Sweet Lantern

Chapter 14

Alice

I wake up in the middle of the night in a panic. I can't breathe. My chest is heavy and I'm freaking out. My heart feels like it's going to explode. He's hurt! I have to get to him; I have to help him. I throw my legs over the side of the bed and stand up, ready to run and the minute my feet hit the floor, I realize it wasn't real and sit back down. I had a nightmare about Darry. I look at the time on my phone, 3am. I text Darry, can you come over please? And wait. He replies quickly and simply, On my way. My heart swells. I step out onto my roof and sit down, pulling my legs up to my chest, and wait to see his light peering through the trees. It's a chilly night for summer. The wind sweeps by and picks up my hair, blowing it around my face. I wrap my arms around my legs and lay my head on my raised knees.

His lantern light breaks through the trees and my breathing finally slows. Thank you, God. Thank you for giving me this man. I pray to myself.

I see Darry come through the trees, and instantly relax. He didn't even get dressed; I notice. He's in nothing but his boots and boxers. As he gets closer, I can see that he's carrying clothes. He looks so good. His messy brown hair and sleepy eyes. I watch him until I can't see him anymore and when I hear him open the front door and walk in, I go back into my room, waiting for him to open my door. I can hear his footsteps coming up the back stairs and then my door opens. He sets his lantern down on the table next to my door and rushes across the room to me, taking me into his arms. He pulls me into his chest and strokes my hair, whispering "Shhh, it's OK. It's OK, Alice, I'm here." I hadn't even realized I was crying, but I was, his chest muffling the sounds of my sobs. He pulls me back and lifts my head up to look into my eyes. His eyes full of worry and distress. He bends down and kisses me, softly. "I'm here, Alice, I'm not going to leave you tonight, I promise."

We lay down and he pulls me closer to him. I lay my head on his chest and he kisses the top of my head. My body still shaking from the sobs, but I have finally stopped crying. He rubs my arm and continues to try to soothe me with his words. I feel safe with him here. I feel whole. Seeing him like that in my dream, all bloody and messed up, I just can't... tears run down my cheeks again just thinking about it. If I lost him, I'd be lost forever too. I couldn't live without him. There is no me without Darry. I fall asleep with him holding me, and dream of us kissing and running together in our field of flowers. He's here, he's OK and all is right in the world.

I wake the next morning to Darry singing quietly in my ear, "Oh my dear sweet Alley, please wake up and come back to me", as he kisses my forehead, brushing the hair off of my face. I smile up at him without opening my eyes and he bends down kissing each of my eyelids and brushing his thumb down my cheek. "God, I love you, girl", he says to me. I lean up and try to find his lips in the darkness of my still closed eyes. He finds mine and kisses me, holding my chin to lift my face to his. "You ready to get up, beautiful?" Darry asks me. "Uh uh", I protest. He laughs at me, and gently moves me off him.

"We have to get up. We need to get our chores done so we can have the rest of the day free, babe." Babe? Hmm, I think I like it. I open one eye and find him pulling his jeans and shirt on over his black boxer briefs. "Mmm. How do you look this good this early?" I ask him and he blushes. He stops pulling his shirt on and with it hanging half on and half off, he bends down on the bed, propping himself up on his hands and bends down to kiss my mouth. "Believe me angel, I've got nothing on you."

I smile and fall back on the bed. Darry pulls his shirt all the way on and bends over to grab my hands, pulling me to a sitting position and let's go, thinking I'll stay sitting up, but I let myself fall back again, and he laughs. He grabs my hands again and pulls me up but instead of letting me go when I'm sitting, he keeps tugging and pulls me to my feet, throwing me over his shoulder like a rag doll. He walks me into my bathroom and sits me on the chair by the door. He turns around and pulls the shower curtain back. He turns on the water and puts in the tub plug. He pours in bubbles and checks to make sure the temperature is just right. When the tub is full, he walks over to the closet and grabs a washcloth and towel. Throwing the washcloth into the tub, he turns to me and says, "Are you going to put yourself in this tub or do I need to undress you and put you in like a child?" I jump up, give him a mock salute and tell him I'm good, I can handle it from here. He nods and smiles at me, "That's what I thought", he says kissing me before he leaves the room.

I slink down into the hot water and my muscles instantly relax, making me groan out loud. "You OK in there?" I hear Darry call from the bedroom, a smile in his voice. "Oh yeah, I'm great! This water is perfect!" I call back to him. "I know, I'm that good", he says back, and I giggle at his cockiness.

