Love Immortal (18 page)

“Okay dad.” Jewell understood exactly what
her father was saying. The couch offered a clear view of the
kitchen, and it was close enough that he could hear all but the
quietest whispers. She also knew that he wouldn’t be “reading” but
listening very carefully to every word they said.

Jewell watched her dad leave the kitchen,
then pulled out the chair opposite Collin and sat down. She didn’t
say anything, she just sat, looking at him, and waited.

“I brought your clothes,” he pointed to the
shopping bags on the floor next to his chair.

“Thanks.”

“I didn’t mean…It’s just that,” he stopped
and looked out into the living room where Jewell’s dad sat, the
newspaper open, and his eyes peering at them over the top. “Do you
want to go out and get some dinner?”

Jewell glanced at her dad; he just shrugged.
“I guess that would be okay.” She looked at the bags on the floor,
then down at her jeans and t-shirt. “I’ll just go get changed.” She
picked up the bags and took them to her room. She rifled through
the bags and picked out an outfit that she thought would be
appropriate for any situation; a nice pair of slacks, and a blue
blouse. She also put on the sandals he had bought her that morning.
She brushed her hair and then walked back out to the living
room.

Collin was standing by the door, waiting. Her
father looked at her, and then glared at Collin. “Dad, please?”

“Fine. Have a nice time. You,” he looked
straight at Collin, “I have a lot of friends on the police force
and in the Sheriff’s department.”

“Yes sir, I understand. I’ll take good care
of her. I’ll have her home before midnight.”

“You look really nice sweetie.” Jewell’s
father gave her a hug, turned and gave Collin one more glare for
good measure, and then watched them walk out the door.

They left and walked to the car. Jewell could
see her father watching them out the window.

Collin led Jewell to the passenger door, one
hand placed lightly on the small of her back. He opened the door,
let her get in, closed the door and walked over to the driver’s
side. He could feel Jewell’s father’s eyes watching him, but he was
careful not to look toward the house as he got into the car and
pulled out of the driveway.

“It’s nine thirty. If I’m supposed to have
you home by midnight, that doesn’t give us time for me to take you
to one of my regular haunts. What do you suggest on this side of
the pond?”

Jewell thought for a moment. She wanted
something nice, but not fancy. Upscale, but still casual. “There’s
Morton’s in Madisonville if you like seafood.”

“Sounds perfect. Just tell me how to get
there.”

It took about fifteen minutes to reach the
restaurant nestled on the banks of the Tchefuncte River. It was
crowded, but then, Morton’s usually was.

“This is perfect, shall we?” Collin held her
hand as they walked up the ramp to the door of the restaurant. As
Collin reached for the door, Jewell stopped him.

“Collin, are you going to tell me what
happened today?”

“I will. I owe you at least that.” She gave
him a single nod as they entered the restaurant.

The hostess led them to a table overlooking
the river. Collin held Jewell’s chair for her, and then sat in the
chair opposite, facing her. The hostess put two menus on the table.
When the waitress came to take their orders, Collin ordered for
both of them.

“Would you like an appetizer? Oysters on the
half shell are half price tonight.” The waitress gave Collin a
wink. Oysters were thought to be an aphrodisiac. Jewell turned her
head, as if searching for someplace to hide.

“No, I think just the dinner. Thank you.”

After the waitress left, Jewell glanced at
Collin and quickly looked away. Collin reached across the table to
take Jewell’s hand. “I guess I owe you an explanation for this
afternoon.”

Jewell turned to look at Collin’s hand
holding hers; her hand tingling. She thought of how his lips felt
on hers when he kissed her.

“I guess I need to explain a little bit about
my life first. I was born in England. When I was a little more than
three months old, someone broke into our house. I was asleep. My
parents were both beheaded and the house set afire. A neighbor saw
the smoke and was able to save me.

“The police investigated the murder, but the
perpetrator was never found. The killing was an execution but the
police don’t know why.

