Love Lift Me (7 page)

I
wanted to get lost there, to go in and hide and never come back out again. It
reminded me of Shane, and the place he’d described from his childhood home. A
forest of never ending trees, with no one else around for miles, and trails
covered by a layer of soft leaves to walk on from an uncountable number of
autumn days.

By
the time my senses came back to me and I could open my eyes again, Zip had shed
his wild instinct to run and was meandering along a babbling stream. There it
was shallow enough to cross, but the horse simply followed along the cold,
smooth stones. He took me farther away from my troubles; Hale, and mother’s
slowly worsening health, and everything else. They pressed down upon my soul with
a weight almost as heavy as the jagged metal which held me inside the wrecked
bus.

Emerging
from the woods, I looked out towards the orange flare of sunset coming down
across clear water. I recognized where I was immediately; Stokes Pond. All was
quiet and the water was flat and still. Not less than fifty feet away, jutting
up out of the pond and cattail reeds like a monument of man untouched by time,
was the old pier I’d fished from and escaped to in my younger days. There
wasn’t another soul around for miles.

Without
a word of command from me, Zip took us up the sandy, sloping shoreline and
stopped in front of the pier. I left the horse there and walked up to the
stained wooden planks, which looked the same as they had so many years ago.
This was my place. My place to think.

I
slid off my boots and socks and relished the trapped heat and the hardness of
the wooden planks beneath my feet. It was like going back to a time with no
worries, when the only thing I had to concern myself with was wondering how to
stretch out the hours in the day to make them last longer.

At
the end of the pier I sat down and touched my toes to the water, sending out a
faint set of ripples that would spread out and disappear before they could come
back to me. The pond was cool and pleasant, and from my vantage I could watch
the sun sink. Down it would go, seeming to submerge in the cool water and
extinguish itself.

I
sat for over an hour, letting the slowly fading sun touch me with its warmth. My
mind tried to work out all the troubles that lingered and those that lay ahead.
I was so wrapped within myself that I didn’t notice the soft sounds of
footsteps until they echoed off the pier behind me.

“I
can see why you said this was your favorite place,” said a gentle voice that brought
me back to the present. When I turned, I saw him standing there and wearing the
same confident grin that had captured my attention from the moment I met him. “It’s
absolutely beautiful out here.”

Shane.

Eight

Had
I fallen asleep and begun to dream?
I almost pinched myself to find out
when I took in a great breath, felt the cool water between my toes, and
realized this was all real. When Shane stepped forward onto the pier and
encircled the silver chain and locket around my neck, I held my breath.

“Back
home again, right where it belongs,” he said. “Just like you, I see.”

“S-shane?”

“It’s
nice to see you again, Kat.”

“You
brought back my locket?” I looked up into his radiant, forceful eyes and began crying
all over again, but this time, the tears were tears of joy and relief. “I
thought I’d never see it, or you – again. What happened? Where were you?”

I
quickly pulled my feet out of the water and stood before him on the pier. That
was when I noticed the wide scar that extended down one side of his neck and
under his shirt. The smooth, tanned flesh there had been seared by fire. Shane
noticed and quickly pulled up his collar to hide the injury.

He
took a slight step backwards and said, “Chapel Hill. After they transported me
there by helicopter, that is. I was discharged about a week ago and I came here
for the case, which got delayed on account of the accident, and so that I could
bring that back to you.”

“I
don’t know how to thank you,” I said, sobbing and barely able to say anything
at all, and wrapped my arms tightly around him. He looked a little taken aback
by the embrace but gladly accepted it. “You saved my life, Shane.”

“You
would have done the same for me if you could, no question in my mind.”

“I
watched the news but they never said your name. Then they stopped reporting on
it. I was so worried that you didn’t make it, after…what happened.”

“No
way. How could I check out without coming here to see this place…and you?”

I
laughed into his chest while he held me, caressing my back with his hand in
small circles. There I found the vague hint of his cologne, the same
intoxicating scent that I remembered on the day we met, and the drab little
Watauga bus station with the handsome stranger coming to sit down beside me
filled my mind.
He really was here, wasn’t he?
I could feel him breathe,
and hear his voice in my ears. Finally sure that he wasn’t a figment of my
imagination, I sniffled and released him to dry my eyes.

“How
did
you find me, anyway? I kind of doubt Stokes Pond is something you
can find on a GPS,” I said.

