Kalinda inhaled deeply as her eyes took in the rich fabrics, deep plush rugs, and walls covered in family history at The Darton Inn.
Vision.
Dreams.
Focus.
Legacy.
All of the things she would build with Paul Darton.
"Lead on, hubby," she said, gripping his hand more tightly.
The staff behind the desk perked up as Paul and Kalinda walked in. "Good afternoon, Mr. Darton, your rooms are ready. We also have everything nearly prepared for the ceremony in the morning and Jacques is prepping your evening meal," said Katrina, the concierge.
"Thank you, Katrina," Paul said, taking the room keys. He looked at Kalinda. "Would you care for a soak before dinner?"
"A soak?"
"Yes, I can have Katrina draw you a bath for a lavender soak to take away some of the tension and calm the nerves," he said.
"That would be lovely," Kalinda responded to him.
Paul nodded to the concierge.
The ride up in the elevator was tense. Her fingers were still interlocked with his. Silently, they walked to her room. Paul opened the door and placed the room key in her hand.
"I swear if I don't kiss you soon, I am going to lose my damned mind," Paul said to her.
"Well, we can't have that, can we?"
Paul released her hand, moving close enough for his shirt buttons to graze her chest, but not close enough for their bodies to connect. He lowered his head, the perfect set of lips connecting to her own, setting off an entire armada of fireworks between them. Kalinda's hand gripped the fabric of his shirt while she leaned into him, tasting his mouth. His tongue snaked out, pressing between her lips seeking an opportunity to mate with her own. A loud groan escaped from the back of his throat as he hungrily kissed her, wanting more, needing more, yet forcing himself to step back.
"Damn," they both said in unison.
“Mhmmhmmm," they both said with pressed lips.
Paul lowered his hands, covering the front of his pants, trying to shield his reaction to kissing her. Kalinda hands went to her breasts, pressing down the nipples that were crying for his attention. He noticed the flush of her face. A large hand cupped her cheek, the thumb massaging the soft skin.
"Wedding night," he said.
"Wedding night," she reiterated.
Paul burst out in a gut busting laugh as he released her and walked away. His tight backside perfect in the snuggly fitting jeans which should have been outlawed in three states for inciting a woman’s delicate sensibilities. Over his shoulder, he cast back the words, "This is going to be so damned good, Kalinda Darton!"
"I think you might be right," she said as stepped into her room. The subtle scent of lavender greeted her from the bathroom. She popped her head back out the doorway, trying to catch him before the got on the elevator. "Paul, what time and where do I met you for dinner?"
"See you in an hour, downstairs," he said.
"Dress code?"
"Prepare for our first date...tease my senses with everything I can't have until our wedding night Kalinda," he said to her.
"I have one of those dresses," she said with a smile.
"I just bet you do," he said, not looking back.
Chapter 5
T he warm waters covered her body, enveloping the tension-ridden muscles in lavender scented hope. Before undressing and getting into the tub, she searched the room for hidden doors, looking for the spot where Katrina had entered the room to run the bath water. The Darton Inn & Suites was an old hotel that had been in the Darton family for nearly two hundred years. The brochure on the desk in the room said as much. It also read that the original structure of the inn had remained intact with back passages for the servants to come and go without disturbing the exclusive guests and political officials who frequented the posh establishment.
Thirty-minutes, wrinkled toes and fingers ready, she dressed in a little black dress that draped right below her knees. It was truly one of her favorite dresses. The dress flattered her small waistline and generous hips, while accenting her small bust. Her hair had resigned on the concept of being upbeat, leaving little choice but to pin it up with a few strands hanging at the nape of her neck and soft tendrils at her temples. She checked the diamond-encrusted watch for the time – ten minutes left. A strand of pearls clasped around her neck completed the outfit along with a small evening clutch. At first, she didn't know why she packed the black dress, but she also packed a red one, a gold one, a wedding dress, and a blue one that made her feel powerful. Wilderness or not, Kalinda Marsh was always prepared whatever the occasion.
