by D. F. Jones
Jerry briefly broke from their kiss long enough to open his truck door. He scooped her up, sat her inside, and jumped in beside her. Jerry twisted his fingers through her long blond hair and dragged her next to him. His mouth slanted slightly above hers, and right before he sealed his kiss, he rubbed his thumb gently over her bottom lip.
Dang, the boy knows how to kiss.
All of the other boys Anna had kissed paled in comparison. Jerry was farmer strong, with broad shoulders and narrow hips. Anna’s temperature soared as she felt his strength under her fingertips. Why in the world would Ruby ever want to give him up? Anna knew the answer—she was in love with Jerry and Ruby wasn’t.
Jerry’s hands skimmed underneath her tube top and brushed briefly over her breast. He murmured, “Anna, you’re so sweet.”
He sucked and pulled on her bottom lip and pushed her hair off her shoulders to expose her neck. Jerry nibbled on her neck for a minute before his lips brushed back across her cheek. Jerry nuzzled against her earlobe and gently tugged it with his teeth. “Come to my house, Anna.”
His sultry Southern voice was her undoing and butterflies fluttered in her abdomen. His fingers ran down her back, slipping over the curve of her behind. She said, “I want to come to your house, really I do, but I need to tell you something first.”
“Hmm, okay, I’m listening.” Jerry ran his tongue around the outer part of her ear and chill bumps raised on her arms.
Anna whispered, “I’ve never, I’ve never, you know…”
Jerry pushed her off him so fast it made her head spin. He moved over in the seat, gripped the steering wheel of his truck with his right hand, and leaned his left elbow on the open window ledge.
Rusty and Sandy passed by Jerry’s truck, and Rusty yelled, “All right, Jerry, damn, boy. First Ruby and now Anna. Give me some of that.” Sandy punched Rusty in the gut and Jerry laughed.
“Looks like you got your hands full, Bubba,” Jerry said. Rusty and Sandy disappeared down the lane. Jerry’s eyes were glazed over with desire when he turned around to her. “Honey, as bad as I want you, I’m not taking your cherry tonight. Damn it, Anna, you and Ruby have got to understand a man can only take so much.”
Anna felt like Jerry had slapped her and replied with sarcasm, “Kiss my ass, Jerry. Since you don’t want my cherry…” Anna grabbed the handle of the door and Jerry lunged over and circled her with his arms. He pulled her back against his chest and pressed his face into her hair.
With a low, raspy voice, he said, “Don’t leave me, Annabelly. I’m sorry that I’m such an asshole. I just don’t want you to play me.”
Anna twisted around in his arms. “Jerry, I’m crazy about you.”
“Crazy, huh? Well, why don’t you go out with me first? And then I’ll ravish you. I have an extra ticket to see REO Speedwagon at Hermitage Landing tomorrow night. Wanna be my date?” Hermitage Landing was a cool place to swim in Percy Priest Lake, lie out on the man-made beach, and listen to music at night from the stage over the water. Anna had only been once this summer.
She threw her arms around Jerry’s neck and kissed him. “I didn’t think you’d ever ask.”
* * *
Jerry lay sprawled out across his bed, listening to Journey and thinking about Anna. He had gone to Ditch Lane tonight in hopes of hooking up with Ruby. Then she’d locked lips with some dude named Reed. God, he’d been fighting mad and would’ve kicked the guy’s ass, but he seemed to be just as surprised by Ruby’s actions as Jerry. What the hell had Ruby been thinking? Jerry loved Ruby but had known someday their relationship would end.
Then, a miracle happened. Anna chased him to his Ford truck, the Blue Goose. Anna Kelly, for crying out loud, had the hots for him. Jesus, kissing her had been so sweet. Anna was freaking beautiful with her long white-blond hair, eyes the color of September skies, and soft peachy skin.
When Anna’s rocking body melted against him, Ruby was his-to-ry. Geez, he lost himself with Anna. He had dragged her into the Blue Goose and sort of felt her up. God, those milky white breasts next to her suntan lines nearly made him explode on contact. Hell, two hours later, he was still pleasantly dazed and confused.
