by Carol James
“Maybe in a minute, but not right now.”
Katherine knelt on the loveseat, scooted next to him, and carefully began to rub the back of his neck. No wonder he had a headache. He was unbelievably tense. As he leaned forward, she continued to knead the knotted muscles. After a couple of minutes when the tension had disappeared, she slowly walked her fingertips up to the top of his head, rubbed his scalp, massaged his temples, and then ran her fingers through the short, blond silk.
“That’s nice. Thanks.” Sam smiled as he sat back up.
Yes, it was. “I’m glad you liked it. My dad used to rub my head like that when I’d had a rough day at school.” She sat down, leaned back into the loveseat, and soaked in the sight of the man she loved. Her mind shifted into “then and now” mode. The bald, short stranger who had taken her out for Mexican food weeks ago had transformed into a just-the-perfect-height man with a head of golden hair. And, unlike Mr. Plastic, he didn’t care if she touched it. “Better?”
“Yeah. The headache’s almost gone. Standing on the sidelines watching, knowing you can’t get out there and do anything, is much more stressful than being on the field. Who knew?” He shrugged his shoulders and grinned at her.
“Are you surprised Cassie’s team made it this far?” She would have never predicted they’d win all their games in the tournament and be slated to play in the finals against last year’s champions. Sam’s advice had transformed the team.
“I knew they had the potential if everything fell into place. They’re playing really well today, but at lunch I could tell they were nervous about the final game. I’m glad Brad took them to a movie. It’ll distract them and give them a chance to get out of the heat and relax before the final game.”
As long as each girl played her personal best, the outcome of the championship was unimportant, at least to Katherine and the coaches, if Brad’s postgame talk was evidence. The girls, however, felt differently. They were on fire.
And the tight muscles in Sam’s neck had been confirmation the tournament was more important to him than his words let on.
A pure, clear male voice broke through the soft roar of the cascading water from the fountain and the bustle of the Saturday shoppers. A young man holding a rose stood on the edge of the fountain wall. He was singing that country song about being amazed by a woman. Leaning over the balcony above the fountain, a young woman, also holding a rose, added harmonies and transformed the solo into a duet.
Sam grinned and grasped her hand. “Lovely.”
“What do you think it is? An ad for an upcoming musical?”
“Whatever, it’s really cool.”
A mall security guard materialized at the end of their loveseat. He should know what was going on. “Excuse me sir, do you know what this is about?”
He smiled and shrugged his shoulders. Then he held up a rose, stepped forward, and made the duet a trio. Suddenly people all around them began to join in.
“Sam, it’s a flash mob! Let’s go watch.”
Katherine stood and pulled Sam to his feet. The noise of uninterested, disconnected shoppers dissolved as they too paused and became one in the moment.
Joining the chorus, people holding roses popped up all around the food court and overhead on the second floor. They began to move toward a young brunette eating pizza with a girlfriend at one of the tables nearby. She looked as confused as Katherine had felt a few seconds ago as participants danced up to her, handed her their flowers, and then danced away.
As the singers began the final chorus, the glass doors from outside into the food court drew apart, and a young man on a Segway zipped through the opening. He wore a white cape and a plastic crown and held a plastic sword above his head—today’s version of a knight in shining armor. “Oh, Sam. It’s a proposal.” Butterflies filled her stomach.
Sam raised her hand to his lips, kissed it, and then encircled her with his arms. Memories of her parents’ reactions when they’d snuggled together watching a romantic movie or attended a wedding filled her mind.
Mankind possessed the universal desire to love and be loved by another. And in watching others walk along the path to love, a small portion of that craving was satisfied.
If a person had found The One, as her parents had, their love for each another was rekindled. If someone was still waiting, the hope in the heart was affirmed.
She melted into the man she loved, The One she wanted to become Her One.
Cheers and applause rose from the crowd as the knight stopped by the table, now piled high with roses, and dismounted from his two-wheeled stallion. As he reached into his pocket, produced what could only be a ring box, and dropped down onto one knee, Katherine’s heart pounded wildly in her chest.
The knight spoke words they could not hear and held out the box. Silence filled the food court and surrounding area of the mall as the crowd held its breath in anticipation.
The young woman sat in stony silence.
Katherine’s heart pounded even harder. She recognized the look on the woman’s face because she’d felt the emotions before. Fear. Embarrassment. A desire to be anywhere except here.
The crowd erupted into shouts of “Yes, yes, yes,” and as the knight offered the box again, cheering and whistling accompanied the manic chanting.
The trapped young woman stood, looked right and left for some path of escape, and then raced away toward the restrooms, to a place where the knight could not follow her.
A deathly silence blanketed the food court.
Katherine wanted to race after her, to pull her into a comforting embrace, and tell her everything would be OK. But she couldn’t. They were strangers. And then what about the shattered hopes of the young man?
Recorded instrumental music combined with the white noise of shoppers suddenly filled the empty silence of the mall as life returned to normal. But not for the young couple. The lady was sequestered in a fortress of cinderblock and granite, and the kneeling knight had been defeated in his quest. He wouldn’t ride away with his lady today. If ever.
