Out of Touch, Out of Time - Chapter Fourteen

July 5, 2008

It was getting close to dark when Cheyenne finally pulled into the driveway. She sure hoped Jonas had found something to eat.

She stopped at the mailbox to check for mail and then was hit by a sudden fear. She hoped he was still there. This was the first day she’d been separated from him since he arrived.

Forgetting to even check for the mail, she ran into the house.

“Jonas, I’m back.”

Nothing, the house was quiet, and she knew no one was there. Oh God, he’d gone back.

She ran to the living room, she didn’t know why exactly, but stopped with a slide just inside the room as she saw his almost ghost-like figure through the lace curtains. She almost collapsed in the nearest chair in relief.

Walking back out the front door, she moved around the side of the house and stopped dead. His shirt was off and he was digging in the hard ground. Holy shit, he was really gorgeous. She watched the way the muscles in his well-developed chest rippled with each downward push of the shovel.

Christ, he really was her dream man. Five whole days, no more, no less, and he’d become her world. She’d done terrific today, another couple of days going through the pictures she’d taken, printing and framing and she’d be more than ready for the show. And she knew she owed it to one Jonas Salinger. Because he’d finally made her look at the world in a new way. Gone was the depression left, but unrecognized, by John the Jerk’s defection.

Jonas looked up. Seeing her he smiled and held up his finger. He reached for his shirt where he’d thrown it on the ground and stood putting it on.

As he approached, she was so happy to see him, she jumped into his arms. Laughing he gave her a big hug and when he sat her on her feet, he pulled her to him and kissed her hard. Apparently, they were both having trouble remembering to keep it on a strictly friendly basis.

“I’ve been trying to tame that overgrown mess, but I don’t know if it’ll ever look like a garden again.”

She smiled, yup, she was definitely falling in love. “Hey, I never dreamed when I wanted to restore it, it would really be authentic.”

“Oh, I don’t think it’ll look like it did for old man Hucksinger. I hated his garden; I always wanted something less structured.”

He smiled and put his finger under her chin, continuing, “And for you, you must have something wild and colorful.”

He kissed her tenderly, “Just like you.”

She leaned into him and his stomach growled. “Hungry?” she asked.

He looked into her eyes and there was no mistaking his intent when he said, “Very.” Wow, so much for the stereotypical Victorian Gentleman. So much for platonic relations. He had the same hungers as she did, and she bet it would be his turn to teach her things. She felt the heat rise in her face at the direction of her thoughts, and really hoped it was too dark for him to see.

No matter what his personal hunger was for, his stomach had other ideas and growled again. He laughed and said, “I guess I’ll have to settle for something to eat instead.”

He looked at her and rubbed his thumb under her left eye saying, “You look exhausted. Can we go out somewhere? I assume there’re still restaurants.”

She laughed, “Absolutely. From what we call fast-food restaurants to high class, very expensive restaurants and everything in between.”

“Something in between, I think. I don’t know what fast food is, but like all the other things I’ve been learning, I’m going to guess from its name it’s something you get quickly and since you mentioned it as the opposite of expensive, cheaply.”

“Yeah, and you can actually add crappy to that list, but that sure doesn’t stop us from eating tons of it,” she smiled.

His face got serious and he said, “I wish I could take you, however. I would rather we didn’t have to spend any more of your money. The new clothes were too much, not that the trip wasn’t educating.” He smiled slightly at what could only be the memory of that trip.

She smiled and softly touched his face. “When you start that great gardening business, then you can take me out to a really swank place with your first paycheck. In the meantime, I have my mother’s inheritance, and I do very well for myself with my photos.”

He kissed her hand. “I’ll remember that.”

Her heart fluttered. “I’ll see that you do.”

He dropped her hand and said, “For now, I must get cleaned up. What kind of clothes do I need?”

“I’ll find something, and if they’re too wrinkled, I’ll even iron them.” Big talk. God, she hoped there was something that didn’t need ironing because she was better at ironing wrinkles in than out. But since they’d just bought him all new clothes, they shouldn’t be too wrinkled, should they?

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fifteen