Under A Painted Sky (Spirit Warrior Series) (5 page)

“Good, I like these
guys. The food is always excellent and fresh and they’re very friendly and
genuine,” Logan said.

I nodded in agreement.

“So, are you dating
anyone, Isabella?” Logan asked.

“No. Are you?” I asked.

“No. Well, every once
in a while, but nothing real,” he replied. “I don’t do well with the dating
scene because inside I’m not as young as I should be. I guess being groomed to
take over my dad’s business has given me different priorities than most people
my age,” Logan said.

“I guess I am in the same
boat. I finished college early and I got married early, which took me away
somewhat from my age group. Now, I’m divorced after my very short marriage and
I don’t seem to fit in anywhere. I don’t even really have friends any more. My
best friend, Sarah, just moved to Maui. My good friend and her boyfriend were
also friends with my ex and she is trying to please her boyfriend by
unfriending me. Now all the friends my ex and I had together can’t decide who
they want to be friends with, him or me. I just don’t need all that drama in my
life, so I try not to worry about it,” I explained.

“That sounds very smart
on your part. I guess we have things in common. I don’t get into all that drama
stuff either. Life is too short and I really love life, especially here in New
Mexico,” Logan said.

“I have only been here
three days, but I already love it here. I just have this overwhelming feeling
that I belong here. It feels warm and good,” I said.

We finished our meal
and headed out to the truck after thanking Oscar and Bruce for a great meal.

“Next, I thought we
would just ride around town and I would point out the points of interest to
you,” Logan said.

“That would be fun. I
love just looking at the houses and the landscapes and that beautiful mountain.
It makes you feel closer to our creator somehow,” I replied.

“That’s funny. I’ve
said those exact words before.”

“I love the adobe
houses and different landscaping.”

“The landscapes here
are different because we don’t have an abundance of water and they only want
you to have small areas of grass and few trees or just certain kinds, because
of the need for water. It is called
xeriscape
. We use
rocks, pebbles, mulch, benches, statues, drought resistant plants and different
things to landscape with instead of just grass, trees and bushes. I personally
think it looks much better this way,” Logan said.

“Yes, I love it,” I
replied.

“The only downside to
living in the desert is not many bodies of water. There are many public pools
and lots of people like your aunt and I have their own pools. I guess you can
always vacation at the ocean,” Logan said.

We drove by many
highlights of the town, like the ABQ
BioPark
, which
has an aquarium, zoo, botanical garden and beach. We also saw the Isotopes
Ballpark, Sandia Resort and Casino, Sandia Peak Ski and Tramway. He took me
past the Balloon Fiesta Park that has a museum and golf training course. Logan
told me it’s where they hold the annual International Balloon Festival. He said
people come from all over the world to see the Fiesta of Balloons and to
participate. They hold a mass ascension of balloons and there are like eight
hundred balloons that go up in the air from the balloon park at one time. It’s
the largest balloon event in the world.

We saw the University
of New Mexico and the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, State Fairgrounds, other
casinos, many restaurants of interest and museums. I saw too many places to
mention. As we approached each spot, Logan told me about each one. It was
great. I had my own personal tour guide. He was so handsome and smart.

“Are you ready to call
it a day? I have a couple of things I must take care of,” Logan said.

“Sure,” I replied.

We headed to my new
home and listened to Bruno Mars singing “It Will Rain”.

I looked up and Logan
was looking at me and smiling.

 “You have such a
beautiful smile, Isabella.”

“Thanks,” I replied and
blushed.

“You’re fun to be
around because you’re so happy about even the littlest thing,” Logan said.

“I think you’re fun for
the same reason and because you know everything about everything,” I said.

“Thanks, but I think
that’s a bit of an exaggeration,” he replied. “Well, here we are. Since I have
been hired for a whole week, can I pick you up about ten a.m. tomorrow?” Logan
asked.

“That would be great.
I’m having the time of my life,” I replied.

“See you then,
Isabella.”

“See you,” I said as I
walked toward my door.

CHAPTER SEVEN

I thought I would check
the mail. I reached in the box and nothing was there. I got inside and put down
my things and picked up a soda from the fridge. I turned on the stereo on the
wall. I opened my computer I had set up on the desk. I went to Facebook. I saw
the usual crap and I clicked like on all of the jokes and pictures except the
next posts, which were my pet peeves.

This girl posted a
picture and said,
“Don’t I look ‘the f bomb’ good?”

“No, now that you
ruined the picture with your mouth.” I can’t stand that. It was just not
necessary.

Her next post said,
“Share this on your Facebook page if you love Jesus. Ninety percent of you
won’t do it and Jesus said deny me in front of your friends and I will deny
you. So you had better repost now. Remember, God saw you read this.”

Well, lady, God does
not like ugly and he doesn’t threaten people to get them to share Jesus.
De-friend, she is gone. You think you know people and then you see how they act
on Facebook and you wonder what happened to them.

I posted pics from the
Petroglyphs and my tour and put on my status that I had a hot time in Old Town
and fun exploring the Petroglyphs and seeing the sites in the land of
enchantment. And I was done looking on Facebook.

I called my Aunt Carol
to tell her how much fun I was having with the house and my tours. She asked,
“And Logan? Is he having a good time, too?”

“I think he is,
actually.”

“Great, I thought you
two were a match made in heaven.”

“It’s not like that.”

She said, “Okay,
hun
. I
gotta
run, but thanks for
calling.”

I told her goodbye and
headed for the back patio.

