Guardian of the Fountain (15 page)

      
“That was
amazing.” Chrissie stood there, dazed. “I might enjoy independence, but I enjoy
a good make-out even more.” She smoothed down her messy hair.

“What
do you remember, sweetheart?”

She
shook the cloud from her head. “I remember me in a white dress. I had a large
yellow blossom behind my ear." Her face brightened. “I never did like the
idea of a big fancy wedding. I thought if I were ever to get married, I would
elope.” Chrissie cringed. “I hope you asked me, and not the other way around.”

      
“No, I
begged
you to marry me.” Brant stood up,
excited. “That was what you looked like when we got married.” He smiled. “Maybe
we should do more snogging to retrieve some more memories. It’s been quite a
while since I had a good snog.”

“I
can’t even remember the last time that I … uh … snogged.” Chrissie liked the
insinuation of making out. “We don’t have time to do much … Dr. Wilson will be
here this morning.”

“Such
a busy day you’ve had already.” Brant winked. “Come on—let’s go get
cleaned up and dressed before Dr. Wilson gets here.” Brant helped Chrissie to
her feet.

      
“Together?”
The horror on Chrissie’s face made Brant nearly fall over laughing.

      
“I can tell
by that expression that’s not what you want,” he said between chuckles. “I
meant separately, in our own rooms.”

      
“Thanks,
Brant.” Chrissie put her hand up to his cheek. “You’re so patient with me.” She
stood on her tiptoes and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

      
“It’s my
pleasure. But promise you won’t go speeding off with me on the hood of my car
again.”

      
Chrissie
punched him on the shoulder.

      
“Ow!” Brant
rubbed his shoulder as he left the kitchen with a grin on his face. “I’m going
to be sore tomorrow.”

      
“Blame it
on the irrational hormones.” Chrissie smiled shyly.

Chapter
20

Dr.
Wilson, with the aid of Arturo and Brant, carried an ultrasound machine across
the threshold of the mansion. Chrissie stood in wonder as she watched. She
followed them all the way up the stairs and into Brant’s room.

“Hey!
This isn’t my room,” Chrissie protested.

“Your
room is too small to hold all the medical equipment in it.” Brant’s breathing didn’t
show the exertion of lifting half the machine up the stairs. Only Dr. Wilson was
panting heavily, with sweat dripping from his brow.

“
All
the medical equipment?” Chrissie
stared down Brant.

“Brant
just bought all the medical equipment for deliveries found in the finest
hospitals and is having it sent here.” Dr. Wilson looked like he was trying to hold
back a smile.

“I’m
a nervous first-time dad.” Brant shrugged as he plugged the ultrasound machine
in next to the bed. “Besides, we’re an hour and a half away from the nearest
hospital. I want to be prepared, just in case.”

Chrissie
rolled her eyes.

Dr.
Wilson unpacked supplies from a large cardboard box. “Okay, I think we’re just
about ready here.”

Arturo
and Brant started for the door.

“Earth
to Brant! Where do you think you are going?” Chrissie sat down on the edge of
the bed and waited for Brant to turn around.

“I
wasn’t sure you wanted me to be here.” Brant shrugged.

“Of
course I do. We are married. I want you to share in this experience too.”
Chrissie lay down on the bed.

Arturo
left, closing the door behind him, and Brant went and knelt at Chrissie’s side.
She lifted up her shirt, exposing her stomach, and pushed down the waistband of
her skirt. Dr. Wilson squirted cold blue jelly onto her stomach and began
typing into the machine to get it started. He put the probe on Chrissie’s
midsection and slid it around, looking for a nice picture of the fetus.

Brant
held Chrissie’s hand and waited.

“We
know that Chrissie has been very ill and may have ingested poison. I want you
to be prepared just in case things are not as they should be.” Dr. Wilson’s
serious tone made Chrissie’s heartbeat quicken.

“I’ve
thought of the same things myself, Dr. Wilson. I want to know so I can adjust accordingly.”
Chrissie looked into Dr. Wilson’s eyes with every ounce of courage she could
muster.

Dr.
Wilson moved the probe around Chrissie’s belly. “This baby is a squirrely
little thing. Just when I get it into the picture, it moves.”

      
Brant’s
eyes moved up to the screen just as the profile of the baby’s face appeared.
His eyes lit up as he watched the picture change to reveal a complete spine and
a heart beating.

