Like The Wind

by Bengtsson, J.

  “Bodhi…”

  My head fell back, teeth sinking into my bottom lip to keep from screaming.

  Meeting his heavy-lidded gaze, I watched his face contort, a warm glow spreading through me. I was doing this to him. Me.

  The world shimmered around the edges as he picked up the pace.

  “Breeze… Jesus… I’m gonna…”

  He came before the thought fully tripped from his lips. As the spasms rolled through him, his fingers found their way to my center. And then I was there, chasing him over the cliff and racing him to the bottom.

  When the storm passed, and there were no sounds but our ragged breath, I collapsed against his chest.

  “Oh my god,” I whimpered.

  He stayed silent, just held me tight as his lips found that spot on my neck that he liked to nuzzle. But even without words, I knew how he felt. I sensed it in his touch. His kiss. This wasn’t just nothing between us. It couldn’t be because nothing had ever felt so right.

  Bodhi gently pressed a kiss to my tender forehead.

  “I was only kidding about your extra appendage,” he said huskily. “You’re beautiful. I hope you know that.”

  My lips found his. Warm. Inviting.

  This was what I’d been looking for all along. I nestled into his comforting embrace, not realizing how much I’d been holding onto until the burden was lifted from my shoulders. All the stress of cancelled nuptials, of uprooting my life and starting over from scratch. It had all been worth it for this singular moment. This tiny smudge in time.

  An oversized tongue caught us unaware, coating our flesh in a giant helping of slobbery affection.

  “Hercules,” Bodhi complained. “Way to ruin the moment.”

  As Bodhi’s strong hands settled me at his side, a curious little head poked its way out from between the pillows. Sweetpea. Had the little voyeur been watching us the whole time? Apparently, Herc wasn’t the only perv of the animal kingdom.

  * * *

  While Bodhi was in the bathroom, I took the dogs out to do their business, careful to keep the furry beasts as well hidden as possible.

  From my brief time outside, it was clear the fire was still raging. The air was thick with smoke and, although I couldn’t see flames through the haze, that didn’t mean the blaze wasn’t headed in our direction.

  Sinking onto the couch, I hastily flipped through the stations to find coverage on the fire. I gasped as video footage of house after house burned to the ground flashed on the screen. The fact that I’d been inside of that firestorm was almost incomprehensible. I could still feel the heat on my skin and taste the soot on my tongue. My lungs constricted from imaginary smoke.

  Fearing another panic attack, I breathed deliberately into my hands, my eyes glued to the coverage. A map of the burn zone brought some relief since it appeared the fire was travelling north and away from us, but fires, spurred by the heavy winds, sprung up all over Southern California. Our little ocean community was surrounded from all sides. If the winds changed direction…

  My thought trailed off when the coverage shifted to a reporter close to the scene.

  “We’ve been told by officials there are upwards of forty people still unaccounted for. As reported earlier, singer Bodhi Beckett from the popular boy band, AnyDayNow, is still listed among the missing. He was said to have been staying in one of the homes affected by the fires and his whereabouts are unknown at this time. We will, of course, update you as new information becomes available.”

  My head spinning from the unexpected information, I paused the report.

  What. The. Actual. Fuck, Margaret?

  How was Bodhi still considered missing if he called his father?

  Unless…

  “Bodhi!” My voice rose when he didn’t answer. “Bodhi!”

  Emerging from the bathroom, he looked at me curiously as he towel dried his unruly hair. “What the hell? Can you scream any louder? I don’t think they heard you in Hawaii.”

  I motioned to the tv. “You need to see this.”

  Once he was at my side, I pushed play so he could listen to the report. It was no less shocking the second time around. For me at least. But Bodhi was strangely quiet, rubbing his fingers over his stubbled jaw.

  “Bodhi…” His eyes found mine, only to dart away. I swallowed hard, growing more disillusioned by the second. “Bodhi, what have you done?”

  Rather than answer, he walked toward me with his arms outstretched.