~*~
“Losing in a shootout. You can’t get much closer than that.” Katherine reached over and patted Sam’s knee as he pulled out onto the highway to begin the long drive back home.
“A shootout’s a lousy way to lose—or win, for that matter. They played spectacularly for ninety minutes but just couldn’t get the ball into the goal. Some days are like that. You’re doing everything right, but it’s just not working. To lose one to zip in a shootout is painful and in no way reflects what actually went on in the game. I really feel for the girls. They were great. Especially Cassie. We’ll get ’em next season.” He grinned and squeezed her hand.
Next season...if only that were true. By next season he’d be back in London—actually, long before then. She didn’t know exactly when, but it had to be in a very few weeks. She couldn’t think about that now, though. She had absolutely no control over this situation. No notebook, no list, no amount of planning would have any effect on the wishes and demands of his employer. He was under contract, so right now his life, his future, was not really his.
“Whoa!”
Her attention jerked back to the road in front of them. “What? What is it?”
“See that old highway over there paralleling the interstate? I remember that from when I was a kid playing in soccer tournaments and going back and forth between Amarillo and Crescent Bluff.”
“I see.” It was just an old highway.
“No, I don’t think you really do.” He downshifted as they approached an exit ramp and he steered the car off the interstate over to the old highway. “This is the first place my Dad ever let me drive. The road is straight, you can see forever, and it’s completely deserted. Perfect.”
“Perfect for what? You’re not making me drive again, are you?” She’d only had that one lesson and wasn’t really in the mood to have an encounter with a policeman tonight.
“Only if you want. But I had something else in mind.” As he
stopped the car and looked over at her, his eyes sparkled like a little boy’s on Christmas morning. “Ever since I got this car, I’ve wanted to see what she could do, and this is the perfect place.”
“You mean how fast the car can go?” He must be kidding. She could see the numbers on the speedometer. “I don’t think so.”
“Come on, Katy Beth. It’ll be fun. Besides, look at how straight the road is. You can see for miles.” His eyes pleaded with her to agree. “I’m a good driver.”
“I’m not doubting your driving skills, but accidents happen—even to the best drivers. And all it takes is one little jerk or a millisecond of distraction for things to go bad.”
He stared straight out the windshield toward the pinprick on the horizon where the old highway disappeared into nothingness.
Her stomach rolled. She knew him. He’d come back alone. “Please Sam, I don’t want you to come back out here.” Her voice shook. “I’ve lost one person I loved in a car accident, and I can’t lose another. Promise me you won’t come back. Please.”
When he turned toward her, she expected to see frustration or impatience, but his eyes were gentle. He reached over and brushed the back of his hand against her cheek. His words were soft. “I promise.”
He leaned over, gently kissed her on the cheek, and then drove the car back toward the interstate. “But love, I’ve never been afraid of death. There’s worse things than dying. Having this one life and not living it fully—reaching the end and looking back in regret wishing I’d accomplished more or done things differently—that’s what scares me. A life wasted, spent on the wrong things, would be so much worse than death.”
21
Katherine slipped into the sandals she’d worn on their first date. Sam had mentioned how much he liked the dress she’d worn then and asked if she’d wear it again tonight. Most guys didn’t even seem to notice stuff like that. She could have probably worn the same dress on every date with her exes, and they wouldn’t have noticed.
Except for Clark. He was the exception. When it came to clothes, he was more like a woman than a man. He even noticed something as simple as her earrings. How she looked was important to him because the wardrobe of the woman he dated was as much a reflection of his image as the clothes he wore.
Sam had never made her feel like an accessory or as if she’d been inappropriately dressed. But for some reason, he remembered this dress and that was cause enough for her to happily agree to wear it.
The rumbling of a car engine vibrated through the windows into her bedroom. Slipping out of sight behind the curtains, Katherine peaked through the sheers to get a candid view of the man she loved. The car door opened and out stepped The One she hoped to spend the rest of her life with.
He wore jeans and the same shirt he’d worn the night of their blind date. Any disappointment she’d felt those weeks ago had long since been erased. He was the most attractive man she’d ever known. She’d never thanked Dad for setting them up on that first date, but that was something she’d remedy tonight.
Tonight, Sam looked much taller than he had then. After he reached up and patted down the blond hair that had been ruffled by the ever-blowing Texas wind, he dropped his arms to his side, shook them, and then blew out. She’d seen him do that before on the sidelines at Cassie’s games and then right before Juanita had asked them to demonstrate their fledgling dance skills that night at the Cattlemen’s Hotel. Come to think of it, he’d made the very same gesture after he’d first stepped out of his car the night of their blind date.
She now knew what it meant. She smiled so widely her cheeks hurt. He was nervous, and he was unbelievably cute being such.
Tonight, there would be no stalling by counting to twenty while someone else answered the door. She grabbed her purse and ran down the hall toward the family room.
Dad muted the TV and smiled. “From the sounds of it, I believe James Bond has arrived.”
Her face warmed as butterflies swarmed inside her. She was nervous, too. “Yes, he has.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Daddy. Thanks so much.”
