Under A Painted Sky (Spirit Warrior Series) (13 page)

I swear the radio was
playing only to me.

Logan said, “Earth to
Isabella, come in, please.”

“Yes,” I replied.

“Where were you?”

“I guess I was
daydreaming.”

“I hope I was in it.”

My face flushed red as
I replied, “As a matter of fact, you were.”

“Great. I just wondered
if you would like to take a walk around a sculptured art gallery outside?” he
asked.

“Sure, I like
sculptures.”

“Some things are made
of bronze and some of metal and a few of other materials. There are like eight
acres of sculpture gardens. It’s pretty awesome.”

“There’s an inside
gallery as well, and the place where they pour and make the statues of bronze.
It’s called Shidoni Foundry. It’s in the village of Tesuque. Shidoni means
friend,” Logan explained.

Just then, we pulled
into the parking for the Shidoni Foundry. We got out of the truck and Logan
asked me to wait just a second while he sent a couple text messages. I looked
at my phone as well. I only had three messages. One was from my aunt who said
to call her and my mother said the same. One was my friend letting me know she
arrived in Maui. I would call them later. I was busy right now with Mr.
‘McDreamy.’

When Logan was
finished, he grabbed my hand. We went strolling through the sculpture gardens
like real lovers. The comfort and excitement of his hand with his fingers
caressing mine made me want to squeal with delight, but I kept my composure.

The sculptures were
amazing. The place was huge for sculptures. There were some talented people in
this world and it was neat that they shared their works with us. There were
Indians in full headdress and ones not. We saw sculptures of children playing
that instantly filled your heart with joy. They had butterflies, animals,
flowers, trees, angels, JFK, soldiers, dolphins, horses with riders and
without. There were lovers and ponds with frogs and water flowers. I could go
on for days at all of the neat art we saw.

We took a break and sat
down on a bench to rest. “I’ll be back in a minute,” Logan said. He returned
with two waters in his hand and gave one to me. I drank it up, not realizing
how thirsty I was.

He had his arm around
me. I thought to myself how I never did this many things with my ex the whole
time of our marriage. It was just so different with Logan. I couldn’t even
think of anything but him every waking moment. I felt like a little child.
Everything was new as if I was discovering it for the first time.

“These sculptures are
so beautiful, and neat and funny and crazy. I can’t even begin to imagine the
work that goes into just one of these.”

“It is incredible.
There are like 150 different artists who have done these. If it was a Saturday,
we could see them pour the bronze into ceramic molds to make statues. They pour
it at 2000 degrees. It’s fascinating,” Logan said.

“Two
thousand degrees hot!
Whoa, I would hate to get burned
by that,” I said.

“Yes, no doubt it would
be fatal. Do you want to look at the art on the inside?” he asked.

“For sure, I do,” I
replied.

We strolled into the
inside gallery and took a gazing journey through the multitude of cool art.
Some pieces were breathtaking. The one that struck me the most was one where a
man stood in front of a woman; she was looking up at him and he had his hands
wrapped around her face looking into her eyes. Logan did this same thing to me.
I thought that was the sexiest thing a man could do. The couple was just lost
in each other’s eyes.

We finished our tour
and Logan grabbed my hand to hold it again on the way out. Back at his truck,
he started to open the door for me and wrapped his arm around me, leaning in to
kiss me. I eagerly awaited his lips that smothered mine and I lost all sense of
place and time.

After we came up for
air, he said, “Sorry, but I just couldn’t wait any longer.” His hands moved
around my waist. He looked down at me and said, “I don’t know what you did to
me, but I’m under your spell. I can no longer think of anything but you. I’m in
love with you.”

“I feel the same way. I
know I’m in love with you too.” He kissed me again, short and sweet, and let me
in his truck. He got in as well and we pulled out of the Foundry. We made our
way to the town square in Santa Fe.

“That was so fun. I
loved it,” I said.

“I’m glad. I thought
you might. I’ve been there several times and don’t get tired of going. They
change the pieces and it’s always a unique place,” Logan said.

He pushed some buttons
on the stereo and I heard The Script start up with “For the First Time.”

“Oh, I love this song,”
I said.

“You mentioned you
liked The Script. Same here. I wanted to play it for you,” Logan said.

“Thank you.” I leaned
over and kissed his cheek. “You are something special, you know that?” I asked
him.

“No, but you are,” he
replied and gave me a wink.

We approached the town
square and found parking right on the square. Logan told me that never happened
here. Usually, you had to walk at least a mile. We wandered down in front of
the shops, hand in hand, and there was everything for sale you could imagine.

The Native Americans
were on the sidewalk selling their wares just like it was in Old Town
Albuquerque. They were lined up and down the sidewalks in front of the adobe
structures. There were beautiful colors everywhere, contrasting against the tan
colored,
warm
adobe buildings. There were
ristras
hanging down from hooks. There were blankets,
sombreros, T-shirts, statues, broomstick skirts, handbags, leather,
instruments, paintings and food wagons.

There were shops,
galleries and restaurants in a large square with side roads leading off from
them. It was a colorful place. We stopped to hear someone playing a harp. Logan
put some money in the collection jar for the pleasure and we continued to
marvel at the arts and crafts and endless imaginations found in the place.
Things were more pricey here than in Albuquerque. We traveled along the
sidewalks with the smell of New Mexican food filling the air.

We stopped at a shop
that had art made of stucco where some of the pictures are raised. One was a
pueblo house and it had clay pots outside with rope around the pots sticking
out from the stucco and painted in beautiful earth colors.