      
“Heartbeat
sounds good and strong. Everything looks perfect so far. Judging by the measurements
I’ve taken, you’re about twenty weeks.”

      
“Halfway
there.” Chrissie beamed at Brant.

      
“Would you
like to know what you are having?” Dr. Wilson asked.

      
“Yes,”
Brant and Chrissie unanimously answered.

      
“A girl.”
Dr. Wilson typed BABY GIRL on the ultrasound screen.

      
Brant
kissed Chrissie’s cheek. “I’m so excited to meet her,” he whispered in her ear.
“I hope she’s just like her mama.”

* * *

María
and Arturo stared at all the black-and-white photos from the ultrasound.

      
“We are
going to be
abuelos, Arturo!” María
exclaimed.

      
“Sí, María,
this is a very happy occasion.” Arturo slapped Brant on the back in
congratulations.

      
“We need to
start shopping enseguida.” María held out her hand insisting on a credit card.
 

      
“Well,
don’t let me stop you.” Brant pulled his wallet from his back pocket and
produced a black bankcard. “You girls shop until you drop.”

      
“Do you
realize what you’ve done?” Chrissie stared in amazement. “You’ve unleashed María
on the retail world. I’m not sure they’re ready for her.”

      
“I know
exactly what I’ve done. I’m spoiling you.” Brant winked.

      
“You
shouldn’t do that. I can pay for it.” Chrissie argued.

      
“You
deserve everything. It makes me happy to do it.” Brant bent down and placed a
soft kiss on Chrissie’s cheek. “You’re giving me more than I could ever dream
of. I’m in your debt.”

* * *

If
curiosity killed the cat, Chrissie was going to be dead meat. She was bored and
lonely. Brant had to take one last shipment into Caracas, and Arturo and María
were down in the village, leaving Chrissie to entertain herself. She found
Brant’s room unlocked and she began to snoop. She justified it by the fact that
he knew so much about her, and she knew very little about him.

      
He kept his
room very tidy, or perhaps María kept his room very tidy, down to the drawers
with perfectly folded clothes stacked in them. In his nightstand top drawer,
she found a gun, a journal, and a photo album. She opened the photo album first,
finding pictures of the two of them hiking, helping Arturo and María at their
stand, one of her at the clinic in her scrubs, and her favorite, a lone wedding
photo. Why hadn’t Brant shown these photos to her before? This might have
helped her remember the lost six months.

      
She tried
to justify reading the journal, thinking that somehow, it would help her recover
her lost memories. The red leather journal had the number fifty-three stamped
in it with gold leafing. This was probably one journal in many Brant kept,
judging by the number. Chrissie opened to the first page.

      
I met a woman named Valencia in Caracas
today. She seemed nice enough. She was overly flirtatious, which might sound
like a bad thing, but I’m so lonely these days. María keeps after me to find a
woman and settle down.

      
“Keep on
looking, buddy,” Chrissie mumbled as she turned a couple of pages and scanned
down farther. Most of the entries had to do with the garden and work. She found
Valencia’s name again.

      
I’ve seen Valencia twice this week for
dinner. She insists that we be exclusive. She wanted to go shopping today and
ended up spending $5,000. She didn’t even blink an eye at the amount. It seemed
like small change to her. She told me she would thank me later. I have the
feeling she might be a real slapper
.

      
“Wow.” The
thought occurred to Chrissie that in all his hundred-plus years, there were
bound to be a few women. Jealousy started to bubble up in her stomach.
Something about him dating Valencia bothered her even more than him dating
anyone else.

      
Dr. Wilson is having success studying water
crystals from the fountain. He says the crystals are very intricate under the
microscope, the mineral content is excellent, and it’s perfectly pure. I’m
still bringing him a few large bottles of water weekly to use on the villagers.
I saw a new nurse at the clinic today. She’s from the States. I noticed she was
very pretty. She seems to have a happy disposition, unlike the other nurse from
New Jersey. I think I might fancy her. Maybe Arturo can find out more about her
.

      
Chrissie
checked the date—March twenty-fifth. That had been her first week at the
clinic. She turned a few pages.

      
I broke things off with Valencia. I found
her in the lap of another man. I think she thinks he is richer. I highly doubt
it.

