Songbird

by Syrie James

  “Sure.”

  She wrote “Life’s a KICK at 102 FM” and signed her name. The couple were clearly thrilled. Several other people came forward and clamored for her autograph. It seemed as if she’d signed a dozen napkins and placemats when Kyle finally grabbed her arm and steered her out the door with their bags of food.

  She leaned back against the seat, incredulous, as the limo pulled away. “I can’t believe you told them who I was.”

  “Why? You’re a celebrity. Don’t tell me no one’s asked for your autograph before.”

  “Only a few times. People don’t usually recognize me by my voice. And I don’t go around introducing myself so brazenly, the way you did.”

  “You should. It’d be great publicity.”

  Where had she heard that before? Barbara. The day the woman from some restaurant had called and asked her to emcee their opening party. Suddenly Desire wanted to do that kind of party, lots of parties, wanted to get out and meet the people who listened to her on the radio.

  “I feel so fantastic when you’re here,” she cried happily. “You make me feel like anything is possible.”

  His eyes shone with tender admiration. “Only because it is.”

  The driver took them to the mile-wide, tree-shaded park where they’d ridden bicycles two weeks before. Kyle handed the McDonald’s bags to Desiree. He pulled a bulky canvas bag out of the trunk, threw the strap over his shoulder, and grabbed the ice bucket. “We’ll be back in a while,” he told the driver. “I hope you brought a good book to read.”

  The driver chuckled and signaled goodbye with a courteous wave.

  Kyle put his arm around Desiree and gave her a squeeze. “Follow me.”

  The sun hung low in the sky, bathing the lush green lawns on either side of the bike path in warm, golden light. They followed the path until it curved around a small lake, and climbed up a short hillside to a grassy knoll. He stopped beside a picnic table and set down the canvas bag. A cement fire ring stood in a clearing a few yards away.

  Kyle pulled out a red plaid blanket and shook it open. “I hope you like dining alfresco. This spot was crucial for phase two of my plan.”

  “Phase two?”

  “You’ll see.”

  “You always say that.” Desiree helped him spread the blanket on the grass. “Well, if your Picnic in the Park is anything like your Day at the Beach, I’ll really be impressed.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “You’re a master of creativity when it comes to picnics. Not to mention other out-of-door...activities.”

  Laughing huskily, he put his arms around her and drew her close. She met the warm look in his eyes, and felt her throat constrict with an overpowering rush of affection.

  “It’s been a long two weeks, hasn’t it?” he whispered.

  “It seemed like two years.” Her heart pounded as his lips nuzzled the softly curling hair at the side of her neck. She wanted to melt against him, to wrap her arms around his neck, to tell him how much he meant to her.

  Kyle, I love you, she wanted to say. But was this the right time? Would he feel pressured to admit to the same depth of feeling, or think she expected some sort of commitment in return? Before she could speak, his mouth came to hers in a quick, urgent kiss, and he withdrew.

  “Let’s eat while it’s still lukewarm,” he said gruffly. He grabbed the bags of food and sat down on the blanket.

  Desiree took a deep breath, dropped down beside him, and crossed her legs, managing a smile. “Right. Let’s eat.”

  The sun had descended below the treetops and the sky had turned a pale dusky grey by the time they finished the milkshakes, consumed two hamburgers each, and ate most of the French fries. Several yards below them, a flock of ducks gathered at the water’s edge, bobbing about expectantly.

  “Let’s throw them a hamburger bun,” Kyle suggested.

  Desiree plucked off the top bun from the remaining burger and scrambled down the incline. Kyle followed. They both ripped the bun into small pieces and tossed them into the water near the shore.

  “Here, little quackers,” he said.

  The ducks made grateful noises as they darted toward the food. When they’d flung them the last piece, Desiree raised her palms. “Sorry. All gone.” Disappointed, the ducks turned tail and glided away across the silent water.

  Kyle took Desiree’s hand in his and led her back up the slope. “Okay. Main course is finished. Leftovers dutifully disposed of. Now, for dessert.”

