Chapter 82 Back in His Embrace
As they strolled along, they came across a park. “Do you remember our picnic?” she said, breaking a brief moment of silence that had suddenly come to each of them as they soaked in the moment of walking hand in hand.
“How could I ever forget?”
She led him to a cottonwood tree, and they sat in the grass leaning against its trunk. “It’s a little dark for trying to find figures in the clouds,” he joked.
“There is something else that I’d rather do,” she said. She was mere inches from his face, peering into his eyes.
“Oh yeah?” he asked. He faked confusion. “What’s that?”
“Just this,” she replied. She leaned into him and pressed her lips against his. His soft, thick lips responded, and soon their mouths were interlocked in a deep and passionate kiss. Their hands caressed each other’s bodies, and the chemistry between them was suddenly a burning flame of desire. “Evan,” she whispered in his ear when they had stopped for a moment and were arm in arm in the grass. “Take me to bed or lose me forever.”
It was a corny line from a movie, but it perfectly reflected what she was thinking in that moment.
Evan said nothing. He came up off the grass and offered his hand to help her to her feet. They strolled hand in hand in silence until they came to the motel, and he opened the door. The door had barely closed when her fingers were working the buttons on his shirt. They undressed each other slowly, each relishing the sight and touch of the other.
Free of the confines of their clothing, they kissed and caressed each other for a long moment as they stood just inside the door of the motel room, and then slowly drifted toward the bed. Their lovemaking was a combination of burning desire and sensual appreciation for the deeper connection between them. They built their passion slowly, exploring each other and watching how the other responded. She felt the intensity of emotions that flowed through her body along with the pleasure of their joining. It was completeness for both of them that went beyond lustful desire and entered into a completely different oneness.
The moments after were as sweet as those before and during their lovemaking, and they lay together on the bed facing each other and softly stroking random places of the other’s skin. For both of them, it was as if they had been transported into some sweet, ethereal dream. The sun was beginning to break over the horizon the next morning when the two of them finally collapsed from exhaustion and fell asleep arm in arm.
“You sure are quiet,” Evelyn said. They had been on the road for several hours on their way to the next rodeo. Other than very brief communication, Alexandra had said little. She decided to tease her a little bit. “Thinking about anyone in particular?”
“Yeah,” Alexandra answered softly. She hated that their time together had ended so quickly. She had shed just a few tears this time because she hated to say goodbye, but this parting was so much different than the last. She knew in her heart that this was only for a while. Before, she had believed that it was forever, and the pain had been like having her heart ripped out of her chest. She said goodbye to Sam and Lucy, and then, with a lingering embrace and a slow, deep kiss, she said goodbye to Evan. The moments that followed were bittersweet. Her head was full of all of the sweet things that they had shared and the understanding that they would be together again in a few months. They had exchanged contact information this time, though it would hardly do her any good for at least another month or two, while he was still isolated in the mountains; however, he did promise to call her whenever he came down to town. She hoped that it was more often than before.
“You two seemed to get along pretty well,” Evelyn interrupted her thoughts, hoping that she could at least get a little bit of conversation out of her. “Those two dogs of his are the sweetest things. I was sort of hoping that he wouldn’t want them back.”
“Those two are his life,” she said. “I think he’d be lost without them. I will miss them as much as I’ll miss him.”
“At least you can talk to him on the phone,” Evelyn joked.
“Not much,” she replied. “Not unless he happens to go to town.”
“You’re going to screw up our Vegas plans, you know,” she teased.
“You can still have your married man,” she replied.
“I’d rather babysit the dogs,” Evelyn answered.
“I doubt he brings the dogs,” Alexandra replied. She suddenly realized that the grammar of her sentence was completely horrible. “Oh my god, I’m turning into one of you.”
“What do you mean?”
“My grammar, the things I say, the expressions, they are completely horrible,” she said. “I’m starting to talk and act like you people.
“Hey! We people ain’t all that bad,” Evelyn answered.
“No, you’re really quite wonderful,” Alexandra said. She fell silent again as she began to think of how different her life had become. The face of one Westerner from the Colorado Rockies in particular was in her mind.
“You could have gone with him,” Evelyn said.
“No,” she replied. “I made a commitment to you.”
“I could have gone on alone.”
“No. You couldn’t have.”
Evelyn reflected for a moment. It would have been lonely and without Alexandra’s companionship, and the way that she helped her to relax and focus, she might not be able to do it without her. “You’re right. I couldn’t.”
“Evan will still be there,” she said. “Let’s go win a World Championship.”
“You’re the boss,” Evelyn replied. She focused on the road as they both fell silent again. She had a great friend who had taught her so much in the past year and encouraged her at every turn. It wasn’t just a lucky run that she was on, unless you could consider Alexandra showing up at her ranch a bit of luck.
“Alex,” she said, breaking the silence one more time. “Thanks.”