A Beautiful New Life (20 page)

“I’m not going to leave you.” That was all he had to say. She sat rocking back and forth and cried. When she thought there were no more tears to
shed,
she cried again.
After a time
,
and when she seemed to have calmed down, Jordan spoke.

“You know something I don’t understand; if Arlin paid them to kill you why are you not dead?”

She looked up at him; her anger toward him dissolved
for
the moment. “That is a good question. If they were supposed to kill me, they will never
allow
me leave here alive. I’ll never get home to my kids.” With that said a fresh wave of tears flood her face. “I wished they had killed me.”

Chapter
Eighteen

Laughter filled the air as the residents of Genesee enjoyed the sunny summer day.
E
very person was at the lake
, Louise thought as she sat at
a table under the pavilion. 
She was disappointed that t
hey were not able to get their normal spot on the knoll overlooking the lake. She laid the checker
tablecloth
down and set out the goodies she had packed.  Jordan went back to the car to get the inner tubes they will use later when they go swimming. She had not
heard
him approach
,
and was startled when she turned around and found him standing right behind
her
. She took a step back.

“Hello Mark. Nice day isn’t it.” She looked around for Jordan.

“Yes it is.
Too nice of a day to be spent alone.”
He took a seat at the table.

“What are you doing?”

“Well like I said it’s too nice of a day to be spent alone so I’m joining you.” He took a handful of grapes and started popping them in his mouth.

“I’m not alone so
will you
please leave
?
”
She started putting away the items she had just set out. He grabbed her hand.

“I really don’t know why you treat me this way. It would be in your best interest to…let’s say… be more cooperative to my needs.”

She pulled her hand away. “And if I’m not, what exactly are you going to do about it?”

He did not answer. He got up from the table and darted off. Louise turned around and spotted the reason for his abrupt departure. She ran to Jordan and put her arms around him. As they walked back to the table she told him what happened.

“He just doesn’t get the message. I think you should go to the police.” Jordan helped her set out the goodies again.

“I don’t know. I don’t think he really means any harm.”

“He put his hands on you. He is getting more daring.”

“I’ll think about it
,
but right now I want to enjoy this wonderful sunny day with the man I love.” She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close to her. She felt so secure in his arms she did not want to let go but both of their stomachs growled and they pulled away laughing. “I think it’s time to eat.”

They ate their lunch and
then
lugged their inner tubes down to the beach. She laid out their towels and they took in the sun while their food digested. It was days like this that she could stay here forever with him. She had to fight hard to think of her kids. She missed them and it seemed the bad dreams
were held
at bay for the moment
;
so until they could figure out a way to get out of here she
was
happy
to stay.
At times, she
felt guilty
about being happy
. Thinking of them
everyday
put her at risk
that they would know
she knew the truth of who she was and what they were doing to people here. That would not get her any closer to home. She knew this was just an excuse. Every day she grew closer to Jordan
,
she felt her boys slipping further away.

Louise was about to dose off when a Frisbee landed on top of her. She sat up and saw a couple of boys running in her direction.

“I’m sorry Miss. Bad aim.” He was probably about twelve and his
sun-bleached
hair reminded her of her own boys.

“No problem, here you go.” She threw the Frisbee to them
, and it was then she spotted
her friend Gwen. She had not seen her in months and wondered if she had finished school. Then she wondered more if she had tried to leave.

“I’ll be right back. I’m going to say hello to my friend Gwen.” She got up and walked the short distance across the beach to the blonde girl under the red and white beach umbrella.

“Hi Gwen how are you? I haven’t seen you in
awhile
.” Louise said to her.

“Oh…hi.”
She replied, sounding unsure as to who she was saying hi to. Louise knew it had been a while but not that long.

“It’s me Megan. We lived in the dorms together.” Louise was not sure why Gwen was not recognizing her but her delayed responses made Louise suspicious. “Did you finish school yet? I expected you would have been off on your adventure by now.”

“My adventure?”
Her speech was slurred.

“You know, leaving Genesee.”

“You’re funny lady. No one leaves Genesee.” The words sent shockwaves through Louise. What had they done to her?

“Excuse me, can I help you?” An older
woman
walked up behind Louise.

“Hi, I was just saying hello to my friend Gwen. We lived in the dorms together
about a year ago
.” Louise extended her hand. The older
woman
shook it and then spoke.

“Gwen isn’t herself these days. She…had an accident. Her memory isn’t the same.”

“Oh I’m so sorry.” Louise said to the
woman
and then turned to Gwen. “It was nice seeing you again Gwen.”

“Okay funny lady. Bye.”

Louise made her way back to where Jordan was laying on the beach. She told him about her friend Gwen and what she had suspected happened. The thought that they would do such a thing to a young girl scared Louise. What would they do to her and Jordan if they tried to leave? She now realized this was going to be more difficult than they had anticipated. She lay down and tried to allow the warm sun to push away the bad feelings that were slowly creeping in but Jordan had other ideas.

