Blood of the Rainbow Read online

  “Yes, I can hear you fine.” Sara loved the sound of his voice. It made her go all tingly inside.

  “And is the music loud enough?”

  “Yes, it’s fine.”

  “Is this you? It sounds like the same song you were singing outside.”

  Sara laughed. “I wished. It’s the same song, but this is by the original. It’s called ‘My Immortal’ by ‘Evanescence.’

  “Honestly, Sara, I could have sworn it was you. Do you have any of yours on here?”

  “Yeah, one. Something I was working on earlier today.”

  “I want us to try that Evanescence song when we get back to the house. That’s if it’s not too late when we get back.”

  Sara smiled. “Ok. I love singing with you.”

  “Oh no. I’m just going to play this time, and I might help you out with the chorus, like I did with ‘The Rose’, but I want you to do this one on your own.”

  “Why?”

  “As sad as the song is, it’s still beautiful, and it suits your voice. I think it would sound better as a solo.”

  Sara was skeptical. “All right….”

  “Well, hang on tight. I would never forgive myself if you got hurt. You don’t act as if you’ve done this before.”

  Sara smiled. “That’s because I haven’t. Jeff, my former - well, anyway. He offered me a ride on his bike, and I wouldn’t take it.”

  Jared seemed surprised. “Really? Why wouldn’t you go riding with him?”

  Sara squeezed her arms around him. “Because I didn’t trust him.”

  Jared softly laughed, revved the engine, and pulled back on the highway. “And you trust me?”

  Sara sighed contentedly, not a doubt in her reply. “Completely….”

  Jared softly laughed again. “Good.” The song ended, and the next one started. He chuckled. “It looks like somebody else likes to listen to different music than what they sing.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You’re like me. I write, play, and sing country and western, but I like to listen to all kinds of music.”

  Sara laughed. “The music I listen to is usually dependent on what kind of mood I’m in.”

  “So what kind of mood are you in right now Sara?”

  “Happy, safe, peaceful and a little dangerous, I guess you could say.” ‘Super Massive Black Hole’ by ‘Muse’ had started playing. “This song always makes me feel a little daring and dangerous. I like to listen to it, when I’m driving. I play it over and over. I think they used it on ‘Twilight’. I still haven’t seen the movie yet, and I understand the second of the series is coming out soon.”

  Wow! Sara was talking to Jared, and she wasn’t tripping over her tongue. Sara usually tripped over her tongue when she talked to someone she was interested in. She’d stopped feeling nervous around Jared. She wondered why.

  “I can help you there. I have the DVD and the books, all of them. I saw the movie first, and then I bought the book set. I read all four volumes in less than a week. I just couldn’t put them down. I guess they sort of reminded me of us. We’ll go see the second movie - and all the others, together….”

  Sara chuckled. “How, you didn’t know me then, and besides, you’re not a vampire – are you?”

  Jared snorted. “No - no vampire here…” he abruptly changed the subject. “So do you want to see the other movies with me?”

  “Yes, I would.”

  “It’s a date then, but don’t think I’m going to stay away from you until then.”

  “I wouldn’t like that.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m not! You’ll be lucky if I let you out of my sight. So do you enjoy living here in Shreveport?”

  Sara smiled at his evasiveness. “I do now….”

  Jared took his left hand off the handle bar, and squeezed her arm that was wrapped around his waist, before putting it back on the handle bar. “Good,” he smiled.

  The next song started playing. “This one’s mine. The one I did this morning.”

  “Really.…” He got quiet, listening to the music. In fact, Jared didn’t say anything else until it was finished. “Wow!” he whispered. “Did Lucy work today?”

  “Yeah – why?”

  “Who played the piano and harmonized with you?”

  Sara laughed. “I did.”

  “What? You didn’t mention you played piano too!”

  “You never asked, but I don’t really play it. I can read notes, but not like everyone else does. I hear the notes in my head.”

  “I think I could teach you more, if you wanted to learn.”

  Sara smiled. That much was already clear to her. “We’ll see.... ”

  Jared chuckled.