The softness of her lips and the touch of her silky skin hit him like a tire iron to the stomach. Everything she’d told him tonight pointed to Anna being in love with him. Yes, maybe she did love him. She’d been crushing on him for years, and he’d been a total moron, completely clueless.
Ruby had blinded him for years with her fun-loving ways. Jerry and Ruby had been friends since they were rug rats. He could fight with Ruby, make out with her, and know her feelings for him would never change. He and Ruby were tight and always would be. But he wanted more—he wanted Anna.
Chapter 3
You Made Me Believe in Magic
Anna began to wonder if she had imagined the whole scene with Ralph, her guardian angel. It had been weeks since Ralph had appeared to her. Maybe he was a figment of her imagination brought on by a side effect from her healing powers. As the days and weeks passed, Anna quit looking over her shoulder for a beautiful angel named Raphael.
Summer flew by once Anna started dating Jerry. When she wasn’t working, Anna would go with Jerry four-wheeling in his Blue Goose or ride horses on the back forty of his parents’ farm. Ruby had fallen head over heels in love with Reed. Sandy started dating Reed’s friend, Brent, among her other suitors. On the weekends, Anna and Jerry would hit the dance clubs or weekend parties with Ruby and Reed and Sandy and Brent.
A couple of weeks before the fall semester, Anna moved into a rental house on Bell Street with Ruby and Sandy. The first night they stayed in the house, Anna discovered she wasn’t the only one with supernatural powers. Ruby’s amber stone gave her prophetic dreams. Sandy’s hiddenite stone had opened the door, giving her the ability to read minds and see visions of a person’s past or future with a mere touch of her hand.
Anna stood at the stove browning hamburger meat and Italian sausage while Ruby chopped up tomatoes, onions, and peppers at the butcher block table. Sandy fired up Leon Russell’s album Will O The Wisp on the stereo in the den.
Relief washed over Anna as Ruby talked about her dreams.
Ruby brushed the chopped veggies over into a bowl. “I met Seneca in my dreams shortly after our spelunking trip. Seneca revealed to me your healing powers, Anna, and your visions, Sandy.”
Anna gasped, shaking her head. “You’re shitting me. Finally. I’ve been healing people for five years. I tried to talk to you guys and I couldn’t. The words would never come out.”
“Same here. I tried many times to talk to y’all, too.” Ruby walked over to the stove and dumped the bowl of the chopped vegetables into the spaghetti sauce. “In my dreams, I go into this incredible screen room where I watch these movies like vivid, full-length films of the future. Sometimes, I’m given choices to intervene on behalf of a friend or loved one, and sometimes, I’m only a witness of what is to come.”
Ruby dropped the empty bowl into the kitchen sink. She sat on the kitchen countertop gripping the lip of the counter with her fingers. “Since the dreams began, I keep having this same dream, at least two or three times a year. It doesn’t make a lot of sense. I’m in this very dark room, and I get the feeling that it’s underground because there’re no windows or doors. The walls are a dark plum or midnight blue with candle sconces on the wall, and I’m lying on a black leather couch.”
Ruby slid off the counter and sat down in one of the kitchen chairs as Anna and Sandy stared at her. “Oh, okay, so in this room with me, there’s a dragon with eyes of fire. I can feel the heat of its breath. But then I realize it’s not me in the dream. I’m looking through someone else’s eyes. Whoever it is, is frightened. I can feel the sheer terror shaking the body. I stand from the couch and look left and then right. There’s no escape. I walk toward a full-length mirror. I can’t see who the person is, but I feel a strong connection to them. Then I wake up.”
Anna kept stirring the sp
aghetti sauce. “What do you remember about the dragon?”
Ruby looked at Anna and said, “The dragon is big. Its head touches the ceiling. Don’t ask me how I know this, but the dragon is male. I’m scared of it. Like any minute, the thing is going to eat me or burn me alive. I wake up sweating bullets because, in my gut, I know this dragon has something to do with me. Even though I’m in someone else’s body in the dream, I feel the dream connects to me. I feel like the dragon connects to us.”