  “You told your family you were safe, right?” I pressed, narrowing my gaze. “You called them last night, didn’t you?”

  He stopped dead in his tracks with a look reminiscent of a dog who’d gotten into the trash and had no way of denying it because the frickin’ can was wrapped around his neck.

  I was getting madder by the second. He’d put me in a terrible position. I’d inadvertently been harboring a dead guy… and not just any dead guy. Oh no, mine had to be important enough that people actually gave a fuck. “Bodhi?!?”

  “No, okay,” he admitted with a sigh. “I didn’t call them.”

  “Why? What were you thinking? This is bad. They think you’re dead.” I grabbed my phone and pressed it into his hands. “Call them, now.”

  He stood there staring at the screen. And then he lifted his gaze, resolute.

  “I can’t,” he said dully, dropping my cell on the table. “Not yet.”

  I blinked at him, unable to comprehend a world where you allowed your loved ones to suffer such a crushing loss.

  As I made to stalk past him, he grabbed my arm. “Please, let me explain.”

  The desperation in his eyes gave me pause. Something was motivating him to deceive everyone who meant anything to him. People didn’t just do that for fun. Bodhi had a reason and I owed it to him to shut my mouth and hear him out.

  Sinking back down onto the sofa, I folded my arms over my chest. “I’m listening.”

  There was a long pause as Bodhi gathered his thoughts… or came up with a plausible lie… I wasn’t exactly sure. His fingers grazed the back of his neck.

  “Okay, so here’s the deal. I need a few days. There’s someone I need to find.”

  Incredulous, I gaped at him. “A few days? They’ll be conducting your funeral in a few days.”

  “All right then.” He lifted his chin. “Just give me a day and then you can out me to the press, whatever.”

  I blinked at him. Once. Twice. “I’m not going to out you, Bodhi. You’re going to out yourself.”

  “Not yet, I’m not. I just really need this time. Please understand.”

  “Who could you possibly want to find that is worth this?”

  His gaze dropped to the floor. “My mother.”

  The word fell from his lips, almost hesitant. Like he wasn’t used to saying it. During our game of true confessions, he’d hinted that she was deceased.

  “But…”

  Guilty eyes found mine. “Up until three months ago, I thought she was dead, and then I received a letter. From her. I haven’t told anyone about this, Breeze. Not even my father.”

  “Why?”

  “Because if it is really her, he’s the one who created the lie. And he’ll stop at nothing to keep us apart. The fire… it gives me the opportunity to connect with her without being followed. Nobody knows where I am. I’m finally free… at least for a day or two.”

  Willing away the headache brewing behind my eyes, I kneaded my temple. “This is seriously crazy, Bodhi. How are you going to explain where you’ve been when you magically resurrect yourself? Have you thought of that?”

  “I’ll just say I lost everything in the fire, which is true, and that I couldn’t call. Hell, this is California—I’ll just tell them I was meditating through the trauma. I’ll keep you out of this, I promise. All you have to do is look away.”

  “Look away?”

  I slumped in the cushions. Maybe I’d been wrong. Maybe there was no connection. I was just a safe place for him to hide.

&nb
sp; “So that’s it then?” I asked thickly. “You’re just going to up and leave?”

  No doubt Bodhi picked up on the disappointed tone of my voice. I knew it was stupid of me to want more, especially when he had big things like a reunion with his undead mother to worry about. But I did. I’d grown attached to him over the course of the time he was hiding out in my granny flat, and I wasn’t sure if could just look away anymore.

  Bodhi pulled me to my feet. Banding his arms around my waist, he nuzzled my neck. “I don’t know what you want me to say. I’m trying to make this easier on you… and not put you in a bad spot. But hear me, Breeze, I’m going in search of my mother with or without your cooperation.”

  Backing out of his hold, I searched his face, finding steely determination. Nothing I could say would persuade him to clear his name off the missing list.

  “Where is she?” I asked, “Do you even have an address?”