  ------------

  They rode for a long time in virtual silence, listening to the music and singing along. About five miles Northeast of Shreveport, Jared stopped at a gas station for fuel, and some sandwiches. They both crawled back on the bike, and after a quick kiss, they flew down the road again. They stayed on the main highway another four or five miles before Jared slowed, and turned down a grassy derelict road. It didn’t look like it had seen any real traffic for years.

  “Wow, this is remote,” Sara commented.

  “If you think this is remote, wait until we get where we’re going.”

  The blacktop ended, and turned to what looked like a cow trail. They continued to follow the trail for at least another thirty minutes, twisting and weaving around trees, and rocks. Sometimes crossing over, or through tiny streams as the road slowly narrowed to a path along the hillside. Sara gasped when she looked down, and felt nauseated.

  Jared softly chuckled. “Hey, did I forget to tell you not to look down?”

  “Oh, ha ha, he he.” Sara let out a shriek when Jared revved the engine, and went up an incline.

  He laughed. “Sara, I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I’ve been down this road so many times. In fact… I could probably do it with my eyes shut.”

  “Don’t!” Sara gasped. “I’d prefer you kept your eyes open, if you don’t mind.”

  Jared laughed out loud. He was enjoying this. Jared didn’t seem to be bothered. He twisted through the trail as if it was a major interstate highway. Sara kept letting out little squeals, and gasps at some of the sights.

  “You might want to close your eyes as we go over this.”

  Sara looked in front of them, and saw a rickety wooden plank path, leading across what looked like a canyon to her. She squeezed Jared tighter. “Oh my God,” she gasped, squeezing her eyes shut. Sara kept her eyes shut. She didn’t want to see how high they were, or how high they were climbing.

  “Don’t worry – you’re not going to fall,” he said as they climbed up a steeper incline on the other side of the canyon. Sara still kept her eyes shut.

  Jared leapt over a narrow bank and bounced safely down on the other side.

  Sara drew in a deep breath, and hoped that her stomach would eventually catch up with her later. Jared had left it on the other side of that bank. He seemed to be getting a lot of pleasure from her reactions. He laughed again, and said they were almost there, but Sara could have sworn they continued to climb another five minutes.

  ------------

  Much to Sara’s relief, Jared stopped, and shut off the engine. He held out his hand, helping her off the bike. “You can open your eyes now.” Jared took off his helmet. “We’re here.” He unfastened her helmet, smiling, brushing the back of his fingers across her cheek.

  Sara’s legs felt like wet noodles. Her stomach was still churning from the butterflies that had taken up permanent residence there. Not only because of the ride, but because her stomach fluttered every time he looked at her the way he was looking at her right now. She stood still for a few seconds, making sure her balance was still working. Jared smiled, leaning down, studying her eyes as he cradled her chin in his hand. “Because, I could feel your muscles tensing against my back.” He gently pressed his lips to hers, kissing her. Innocent at fir
st, he deepened his kiss, when Sara put her hands behind his neck, threading her fingers in his hair and pulled him closer. She didn’t want it to end. Jared’s lips were full of passion as he covered her mouth with his again. The entire length of his body pressing against hers filled her with longing.

  Jared stiffened and ended the kiss. He put his hands on her shoulders, holding her a few inches from his body. He closed his eyes, drawing in a slow, deep breath, speaking in a soft groan. “Sara, do you have any idea, how much restraint… I’m having to use right now? You’re dangerous! You’re too loveable and kissable. I’ve never needed anyone like this before. It’s as if I need you to breathe. You’re my air Sara.” He kissed her again, with equal passion. Sara felt as if her body would spontaneously combust. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t speak. All she could do was burn under his hot, moist lips as her body ached for him.

  When they finally came up for air, Sara felt dazed, dizzy, as if she would pass out. How could she have known a kiss would affect so many of her senses at the same time? She swayed. Jared grabbed her shoulders, steadying her, his eyes filled with concern. “Sara – are you all right?”

  Sara’s heart was still pounding; she drew in a calming breath and waited for her head to stop spinning. “I’m all right, but I think I should sit down.”

