AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"I've fooled you, because everything I'm doing is about impressing you. My turn. What's your biggest fear?"
She tilted her head up to look into his face. "About relationships or life in general?"
"Your choice."
"Typical stuff. Death, getting older, being alone. Normal for hitting the forty year range." She shifted uncomfortably. He touched her hand.
"Why death?"
"It's the ultimate unknown, the biggest loss of control we face."
"So how do you deal with it?"
Her gaze lifted back to his face. She'd been worried he'd zero in on the "alone" part, yet it was the death part that interested him. His expression was neutral, but she wondered how he'd dealt with it through his formative years. Death was a specter that usually grew in size as one aged. As a child, it was a barely understood concept; as a teen, a fly brushed away, inconsequential to their misguided sense of immortality. Yet he'd had to live under its shadow in a way different from a healthy child, teen or adult with typical fears about the ephemeral nature of life.
"I think about Skye Bartusick and James Garner."
"Excuse me?"
She grinned. "It's rare to see a clueless look on your face. It's cute."
"Annoying woman." He snorted and flicked her fingers, still linked over his bent knee. "Who is Skye Bartusick?"
"She was in the movie The Patriot with Mel Gibson. She played his youngest daughter, Sara. The actress died at twenty-one, complications related to seizures, or something like that. When I saw a picture of her on the Internet, she still had that sweet little girl's face she had in the movie. It upset me, thinking how panicked she might be, how afraid, when she wasn't expecting death to happen so suddenly. Then I found out that James Garner died on the same day."
Julie paused as a man walked by with a trio of Australian shepherds. She went to her knees to pet the enthusiastic threesome, and asked the man for their names. When she settled back, she was feeling a little foolish about her complicated answer and was going to drop it, but she saw Des was waiting for her to continue, his expectant look asking for more.
"James Garner was so reassuring and fatherly in a lot of the roles he played later in his life. I saw the two of them arriving at the gates of Heaven together, this little girl from The Patriot and James Garner, maybe like in his older Maverick reprise role, also with Mel Gibson. Seven degrees of separation, right?" She plucked at a couple blades of grass, wondering if Des was thinking she was nuts, but she was going to finish the story, because he'd asked.
"When you get to Heaven I think you can be any age you need or want to be, so I could see James deciding to step into that reassuring fatherly role for Skye one more time. He'd hold her hand so she wouldn't be scared. Even if he was looking forward to being young again in Heaven, and knew she had nothing to fear now, he'd want her to feel safe, and nothing does that like holding someone's hand."
"Hmm." He was looking at her, but his eyes weren't focused, as if he was thinking about her words. So she finished her thought.
"I thought, if the Powers That Be took them on the same day, there has to be something making sure we're all okay, right? No matter how dumbass a theory it is, it makes me feel better."
"It's a good theory." He stroked her hair away from her cheek. "I like it. I like you."
Suddenly nervous, she rose to her feet and offered him her hand. "I like you, too. Want to go walk by the lake?"
He grasped her hand but used his own strength to pull himself up. He retained his grip on her, though. Holding hands. "Sure."
"My turn again," she said, seeking to fill in the silence. "Your most embarrassing moment?"
"Why would you want to know that?"
"Because I want to know you're not perfect."
Des laughed. "I've never been called or considered perfect in my entire life." He stopped and put his hands on her face in a caress, but like he was removing glasses.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm removing those rose colored lenses I must have accidentally put on you."
She gave him an amused look. "You did tell me once if you touched me a certain way I would see an irresistible guy hung like a moose. Maybe the enchantment hasn't worn off yet."
"Even after I yelled at you about Pablo?"
"Oh, well see, I'd forgotten that. Enchantment blown. And you still haven't answered the question. Most embarrassing moment."