Sandy shook her arms out nervously like someone had walked over her grave. “Well, I wasn’t going to drink tonight, but now I need one.” Sandy opened the refrigerator and pulled out the ingredients to make a batch of margaritas. While mixing the ingredients, Sandy said, “Ruby, I think you need to keep a tablet by your bed, or better yet, each of us needs to start keeping a diary and write down everything we’ve experienced from the cave until now. Maybe we’ll see a pattern between our supernatural events to give us a clue about your dream and this dragon.”
After Sandy had blended the ingredients, she handed a cocktail to Ruby and Anna before she took a sip of hers. “I’ll buy each of us a diary for daily entries, and I’ll keep a master journal with all of our entries. Ruby, as soon as you wake up from one of your dreams, write down everything you remember. And we’ll hash it out.” Sandy leaned against the cabinet. “Hey, I know, let’s call it the Ditch Lane Diaries. How’s that for a name?”
Ruby looked from Sandy to Anna and threw her hands up. “Works for me.”
Anna turned off the burner and moved the pot off the stove onto a heating pad. “Hey, here’s a thought. When you’re in the dream, see if you can remember anything new about the room. Is the body you’re in male or female? Where’s the dragon standing? Is it on the right or left? How close is it to this person?”
Ruby laughed nervously and shook her hands back and forth. “Geez Louise, I feel like I’m in an episode of Twilight Zone or Scooby Doo.”
The girls laughed, but Anna was laughing out of nerves or fear, maybe both. The little kitchen seemed to get warmer, and Anna turned around to make sure she had turned the burner off.
On the far side of the kitchen, next to the back door, Ralph mysteriously appeared. He leaned against the wall and brought his forefinger to his lips. “Shh.” Anna raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. Ralph said, “Ruby and Sandy can’t see me and they can’t hear me. Tell Ruby not to make direct eye contact with the dragon.” Anna nodded in agreement.
Anna sat down at the table with Ruby. “Hey, Ruby, just to be safe, the next time you have the dream, don’t make eye contact with the dragon. If you’re afraid, trust your instincts. The dragon must symbolize something or someone bad, so just don’t look in its eyes.”
Ruby’s eyes widened, and she rubbed her face with both hands. “The thought of having that dream again makes me more scared than a sinner on a Sunday.”
Anna and Sandy burst out laughing. Anna said, “Ruby, you can be so funny without even trying.” Headlights shone through the kitchen window. “Hey, we have company. It’s either Jerry, Reed, or Brent. Any bets?”
Ruby took a sip of her margarita. “It’s not Reed. He’s working late tonight.”
Sandy placed the pitcher of margaritas inside the freezer and then joined Anna and Ruby at the table. “Don’t look at me. Brent and I had a fight, and I can’t imagine him coming over to apologize. The boy never admits when he is wrong about anything.”
Ruby reached over, grabbed Sandy around the neck, and gave her a noogie on the top of her head. “Y’all are like two peas in a pod. What did you fight about?”
Sandy ducked out of Ruby’s grip and shoved her away. “If you must know, it was about you.”
Ruby frowned with a quizzical expression. “Me? What the heck did I do?”
Sandy sighed, pulled her feet into the chair, and wrapped her arms around her knees. “It’s not your fault. You’re so wrapped up in Reed that you rarely notice anything else around you.” Sandy rolled her eyes. “When we’re hanging as a group, I catch Brent staring at you. It pisses me off.”
Ruby squeezed Sandy’s hand. “Honey, Brent is crazy about you. Reed says he talks about you all the time. I think maybe you’re exaggerating just a teeny weeny bit?” Ruby took her forefinger and thumb to emphasize the teeny weeny bit.
Sandy interjected, “I know you’re right. I might be exaggerating a tad bit, but the next time we’re all together, watch him. I’m not crazy, and I’m rarely jealous. It’s not like I see myself marrying him or anything. I just want his eyes on me, not you.”
Ruby shook her head. “Sandy, that’s the funniest thing I’ve heard lately, considering I’ve been walking in your shadow for most of my life.”
A couple of seconds later they heard boots scrambling up the steps and pounding on the door. The girls laughed and said in unison, “Jerry.”
* * *
Jerry stood at the kitchen door waiting for Anna. The door opened, and he circled her waist and drew her in for a kiss. “What’s up, chick-a-roos?” He looked over and gave Sandy a smile and winked at Ruby. “Hey, sister from another mister.”
