Trevor was tall, looking even taller than Jake, and you could tell he hit the gym regularly. Tall, built with long hair that he wore braided. And had fu man chu mustache that surrounded a mouth that was almost feminine in its perfection.
When we were introduced, Sara and I shared a look. Oh yeah, Trevor was 'look again' worthy. Paul and Ram seemed to know them and there were a few jokes about their online business which I didn't get.
Whatever.
I was sitting back in my chair, not paying much attention to the conversations around me when I overheard a loudly whispered conversation from behind me.
"…don't give a fuck, Crys. I don't want you seeing him anymore. We agreed, babe."
"You don't own me, dickhead. And until you pull your head out of your ass, we still have to play it cool. Alright?"
"We'll talk about this later."
"Promises, promises. You're a pompous ass, Gabe."
"Yeah? But I'm your pompous ass, Crys, so fucking deal with it."
I felt someone brush behind me and saw Gabe making his way through the tables, carrying a different guitar this time.
Crys pulled up Ram's empty chair and leaned in.
"I know you heard."
I looked at her. She was trying to convey a lot more than her words said. I thought about the kisses they'd stolen earlier behind the frosted glass.
"Is that your man, Crys?"
She looked at Gabe up on the stage as he rearranged the mikes and fiddled with his guitar.
She sighed.
"Always has been," she said, her voice filled with a kind of yearning that you could almost touch. She took a long pull off of her water and we shared a look.
"I'm here if and when you want to talk about it," I said with a grin.
"Yeah, I know," she said smiling, before standing and making her way towards the tiny stage.
Ram came back with two huge platters of Nachos.
"Is this going to keep you until dinner, Pyari?" he said eyeing me closely.
"Sure," I said. I didn't like the scrutiny, especially from a man that was trained to ferret out other people's secrets.
I heard a guitar start up and saw that there were now two guys on the stage. I didn't know the gorgeous guy that joined Gabe but he seemed to be in his late thirties. He was wearing a white tank top and jeans and his arms were covered in tattoos, but it was his hundred watt smile that had you smiling with him.
I felt Ram lean forward. "The other guy up there? That's Gabe's dad, Benny. Good guy."
I nodded and turned my attention back to the stage. Crys was standing in a small space to the left of it, holding a tambourine.
This set started with Creed's 'Arms Wide Open' and as Gabe sang, Ram made a point of reaching for my hand. I glanced over my shoulder at him and saw he was staring at me.
"What?" I mouthed and he moved closer to me.
"Beautiful song, Pyari," he whispered into my ear. "Our kind of song."
I listened to the words Gabe was singing as I watched Crys dancing in her little space of floor tapping on the tambourine, and got caught up in the music. Ram was right. It was the kind of song made for the night I found him in his truck, watching me. Watching over me. And, finally, admitting he loved me.
I turned in my chair and leaned into him. "Our song, then?"
"Yes, Pyari. Our song," he said bending into me, surrounding me.
Crys joined the two on stage, and squeezed in between them as they broke into Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide", and had everyone in the room singing along with them when they broke into three-part harmony on the chorus.
Benny moved off the stage but continued to play while Crys and Gabe did an amazing version of 'You Belong to Me'. It gave me goose bumps after overhearing what they'd said to each other -- and it was sung to each other like they were all alone in the crowded little bar.
They ended that beautiful set with Shawn Colvin's 'Riding Shotgun Down the Avalanche' with Crys doing her 'tambourine' dance again.
At the break, I headed to the ladies room along with practically every other female in the restaurant having the same idea. But after waiting in line for what felt like forever, I was out of there like a shot.
"Honey? We've got to go."
"Now?"
"Yes, Ram. Please let's go."
He didn't say another word but grabbed my hand and led me out of the restaurant, moving swiftly to the car park.
We were in the truck doing the round and round thing to get out of the garage when he asked, "Hospital, Pyari?"
"Yeah, honey," I said, my voice shaking.
"Were you going to tell me?" he asked and I glanced at him, my man. My beloved.
"Yeah, honey. Had an appointment scheduled for Monday." I was a bit ashamed that I hadn't told him but wanted to have the doctor confirm what I suspected.
