Page 21 of The Cannon
“What do you mean?”
“You said mostly. You’re mostly doing this because of your family. What’s the other reason? That’s the only one I’m interested in.”
“I recognize a kindred spirit. Our conversation flows and there’s not been a moment where I’m searching for something to say. Think we could become friends.”
“That’s a good place to start. But I’m not really aiming for friendship. I see you in a different light. In fact, there’s light all around you.”
A tiny intake of her breath is all I hear. I’m not going to speak until she does. Silence sits between us for a good five seconds.
“Light?”
“Yes. It got my attention the first time I saw you.”
“Oh my,” she sighs.
“You can think your way around this, Bristol. Or you can feel your way through.”
Her voice softens. “That’s not my way.”
I feel the intimacy of her words.
“I can tell. But I think it’s because you’re so intelligent. You like to dissect everything. From a guy with a high school education, I admire that.”
“You could have fooled me. Your vocabulary alone.”
“I’m a voracious reader. My mom liked to read. At least that’s how I’ve imagined her. I remember one thick book in our house used to balance a table. It wasGone with the Wind.”
“Oh. That’s the connection.”
We talk for another two-and-a-half hours. Time passes out of normal confines. I’m only conscious of the hour because of the position of the moon which I can see from the bed. And as the moon rises and night falls so do our defenses. They all come down. Neither of us pretending to be anything other than our authentic selves.
Naturally and with ease, we have our first real conversation. The kind where information flows back and forth between two people in a kind of slow dance. I talk and she listens. She talks and I listen.
The woman charms the pants off me. Literally and figuratively.
An hour ago I shed my clothes and climbed in my big empty bed. Her company on the phone filled the space next to me. It almost felt like we were facing each other whispering some of the stories of our lives.
Soft sounds good on her. And the fact she never leads with it makes it more appealing. It feels great that she’s showing it to me tonight.
“I guess I need to get to sleep,” she says. “I’ve got to get up at five to go running.”
“What if you skip it so we can talk a little longer now?”
“As lovely as that sounds, it’s my schedule. I never veer from it. But I admit you tempt me.”
“That’s all a man can hope for. And Bristol?”
“Yes?”
“You’re my temptation too.”
Chapter 6
Bristol
Plot twist. That’s how I feel about Sawyer and his effect. In a matter of weeks he’s changed the direction of my well-planned story. I haven’t told him that. But hiding it from myself is an impossibility. And the entire thing has happened because of our phone conversations. He hasn’t pushed and I like that.
Daily, nightly and sometimes through into the next day. We are talkers. I’m sure he’s always been, but for me it’s new. Never have I revealed so much about myself. For some reason it’s felt right.
