Bitterroot Crossing (25 page)

    Jessie looked wide-eyed at her grandma. “Hiding place? Nana, you didn’t put them in the cookie jar, did you?”

    Her grandma smiled. “Wasn’t big enough.” She laughed. Her eyebrow lifted as she looked at the locket hanging around Jessie’s neck. “I wondered where that necklace had run off to. Your great-grandpa had a few whiskey stills hidden around this place. They’re perfect for hiding things.”

    Zedekiah joined us now. His expression was still somber as he looked down at the locket. “Remember your promise,” he said to Jessie’s grandma.

    “I won’t forget,” she answered. “And I told the sheriff you’re on the north side of the swamp, far away from the others. They’ll find you.”

    Suddenly I heard soft sobs. Jessie was crying. This time it was sadness. Her grandma took hold of my arm and led me to the porch. You look like something that’s been dragged in by the cat. Come in and have something to eat, Nick.  These two need to have a moment.”

    Jessie looked incredibly bummed and I realized I was too. It was pretty sweet having Zedekiah around even if he was completely annoying and his coolness was really hard to compete with.

    “Later, Gramps,” I said.

    “Later, offspring. And Nick, if you don’t treat this girl right, I’ll find a way to come back, I promise.”

    “You don’t have to worry about that.”

    I walked inside but had a hard time not watching through the window as I plowed through two cinnamon rolls and a half gallon of milk. Zedekiah and Jessie talked a long time. Then he picked up her hands in his and they both lifted off the ground. They twirled around and around in dance. I definitely couldn’t compete with that.

    I was just starting my third cinnamon roll when Jessie walked inside. Her skin was flushed pink and her green eyes sparkled like jewels. She was incredible. She walked over, sat down, and plucked a piece of roll off my plate.

    “It’s just not going to be the same around here,” she said as she gazed forlornly out the window. Zedekiah had vanished. Absently she fingered the locket. “He’s going to his final resting place, but his heart will never rest.”

    “That would suck,” I said, “never knowing if the girl you loved ever loved you back.” I could not stop staring at Jessie. Even tired and drained by the horrible night and morning, she took my breath away. I reached for her hand and held it tightly. “Man, I don’t know what I would’ve done if something had happened to you, Jess. I would have--” I couldn’t finish. No wonder Zedekiah put the noose around his own neck. I knew what it felt like to have someone else own your heart completely. I would have died if something had happened to Jessie, but if she had been killed by my own gun . . . . It had to have been a heartbreak like no other.

    I wanted to pull Jessie into my arms and kiss her so badly now I could feel the need pulse through my entire body. But I didn’t. She was so different than other girls. I had no idea how she would react, and I didn’t want to scare her off. I was worried my kiss, especially one as wild as the one I’d been dreaming about, might push her away.

    Her other hand came up and her small, soft fingers bushed my face. I pushed my cheek against her touch wanting her to know how much I needed it.

    Then she rose from her chair and went to the first aid cabinet. She returned with gauze and medicine. Gently she took hold of my hand and began wiping the dried blood from the cuts on my arm. My breath came in rapid spurts as she touched me.

    “My brave hero, it looks like you’ve been through quite a battle,” she smiled and smoothed my hair back behind me ears with tender fingertips. My free hand grabbed the edge of my chair and squeezed tightly. It was all I could do to not grab hold of her right now, right here in her grandma’s kitchen.

    My head was spinning by the time she’d finished cleaning my arm, and I could hardly catch a decent breath. “I guess I should head home,” I said thinking I needed to leave soon or lose all my self-control.

    Jessie’s long lashes lowered. She looked upset that I was leaving. But I didn’t trust myself. I’d never been so tired in my life, and I was sure my weakened state and her nearness would dissolve any willpower I had. I stood and placed my dishes in the sink. Jessie watched me from her chair.

    “I guess I’ll see you later,” I said.

    She nodded. “I guess so.”

    I pushed out the door and walked toward my bike. I heard the porch screen shut behind me. I turned back and Jessie was standing at the bottom of the steps. Then she put her hands on her hips. “Nick Crush, if you don’t stop treating me like some kind of a breakable doll, and kiss me, I--”

    She had no time to finish. My feet stormed toward her before I even had a chance to think. My hands went around her waist and I pulled her against me and pressed my mouth down on hers. I kissed her long and hard and wondered if I would ever be able to stop.

    “It’s about time.”

    I finally pulled my lips from hers and smiled into her beautiful face. “It figures I’d finally work up the courage to kiss you and he’d have to be here to ruin it.”

    “He didn’t ruin anything,” Jessie said and hopped up on her tiptoes, placed her hands around my neck, and kissed me again.

    “I would have kissed her long ago,” Zedekiah said.

    “Yeah, well that’s where we’re different,” I said. “I’ve got self-control.” My arms tightened around Jessie. “Although I was starting to doubt it there for a minute.”

    Jessie smiled as she took her hand from my neck and reached for the locket. “Something feels funny.” We looked down at it. It had opened.
Something fell into Jessie’s palm. It was obvious Zedekiah wanted to move closer to see it but he stayed away. The tension around him was palpable.

