by Londyn Skye
“Listen, you’ve done so much for me already, so I truly hate to botha’ you for anything else. But I was wonderin’ if there’s someplace that you’d allow me to bury that trunk around here?” he asked, turning to look at it. “There’s things in that chest that hold a great deal of sentimental value to me and Lily, but I have no way of takin’ it with me right now. I’d like to come back for it one day, though.”
“Absolutely. That’s no botha’ at all. Actually, if you’d like, I have a hidden compartment in my barn that I don’t eva’ use. There’s plenty ‘a space for you to put it in there. I got a lock you can use. You can cova’ up the compartment with dirt and hay and hide the key when you’re done. It’ll be safe there. You can come back and get it wheneva’ you’d like.”
James took Ava’s hand into his. “Thank you for this … and for takin’ care ‘a my family while they were here.”
“It was my pleasure.”
“I won’t eva’ forget you for this. I don’t think I could eva’ repay your kindness, but I’m hopin’ you’ll at least accept this,” he said, trying to hand her some money.
“No, you keep that and use it to find yo’ Lily. I’ll pray every day that you find ’er. I’m sho’ she needs ya’.”
“Not half as much as I need her.”
After locking his sentimental trunk of treasures in the bunker beneath Ava’s barn, James made his way to the cemetery, holding a handful of flowers that Ava was kind enough to give him from her coffee table. The moment James set foot in that direction, he could feel his chest constricting as he thought about the fact that Rose had spent her whole life nestled in that very spot. With every step, his need to cry grew stronger. All he could think about was the fact that Rose was supposed to be a four-month-old giggling baby with beautiful eyes like her mother. By now, her chubby face should be lighting up with a smile at the sight of her daddy approaching. But instead, her lifeless body lie trapped by the dirt currently beneath his feet.
James squatted next to Rose’s beautifully designed tombstone. His tears cascaded into the grass as he placed the flowers into the cement vase attached to the tombstone. He arranged them neatly, then said a silent prayer before finding the strength to speak aloud. “I know you’re in heaven my little love. Every day, I pray and ask the angels to build you the fanciest treehouse in the sky, one with a swing that flies you high above those heavenly clouds and gives you the most glorious view of the paradise you’re livin’ in. I have faith that they’ll take good care ‘a you until the day God calls me home. And when he does, you prepare yourself for the biggest, warmest hug you’ve eva’ had. I love you eternally my little angel,” James choked out through his tears.
Unable to bear the thought of leaving just yet, James sat down with his back against the oak tree near Rose’s tombstone. He let his tears subside and then lit a lantern. He then took Levi’s journal out of his satchel and continued to read the intriguing tale of Rose’s maternal grandfather …
Chapter Eleven
February 15th, 1835
After what I found out today, I now truly believe in miracles …
In the months following their three-day affair, Levi found it impossible not to smile every time he caught sight of Maya. Just like in the past, Maya would turn in his direction when she sensed that he was gazing at her. Now, though, Levi never bothered to turn away when Maya caught him. She let her eyes linger on him too and acknowledged his feelings with a discreet smile of her own. Levi’s body always warmed, and his smile broadened over the return of her simple affection.
Today, while standing in the field chatting with a fellow farmer, Levi’s reaction to Maya was no different. Levi glanced over his friend’s shoulder after catching sight of Maya emerging from her cottage. The words of Levi’s friend faded away from his ears and his eyes instinctively followed Maya. As always, Levi’s crooked grin was instant the moment he looked at the angelic woman in his view. Maya turned in his direction and gave her usual smile in return. However, instead of Levi’s smile broadening, it quickly faded from his face altogether. There was no warmth running through his body this time either. Instead, he felt as though he had just been submerged in ice. He froze, barely able to swivel his head as he continued watching Maya walk toward the barn.
“You alright, Levi?” his farmer friend asked. “You look like you just seen a damn ghost,” he snickered.
Levi’s brain did not even register what his friend had just said. He still had yet to blink as he tried to absorb what his eyes were seeing. “Will you excuse me a minute?” he said to his friend, sounding completely void of emotion.
