A Wishing Moon (29 page)

Still he kept pumping into her, slamming against her thighs in the ancient, pagan, rhythm of life. He climbed the mountain of passion and when he reached the crest, he shouted triumphantly and drove into her one final time as his body shuddered with the force and excitement of his climax. She joined him and rode the overwhelming tidal wave of passion until they lie spent and replete in each other‘s arms. “Bella, my God, Bella. You are mine, no one else will ever love you, no one else will ever know how wild and exciting you are.”

“
Jade, it’s only for you. If we had not met, I would have never known any of this. I would still be the twenty-four year old virgin, waiting for life to pass her by.”

Jade did not like to think what might have been. They were together and that was all that mattered.

* * * *

The next day Jade called from work, she had been about to leave for the post office to mail some packages. It was unusual for him to call during the day, so she knew something special had come up. “Arabella, I know it’s January, but the temperature outside is more like April. How would you like to have a noon picnic up on Enchanted Rock with me?”

He didn’t expect her to disagree and she didn’t disappoint him. “What a wonderful idea. I’ll pack a lunch, what time are you picking me up?”

“
Eleven-thirty and dress warmly.” Their lives were so busy they hadn’t spent much time together away from Wildflower Way. This venture outdoors was unusual and Arabella found the prospect of an outing with Jade quite exciting. She packed thick turkey and Swiss sandwiches, fried some wafer thin, homemade potato chips and made Jade’s favorite chocolate oatmeal cookies. She knew he would have been satisfied with whatever she could have found in the fridge, but she took every chance to spoil him that she could.

Evangeline and Elizabeth went to the post office for her and she dressed as he requested and sat down to wait on him. She had glanced at the calendar and today was a very special day. This was the day of the full moon, the second full moon of the month—a wishing moon—and if she had only one wish to make in her life, it would be this—she asked for the wisdom and the strength to make Jade Landale happy.

* * * *

Jade had the whole thing planned out to the tenth degree. The week before, he had combed the finest jewelry stores in Austin until he had located the perfect diamond engagement ring. The piece of jewelry was almost as beautiful as Arabella. Five carats of perfect diamond were set in a classic, yet simple gold setting. He looked at the ring every few minutes, hoping she would love what he chose for her.

The decision to ask her to marry him had been simmering beneath his consciousness for weeks. He had been in love with her even before he had left Tranquility, even before he had actually met her, if the truth be known. Jade closed up the office, placed the ring box in his pocket and slid into his silver Aston Martin.

When he arrived at Wildflower Way, she did not wait for him to come in. Watching out the window, she saw him coming and ran out to meet him, picnic basket in hand. He marveled at how beautiful she looked in a winter white pantsuit with a smart little hood to catch the waterfall of dark silky hair.

She joined him in the car and immediately reached for a kiss. He never had a doubt where he stood with Arabella, Kate had been notorious for throwing temper tantrums and pouting endlessly, making him work for every morsel of affection she doled out to him. Arabella was lavish in her affection and constant in her love—no put on or deception. Arabella was genuinely sweet and considerate.

“
I can’t wait to be on top of Enchanted Rock with you.” She smiled at him.

“
Arabella, I very much doubt we’ll be able to do—”

She stopped him, embarrassed. “Oh, that’s not what I meant. I would never expect you to make a spectacle of yourself for me. I know you are a public figure.” She sounded so contrite he hated he had teased her.

“
I was just joking, baby. Making love to you would never embarrass me, the only thing I refuse to do is ever allow you to be put into a situation where other men will see or enjoy what belongs only to me.”

“
Stop, Jade.” For a moment, he thought she was angry, but then heat rose in him when he realized she was turned on. She sat very still with her eyes closed. He was tempted to pull over on the side of the road and pleasure her until she screamed. But this was an importation mission and the sex—and he knew it would be great—would have to wait until they returned home. But when they returned home, she would be wearing his ring.

When they were, at last, on Enchanted Rock, they walked up Summit Trail hand in hand. He carried the basket and enjoyed himself, just watching her have a good time. “Do you remember the first time we met in the dream, Jade? I do, it had been a lonely day for me. I had worked hard trying to catch up on all the holiday orders and the only company I had all week were the cats and the constant barrage of emails. I remember going to bed and wishing I had somebody to hold. Sometimes, I would hug my pillow and pretend I wasn’t alone.’ He listened patiently to her as she opened her heart to him. “This is going to sound strange, but I believe I dreamed about you many times before that night. I never could see your face, but the first time I kissed you, I recognized you. You have been in my dreams all of my life.”

When they reached the top of the dome, he couldn’t stand to wait any longer. Setting the picnic basket down, he kissed her with all the passion and tenderness that welled up from his soul. He held her tight and stroked her back and thanked God Arabella Landry belonged to him. He was about to reach in his pocket and take out the diamond engagement ring when, suddenly, she stiffened. Every nerve in her body seemed to be on red alert and he knew this time she wasn’t reacting to passion. He looked down at her and saw she was looking just past his right shoulder. He was much too tall for her to see over his shoulder so he realized she had become aware of something just to the right of him.

“
Jade, be very still. Lyle Sessions is behind you and he has a gun. Oh God, there are other people up here. Jade this could turn into a massacre.” She made the slightest of movements. Incredibly, he realized she was about to once again step around to place herself between him and the attacker, as she had done before.

