Page 34 of Healing Love

His feet landed on the ledge, and he looked at her, a curious expression on his face. “I gotta confess that I’d like to see you eat as much as you say you do, but the diet soda with lemon? Not too sure about that,” he teased.

“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it, Superman.”

Laughing, he looked over the edge. “Looks like we’ve got about three more of these and then we can start climbing down the rest of the way together where the slope is not as steep. It’ll be dark by then, but we can find a place to rest for a while.

“So, is that three more chances to learn more about you?” she asked shyly.

“You sure you’re not talking about three more kisses?”

He watched in amazement as she blushed a deep red from the top of her chest to her hairline, but before he could apologize, she just turned her smile back onto him.

“Well, okay then,” he said. For the next hour as the sun slowly set behind them, they continued their pattern of descent and learning about each other. She found out that he had been with the Richmond Police Department, had been undercover in a drug gang, and that was where he met Jobe’s wife, Mackenna. He played football in high school but was almost kicked off the team for what he callednefarious activities.He admitted that he had been a juvenile delinquent, never caught, and had a change of heart when he turned eighteen.

She confessed that she loved to sing, but only in the shower. Loved to dance, but only in the privacy of herapartment when vacuuming. He learned that she sometimes hated being the baby in the family, especially when they got in her business. And she was a great cook and liked lots of cream and sugar in her coffee.

And each time before he swung her out to climb down, he kissed her. Light. Soft. A touch of lips that held no particular meaning…and yet seemed to mean everything to both of them.

Sitting at the edge of the woods in front of a small fire that Cam had built, Miriam leaned closer to the flames as she ran her fingers through her hair. It was finally dry, but a tangled mess. The extra scrubs she had packed had been damp, but clean. Laying them on a branch near the fire was helping them to dry and she longed to put them on. The fire was welcome and for the first time since she was rescued, in the middle of the storm, she was beginning to feel dry. Walking over, she held her fingertips toward the flames, soaking up the warmth, wondering if they would stay permanently wrinkled. Sitting down next to the fire, she allowed the heat to seep into her whole body.

A noise in the distance jerked her from her moment of respite. She glanced around nervously wishing Cam would come back. He had left almost thirty minutes ago, saying he was going to see if he could find something for them to eat. The illumination penetrated the dark night, but beyond the firelight, the night was frightening. The warmth that gave off comfortprovided the shadows that danced causing her gaze to jump around, awarethat she was completely alone.What if he doesn’t come back? What if he gets captured? Injured? Lost?Her heart pounded against her ribs as another noise reached her ears. The image of the carnage she had witnessed had her chest heave with fear. Standing quickly as she heard a noise approaching, she grabbed the canoe oar, wielding it in front of her.

Cam came from the underbrush, finding his way back to the campfire. His arms were full of mangoes. Before he could present his bounty to her, she gave a shriek, tossing the oar onto the ground and rushed into his arms, her body bucking with sobs. He barely had time to drop the mangoes in order to catch her.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” he asked, wanting to see her face but unable to extract her trembling limbs from his.

Unable to speak, she continued to hold him tightly for several minutes until she was able to catch her breath. “I was scared,” she confessed, pressing her face into his neck. “I kept hearing noises and couldn’t see anything in the dark. I had no idea if you had been captured, or hurt, or lost, or?—”

“Shhhhh,” he whispered, as he continued to cradle her body tightly in his embrace. One hand around her middle held her heartbeat next to his. His other hand tucked her head underneath his chin. He held her close until her shivering subsided, then placed her gently back on the ground. “I’m so fuckin’ sorry, Miriam, that I had to leave you here alone. I knew I could sneak in and out, getting what we needed and wasn’t willing to take a chance that you’d be discovered.” He leaned down,holding her face in his hands, “Come on, have a seat and see what I brought.”

He maneuvered her closely to the fire again and they sat cross-legged on the ground, next to each other. He noticed she kept her leg touching his as though she were afraid he would disappear again. Reaching behind, he pulled out several mangoes. “I found a grove about a mile from here.”

Her eyes jumped to his face, fear still evident in her expression. “Was there anyone around? Did anyone see you?”

“No, no,” he assured her. Pulling out his knife, he slit into one handing her half.

Taking a deep breath, she allowed his presence to calm her. Leaning her body slightly onto his, she took another cleansing breath.He’s back and I’m okay.Taking the offered fruit out of his hands, she bit into the juicy goodness, the taste of the fruit better than anything she could have imagined. He did the same, and in a few minutes, they had eaten three mangoes, the juice still dripping from their chins.

He had filled his canteen with some water from the river and offered it to her to drink and wash off. She took a drink but hesitated when pouring the liquid over her hands. He looked at her quizzically.

Shaking her head, she giggled. “I know this sounds stupid, but after spending over twenty-four hours being soaked, I almost hate even getting my hands wet again.”

He chuckled his agreement, happy to hear her laughing. Standing, he held out his sticky hand to her and she allowed him to pull her up. Walking her to the river’sedge, she noticed that he did not let go of her hand the entire way. Squatting at the edge, he tugged her down beside him and they washed the juice from their hands and faces.

Once back by the fire, he used his boot to sweep some debris away and her clean scrubs as a pillow. Patting the ground between his large body and the fire, he said, “Come on, babe. We need to get some sleep and the fire will knock off the chill.”

“Won’t you be cold on the far side?” she asked, realizing that he was offering her the choice spot between the fire and his warmth.

“Not with you beside me,” he tried to joke, but the truth shone out from his expression.

She smiled and nodded, crawling over to lay on the hard ground. He reached over and pulled her body in tightly to his. “Shared body warmth?” she asked, knowing it was a method for staying warm, but felt the heat of her blush rise from her chest to her face.

“Absolutely,” he agreed.

Once again, neither thought it would happen but, soon they were both sound asleep.

Miriam woke, the pale early morning light surrounding her. As her eyes blinked, she could see that the fire had burned down to embers, but warmth still enveloped her body. Cam. He was pressed close to her back, one leg thrown over hers and his arm wrapped around herstomach, tight and protectively. She stretched slightly, wondering what awakened her.

She smiled, feeling something move across her leg thinking that Cam must be awake…or even moving his leg over hers in his sleep.Sleep. He’s still sleeping.Leaning carefully, she glanced down to see what he was doing, when she saw the red and black stripes of a snake slithering by her leg.

---