“Sure,” the man responded, staring oddly at how the color had drained from Levi’s face.
Levi was trying desperately to get his weakened legs to usher him into the barn. But it was not until Maya disappeared inside that he finally got them to work properly. As he quickly made his way there, his mind suddenly flooded with flashbacks of the unforgettable hours that he had spent suspended in heaven with Maya five months prior. Levi had memorized her body backwards, forwards, and sideways on those nights. He had dreamt about that body and fantasized about it constantly since then. That body was imprinted in his memory in stunning detail. So, when the wind just so happened to press Maya’s dress flat against her body as she walked by, Levi knew immediately that the slight protrusion in her abdomen was not normally there. The shocking sight hit his body like lightning, causing his knees to nearly give out. It was a miracle that he made it into the barn without collapsing.
The sound of the barn door closing startled Maya. She then turned around to find herself alone with Levi. In his current state of shock, Levi was unable to formulate words. He slowly removed his hat and just stood there looking pale as a ghost while his heart threatened to beat its way out of his chest. His mouth was partially agape as he stared at Maya with an intensity that he never had before. Maya held Levi’s gaze as he had always asked her to do in his presence. This time, though, it was Levi’s eyes that drifted down for a change. By the look on his face, Maya immediately understood exactly why.
Realizing that Levi was too stunned to move or speak, Maya slowly approached him. With every step, she was reading the look on his face as he gazed at her midsection. To her surprise, she saw tears welling in his beautiful eyes that seemed to sparkle with hope. Maya stopped within a foot of him. But, still, Levi would not remove his eyes from her stomach. The look on his face seemed to be asking a question that he could not get his mouth to formulate. Maya’s hand was shaking uncontrollably as she suddenly reached out toward Levi. The intense fear running through her had also voided her of the ability to speak. Instead, she took a hold of his hand. She could not decipher whose hand was trembling worse as she held his. To answer the hopeful question she saw dancing in his eyes, she slowly maneuvered his shaking hand onto her abdomen. The simple act instantly made the welling tears in Levi’s eyes overflow down his cheeks. He knelt and kissed the place where his baby was resting, then wrapped his arms around Maya’s waist and quietly wept tears of joy.
Levi finally summoned the strength to stand when he felt Maya still trembling uncontrollably. He placed his hands on either side of her tearstained face. “You okay?”
“I am now.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Levi asked, his joyous tears still trickling.
“I was t-terrified. I thought y-you’d be f-furious,” Maya replied, her quivering voice proving her sincerity.
“Maya,” Levi whispered, tearfully. “We created a miracle togetha’. How could I eva’ be furious about that?”
Maya lowered her head and began sobbing uncontrollably, his words instantly flushing away months’ worth of worry. Levi tightly embraced her, lending a shoulder for her to cry on.
As Maya lay there, Levi felt a sense of sadness that she had been too scared to confide in him sooner. “You’ve been holdin’ onto that fear all this time?” he asked, as he caressed her back.
Maya pulled back from their embrace
and nodded as she wiped her tears.
“Well, right here, right now, you let go of every ounce of your fears and worries…” He gently placed his hands alongside Maya’s face again and made her look him in the eyes. “Because I already love our little baby … just as much as I love you.” He cemented that sentiment in the way he then tenderly caressed her lips with his, the passion in his kiss conveying his gratitude for the gift she would soon deliver. His warm affection indeed raced through Maya’s body, immediately exterminating the trepidation that had stolen the joy of being blessed with a gift she thought she would never have. Five months of repressed joy hit Maya all at once and she felt her entire essence breath a collective sigh of relief. Reciprocating the extreme gratitude for what Levi’s expression of love had blessed her body with, Maya deepened their kiss. Their thankful tears blended together and cascaded down their cheeks, christening the place where the life they had created was growing.
After the intimate exchange, Levi hesitantly pulled himself away from the fantasy world of his mind, where the woman before him was his wife. “I can’t wait to hold our little miracle,” he confessed, gently caressing Maya’s stomach. “You’ll have everything you need for the baby before then, okay?”
