Under A Painted Sky (Spirit Warrior Series) (7 page)

He was right. I was so
glad he told me.

Another few minutes of
taking pictures and we arrived at the top station. We all unloaded and looked
around. I was still in awe.

Then we went through
the museum. I took a bathroom break. Next, we walked around and read all of the
little exhibits set up about the area. I couldn’t believe we were 10,378 feet
high in Cibola National Forest. The information said you could see 11,000
square miles. That was unbelievable!

That was some big view.
We left the museum, walked the wooden decking and looked out over the rails at
the beauty that surrounded us. I found myself repeating time after time, “This
is amazing.”

“I thought I would
welcome you to New Mexico by giving you the sky. Are you impressed?”

“Ha, you really did
give me the sky and it is so incredible.”

I shivered as a cold
breeze hit me. Logan reached into his backpack and pulled out two blue lined
windbreakers. He handed me one and said, “This will help.”

I slipped it on
eagerly. “You really do think of everything. Thanks.”

“I told you, I’ve been
to all of these places and the truth is
,
the
temperature is twenty degrees colder up here than at the bottom. I’ve learned
to be prepared. The first time I was not so smart,” he explained.

“Look,” Logan said,
pointing to the right.

It was an eagle which
seemed huge when you were that close-up. It was exhilarating to see.

Just then, someone
called out, “Logan Hayes.”

I turn to see a
waitress outside of the restaurant.

Logan answered, “Yes,”
and nudged me to come on.

We entered High Finance
Restaurant. She took us to a table with a panoramic view of outside and we were
seated.

“Someone will be right
with you.”

I looked at Logan and
asked, “How did you do this? You were with me the whole time.”

“I called yesterday and
made reservations for a sunset dinner with a table to see the sunset. You have
to see the sunset while you eat; it’s phenomenal,” he said.

“I am impressed.”

“Good,” he replied.

The waiter came and
took our order. Logan got a New York Strip and I got Tilapia. They brought our
drinks and calamari appetizer.

“Well, I guess this is
a great place for you to bring your girlfriends.”

“I wouldn’t know since
you are the only girl I have come here with, except my mother and my clients.”

I knew my face must’ve
been red. I thought to myself,
wow, I couldn’t believe as gorgeous as he was
and he had never brought a girl here.
Why did I keep on thinking those things
when I was not looking for a relationship? I was just divorced six months ago.

He did seem like the
most perfect guy ever. He was so easy to talk to and sexy, kind, capable, smart
and everything you could want in a man. Those eyes of his you could get lost in
forever!
Oh, stop it, Isabella,
I told myself, just as he looked at me
and once again, my face flushed rosy pink.

“Have you thought about
where you might work when you get your license?” he asked.

“I had wanted to work
with children and thought I would try University of New Mexico Children’s
Hospital first. I have to get my license and then apply for a license here. I
understand you can get a work permit right away while you wait on your New
Mexico license to arrive in the mail. I get a long vacation while I wait on my
original license. I could go to work somewhere else in the meantime, but I
don’t think it is fair to start working there and then quit so soon after
starting. I guess I need a vacation anyway after nursing school. I am easily
bored though,” I replied.

“Well, just let me know
if you get too bored and need a temporary job, because I could put you to work.
It would not be nursing, but I promise you would not be bored,” Logan offered.

“I will certainly keep
that in mind.”

I thought to myself,
who
wouldn’t love working for you?
Wow, why do I keep going there? It was like
my mind couldn’t think of anything but Logan. Am I going crazy or what?

Our food arrived and it
looked delicious. As we enjoyed our meal, I said, “Incredible again.”

“I didn’t cook it,” he
replied.

“No, but you sure did
bring us here,” I said.

“In that case, you are
welcome.”

The sun started
dropping down across the Sandia sky.

I learned Sandia meant
watermelon. The sky was definitely watermelon. The sky then progressed to add
orange and purple and blue.

“I have never seen a
more beautiful sky and it goes on forever and ever.”

“Don’t take your eyes
off of it, because it slips down very fast up here,” Logan said.

“There it goes. Wow,
wow, wow!” That was all I could say. I was tongue tied for adjectives.

“It was amazing, wasn’t
it? I could watch it every night and never get tired of it,” Logan said.

“You got that right.”

After we finished our
incredible meal, Logan asked, “Are you ready to go back down now or wait until
the last Tram of the night?”

“Sure, we can go down
now,” I replied.

We headed for the
station and boarded the Tram to go down. It was just as crowded on the way
down. This time the view was much different in the dark. Logan had a hold of me
by my jacket. He had the material balled up under his hand.

I was thinking ‘my
protector’. The breeze blew over us. I couldn’t get enough of the smell of him
from the cross wind. It just took over all of my senses. There I went again. He
leaned over and asked if I was okay, as if he could see my flushed face in the
dark.

“I’m fine,” I
whispered.

“You sure are,” he
whispered back.

My heart started racing
at the sensual sound of his voice whispering in my ear.
Oh, heart, please be
still,
I scolded. I knew without a doubt at that moment, I was falling hard
for my green-eyed tour guide.

It seemed an eternity,
but it could not have been more than fifteen minutes until we were back where
we started at the home Tram Station. We unloaded and headed for the truck. He
opened my door and I got in and looked at my phone.

There was nothing but
things to like on Facebook. That could wait.

Logan sent a text to
someone and then we pulled out.