      
“Ha! Gold
digger,” Chrissie snickered. She turned one page over, completely engrossed in
Brant’s journal.

      
Valencia actually drove from Caracas to the
village today and tried to smooth things over. She said the man was just a
business acquaintance of her father’s. She was trying to give good P.R.

      
“So that’s
what they call it these days? Where I’m from, it’s called cheating.” Chrissie
smiled to herself. She flipped a couple of months through the journal.

      
This has been my seventy-fifth carnival and
this one was the best by far. I had the most amazing experience. I saw the
blonde nurse walking down the street in the village. I watched her for about an
hour. I eventually asked Arturo what he thought of her. He told me Chrissie is her
name, and she stops by his produce stand every morning on her way to the
clinic. He and María have taken a liking to her. That is a very good sign.

      
I
finally got the courage to ask her to dance in the street. She was delightful
as we danced. I think I could’ve stayed there all night with her. Although she
did have a very jaded view of romance, I’m sure I can change her mind. I went
home a very happy man, determined to see her again.

“Aw,
he’s so cute.” She hugged the book to her chest.

      
Today, Valencia had the gall to tell me she
would forget the whole breaking-up incident for one little trinket. The
embarrassing part of the whole situation was that she confronted me at the
clinic. She looked at the people there in the waiting room like they were
disgusting, and it made my blood boil even more. I hold a great affection for
the villagers. They are under my care. I escorted her to her car. Valencia told
me she would make sure her father would cancel his business with me. It doesn’t
scare me the least bit. The loss of his business won’t affect me much. Good
riddance.

      
Chrissie
heard a door shut downstairs. She briefly left her reading spot to investigate
the sound. Arturo came in, whistling while he watered the plants in the plaza.
Chrissie returned to her spot on the bed and lay down. She could smell Brant’s
cologne on his pillow. She inhaled his scent and continued to read.

      
I waited for Chrissie outside the clinic
today. I wanted to see if I could take her to dinner. She said she lost her
appetite with her last patient, but I could walk her home. I walked her to her
door, and we stood there and talked for three hours. It only seemed like three
minutes. I discovered she got out of a relationship a little over six months
ago. Her boyfriend cheated on her. If I could catch that creep, I would make
him regret it. I tried to read between the lines in our conversation. I know
that’s dangerous territory and brings up a lot of assuming. But from what I
gather, she wasn’t giving him the physical attention he wanted. What happened
to being gentlemen and protecting a lady’s virtue? My mother taught me that
much in my short time with her. Chrissie agreed to go out with me next week.

      
“Let’s get
to the good stuff. What about our first kiss?” Chrissie flipped through the
pages, scanning for the word “kiss.” She finally found what she was looking
for. “Ah-ha!”

      
I dropped Chrissie off at her apartment this
evening. She seemed a little nervous about being walked to the door. So I said
good night and turned around, but before she walked inside, I called her name.
She turned around, and that’s when I took my chance and stole my kiss. I must
say that the sparks did fly once she relaxed. Chrissie is a wicked good kisser.
I’ve been waiting for my chance to kiss her for nearly a fortnight! She looked
quite dazed afterwards.

      
“Oh, how I
wish I remembered that! I guess I got a second chance at a first kiss with
Brant, though.”

      
It has been very difficult to keep my
passions for Chrissie under control. The gentleman in me is fighting with the
natural man most days. We went hiking to the large waterfall on the other side
of the village. I fancied her cute little shorts the whole way. She doesn’t
even know how adorable she is.

      
Chrissie
read through every page after that. Their romance seemed to pick up momentum
very quickly. Every word he wrote rang true, but she had no recollection of it.

      
Life has been a whirlwind of happy
surprises. I have the love of my very long life. I told her about the garden
today. At first, she looked at me kind of strangely, but then she just said
that it was about time I let her in on my little secret. She wants to see the
garden as soon as possible. I told her she can see it after we’re committed to
each other. She seemed to understand, but is a little bit gun-shy about the “M”
word.

      
Although she works full time at the clinic,
we spend every spare minute together. A few nights, she didn’t get any sleep
because we spent long hours talking. Her laughter fills the halls of the
mansion and the empty spaces of my heart. She is unlike any other girl I’ve
met. I love her. I hope she feels the same way about me. Only time will tell, I
suppose.