Maya nodded. “Thank you,” she replied, her tears still falling.
“No … thank you,” Levi smiled. “For makin’ yet anotha’ one ‘a my dreams come true. I wanted this for you … for us. God answered my prayer to bless you with a baby,” he said, softly caressing her cheek. “You absolutely deserve to be a motha’.”
Levi’s words triggered another round of intense sobbing that made it impossible for Maya to verbally reply. She simply wrapped her arms around Levi and melted in the warmth of his embrace.
After holding Maya and weeping with her over the astounding revelation, Levi knew he had to force himself to let go of her again. Before he completely abandoned his fairytale, he tenderly kissed Maya’s forehead and wiped the last of her tears. He then cleared his own eyes and blew out a stern breath to settle himself. He put back on his Stetson hat then reluctantly exited the barn and returned to the real world … and back into the man that the slave-owning south expected him to be.
… Every word of Levi’s journals had James gripped, his curiosity pinging off the scales. Much like Maya, James’s reaction was one of surprise at the way Levi responded to the news of Lily’s impending arrival. But he wondered how the same hand that had elegantly scripted such words about Lily could be the same hand that had callously dragged her kicking and screaming from her mother’s arms and onto an auction block years later. The two extreme contrasting events did not seem to be able to exist in the same realm of possibility. It made James suddenly wonder if the journals were fabricated or if Levi had gone insane before selling Lily. James was confident that someone would have had to pry Rose from his cold dead hands before she ever set foot on an auction block. He simply could not fathom how a loving father could do such a thing. The entire contradiction had him thoroughly perplexed and continued to keep a stronghold over his desire to turn the pages of Levi’s journals.
James’s intrigue was further strengthened when he reached into the satchel Colt had given him and pulled out a pink knitted baby blanket and a children’s book. They were among the treasures Colt insisted be passed on to Lily. The items seemed to further prove Levi’s love for the new miracle soon to come into his life. But James did not recall Lily ever mentioning the children’s book he now held in his hands. It left him wondering if she had ever heard it. James opened to the first page of Hans Christiensen’s “The Little Mermaid” and decided to read it aloud to his own daughter. After reading the plot, James understood why Levi felt compelled to purchase a story about the challenge of loving someone from a completely different world. It was something he currently understood all too well. James placed the book back in the satchel. He then stood up and sighed as he glanced down at Rose and Gideon’s grave sites. The sight before him was the ultimate proof of how the world was hellbent on challenging him. The impact, however, was not enough to make him give up on loving Lily, in the way it seemed Levi had.
James turned to Gideon’s resting place and said a brief prayer. “Goodbye ol’ friend. I’ll be sure you make it back home.” He then turned and looked at the words on his daughter’s tombstone again. “Ava got it right. You certainly are my precious little Rose.” He kissed his hand and touched her tombstone. “I’ll be back for you one day … I promise.”
James wiped his tears, then finally managed to pull himself away and set out to resume his search for Lily. Considering the details of Ava’s story, he rode hard for the rest of the night with a very specific destination in mind. The place he was headed was further proof that he was truly willing to walk through the fires of hell before he ever gave up on the daughter that Levi Collins mysteriously decided to throw away.
Chapter Twelve
“JEREMIAH! DON’T PULL THAT FUCKIN’ TRIGGER!”
The Ghost Rider holding a double barrel shotgun to James’s face suddenly pressed it against his forehead. “Why the fuck shouldn’t I shoot this snoop, right here, right now?!” he asked, cocking the rifle.
“If you shoot that man, you’ll be throwin’ away five thousand dolla’s,” the man behind him replied. He then quickly walked up beside Jeremiah. “I Just saw his wanted posta’s plastered everywhere down in Virginia. He’s a fugitive. You’ll get a pretty penny for this pretty boy.”
James looked over Jeremiah’s shoulder and realized that the man selling him out was Austin, the percussionist from Lily’s show.
“You sure this is him?” Jeremiah asked, his shotgun still pressed against James’s head.
