Being Emma (18 page)

The whistle blew for the archers to take
their stand at the shooting line. It blew again for them to ready
their bows, nock the arrows and shoot. Janie shot her first arrow
and then looked back at Craig. It was all he could do not to laugh
at her – They had dressed so rapidly that her polo shirt was inside
out. She raised her eyebrows at his expression and then turned back
to shoot her final arrows for the round. Her score was not bad, but
not as good as yesterday. She turned around to shrug her shoulders
at him. He grinned… Her mind was probably not as focused today on
the event, as it had been yesterday. Craig almost laughed out loud
remembering why…

After she had shot all her rounds, her tally
was 278/360. Janie neither knew nor cared at this point if she made
the elimination round. Her mind was very distracted with thoughts
of kissing Craig, which she would have preferred to be doing. But
she could usually concentrate better than this… Walking back to
him, he got up to take his position for the next round of archers.
He smiled at her as he picked up his bow and quiver.

“… Mind not on your game today, miss?”

“No…”

“Huh… Wonder why…”

“Okay, smarty. Let’s see how you do.”

With those words ringing in his ears, Craig
shot a score of 348/360 for his six rounds. She opened her mouth in
surprise – It was unbelievable that his scores were so good. He
walked back over to her with a sassy grin.

“How could you possibly…”

“… I could have done much better, if I’d
gotten more sleep…” They smiled at each other…

A quick break for lunch and then the
afternoon’s rounds were posted. Craig was in the first round, while
Janie was in the third. About halfway through Craig’s round, Sandy
and Bill showed up. Sandy walked over and sat down by Janie.

“Hi sweetie. How’s he doing?”

“Hey, Dad… Uncle Bill… Really well… I’ve
never seen him shoot this well.”

He looked at her and grinned. “New practice
technique?” Janie gulped.

Can he read my mind?
He was wondering what was wrong with her shirt.

“… Er… No… Same old methods.”

“Well, he must be having a lucky day
then.”

Bill commented on Craig’s incredible form and
technique as his scores were posted. He had scored 336/360. Unless
there was a flurry of dead-on bulls-eyes from other archers, it
looked good that he would make this elimination round and go to the
last one Sunday morning. Craig walked back to where they all were
sitting to light applause.

“Fabulous, Craig…”

“Yeah, I wish everyone was here watching
today,” remarked Bill.

Janie just smiled coyly and raised her
eyebrows at him. He could tell what she was thinking. Sandy looked
at them both and knew he would have more to tell Lily…

“Well, kids… Bill and I are taking off.”

“You’re leaving, Dad? Before you see me
shoot?”

“Our plane is taking off at five and your
uncle here is restless to get home. Something about wanting to
sleep in his own bed tonight.”

“Ha, Sandy.” Bill gave Janie a hug and shook
Craig’s hand. “Good luck with the final round tomorrow, Craig.
Janie, good luck today.”

Sandy shook Craig’s hand and whispered, “Take
good care of my daughter, son…” He winked at him.

Craig turned a little red. “I will, sir.
We’ll be home tomorrow afternoon.”

Sandy hugged Janie. “My darling girl… Good
luck with,” he looked over at Craig, but finished with, “the
tournament.” Janie blushed too.

“Thanks, Dad. See you soon. I’ll call about
the outcome… of the tournament.” She finished quickly.

They took off for the airport. Janie and
Craig continued with the tournament… It didn’t finish until after
six that evening. The final tallies put Craig into the final round
on Sunday, but Janie had been eliminated. She almost felt
relieved.

“Good…” She heaved out a breath. “Pressure’s
off. Now I can just relax tonight and not worry about the
tournament.”

Craig smiled. “Would your relaxing include
any of last night’s activities?”

Janie gave him a sexy smile.

“You bet…”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The
choices in Las Vegas that night were varied and grand: the Bellagio
Hotel with incredible restaurants ranging from fine dining to
casual, or the Mirage with its famous steakhouse and Japanese
restaurant. There was a neat roller coaster at the top of New York,
New York Hotel or the Excalibur with its medieval show and dinner.
After weighing the choices, Janie and Craig just wanted to be alone
— So they ordered in room service for dinner and found an old movie
to watch on television – ‘
Sleepless in Seattle.’
It had just started, but they had seen it
before.

