Now and Forever 5, Love's Journey (15 page)

“Stay the night. Call the evil Fran, tell
her you’re not coming home,” he said, closing his arms around
her.

“Young lovers need to be alone. We can talk
about books tomorrow,” Sam said, rising from his chair.

Lara turned her face away to hide her
embarrassment.

“Goodnight, Lara,” he said, leaning over and
kissing the top of her head. “Night, Pete.”

While Lara was on the phone, it was obvious
Fran didn’t approve but Lara didn’t care. Peter picked her up in
his arms.

“Now it’s time for bed, my little honeybee,”
he said, moving toward the bedroom.

“Why do you call me that?” she asked.

“Because,” he said, kissing her, “your mouth
is sweet like honey to me.”

He moved through the bedroom door and sat
Lara down on the bed.

“You’re cuddly and furry, like a big teddy
bear,” she said, refusing to unlock her arms from around his neck,
dragging him down on the bed.

“A teddy bear?” he asked, his eyebrows
raised.

“Warm and reassuring. You make me feel
safe.”

“Safe? Reassuring? I don’t want you to feel
safe around me! You should call me a tiger, or a wolf, not a teddy
bear! No woman ever called me
safe
before, dammit.”

Peter removed her arms from his neck and sat
up.

“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. Safe
is important. Can I call you
bear
?”

“Bear is okay,” he said, pulling her close
to him and wrapping his arms around her. “I don’t want you safe, I
want you to melt with desire, be wild, passionate and uncontrolled
with me,” he whispered, giving the door a gentle push until it
clicked closed.

* * * *

Lara sat straight up in bed. Her loud gasp
broke the silence of the night. Her heart began to pound, her
breath came in short gasps, she was shaking. Peter rolled over.

“What is it?”

She reached out and her hand thumped up
against his chest.

“Peter?”

“Honey, I’m here,” he said, his hand
stroking her arm.

“Where am I?”

“You’re here with me, safe in my bed,” he
said, putting his arms around her and pulling her closer.

“What time is it?”

“It’s three.”

“Hold me and don’t let go.” She trembled in
his arms.

Peter held her close to his chest, resting
his head next to hers. He folded his arms around her body and his
legs up underneath her making her totally secure and safe.

“Do you think you can sleep now?”

“As long as I’m with you, bear,” she
muttered, closing her eyes.

The lovers fell into a deep sleep until the
morning light.

* * * *

In the morning, Sam didn’t mind having Lara
there, knowing she spent the night. After Peter left for class,
Lara collided with Sam on her way into the kitchen for more
coffee.

“I’m sorry,” she said, feeling her way to
the table.

“No problem. Would you like more
coffee?”

“Please.”

Sam refilled her cup and knitted his brows
as he looked at her.
Peter’s in love with her but what does she
feel?
Obviously, she’d slept with him, but Peter had sex with
plenty of women who didn’t love him. Sam needed to know.

“So, Lara, what’s up with you and Pete?” He
lifted his coffee mug to his lips never taking his eyes off
her.

Lara blushed.

“What do you mean?” She put her mug
down.

“I know how he feels about you…how do you
feel about him?”

“I love him, is that what you want to
hear?”

“I want to hear the truth.” Sam continued to
watch her.

“The truth…last night he told me he loves
me.”

“I’m not surprised. Do you feel the
same?”

Color crept up into her cheeks as she
smiled. “I do. I guess I’m as surprised as you must be.”

“I’m not surprised, I’m glad, relieved
actually. Not going to break his heart, are you?”

“Why would I break his heart?” Lara asked
with a laugh.

“It’s been done before.”

“I’ve never known any man as sweet and kind
as Peter. I’d never hurt him. Protective, aren’t you.”

“I pride myself on staying out of my sons’
business. But not this time.”

“I promise not to break his heart. I hope he
won’t break mine.”

“This is the real deal for him.”

“And how do you feel, Sam?”

“Couldn’t be happier,” he said, sitting back
and finishing his coffee.

