Anywhere You Are

by Constance O'Day-Flannery

  She shook her head. "I don't know how to explain this, but you experienced a bit of it yesterday in the mall. Guns are everywhere. It's like… like Tombstone all over the country, and no one knows what to do about it."

  "I don't wish to get involved in another war. I have no fondness for guns myself, I use one only for hunting, but we may need to protect ourselves as well. I left my rifle back in the cave. Perhaps I should purchase a weapon?"

  "No." The word rang out in the room and Mairie was shocked at her tone of voice. She didn't have the right to tell him what to do.

  "I'm sorry," she again apologized. "That's really your decision, but they won't allow you on the airplane with a gun."

  "Now I'm sorry. I've upset you." He tossed the paper to the floor and added, "We won't discuss it any further." He paused. "But there is something else I wanted to speak to you about, if you don't mind."

  She smiled, thankful for his perception. She really didn't have the mental strength right now to explain modern day gun ownership. "Of course, I don't mind. Just nothing too heavy. I have a… a headache this morning."

  "Ahh… to be expected, my dear," he smiled slyly, "one of the evils of drink." He winked at her. "However, I shall endeavor to pamper you all day until you've recovered, madam."

  "You seem so chipper." She appreciated his thoughts and hoped her voice didn't slightly tinge with jealousy.

  "I feel very well, though I could do with a good shave." He rubbed the stubble on his chin. "I'll need to find a barber or get myself a razor today."

  She thought he looked quite dashing with the couple days' growth. How ironic, it was a fashion statement these days.

  "And also, please do not take offense, but last night I noticed all the ladies dressed more formally than in these jeans, as you call them." He paused, taking a sip of his coffee, as though doing a temperature check on how she was handling the delicate insinuation.

  "And…?" She wasn't about to help him, since she had no idea where this one was leading.

  "And I thought perhaps we should purchase a dress for you. I know you are trying to be frugal with the money, but you do wear dresses, don't you?"

  "Quite often, in fact." She couldn't help sounding a bit offended. When she looked up from her coffee, she saw his intention was sincere and was touched by his sweet offer. "Jack, that is your money. You don't need to spend it on—"

  "Mairie," he interrupted, putting his cup back onto the saucer. "I wouldn't even have it, if you didn't ask me to purchase those silver dollars from Virginia. It would be an honor. And you could assist me in finding a tailor. I need a suit. Haven't worn one in years, yet I see in all the advertisements men do wear them. The styles for men haven't changed much in all these years. Women, on the other hand…"

  He let his words trail off and Mairie said, "I would imagine many of the current fashions are shocking to you. Like me wearing pants. You know, I wish I could have this discussion with you, but I have to get dressed and go down to the gift shop for some Advil, a… a pain medicine. I must admit to nursing a hangover." She smiled sheepishly.

  "I'll go," he said, already pushing back his chair.

  "No, I'll go," she said, taking her coffee with her as she got up and moved around the room. "I'll just throw on my jeans and shirt. I'll be right back."

  "You never answered me."

  She turned around at the dresser. "About what?"

  "Allowing me to purchase a dress for you. If you feel better tonight, we can have a nice dinner at one of the restaurants here. I have read that there are six different ones in this hotel. One appears to be quite nice."

  Smiling, she said, "That's very kind of you. I would be delighted to wear a dress and have dinner with you tonight. Thank you, Jack. But first let me get something for my head."

  She took her clothes into the bathroom to change and, seeing herself in the mirror, she groaned. How in the world was she ever going to pull her act together enough to go shopping and look dazzling by tonight.

  Miracles.

  She needed one.

  In the gift shop, she bought a razor, Advil, and some Lifesavers for her dry mouth. As she was standing at the counter to pay, she noticed a stack of postcards. Most were of the city at night, with the glitter of Las Vegas at different locations. She idly looked them over as she waited for the person in front of her to pay. Her attention was drawn to a shiny white postcard with red lettering.

  Go Beyond Reason to Love.

  It is safe. It is the only safety.