He smiled as he grasped her hand. “He’s a fine young man, Baby Girl. I’m happy for you.”
~*~
An unfamiliar feeling hammered in Sam’s chest. Sure, there were times he was nervous, but not much, if anything, really scared him. Yet fear was the only name he could give the emotion that was shaking his whole body. As he reached to press the doorbell, he took a deep breath. He was entering new territory—completely uncharted, completely unknown. In a few hours, his life would change forever.
The door swept open, and there she stood—the woman he’d loved for as long as he could remember. Her face was rosy, her eyes sparkling with anticipation, though she could have no idea what lay ahead tonight. Her voice was hushed. “Hi, Sam.” Her smile only intensified the pounding in his chest.
He fought to find enough breath to answer. “Hi, love. You look utterly gorgeous.”
Her smile radiated joy. “Thanks. So do you.”
Her words made him laugh, and the laughter dispelled his fear. He needed to relax. After all, she did love him. She had told him that. “You’re the only woman who’s ever called me beautiful and now gorgeous.”
“Good. I want to be special.”
He placed his arm around her and drew her close. She smelled pure, like sweet spring rain. As his lips touched her ear, his whisper raised goosebumps on her arm, and she giggled. “Mission accomplished, Katy Beth.”
~*~
The ride in the car went by more quickly than Sam anticipated. Thank goodness, she was chatty tonight. He was in no mood to make small talk, and if they’d ridden in silence she would have known something was up. She seemed content with his few words of agreement or his quick answers to her questions designed to keep her talking.
He turned off the road and drove his car toward the edge of the small cliff overlooking the riverbed and cave where they’d shared their first kiss.
Her narrative stopped mid-sentence as she looked around. “Oh, Sam, I’m so glad this is where we’re having our date. When you asked me to wear this dress and then you showed up in the same shirt you wore on our first date, I just assumed we were going to The Cantina. And as much as I love their food, I really wanted to be alone tonight—just the two of us.”
He’d wondered if she’d remember the shirt, but he should have known she would. “I’m glad.” He cut the engine and then walked around the car to help her out, a gesture that would have made Mom and Dad proud.
Hand in hand, they made their way down the path to the river. The sun would set and twilight would fall in about thirty minutes, providing him with plenty of time for what he had planned. The riverbed was already in shadows.
Farther ahead, a warm glow radiated from their cave.
She stopped when she noticed it. “Sam!” A smile covered her face as she dropped his hand and hurried toward the golden pool.
He stepped into the cave right behind her.
“Oh, Sam. It’s beautiful.”
He had to admit, it did look pretty darn good. The battery-operated candles scattered around the cave softened the deep colors of the Mexican blankets and pillows he had borrowed from Ginny and warmed the cool gray of the stone floors. The vase filled with pink tulips he’d had flown in from Michigan sat atop the cooler that contained the fajitas from The Cantina.
His love turned toward him and pulled him close. She placed her hands around his neck and drew his face to hers. As their foreheads touched, she whispered, “It’s perfect. I love you, Sam Tucker.”
His body welcomed hers as if they’d been created for one another. No other woman had ever felt this right. “I’m so glad.” They stood in silence for a while, enjoying a measure of oneness that could go no further. He barely relaxed his arms and whispered against her ear. “Hungry?”
She drew away and looked dreamily into his eyes. “Starving.”
A year ago, he would have taken that comment as
an invitation to something other than dinner and happily obliged. But not anymore—not since he’d vowed to find her and win her heart. And certainly not from her.
He led her to one of the pillows, set the tulips aside, and then removed the two plates from the cooler. “Tonight’s menu includes a choice of fajitas or fajitas. Which would be your preference?”
“Hmmm. It’s hard to decide. They’re both so good, but I believe I’ll have the fajitas. No, wait, I’ve changed my mind. I’ll take the other fajitas instead.” She giggled and reached for the plate in his left hand.
“Fajitas, it is.”
He placed his plate on the cave floor, pulled his phone out of his pocket, and set it on a country station. “A little mood music.”
They ate in comfortable silence for the next few seconds. He forced down a few bites until his rolling stomach rebelled. His nerves and the Mexican food were not a good combination at the moment. Maybe he’d feel like eating more later.
“I’ve made a decision.” She set her plate aside. “I’m going with you.”
What? “Pardon?”
“To London. I’m going with you when you go back.”
“Katy Beth...”
Her words tumbled out. “Now, don’t try to talk me out of it. I have it all worked out. One of my roommates from college works at the US Embassy in London, and she’s invited me to come visit her numerous times. I always wanted to go but couldn’t get the time off. So now I have the time off, and she said I could come and stay as long as I want. I’ve got a little money saved up, so I think it would be a wonderful time for me to explore the British Isles. Oh, and by the way, she’s a big fan of yours.”
Her gaze dared him to try to change her mind, but he wouldn’t think of doing so. He’d hoped she’d agree to come with him. He’d just had a different idea about who she’d be living with, but they could discuss that later. He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you. You’ve just made me a very happy man.”