* * * *

At The Wet Tee Shirt on the outskirts of
town

Gradually, Deena’s affection got to Rex. He
was falling for her. He began to be protective, keeping a close
watch on the men she drank with at The Wet Tee Shirt. No one got
fresh with her when Rex was around. He put up with every guy in the
place staring at her breasts, but no one was going to come on to
her or touch her. She wasn’t going to be sleeping with anyone but
him.

It had been a month since they started
having sex and Deena wanted him to move in with her. While he was
tempted, they needed to keep their association hidden. Rex took
Deena out in towns about an hour away. They never went to a
restaurant or shop in Willow Falls. It was for his protection more
than hers. If someone blew the whistle, accusing her of blackmail,
they wouldn’t connect her with him.
Let her take the
fall
.

She passed along the information to Rex.
Then the big score walked in all by himself; Peter Caldwell
shooting his mouth off about Jason.

“Deena, baby! This is big!” Rex grabbed her
and gave her a big kiss when they were back at her apartment.

“It is?”

“A Dean of Students…he’s got bucks…lookin’
at maybe twenty thousand. We’re going to collect big time.”

Rex pulled Deena to him and slipped his hand
under her T-shirt. She giggled and let him strip her naked. He
tossed his clothes next to hers and pulled her down on the bed.

Chapter Nine

The State Fair comes to Valley Grove Park,
near Willow Falls, in August. It is the biggest attraction of the
year. The price of admission includes rickety rides, access to
sticky sweet and deep-fried foods, the livestock competition, and
the 4-H exhibits. This year the main attraction was The Colorado
Kid and his Bronco Babes for only four nights.

Callie got to know Danny Maine when he was
in high school and she was engaged to his older brother, Kyle. But
when Kyle died in Iraq, she and Danny lost touch. Looking for
Callie, Danny came to Kensington State to teach English. He met and
married Eliza, an undergraduate dean, and friend of Mac Caldwell,
two years ago. Now they had Casey, a mischievous toddler who
delighted and exasperated them. The Caldwell and Maine families
were best friends and planned to attend the Fair together.

They met in the parking lot at about five
o’clock on Saturday. Familiar aromas drifted their way…the smells
of cotton candy, caramel apples and funnel cakes mixed with
cigarette smoke, a faint odor of manure and farm animals combined
with sweat from warm bodies.

The strains of canned calliope music
stretched all the way to the parking lot. The music got Jason
excited before they even got to the gate. He remembered the fair
from last year. Kitty, being only four, didn’t, but she clapped and
skipped, imitating her brother.

Eliza got a firm grip on Casey’s little
hand. At two years old, the boy was fearless. He wandered away from
his parents at every opportunity. Eliza knew he was often hard to
keep track of, but Danny promised to keep a sharp eye on him.

Kaitlyn Baines, one of Eliza’s twin
daughters from her first marriage, was with Chase Lawson, who she’d
been dating on and off for the past two years. Her twin sister,
Sally, was with Tanner Lawson, Chase’s older brother. Sally and
Tanner had been a steady couple for the past two years.

Peter was there with Lara, whose senses were
bombarded. What she couldn’t see, she could smell and hear. Since
it was her first State Fair, she was amazed by all the different
sounds of the fair, from children crying, to roosters crowing, to
teens screaming on rides and cows mooing softly in the background.
The smells enticed her, fat simmering, the sugary scent of cooking
confections and the heavy smell of frying meat mixed together.

Callie put her arm around Lara.

“You have to try the strawberry shortcake
here. Real strawberries and homemade biscuits,” she said.

“Homemade biscuits? I’ve never had homemade
biscuits before,” Lara replied, licking her lips.

“It’s my favorite…even beats funnel cakes,”
Callie said.

“What’s a funnel cake?” Lara asked.

This was Peter’s first State Fair too, and
he was nervous about losing Lara in the dense crowd. He kept a
tight grip on her hand.

“Okay, Mac, where are all these great foods
you talked about?” Peter asked.

“In good time, shrimp, in good time,” Mac
responded.

Sam and Pat held hands and followed the
children and grandchildren.

“My first State Fair too, Patsy. What’s up
here for an old man like me?” Sam asked, patting her hand.

“You’re not an old man!”

He laughed.