  Drawing out several small logs from the canvas bag, he arranged them in a pile inside the cement fire ring, on top of the paper trash from their dinner.

  “Why a campfire?” she asked, crouching down beside him.

  Casting her a mischievous grin, he lit the fire and fanned it to life with an empty styrofoam carton. All at once she realized what he must be up to, and she drew an astonished breath.

  “S’mores?” she cried. “But how—”

  “Phase two of Your Fantasies Come True.” Kyle dug out several additional items from the canvas bag and placed each one in her arms with a flourish. “One bag of marshmallows. One box of honey graham crackers. Two extra large bars of chocolate. And two specially modified coat hangers.”

  She laughed her delight and would have hugged him if her arms hadn’t been full. “How did you remember the ingredients?”

  His eyes twinkled. “I didn’t. But I have five sisters, remember? It seems a loyal Girl Scout never forgets how to make a S’more.”

  A refreshing summer breeze blew across the lake, cooling the evening air. They sat close together on the hard-packed earth, toasting handfuls of marshmallows to a golden brown over the glowing embers. She showed him how to squeeze the hot marshmallow and squares of chocolate between two graham crackers. When he pressed the crackers too hard, she leaned forward and licked the molten white goo that squeezed out the sides. They laughed, kissed, and passed the sweet confections back and forth until their hands were sticky and their faces were streaked with charcoal.

  “Happy?” Kyle asked when they’d consumed as much as they could stand. Darkness was fast approaching now. The park was lit only by the last rays of sunlight and the glow of a few well-placed pole lamps. “Feel indecently indulged?”

  “Yes,” she sighed contentedly.

  “Good.” He brought her back to the blanket and pulled her down beside him. “It’s time now to indulge one of my fantasies: sipping Perrier Jouet in the park at sunset with the girl of my dreams.”

  He withdrew a slender bottle from the ice bucket, then proceeded to open it. Delicate white flowers were hand painted on the dark green grass. Desiree knew an expensive bottle of champagne when she saw one. “Wow, this must be a special occasion.”

  “It is. It’s the three week anniversary of the day we met.” He retrieved a champagne glass from the bucket, filled it, and lifted it to her lips. She sipped.

  “Mmmmm. Delicious.”

  He brought the glass to his own lips and drank. Their eyes met and never wavered as they passed the glass back and forth, slowly finishing the tangy bubbling wine. Her heartbeat per-formed an erratic dance and she felt all at once enveloped in tenderness; it seemed as if her very soul would melt under the endearing affection she saw glowing in his eyes.

  He set the glass aside, and murmuring her name, he collected her in his arms and sealed her mouth with his.

  Warmth spread through her body like wildfire as she wrapped her arms around him, answering his kiss with all the fevered urgency in her heart. They sank down on the blanket and rolled to their sides, clinging together, mouth against mouth, tongue meeting tongue, her softness molding against his hard strength. His hands roamed down her back, over her buttocks, then up again to her shoulders as her hands tangled in his silky hair.

  She swallowed his kisses like nectar, each kiss alternately filling her and increasing her thirst until she felt almost limp with desire. She lost pace with her breath, her blood spinning through veins that seemed delighted to swell
and pump. Through the layers of their clothes she felt the heat of his body and of his desire, and that part of her which sought him throbbed in joyous response.

  He left her mouth to scatter hot open kisses across her cheek, along her jaw, to the softness of her throat. His chest moved in rapid sync against hers, and she felt his breath, moist and fragrant, against her ear. When at last he spoke, his voice was deep and rusty, caressing in its warm intensity.

  “Desiree, I love you.”

  Tears welled in her eyes. She wound her arms around his back and held him to her, wanting to heighten their contact, to prolong it for all eternity. “I love you, too,” she whispered.

  He rolled with her to his back and kissed her again, long and lovingly, his hands stroking her hair. “If you only knew how much I’ve longed to say those words aloud. I fell in love with you the night we met. The very first night.”

