Soulmates (9 page)

Chapter Six

The walk back was quiet. They watched silently as horse carriages rode past. The intense desire between them continued to grow. Once back, Jesse began to act nervous.

“I had so much fun with you today, but I probably need to get to the field and help the guys out,” he stepped in closer to Presley. “I really enjoyed being with you. Anyway, the guys, they are going to wonder what happened to me.” He stood frozen, his eyes locked with hers for a moment. “I promise you that tomorrow we will try to find Manna and get you home.”

“Okay,” she replied. As she was about to open the door, she turned back toward Jesse and said, “I really had a good time with you, too.”

Jesse walked up to her and with wide eyes excitedly asked, “Would you go somewhere with me tonight? I want to show you something.”

“Yeah, sure,” she said without hesitation. This time Tyler didn’t enter her mind. Jesse’s eyes lit up.

“Okay, I’ll come for you just before dark,” he grinned. “Until then.…”

Jesse took Presley’s hand and kissed it softly.

Presley went inside, closed the door behind her, shut her eyes and smiled. Paulette burst into the room, interrupting Presley’s peaceful solitude and lustful thoughts.

She blurted, “Well, I had an interesting conversation today with Sarah. Seems to me that she may be a little jealous of the time you and Jesse have been spending together. But don’t you worry. I won’t let her mess with you. She’s a snide little hussy, and I can tell you right now that she will try to cause you problems.”

“Doesn’t she know that we are going to go back home? I mean, why would she want to cause problems for me when I’m leaving?”

“I don’t know. I suggest that you stay clear of her. She’s a manipulating, calculating trouble maker and she loves to stir the pot. As your friend, I just want you to know that.”

“Okay. Thanks,” Presley smiled.

Paulette went over to the pile of clothes in the middle of her living room floor and began to fold them.

“Wanna give me a hand with this?” she asked. Presley quickly helped her fold the clothes.

“So, what’s the story with Jesse and Sarah? Did they date or something?” Presley nonchalantly asked.

Paulette glanced at her out of the corner of her eyes. Yeah, they dated for a short while, way before I came here. I don’t think that Jesse was ever in love with her. It was just convenient. You know they came from the same time and place. I think that he was lonely and confused, and she was here nagging him, constantly, to be with her and eventually he gave in. She wanted him to be crazy in love with her, and the truth is he just wasn’t. I think that he tried to, but he just couldn’t love her. And the fact that he caught her in so many petty lies didn’t help. The lies finally gave him an excuse to break off the relationship. She’s been trying to win him back ever since. Now that you’re here, you are just adding fuel to the fire. I’m telling you, the girl is obsessed with him,” Paulette explained.

“What did she lie about?” asked Presley.

“You mean, what didn’t she lie about?” Paulette corrected. “She’s like a— what do you call people when they lie just to lie?” she squinted her eyes.

“A pathological liar?” answered Presley.

“That’s it. She’s a pathological liar,” Paulette repeated. “Most of her lies were harmless, but it was like she just lied to see what she could get away with. Jesse can’t stand liars. He says, ‘A man is only as good as his word,’” Paulette said in a deep voice. “Yep, that’s Jesse. You’ll never meet anyone else like him.”

“That I can believe,” Presley agreed. Presley was beginning to question her feelings of love toward Tyler. One thing she knew for sure, her connection with Jesse was stronger than any other guy she had ever dated or even knew for that matter.

“You know, Jesse has never taken a whole morning off to spend with a girl as long as I’ve been here. And I’ve never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you. He really likes you.” Paulette looked at Presley out of the corner of her eyes again. “You hungry?”

“Starving,” said Presley, hoping the conversation would go back to Jesse. The girls walked to the kitchen and Paulette grabbed a loaf of bread from the counter.

“Go ahead and sit down. Do you want some fried ham and mashed potatoes?” she asked.

“Oh, yes. Sounds delicious,” said Presley.