“Hey lets go for a swim.” Jordan pulled her up from her blanket. Keeping her at arms’
length,
he admired her beautiful body and his reaction showed. He
pulled her close and walked
behind her to the water. He could not control his urges when she was this undressed. They entered the water and swam out a good distance from the shore to an area less crowded. He pulled her close and she could feel his need. They slipped off their bottoms and he picked her up and set her on him. As he
entered,
they both moaned in pleasure. It had been months since they had been together. Despite being betrayed by Arlin
and wanting to pick up where they left off when she first go the news of the betrayal,
she could not carry on a relationship with Jordan.
However,
she soon found that he was always there for her and she welcomed that feeling and slowly allowed him into her life again. They had not made love though. She just was not comfortable being unfaithful to Arlin.
Now
, here with him on this beautiful day and the love she felt for him
overcame her
and erased all the anxiety she had about her friend;
she was finally able to give all of herself to him. This was not what they had planned for their first time again but some things
are better not planned
. When they finished they slipped their bottoms back on and decided they had enough of the sun and water. They swam back to the beach and collected their towels. Jordan carried the inner tubes to the car and came back to help carry the food Louise had packed away.  They drove back to Louise’s place leaving the food in the car they ran into the house. Now that the door was open for them to explore each other again
,
they could not get enough.

The summer days flew by and Louise was sad to see them go.
It had been
the happiest summer she had in a long time.
Now
with the changing seasons she was afraid
of what
other changes
might happen
. Jordan told her that he was not going anywhere. They had even talked about moving in together. Louise was not sure if she was ready for that step. She was enjoying her independence as well as being with him. Even though they would never be married or live a married life
,
she was not sure if she could ever make that commitment again.
F
or the time being
,
they enjoyed each other’s company every moment they could, sleeping over
at
each other’s house more often than not.

As fall came and
went,
they planned for the holidays.
She had so much to be thankful for this
Thanksgiving. She had Jordan in her life and with
him,
she felt so alive.
She was thankful for Arlin to have chosen this alternative
, and more thankful to the people of Genesee for not having killed her but rather, as their brochure read,
allowing her to
experience a brand new life.
She was more alive now than she ever had been with Arlin. She knows that this would not have been
what Arlin wanted
,
b
ut he did not get to cho
o
se how she lived the life
that the people
,
he
had
sent her
,
gave
her
. Christmas would be special too. There was nothing holding her back from not knowing her past. She knew it, all of it. This Christmas she was ready to celebrate, even if only in the privacy of their homes, as Louise and Jordan. Not pretending to be
someone
they were not. With every passing
day,
she was falling more in love with him
and a
s New
Years
wrapped up the holiday festivities, the clocked chimed midnight she made a wish to live forever with Jordan by her side.

Chapter
Nineteen

The doorbell rang as Louise slipped her t-shirt over her head.
Whom
could that be she wondered? She
wasn’t
expecting anyone.  She had planned to stay in and do some
spring-cleaning
. With the warm weather
,
she wanted to open all the windows and let the warm air wash away the dry, stagnant winter air that was suffocating her slowly as the winter dragged on. When the day’s chores were completed, she looked forward to some quiet time settled out on the back patio, nestled in a warm blanket and a good book.

The doorbell rang again. Her delay in answering did not deter the person at the door. Maybe it was the neighbor, she was expecting any day now. With this thought
,
Louise ran to the door anticipating the visitor needing her help. She opened the door and was pleasantly surprised to see Jordan standing there with a picnic basket and a smile.

“Hey what’s all this? I told you I was going to stay in today and get some cleaning done.”

“What on this beautiful day? No way am I letting that happen. We’re going to the park for a picnic.” He lifted the basket for her to take a closer look. “I have all your favorites and a surprise or two. So what do you say?”

“Jordan this is nice but I was really looking forward to my plans; that, if I recall correctly I shared with you yesterday.” She jabbed him in the chest.

He gently took her hand. “The cleaning will be here tomorrow, but the sun may not.”

“I’m not dressed to go to the park.” It
wouldn’t
have taken much to slip on something else but she was not going to budge.

“You look fine.” He checked out her worn sweatpants and bleached stained t-shirt. “Well on second thought, you need to get some new cleaning clothes.”

She laughed as she looked down at herself. “Yah you’re probably right, but this proves my point that I’m not dressed to go to the park.”

“Well I know for a fact that
you do have some clothes that are
suitable for the park and a day like today.
So off you go, get dressed or you’ll force me to rip those clothes off you and dress you myself.” He set the basket down and took her in his arms. He lifted her chin and softly kissed her lips. “Won’t you please come out and play with me?”