Another store had a
full Native American headdress that was authentic. You saw skirts and fringed
jackets made from hides and papooses. There were baby carriers, knives,
hatchets, and arrowheads. Another store was full of the painted ponies that I’d
seen in Albuquerque.

“My mother loves
horses, so I think I’ll buy her one of these,” I told Logan.

Logan said, “I also
need to buy something. I’ll meet you at the bench outside the store in fifteen
minutes, okay?”

I agreed and started
looking over all of the beautiful ponies. Each one was unique and different,
and done by many different artists, but they were still affordable. I chose one
called ‘blue medicine.’ My mother’s favorite color is blue, and on the backside
of the horse, there were handprints of children and stripes and handprints on
the forelegs. It had a leather saddle with beads and shells and feathers tied
to his tail.

I carried it to the
counter to pay. I was told the woman who made this design stayed up long hours
finishing it before passing away. She wanted to leave this symbol of healing
and support for those in need in her community. Wow, that made the pony a way
more special choice. My mother will love it. One Christmas present down.

I left the store and
made my way out to meet Logan and found him already at the bench. I couldn’t
resist showing him my prize horse and telling him the story of the artist and
how the hands represented healing.

“And who couldn’t use
that,” I said him. He liked it. I looked over and he had a dark black bag in
his hand.

“What did you get?” I
questioned.

“I will show you in a
little bit. But first, let’s find a place to eat dinner, if that’s all right?”
he asked.

“I am starting to get a
little hungry and thirsty. I am so good with that idea,” I replied.

We chose a place
upstairs that looked like real authentic New Mexican food. It was decorated
real earthy and pretty with greenery everywhere and statues and painted tiles.
Logan whispered something to the waiter and he motioned for us to follow him.
He took us to a secluded table in the back with an outside view and candlelight
flickering. There were blue and red flowers on the table. The waiter took our
drink and appetizer order and Logan thanked him.

He came back almost
instantly with our drinks and appetizer of nachos. I loved nachos and that was
really all I needed for my meal. We dug in and Logan scooted in closer to me on
our adobe type seating of a half moon. He raised his glass of soda up to me.

“Cheers,” he said. I
raised my glass and he said, “To having dinner with the prettiest girl in the
room.” After we took a drink, he continued, “Thank you for the pleasure of your
company.”

“I’m so happy to be
your dinner date.” He reached for my hand and hung onto it while we finished
our nachos. Our other food arrived and it smelled so good. I got the
Chimichangas
and he got
Chile Rellenos. One bite of my food and I was in love. “This is divine and the
peppers in it are just right,” I said.

“Mine is great, too.
I’m glad you like it,” Logan said.

“Have you been here
before?” I asked.

“Yes, quite a few
times.”

“I guess that explains
why we got the best table in the house.”

“I have brought a few
clients here,” Logan said.

“Just clients,” I said.

“Until now, it has just
been clients. But you can hardly be called a client anymore,” he said.

I smiled and went back
to enjoying my food. We both finished our meal. The waiter took our plates and
offered dessert and we both declined. Logan told him he would have another soda
and motioned at me and I told him no thanks. After the waiter brought the
drink, Logan turned to face me.

“I have something I
need to say,” he said.

I told him, “Okay.” At
that moment, panic welled up inside of me.

He said, “I know we
have not been together very long, but it didn’t take any time for me to realize
how special you are. You are the first thing I want to see in the morning and
the last thing I think about at night and the span of time in between that as well.
I think you are smart, funny, sexy and amazing. I don’t want to be anywhere in
this world other than with you.”

“I know you just moved
here and don’t really know anyone, but I want to be the only one you are
seeing.” He placed his hand in the black bag and pulled out a ring box. My face
flushed and it got real hard to breathe as my heart raced away.

“I want us to be
exclusive, so I want to give you this ring that signifies that to me. And by
accepting it, you agree we are exclusive; kind of like a promise ring.” He
opened the box and it was a gorgeous turquoise heart ring. “Will you see only
me, Isabella?” he asked.

I choked out the words,
“Of course, Logan. I feel the same way. You are intelligent, adventurous, fun
and very handsome. And did I say how good you smell? Please never stop wearing
that cologne. It’s intoxicating. I only want to see you, too,” I replied.

He placed the ring on
my finger and it fit perfectly.

“It is so beautiful.
How did you know my size?” I asked.

“Well, I didn’t, but
they assured me I could bring it back. The man told me this was the size the
majority of girls wear, so I went with it. It came from the Kingman Turquoise
Mine which is the oldest, like 1,000 years old, and has the most beautiful sky
blue colors. I got turquoise because it stands for happiness, good fortune and
health and is a treasured stone here. I’m so glad it fits,” Logan said.

“Oh, it is just
stunning. Thank you so much! I love what it stands for and I just love you. I’m
officially yours,” I said.

“I didn’t want any
other guys getting any ideas,” he said.

I held my hand out in
front of us to admire it and Logan smiled that gorgeous, happy smile. I could
get lost in this very moment forever.

Logan grabbed my hand
and asked, “Are you ready to go home? We still have over an hour’s drive back.”

“Yes, I am ready,” I
replied.

Logan paid for the meal
and we were off again. Just as soon as we got on the street, my phone rang. It
was my Aunt Carol again. I   answered it this time.

“Hello,” I said.

“Isabella, I have been
trying to reach you. I just wanted to check and see how things were going for
you,” Aunt Carol said.

“I am fine. Everything
is going good,” I said.

“Well, that is good.
How is Logan doing?” she asked.