Under A Painted Sky (Spirit Warrior Series)

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Reserved

This
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, businesses, and incidents are
products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously and are not to
be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations,
organizations, or person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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trademarks mentioned herein are not authorized by the trademark owners and do
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portion of this book may be reproduced in any form (electronic or print)
without permission from the author. Please do not participate in piracy or
violating the author’s rights.

Editor:
Lea Ellen Borg

Copyright
© December 2012 Jenna Roads

ISBN:

Printed in the
United States of America

Dedication

To my beautiful, precious
daughter, without whose love and support this work of heart would not have been
possible. Thanks for inspiring me, believing in me, encouraging me and loving
me.

You are one of my
two greatest joys on this Earth.

All my love,
forever.

CHAPTER ONE

It was finally moving
day for me, Isabella Reed. I’m from a very small, quaint town in North Florida.
This place was not the same to me after my divorce six months ago. My so-called
friends shunned me.

It was definitely time
for a new beginning which entailed leaving the town where the disgrace of my
husband leaving me lies. Things would never be the same as they were before
when people envied the relationship that I had with my husband. I was looking forward
to a welcome and promising move.

We were so much in love
and in sync with one another, even finishing each other’s sentences. How could
things be so right and turn out so wrong? I guess people change. You wake up
one day, find out your husband is leaving, and your whole life is turned upside
down. Now, my friends can’t decide if they should be his friend or mine.

I was complaining to my
mother about how I couldn’t even have friends anymore and how I hated this
town. The divorce had spoiled everything about the place I called home.

She told her
sister,
my Aunt Carol, how I was feeling, and my aunt
suggested that I come to stay in her brand new vacation home. She and her
husband of five years, James, had just finished building it. James is an
engineer and comes from old money. Can you say loaded? They have a vacation
home everywhere they find a place they like to go back to visit. I believe this
house was number eleven. He had like eight houses already when they married. I
guess the rich just get richer. What a life! They loved New Mexico, so they
built a house there.

My Aunt Carol was
leaving the country for a few months and said it would be so nice to have
someone in the house. She said it was completely furnished and ready to go and
I could store my furniture in the three-car garage until I decided what I
wanted to do. They had already hired a caretaker. He was a real young guy by
the name of Logan Hayes and they would let him know that I would be living
there. He would still do all of the upkeep on the house and grounds.

She told me there were
plenty of nursing jobs to be had because there was a shortage of nurses in New
Mexico. I could live there for free forever, if I wanted.

Oh, my Gosh, I couldn’t
believe it! It was the perfect answer to my whole situation. I could leave this
town and start out fresh in a brand new place where nobody knew I was now
divorced. It sounded too good to be true.

I had enough money in
savings to last about four months since I wouldn’t have to pay rent. That was
enough time to settle in a new place.

I had never been to the
southwestern part of the country. From the pictures on the Internet, it looked
beautiful. What was not to love about wide-open skies, beautiful colors
everywhere and no bugs! My aunt told me there were no mosquitoes or gnats and
you could sit outside with nothing biting you. She knows how it is in Florida.
I am a bug magnet so, this was great news. I jumped at the chance to go there.

After all, I could
always Skype my parents and fly back every now and then, Albuquerque, New
Mexico,
Land
of Enchantment
.

I graduated from high
school early at seventeen and started college that summer. Soon after I’d
turned nineteen, I’d gotten married to the man I had dated since I was fifteen.
Jackson was the most thoughtful and coolest guy ever—and hot. Yes, he was hot.
He had sandy blond hair and blue eyes that looked like the ocean.

I was going to school
to be a nurse and started working two jobs both part-time to pay for college
books. My parents were paying for the tuition. I had to work if I wanted my
cell phone, clothes, gas for my car and all the little extras a girl must have.
My husband couldn’t afford all that on his salary working as a mechanic.

Six months before I
finished school, my husband decided he didn’t want to be married to me anymore.
Just like that—no arguments or fights or anything. He wanted a divorce and he
wanted it quick, so he could be on his way with his new
I don’t have to work
queen.

It turns out that the
man I married wanted a woman that didn’t have to work for a living and said
life was too short to spend it working. Tell that to the bill collectors. I was
sure they would understand that—like, never! Well, the last thing in the world
I wanted was to be with someone who didn’t want me.

I had just finished
school, and taken my state boards and passed. I was waiting for my license to
arrive, which usually takes sixty to ninety days so I could get a job as a
nurse and start my life.

CHAPTER TWO

The final room of furniture
had been loaded on the semi-truck and I stood outside signing the necessary
paperwork for the moving company. The door to the moving truck slammed shut, as
was a chapter of my life. The truck pulled out with what was left of my life’s
belongings and they were on their way.

