by Zuri Day
“Yes, that is right. Everything is all right now.” She searched the room. “Son, Teresa, I am sorry for my outburst.” She looked for and found Jennifer. “I am sorry for my words to you. Your daughter came out of nowhere. A stranger. Things moved so quickly. This has been difficult for many reasons, not all of them fair.”
Jennifer nodded. “It isn’t easy for us mothers to let go of our sons. So far, I’ve had to do it three times. If you’d like, you can come sit beside me and I’ll give you some pointers on making it easier.”
“I appreciate that, but—” Agatha looked across the room “—if it’s okay with her, I’d rather go and sit next to Teresa.”
Teresa, stunned, simply nodded. Vera hurriedly stood so that Agatha could have the chair she occupied. Terrell asked the jolly red giant a question. Anna spoke to Jennifer. The waiters once again started taking orders. Air returned to the room.
Agatha sat and took Teresa’s hand. “Teresa, I am sorry for how I’ve treated you. You did nothing to deserve it.”
“Thank you for saying that. I love your son, but I’d never want him to have to choose between me and his mother.”
“Me neither, because I am not so sure whom he would choose. Do you think we could start over?”
Teresa looked at Atka, who’d been watching intently, blinking back tears before she accepted Agatha’s outstretched hand. “I’d like that very much. Good evening, Mrs. Sinclair. My name is Teresa.”
“Please, call me Aggie. Welcome to Alaska.”
“Quyana.”
Agatha gasped, and hugged her.
The next day, when the private plane took off for Fairbanks, it carried a bunch of Sinclairs along with the Drakes. Agatha and Stu were on board—in more ways than one.
The grandparents had returned to their wilderness cabin, but before leaving, his emaaq had kissed Teresa’s cheek, hugged Atka and whispered into his ear, “Children soon come.”
Chapter 29
Teresa stood looking out of the floor-to-ceiling glass panels that covered the west-facing wall in Atka’s Fairbanks condo. The night was lit by what seemed a thousand stars. A toasty fire blazed and crackled in the fireplace. The strains of a jazz tune floated around the room from surround-sound speakers. Her family had left earlier in the day, returning the home to its quiet state. Already she missed them but yet was content, strangely feeling that she was where she belonged, with the man for whom it was meant that she would be. Since their first meeting, he’d asked whether or not she could see herself living here. Every time before, she’d answered with an unequivocal no.
Until now.
Until this moment, when her head decided to embrace what her heart knew already. Not only did she love Atka Sinclair, but she was in love with him. Because of this, she’d move to the ends of the earth, to a place like Alaska, to be with him. She could fly to fun cities and have designers flown in. She could hire a chef to make the foods that she loved. She could write from anywhere and be a part of business meetings by conference call. What she couldn’t do was find another man with whom she felt so connected, someone so loving and compassionate and kind. One who loved her not for what she had, but for who she was.
She felt Atka come up behind her, but was expecting his arms around her waist, not a coat on her shoulders.
“Get your boots,” he said softly against her ear as he kissed it. “We’re leaving.”
“Where are we going?”
“No questions. Just obey.”
Her reaction was one of such shock that he laughed out loud. “I’m only teasing you, Teresa, don’t claw out my eyes. But where we’re going is a secret. Will you trust me and just come with me because I’ve asked?”
“Well, now that you have asked...I’ll think about it.”
Said with attitude, even as noting he was dressed and ready, she walked around him and down the hallway to the foyer where her boots were placed. They walked outside. Teresa headed to the SUV.
“Teresa. This way.”
She turned and walked toward him. Together they crossed the yard to a storage building and continued to the heliport.
“Oh, we’re taking a helicopter ride.”
“You’re so smart. I knew you’d figure it out.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“I want you to trust me.”
“I do. I just like to know where I’m going.”
Soon, they were up in the air and gliding over the sprawling lights of Anchorage, Alaska. He headed north, across a sky tinged with the green, pink, orange and purple remnants of tonight’s light show. Teresa reached over and placed her hand on Atka’s leg. He covered her hand with his.
No words were said. None were needed.
He continued to take them away from the city. The blinking lights gave way to sparkling water, and then to a bluish-white mass that rose up in the twilight.
Teresa adjusted the microphone they were both fitted with to be heard over the propellers. “Atka, what’s all that below?”
“I don’t know,” he replied after turning on his mic. “Let’s go check it out.”
He circled a large area covered with what Teresa at first thought was snow. As they descended, the helicopter lights illuminated the majesty of the glacier below. Teresa was awestruck.
“Atka! It’s a glacier! Are we going to land on it?”
“Absolutely.”
“Oh, my goodness! This is amazing!”
And it was. A full moon joined the helicopter lights and lit up the scene below them, giving it the appearance of turquoise-blue crystal. They landed and disembarked from the plane. The air was still and magically quiet. It was as if they were at the highest peak at the end of the world, and they were the only ones left on the planet.
Teresa turned to Atka with tears in her eyes. “You remembered.”
“That in spraining your ankle, you never got to see a glacier. Yes, I remembered.”
She did a 360-degree turn, taking in the phenomenon in all its majesty. “It’s no wonder that these are Alaska’s number-one attraction,” she whispered, subconsciously not wishing to disrupt the tranquil serenity. “Thousands of years they’ve been here, moving and forming...”
“And melting, faster and faster,” Atka added, “as we continue to disregard the earth.”