“
Not again, Bella, not again.” Jade heard the crazy old man cock the deer rifle. Thanking Tyler Garrison with everything in him, he whirled around, pulling the pistol out as he turned, and just as soon as he could distinguish Sessions from any innocent bystander, fired a bullet straight into the old man’s wicked, black heart.

Lyle Sessions was dead before he hit the ground and Jade hoped the God this maniac thought he served sent him straight to the hottest pits of Hell. Arabella was so weak with relief and terror she had to sit down on the cold, damp granite. The park rangers were on the top of the rock in minutes and had called the police and the EMS. They helped him get Arabella down off the dome and into the relative warmth of the park station house. She trembled uncontrollably; Jade had never seen her so upset. “It’s over Bella. You don’t have to be afraid, I’m here with you.”

“
I know,” she tried to explain, “I’m not afraid—well that’s not true—for just a moment I saw what could have been. Nanette and Angelique’s magic and your quick thinking and action saved us, but for a moment, fate let me see what could have happened. I saw you fall, I saw you cut down by that crazy old fool. All I could think about was that he was after me not you…never you. Oh, God I put you in danger again. What if he had shot you?” She was crying, his heart was breaking and the ring forgotten.

“
Bella, it’s okay, what might have been will never be.” He held her close, rocking her, kissing the top of her head until Tyler Garrison arrived to take their statements, and then let them go home.

When they finally made it back to Wildflower Way, Arabella had calmed down. Tyler had called the family and they were all waiting in the living room for Arabella and both men to arrive. Gratitude and thanksgiving was on everyone’s lips. The nightmare seemed to be finally over.

Tyler tried to give them something of an explanation. “When they took Lyle Sessions down off E-Rock they found a small notebook in his pocket, where he had written down ramblings that somewhat explain his actions. Years ago, he had an unrequited love for Rachel Townsend. They attended church together and even though they shared a pew, Rachel wasn’t interested in sharing anything else. He became obsessed with her and if you look at the pictures of all the women he killed, they were very similar in looks to how Rachel Townsend appeared through the years. He killed Kathy and Lea because they weren’t his child and grandchild. The lack of love warped the old man into a killer. He convinced himself he was doing the Lord’s will in eradicating society of women who, as far as he was concerned, were temptations sent by God to punish mankind.”

“
That’s sick,” Evangeline said what everybody else thought.

“
Tyler, I sure am glad you brought that gun to me. If you hadn’t, it would have just been a replay of what happened before, but this time one or both of us would have died.”

Elizabeth hugged him. “Isn’t my man wonderful?” The way he held her close, it looked like Garrison thought his witch was pretty wonderful, too.

* * * *

The next day, Angelique and Nanette drove Evangeline to her new dorm room in Austin. Then, they headed back to the Big Easy. Elizabeth invited Tyler Garrison to spend a few days with her in Galveston; after all, he had certainly earned a vacation.

Jade talked Arabella into coming to his Austin loft for the weekend just for a change of scenery. She thought it a good idea. Her nerves were still so on edge, so she didn’t feel like she wanted to be by herself for very long. Jade had assured her that if she would come to Austin, they would take in the town. He had promised her a trek down 6
^th
Street, tickets to a community theater and to eat out anywhere she wanted. Little did he know that
he
was all she wanted.

Arabella put the cats out plenty of food and made sure all the plants had a good drink of water before she left. She hadn’t spent a night away from her home in almost three years. Her house, it seemed was the drawing card in the family, so they had all gravitated to Wildflower Way
for every vacation and every holiday.

When she stepped into his beautiful loft, she saw Kate Thompson everywhere she looked. Forcing that bad thought from her mind, she followed him to his huge bedroom. The beautiful suite dwarfed the room they had been occupying, and to tell the truth, all of the beautiful expensive things intimidated her somewhat. If Jade noticed her trepidation, he didn’t mention it. And Arabella had no intention of doing anything to spoil the time they had together.

Chapter Fourteen

Arabella looked out the window of Jade’s apartment at downtown Austin. The pink granite dome of the capitol building sat to the right—made from the same material as their own special place, E-Rock. And the infamous, yet beautiful, tower which seemed to guard the University of Texas campus stood to the left. Austin was an exciting place. When she had been at Wildflower Way, it had been easy to ignore what an important figure Jade actually was in Texas politics. Here, it wasn’t so easy. There had been three phone calls so far tonight, all requesting his presence at some reception or cocktail party to honor one dignitary or another. She had assured him they could attend any function he thought was necessary, she knew she would have to hurriedly purchase a suitable dress but that could be done.

Jade had turned down all the invitations. She hoped he wasn’t short-changing himself on any necessary networking opportunities. It would break her heart if she were the one responsible for holding him back in anyway. To Arabella, it didn’t really matter what they did. She would be content at a party, a restaurant, or just staying here at his beautiful apartment, as long as they were together.

He waited on her hand and foot, not letting let her do a thing. She dug her toes into the luxurious, thick, off-white pile carpeting and marveled at how spotless and perfect everything looked. Carpet wasn’t the only white thing in the room; the massive sectional sofa was white, the marble around the fireplace was white and the coffee table and end tables seemed to be made from thick, pale granite set in ornate wrought iron. She could just imagine her cats stepping around on this museum quality furniture tracking itty-bitty pieces of cat litter on their not so clean paws. The cats would have to stay at Wildflower Way.