Paulette put two pieces of warm ham on Presley’s plate and two spoons full of potatoes.

“I fried this ham up right before you came back. I knew you’d be hungry leaving here with no breakfast.” Presley had already devoured one piece of the ham before Paulette finished talking.

“More?” asked Paulette.

Presley nodded and between bites she asked, “So—Jesse and Sarah dated, huh?”

“Yeah, but Jesse was never really interested in her. He’s still not over Emily,” said Paulette.

Presley swallowed hard and then abruptly stopped eating.

“Emily. Who is she? Is she here?” Presley asked.
“Oh no, you mean who
was
Emily. She was his fiancée back home, long ago. He still talks about her from time to time. He is still in love with her.”

“Oh, I see,” Presley said, disappointed.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to upset you,” said Paulette.

“Upset me?” Presley faked a laugh. “I barely know the guy. I just feel bad for him, that’s all. It’s sad. I mean, he was going to marry her, this Emily, and never got the chance. I think that it’s hard to find love, and here he had it and it was like, stolen from him. You know?”

“Yeah, I do know that true love is hard to find. I haven’t found it yet myself!” Paulette chuckled.

≈≈≈≈≈

The sun was slowly going down and, as promised, Jesse came back for her. Presley could see him as he walked up the dirt road to Paulette’s house. As he got closer, she noticed two sticks under his arms. Presley started to feel flutters in her stomach again. He reminded her of someone she had once known, but she couldn’t place who it could be.

“You ready to go?” Jesse asked Presley.

“Yeah, sure. Where are we going?” she asked.

“We’re going fishin’,” he said with a smile.

Presley walked down the stairs to greet him. Jesse winked at Paulette.

“Don’t worry, Paulette. We won’t be too late,” he said.

“Don’t you worry about the time. You two have fun!” she said loudly.

They walked behind Paulette’s house and into the woods. There was still enough light to see a worn trail between the trees. As they walked, Presley noticed a white fluffy flake fall on her arm. She looked up and it appeared to be snowing. But the flakes weren’t cold and they didn’t melt. It wasn’t snow. It felt like soft fluffy cotton.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” he asked.

She nodded in amazement, as she caught the soft white flakes in her hands.

“It’s falling from the trees. See?” he said pointing. “If you like this, wait until you see the river.”

They walked a little further until they came upon a body of bright blue water. They went down to the water’s edge. Jesse took a rock from the ground and threw it into the water. The water changed to yellow.

“Whoa!” she shouted in amazement.

He took another rock and skipped it across the top of the water. With every skip the water changed. It went from yellow to green to purple to blue.

“Let me try!" Presley picked up a rock and tried to skip it. The rock went straight down.

“Here, you need a flat rock, you know that!” he laughed.

“How would I know that?” she snapped. Jesse looked puzzled for a moment, and then shook his head.

“Well, I mean doesn’t everyone know how to skip rocks?” he asked.

“Not me,” she said confused. Jesse found a flat rock and handed it to Presley.

“Here, try it again,” he said.

She flung the rock, changing the color of the water with every skip.

“You did it!”

“This place—it’s like being in a dream. It’s like a fantasy. It’s a magical world.”

“Well, you mastered rock skipping,” he mused. “Now, let’s try your hand at fishing!" Jesse took Presley by the hand and led her to a nice patch of grass where they both sat down. Jesse gave Presley one of the sticks.

“What am I supposed to do with this?” she laughed.

“It’s your fishing pole. Let me guess, you ain’t been fishin’ either?” he joked.

“Yes, I’ve been fishing with a fishing pole, but not with a stick with a piece of string attached to the end,” she stated sarcastically.

“I’m sure this ain’t as sophisticated as the fishing poles that you all use, but this is all we got,” he said in a modest tone. He took a small package out of the pocket of his jacket. He unwrapped it and took a small piece of meat out. Then he put it through the hook at the end of the string. He handed the meat over to Presley.

