Fire and Ice: A Paranormal Romance (2 page)

              They drove for a while.  “There’s another Acadian.”  Billy pointed to a house on the left side of the road.

              “I see what you mean about the roof,” said Sarah.  “You’re right.  They’re easy to spot.”

              “You’ve heard the term Cajun, right?” Billy asked.

              “Cajuns are people in Louisiana who speak a special dialect of French, aren’t they?” Sarah inquired.

              “Yes, and many of them can trace their ancestry back to the Acadians,” Billy explained.  “Have you ever tasted boudin?”

              “I’ve never heard of it,” Sarah told him.

              “We’ll have to go get some one of these nights.  It’s Cajun and you’ll love it,” Billy said.

              “I’d really like to try it,” Sarah smiled.

              Soon, Billy pointed to a plantation with Spanish moss hanging from the live oaks on the lawn.  Sarah was captivated by its charm.  Billy told her that sugar and indigo were plentiful on working plantations in that area years before.

              Billy kept driving.  He was hoping to show Sarah some of the natural wildlife nearby.  “I have something I want you to see,” Billy told her. Before long, he made a turn that took them by a marsh. 

              “What are those?” asked Sarah as they passed some white egrets, birds that nest in the Louisiana Wetlands.  She thought that they were the most delicate creatures that she had ever laid eyes on. 

              “Those are Great Egrets,” Billy told her.  “They’re part of the heron family.”  They drove a bit further.  “Let me ask you something.  What sights have you seen since you moved here?”

              “I’ve only been to the French Quarter,” she answered.

              “Would you like to have a personal tour guide?” he smiled.

              “I’d love it,” replied Sarah.

              “I can take you to see alligators if you’d like to go some time,” Billy offered.

              “I’ve never seen one,” said Sarah.

              “Well, when we go, we’ll take a bag of marshmallows because they’re crazy about those,” he told her.

              “They are?” she asked.

              “Yes.  If you throw the marshmallows in the water, the gators come right up to eat them,” said Billy.  “It’s really fun to watch.”

              “Is it dangerous?” Sarah inquired.

              “No,” he assured her.  “They’re in a canal and we can stand on the bridge above it.  My parents used to take me there all the time when I was a kid.”

              Upon reaching their destination, Billy parked his truck at the edge of the brackish waters of the bayou.  “Do I need to be afraid of alligators here?” Sarah asked.

              “No, because it’s high tide right now,” he informed her.             

              “That’s a relief,” she smiled.

              “I catch shrimp,” Billy laughed.  “I don’t wrestle gators.”

              “I’m glad to hear it,” she replied.  “It really is beautiful here.  I’ve never been down this way before.  I live in New Orleans.  This place has a flavor of its own.”

              “I’ve lived here all my life,” Billy told her trying not to sound apologetic.  “I can’t imagine setting down roots anywhere else.”

              Billy turned up the radio in his truck.  “I love this song,” said Sarah.  “I adore country music.”

              “You want to dance?” he asked.

              “Here?” she wondered.

              “Well,” Billy laughed, “not in the truck.  I’ll turn the music up louder.  We can dance outside.”  Before he knew it, Sarah was slow dancing with him out on the pavement at the edge of the bayou.  It had been a long time since he had held anyone that close. 

              “You sure are a good dancer.”  Sarah looked up at him.

              “So are you.”  Billy held her closer to him.  Before long, the music stopped.  Billy kissed her and he could feel that she wanted him.  They seemed to be connected in a strange sort of way and he did not know why. 

              “Why do I feel like I know you?” he asked.

              “I’m not sure,” Sarah said looking into his brown eyes.  “If I called you
Ice
would it make more sense?”

              Billy looked at her in disbelief.  “How do you know about that?” he asked.

              “I suppose if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me,” she admitted.

              “Try me,” replied Billy not wanting to let go of her.

              “That’s your boat right there, isn’t it?” asked Sarah pointing to a shrimp trawler that was docked near them.  “The one that says ‘Gotcha’ on the back of it.”

