She looked up into his eyes and then down to his mouth before whispering so close to his lips he could taste her breath. “Yes please.”
Then he was. His lips pressed against hers and she was everything he’d thought: sweet, soft, perfect. She gave a little whimper and his blood boiled in his veins, his arms pulled her close against him and his kisses deepened. He savored the taste of her sweet mouth and his hand slipped up into her hair, holding her as tight as he could. He could feel how well she fit in his arms, just like she belonged there; and time seemed to stand still until his vision began to go grey from lack of breathing. Reluctantly he pulled his mouth from hers and she whimpered again. He was shocked as she chased after his lips, her own hands coming up and pulling his head back to hers. Again they were consumed in each other. Who knows how long it would have continued if Sara hadn’t cleared her throat from the bottom of the stairs. “Time for bed, Melody, before you do something you’ll regret and you too, brother dear.”
With a very fierce force of will, Tallis pulled away. The groan he made equaling the moan coming from Melody. He move back a step and she swayed. He put his hands on her arms to steady her as Sara sighed and came to stand beside Melody. “Did you really have to go and kiss her senseless, Tallis Colton Ryder? You know that’s only supposed to be an expression. He couldn’t help but grin as Melody looked at his sister still half dazed. “He had to, Sara, it’s what he promised me.”
The younger girl rolled her eyes “Oh dear Lord, you two are going to keep me busy for the next few months aren’t you? You do know that Mom is going to demand at least four months to plan a wedding, right? Even then she’s going to complain.”
“Well, better get her busy then, because I’m going to ask as soon as some plans are worked out and when that Reverend comes around we’ll be husband and wife.”
“I called her while you were out and told her to start making plans. You need to respect my Calling as much as I respect y’all’s, brother.”
He nodded. “I’m realizing that Sara, just tonight if you must know, I saw how strong you’ve become.”
“Good, upstairs, cold shower and into bed, Tall. We’ve got work to do after church tomorrow.”
He nodded and watched as Sara led his heart away from him. He wanted nothing more than to claim one more kiss but his sister gave him a look that made it plain he’d better not dare try it. He sighed and headed down the hall to his own room. Knowing that like every night in the last week he’d be dreaming of long blonde hair and deep blue eyes. Only now he was pretty sure he would be dreaming of kisses that tasted like honeysuckle and cherries like the woman stumbling up the stairs. He couldn’t stop the smile as he heard her sigh to his sister. “It was perfect, just perfect.”
“Oh dear Lord, don’t let him hear you say that, Melody. We can barely get his head through the door now.”
He decided he’d even let Sara slide on that one tonight.
Chapter 11
M elody sat in the service, grateful for the young woman sitting beside her. Oh, Tallis was on her other side and her hand was in his, but Sara sat on her other side, her calming presence the only thing allowing Melody to focus on the church service they were in. Her almost sister-in-law, as she’d declared herself last night, had been a real Godsend since her supper out with Tallis. Since her declaration of the truth she’d come to accept about her and Tallis’ relationship; it was Sara who had, as she’d declared when they arrived home, kept her from making a mistake she would have regretted after Tallis’ kisses last night. Sara’d gotten her up to her room and into the bath. “Get undressed and get in the tub, Melody.”
Still not completely recovered from the sensations overwhelming her she’d frowned at the woman. “What? Why?”
Sara sighed. “Look, I sent Tall to take a cold shower because that’s how guys cool off. Melody blushed knowing exactly what Sara was referring to. “Oh, do I need to take a cold shower too?”
Sara shook her head. “No silly, us women need a nice warm bath and some soothing bubbles and according to my cousin Hannah some oil of lavender. It’s scent is supposed to be calming and soothing so while you and my brother were… you know. Sara made kissing sounds. “I came up here and ran you a nice soothing Bubble bath with lavender oil in it. So get in and soak for half and hour then you should be able to sleep. At least I think you’ll be able to sleep.”
As the water began to cool, Melody had gotten out and dried off. She’d slipped into her nightgown, not one of the new ones Sara had her purchase though she did want to try one of those soon, but her regular old cotton gown. She wanted to feel comfortable and normal, not something new and maybe exciting. Then before she knew it she was asleep, her dreams filled with dark hair, green eyes and shoulders and arms that held her tight. Now she sat in worship trying her best to concentrate on the preacher and not on how Tallis’ arms and lips and well everything had felt last night. Then something the pastor said caught her attention. Something that suddenly seemed like maybe it was important to her and maybe to them. Tallis kept saying they’d find a way to make Reverend Johnson break the contract; could it be that simple? She looked at Matthew 19:3-6, it seemed like their answer was clear. “And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?" He answered, "Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."