  T. Golas

  How odd to find that in a rack of tourist postcards, she thought. She had it in her hand when the cashier called out to her.

  "Are you ready?"

  She placed her few items on the counter and nodded, yet her thoughts were on that postcard. What an extraordinary thing to read, on this morning too. For some weird reason, she felt like it was a message for her. Probably everyone who read it felt the same way. She was just being foolish.

  As she walked out of the shop, Mairie spied a water fountain and took out the Advil. Popping three into her mouth, she gulped water and swallowed. The lobby and casino were already busy and she headed for the elevator. Riding up to the room, she couldn't get it out of her head.

  Love was the only safety?

  The thought stayed with her for the remainder of the morning and into the afternoon.

  Jack was so attentive to her every need that Mairie felt almost guilty for only suffering from a hangover. He patiently waited as she tried on several dresses, not wanting to see what she had purchased. He said he preferred to be surprised later in the evening. She'd found something terrific, a clingy black dress with long tapering sleeves that wrapped tightly around her wrists. It had tiny covered buttons that started at the deep V neck and ran down the front of the flared skirt to her ankles. It was simple, yet elegant. She even bought an inexpensive pair of black high heels. When Jack saw her stop at a makeup counter, he insisted she buy a few items and she so wanted them that she told him the money he spent would only be a loan. She intended to repay him when she got to Philadelphia, no matter how much he protested.

  Mairie didn't know if she felt better because the Advil had kicked in, or because she was going to dress up and have another date with Jack. For if last night was an almost date, tonight was the real thing.

  They came back to the room around three o'clock. Mairie was initially surprised that Jack assimilated everything so well, without overloading his brain. He certainly was a remarkable man, but even he was glad to return to the room and sit down. Shopping had drained them both.

  Looking at the garment bags on the bed, surrounded by packages, he grinned. "I suppose it's about time I had a suit. It may feel strange to wear one again. Been almost ten years."

  "Really?" Then she remembered he had said yesterday it took him years to make his way back to Nevada and the Paiutes. "Well, you'll look smashing tonight. The salesman in the department store assured me of that." Since he had wanted to be surprised, she'd thought she might as well be the same. She had placed Jack in the hands of a well-dressed clerk and had left them for an hour as she went dress hunting.

  "Let me hang them up," she said, and reached down to grab the hangers.

  Jack immediately stood. "Here, I'll do that. Rest, Mairie."

  She looked at him and smiled. "I can do it. I'm not sick. In fact, I feel much better."

  He took the hangers and walked to the closet. "Good. I'm glad you can enjoy the evening."

  "We'd better call for reservations," she said and picked up the phone. "What time shall we have dinner?"

  He closed the closet door and walked back to the bedroom area. "Is six too early?"

  "Not at all." She began dialing the gourmet restaurant. After a few minutes she had their reservation secured and she leaned back against her bed pillows and sighed.

  She reached for one of the packages and began rooting. "Here's your razor. You use it just like the old-fashioned ones, except it's safer. I'll show you
if you want."

  He chuckled. "I would imagine I can figure it out. If I have a problem I'll call you. Though I still find it strange that you plaster something under your arms as part of a daily routine. And tooth powders have been replaced by paste." He sat on his bed and ran his fingers through his hair. "You're sure I shouldn't cut my hair, Mairie? I haven't seen many males with longer hair. Do I look like those deadheads? I think I should cut it."

  Her heart constricted at the thought. "Do whatever you wish," she said as casually as possible. "I like your hair. It's… you."

  He seemed to be thinking about it and she mentally crossed her fingers that a haircut was not forthcoming.

  "I'll think about it," he finally said. "I do want to blend in."

  She laughed. "Oh, Jack. Someone like you will never blend in. You're far too unique to blend in anywhere."

  "I thank you for your compliment, Madam, but that sort of defeats our purpose in Philadelphia. We're supposed to blend in, are we not?"

  Was he teasing her? She couldn't tell much from that mysterious smile.

  "Once you thought of me as a wild man, though I now understand your confusion. I am sorry for the way I treated you when we first met, but you did drive me almost beyond my limit of patience."