  “So did I,” she murmured against his lips. “I’ve wanted to tell you for such a long time, but I was afraid—”

  “Afraid of what?” He smoothed the hair back from her forehead. “That I didn’t feel as strongly about you as you did about me?”

  She nodded. A tear spilled from her eye to trickle down her cheek as she saw his answering nod, and she understood that he’d harbored the same fears.

  “It seems we’ve been holding back our feelings to no purpose.” He smiled warmly, tracing a fingertip across her lips. “But there’s nothing to stop me from saying it now. I love you, Desiree. With all my heart. I love you.”

  A radiant smile curved her lips and she pressed her mouth against his in a soft kiss. “I love you,” she whispered. “I love you. I love you. I love you!”

  She punctuated each tender admission with a kiss at the corners of his lips, on his chin, his nose, his eyes, his forehead. She rested her cheek against his, slowly drew it across the scratchy pull of his day’s growth of beard, then covered the roughened skin with small kisses.

  The depth of her emotions coursed through her, filling her with such joy that she couldn’t help laughing out loud. He hugged her to him, laughing in return. It felt so good to have him here, so wonderful to be in his arms, so right to be able to show—and voice—her love this way.

  He rolled her to her back and cupped one of her hands in his. Bringing her fingers to his lips, he gazed down at her, his eyes a mirror of the love she knew must be shining within her own.

  “I don’t want to leave you, ever again,” he said. “Not even for a day. I want to share the rest of my life with you, to have you by my side, with me always. Desiree, will you be my wife? Will you marry me?”

  Eleven

  Ten seconds dragged by as Desiree lay still beneath him, her mind in a whirl of confusion. His proposal astonished, flattered, and thrilled her all at the same time. On the one hand, she wanted to jump to her feet and shout, Of course I’ll marry you! But on the heels of this joyous possibility tread the painful wrench of reality, keeping her earthbound.

  “I love you,” she said finally, as she reached up to caress his cheek. “More than I’ll ever love anyone. And I would love to be your wife. But how can we get married? Where would we live?”

  “That’s something we’ll have to figure out. Would you consider moving to Seattle?”

  Disappointment coursed through her. She could hardly believe he was asking her this. All the times they’d discussed this dreaded subject, hadn’t he been listening? She rolled out from under him and sat up with a sigh. “Kyle, we’ve talked about this. You know how important my career is to me. I—”

  “I know,” he cut in, “and—”

  “Wait, let me finish. Let me explain. I’ve wanted to be a deejay ever since my seventh birthday, when my grandpa gave me my first transistor radio. I used to lie awake at night, dreaming up the things I’d say and do on the air. My voice is my biggest asset. The personality I’ve created on radio is an important part of me. Radio is my life. I couldn’t give it up.”

  Kyle sat up and grasped both her hands earnestly in his. “Desiree, I respect your talent. I admire you. Don’t you realize that? Your career means as much to me as it does to you. I’d never want you to give it up. Never.”

  “But I’d have to if I married you.”

  “Why? That’s ridiculous. Why can’t you have both marriage and a career? I know this is a lot to ask, since you’re doing so well here. You have fans...boy do you have fans!” He grinned, and she knew he was thinking of the scene earlier in McDonald’s. “But a talent like yours would be welcome anywhere. I’m sure you could find a job in Seattle. Any decent station would snap you up, especially after the rave reviews you’ve gotten lately in the newspaper.”

  “It’s not that easy. Good jobs like mine are hard to find, especially for women. And I have definite goals for myself. Some day I’d like to do animation, voice-overs, commercials. Southern California’s the best market for that.”

  He frowned. “Seattle might be a smaller market, but I’m sure you could find opportunities there, too. And in five years, maybe ten, who knows? You might even find yourself managing a station.”

  “That’d be great,” she admitted. “I’d love to have that kind of control. But the basic problem now still remains: as a radio jock, no matter I’m working, there’s no guarantee how long it will last. Even if we start out in the same city, at some point I’d have to move away.”

  “That’s a bridge we’ll cross if we come to it. It’s no reason not to get married.”

