Under A Painted Sky (Spirit Warrior Series) (6 page)

My sundress was light
yellow, with a V-scalloped neck and a V-cut back as well. It had a tight fit
waist with the entire dress made of cotton eyelet material. I put on mother of
pearl heart earrings with a ring that was a cluster of pearls. I slipped on
some white sandals and sprayed a little Curve perfume on my neck and I was all
set.

I made my bed and
tidied up. I grabbed my phone and purse, and headed downstairs.

I turned off the coffee
pot and cleaned up the kitchen.

It just hit me that I
had been here for days and I had not driven anywhere or spent any money.

I could really get used
to all of this. I mean, who gets a tour guide for a week, especially one as
sexy as Logan? I must have done something right.

I looked down at my
thumb and the doorbell rang. I went to the door and invited him in.

“Did you get a good
night’s sleep?” Logan asked.

“It was all right,
after I had a little scare.”

“What happened?”

“Well, I was taking a bath
and the bathroom light went off. I had candles going. I called out and nobody
answered and I got out of the tub and went out to the veranda and no cloud was
in the sky. I started to come back in and noticed the music was playing in the
bathroom and the lights were on everywhere but the bath. I came downstairs and
looked at the breakers and they were all on. I went back upstairs and the wind
I guess had blown out the candles and out of habit I went and turned the
bathroom light on and it came on. So, I thought something must be wrong with
the light itself,” I explained.

“Well, that is what it
sounds like. In the right hand drawer by the back patio door in the kitchen is
the house book with all the information in it. I will call the electrician and
tell him to fix it today. I do everything but the electric. It is just not my
thing,” Logan said as he placed the call and arranged it.

“Great, thank you.”

“Are you ready then?”

“Yes, just let me lock up.
Does someone have to be here for the electric guy?” I asked.

“No, he’ll go by our
office and pick up a key.”

We headed out the door
to his truck. Logan had on blue jeans and a white polo shirt which made his
green eyes sparkle even more. And yes, it was definitely Hugo Boss cologne he
was wearing. It was going to be a great day for sure. He opened the door and I
climbed in.

“Where are you taking
me?” I asked.

“Well, I thought I
would take you to the Balloon Museum to learn about balloon flying and see all
the aspects of it. If you’re game, I have a balloon ride scheduled for tomorrow
morning.”

“We’re taking a balloon
ride? Are you kidding me? I saw two this morning and said to myself that I just
had to go on a balloon ride. I can’t believe it. Yes, I would love to go! I am
so excited,” I replied.

“Before you say ‘yes’,
you may want to know you have to get up at five a.m. We have to be there at
five-forty-five a.m.”

“That is no problem for
me. It will be so fun. I can’t wait,” I replied.

“Great, I am glad you
are so happy.”

We drove along
listening to his XM radio.

Logan asked, “How is
your thumb?”

I held it up and said,
“
It’s
fine. I can’t believe that it is completely
healed and even the orange color is gone. You can’t even tell it happened. It’s
hard to believe.”

“I can’t believe it
either. I thought you could not even scrub that stuff off. I thought you had to
wear it off. How did you get it off and what happened to the swelling?” he
asked.

“I don’t know. I didn’t
scrub it and there was no swelling or sign that I had even had an injury. I
thought you were a miracle worker,” I replied.

“That is amazing and
strange,” Logan said.

“Hey, I guess I
shouldn’t question why and just be happy it’s healed,” I said.

“You’re right. Don’t
look a gift horse in the mouth or however that saying goes,” he said.

I looked at my phone
and there was a text from my brother, Blake. He asked me how life was in the
land of enchantment. I texted back that it was great and I was seeing the town.
I told him I couldn’t wait for him to come to see me and signed it,
xoxo
.

We arrived at the
Balloon Museum and entered the building which looked like a balloon lying on
its side. We got to look at balloons from long ago.

There were balloons
hanging from the ceiling everywhere. It was pretty cool. I was allowed to get
into a balloon basket and have my picture made first by myself and then with
Logan. It was very close quarters in the balloon basket and I drank in the
smell of him as he stood beside me and his arm was against mine. He sent emotions
pulsating through my entire body. We got out of the basket and he looked at me
and grinned. I wondered if he felt what I felt or if he was just toying with
me.

We went around and
listened to the automated education portals set up for every aspect of ballooning.
We learned about the weather and navigating a balloon in a simulator. The
simulator was the best. I was not very good at it, but Logan was perfect at it.
We simulated the practice landing of the balloon. We saw the fuel and how it
was used. We learned about the first balloons ever and how ballooning had
evolved. We were ready to go and I saw a gift shop just as Logan asked, “Would
you like to get a souvenir?”

“I would love to,” I
replied.

We browsed through the
gift shop and I picked out a really neat T-shirt with ascending balloons and
balloon earrings. I said, “I will wear this tomorrow when we take flight,” as I
paid for my merchandise.

As we walked out of the
store Logan said, “I will wear one of my balloon shirts, too, then.”

“Okay, sounds like a
plan.”

We were back in the
truck and Logan said, “How about a little food?”

“I could go for some
food.”

“Do you trust me to
pick the place?” Logan asked.

“Sure, you have found
great places so far.”

“It’s only because I’ve
lived here since I was a child,” he said.

As we were driving to
the place, Logan got a call and he pressed a button on his visor and answered.

It was his sister
asking about another managed property. He talked to her and I checked my phone.