  Jared wrapped one arm around her waist, quickly opening his saddlebag and took out a multicolored blanket. He led her under a giant cypress tree. Holding one corner of the blanket, he flung it open, spreading it over the ground. Jared took Sara’s hand as they knelt on the blanket and then sat down. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her against his chest. “Feeling better now?”

  Sara nodded. She breathed in deeply, filling her senses with his masculine smell, a mingling of his scent and cologne. She reached down and ran her hand over the raised designs on the blanket, it was soft, and the raised fibers tickled her palm. She smiled. “This is beautiful. Is it…?”

  “…Real?” Jared smiled, whispering through her hair. “Yes, it’s very real. My mother made it and gave it to me for my sixteenth birthday. I’ve got another one with a wolf baying at the moon that my grandmother made and gave me the last Christmas she lived. She was always making me little gifts like that. My Navajo room is full of all kinds of beads. I’ve got more dream catchers than the sandman,” he laughed. Jared sighed, pressing his lips to her temple, “And she even laughs at my corny jokes,” he mused.

  There was a burning question in Sara’s mind. She wondered if Jared’s family could be as prejudiced as her mother. Kaye believed you should marry your own kind. That had two qualifications; one, you had to be white, and two, come from Crooked Creek, or another small, hick town. It would be Sara’s luck to find someone like Jared, and then find out his family hated her, because she was white. If Jared’s family turned out to be as prejudiced as Kaye, the Thundercloud’s wouldn’t accept a ‘nobody’ like Sara. Afraid of the answer, she almost backed out, blurting her question at the last minute as if it used her last breath of life.

  “Jared, do you think your family will like me?” Jared mulled her question over for a few seconds; Sara mistaking his hesitation for doubt. Her tone darkened. “They probably wouldn’t….”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure of that Sara. I think they’re going to love you, especially after they’ve heard you sing. I’ll teach you some of the old native songs before we visit them, so you can impress Granddad.”

  “Does your entire family live in Arizona?”

  “They do now. It used to just be Granddad, on my father’s side, but then my parents moved to Arizona when Granddad had a stroke. We used to live in El Dorado, Texas. They’ve been back in Arizona, for about three or four years now.”

  “In that case, how did you end up in Louisiana?”

  Jared sighed, apparently trying to avoid a painful subject.

  Sara’s breath caught. “Never mind, it’s none of my business – it’s not important – you don’t have to tell me.” She turned to face him, studying his eyes. “I don’t need to know your past,” she whispered, shocked at how brave she was becoming around Jared. But, being with him felt natural, as if she’d already been this close to him, if not closer.

  He smiled at her. “It’s not that. It’s just – well – complex, I guess you could say.” Jared responded slowly, choosing his words wisely, he laughed. “It’s either that, or incredibly stupid. I’m not sure which. Anyway,” he scoffed. “At first, I was running away, but when I settled here, and bought Wisteria Hall, I realized I’d come for other reasons too.”

  “While I was at a park in Phoenix, I met a girl from Australia named Eve, she was walking her dog,” he continued without prompting. “Due to her father’s job, Eve and her family had been living in Phoenix for over a year. Her father was an investment banker and had been sent to Phoenix, to start up a new branch. The job was supposed to last another year, but in August, they let him know they were sending him back to Sidney, in January. I was heartbroken. I was nowhere near ready to get married, but I couldn’t bear the thought of being away from Eve. So, I bit the bullet and prepared for the worse. If she had to leave, I was going to propose. I figured being married to her couldn’t be worse, than being without her.”

  Jared paused briefly, giving Sara an opportunity to respond. When she didn’t, he continued his story. “I really did try. I wined and dined her, and then I popped the question. I told Eve I would go back to Australia with her, if she didn’t want to live in the United States.”

  Sara was intrigued. “How did she react?”

  Jared sighed. “She didn’t give me quite the response I expected. You see, I’d got it all wrong. Eve wasn’t in love with me. She said she was flattered, and considered me a really good friend, but she didn’t want a serious relationship. I realized then, my moving to Sidney would have been a mistake.”