“You’ll love the animals, Sam. Bunnies,
cows, goats, horses…4-H science projects…but no birds, I’m
afraid.”

“Cows and horses?”

She nodded. “And you can pet them.”

“Lead on, lady. This is looking up,” Sam
said, lacing his fingers with hers.

* * * *

It was Rex Vesson’s first time visiting a
State Fair too. He leered at the young country girls, many dressed
provocatively in low-cut tank tops and short shorts. They whetted
his sexual appetite. Sex with a sixteen-year-old girl appealed to
him. He envisioned a young, firm body, mentally undressing some of
the giggling girls getting on rides with their friends, and his
body began to react.

Rex wore a tight, sleeveless undershirt
showing his muscular shoulders and chest, and tight jeans. He
noticed girls gave him second looks as he walked by. His libido
would have to wait as his appetite for food crowded out thoughts of
sex. His mouth began to water as the scents of fried and sweet
foods filled the air. He licked his lips when he saw the strawberry
shortcakes and the funnel cakes.

* * * *

Callie and Mac came upon the shooting
gallery, the first attraction on the midway, next to the sausage
and pepper stand, wafting its spicy smells to the shooters and
across from the sickly sweet cotton candy, whose sugary smell and
vapory pinkness tempted the children. The young man behind the
booth groaned when he saw Danny. Danny had been a sharp shooter in
the army. For the last two years he had practically cleaned out the
shooting gallery.

“Not you again. I was hoping you wouldn’t be
here this year,” the young man said, bringing out a special rifle
from underneath the counter and handing it to Danny.

Danny grinned at him. This was the only
rifle that shot straight, the others were rigged.

“I count the days until I can become your
worst nightmare again,” he said, weighing the small rifle in his
hands before putting it to his shoulder.

Everyone gathered around as Danny slapped
twelve dollars on the counter.

“Four times this year?”

“We have a new child,” Danny explained as he
cocked the gun and took aim.

Five targets up and five targets down. Five
targets up, five targets down. By the third time, a crowd gathered
to cheer Danny on. After the fourth time he got a perfect score,
everyone applauded.

“You haven’t lost it,” Eliza said, pride
shining in her eyes.

Danny gave her a kiss and let the children
pick their prizes. Jason picked a bear and Kitty took an elephant.
Eliza picked a teddy bear for Casey and a lavender frog for her
stuffed frog collection.

“Your friend, Danny, is an amazing shot,”
Sam said to Mac.

“His aim saved our lives two years ago.”

Sam was surprised and gave Mac a look.

Mac, Callie and the others continued down
the midway passing the food booths. The smell of sugar mixed with
the aroma of the grease used to cook funnel cakes, zeppole, and
curly fries, perfuming the air and causing stomachs to rumble.
Foot-long hot dogs and meat piled high for cheese steaks tempted
Mac and Jason. Everyone picked out what they wanted to eat after
the rides.

“I don’t care how many pounds it puts on me,
I’m having a funnel cake today,” Callie said, her gaze riveted on
the man pouring the batter in the pan.

They all buzzed about food and which rides
to go on, trying to hear over the canned carnival music and
escalating noise as the evening crowd poured into the fair grounds.
Senior citizens, couples with children, and teens holding hands
strolled down the midway which had been covered in straw to absorb
grease, soda, milk shakes and other spills.

“I don’t want to go on the baby rides. I’m
seven. I want to go on the grown up rides,” Jason said.

Callie handed him over to Mac as most of the
rides made her sick.

“How about the Ferris Wheel?” Mac asked his
son.

Jason looked up and gulped when he saw how
high it was. He took his father’s hand and nodded his head. The
tall man and little boy got on the next brightly colored metal car
to be emptied. The others gathered around for a ride on the Ferris
Wheel too. Eliza balked as she was afraid of heights.

“We go through this every year, Lize. Come
on with me. Callie, will you take Casey?” Danny asked.

Callie took Casey and Kitty while Eliza
climbed into a bright blue car, holding tightly to Danny’s arm.
Kaitlyn and Chase were next in the green car. Sally and Tanner
cuddled up in the yellow car. Peter explained the ride to Lara, who
shook her head.