“Just as sure as the fact that flies love shit,” Austin replied.
James lowered his eyes and gave Austin a hateful glare.
Austin glared back, looking just as evil. He then pulled his pistol out and aimed it James. “Go on and get Tex,” he told Jeremiah. “I’ll keep watch ova’ him.”
The Ghost Rider trotted up the steps of the dilapidated log cabin that James had been hiding behind.
“Hit me,” Austin murmured as soon as Jeremiah was out of earshot.
James looked confused. “What?”
“Hit me and run! Hurry up dumbass! I’m tryna get you outta this shit!”
By the time James realized that Austin was an ally, Tex was trotting down the steps.
“Shit!” Austin exclaimed under his breath, looking angrily at James for not listening while they had the chance.
Eight Ghost Riders filed out of the house behind Duke’s cousin, Tex. They all surrounded James.
“Caught this fucker snoopin’ around here, listenin’ in on our meetin’,” Jeremiah told Tex. “Austin says he’s a fugitive worth five thousand dolla’s.”
“It’s true,” Austin confirmed.
“What’s y’ur name, boy?” Tex asked.
James refused to answer.
“I said, what’s y’ur goddamn name?!”
“His name’s Jake. I think that’s what the wanted posta’ said,” Austin lied.
Toby, another Ghost Rider, stepped up and held a lantern near James’s face. “I’ll be damned. This sho’ is that fucker we saw on them wanted posta’s. Had his goddamn face plastered everywhere down in Virginia. Convicted of murda’. Adams, I rememba’ that posta’ sayin’ … James Adams.”
Austin closed his eyes. Shit! he mouthed, angry that another Ghost Rider recalled that information.
“Adams?” Tex snickered. “Well, well, well, boys we done lucked up on a treasure.”
“Sure did! This fucker’s worth five thousand dollars!” Toby replied.
“Naw,” Tex replied. “We ain’t turnin’ this little shit into no authorities.”
Toby looked at Tex like he was insane. “Why the hell would you pass up on that kind ‘a money?”
“To hell with that money,” Tex replied. “You and Jeremiah were here when this man’s fatha’ came here wantin’
help findin’ this nigga’ lovin’ thief.”
The memory immediately came back. “Adams?” Toby turned to look at James again. “This is Jesse Adams’ son? The one who dragged that slave all ova’ the country playin’ piano?”
“Thee one and only,” Tex replied, turning to glare at James. “Gentleman, this man here is the nigga’ lovin’ son of a Ghost Rida’ grand wizard,” he explained. “Not just any grand wizard … the goddamn founda’ of the Ghost Rida’s. And he wasn’t just convicted of murderin’ some meaningless pieces of shit.” Tex walked up to James and stared him dead in the eyes. “He murdered three of our brethren … ova’ a nigga!” he snarled.
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talkin’ about,” James replied.
“Don’t lie to me fucker! Duke’s son came up here and told me about the shit you done caused down in Virginia. Duke’s stuck in prison now waitin’ to stand trial for all the shit you caused! Can’t be no fuckin’ coincidence that anotha’ James Adams is now a fugitive.”
“I said, I don’t know what the hell you’re talkin’ ab-”
“Shut the hell up!” Tex yelled, cutting James’s words short with a fist to his diaphragm. “I heard about the romp you had with Duke in the woods. He should ‘a finished the job for killin’ three of our own! But I’ll be happy to finish it for ’em. My brotha’ died on that old rich white nigga’ lova’s estate! Duke’s always said y’ur daddy’s too much of a pussy to scar y’ur pretty little face. But I can promise ya’, I won’t fuckin’ hesitate! I’m Gonna make you pay for what happened to my brotha’!” Tex turned to look briefly at his brethren. “Turns out we ain’t gonna need to catch no nigga’ to fry at the rally t’night afta’ all! Y’all start erectin’ the cross and get the nooses and knives ready,” he demanded to a few of the new recruits. He then turned back to glare at James. “And tie this piece ‘a shit up in the shed. I’m gonna give y’all a show t’night worth far more than that five thousand dolla’ reward money!”