  “Did you tell her that you were in love with her, I mean before you proposed?”

  Jared started kissing the side of Sara’s neck. “No. I guess that was my first mistake.”

  “But you were in love with her, weren’t you?” Sara closed her eyes, leaning her head to the side, surrendering to the sensations Jared was creating in her.

  Jared scoffed. “Yeah, I guess I was – in some form – but not like this. What I feel for you is different. It goes far beyond anything I’ve ever experienced.” He kissed the top of her head. Sara reached up, gently massaging the back of his neck, softly grazing her fingernails over his skin. Jared quickly drew in his breath. Sara’s touch was trying his control again. He sighed deeply, closing his eyes before continuing, desperate for a distraction.

  “To make a long story short, Eve went back to Australia, and I ran. I got on my bike, left Arizona, and headed back for El Dorado, home. When I got to our drive, instead of pulling in, I just kept going. The next thing I knew, I was passing Shreveport city limits sign. I got into a pool game with Steve and Carl and started hanging out with them. When they found out I didn’t have anywhere to stay, they put me up at their place. After a while, they tried to fix me up with a girl across the street – Lucy. She was sweet and nice and pretty, but I had my heart set on finding you.”

  So they did have something going. Lucy lied to me. “Jared,” she said, dubiously. “Up until about five years ago, I’d spent every summer with Lucy. I can’t understand why our paths never crossed.”

  Jared paused in thought for a while. “It does seem a little odd. Maybe it has something to do with the master plan you were talking about earlier. Regardless, we’re together now.” He paused again, reading her eyes. “Are you sure I’m not boring you with all of this?”

  Sara was sincere. She wanted to know everything about him. “No, you’re not boring me!”

  Jared took a breath, and then continued. “All right then. Tell me if I do start boring you.”

  “I will – just continue – please!” Sara was anxious.

  Jared smiled. “About three years ago, Gary and I, a friend of
mine from the hospital where I worked, got to talking. I told Gary I still needed a place to live. He asked me how much I was willing to spend, and how quickly I hoped to move in. I told Gary I wasn’t. That was when he told me about Wisteria Hall, an old plantation on the other side of Cross Lake. Unfortunately, Gary said the house was tied up in some kind of inheritance squabble, and had been for a long time. The old lady who was living there didn’t want to sell, but she was sickly and very old. If I were willing to wait, perhaps until she passed, Gary felt for sure her son would put the house on the market - as is.”

  “Why would he do that? People don’t normally give up their ancestral home without good reason,” Sara prompted.

  “He already had a house in Pensacola, and he didn’t like making trips back and forth to take care of the house. It was a lot of work, and besides, he hated Louisiana – too humid, too many tornadoes, and too many thunderstorms. Gary and I drove out there one day, so I could have a look at it. Gary warned me the house was in an awful shape, and he wasn’t kidding. When I first saw the house, it was a disaster. I understood why her son didn’t want to bother with it. I almost backed out myself, but I had time on my side.”

  Jared chuckled. “Back then, time was about all I had. I didn’t have a lot of cash, or assets that I could use as collateral for a loan. With no credit record, I wasn’t likely to secure a loan anyway. Gary said he would co-sign with me, but with the house being in that terrible state, I wasn’t about to expect him to sink in that deep. Not with something in as bad a shape as Wisteria Hall.”

  Sara chuckled and sighed. “What did you do?”

  Jared grinned. “What do you think I did? I worked my ass off, and I waited. Sure enough, Gary was right. Several months later, on her birthday, the old woman had a massive coronary and died. As it turned out, Gary knew the old woman’s son and had told him if he decided to sell, that Gary wanted first chance at the house. Apparently, his cousin, Donna Rigden, had been treating the old woman. Gary made a deal with her son, and I got the house for loose change. I was glad, because it cost me a fortune to restore and renovate the house. It needed a lot of work. I drew up the plans, modeling and fashioning it from the one in my dreams. Then I hired construction crews and builders and ....”