“The next time my family visits, we’ve got to bring them here.”
Atka smiled, his eyes filling with love as he beheld the wonder of nature in the eyes of his city princess. His heart surged as he witnessed what he’d hoped would happen, her falling in love not only with him, but with the land that was as much a part of him as breathing.
“If you’d like, we can come back tomorrow. This is the most beautiful time to be here, but during the day you can take in the surroundings, which are absolutely breathtaking.”
“I’d love to come back, but I can’t believe anything could be more beautiful than what I’m seeing right now.” She leaned against him. “Thank you, baby.” Their lips met. Once. Twice. A third time. “Thank you.”
She shivered. He wrapped her in his arms. “It’s getting cold, sweetheart. We’ll spend more time here tomorrow. But first, I want you to see something. Come over here.”
He walked ahead of her to an area where the moonlight created a cast of shadows dancing across the ice.
“Where are we going?”
“Not much farther.”
“Wait! You’re going too fast.”
“I’ll wait for you.”
But he kept on walking.
Finally they reached a part in the glacier where years of wind and water had created a seating area of sorts, a solid block of ice forming the table, and several smaller blocks around it serving as chairs.
He smiled as she reached him. “Isn’t this cool?”
“Yes, it is.” She sat on one of the blocks of ice. “It’s the perfect height. We can eat our lunch here tomorrow.”
Atka laughed. “It had better be a quick one.”
He came closer, over to where she sat. “Sometimes, crystals are formed in the ice. They become as hard as diamonds and look like alexandrite.”
“What’s that?”
“You don’t remember? It’s a Russian gemstone, very expensive. Very rare. Wow. That almost looks like one there.”
Teresa leaned forward. “Where?”
Atka pointed. “See it?”
Teresa stood for a better view. A large stone caught her eye. “Oh, wow!” She reached for it.
Atka stopped her. “Careful, baby. It is said that the alexandrite has magical powers, and is known to bind the person who finds it to the owner who cast the stone. Forever.”
Teresa frowned. “So I guess I’d be bound to this glacier, huh? Since whoever obviously lost this is nowhere around.” She laughed and reached again for the crystal-like stone blending into the ice.
His hand caught her arm. “I’m serious! Its ceremonial significance tops that of diamonds. If you touch it—” he placed an errant piece of her hair behind her ear “—you’ll belong to this glacier, and to me.”
Teresa started to laugh again. But the energy around them had shifted. Become electric. Atka’s eyes glittered as hard as the ice around them, sending beams of desire to her that entered through her pores and burst in her core.
She looked at the crystal. And at Atka.
“Is it real?” she asked him.
“Do you want to take the chance and see?”
Time seemed to stop. Slowly, she reached out to where the stone seemed to blend into the ice. She picked it up.
“Oh, my goodness! It’s a ring.”
“Really?”
Atka’s brow creased as he took the ring from Teresa and examined it thoroughly.
She looked on. “It’s beautiful! And you say it’s alexander?”
“Alexandrite.”
“It looks like costume jewelry, though, not like a stone I’ve ever seen.”
“On the contrary, it is a rare and expensive stone.”
“How could someone lose a ring like this?” He shrugged and continued to examine the stone. She looked around. “Maybe they took it off to put their gloves on and it fell out of their pocket.”
“I must say, this is one of the finest cuts of it I’ve ever seen.” He held it up. “Look how the colors change against the moonlight. Here, let’s see if it fits you.”
“Atka, no. That ring belongs to someone. Maybe we can take it, post an ad and hope the owner sees it.”
“Maybe, but I want to see how it looks on your hand.”
“Why?”
“Why not?”
She sighed and held out her right hand.
He reached for her left, and placed the ring at the tip of her third finger. “Do you think it will fit?”
“I don’t know.” She held her hand away from her, admiring the stone and the setting. “I wonder if this is sterling silver.” She pulled back her hand to press the ring all the way down.
He stopped her. “No, it’s platinum.”
Eyes narrowing, she looked at him. “How do you know?”
“Because I had it precisely cut and custom designed for a very special woman. Are you ready for forever?” He held the ring at the tip of her ring finger, waiting to hear her response.
Finally, reality dawned. Several expressions—curiosity, amusement, befuddlement, realization, surprise—played across her face in a matter of seconds.
“Atka, are you...” She looked at the ring, and at him once again.
“Asking you to marry me?” He got down on one knee. “I absolutely am. Will you be my papoota princess, my country princess, my ocean and ice princess, wherever we are and wherever love takes us for the rest of our lives?”
A single tear ran down her face. Followed by another.
“Yes,” she whispered as he slipped the ring in place. It was a perfect fit. “You know what this means, though.”
“What?”
“That I’ll have to change the name of my blog to Society Wife, Frontier Life.”
“Does that mean you’ll move to Alaska?”
“I can’t be your papoota ice princess in Paradise Cove.”
The kiss was hard, urgent, and then soft, searching before settling into a long, scorching show of I-love-you-forever.
He pulled her deeply into his arms and then wrapped them around her. She nestled her head against his chest. He placed his chin near her temple. They stood there, a silhouette of what was possible when love conquered fear, framed by a tableau only the Great Spirit could have created. Unaware that they’d already started a family. Happily sealing the promises of love ever after with a crystal caress.
* * * * *
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ISBN-13: 9781460384565
Crystal Caress
Copyright © 2015 by Zuri Day
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