“That was so much fun.
Thank you so much. You really rock! I can’t believe the places you take me,” I
said.

“I can’t believe how
much fun I have when I’m with you,” he replied.

In the background on
the radio, Snow Patrol was rocking out.

“The glistening lights
of the city are on steroids tonight,” I said.

“It’s because there are
few trees and you can see for miles and miles. It is very beautiful,” Logan
said.

“This really seems like
a magical place. It’s funny how I never even heard anything of New Mexico
except the name until my aunt suggested I come here.”

“Your aunt is a very
smart woman,” he said.

We finally made it to
the gate of my community and Logan punched in his code to open it. We pulled
around to the house and he got out of the truck to let me out and followed me
to the door.

“Thanks again for a
great time,” I said.

“It was all my
pleasure. I will pick you up bright and early. Bring that windbreaker because
you may need it again,” Logan said.

“Okay. Goodnight,” I
said.

“Goodnight, Isabella,”
he replied as I went in and locked the door behind me.

CHAPTER TEN

I saw a note on the
table by the door from the electrician. The note said that everything was wired
as it should be and worked great. No adjustments had to be made.

I thought to myself,
well,
that is weird.

I decided since I
needed to get up early in the morning that I had better get ready for bed so
that I would have a cheery disposition tomorrow. I headed upstairs and turned
on my music on the wall panel. I checked the bathroom light and it came on
fine. I got out my clothes for the next day. That was real easy since I’d
gotten a balloon T-shirt and earrings today. I grabbed some jeans with
embroidered pockets, a pair of socks and Nike’s.

I couldn’t resist
looking out on the veranda. I opened the door off the bedroom and it revealed a
million stars. When God paints the sky, He does not mess around. It simply took
my breath. I couldn’t help but stare for a few minutes. I went back inside to
shower and get ready for bed after locking the door to outside.

I let the warm shower
water consume me. Afterward, I brushed my teeth, set the alarm clock, turned
down the music and sank into bed.

I got all enveloped in
the luxurious comfort of my new bed. I did the usual thinking in my head about the
day’s activities and events. The day and night were incredible. I thought of
Logan and the feelings I had when he touched me or looked at me. Could this be
happening so quickly? Could I really be falling head over heels for this
amazing guy? I couldn’t get the smell of his cologne out of my head.

I finally fell asleep,
but I awoke later to the sound of footsteps on the stairs. I got up and looked
out at the stairs and I saw nothing. I looked around and thought I must be
hearing things. I went back and got into bed once again. I tried to sleep, but
I thought I saw a shadow going past in the hall. “Hello,” I called out, but no
answer. I got up and went to the door and then into the hallway, where I again
saw nothing. I thought my imagination must been working overtime. I walked back
to my doorway and as I went through it, I felt a chill in the air. I shut and
locked the bedroom door and jumped in bed under the covers.

I awoke to the awful
sound of my alarm. I got up and went in the bathroom. I got smart and brushed
my teeth, got dressed, made my bed and collected my things and then went
downstairs. I rushed to the coffee pot for my coffee and poured in the pumpkin
spice creamer. I was now in heaven. It was still dark, so I drank my coffee
inside. I opened my laptop and went to Facebook. I went through my usual like,
like, and updated my status.
Up, up, and away in my beautiful balloon
through the ‘Land of Enchantment’ today!
I turned the computer off and
gathered my things, placing them on the table by the door.

I sat back down to
finish my coffee and heard Logan at the door. I went to open it and he said,
“Good morning, Isabella. Are you ready?”

“Morning.
Yes, all set,” I replied.

I locked up and we
pulled out of the drive and past the security gates and we were on our way.

Logan said, “We are
leaving from our business parking lot.”

“Cool, how did you
arrange that?” I asked.

“Well, I have
connections with the pilot,” he replied.

“How’s
that?”
I asked.

“He’s my uncle. His name
is Joe Hayes and he is my father’s brother. You’ll like him; he’s pretty cool,”
Logan said.

“That’s neat. You have
your own balloon pilot,” I said.

“It does have it perks
for sure, but on the downside, I have had to play balloon chaser on several
occasions,” Logan said.

We arrived at Logan’s
office and sure enough, there was the balloon being filled with air.

We got out and Logan
inquired, “Do you want to go watch it filling?”

“Yes,” I answered.

We walked over to the
balloon.

I watched in childlike
amazement as our balloon was made ready for us. Logan’s uncle came up to me and
said, “I don’t believe we’ve met, because I certainly would have remembered
it.”

Logan said, “Uncle Joe,
this is Isabella Reed.”

“Glad to meet you,”
Uncle Joe said.

“You, too,” I replied.

Joe said, “We will be
off in just a few minutes.”

“Great,” I replied.

The balloon was on the
ground and the basket was on its’ side on the ground. A fan was blowing into
the balloons’ envelope and the material opened up and was flooded with color
all of a sudden. It started to almost straighten up and it was beautiful with
turquoise, purple and green. Each color looked like a cloud around the balloon
with turquoise on top then purple and last was green. It had a nice basket with
leather trim.

Joe got in and fired up
the burner that seemed to breathe life into it. It had that same heavy
breathing sound I heard on the first morning in the land of enchantment. They
told me to get in the balloon as well. Logan straightened and untied the ropes
while he kept us there and then jumped into the balloon. There were two more
guys who were taking our pictures and then they jumped in their trucks.