  She chewed her lower lip pensively. Was he right? Had she been clinging to that same, old excuse far too long? Was it time to move forward, to take a risk, to believe in the possibility of a future together? Suddenly, she remembered what Dave had told her at the station earlier that day. “Kyle: I forgot to tell you. My station might be up for sale.”

  “Really? Why?”

  “The owner, Adam Westler, bought the place as sort of a hobby a few years back. He made his money years ago in something else. Oil, I think. If he sells, there’s no telling what will happen to me or anyone else at KICK. The new owner might not be so keen on female deejays. I could be out of a job in two seconds.”

  A grin spread across Kyle’s face. “That’s great! Then you’d have no reason to stay down here.”

  Desiree batted his arm playfully. “Hey, I’m talking about being fired. Whose side are you on?”

  “Our side. I just want us to be together. I say, look for another job fast, before the station changes hands. You’ll get a far better offer from another station if you have a good job behind you.”

  “I doubt it’ll make any difference. Wages are tops here. There’s no way any station in Seattle could come close to matching my salary.”

  “Who gives a damn about salary? I make more money than we will ever need. I’m talking about the job, the drive-time shift you want so badly.”

  “It’d be nothing short of a miracle if I was offered a drive-time shift in Seattle. I’ve never been there. I don’t know anyone in the business.”

  “But I do.”

  “You do?”

  He nodded. “I’ve done some heavy radio advertising for Sparkle Light in the past year.” He laid her hand across his thigh and stroked it with gentle fingers. “I’ve been thinking about this for the past few weeks—I hope you don’t mind. I know you would have done it on your own, but I took the liberty of making a few phone calls. I thought if I set something up, it would move things along that much faster.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “And?”

  “Ed Alder, the program director at KXTR in Seattle, is on the lookout for some new talent. He’d like to meet you. Do you have an audition tape?”

  “Yes. It’s about a year old, but still pretty good.”

  “Would you like me to deliver it to him? Do you want to fly up for an interview?”

  Her heart beat faster. “I suppose I could—”

  “Fantastic!” He drew her to her feet, squeezed her hands excitedly. “I’ll give you the grand tour of Seattl
e. I’ll even set up a dinner at my parents’ house. You can meet my family. I’ve told them all about you. They’re dying to meet you.”

  “Your family? Oh, no!” she laughed. “This is sounding more and more official by the minute.”

  “It is official.” His arms encircled her waist and he kissed her soundly. “How soon can you get away? Can you fly back with me tomorrow?”

  “Tomorrow?” She laughed, caught up in his enthusiasm. Even if she did find a job in Seattle now, how long would it be before she would have to move on? Don’t think about it, she told herself. Catch your moments of happiness while you can. She coiled her arms around his neck, her heart turning over with love for him. “I have to work tomorrow. But I’m free for the weekend. I could take the evening flight. Can you set up an interview for Sunday?”

  He hugged her fiercely. “You bet I can.”

  ***

  “Two dozen?” Desiree cried with delight as Kyle placed the enormous bouquet of red roses in her arms. The modem Seattle airport terminal still bustled with activity as she stepped off the plane at ten-thirty Friday evening.

  “You shouldn’t spoil me like this,” she added. “A dozen roses the day after we met. Now two dozen at the airport. What’s it going to be next time? Three dozen?”

  “Definitely.” His arms closed around her, sandwiching the flowers between them. “Every bride should carry three dozen red roses in her bridal bouquet.”

  She smiled against his lips. “Don’t go jumping to conclusions, Mr. Harrison. I agreed to meet you for the weekend, but I didn’t say I’d marry you.”

  “You will, my beautiful lady.” His lips meshed with hers in a loving kiss. “You will.”

  Through the wide, plate-glass windows in the terminal, Desiree caught a glimpse of tall, dark pine trees silhouetted against the black sky. It was a refreshing change to see a city airport surrounded by pines instead of palms.

  “I see you have a thing about Maseratis,” she said a short time later, after Kyle had loaded her small bag in the trunk of his silver sports car and spun out onto the highway.