"Pull the curtain", Darry tells me through the door.

I pull the curtain and he opens the door. "I'm putting your clothes on the chair, k?" he says and then closes the door behind him as he leaves again.

I open the curtain to see what he's picked. I'm impressed. There's a coral colored t-shirt that says, "I woke up like this" and a pair of cutoff jeans... omg... and on top of it all is a matching pair of bra and panties, white cotton. Geez, Darry. I slide under the water in embarrassment.

When I get back into the bedroom he's nowhere to be found. My heart sinks. I had really wanted to thank him for the clothes and I really, really wanted to kiss him again. I love his kisses. His lips are so soft and gentle against mine. He always smells so good when I am close to him and his lips taste sweet. I hear voices downstairs and fall out of my daydream.

When I get downstairs, I see Darry already sitting at the island. I plop down on the stool beside him and he leans over to kiss my cheek. Mom's already swaying to her music, cooking breakfast. Robby's at the table reading a book and Dad's across the table from him with a newspaper. "Morning, everyone", I say to the people in the room with me. "Morning", everyone calls back.

After breakfast Darry goes to his house to help his parents with anything that needs to be done. I go out to the barn with my family and we get to it. We feed and water the horses, then me and Mom clean out the stalls while daddy and Robby walk the horses around the corral. When we finish other random chores, I ask if I could be excused for the day? I'm given the go ahead so I take off through the trees. When I get to the Williams' farm, I see Darry helping his dad stack bales of hay by the barn. He's drenched. The white t-shirt he's wearing is covered in dirt and sweat. I love the way his arms look when he's straining them, the way his muscles flex with every movement. He sees me and looks over his shoulder, smiling. He puts the bale down and turns to me, wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his wrist. "Hey cutie, what're you doing here? Finished already?" he asks. I nod and walk over to him. I stand on my tip toes to kiss him, but he blocks me with his hand, "Whoa, I'm all stinky and dirty, girl. What are you doing?" he grins. "I don't care", I say and stand on my tip toes again, this time he leans down and kisses me, quickly. "You're so silly" he says and goes back to stacking the hay.

"Hey Mr. Williams" I say when he comes around the corner of the barn. "Hello there, Alice. You done with your chores already?" he asks. "Yes sir, is there anything I can help with here?" He smiles at me and shakes his head. "No ma'am, we're about done here too. Darry, I've got this, you can go wash up now", he tells him, and Darry wastes no time. He grabs my hand and we race into his house. I go into the kitchen to see if I can help Mrs. Williams with anything while Darry washes up and gets ready to do whatever he has planned for the day.

In the kitchen, I find Mrs. Williams mixing the makings of a cake. "Anything I can help with?" I ask, and she turns to smile at me. "No, thank you though, sweetheart. I think I've got it handled in here", she says and motions for me to sit on the stool at the counter that runs half the length of the kitchen. I sit and she starts in with questions, "What are you and my son up to today?" I tell her I don't know; he hasn't really mentioned anything to me yet. She tilts her head and shrugs her shoulders, "I guess as long as you're together, right?" her back is to me, but I can hear the grin in her tone.

Darry rounds the corner and pokes his head in the door, bracing himself on the door frame. "Hey chick, you ready?" he looks at his mom, "I'll be back later, mom. Unless you need me for something?" She tells him she's got everything under control and gives him the go ahead to have fun but reminds us to be careful.

Darry smiles at his mom and then at me, grabs my hand and pulls me out the front door. "What do you want to do today, Alice?" he asks, leading me to his car. He opens the door and I get in. He closes the door and sticks his tongue out at me when I look at him through the window. I shake my head and look down, smiling at this dork that is all mine. When he climbs in, he looks at me and throws his hands up, like he's saying "Well, what are we doing?"

"I don't know, Darry. Let's go somewhere new. Somewhere we haven't been before." I say, not really knowing where to go or what to do.

He says OK, and puts the car in drive, and turns us down the driveway. Adventure ahead, not knowing where we're going, is a little exciting. He's really good at coming up with stuff to do though, I trust him 100%.

He turns onto the main road and rolls our windows down. The wind instantly lifts my hair and starts blowing it around my face. I put my arm out to feel the breeze on my skin. I look back at Darry and he's watching me, smiling. He thinks I'm cute.