“I feel like we could have starred in this
movie, Janie.” They sat side-by-side on the bed in sweats and
shorts, eating and watching the movie.

“What’s it about again?” She took a bite of
her pasta salad.

“Tom Hanks’ wife has died and his kid calls a
radio station to get him moving to look for a new wife.”

‘Oh, yeah… Meanwhile, Meg Ryan, across the
country, is engaged to a nice enough guy, but he’s not right for
her – There’s no magic…”

He turned to face her and put down his fork.
“It took them the whole movie to get together… Janie?”

She looked up from her plate. “What?”

“How did you feel about Mike Church?” Oh,
boy… she knew that would come sooner or later. “Forget about me in
this picture. Tell me a bit about the two of you.”

“Craig, it’s not like you never dated a woman
before we got together.”

“And I’m honestly not accusing you of
anything. I’d just like to know.”

She thought about that for a minute. Janie
put her plate on the floor and stretched out on the bed. She laced
her fingers behind her head and looked at him.

“Honestly?”

“Honestly…”

“He was new, different… Mike was funny and
nice… We just had fun together.” She looked at him. “But there was
no magic like with Meg and Tom. It was more Meg and Walter…”

“… Meg and Walter?”

“Yeah.”

“No magic?”

“…No magic.” She pulled him down beside her
on the bed and rolled on her side to look into his face. His eyes
were dark chocolate pools.... Craig put an arm around her.

“So it takes a little magic, sweetheart? Do
we have any?”

Janie cleared her throat, “Honey, we’ve had
magic between us since we met. Don’t you remember?” She reached
back in her memory. “You walked up to me – you must have been seven
or so – and said, ‘I’m Craig. What’s your name?’ I couldn’t
remember. I thought you were the cutest boy I’d ever seen, but then
I was only four or five.”

He smiled. “I remember you tagging along
after Colt and me. He kept trying to get rid of you.”

“But you didn’t?”

“… No… You were this lovely little doll with
blonde hair and quiet eyes that followed me everywhere. I was
hooked…”

“We must be a couple of sentimental fools.”
He pulled her closer.

“So why did it take so long for us to admit
how we feel?” He leaned forward and kissed her nose.

“I guess I just wasn’t ready and you never
pushed…”

“… Are you sure you’re ready now?” He was so
close that their lips were nearly touching.

“Ab-so-lutely. Just try to keep me away.”

“…That’s good enough for me.”

And then they were kissing – Deep, passionate
kisses from the soul up. On the TV, Tom was giving soulful looks to
Meg, while Janie’s mind emptied of everything, but Craig… He wanted
to please her and took advantage of her sighs. Pulling off her tee
shirt, he trailed a finger down between her breasts – She shuddered
and he kissed one breast and then another…He reached lower and
found she was quite ready for him. Wiggling out of her shorts, he
pulled her on top of him, to let her dictate their movements. They
made love slowly and wonderfully, like it was the first time all
over again.

Janie fell back onto the bed and smiled a
sexy smile, while Craig laughed at her antics. She snuggled into
the crook of his arm again – He was already getting used to that
and knew she would be getting sleepier and sleepier. He kissed her
fragrant hair as she dozed off, and he wrapped the comforter around
them both.

“I better get some sleep while I can…” he
murmured, remembering their nocturnal lovemaking from the day
before. “And pick up some vitamins.” Craig flicked off the TV and
fell asleep wrapped in a Janie cocoon, as snug as a bug in a rug…as
they used to say.

* * *

They got up in time for a quick breakfast the
next morning, although Craig yawned a few times. Janie popped a
bite of muffin in her mouth.

“You’ve really got to get more sleep at
night, honey. You seem out of sorts today — How are you going to
shoot well, if you’re so crabby.” He shook his head and yawned
again.

“I’m not crabby – I’m sleep-deprived.” He
drank some of his orange juice.