My family was there to
see me off: my mom, Jackie, my father, William, and my brother, Blake. My dad
handed me a wad of money. He whispered in my ear, “This is mad money. I want
you to take this so I won’t be mad thinking that you might be in need of
something and I’m not close by to help you quickly enough.” We did our hugs and
kisses and waved goodbye. I pulled out in my car behind the movers with enough
stuff to last a couple of weeks until the rest of my things arrived. Wow, 1,711
miles from city limit to city limit, a long drive to take all alone. The
biggest move I had ever made, but I was so ready for a change of scenery.

Besides, I loved my
car. It was a high school graduation present from my folks. It was a black
Nissan Murano with GPS in the console and my tunes connected from my iPod. Who
could ask for more?

Well, New Mexico, here
I come.

* * *

After three days of
driving with my iPod blasting through my stereo until I got tired, sleeping in
motels and after many glasses of iced coffee, I finally made it. There were a
few times when I thought I wasn’t going to, like when I saw those camels in a
field on the side of the road. I pulled over and got a motel room only to find
out they really were camels. It was a camel farm in Texas. I couldn’t believe
it or the buffalo herd I saw. You don’t see those things on the coast where I
lived.

I couldn’t believe this
New Mexico landscape with all the colorful places and beautiful southwest
buildings everywhere.

Well, this was it. It
was 11 a.m. at Vista Hermosa, which means
beautiful view
. It was a gated
community, not bad for a twenty-one-year-old to live for free. My aunt had
given me the gate code and I entered it at the gate.
Voila, open says me.
Ha, ha!
My Aunt Carol said she would leave instructions about the new house
on the table for me.

This was me, 1521 Vista
Hermosa. Wow! The house is two-story in dark tan, stucco adobe-style with rock
trim and a complete rock entrance at the front. The tiny lawn in front had been
perfectly manicured with edging and tiny river rock colored stones on the
ground. It had small beautiful green trees and flower bushes of yellow, purple
and blue, and large boulder rocks for decoration. There were pavers leading to
the front door.

This looked like home
to me. It even smelled like home when I opened my car door to get out—the smell
of fresh baked cookies filled the air. The neighbors must be baking.

I unlocked the door to
the house with the keys Aunt Carol had mailed me in FL. The door opened up into
the hallway. To the left was the dining room and to the right was the doorway
to the three-car garage. I opened the door and peeked into the garage. It was
huge with shelves down one side and closets. I shut the door and crossed over
to the dining room. Wow, she said it was nice, but it was much more than just
nice. There was a beautiful table and china cabinet, with all the works and
warm earthy colors. To the right was a stairway leading up to the bedrooms.
Next, there was a coat closet on the right and to the left was the kitchen. The
kitchen had stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, and a huge pantry.
It had a window overlooking the back patio and you could see the mountain. The
whole downstairs, except the living room, had these awesome large tile floors.
It was decorated, as was the whole house, in southwestern style. There were
warm earthy colors, along with some radical bold colors. It looked incredibly
inviting, just like some of the pictures I’d seen on the Internet. A sign
hanging on the wall said, ‘Mi Casa Es Su Casa.’ I loved that!

There were chili
peppers hanging down the wall. A pot rack hung from the ceiling with Emeril
pots. Grape vines and wine decorations draped the cabinets. There were even
small wine barrels on top of the cabinets. One barrel had burnt into the wood
‘Reserva New Mexico.’ The living room was on the right. In between the kitchen
and living room was a large patio door leading to the back patio and yard.

The whole house was
completely furnished with curtains and blinds everywhere. The living room had a
large fireplace with a beautiful mantle and a switch on the wall to turn it on.

If you went out the
door of the kitchen to the back yard and patio there was a large brick wall in
the back yard. There was the same kind of landscaping as the front except for
one wow feature. It had a waterfall that cascaded over rocks. The water sounded
so beautifully peaceful. There was a bench a little way in front of the
waterfall. The left side of the patio was complete with an outdoor kitchen
under roof. Nice, large, uneven stones were used for the patio floor. There was
a large pool on the right. It had a cascading waterfall over rocks that went
into the pool. You could have some serious parties out here.

On the left side of the
back yard was a patio table and chair set. If you looked past the brick wall,
you could see neighbors in the distance below. You could look out at the sky
and you see forever. It was like miles and miles of no barriers in sight.

The mountain looked
awesome. I really loved this. I thought I might never, ever want to move out.

Next, I checked out the
upstairs bedrooms.