    “Zedekiah, didn’t Jack Bridger have light hair?” Jessie asked.

    Zedekiah looked anguished like a man who just had his world taken from him. “Can’t you see it right there in his picture?” he asked. His usual confidence was gone. “It was blonde like the straw in a pig’s manger.”

    “There aren’t any pictures in here, Zedekiah,” Jessie said.

    I looked at the object in Jessie’s hand. “Is that a braid of hair?”

     “Yes, it is.” She lifted it into the streams of sunlight that seeped through the trees. “It is a tiny braid made up from the hair of two different people. One strand is auburn just like mine. And one strand is jet black,” she turned to him, “like yours, Zedekiah.”

    A breeze floated through the trees surrounding the farm. It was strangely warm for such a crisp day. Then a soft, feminine voice drifted across the pasture. “It was always you, you silly man. I always loved you, Zedekiah. How could I not?”

    Zedekiah’s image blurred. He looked almost like a series of dots in one of those crazy paintings that looked completely different up close than it did far away. Then he spoke. “Rebecca.”

    We were all stunned into silence. There standing in the middle of the field was the faint, spectral image of a girl. Even though her face was blurry, it was easy to see the resemblance.

    “Why’d you do it? Why’d you jump in front of him?” Zedekiah’s voice sounded less confident than usual.

    “I was trying to save you from yourself. I knew you’d kill him and hang for it. It’s time for some peace in that heart of yours, Zedekiah. I’m waiting for you.” Zedekiah drifted toward her and when he reached her, they vanished together.   

    Jessie pushed the tiny braid back into the locket and snapped it shut. We both stared down at it for a second.

    “Do you think our kiss opened it?” I asked.

    “Was a rather strange coincidence,” Jessie said. “We are, after all, a Colton and a Crush.”

    I pulled her hard against me. “I knew we were destined to be together.” I leaned my face toward hers. “Now let’s see what other magic we can conjure up.” I kissed her again.

Chapter 34

    The small plaque on the grave read
Zedekiah Crush, Rest in Peace…finally
. I placed the flowers on it and laid an extra one in front of the neighboring, century-old grave marker. It read
Rebecca Colton, beloved daughter of Bitterroot Crossing
.

    Nick reached for my hand. “We don’t want to be late. I’d swear Hammersmith watches for me through his office.” We hopped on his bike and headed to school.

    Bitterroot Crossing was as beautiful in fall as it was in spring. Burnt orange and deep red foliage lined the road. The town had become amazingly serene since the ghosts had been put to rest. People seemed nicer, more relaxed. The stress of being tormented by unhappy spirits was gone.

    We parked and headed up the steps. “I’ve got to run into the office and make an appointment with my counselor,” he said. “Now that he’s back working, my dad’s really on me about my grades.
I’m sort of flunking a couple of classes.”

    “Sort of?” I asked. “Why don’t you come over after school and I’ll tutor you.” 

    He tapped his chin like he was considering my suggestion. “Let me see. I’d be sitting cozily on the couch next to you, devouring your grandma’s baked goods, and studying.” He nodded. “Yeah, I think I can suffer through that.”

    I motioned toward the office. “Go inside before I take back my offer.” I sat on the bench outside the office. Nana’s baking had reminded me about my lunch. I pulled it out to see what she’d put inside. I opened the fresh baked bread. It was peanut butter and honey. A shadow fell over me. It was Tina and her two sidekicks. Now that Zedekiah was gone, she was back to irritating me.

    “How cute your little sandwich is,” Tina said. “What’s on it?”

    I looked at the thickly spread peanut butter for a second. It was no doubt yummy, but sometimes you just had to make sacrifices. “Would you like to see?” I lifted the bread and she leaned in closer. That’s when I smashed it into her very pretty face. She stumbled back and threw the bread onto the ground, clawing to get the sticky honey and peanut butter off. Her friends laughed at her.  

    Nick came out of the office. He laughed the loudest. I stood and we walked toward our first class. “My mom would have been disappointed, but there is only so long you can try the nice method.” I lifted my hand. “Now my fingers are covered in peanut butter and honey.”

    Nick stopped me and pressed me against the side of the building. He took hold of my wrist and licked the peanut butter off each finger one by one.

    “I may never use a napkin again,” I said breathlessly. When he was finished, my knees felt wobbly and my heart was racing. “Did it taste good?”

    He stared at my lips for a moment then lowered his face to mine. “I guess there is only one way to find out.”  

Safe Landing Excerpt

Read an excerpt from Tess Oliver’s
Safe Landing
-now available

Chapter 1

On a scale of one to ten, one being the crappiest day and ten being the sweetest, this day was turning out to be a solid two. After nearly slicing my small toe off with the piranha style teeth of the packaging tape dispenser, I knew I was in for a bad one. I just didn’t know how bad until our oversized puppy raced out the door with my pink and yellow polka dot panties.

I limped clumsily after the dog. “Darcy, drop them!”