She arrived in the lobby with five minutes to spare to find Paul standing with a Hassidic man, clutching a box under his arm. He looked up, watching her walk towards them, his sharp eyes taking in everything. The dress was not what he expected her to put on, which provoked him to the point of seriously wanting to rip it off of her body to see what she was hiding underneath the soft black fabric. The dress wasn't too tight, vulgar or clinging to her slim form, but enough to drive his imagination off a cliff.
"You look wonderful," Paul managed to get out from the cotton mouth that had been plaguing him since she arrived. "This is Horam Levitz."
"Thank you, Paul," she said to his compliment. A nod of her head was given to the man, "A pleasure to make your acquaintance Mr. Levitz."
"This way, Kalinda," Paul said, taking her by the elbow, guiding her to a small room. The faint scent of lavender clung to her skin making him want to sniff her like an overzealous dog in heat. Get a grip, Paul .
"Your left hand, please," Mr. Levitz said to her. Kalinda extended her left hand as the man pulled out a circle of silver rings that he used to size her finger. "We are at a size seven. Is this a comfortable fit?"
Kalinda moved the silver circle back and forth on her hand. "Yes, it is," she said watching the man.
The box under his arm was laid on the table. The anticipation of him opening the lock encoded case forced her to swallow hard twice. The case opened to three rows of sparkling magic. Diamonds, rubies, sapphires all in two perfect rows. In the center row were diamond bands for both men and women. For some odd reason, the first item she touched was a man's band in white gold with one single diamond in the middle.
"This one for my husband," she said.
"Excellent choice," Mr. Levitz said. The ring he lifted taking Paul's hand, slipping the ring on, making notes in a small pad. "I will have it ready in the morning for you, Mr. Darton."
Kalinda's eyes were still on the contents of the box. She selected the matching two stone band for herself. "This one will be my wedding band," she said to Paul.
He watched her closely when he spoke. "Kalinda, you need to select your engagement ring, however brief it may be."
"Brief but beautiful," she said to him. She pointed to a simple solitaire that may have only been half a karat that was the perfect accompaniment to the band.
"Are you certain? You can have anything in the box you want. If you want something different, you can describe it. If Mr. Levitz doesn't have the ring you want, he can make it for you," Paul said.
A gentle hand touched his sleeve. "Paul, the beauty in life is taking what you have, allowing it to fit, and then creating the story around it. These simple, yet elegant choices are the right ones to start. In maybe five or ten years, we can upgrade it to something else," Kalinda said.
"Fair enough," he said, watching her with astonishment. Something fluttered in his stomach as he observed the jeweler adjusting the ring, then handing it to him. To his surprise, his hand shook a bit as he slipped it on her finger. Kalinda Marsh was surprising him more and more each moment. He thought briefly of the last two women in his life who would have selected the largest diamonds on the container. The ring she selected for him was the one he'd also picked out for himself.
"Thank you, Mr. Levitz, for your time and the beautiful selections," she said to the jeweler.
"You will make him a good mate," Mr
. Levitz said to her.
"I have every intention of doing so," she responded to the man.
Katrina had come to the door as Mr. Levitz sealed up his case of sparkling beauties. "Mr. Darton, your dinner is ready to be served."
An intimate dining space with a table set for two was where Paul led Kalinda to take the evening meal. The waiter, a tight-faced man who looked as if he had sucked two lemons followed by a shot of Jägermeister greeted them with a scowl.
"Paul, I cook for you!"
"Thank you, Hans," he said.
The meal that came out to the table, Kalinda wanted to send back and tell Hans to try it again. The potatoes looked raw, the chicken bland, and the peas appeared mushy. Her plate wasn't much better.
"This is interesting," she said.
"It's just fuel," he told her. "I gave up on enjoying eating when I was a child. I eat because I have to, not for the pleasure of sitting and relishing the taste of something."
