“Do you think Prince William chose to be born into a family where he will be king some day? Not much freedom of choice there! Do you think Gandhi or, or - Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King chose the difficult journeys they’ve been on, that they’ve endured?”
He reached out and let his fingers slip through her red hair. “For whatever reason, there seem to be people placed on this earth to help move it along, to help change things.”
“Ah, Arnie,” she said, frustrated. “I’m a singer. I’m not a politician or an activist.”
“Girl, you just don’t get it, do you?”
She glanced sideways at him, her friend, sitting there on an old Sunfire, content as could be with his life of relative poverty and a constant struggle to make ends meet, yet helping the downtrodden - and her – find what they needed for their own survival.
“What don’t I get?”
“Your songs move people, Jessie. Even before, when you just played for me and my friends on Hastings, when you slept under the stars in cardboard boxes, you had the power to inspire, to give people a glimpse into a world where there is light. Where there is hope. You give people the power to find it within themselves to continue on in this tough old world. Don’t take that away from us. We need you.”
“You’re sweet, Arnie,” she said, blushing. “But maybe I’m at the point where I’ve given so much of myself away that I have nothing left to give.”
“Then, dear girl, go recharge your batteries for a while. And then come back. Y’hear?”
“I dunno, Arnie. I just don’t know.”
She thought of Charles and Dee, Carlotta, Jonathon and Giselle, Zach and Hilary, Kayla and Paul…Christian…Matt and his cronies…Sue-Lyn and Carter and Maggie…Charlie and Stephen, and Josh…
She knew it was cruel to leave them this way. But she also knew that it was the only way she would have the courage to go.
Was she going to find Deuce? No. She needed a break from Deuce McCall. She felt certain he would leave Josh alone, if she weren’t there as a bargaining piece. For if he killed Josh, she would most certainly never return. What scared her was that a part of her wanted to return to Josh one day. If she did, Deuce would likely reappear. After all, he waited more than ten years to re-enter her life after she left Charleston. He could likely wait another ten - if he had to.
Deuce McCall was a man obsessed. Yet, she reminded herself that she had also come to understand that he was a man in love. And she now knew from first-hand experience that truly loving someone was the most excruciatingly painful experience life had to offer. Parents, friends, lovers…longed-for children yet to be…no matter whom, love was a delicate, fragile thing.
A white butterfly scooted out in front of the car. Its wings glistened pink in the emergent sunshine of the cool fall day. Jessie reached out her hand as it floated by and wondered what life would be like as a butterfly, anonymous and free, floating on the gentle breezes brought forth each day. A tremor of excitement coursed through her veins.
An hour later, Arnie watched her go as she disappeared into a crowd of travelers seeking adventure, reunions with loved ones, business meetings. She turned and waved goodbye and smiled at him, mouthing thank you. Jessie touched a bruised finger to her eye, then laid a hand over her heart - the cast hidden under a denim jacket - and then pointed a finger back towards him.
The last he saw of her was the newly bobbed bright red hair swinging from side to side as she carried the Gibson towards a nebulous future. And he thought, dear sweet girl, you are loved too.
And then, with a flick of the short hair she was still getting used to, Jessie Wheeler was gone, as mysterious and free as the butterfly; from within her soul, her unseen wings a soft silver-orange glow.
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Like what you read?
More Books by Susan Rodgers:
A Certain Kind of Freedom (July 2013)
A Song For Josh
Promises
No Greater Love (May 2013)
Riptide (July 2013)
www.bluemountainentertainment.ca
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Promises Page 30