“You
might be surprised. But no, I made a few calls. Turns out there aren’t a lot of
Atwaters in Kirkland. When I drove up to the address I’d been given, your
father told me you might be out riding. I was just about to give up and come
back tomorrow when I saw this big guy-” Shane thumbed towards Zip, who had
climbed to the top of the footpath in search of grass to eat, and must have
just been visible from the dirt road, “-and I stumbled upon you, and the pier
you told me about on the bus.”

I
opened the locket and ran a finger over the picture inside. It was thankfully
undamaged. The bloodstains I could faintly remember being wiped across the back
were gone and the silver seemed to gleam with a renewed brilliance.

“Oh,
I took the liberty of having that cleaned and polished for you,” Shane said.
“It looked like it could use it.”

“You’re
amazing. Thank you, Shane…for everything.” With a snap, I closed the locket and
let it hang heavily by the chain. In the distance, the last rays of the sun
were drowning in the still reflections of the pond.

“You
don’t have to thank me, Kat. Just doing what’s right.”

We
were standing so close. It felt wrong not to be holding onto him. I could tell
by the way he was shuffling his feet that he felt uncomfortable in the same
way.

“It’ll
be dark soon. You should come up to the house. Have dinner and meet my family,”
I offered.

“I
really
wish I could,” he said, and toed a loose plank with his shoe.
“The rest of my team is waiting in Wilmington right now for me, though.
Tomorrow is a huge day and I’m already running late getting prepared for it.”

“Oh.”
I felt my smile fade a bit, and then he touched my arm.

“Hey,
I’m serious, Kat. I really do want to. You remember what I asked you on the
bus? Right before?”

I
nodded. “I never did answer you, did I?”

Shane
looked down and then back up at me, returning with that wonderful smirk I was
beginning to know all over again. This time, his cheeks were glowing red
instead of mine. “No, I…uh, I suppose you didn’t, Miss Atwater.”

“Ask
me again, Shane. Ask me right now.”

He
turned his head towards the water and then back to me. “Would you like to-”

“I’d
love to.”

“Well
all right then,” he said, hardly able to contain his smile as he bit down hard
on his lower lip to hide it. His fingers vanished from my arm and he clapped
his hands together. “I’ll be by tomorrow night, say around six? I ought to be
done by then.”

“Ok.”
My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. Not even with Hale
had I ever felt anything even close to that.

“I’ll
see you tomorrow,” he said, and walked away, back up the path. Before he
disappeared over the hill, he called out, “Make sure to wear your dancing
shoes.” Then, just as seamlessly as he’d appeared, he was gone.

I
hurried back to the stables with Zip as fast as I could and got him and Ruby
back in their pens. Fantastic visions of my first date with Shane swirled
around in my head. Just as the day squeezed out the last bit of light and the full,
white moon began to rise, I reached the front yard, running at a full sprint.
If there was any pain left in my leg, I didn’t feel it.

I
hit the screen door with a thunderous bang and kept on going - directly between
Momma, who nearly jumped up out of her shoes while manning the ancient stove
and a steaming pot full of collard greens, and Abby, who was showing off the
new cover she’d bought for her phone at the mall. Up the stairs I went, taking
them two at a time.

“Mary
Katherine Atwater! Nearly scared the life out of me, girl!” Momma shouted from
behind, but I was already in my room. I collapsed back onto the bed, beaming
with delight, and kissed the old locket before clutching it to my chest. My
feet were still kicking in the air off the edge of the mattress and I could
hardly contain myself. It felt like being sixteen again, only better, because
now I had a date with the man of my dreams!

To
heck with Hale Ellis and anyone else that didn’t like it.

Then,
remembering that most of my clothes were either still hanging in my closet at
the apartment back in Watauga or lost in the accident, I had a brief rush of
panic.
What on Earth would I wear?

I
flung open the door to my closet and looked at the old clothing I’d left before
leaving home four years ago. Most of it was ordinary stuff – the things I’d
wear to school on most days, simple shirts and blouses, a few pairs of torn-up
jeans and some skirts. Everything seemed either perilously outdated or more
like something I’d wear to stay warm. I was never one to chase the heights of
fashion. Girls like Cindy Reid cared more about that than I ever did, and she
stuck out in Kirkland like a well-dressed sore thumb.

He
said we were going dancing. There must be something in here!
I grabbed the
clothes I’d already looked through and slid them down to the far end of the
rail. There, tucked away in the very back, still wrapped up in a sheet of thin
plastic, was the slinky black evening dress I’d nearly forgotten. It had been a
gift, the one and only real present Hale had ever bought for me.