It was beautiful out
there with the rushing water cascading over the rocks in the waterfall. It was
so peaceful and tranquil. I went back into the living room and cranked the Bose
player. I grabbed my phone and went back out to listen to the calming water. I
sat for a while and watched the hummingbirds and the gorgeous mountain. I felt
like the whole world was at peace in that moment. I wished it were really true
that soldiers were not at this very minute fighting for our freedom and the
Sudanese were not being tortured, and so on.
After I rested
for a little while, I texted my mom.
Texting was so much easier than
talking about all kinds of things that didn’t matter. Sometimes she could
rattle on.

My stomach was
growling, so I headed for the fridge. I looked in the freezer and I saw pizza.
I placed it in the oven.

I went to the living
room and turned on the television and turned off the Bose. I browsed the
channels and I found “
Sleepless in Seattle
.”
Yes, that will be good
to watch,
I thought. The oven timer dinged that it was ready. I collected my
pizza and went to the living room to the chaise lounge and watched my movie.

I put up my plate and
cleaned up my mess. I programmed the coffee pot. I decided to head for the
bath. I thought I would try the jetted tub tonight. I locked up downstairs and put
the music system on and went upstairs and drew my bath. I sprinkled in the bath
oil beads and took out my nightclothes of shorts and a T-shirt. I saw there
were some Midsummer’s Night scented Yankee Candles. I lit the candles around
the tub.

I took off my bandage
and looked down at my injured thumb and there was nothing there. It was not red
from mercurochrome and there was no puncture wound. I did a double take. How
could that be? That must be some powerful stuff Logan used as antibiotic.
Very weird.
I kept looking at my thumb in disbelief. I
undressed and got into the tub. I drank in the aroma from the candles. I turned
on the jets and wow, this was the life, getting a massage in the water. Woo
hoo
! I lay my head back on the built-in pillow and relaxed
thinking about the day and Logan. I wondered what he was doing right now.

He was so easy to talk
to and he knew everything about well, everything. He was so handsome. I
wondered what my aunt meant when she said she thought the two of us were a
match made in
heaven?

Was she paying him to
be with me in hopes we clicked as a couple? Did I look like I couldn’t find a
man on my own? Well, I guess not one that would stick around anyway. Touché,
Aunt Carol. Adele was singing the line on the stereo, ironically, ‘Never mind,
I’ll find someone like you.’

I wondered where we
were going tomorrow.
Just as I was thinking that, the lights
went out. I said, “Hello,” and thought,
thank God I had the candles on
.
“Hello, is someone there?” I asked. I heard nothing. Then, I realized the music
was still playing. I got out of the tub, wrapped myself in a towel and headed
out to the veranda.

There was not a cloud
in the sky and I didn’t see or hear anything strange. I realized the lights in
the bedroom and the hall were on, so it couldn’t be the electricity. I went
inside to go downstairs and see what the problem was and the lights were on
everywhere else. I went over to the breaker box in the garage and all of the
breakers were on. I guessed something must have been wrong in the light itself.
Wow. Oh, well, I guess I could tell Logan tomorrow.

I went back upstairs
and I looked in the bathroom and the candles were out. Instinctively, I reached
for the light switch and flipped the switch and the light in the bathroom came on.
Fear welled up in my throat. I grabbed the salt lamp and headed in and opened
the huge closet door in the bathroom and I saw nothing. I went through the
other rooms upstairs and I saw nothing. I went back and locked the door to the
veranda. I guess it must have just been the wind that blew out the candles and
a glitch with the light. I thought that was scary. Note to self—get protection,
just in case.

I finished drying off
and put on my nightclothes. I’d had enough bathing for that night. The phone
rang and it was my mother. We talked about what a great time I was having and
how great Logan was. I did not mention my scare because she would freak out. We
talked about my Dad and we hung up.

I checked my phone and
texted a couple of people who sent me messages.

I thought I would lie
down. I set my alarm, adjusted the music and scurried under the covers of the
master bed. I thought of the day’s events and how I stabbed myself with the
cactus flower and how my thumb looked like nothing had happened. Then, I thought
of Logan and how I could drink in the smell of him as he was bent over me
working on my thumb. It was a sexy, manly smell. I believe it was Hugo Boss. I
wished every man in the world wore that cologne so I could smell it everywhere
I went. I would be walking around intoxicated by the scent of love’s passion.

Why was he the only
thing that occupied my thoughts these days? Uh, maybe because he was gorgeous
and fun!

Oh, sand man, where are
you?
I buried my head into the pillow a little more and closed my eyes a little
tighter.

CHAPTER EIGHT

I woke up to the alarm
I had set for eight a.m. and headed down the stairs to get my coffee that I’d
programmed to be ready. I put in my creamer and I went out to the patio to
enjoy my coffee. This was such a beautiful place overlooking the pool.

I looked out at the sky
and there were two balloons in the distance. Wow, I loved these balloons. I was
going to have to ride in one myself one day. That has to be amazing floating
over the city but not up high like in a plane. I thought I would love it. The
mountain was so peaceful and ever present. I looked around and there was a
hummer flying up to the flower on the feeder to get nectar. I wondered if I was
supposed to fill that up or if it was something Logan did. They were so fast
and amazing. I went inside to get more coffee and returned to the patio.

I sat outside enjoying
the view and my coffee for about an hour. I thought this would all end shortly
after I receive my license. I had better enjoy it now.

I needed to get dressed
before Logan arrives on the scene.

I went back up the
stairs; at least I was getting a free workout. I found my clothes. Since I did
not know where we were going, I wore a sundress again. It was appropriate for
almost every occasion except hiking and formal.