“I was temporarily put into foster homes
until my Uncle showed up to claim me. The courts, satisfied with
whatever evidence there was of the relationship, granted him
custody. We immediately left the country and moved to live with
Gladys who had a home in Montana.

“We lived in the states until I was five,
when we moved to Romania. When I was eight, we moved to France. At
twelve, we moved to Denmark, and at fifteen, we moved again to
Italy. When I was seventeen, I applied to Oxford University where I
majored in History. After I graduated, we moved to South Carolina.
We stayed there for almost a year, and then moved here about two
years ago. Most of the time we stay with family or in houses that
belong to the family,” he paused, allowing Jewell to digest the
information. While he was waiting, to see if Jewell had any
questions, the waitress brought their food to the table.

Jewell took a bite of her salad. As she
swallowed, she looked up at Collin. “Are you gypsies, or…what are
they called? Travelers? Roma?” Jewell had heard stories of
wandering families who move from location to location. They had a
bad reputation, but she knew that many of them were upstanding, law
abiding citizens.

“I guess you could call us that. According to
my uncle, there are a little more than one hundred of us in our
family. You have to understand too, that when I say family, I don’t
mean brothers and sisters. These are others like us; travelers I
guess would be the best term, but not necessarily blood
relations.

“Anyway, we don’t usually stay in one place
for very long. I guess that, because we are constantly moving, my
uncle has always discouraged me from developing relationships. He
thinks that, because of the way we are, it would be hard for us to
change for someone who isn’t like us, and it wouldn’t be fair to
ask someone else to change for what we are.

“I think some of it too is that my uncle lost
a wife. It still haunts him and I think that he’s trying to spare
me the same pain.”

“What happened to her?”

“Well, he doesn’t talk about it much, but the
way I understand it is that she decided to leave her family, to
take up his life of travelling, and it was too much for her. She
couldn’t handle it. Eventually, she got sick and died. Uncle Percy
thinks it was a combination of the hard lifestyle, the constant
change in climate, along with the grief she felt at losing her
family.”

Jewell looked at him, trying to read what was
in his eyes. They looked pained. “So what, he wants you to marry
another Traveler?”

“Pretty much, yeah, but I think it’s more
than that. Lately, since the accident, it’s like he’s been keeping
something from me. Somehow, I think that whatever this secret is
has something to do with his attitude towards my relationships, has
something to do with the family.”

“So you don’t think he would approve of
me?”

“Think of it like a devout Catholic deciding
to fall in love with an atheist.” Collin laughed a little as he
reached out and took Jewell’s hand across the table.

“He doesn’t know about me then?” For some
reason, this bothered her. It made her feel like their relationship
was dishonorable somehow. As if she didn’t have the right to have
these feelings about him.

“No. And for now, I don’t intend to tell him.
I’m not sure how he would react. He’s my only blood family. I can’t
lose him. But I can’t lose you either. Do you understand?”

“But, you’ll have to tell him sometime,
right? I mean if we…” Her thought trailed off.

Collin could sense her apprehension. “This
morning, when I kissed you, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to
stop. I wanted you so bad at that moment. I thought…I thought that
if I stopped then, if I took you home and never saw you again…But I
couldn’t stop thinking of you. I need you Jewell. I’m being
selfish, but I can’t help myself. It’s like when I’m with you, my
world is whole.”

Jewell felt her heart racing. Suddenly, she
felt faint, the room started to close in around her.

Collin watched her with concern. Her face had
gone from red, to a shade of green, to pasty white. He moved to her
side, worried that she was going to faint. She grasped his arm to
support herself. “I…I have to get out of here. I have to leave,
now.”

Collin pulled fifty dollars out of his wallet
and placed it on the table. He gently helped Jewell up from her
chair and started to walk towards the door, supporting her weight
with an arm around her waist. The waitress saw them leaving, but
then saw how ill Jewell looked. She hurried over. “Is she okay?
Should I call an ambulance?”