Ruby chuckled and extended her forefinger toward him. “My brother from another mother.”
Anna leaned against Jerry’s shoulder and looked up into his eyes. “Hey, it’s nice out. You want to go for a walk?”
Jerry’s face split into a dimple-revealing grin. “Sure, peaches.”
“Okay, let me grab a sweater.”
Ever since the movie release of Rocky, everyone Jerry knew had started an exercise program. Anna loved to walk so they made a routine of walking most evenings around the college campus. They made a big loop around Peck Hall, down to the Admin building, and back up to Kirsey Old Main before heading back to Anna’s.
Walking along the stretch known as the Grove, Anna said, “Jerry, do you miss dating Ruby?”
Jerry frowned and stopped walking. “Why would you ask me that?
Anna looked down at the ground before looking back at him. “Oh, Sandy made a comment a little while ago about Brent staring at Ruby, and I just wondered. I feel insecure sometimes about you and her. Y’all were together all four years in high school.”
Jerry pointed to a park bench. “Sit, missy.” Anna sat down, and he joined her, draping an arm around her shoulders. “I’ll always love Ruby, but not the way you think. Ruby and I grew up together. My relationship with Ruby, most of the time, was platonic. But the night I kissed you, I knew what I had been missing all those years. I want you, Anna, not Ruby. You make me feel alive more than I’ve ever felt in my life. I won’t lie. I’m afraid to give myself completely to you because I know as soon as you graduate you’re leaving for medical school.”
“Jerry, you’re trying to turn the tables on me, and that’s not fair. I don’t have a crystal ball to look into the future. I just want you to love me as much as I love you.”
Jerry took several deep breaths as he looked over campus. He pointed to an elderly couple walking in the Grove holding hands. “That’s going to be us some day. I can see myself growing old with you. I’ll be painting our white picket fence, and you’ll be digging in the dirt in your herb garden, and we’ll have summer picnics in the backyard.”
“Aw, Jerry, I’m so glad you’re romantic.” Anna reached up as he bent down and kissed her.
Jerry held her face with both hands. “Come on, let’s finish walking so we can go to Tony’s Restaurant for pizza. I’m starving.”
She frowned and shook her head. “Tony’s? That defeats the purpose of walking.”
“Nah, I’ll worry about calories when I’m old.” Jerry stood and held out his hand to Anna, and she placed her hand in his.
Jerry and Anna continued to walk down the sidewalk while he wondered if he would have a future with Anna. Jerry’s gut got twisted up when he thought about Anna leaving for medical school. He had fallen hard for the little blonde with blue eyes. He pushed his negative thoughts away because he knew they would come bac
k sooner or later.
Chapter 4
Angel In Your Arms
Anna glanced up at the big black and white clock in the Todd Library. Dang it. Jerry was waiting for her. She jumped up from the desk, quickly shoved her books into her bag, and bolted down the stairs of the library.
At the second floor landing, Anna tripped and fell. From down on the floor, she looked up into the eyes of the man she’d seen in the cave five years ago. He bowed to her. He was heart-stoppingly gorgeous, but something about him scared the living daylights out of her. She quickly got to her feet, slipped by him, and started down the stairs. When she looked back over her shoulder, the man was gone.
What the heck? Anna ran back to the landing and looked up the stairs; no one was there. Anna stared at the empty stairs, completely bumfuzzled. There had been a man, and she had seen him—dad-blame it. Once, maybe she’d imagined the man, but not twice.
Anna shook her head, ran down the steps and out the front door, into Jerry’s waiting arms. She hugged him tightly. Jerry made a point to walk her home from school when he didn’t have to work on his dad’s farm.
“Geez, thanks for the awesome hug. What’s up? You’re late.” Jerry gave her a quick kiss and threw her book bag over his shoulder.
“Oh, nothing really. Time just slipped up on me.”
It was a beautiful day in October, filled with blue skies and plenty of sunshine. There was crispness to the air, and the rich greens of summer had turned to the bright yellows and deep oranges of fall.
College students filled the sidewalks going to and from classes. Students sprawled across the spacious lawns and studied under the trees in the Grove. One group of students sat around a guy who strummed an acoustic guitar while singing some folk song by The Mamas and the Papas.