"May I ask why?"
"I have Celiac Disease. I can't have gluten, most wheats coagulate in my colon, and other foods I can't digest," he said as cut into the chicken. "That is why I requested in my requirements a good cook. Just because I don't enjoy eating doesn't mean my taste buds are completely burned off."
"Is there a list of foods you can and can't eat?"
"Yeah, anything that tastes good basically, I can't eat. Gluten free bread tastes like something a nun made as penance for impure thoughts when she was a teenager. A sandwich, which is one of man's favorite foods, is an anticlimactic experience for me. So I find pleasures in other things," he said.
Her eyebrows were up as she took a bite of what was possibly the worst tasting chicken she'd ever eaten in her life.
"Paul, I look forward to changing your life in many ways," she said with a smile. "Starting with a decent meal." She pushed her plate away. This was one meal she could skip without a second thought.
"Kalinda, will you take a walk with me after dinner?"
"Sure, I am pretty much done here. I can't force myself to eat any more of this. I'm sorry, I don't mean to be wasteful, but this is simply unpalatable," she said with a frown.
"It's okay," he said standing slowly. "I wanted you to eat it so you would understand part of the world in which I survive. Tomorrow you will meet my family, a group of sharks who lurk in the shallow end of the pool waiting to feast."
"That is an odd way to describe your family," she said to him. "Are they really that bad?"
"Yes. My father is an ass, my brother is a replica of a brown pucker hole, and my mother is more focused on...hell, I don't know what motivates her to get up each morning and face the world. I gave up trying to figure that one out, but they are my family. I am stuck with them, but I don't have to be like them. I don't plan to be anything like them either," he said to her.
"Our life will be different, hard, easy, and complicated all in one, but at the end of the journey, we will leave something to this world and make a difference," he told her as they entered into her rooms.
They stood outside on a balcony that overlooked downtown Portland. "The Dartons built most of this city, by crook or by hook. It is crowded, congested, and full of empty people who believe this is normal. It is not normal to me. I crave wide open spaces where I can breathe," he said.
"I can see why you hate it," she said softly, standing closer to him.
He looked down at her, holding out his fisted hand. "To a new life, Kalinda Marsh," he said.
"A new life," she responded, meeting his balled-up fist with a bump. "I am eager to see what the day brings."
"And I am eager to kiss you again," Paul said to her.
Kalinda turned to face him, her arms going up around his neck, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. "I refuse to kiss anyone with the taste of that chicken still lingering on my tongue like an archvillain waiting to jump out a kill someone. That was horrible. I need to go and wash out my mouth," she said with a frown.
Paul gave into laughter which he was struggling to hold back since she’d seen the blanched chicken on her plate. "Fair enough," he said, walking her back to her room. "I will see you in the morning for our nuptials at 9:00 am."
He raised her left hand to his lips. "Good night, Kalinda," he said to her.
"Good night, Paul," she said. Her stomach rumbled like a Hemi as she closed the door. She found the phone to call room service.
"Can you please send up a cheeseburger and order of fries," she said to the person at the room service desk.
Undressing and putting on a loose fitted pair of pajamas, she opened her laptop to search 'celiac disease' to find out about gluten, allergies, and tons of foods that her new hubby was unable to eat. She also made a list of all the things he could eat. Her last search, before biting into the juiciest hamburger she'd eaten in a very long time, was for an Oregonian organic food distributor.
“I’m going to change your life Paul Darton,” she said with a genuine smile. It almost felt foreign to her facial muscles. The muscles were going to have to get used to it. Paul was going to bring days and nights of many smiles.
Chapter 6
T he time difference from East to West coast was a new reality for Kalinda as she rose at six am her time, but was the only soul stirring. She watched the clock closely waiting for 7:30 in Georgia time to call her Mama. It was her wedding day. My mama should be here for my wedding. I am getting married and the only person I will know at my wedding is the man I am marrying.
Hell, I barely know him.