“No, I think she’ll be okay once she gets
some fresh air.” The waitress wrung her hands nervously and watched
Collin lead Jewell from the restaurant. Once they were outside,
Collin scooped Jewell up into his arms, cradling her like a child.
She put her arm around him and buried her face in his neck,
breathing in his scent. He carried her to a tree near the river and
set her down gently in the grass. “Are you okay?” He asked, fear
weighing in his eyes.

“I don’t know. I…just give me a few minutes.
I need to think.” Collin started to walk towards the drawbridge
just down from the restaurant. “No, don’t leave, just…” She
couldn’t finish her thought. He settled himself in the grass near
her. Close enough that she could reach him if she needed to, but
far enough away that he felt like he was giving her the space she
needed.

“What are you thinking?” Collin finally asked
after Jewell hadn’t looked at him for several minutes.

When she turned her head toward him, he could
see tears running down her face. “I don’t know what I’m thinking.
I’m scared, I’m happy, I’m nervous”

He moved closer and held her. “I’m scared
too. I’m afraid of what my family will think, of how I will tell
them. Jewell, I’m afraid that I won’t be able to live without you.
I’m scared that you don’t feel the same way that I do. I know that
what I should do right now is walk away, before it’s too late.”

She spoke into his ear. He could feel her
warm, sweet breath as she whispered four simple words, “It’s
already too late.”

* * *

The next day Collin picked Jewell up just
before lunch and took her to the Fountainbleu State Park. He parked
and they started with a hike along one of the trails that started
at the sugar mill. When they were done hiking, they went back to
the car where Collin pulled a picnic basket from his trunk.

Jewell took his hand and they walked to a
picnic table that stood in the shade under an immense live oak with
Spanish moss hanging delicately from its branches. From here, they
could see the beach on Lake Pontchartrain where several families
were enjoying the warm, sunny afternoon. On the lake, the many
colored sailboats that drifted in the light breeze looked like so
many spring flowers in a meadow yet to turn green.

Collin set the picnic basket on the bench
next to the table and opened it to reveal that is was well packed
and filled with the most delicious aromas.

They ate in comfortable silence, Jewell
savoring every bite. After they were finished eating, Collin
started packing everything back into the picnic basket. “Was it
okay?”

“Okay? It was unbelievable. Did you make all
that?” Jewell was astounded at his seemingly limitless talents.

“Well, no. Actually, my Aunt Gladys cooked
all of this. I started to make sandwiches, pimento cheese, but she
insisted that if I was going to have a picnic I should probably
pack food you could actually eat.” He looked appropriately ashamed
at his lack of skills, or imagination for that matter.

“So, I guess Gladys knows about us. If she
made us this picnic, I would guess she approves.” Somehow that made
Jewell feel a little better considering their conversation of the
night before.

“Well, Aunt Gladys isn’t as strict as Uncle
Percy. She’s more of a free spirit, and a bit of a romantic. But
Percy still doesn’t know. Gladys promised not to say anything until
I was ready. She did seem to have some of her own reservations
though.”

They put the picnic basket back in the trunk
and walked down to the beach where they sat watching the sail
boats.

“I’ve been thinking,” Jewell said after a
while.

“Don’t hurt yourself.” Collin said
sarcastically.

“Ha ha. Seriously. I’ve been thinking about
what you said about your uncle having a secret.”

“Yeah, and what were your thoughts?”

“Well, do you think that it has something to
do with the way you healed so fast? I mean, it’s been what? Maybe
three weeks since the crash, and you barely have a limp. You just
went on a four mile hike and it didn’t even faze you. You should be
dead…sorry…but really, you should at least still be in a hospital
bed, and normal people with your injuries would need years of
physical therapy. You said your uncle is a doctor. Maybe that’s it.
Maybe he knows something about why you heal so fast.”

“I never thought of that. What do you think
it might be?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I can look in your file.
I don’t get much access to the file room, but I can see if there’s
something in there. It might give us some clues.”

“No Jewell, don’t do that. You could get in
really big trouble for looking at files you’re not supposed to be
looking at. I would hate it if you got fired on my account.” Collin
worried.