
He smiled and touched the tip of her nose with his index finger. “Are you sure I’m not boring you?”
“You’re not boring me. I wanna know. Was it honestly that bad?”
“Oh yes, it was, believe me. It looked as if the old woman had used it for a garbage dump. The rose garden had been overtaken by briars, thistles and bull nettles. You couldn’t tell it had ever been a rose garden or any kind of garden, for that fact.”
“How long have you lived in Shreveport?”
“Almost seven years now. When I saw you across the street, I realized I was reliving my dreams. You brought it all back. Everything in my life has led me in one direction, here, to you.”
Sara smiled. “Then I’m glad I came. My mother tried everything to talk me outta moving. I couldn’t stand being in that little hick town. I wanted more out of life. I wanted to work on my music, barring my terminal stage fright. I wanted to be someone, you know, make a difference in someone’s life.”
Jared studied her eyes. “You’ve already accomplished your goals.”
“How so?” she frowned.
“You said you wanted to make a difference in someone’s life. You’ve done that. By being with me, you’ve changed my life. Two days ago, I was lost and lonely, searching for something, I didn’t know what, and I didn’t know where to find it… ’til now.”
Jared smiled and made Sara’s heart flutter. He stood, and took her hand. “There’s one more thing I want you to see, but we’ll have to go on foot from here.” He led her further up the side of the hill.
“Oh, please, no more climbing! I hate climbing. I have a horrible fear of falling.”
“Don’t worry,” he smiled. “I won’t let you fall. It’s not far, a little ways up the hillside. I can’t get the bike up there. I really want you to see this.” He waited.
He’s not being fair. He knows all the right buttons to push. All the right smiles to smile. All the right places to touch and kiss me. He knows my strengths and my weaknesses. This seems important to him. How can I possibly say no? “OK, but you’ll have to lead me. I’m gonna keep my eyes shut.”
“No! Don’t do that. You might lose your footing. My life would end if anything happened to you.”
Sara sighed and groaned. “You’re the most persistent person I’ve ever come across. Let’s go.”
Jared smiled and pulled her over a craggy path, up the hillside. “Now stand still. I’m gonna put my hands over your eyes, and don’t look until I tell you. Step up just a little - there. Now, imagine the most beautiful sight you’ve ever seen, and tell me, if what you’re about to see, compares.” He moved his hands.
Sara looked across the immense country scene. They were far above the treetops. A stream, so far below them, snaked like a glossy blue ribbon. It looked nothing like the river they’d crossed earlier. The sun was beginning to set. Misty white clouds were sprayed across the hazy cerulean sky as though they’d been airbrushed into place.
He put his hands tightly on her waist. “Now, I’m gonna hold you, and I want you to lean over the edge and look directly below you.”
“What? No Jared! I can’t!”
“Please,” he cooed in her ear. “Trust me, I won’t let go of you. You’re not gonna fall. Just close your eyes and trust me. Don’t open them until I tell you.”
Her heart jumped to her throat. Her mouth was as dry as the stone beneath her feet. She swallowed the lump in her throat and took a slow breath. In that split-second, countless ways she could fall went through her head. She imagined it! She could see it. She could feel it. “Jared, if I fall, I swear I’ll come back and torment you every single day of your life!”
She took another slow breath and closed her eyes. She felt him leaning her body towards the edge. The breeze whipped in all directions. Her green satin ribbon was jerked from her hair. She snatched at it, but it was gone. The wind had carried it over the cliff. Hopelessly she watched it, twirling and floating down like a feather. She frowned and shut her eyes again. He put his mouth close to her ear. “We’ll buy you another one,” he whispered through her hair. “Now, open your eyes.”
Sara swallowed the bile creeping up the back of her throat. She felt dizzy, nauseated, about ready to hyperventilate. She realized how vulnerable she was. At that moment, Jared was in complete control of her life. If he chose to, he could easily end it. No one would ever know. Whatever was left of her broken and battered body probably would never be found, yet her fears faded, when she felt his warm breath tickle her ear.
“Open your eyes,” he whispered again.