Marrying Paul Darton wasn't the issue. The issue was that she was completely across country, moving to a wilderness, where she would only see a few people every blue moon. It wasn't as if she were the most social creature on the planet, but she needed to be around people.
My people.
People who support me.
People who love me .
The support had been lacking during the last few months as the world turned on her, coming at her with a vengeance, attacking her and everything she said she believed in. The anger in her had subsided a bit over the last two weeks as she boxed up her old ideals of what happiness should look like. In the mirror an image stared back at her of a woman with a glow. Everything will be just fine. She worked slowly on her hair, covering up the spots where it had fallen out in patches from the stress of the ordeal. The dead animals on her front porch had been a bit much, until some man broke into her home, pleasured himself in her bed and left the pile of DNA on her pillow. The death threats weren't any fun either, but it is what could happen when you live a lie.
'Girl Please' was a wonderful website, blog, and source of information for the modern woman. In addition to her daily posts of living a wonderful life with a man obsessed with tennis shoes, the blog had great information. Celebrity interviews were posted with actual celebrities Kalinda had met and spent time getting to know. The site had been hacked when the video was released of her talking about how easily people were led by the nose. In a rare moment when she let her guard down to allow someone else in, to speak her actual mind, she was betrayed by a person she thought was a friend.
In the last month of daily phone calls with Paul, she had spoken freely and honestly without any concern for backlash or ramifications. I am marrying him because he feels good. I am going to be happy because I deserve it. I deserve a good life that I am going to build with Paul.
In the larger of the two suitcases held a simple Vera Wang gown that she steam ironed herself. It now hung on the back of the door. The matching shoes, in a mid-level heel, she removed from the case and cleaned off. A hot shower followed, then the start of her makeup. That portion was going to take some extra time to cover the blemishes from the stress.
The sound of her cell phone ringing jolted her as she searched about the room to locate where she had placed it to charge.
"Hello," she said as she held the phone to her cheek.
"Good morning, Baby," Annie said in the line. "I wish I could be there today, but I
did send something special for your wedding."
Tears welled in Kalinda’s eyes as she tried to hold them back. The base coat of her makeup had just been applied and she didn't want to start over. The sound of her mama's voice was making her unravel.
"Are you sure you want to go through with this, Mary Jane?" Annie asked.
"I'm sure, Mama. You’re really going to like Paul," she told her mother. "In person he is even more amazing than the impression he gave me on the phone in our conversations."
"Yeah, but to marry a man after only a few months is scary, Mary Jane," Annie said. "I am scared for you, child."
"This is an old family—kind of like the Lancasters, Mama. A rich old Oregon history. I think their family came out with Lewis and Clarke," she said with pride.
"I don't care if his family came out with Jesus. You aren't going to be living in the wilderness with his family, just him. What if he wants to get amorous and you aren't in the mood? What if he is up in a cabin beating your ass, and no one can hear you like the saying about the tree falling in the forest?"
"Mama, he has promised to never raise his hand or his voice to me," Kalinda said.
"Yes, and I promised to give up sweets when I got diabetes," Annie said, licking the donut icing from her fingertips.
"Mama...," Kalinda said.
"I know. I know. I know also that this is a good ass donut but you are my only child. I just don't want any harm to come to you. I don't know what I would do, Mary Jane," Annie sniffled in the line.
"I will be fine, Mama. I will call you every week. I will send photos to your phone. You will be in constant contact with me," she told her.
"Okay," Annie acquiesced.
The conversation lapsed into tidbits of gossip about the residents in her senior community. It then flowed to changes in her health and lastly to a fifteen-minute conversation about her bowels. "You know I found out that Clara Myles has a gluten sensitivity. They said she has some kind a disease. They went inside of her colon and dug out craters of old food that been eating away at her intestinal lining like little maggots on a poo pile," Annie said. "I always told Clara she was full of shit, and now I have the proof."
Oregon Trails Page 4