  “Yes. I hired a private investigator. She lives in East Palo Alto which is—”

  “South of San Francisco, I know. I’m from the area.”

  “If you just let me get out of Ventura County, I give you my word, I’ll stop somewhere along the way and call my father. I won’t let him worry more than a day, I swear.”

  I could feel him wearing me down. And really he didn’t need my approval. Bodhi had lived the first twenty-four of his years, months, days, and minutes without me. In the scheme of things, I was only a blip on his radar. Why was he trying to sell me on this in the first place? What did he care what I thought?

  The fact of the matter was if Bodhi was determined to do this thing, it wasn’t my place to stop him. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t negotiate a better agreement for myself.

  “I’ll go along with your plan on one condition.”

  Bodhi hesitated for a good ten seconds. “Okay, what?”

  “Take me with you.”

  “What? Why?”

  “First, I want out of here. Fire is surrounding us, and I don’t feel safe after what happened last night. And second, I can’t stay here with the pets. I’m not going to be able to hide them much longer and when my landlord sees or hears them, she’s going to freak. I messaged the family while you were in the shower and they’re trying to get a flight home but realistically they aren’t moving back in for a while, even if their house is still standing. I’ve got to come up with somewhere to go. My parents live in the Bay Area and they love pets. If you drop me off there, I can get my mom or stepdad to drive me back next week.”

  “Or you could take them to a shelter and let the family deal with it when they come back.”

  “Not going to happen. The shelters will be bursting with displaced pets. I’m not parting with these guys—not after everything that’s happened. Besides, you need me to help you hide.”

  “I do?”

  “Have you even considered the fact that, dead or alive, you’re still Bodhi Beckett? And now that you’re presumed dead, your face will be everywhere.”

  He pondered for a second. “So what do you suggest?”

  “A makeover – nothing outrageous, just enough to give you a fighting chance. And lucky for you, I’m just the girl to make it happen. You may have magic powers when it comes to luxury trunks, but I’m a magician when it comes to hair.”

  “Hold up. You want to cut off my hair?” Bodhi took a giant step back as if he feared I was running at him with scissors. Once he was a safe distance, he took to pacing the floor. “I don’t know, Breeze. It’s sort of my signature look.”

  “Exactly my point.”

  Bodhi spent even more time chewing over my words and I couldn’t help but smile. It’s not like he was making some life or death decision here. It was hair that was going to grow back.

  But then it occurred to me that maybe Bodhi wasn’t used to making his own decisions. From what I gathered, his father had been calling the shots his whole life.

  I was about to retract my offer when a smile spread wide across his face and he said, “You know what? I actually like the idea. Let’s do it! In fact, shave it all off if you want to.”

  “Whoa, pull back on the crazy, Dude. I’m not suggesting full on baldness here, just a new look – something that will stop up your fans and maybe keep them from immediately recognizing you. Get it?”

  “Got it. Do with me what you will.”

  I raised a brow. “So you’re sure, then? Road trip with me and the animal brigade?”

  “Damn, right.” Bodhi looked genuinely happy.

  “Okay then. I’m in too, as long as you promise me as soon as we cross the county line, you’re calling your father and letting him know you’re not a pile of ash and bone. Deal?”

  “Um, yeah, that’s not going to work for me. No calls will be placed until I get to see my first live sea lion. Once that happens, I promise to call him. That’s non-negotiable.”

  So that was his game. No communication until we were all the way to Pier Thirty-Nine in San Francisco. I smiled as only a northern California native could. Because Pier Thirty-Nine wasn’t the only place to see a pack of seals on the California coast. I wasn’t about to tell him that, though.

  Instead, I held out my hand. “All right Bodhi. You drive a hard bargain. But you’ve got yourself a deal.”

  13

  Breeze: The Makeover

  The salon was empty, just as I’d expected it would be. Though my work wasn’t in the direct path of danger from the fire, it was close enough that a bunch of women weren’t going to brave the elements to get pampered.

  I held the door open and Bodhi peered inside. “You sure no one will come in?”