She knew there was more and that the pastor was preaching about faithfulness in marriage and divorce, something so scandalous in her day most people never even uttered the words. Yet what struck her was the last part of verse six. Several times already Tallis had said that he wanted to marry her. That she would be his wife. She even remembered somewhere in the fog of her brain after his kisses, him telling his sister to get his mom planning a wedding quickly because he was going to marry her before the Reverend returned. Her heart soared in her chest. Who was a higher authority than God? If they were married by a man of God in the house of God and joined together as one by consummating that union as God commands, how then could the Reverend’s contract separate them. She looked up into Tallis’ eyes and he winked at her. He realized the importance of this passage to them as well. Before they even knew to ask for the way to be free, God himself had provided it. Tears began to silently run down her face and she let them fall. When Sara looked at her with concern Melody smiled through her tears, letting her friend know that she was happy not sad. She would keep the contract. She wouldn’t say a thing, she wouldn’t confirm a thing to even Tallis, not until they were married by word and action. Then and only then would she confirm what he already knew. There would be no fault in her that Reverend Johnson or anyone above him would find to make her an oath breaker.
As her tears fell she lifted her head toward the heavens allowing them to be an offering to the ONE who knew what she needed before she was even born.
Tallis watched as Melody figured out what he’d figured out as soon as the passage had been announced. There was a covenant that they could and would enter that would supersede any contract Reverend Johnson and his superiors might have. A supernatural covenant that stood outside of time crafted by the Creator himself. Confirmed by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords while he traveled here on earth. Maybe just for this very moment this very situation. Thousands of years before either he or Melody were conceived. She looked up at him, tears of joy shining in her eyes and he couldn’t help himself, he winked at her to let him know he’d figured it out as well. Now he just needed to get all the evidence in order before the end of the year. Marry the love of his life in the church before the pastor and then in truth in the marriage bed. But he wanted more than that. He wanted to be able to prove that Melody had never once broken the contract she’d agreed to with Johnson. For that he’d use hi
s family and their connections and unique Callings and gifts.
First he’d talk to Sara and confirm what he already knew in his heart with her gift that Melody was the woman created just for him. His missing rib, so to speak. Then he’d explain to his sister what a miracle her Calling was so that she would understand how important it was to this miraculous event they were all going to be part. Then after that he’d talk to Melody herself and caution her to say nothing to anyone before they were married in every way that could be construed as breaking the rules of her contract. No mention of where or when she was from. To keep helping him get the ranch up and running and ready to operate in the way her father had. And anything else that Johnson might have thrown in there; but he bet doing the job and not telling she was a time traveler were the only two.
After that he’d talk to his brother and have him change the direction of his searches. Well maybe not change, just expand. He needed to make sure that the identity Johnson gave Melody in the present was one that was legally air tight. Then he wanted to know everything he could about her real identity, well everything they could find out in historical records. Finally, he wanted every indication of Johnson they could find throughout history, starting with Penny and Grace’s journals and anything else they could find. When he returned, and Tallis knew he would return; his Calling was screaming that it was important that they have any and all proof they could, including any other time traveler they could find proof of. When he had all that together then he’d propose to Melody and then they’d marry, bringing order and balance back to his part of the grand design.
As the final benediction was given Tallis leaned past Melody and spoke to his sister. “Sara, I need you to hear me right now. This is a Calling thing and you need to hear what I’m going to say before you speak okay?”
She looked at Melody with concern on her face but she knew that none of them spoke that something was a Calling in jest, so she nodded. “I know you want to ask Melody if she is okay and why she was crying. You can’t, because it is imperative that she not answer you. It’s the most important thing in the world right now that you trust me on this. Just know that she is okay, the tears you’re worried about are happy tears. Once we get home I’ll explain it all to you. But Melody can’t explain it and she can’t even confirm what I tell you until I tell you she can. If she does then your Calling will cause us both nothing but heartache. Do you understand me?”
Sara looked and saw the seriousness in his face and opened her mouth. “Yes Tall, I understand you. Can she at least tell me you are right and her tears are tears of joy?”
Tallis thought about it and said, “Yes, she can tell you that but no other questions for her about this, okay?”
He looked at Melody, “just the tears, love, nothing else. We will take no chances, not now.”
She nodded and Sara said, “is he right, were they tears of joy?”
Melody grabbed Sara and hugged her tight. “Oh yes, such joy.”
“Well alrighty then. I’ll go wait in the car. But you, brother, owe me explanations.”
“Once we are home but only between you and me, Melody can’t be involved in this conversation and you can’t even ask her to confirm anything I tell you until I tell you it’s safe to do so.”
Sara sighed. “And when will that be?”
“How long did you say it would take Mom to plan a wedding?”
“She said four or five months but I’ll push her for faster.
“Plan on the whole family being around next week. I’ll be Calling Dad and Nate as well as the cousins later today. This is an all-Ryders-on-deck kind of a thing.”
“No need to call Dad back. Mom already planned to come and meet your future wife after we talked yesterday.”
Tallis laughed. “Of course she did. I should have known.”
“Yes you should have but I’m blaming a lack of oxygen to your brain from all that kissing last night.”
Melody gasped and looked around. “It was only two kisses, Sara. Now keep your voice down.”
Sara laughed as she walked away. Tallis put his arm around Melody’s waist and felt her tense. “You should get used to this, Melody. It is considered perfectly acceptable public behavior for a couple in love to hold each other and even hug in public and on occasion even a chaste kiss or two is acceptable but of course not in church. Well the kissing part anyway.”
