“You told me God has a purpose for everything; that would have to include dreams, Leese. Finish telling me: what did you know?”
I sighed, I was certain this dream was going to ruin our romantic evening together. “I knew my life was over. There’s no reason to live without you in it.” The first tear rolled down my cheek.
“Baby, if I die two minutes from now, you have a lifetime of reasons to live.” He kissed my throat, “What happened in the dream?” he urged.
“I put a knife to my chest to end my life.”
He was holding perfectly still as if I were a piece of thin glass with too much stress on it. “Did you?”
“No, Micah, you showed up.” I wanted to leave it sounding like he was the hero and hopefully he wouldn’t ask anymore about the dream.
“Tell me the rest,” he pressed.
“You asked me why I threw away your love.” My chest heaved as I took a breath to stop myself from sobbing.
“And?”
“Do you have to know everything?” I questioned.
“Finish it, Leese. Tell me the rest.” At this point he sounded almost desperate to know how the dream would end, but I knew he would hate me for even imagining that kind of ending.
“You took the handle of the knife in your hands and shoved it through my heart and I died.” It sounded so flat without the sound of the pouring rain, and the thunder and lightning from the dream.
He was very still as I wiped my eyes. “That’s why I had to come see you. There are no reasons in this world that would ever make me want to run from you. I’d never do anything to destroy what we feel for each other.” I heaved another sob, “I’m sorry you had to even hear about it.”
He turned my face up to his and brought his mouth softly to mine, “I think it just means you’re still a little bit afraid of me. But, trust me Leese, I could never hurt you.”
I wrapped my arms around him and held on until I felt my composure return, “I swear to you, Micah, I really do know that; I’m not afraid of you, I’m only afraid that I’m going to wake up and this will just be some dream and I’ll still be forbidden to find you.”
“What do you mean forbidden?”
“When I went to New Orleans-”
“You came to New Orleans to find me?” shock clearly in his voice. “When?”
“Right after you sold your house-I still can’t believe you sold that house. I loved it there.”
“
“Your-your mom.”
“Mom! You’ve got to be kidding. She never told me you were there.”
“She said if I kept it up I might be responsible for your death-I couldn’t take that chance.”
“I was going through hell, but I never knew you were looking for me. I was starting to think you might have changed your mind. I was so nervous the day at the church because I was afraid you wouldn’t want to get together with me again.”
“Oh, Micah, I hired a lawyer to find out if you were in jail. I left messages for Gwen, and tried to get anyone in your family to call me. I was going crazy before I rented a jet and flew out there.”
He kissed me with a new passion, a deep passion of someone who suddenly realized how much he was loved. He laid me back on the couch and placed himself above me.
My heart started to flutter as he covered me with his body and kissed me hungrily. I parted my legs, allowing his body to rest in the cradle of my passion. We hadn’t been so intimately positioned since the day I straddled his lap at the motel and then tried to wiggle free. I recalled the heat between us and the desperate way he said, “Don’t move like that, baby.” I could still feel his grip as he tried to keep me from pulling away.
He rose slightly and looked at me, “I don’t have this kind of strength, baby-I wanted to wait, but I’ve never needed anything so bad in my life.”
I didn’t get the chance to even open my mouth when the telephone rang. “Crying out loud,” I sighed, “Evidently God is trying to tell us to wait because every time, Micah-”
“I know baby, go answer it. It might be your mom.”
I picked up the phone by the fourth ring and saw it was R. Faultz on the caller ID. I had almost forgotten about my date tomorrow with Ryan.
“Hello, Ryan.”
I watched the look come over Micah’s face.
“Thanks. Yeah, it’s official, I’m eighteen. No, I haven’t forgotten about tomorrow.” Nearly, but not quite. “I’m not really sure we should do it now, you see…”
Ryan was asking why I might not be able to keep my promise as Micah was motioning me to hand him the telephone.
“Hold on, I’ve got someone who wants to talk to you.” Oh, how horribly cruel it felt to put the phone in Micah’s hand. Ryan was a good friend, and even though Micah told me the day he proposed that I would keep my date, I couldn’t see how it could be appropriate now.
“She’ll be there,” Micah affirmed, “I’ll bring her personally.” There must have been a long pause. “Ryan? Dude, you still there?” Micah looked at me and smiled.
I know I was cringing.
“Yeah, I’m back. I had to take care of some business, but I couldn’t just let you move in and take my girl. Yeah, I know and trust me, I’m not leaving her alone again. Actually, yes I am, but in a separate bedroom. Yes, her mother approved; what kind of guy do you think I am? Never mind, I don’t think we have enough time for that answer,” Micah laughed once more. “So, where am I taking her, again? Noon, right? Yeah, here she is,” he said, passing the phone back to me.
“Hey,” I breathed. Ryan only had one big issue-the kind of date he was expecting was two people not three and he asked me to ditch my hit man and come alone. “I can’t do that, Ryan-but if you want to back out, I’ll understand.”
Fat chance. I had a date tomorrow with my very handsome close friend and my fiance. Ryan still had no clue Micah proposed and that the ring was poised on my finger right now. I put the phone in the charger and came back to the couch. The mood had been extinguished like someone doused us with cold water.
“I could have talked him out of it, you know,” I stated.
“You made a promise to give him one date for the use of his car. I’m not going to have you start breaking promises after everything we’ve been through together. And in three months, you certainly aren’t keeping any dates with anyone other than me.”
I smiled, as he gave me a quick kiss.
“I’m hitting the shower,” he sighed, rising from the couch. “I guess I’ll go on to bed unless you want to find a bottle of wine and then-”
“No-I told you I can’t control myself now. If you give me a drink, you might as well slip me some Ecstasy because I’m sure I’ll end up naked in the pool before it’s over.”
He burst out with laughter and kissed me again, “Good-night, baby.”
I waited for Mom and Kimmy to come home. Relaxing on the couch and watching the fire die out. I dozed until I heard Kimmy’s voice. We talked about the movie for a little while and then I went upstairs and went to sleep. Having him in the house worked like a charm because I was able to sleep without the nightmare returning.
Chapter 2
I made it up before anyone else, and went down to the kitchen to put together a little breakfast. I was far from being a gourmet cook, but I could whip up a mean batch of homemade cinnamon pancakes. It didn’t take long before the scent brought Kimmy bumbling into the room looking for a bite to eat. Minutes later, Micah appeared. He was wearing shorts and a tank. He hadn’t shaved yet, but I kind of liked his rough-around-the-edges look; not quite