              “Yes, how did you know?” he asked.

              Sarah held him tighter.  “Jessie told me to find you.”

              “What?” Billy released her from his hold.  “Where is she?” he demanded.  “I just knew that she was still alive!”

              “No, no, she’s not.   Jessie’s been coming to me in my dreams for the past nine months.”

              “In your dreams?” Billy asked standing on the pavement feeling vulnerable.  “Do you expect me to believe that?”

              “Well, no one is forcing you to, if that’s what you mean.”  Sarah stared down at the ground.  This was not going like she planned.

              “I barely know you and you tell me something that personal,” he said.  “What do you expect me to think?  Nothing about Jessie is a joke.  Do you understand that?  She never was.”

              “I know she’s not,” Sarah assured him.  “Shortly after I came to Louisiana, she started showing up in my dreams.  I have no idea why.  She’s given me details--lots of them.  But, she didn’t tell me your name.”

              “How did you know it was me that you were supposed to find?” He stood there on the cement about two feet away from her with his hands on his hips.

              “I didn’t,” Sarah explained.  “But, a week ago when Dana invited me to the crawfish boil, she suggested that I meet David’s cousin.  She said that you were a shrimper, so I asked her the name of your boat.  When she told it to me, I realized that you were the person I was looking for.  Suddenly, it all made sense.”

              “I need to sit down.  Do you want to sit in the bed of my truck?” he asked.

              “Sure,” replied Sarah.  She followed him to the rear of it and he lowered the tailgate.  They got inside and let their legs dangle off the back of it.

              “I don’t think I understand.”  Billy looked into her eyes. 

              “I don’t really, either,” admitted Sarah.  “But, Jessie has been visiting me.  She keeps coming up out of the water.  That’s all I can tell you.  Who is she?”

              “She was my girlfriend.  Four years ago, we were out on my boat and a squall took her,” said Billy.  “I’ve been hoping to find her ever since, but her body has been missing all this time.  I keep praying that she is alive.”

              “Well, now I understand why she keeps coming up out of the water.”  At least that detail finally made sense to Sarah.

              “Did she tell you anything else?” Billy asked.  He was desperate to know how Jessie was, even if she had gone to the Other Side.

              “She kept showing me a place with white umbrellas and told me that she was there with you,” said Sarah.

              “White umbrellas?” Billy asked with a puzzled look on his face.

              “Yes, and it was near water.  Is it around here somewhere?” she asked.

              “There’s no place like that here,” Billy answered.

              “Are you sure?” Sarah asked.

              “
Sure
, I’m sure,” insisted Billy.  He did not know what to think.  Who was this young woman?  Did Dana really know Sarah well enough to introduce him to her?  Maybe she was a psychic who was just playing a game with him. 
Game over
.  Perhaps Sarah was like one of those voodoo princesses in the French Quarter.  Jessie’s memory was precious to him and Billy did not want someone tainting it, nor did he want anyone playing with his emotions.  Then, suddenly something occurred to him.   Sarah was
right
.  “That was a cafe in Lanzarote,” he recalled.

              “Why would she have been there?” asked Sarah.

              “I don’t know, but I went to the island for two weeks right after she died,” Billy said.  “I used to go to an outdoor cafe and sit there for long hours every day looking out at the water.”

              “She was with you.”

              Billy just shook his head.  “You’re not kidding, are you?”

              “No, I’m not,” said Sarah.  “Nothing like this has ever happened to me before.  Jessie must have really wanted to reach you.  But, I wonder why she chose me.”

              “I have no idea,” replied Billy.  “I have so many questions and I don’t even know where to start.”

              “There’s one thing that has me perplexed more than anything,” Sarah confided in him.  “When she comes up out of the water, there’s always a ten-year-old boy that is standing next to her.  Who is he?”

              “I don’t know,” answered Billy.  He had to think about it for a few seconds.  Then, he realized who the child was.  It couldn’t be.  No, it just was not possible.