I
pulled it out of the closet, slipped the plastic cover off, and held it up in
the light. The material was soft under my fingertips, with a bit of give and
stretch that meant it would hug in all the right places. Around the waistline
was an evenly spaced line of shimmering crystals that looked like a thin belt
but was really just a design. Black spaghetti straps connected around the top
in the front and back, and thankfully a few years in the closet hadn’t worn
them down.

As
I held the dress I thought about the day Hale had given it to me. He had
promised to take me out for Valentine’s Day our senior year on
The
Enchanting Queen
, a romantic old riverboat. I’d so looked forward to it, to
the chance to have a real romantic evening with him. As silly as it sounds, I
remember hoping Hale would ask me to marry him that night. Foolish wishes were
par for the course when I was eighteen and hopelessly in love.

He
never did ask me. We never even went on the cruise. The night before, Hale had
gone to a friend’s house, had too much to drink, and decided that he was
perfectly capable of driving himself home. After crashing his truck into a
ditch only four miles away, the local sheriff found him passed out drunk and lying
across the bench seat with his head hanging in the floorboard. The entire next
day Hale was sitting behind bars at the Kirkland Detention Center, nursing a
hangover and being served with his first DWI.

When
I looked back down at the dress, I realized that I’d balled it up in my hands.
That was how Hale and I’s relationship seemed to work most of the time, happiness
mixed with disappointment. It was enough to make me have second thoughts about
even wearing the thing. I’ve never been one to subscribe to superstition, so
surely the dress wasn’t some dark talisman or anything like it, but I had my moment
of doubt.

Shane’s
different
,
I told myself.
Not like Hale. Not at all. Not in a million years.

I
smoothed out the wrinkles in the dress and held it up in front of myself in the
mirror. It would be beautiful, and I was sure it would still fit. The hem at
the bottom came up to my thighs and barely covered most of the curving, pink
scar from the accident. It would be enough.

After
Abby finished saying the prayer over the dinner table, Momma was quick to ask,
“What was all that racket earlier? You came runnin’ in here like you was bein’
chased by the hounds of hell.”

“Oh,
sorry Momma,” I said through a mouthful of candied sweet potatoes, “I was just
excited.”

She
rolled her eyes, which was her standard response most of the time. “Well, pray
tell Mary Katherine, what’s got you so fired up now?”

“I
have a date tomorrow night.”

“A
date? With who?” Abby sputtered, nearly spraying the table with her tea.

“With
the man who saved me,” I answered back. “Is it so hard to believe your big
sister is going out on a date?”

Abby
rolled her eyes and made a silly face.

“I’m
glad you’re seeing someone else for a change. That Ellis boy was nothing but trouble
from the get-go,” Momma said.

“Yes,
Momma.”

“Uh-huh!
‘Bout time you got away from him for a while. And now you’re seeing the one
from the accident! Now that is
fortune
, isn’t it? What’s his name?”

“Shane.
He found me down at Stokes Pond today and returned the locket that grandma gave
me. That’s when he asked me out.”

Momma’s
eyes opened wide and she stammered, “T-the locket? Why did you-”

“That
the feller who stopped by this afternoon lookin’ you?” Daddy interjected. “He
didn’t say who he was, just that he wanted to bring you somethin’. If I’d a
known he was the one that pulled you out that burnin’ bus, well, he’d be
sittin’ right here and sharing supper with us, so help me.”

I
nodded. “I still don’t know his last name, but yeah, he’s the one I was telling
you all about. I don’t think he likes talking about what happened much,
though.”

“Well,
that explains it,” Daddy said. “What’s this Shane feller do, anyhow? He didn’t
look like a farmin’ man to my eyes. City slicker if I ever seen one.”

“He’s
a lawyer for the EPA. Said he’s got a big case down here somewhere.”

At
that, my father coughed loudly and nearly choked on his tea.

“George?”
mother asked concernedly, and started patting him on the back until he held up
one hand.

“S’ok
Carol…reckon it jus’ went down the wrong pipe. She surprised me is all.”
Recovered, Daddy coughed once more and then turned to me. “Lil’ Bit, you got
any idea who this Shane feller is takin’ to court?”

I
shook my head.
Why did a sudden wave of fear just sink into my bones?
“Just some big company near Wilmington, I guess. He never said.”

“I’d
bet every ear of corn in my fields that he’s after PCR Phosphate. ‘Bout two
years ago they got in a heap of trouble ‘cause all those people getting sick
that lived near or worked in the mine. The government sent some folks out to
measure the air and everything else they could test and, to my understandin’,
they said the damn place was more toxic than rat poison. Killin’ all the fish
and birds and everything else out there. People too, I ‘spect.”