Page 78 of Sweet Passions at Bayside
Answered with silence, he threw himself from the bed and pulled on a pair of briefs, noticing Emery’s clothes from last night were gone. His hands curled into fists. If his father scared her off, he’d never forgive him. He stormed into the living room, wincing at the stench of marijuana…or skunk. He couldn’t be sure which.
There was a big black pot on the stove, and the doors to the patio were wide open. He walked around the counter and peered into the pot, which was empty save for a few inches of water. Whatever had been in it smelled a lot better than the rest of the house. He headed out to the patio, following the scent around the side of the house. He stopped short at the sight of Emery standing in the front yard with her back to him. She wore a pair of gray yoga pants with a thick blue and white tie-dyed waistband and a pink exercise bra. Her feet were bare, and her yoga mat was spread out in a patch of sunlight beside the gardens. She looked angelic standing there in the sun’s ray.
She bent over and waved something around her feet, trailing smoke as she waved whatever it was around her legs and torso. She waved it around in a circle over her head, and the scent he’d smelled in the house filled his nostrils. Curious, but not wanting to interrupt her, he stepped behind the bushes and peered around them as she continued what looked like some sort of ritual. She waved the smoking bundle behind her leg, and then behind her back as best she could. Smoke chased her every move. He didn’t know how long he stood there, but guessed it to be at least five or ten minutes before she held the bundle between both hands. From the back, it appeared she was holding it in a prayer position. Loopy smoke wafted above her shoulders.
From there she waved the bundle toward the porch and front door, making wide sweeping movements. Eventually she set the smoking bundle down beside her mat on what looked like a clay bowl, and she stood in the middle of her mat. He’d seen her move through her morning yoga routine enough times to recognize some of the positions. One of his favorites was the triangle pose. He loved the way her body seemed to lengthen and open up during that pose. But the thing he noticed most was the way her face relaxed, even though the rest of her body seemed almost to be in motion—her fingers reaching for the ground and sky, her legs stabilizing her core, toes pointed, and the muscles in her belly taut. He imagined her with a round belly, carrying their child, and felt himself smiling. The thought came unbidden, and yet it felt natural. He’d never imagined any woman carrying his child, but with Emery, he wantedeverything.
She moved fluidly from one position to the next. Suddenly she sank down to the mat, her face in her hands. Was she crying? He stepped from behind the bushes at the same moment she pushed to her feet and threw her hands up toward the sky. He slipped behind the bushes again.
“What do I have to do to clear my head?” she said angrily. “Challengemyself?”
With a huff, she knelt on the mat and stretched her arms over her head, parallel to the ground. He knew this was child’s pose. And he also knew it was what she called her go-to pose for quieting her mind and centering her attention before moving into more difficult poses. When he’d first seen her doing more complicated poses, he had made the mistake of rushing over to spot her, which not only threw her off-balance, but she explained that it defeated the purpose of mindfulness.
She repositioned into a squat, then splayed her hands on the mat, seamlessly aligning her shoulders and elbows. Dean’s fingers flexed, as if by doing so he could help hold her up. She was a vision of control and grace as she leaned forward, her back rounding slightly, and drew her knees up, balancing with her legs on the outer edges of her upper arms. She remained there, holding herself up with only her hands, her feet together, heels pointed up.
Dean held his breath, his every muscle flexing in support of her. The upper-body strength and concentration it took to achieve such a pose was more than he could grasp. His legs carried him toward her without any cognitive thought. When he realized what he was doing, he stilled, fearing he might startle her. Her eyes were closed, and he was mesmerized watching this incredible woman defy gravity.
As she returned her feet to the ground and moved into child’s pose once again, his breath rushed from his lungs, and he closed the distance between them. He knelt on the edge of the mat, and she lifted her head, a loving smile on her face.
“That was incredible. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my life. Your grace and strength were so powerful, I could feel it in my own body.”
“Thank you. Crow is a really hard pose, and it takes full concentration of my mind and my body. I was having such a hard time clearing my head, I needed to dig deeper.” She sat up and took his hands in hers, her expression turning serious. “I’m sorry I left you sleeping, but I had to get rid of the bad mojo from last night. The house might smell a little funny.”
“Just a little.” He winked.
“It’s white sage. I was ridding the house and everything around us from conflict and bad feelings. The sage smoke absorbs the bad energy and cleanses our energy fields. It’s like a deep, metaphysical cleansing.” She glanced at the sage, which was no longer lit. “We’ll have to relight it, but whatever you do, never blow. Likeever.”
“Now you’ve lost me.”
“Breath is for life, not for extinguishing it, and fire is seen as life. Oh! I need to do you, too.”
He arched a brow. “I’m liking this…”
She rolled her eyes. “I mean cleansing you from bad energy. Oh, and I picked some of your lavender. I hope you don’t mind, but I made tea.” She pointed to a mug on the front porch. “I can make you some if you’d like. It helps calm me down. Well, usually it does.”
“I can’t get over how complex you are. Seriously, doll. You talk about the five layers of being? You have so many layers I’ll be learning them forever. And the fact that you did all of this for us? It means the world to me.” For the millionth time since they’d come together, his chest felt full. He wondered if it were possible for a heart to overflow. He slid a hand to the nape of her neck and drew her closer. “I am so sorry for everything. I’m going to speak to my parents today.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, with your dad, I mean. And I don’t know if the spiritual cleanse will be enough either, because even without the bad mojo, I’ll never be who he wants me to be.”
“But, baby, you are the woman I want you to be, and that’s all that matters.”
She shook her head. “I wish it were, but there will always be a cloud over us. I’m not giving up. I’m going to figure this out. Maybe Rose can help me find a way to get through to him.”
“My grandmother can’t even get along with her own son. I’m not sure her advice will be any help.” He squeezed her hand and said, “We’re a team. You and me. And we’re only going to get stronger. Now, how about we stop thinking about the negative and move on to positive, couple-strengthening activities.”
She laughed. “That was a pretty good segue into naughtiness.”
“You are my dirty girl. I was thinking I’d skip my run today, and you could teach me some yoga moves.”
“Mm-hm.Yogamoves.”
He pushed up to a sitting position. “I want to immerse myself in your world. Tell me what to do.”
“Really?” she asked with disbelief.
“Yes, really. Come ondirty girl. Teach me.”
“Well, there is one yoga move I’ve been dying to try. I saw it in yourYogamagazine.”