              “I think it’s our son,” he said looking down.

              “You had a child together?” asked Sarah.

              “No, we didn’t,” said Billy.  “But, when we were in our early twenties, Jessie got pregnant.  Not long after, she had a miscarriage.  Jessie always thought that the baby was a boy.  She talked about him for years.”

              “That must be who the little boy is, then,” said Sarah.  “Jessie comes up out of the water and he walks up to her and holds her hand.”

              “Jessie was really distraught when she lost the baby.  I told her that we could always have more children,” said Billy.  “I wanted to get married the minute she found out she was pregnant, but she insisted that it was too soon.  She never felt ready.  But then, years went by and before I knew it, she was taken, too.”

              “I’m so sorry.”  Sarah did not know if she should go any further.  Maybe this was too painful for him.

              “Does anyone else know about any of this?” asked Billy.

              “No one,” she assured him.  “I didn’t even begin to put the pieces together until Dana invited me to meet you.  That’s when it started to make sense.  I’m glad I found you.”

              “I am, too,” replied Billy.  “My mind has been filled with so many questions for so long.  Here you are bringing me the answers.  I didn’t mean to be rude.  This is a lot to swallow.  I’ve heard of this type of thing happening.  It’s just never happened to me, personally.”

              “I understand.  We can drop it, really.”

              “No.  Please if you know more, I wish you would tell me.  I apologize.”  Billy felt that this was his ticket to Jessie, albeit, a strange way to get to her.

              “No apology necessary.  I just don’t know if I can be of much help.  I don’t even know why she is contacting me.  Do you remember the St. Christopher medal that you bought her?” asked Sarah.

              “Yes,” said Billy.  “She was wearing it when she drowned.”

              “No, she wasn’t.”

              “What do you mean?” he asked.

              “It’s in a compartment on
Gotcha
,” said Sarah.

              “How is that possible?” asked Billy.

              “I’m not sure, but that’s where I saw it when she showed it to me.”

              “Let’s go see,” Billy insisted.  He stepped down from of the truck bed.  Then, he took Sarah’s hand and eased her down onto the pavement.  They walked toward the boat and he helped her onto it.  Billy went inside of the small cabin and flipped a light on while she waited at the back.

              When Billy walked out, he was holding the medal dangling from a long silver chain in his hand.  “I don’t believe it,” he said.  “This is it.  It has been there all this time and I didn’t even know it.”

              “Put it on,” Sarah instructed him.

              “What?”

              “Put it on,” she repeated.  “Jessie wants you to wear it for protection.”

              Billy put the medal around his neck.  “I wish it was with her,” he said.  “But, I’m also glad that I have a small part of Jessie here with me.  She wore this since we were sixteen.  I gave it to her for her birthday.”

              “Jessie really loved it,” said Sarah.

              “I have a St. Christopher mounted on the dash in here, too.  Very few fishermen in these parts would even
think
of going out on the water without one for protection,” said Billy.

              “Oh, I didn’t realize that,” answered Sarah.

              “What can I do for you?” asked Billy.

              “What do you mean?”

              “I mean you have helped me so much.  What can I do for you?” he inquired.

              “Nothing,” said Sarah.  “I’m just the messenger.  By the way, what does
Ice
mean?”

              “It was Jessie’s nickname for me.”

              “You’re that cold?” she accidentally giggled.

              “No,” he laughed.  “Jessie just meant that she was fire and I was ice.  I was content.  She always wanted to be somewhere else doing something different.”

              “That may explain why her energy was strong enough to come through to me,” said Sarah.  “Even all that water couldn’t put the fire out.”

              “Jessie was full of ambition,” Billy told her.  “She had even entered a photography contest before she died.  A few weeks after she drowned, her mama told me that Jessie won.  Her work was featured in a magazine.  Do you want to see it?”

              “Wait,” said Sarah.  “Is it a picture of a Mississippi River boat?”

              “Yes,” replied Billy in disbelief.  “How did you know?”