“Would you rather I not wake you up in the
middle of the night with wild, ravaging kisses?” She looked so
cute…

He leaned over, tilted her face up to his and
planted a juicy kiss on her – right in the restaurant. “You can’t
embarrass me, Janie. I’ve waited too long to have you in my arms
and in my bed.” She smiled at him. “You can wake me up any time you
want.”

“That’s a good answer.”

He looked at the clock hanging behind the
restaurant counter. Craig signaled for their check and paid it.

“We’ve got to go. Final shoot…”

Excitement in the air practically hummed in
the ballroom. There were many more spectators now than archers. The
last day of the event would feature the ten finest archers in the
state – The finalists who made it past the last two days’
elimination rounds. The top three archers today would go on to the
national tournament in Washington, D.C. in a month. Janie’s eyes
shone with excitement.

They walked into the ballroom and looked
around. People were everywhere. Craig held his equipment bag in one
hand and Janie’s hand with the other. She was much more excited for
this than he was – He was just so happy to be there with her. When
she smiled at him, Craig brought her hand to his lips for a
kiss.

“You look kind of Errol Flynn-ish, you
know?”

“Who?”

“That handsome movie star from the 30s who
was a bit of a rogue and played Robin Hood.”

“… Oh… him…” Craig laughed. “If you say
so…”

“… Or maybe Kevin Costner… He played Robin
Hood too.”

“Yeah, I look so much like Kevin Costner.” He
rolled his eyes at her.

“I better go find a seat and you need to
prepare.” She put a hand to his face and leaned up on her toes to
kiss him. “That’s for good luck.”

With brown eyes staring at blue, he
whispered, “Thanks… Don’t be far away. I want you to be where I can
see you…” Smiling at him, she pointed to an area of seating behind
the shooting line.

“I’ll just be over there.”

“Okay…”

“Go get ‘em, Kevin.”

“Right…”

The president of the state archery league
came out to say a few words on this final day of the tournament. He
commended all the archers who had participated, and congratulated
the final ten archers who were walking up to the area just before
the shooting line. He reminded them that the top three archers
would be shooting in the national tournament in Washington, D.C.
within a month. That said, the final shoot began…

Craig and the other archers were adjusting
their compound bows and adjusting their peep sights. Sighting range
to target, they mentally prepared as well. A whistle blew and the
archers lined up at the shooting line. The whistle blew again and
they pulled arrows out of their quivers and nocked the arrows on
bowstrings. Arrows starting flying fast and deliberately… Craig
took his time with every action that he took and his arrows flew in
a straight line. After all the archers had shot their arrows, the
first round was over and the whistle blew three times for arrow
retrieval. When Craig walked down the shooting lane to retrieve his
arrows, the man scoring for him announced his score to be three
tens and 3 nines, 57/60 points. Walking back to the shooting line,
he grinned at Janie and she knew he’d done well.

It took several hours for the ten archers to
shoot the six rounds on this final day of the tournament. After
they’d finished, Craig joined Janie where she was sitting behind
the shooting line. He took her hand as the scores were tallied —
The winners would be announced soon.

She spoke to him softly. “… Your final score
was 338/360. That should qualify you for one of the top three
spots, surely. I know you’re a winner…”

He gave her a long look. “I’m a winner
already, Janie. You said you loved me…”

“You are easily one of the most romantic men
in the world…” She leaned over to kiss him.

“… Only for you.” Janie sighed.

Just then there was a rustle of movement from
the president’s area and he was talking earnestly with other league
members. Decisions had been made and the president was turning on
his microphone.

“The points have all been tallied for the
final scores. Again, I wish to congratulate all the archers here
who have participated to make this tournament a success. Without
further ado, in third place is Sam Larosse of Fallon, Nevada, with
a total of 333 points. Sam, please come up to receive your
medal.”

Janie gasped and looked at Craig. “Honey…
you’re…”

“Shh…” he whispered to her. They watched as
the president of the state archery league put a medal around Sam’s
neck. He walked back to his seat with people applauding. Janie was
now searching frantically through her pockets for her cell
phone.