She sighed and with a conscious effort put her own arm around his waist and let him pull her in closer as they walked down the aisle toward the exit where the minister was standing to greet people. As they pulled up he smiled and shook Tallis’ hand. “Mr. Ryder, who is this lovely creature that came with you today?”
Pastor Henderson, this is Melody Hughes, my newest employee out at RHR and the love of my life. Melody, Pastor Henderson. The older man smiled and shook Melody’s hand. “Well now you must be a special lady indeed. Many a young woman has tried to rope our young Mr. Ryder over the years, young lady. None have even gotten close until now.”
Melody looked over at Tallis, causing his heart to gallop, and then back at the preacher with a sassy grin. “Oh I don’t plan to get close, Reverend. I plan to rope him, brand him, then train him up proper.”
The jolly old preacher slapped his thigh and let out a belly laugh. ‘Well my dear, I’d say you’re just the woman to do it too. Welcome to our church and town.”
“Thank you sir.”
Tallis cleared his throat. “Pastor, all joking aside, I should warn you to expect a call from my mother in the next couple of days about available wedding dates, and one from me about what the church or you require from us before one can take place.”
The preacher sobered quickly. “Is this a cart before the horse situation, son?”
Tallis shook his head. “No sir, absolutely not. Just two people eager to keep things in the proper order, if you understand what I mean.”
“I see, a First Corinthians Seven situation then?”
“Yes sir, exactly.”
“I take it you two live together on the ranch. Who is keeping you both accountable?”
“Sara moved in when Melody did, Pastor. I didn’t want there to be any question of impropriety. I suspect that come tomorrow my mother will be a pretty regular fixture as well.”
The man nodded. “Good, good, and both of you know that I’ll be checking in on you from time to time as well. Accountability is essential in your situation. You know I take my charge as your spiritual director seriously.”
Tallis nodded and shook the man’s hand again. “I do, Pastor, and I vow to you and Melody to not violate our future marriage bed until after our covenant with God made before you is complete.”
“I’ll hold you to that, young man, and question about it regularly.”
Tallis was thrilled when Melody smiled and placed her hand on the older man’s arm. “Thank you, Pastor. I can see why Tallis respects you so much.”
“You may both get sick and tired of me before you say I do, Miss Hughes.”
“Maybe so, Pastor, but I expect in the end we will thank you for your care and concern.”
With that the two of them moved on allowing the Pastor to speak to the last few parishioners behind them, one of whom came up behind them and stopped them. As they turned Tallis wanted to groan. Of course he hadn’t realized that Abigail Richmond had been right behind them. She’d followed him from Redemption New Mexico to the University of Montana, convinced they were destined to marry. “So you’ve thrown me over for this blonde gold digger then, Tallis honey?”
Melody looked at her and Tallis could see the fire in her blue eyes, it was almost like lightning flashing in a clear sky. “I’m sorry, who are you?”
“I’m Abigail Richmond, the woman who Tallis is supposed to marry.”
Tallis went to open his mouth but again Melody beat him to it. “Really, that’s strange, I’ve been out at the ranch for a while now and I’ve not only never seen you but never even heard your name.”
“You should listen harder, honey. I’ve known Tallis since birth practically; everyone knows we’re going to marry one day.”
“Funny, if you’ve known him and his family that long then you know about Sara Marie’s gift?”
“Honey, I know all their gifts.”
“Then I wonder why you would think everyone knows you are going to marry my Tallis when Sara, just last night, told me I’m his one true love and perfect match?”
Abbigail’s mouth opened and closed and she then narrowed her eyes and with venom spewed out, “You’re a liar. Sara never said any such thing.”
Tallis pulled Melody closer and then glared into Abigail’s face. “I don’t know if Sara said that to Melody last night or not but I do know that she told me that yesterday, and she called Mom and told her that as well. If you listened to our talk with Pastor you know Mom’s on her way to plan our wedding. I’ve told you several times we were never marrying but now I’m telling you something new: “The way you treated my future wife lets me know you aren’t welcome on my ranch or on any Ryder ranch. Be sure I’ll speak to Nate, Uncle Samuel and Mom about your vicious attack on my fiancee’s honor.”
With that Tallis turned and led Melody away as Abigail called out for him to wait and to forgive her.
Chapter 12
T hey’d arrived home from worship to find dinner waiting in a well banked and slightly warm oven. The cook Tallis had hired and Melody had taught how to use the stove had done a great job. The smell alone had drawn them all into the kitchen the moment they walked through the doorway. They ate sitting around the smaller table that sat in what Sara loved referring to as the breakfast nook. Once the food was dished up and consumed, Tallis looked at Melody. “I’m going to explain everything to Sara. Is there something you want or need to take care of today?”
Melody nodded as she cleared the table. “I still need to work with Diablo today. If your parents are returning tomorrow, I’d like to have him willing to wear a saddle when your father arrives.”
Melody's Next Christmas (Timeless Love Book 6) Page 8