“Now just hang the meat from the hook, just like that, and you’re ready to fish,” he said, as he demonstrated the act. Jesse put his line in first. The ripples of the water changed to a light blue. Presley put her line in next and the ripples turned a light green.

“Now, I’ll make a hole to put the sticks in. Okay, now when you see your string tighten and form a straight line, that means that you gotta a bite. Okay?”

“Yeah, I got it,” she said. They left their fishing poles in the small holes in the ground and sat back down on the soft grass.

“Would you stay here?”

“Stay here? What do you mean?”

“I mean live here.”

“Why would I stay here?” she asked.

“I want you to stay here with me,” he said, as he looked at her with hopeful, yet sorrowful eyes.

“You can’t be serious. Are you crazy? I don’t even know you! Plus, I’m only seventeen!” she laughed.

“I know that you don’t know me, but you could get to know me. You’d like me. I promise. I’m sure of it,” he said, as his hopefulness quickly turned to desperation.

“I have a life to get back to. I like you. I do. You’re a great guy, really. And I feel real sorry for what happened to you, being stuck here and all, but I’m going back home,” she said sternly.

“You got a boyfriend?” he blurted abruptly.

“Why?” she asked caught off guard.

“I’ve just been wondering,” he answered honestly.

“Yes, I do,” she said. He looked startled, his eyes turning fearful.

“Yes? What’s his name?” he asked panicky.

“His name is Tyler Shay. We’ve been seeing each other for awhile,” she explained.

“Are you going to marry this Tyler Shay?” he asked.

“Marry him?” she gasped, amused by his question. “I’m only seventeen!”

“Only seventeen? So couples don’t get married at seventeen?” he asked.

“Not unless you’re pregnant! No, I’m way too young to be married,” she said.

“Well, I was engaged at eighteen and my fiancé was seventeen. I mean it was normal for people to marry around that age. When you’re lucky enough to find someone that you love, you should marry,” he said convincingly.

“Yeah, well times have changed. Paulette had mentioned that you were engaged-I’m sorry,” she said.

“Don’t be sorry.” He paused for a moment. “Her name was Emily Rose. I called her Petal because of her last name and her love of flowers. She was obsessed with flowers, sowing seeds in early spring. And then tilling and planting. She would even name her flowers and talk to them, too,” he grew silent for a moment as he reminisced.

“We were supposed to get married, and then I ended up here,” he said as he threw his hands in the air. “I often think about her. Many times a day really. I think about what would have happened if we had married, how many kids would we have had, what their names would have been. But most of all I wonder what happened to her. I’ve wondered how her life was, if she ever married, how she died and how I would’ve died. I should be dead, ya know. I’ve wondered what she thought happened to me. My life would have been so different,” he said quietly.

Presley swallowed hard. She didn’t want to admit it, but in a strange way she was becoming a little jealous of Emily Rose.

“So you loved her?” she asked.

“Of course, I wanted to marry her. What about Tyler, do you love him?” he asked back.

“Yes, I love him. I mean I don’t want to be without him,” she said, trying to be convincing.

“Well now, that’s quite different. Isn’t it? Do you really love him or are you afraid to be alone?” he asked.

“Our relationship is a little difficult. We are, um— on again, off again,” she said.

“What do you mean on again, off again?” he pried.

“We break up a lot,” she said.

“Sounds to me you aren’t sure if you want to be with him,” he smirked.

“Now, how do you know that?” she asked annoyed.

“I’ve thought a lot about this, my feelings on love. I have had a while to think,” he winked at her. “I do believe that I have it figured out now. What I know for sure is that true love is when you don’t want to be without that person, it physically hurts to be without them. My life would be meaningless without Emily, even today. She made me into who I am as a person. She taught me so much about trust and loving without conditions. We would just lie and stare into each other’s eyes for hours not having to say a word, just looking at each other.” Jesse took a deep breath.