Under A Painted Sky (Spirit Warrior Series) (14 page)

“Logan is fine, too,” I
said.

Logan grabbed my arm
and said, “Tell her I need to talk to her.”

I shook my head no, and
he gave me a look that said he is going to.

I said, “We went to
Santa Fe today and we are just now leaving to go home. He took me to the
Shidoni Foundry and we walked the streets of Santa Fe. The people here are
amazing at making things and the place is so pretty,” I said.

“Oh, I am so glad you
two are having a great time. If you’re still with Logan tonight, that is a sign
everything is good,” she said.

“Everything couldn’t be
any better,” I chided.

“I won’t keep you then.
I will let you get back to your date, I mean, Logan.
’Bye,
dear.
I love you,” she said.

“
 
’
[LEB2]
 
Bye,
I love you, too,” I said.

We made it to the truck
and got in. As we were pulling out, Logan asked, “Why didn’t you let me talk to
her?”

“Because I knew what
you were going to try to do and I don’t want you to,” I replied.

“I’m going to call her
tomorrow and tell her we’re seeing each other exclusively and that I need her
to take her money back,” he said.

“Okay, I guess if you
need to do it. Aunt Carol asked about you, and said if we were still together
tonight, then that was a good sign. Then she said she’d let me get back to my
date. I think she really wants us together because she mentioned that she
thought we would hit it off just great,” I said.

“I do hope she
approves. I know how happy I am about it,” Logan said.

“And I know how happy I
am about it. Thanks for a great time,” I said.

“My pleasure,” he
responded.

“I can’t get over how
far you can see at night with all the city lights and even during the daytime.
Where I am from, you can only see two or three houses away or one quarter mile
at a time. This is so strange to me,” I said.

“Since I’ve practically
lived here my whole life, it doesn’t seem so strange to me. I guess it would be
strange if I went to where you are from. I think I would feel claustrophobic,”
Logan said.

“I think you would too,
after having these wide-open, beautiful painted skies,” I replied.

He nodded.

“
Logan,
thanks for my ring and for wanting to be with me exclusively. I am definitely a
one man woman. You really surprised me. This is so special to me and I will
treasure this day forever.”

“Isabella, I am glad
you love it. You mean the world to me. I, too, will treasure this day,” he
said.

I scooted across the
seat a little closer, entwined my arm with his, and put my head on his
shoulder, as I listened to “You Are Not Alone” by Michael Jackson on the radio.
I hugged his shoulder while I looked at the million stars in the now dark sky
with twinkling lights of the city as far as you could see. What an incredible
light show on such a magical night. I squeezed Logan’s arm a little tighter and
he squeezed back and smiled down at me. He stole my heart.

After being there on
his shoulder while I listened to song after song on the radio and becoming
intoxicated by his cologne, Logan nudged me.

“Isabella, I need to
come back to reality for a moment. While I know the house blessing and demon
removal has been done, I will be staying at your place tonight just to be
positive.”

“I would like that
very, very much,” I said.

Logan said, “I’m going
to swing by my place to grab a few things for the night.”

“Sure,” I replied.

In no time at all, we
pulled into Logan’s place and were inside. He went to his bedroom and grabbed
some clothes and then to the bathroom for toiletries. As I waited, I noticed
the paintings on his walls were all southwestern, but incredible.

I said, “Wow, you
must’ve spent a fortune on art for this place.”

“No, actually all of
those are gifts from previous clients. There are many amazing artists here,” he
said.

“These are beautiful,”
I said.

“I really like them.
The fact that they were free is just a huge bonus,” Logan said.

He had a really neat
kiva fireplace in the corner of the living room. It made it look warm and
inviting. I just really loved the warmth and earthy colors everywhere I went.

New Mexico just felt
like the place I was supposed to be, but I could certainly do without my ghost.

“Ready,” Logan said.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

When we arrived at my
aunt’s house, Logan said, “Allow me,” and opened the door.

I walked in and
everything seemed calm. I unloaded my things, as did Logan.

“Do you want to watch
something on TV?” he asked.

“Sure,” I replied.

Logan scrolled the
channels to find something to watch. After much channel surfing, he asked,
“What about this?”

I looked up to see
While
You Were Sleeping
and I said, “Wow, you must be in love if you are willing
to sacrifice your manhood for the ultimate chick flick. I love it, but you
probably won’t.”

“If you love it, then I
am sure I could at least like it,” Logan replied and selected the movie.

“Okay, but I must tell
you that I cried the first time I saw it,” I said.

“As long as I know what
you are crying about, that’s fine,” he replied.

“Can I get you
something to drink or a snack?” I asked as I walked into the kitchen.

“Sure, how about a Coke
and a smile,” he said as he followed me into the kitchen.

“You got it, Toyota,” I
said playfully.

He grabbed a bag of
chips and we sat on the couch to watch the movie.

We got to the part
where Jack came to the station to see Lucy and put the engagement ring in the
change holder and the tears started flowing.

I was silently crying
when I realized there was another crying sound going on. Logan put his arm
around me to comfort me when I looked up at him shaking my head with stark
terror in my eyes. Then it hit him that my lips were closed and I was not
making the sound. It was coming from upstairs.

I was just paralyzed
with fear, but Logan got up, grabbed his gun out of his overnight bag and
headed for the stairs. I jumped up, not wanting to be left behind and followed
him. As we approached the stairs we noticed tissues wadded up and dropped every
few steps in a trail going up the stairs. It was if someone walked up the
stairs crying and threw the tissues down after they had been used.