I glanced out the passenger window and got a sense that we were moving a lot faster than the speed limit. I wanted to check, but was afraid I would start laughing if it was confirmed. I don't think Ram would appreciate laughter at this moment.
*.*.*.*.*
"Congratulations, Ms. Gibson. It seems you're three to five weeks pregnant. The spotting is not cause for concern at this time but you will need to take it easy until we can do further testing at six to nine weeks," Doc Riley said patting Marianne on her blanketed knee. "I'll give the order to release but I suggest you curtail any extraneous activities until we can get more info when the test results are in."
Ram stood in the far corner, his heart somewhere around his knees. He stepped forward when Dr. Riley turned to go.
"Is the baby…ah, is the baby alright?" Ram asked his voice breaking having to even ask the question.
The doctor looked at him and then patted him on the upper arm.
"Yes, Chief. The baby seems to be fine. Marianne is fine." The doctor looked at Marianne and then at Ram. "Take her home, keep her safe and we'll know more later."
Ram nodded and moved to Marianne. She seemed to be intent on watching the tiny folds she was making it the blanket.
"Pyari?"
"Yeah, honey," he heard her say, her voice soft.
"Look at me, Beloved."
She raised her beautiful blue eyes to his.
"We'll go back to my house and tomorrow you will call Cait and tell her that you are moving in with me. Then, you'll call Aaron and quit. And then, Pyari, we will begin planning our wedding. It may be a bit rushed but with my mother and Sati…"
"Stop," Marianne said with fire in her eyes and her hand in the stop position.
"What?"
"Take off your Big Kahuna Chief hat, okay?"
"My what?"
"You know. That 'I'm the big boss and I make all the decisions' hat." She paused and Ram waited.
"I told you before, Ram. That's not who we are. Who WE are. This is a partnership and I expect you and I BOTH to make decisions."
Ram sat on the edge of her hospital bed. She was right. They were two separate people who came together as one.
"I love you with all my heart. And, someday, I would love to marry you. Not because we're having a baby together. But, because we love and care for one another so much that we can't imagine living without each other."
He was quiet. When his girl got on a roll, it was better to just shut up and listen.
"I'd love to move in with you and, depending on what the doctor says on Monday, I may have to quit my job. But that's not something we know right now."
She raised her eyes to his as she reached for his hand.
"I love you, Ram," she said, her voice breaking.
He waited a few moments, waiting for her to calm a bit before he began to speak.
"Marianne, I already love and care for you. I know you love and care for me. And, I know that I cannot imagine a life without you in it."
Ram reached into his pocket and brought out an old, dusty velvet covered box.
"Pyari, I've been carrying this thing around since right before the situation w
ith the CDs happened."
He opened the box and showed her a thin gold band encrusted with round rubies and baguette diamonds.
"It was my grandmother's ring on my mother's side. She and my grandfather were married for more than sixty years," he murmured, his eyes on the ring. "I like that, the longevity of their love and connection. It's what I want for us."
He stood up and moved to the head of her bed.
"Marianne Louise Gibson, would you consent to be my wife. Not because we will be tied together as parents to our child, but because we love and care for each other and can't imagine a life without each other in it?"
He watched her eyes as he spoke, her beautiful blue eyes taking in his words.
"Absolutely, Ramjet Harold Patel. I would love to be your wife," she murmured before promptly bursting into tears. Ram put his arms around her and held her close.
It was going to be a long eight or so months until he got his girl back.
But, he could wait.
She was worth waiting for.
#.#.#.#.#
Thank you so much for reading Tap Dance, the second book in the Dance Trilogy. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it.
I loved discovering Marianne and Ram's story and wasn't always sure exactly where it was going to go--sometimes the direction changed daily which I've heard is not unusual for new authors. Nice to know that I'm in good company, then, since all authors have had to start out new.
Although, in this book, my third attempt at writing fiction, I was very fortunate to have a team of girls that stepped forward to help. While we were all strangers, it soon became clear that each of them had a special area that they were really good at--whether it was Rita with the timelines, Jenny with the macro-view questions, Gemma with getting the dialogue streamlined or more exact, Reese showing me the use of 'that' is used waaayy too many times in my writing and Melissa that took it all on, up to and including the music a savvy girl with a 2010 Charger would listen to!