  “It’s doubtful. But if someone does, I’ll just throw a towel over your head. This is a hair salon. No one will think twice about it.”

  Satisfied, Bodhi stepped over the threshold, scanning all the stations. “Let me guess which one is yours.”

  “Okay,” I smiled, confident that, of the ten booths scattered around the room, he wouldn’t figure out which one was mine until his very last guess. We all decorated our stations differently. Those with kids had shrines built up of their smiling faces. The older ladies might have a picture of their grandchildren or a photo of their dog. The newlyweds had honeymoon shots and the candy lovers had heaping bowls of mini chocolates at their stations.

  “This one,” Bodhi guessed a workstation displaying dog pictures. Given what he knew about me so far, it was a valid choice.

  “Nope.”

  He snagged a candy out of a bowl. “Okay then, this one and, might I add, my personal favorite.”

  “You like candy?”

  “Doesn’t everyone?”

  “Are you the type of celebrity who makes your assistant pick out the red M&M’s before giving them to you?”

  Bodhi wrinkled his nose. “Of course not.” From his tone, he appeared hurt by the joke. “What kind of person do you think I am?”

  “I was only kidding,” I backtracked. “I’m sorry. Bad joke.”

  “Yeah, I’d say so.” A grin broke wide across his lips. “All M&M’s are served to me separated by color, of course.”

  I smacked his chest. “Don’t do that to me. I thought you were mad.”

  “It’s called acting, Breeze,” he said playfully before grabbing for more chocolate minis from my coworker’s bowl. “This candy is frickin’ amazing. How can you work here with this stuff lying around all day?”

  “It’s called making a living, Bodhi.”

  Ignoring my dig, he continued his exploration of the salon.

  “Okay, so I know the kid ones aren’t yours and unless you have particularly bad taste in guys, which you disproved this morning,” He paused to offer a self-assured smirk. “Then this one here can’t be yours either. I give up. Which one is it?”

  “The one with the roses.”

  Bodhi wandered over to my station where a flower overload was underway. Pictures of the dainty blooms were pasted to my mirror and little rose trinkets littered the counter. But it was
the tall vase filled with buds that caught Bodhi’s attention. He ran his fingers over the petals. “Wait, these are fake. What’s the point in that?”

  Yes, they were fake roses and not even pretty ones, but they held a special meaning. These were my proposal roses, eleven in all. Before sneaking out to ask for my hand in marriage, Hugh would always swipe one rose out of the silk arrangement from the lobby of the nursing home.

  The first rose had come only a week after I’d started working at the salon, well before I’d had time to decorate my station, so my coworkers took it upon themselves to help me along by bringing me rose related items for fun until the point where it looked like I was a contestant on The Bachelor television show.

  My roses and I had become a running joke at work and as funny as it was, my Hugh was no laughing matter. He was sincere and loving and, like no other man before him, Hugh had chosen me… over and over and over again.

  As I told the story of my suitor to Bodhi, he laughed in some spots and seemed moved by others. By the time I was finished, he was fully vested in the saga. Lingering in the same spot, he stared at the flowers.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “Oh, yeah. Sorry. The story inspired me. I was writing a song in my head.”

  “You write?”

  Maybe there was too much surprise in the way I asked the question, but I wasn’t prepared for Bodhi’s adverse reaction. I’d unintentionally stumbled onto a sore spot… or he was still acting, I couldn’t tell. That’s how good he was.

  “You don’t think I can write songs?” He cocked his head. “Why? because I’m in a boy band?”

  “No. I didn’t know you wrote songs because I don’t listen to pop music.”

  His irritation morphed to curiosity. “What do you listen to then?”

  “Country.”

  A slow smile hitched one corner of his lips. “Seriously?”

  It was my turn to be defensive. “Yeah. You got a problem with that?”

  “No,” he said, then backtracked. “Actually, yes I do have a problem with that. You listen to country music? Really?”

  “Yes, really. And by the end of our road trip, so will you.”