After seeing this,
Logan called out, “Hello, anyone here?” No answer was given. He said again, “
Hello,
is anyone here?”

As we reached the top
of the stairs, we went into the master bedroom, searched the bathroom, closets
and checked the veranda door, but found nothing. The fear built up inside me
like a boiler about to explode. We went into the second bedroom and found
nothing again. We started to go down to the third bedroom and heard water
running coming from the bathroom beside the third bedroom. My heart rate
increased to a million beats a minute. I was holding Logan’s shirt at his waist
and I felt his muscles jerk tensely under my hand. I was shaking all over as we
continued. We looked inside and saw nobody.

We walked in and the
water was barely going. The shower door was steamed and there was a print of a
hand like someone had placed their hand against it. Written underneath was the
word ‘back’. You could see through the shower door that nobody was in it, but
that didn’t make my heart slow down any. I gripped Logan’s shirt a little
tighter as my breath quickened and fear encompassed my very soul.

Logan looked in the
walk-in closet of the bath and found nothing. Suspense built while we
approached the last bedroom. We found absolutely nothing.

Logan said, “So, much
for the house blessing! Something is definitely still here! It makes no sense.
What does it or they want?”

“I wish I knew. Please,
Logan, can we just get out of here?” I asked.

“Well, I guess we can
go to my place. Let me turn off the water in that other bathroom and you get
some clothes,” Logan replied.

When we re-entered the
bathroom, Logan reached for the water
spicket
, but
found it was turned off already. We both looked at each other with stark horror
in our eyes. There was nobody in here except us.

“Grab something to
wear. I’ll be right here with you.”

I gave a jerky nod.

“What do you want,
ghost?” Logan yelled.

I grabbed my clothes
and we ran downstairs. I collected my things there. Logan got his and we locked
up and left in his truck.

As soon as we went
through the gate, Logan pulled to the side of the entrance. I must’ve still
looked terrorized, because he reached over and put his arms around me and
hugged me to him.

He whispered in my ear,
“I will never let anything happen to you, Isabella. You don’t have to worry. I
won’t leave you. We’ll get to the bottom of this, I promise. You’re safe now
and I love you more than you know.” He pulled my face up to his and kissed my
lips firmly. He pulled away and said, “Let’s get you to my place.”

After a few minutes, we
pulled into the drive of his house. We got our things and went inside.

Logan asked if I wanted
some coffee and I told him I did. He told me he did not have my special creamer
yet but he had half-and-half, if that was okay. I told him it was fine. He told
me he would get me some creamer tomorrow.

I placed my things in
the guest bedroom and went to the bathroom. When I came out, Logan had my
coffee in his hand. He placed it on the coffee table in front of his couch, so
I took a seat there and so did he.

I breathed in the
delicious aroma of fresh brewed coffee and drank in the warmth of the first
sip.

Aah, I felt a small
part of my troubles melt away and realized I was safe in Logan’s house with my
hero and that was such a comforting feeling.

Logan placed his arm
around me and pulled me to his embrace. He lifted my face up once again, but
this time it was very soft and sensual, as he took my lips in his and caressed
them with his own until we had to come up for air.

Logan said, “I love
you, Isabella.”

“I love you, Logan,” I
replied back.

“I just can’t figure
out what this ghost thing wants or why it is there. It does not make sense that
I spent days there and didn’t hear or see anything,” he said.

“Well, same here. I
didn’t hear or see anything for a couple of days either and then at first, what
I saw and heard didn’t strike me as being anything other than a new house and
its flaws being worked out. It looks like I must’ve made it mad after I had
been there a couple of days,” I pondered.

“Well, we are going
back to see Cheveyo tomorrow. For now, I think you need to rest, Isabella.
You’ve been traumatized,” Logan said.

“Maybe you’re right. I
am tired,” I replied.

I got up and told him
goodnight and he kissed my forehead. I stumbled to the guest room and put on my
night shirt and climbed into bed. I left the door open so I could hear Logan.

After what seemed an
eternity, I sat up because I couldn’t sleep after being so frightened earlier.

I got up and went into
the living area and Logan was not in there. I went to his room where he also
had the door open and called out to him.

He jumped up out of the
bed at the sound of my voice and practically ran into me coming to the doorway.

I said, “
It’s
okay. I just can’t sleep. I was hoping we could lie
down together.”

“Sure, come on in here,”
Logan said. He sat down on the bed and I climbed in on the other side.

I got in the fetal
position and Logan wrapped his arm around my waist.

“Thanks for letting me
come in here. I guess I’m still a little shook up,” I said.

“This is my pleasure, I
assure you. I started to suggest it earlier myself, but I didn’t want you to
get the wrong idea at a time like this,” Logan said.

“I just feel so safe
when I am with you. Fear and anxiousness just melt away. I love you,” I said.

“I love you, too,” he
replied.

I must’ve gone to
sleep, but I didn’t know about Logan, because when I woke up he was on his side
with his hand under his head looking down at me, smiling.

“Wow, what time is it?
Did you sleep any?” I asked.

“It is 8:30 a.m., and
yes, I just woke up a few minutes ago,” Logan replied as he kissed my forehead.
“Good morning, Isabella.”

“Good morning, Logan,”
I said back to him.