There were no messages.
Sweet,
I thought to myself.

He finished his talk
and said, “Sorry about that.”

“No problem. I know you
have a job to do and I am just a distraction you don’t need.”

“You are definitely a
very pretty distraction. And I do think I need this. I’d been working crazy
hours before you came. My dad took some time off during several acquisitions. I
had been very busy, so doing this is like a vacation,” Logan said as we pulled
into the restaurant parking lot.

The sign read ‘El
Pinto’ and it was a huge adobe type building with vines growing all around the
pillars of the entrance. Greenery was everywhere, and chili peppers in long
clusters, called
ristras
, were hanging by the
entrance.

We entered the
restaurant and there was a waterfall flowing over rocks to the left of the
entrance. We were escorted to our table and we ordered our drinks then our
food. Everything was decorated in adobe and bright colors and the real flavor
of New Mexico was very evident.

Our food arrived. I
ordered my most favorite thing to eat, nachos. Logan got the quesadillas.

One bite of my food and
I was in love with this place. The nachos were the best I had ever eaten. The
guacamole was so fresh, chunky, and homemade to perfection. They also made
their own salsa and roasted chili peppers. The atmosphere was great with the
gentle rush of water over the rocks and soft music playing. It was authentic
music of this region. The people were friendly and the service was excellent. I
loved it.

“Logan, you really
picked a winner here. I love this place.”

“Thank you; it is one
of my favorites.”

We continued to enjoy
our food. I felt as if I could eat a whole tub of guacamole, it was so good.

Logan asked, “Did you
enjoy the Balloon Museum?”

“I really did, especially
since we will be taking flight in one of those balloons tomorrow. You took all
of the anxiety out of it for me. I can’t wait,” I replied.

His phone rang again
and this time he clicked it off and said he was busy.

The waitress came to
ask about dessert and we both agreed we were too full. I looked up and saw
Logan looking at me and smiling.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Nothing, I am just
enjoying the view,” Logan said.

I instantly feel my
face flush red. We got our check and Logan paid the bill.

“Are you sure you are
being paid for this?” I asked.

“Yes, I am sure, but I
have to tell you, I am having so much fun that I may have to return the money,”
he said.

We headed out to the
truck and I said, “Do not return the money. You have worked for it.”

“This has not felt like
work to me,” he replied.

We got in the truck and
he said, “I have to call the main office back; it shouldn’t take long.”

“Take all the time you
want. I think I will step outside and make a call myself.”

I got out of the truck and
called my cousin, Pam, and told her about my morning with the balloons. She
loved hearing about it and told me she was going to Ireland to see her dad’s
family. I told her to kiss the Blarney stone for me and we said goodbye. I got
in the truck and Logan was finished with his call and asked if I was ready.

“I’m all set.”

“I wanted to take you
to the Sandia Peak Tramway in a little bit. It is a tram that basically goes up
two miles high and you can get out at observation decks. They have a museum and
a restaurant at the top. You can get an incredible view of all of Albuquerque
and much more. It is pretty neat. First, I thought we would drive by a couple
places on the way to the Tram.”

“That sounds like a lot
of fun to me, only I didn’t bring my camera.”

“We can pick one up at
the store of the Tram,” Logan said.

CHAPTER NINE

We drove out by the
Tram and he pointed out the Sandia Resort and Casino. It looked massive and
beautiful with its adobe architecture. He showed me its
amphitheatre
where they hold concerts under the beautiful sky.

“I bet that is pretty
neat seeing the concert and the mountains and the painted sky all at once.”

“Exactly; it is great,”
Logan answered.

After looking around
from the truck at some of the places, we headed to the Tram.

As we started to
approach, I saw the Tram going through the air. “I have never been that high in
the sky except on a plane and never on a rope. I don’t know about this
adventure. What if I get sick?”

“You’ll be fine. You
can’t even tell you’re on a cable once you are in the cable car. It’s fun;
trust me,” Logan said.

“Famous last words,
huh?”

We got out of the truck
and Logan grabbed his small backpack. In the Tram Station, we looked around the
gift store and Logan purchased a camera and I got a keychain. Logan got our
tickets and the man said we were in luck because they had a Tram leaving right
then. He told us to step over to the left. We got into the Tram. I couldn’t
believe how many people they put in the cable car. I thought we would be
sitting down, but we were standing. I thought to myself,
Oh, Lord, please
let us be safe.
Just then, it started to move and we were off. The
conductor started his little talk about the terrain and so on.

I whispered, “I wonder
how long this will take us.”

“About 15 minutes. We
will go up four thousand more feet. Just look out there at that view.”

It was amazing and
breathtaking. I saw cliffs, mountains, canyons, trees, flowers, rocks and you
could see forever. I reached for my cell phone to take a picture and Logan got
the camera out of his backpack and said, “Try this.”

“Thanks,” I replied and
took the camera and started snapping pictures.

After a couple of
minutes, we got a gush of wind. The Tram swayed and I lost my balance and fell right
into Logan who was standing beside me. He grabbed me and put his arm around me
to pull me in closer. Once again, I caught the smell of his cologne. It was
heavenly. I grabbed the pole in front of me to stabilize myself and at the same
time leaned back a little to get another chance to breathe in his cologne.

“Thanks,” I managed to
say.

“Don’t mention it.
Anytime,” he replied.

We continued our
journey to the top and the conductor said, “Okay, you will feel a little jolt and
hear a noise as the cable passes the junction.”