  She joined his laughter and thought back to their first meeting. The desert, the climb, the waterfall. Don't think about the waterfall, she told herself… though the picture of the back of Jack Delaney, nude, washing the paint from his body, would never leave her mind.

  "I'm going to soak in the tub," she announced, and quickly stood up. She took the bags to the low dresser and separated his items from hers. He was so silent that she thought he might have fallen asleep and she was surprised to turn back to the room and find him staring at her.

  "Enjoy your bath, Mairie."

  Was she still hung over, or did his eyes hold a look of deep desire? Don't think about it, she told herself, as she smiled and walked into the bathroom with her things. She would shave her legs, wash her hair, and still have time for a nap. Some inner guidance told her to be well rested for whatever followed.

  She hoped she could leave her teacher role behind for the night and just enjoy being in the company of the man she loved. Loved… even thinking about it stunned her. What a blessing Jack Delaney was, to have come into her life from a hundred years ago and show her that an equal partnership with a male was not only possible. It was natural.

  He was her gift.

  Maybe Jack was right, maybe the Indian's Coyote god was a trickster, after all.

  Coming out of the bathroom, she heard his rhythmic breathing before she saw him. Jack was asleep on top of the bedspread. His legs and arms were crossed, and his chin fell forward to his chest. Smiling, Mairie grabbed one of his T-shirts from the dresser drawer and hurried back into the bathroom. She slipped into it and was pleased that it came to the middle of her thighs. Putting the robe back on, she walked into the room and headed for her bed. How perfect. If she set the alarm for five o'clock, they could both be well rested for this date. That's what she was calling it. This was an official date.

  Now all she had to do was fall asleep and not imagine Jack Delaney spooning her as he had done last night. She remembered that. It was a memory and a feeling she would never forget. She slid between the cool, clean sheets and sighed with contentment as her head hit the pillow. In spite of everything, the government, Bryan's illness, everything… she felt blessed. Her life had been altered with that first jump. And what about Jack? What courage it had taken for him to jump. He had done it for her, and that fact still stunned her.

  Strange, how one's life could change in an instant of trust.

  The annoying noise roused him from a very enjoyable dream and Jack leaned up on his elbow to silence the thing. "I can't stop this time piece from chirping," he muttered.

  Mairie groaned and reached out her arm to smack it. Blessed peace followed and Jack dropped his head to the pillow. "Do you need to use the convenience, Mairie?"

  She moaned sleepily. "I already took my bath. You use it. You need to shave and take a shower." Waving her hand at him, she added, "Gimme five more minutes."

  "Don't fall back asleep. Jack Delaney is not known for being late to his engagements, Miss Callahan." He grinned as he got up and saw that she had snuggled once more against her pillow.

  "Five minutes," she whined like a little girl. "Just five minutes."

  He was still grinning as he walked into the convenience and closed the door behind him. He bet she fell back asleep. He turned the water on and began his preparations for the evening. Strange… he hadn't felt this excited about anything in a long, long time. Something told him that tonight was going to be special, and he was going to make sure it was. After everything she had been through, Mairie Callahan deserved to be treated like the fine lady she was. It had been a long time since he'd courted a woman, but he remembered.

  Somehow he knew all his gentlemanly expertise would be put to a test, for courting Mairie would be a unique experience. An experience he was more than ready to explore.

  No more than fifteen minutes could have passed when Jack stepped into the bedroom from the bath, wearing the hotel robe and towel-drying his hair. From beneath the thick cloth he saw his way to the end of her bed. "Madam… your toilette awaits."

  Not hearing her reply, he slung the towel around his neck, still holding it with both hands. His eyes cast upon her sleeping. Not much was left to his imagination as she lay on her side atop the comforter, embracing a pillow. He could not withhold his glance from tracing the slope of her hip and thigh. She was in nothing but his T-shirt and her undergarment. She fills my clothing better than I ever will, he thought to himself. He quickly turned and sat on the end of his bed when she inhaled and began to stretch.