Loved working with them. Loved having them there to listen to me gripe. And to challenge me on the characterizations and anything else they thought was rubbish! They kept me on track, reminded me of crap I'd forget (…Floyd gave me fits!), and pointed out my myriad of typing errors. And so motivated me with their words of encouragement and sense of humor.
Lots of hugs from the heart, ladies.
I'm just starting on Human Hieroglyphix II - Crys and Gabe's story and I am very excited. Crys has always been a lot of fun to write and I can't wait to see how this story unfolds. After that, I'm hoping to start on Bewitchments - Book I/Trevor & Zoe.
But, as a lot of you know, my Muse has been known to break out a new story without any foreknowledge (i.e., Human Hieroglyphix I - Dex and Leila).
I've learned that, with writing, very little is written in stone.
One last thing. I have received quite a few emails from people that have read my books. Your words of encouragement have gone straight to my heart. Maybe some authors can write in the middle of Starbucks or can break away to do dinner with friends. Unfortunately, at this point in my learning curve, I can't. Sometimes those emails would be the only 'human' contact I'd have in a day. They seemed to find me on the mornings where I was pulling my hair out over a scene or trying to find yet another euphemism for a body part and those words would keep me going. Thank you so much for those emails.
Please know that they are read and are cherished.
~J. A. (Phoenix 2/17/13)
Please feel free to connect with me at www. jahornbuckle.com
Or you can email me at [email protected]
Excerpt from Human Hieroglyphix II - Crys and Gabe (approx publication date 4/01/13):
"Gay-Abe, wait up!"
He stopped and turned watching as Crys ran to him, her little legs, in her favorite overalls with the duck on the bib, pumping. When she made it to him, she stopped and looked up at him, moving her bright blonde hair out of her eyes, her deep blue eyes.
"You run too fast, Gabe," she admonished in her alto voice, a voice she'd had since he first remember her making noise.
"Sorry, Crys," he said.
"You mad, Gabe?"
"No." But Gabe knew that he lied, was lying to his very best friend. "She's not worth being mad about."
"But," he heard her beautiful voice say on a whisper. "She's your mom, Gabe. She's your mom."
He got it.
He knew what she was saying.
From her vantage point having a Mom, any Mom was a bonus. But she was only six. And she was a girl. And her mom took off two years ago without a word to anyone.
His mom was dying.
And his eight year old brain couldn't grasp it, couldn't wrap his head around how his beautiful, laughing mother could be fine one day and then the next be dying.
Dying from something he didn't understand, didn't make sense.
That what was killing her wasn't something his father could fix.
And his dad could fix anything, everyone knew Benny could fix it all.
So, if his dad couldn't fix it then it was something she could've done to fix it.
But she didn't.
She couldn't.
In fact, now she was so weak she couldn't do much but shuffle from the screened in porch, where Dad had set up her bed, to the kitchen chair.
And if Dad couldn't fix it, and she couldn't fix it, then it meant Gabe couldn't fix it.
And if something couldn't be fixed, then you had no choice but to be mad at it.
Gabe looked away from Crys, trying to find the creek in the shadows of the trees which populated their tiny corner of Colorado. At least it was how he was playing it off, giving him time to wipe his eyes.
He wouldn't cry.
But, when he glanced at Crys' up turned face, a face he knew as well as his own, he saw the tears he tried hide, echoed in hers.
Streaming down her downy cheeks to catch at her jaw.
"She's your mom, Gabe," she whispered again, catching his hand and burying her face in the front of his Turtle Ninja t-shirt.
"Yeah, Crys," he sighed. He ran his hand up her back and pressed her little white-blond head close. "She is."
And they stood there, the two of them, in the shadow of each other.
Holding tight, since their connection gave each of them strength.
Just as it had from the first moment the white-blonde headed Crys had grabbed hold of his pant leg to pull herself up and given him that sideways grin of hers.
A grin that spoke to his heart as much then as now.
He swallowed thickly.
His dad said he needed to tell his mom goodbye while she was still awake and in their house in the deep Colorado woods.
But he couldn't do it.
He couldn't face it.
And because he couldn't, he ran.
Kept running until Crys asked him to wait up.
But he still couldn't do it.
Still couldn't tell his mom, goodbye.
Tap Dance (Dance Series) Page 23