  "Hmmm… did you say something, Jack?"

  "Yes, Mairie… I did. I said I'm finished with the convenience. It's all yours now." He hoped she didn't detect an inflection of guilt in his words.

  "Mmmm, okay. I'm up. I'm moving. Really—" She mumbled off in half slumber.

  "Mairie Callahan, I threw you over my shoulder once, to get you where we needed to go, and I can do it again." He figured an authoritative tone would more likely wake her and at the same time take his mind off her revealing position. "If that is what I must do, Mairie, I'm prepared to do it."

  "And perhaps I'll enjoy it this time." She murmured into the pillow.

  "Mairie, you're still sleeping. I can't make out what you're saying. I thought you were looking forward to our engagement this evening." He fought the urge to turn and look at her again. Would she call his bluff? He was cleanly shaven, bathed, and well rested. His instinctual desires were now wide awake and it was becoming more difficult to ignore her beauty and form. "Mairie, please—"

  "All right, all right. I'm awake." She sat upright and ran her fingers through her hair.

  "Would you like to call for more coffee?" Why didn't he think of ordering coffee before? It would have been better than starting with the caveman approach.

  "No, thank you, Jack. I'm sorry I snapped at you," she said with a yawn. She stood and walked to the dresser across the room. His T-shirt fell to her mid-thighs, and he couldn't resist gazing upon her.

  "Mairie, don't you think you should put your robe on?" he asked.

  She stared at him from the reflection in the mirror. "Oh Jack, please, don't be such a puritan. The way I'm dressed, by today's standards, is entirely acceptable. Don't tell me you've never seen a woman in her night clothes. You have, haven't you?"

  Jack directed his eyes to her face. "Of course…" He paused, "Of course I have. I mean, yes. Well, it's just a matter of… it's just the way I was brought up. A lady—"

  "Oh, Jack, chill out. A modern lady's sensibilities are not that fragile. If I were embarrassed in front of you, I'd have slept in the robe. But I'm not embarrassed. You're sitting on the end of the bed and I can see your legs. Why are you upset that you can see mine?"

>   "Because, Mairie, where I come from, women aren't accustomed to showing their legs to their husbands, much less men they've known only a few days." He responded seriously.

  Mairie gathered her makeup and walked to stand between his legs. She smiled tenderly down at him. "You've been handling this future shock so well. I keep forgetting the life you left behind had such a radically different view of cultural propriety." She tousled his hair. "I'm so proud of you. You're doin' great." She sighed deeply. "And I can't think of anyone else I would want to escort me to dinner tonight. You are a gentleman in the true sense of the word, Jack Delaney, and I appreciate that."

  He watched her completely as she turned away.

  "By the way, Jack. It's kind of cute the way you keep calling this the convenience, but these days, we refer to it as the bathroom." She smiled at him again and closed the door.

  "Whew." He'd made it. He'd wrestled with Indians, crossed hot deserts in sand storms, climbed mountains, and fought in hand-to-hand combat, and he had never felt so close to being conquered in his entire life. It was difficult enough to watch her walk across the room, in his shirt, but when she stood between his legs, he was almost certain she could sense every nerve in his body paralyzed with desire.

  Mairie Callahan not only inflamed his body, she'd ignited his soul. Chill out, she said. Perhaps a dip in an ice-cold river would do him well right now.

  He abruptly stood and went to the closet. Removing his suit, he laid it carefully on the bed. Better to busy himself by dressing than to envision the distraction of Mairie's scantily clad form and coquettish manner. Holding his newly tailored trousers in his hand, he stopped walking and stared at the closed bathroom door.

  He couldn't recall a time he had hungered for a woman this much. Just thinking about the closeness of her body, knowing she wore nothing underneath that thin shirt, remembering the shapely slant of her waist, hips, and the descent to her thigh made every muscle in his body ache for her. He thought back to the night of the Paiute celebration, how she had looked at him, flirted with him, bewitched him. He had wanted her then, in his time, but he wanted her more in this one. It went beyond wanting. It was a passion. A timeless passion.