Never Surrender (27 page)
Authors: Deanna Jewel
When he touched her chin and gazed deep into her eyes,
Kate could have sworn Taima sat before her. Brandon’s mannerisms were too
similar, and her heart ached for what could never be.
He tenderly wiped away a tear with his thumb, the way
Taima would have, making it even harder for her to speak. The memories were too
painful. She inhaled deeply, holding his gaze. “I used to have a ring exactly
like that. What I’m going to say sounds ridiculous, yet I know in my heart it
wasn’t a dream. I gave that ring to my husband, Taima, to wear around his
neck.”
Her heartbeat thudded in the silence following her
admission.
Kate waited, almost afraid of Brandon’s pending
reaction. A muscle twitched in his jaw.
To her surprise, he reached up and untied the leather
strip that held the ring. The same strip that Taima had worn.
He pulled the ring from the leather and scrutinized
it, then looked at her. “There’s an inscription inside.”
Kate’s anticipation took her breath. She knew her
parents had inscribed the inside of her ring. She couldn’t possibly hope the
ring was the same one Taima had told Kelee to pass down. This man was a
stranger to her, although too familiar, yet he held the key to unlock her
confusion.
Brandon took her hand to slip on the ring, and the
heated touch of his fingers sent a tremor up her arm. She tried to pull away,
but he held tight to her hand and he still held the ring, not yet pushing it
onto her finger.
She met his gaze wide-eyed. He’d felt it, too. The
slight shrug of his shoulder proved it.
The pressure on her hand increased as he continued to
hold on. “It is you, isn’t it? I have found you at last,” he said, his voice
almost a whisper.
Kate tried to calm the excitement fluttering in her
stomach like butterflies. To hope he could be Taima was impossible.
“What do you mean?”
He hesitated, as though in thought. “For many years, I
have had a vision of a woman who looks exactly like you. This vision is like a
dream. I’ve had it once a month, once a week, sometimes once or twice in the
same week.” Brandon caressed her cheek. “Your face has become so much a part of
my life. My grandfather told me that his grandfather spoke of a story many
times, of Taima giving this ring to his son to pass on until YOU came to claim
it. When I recognized you in town that day, I had to bring you here, to find
out who you are and why you are here.”
Kate only shook her head in disbelief, yet somehow
knew Brandon spoke the truth of his ancestors. Dare she tell him what had
happened? She hardly believed it herself. Time travel thus far was myth,
nothing more.
Reaching up, touching the scar high on his cheek, she
said, “Taima had a scar in the same spot. You are so much like him...it scares
me.”
“I promise, I won’t hurt you...or scare you.”
She drew back her hand, but hesitated before
continuing. “I have also had a dream that’s haunted me for many years, of a
warrior mounted on his horse before snow-peaked mountains. I had to come out
west in search of those mountains...in search of answers. There was a lake
nearby. Whenever I’d awake from this dream, it was as though I sensed the
warrior had stood in my room, disappearing just before I woke up.” Kate
fidgeted with the edge of the comforter. “It all sounds so silly, but with you
this close, I feel that same nearness, almost like it was you in my dream.”
Brandon raised her face again. “Perhaps it was. I
prayed that I’d find you each time I had my vision. I’d go into town with the
hope that one of the tourists would be you.”
Her pulse nearly raced out of control at his warm
touch. “I did see you in the Mercantile Store. If I’ve been here for three
days, then I saw you three days ago. I sensed something about you, but you
never turned around.”
“You mean when I picked up the package? I did sense
something. I should have paid more attention to it.” Brandon held up the ring.
“This matches your eyes, you know.”
She smiled. “Taima used to tell me that.”
He lifted her hand and easily slipped the ring onto
her finger. Kate held out her hand and admired it.
Her ring.
It had to
be hers. Quickly removing it, she peered at the inside and read the inscription
her parents had put there. Shocked and elated at the same time, she looked at
Brandon.
He gazed at her for a moment, looking deep into her
eyes and she into his. Leaning closer, he brushed a strand of hair from her
cheek. “I think we have both lived before, though many would think us crazy.
But I believe in fate...we were meant to be together. Our meeting is no
accident.”
Chills crept up her spine. As if on cue, the radio
played an appropriate song by Tracy Byrd. She listened to the familiar words,
which made more sense now than she ever thought they could.
“The Great Spirit does take care of the stars...and
our fate in finding each other. I have searched for you too long, Kate,” he
said, their lips mere inches apart.
His musky scent assailed her. “If you are the one I
have searched for, I have so many questions,” she said, her voice barely a
whisper.
“I think in due time, we will both find the answers we
seek,” then he drew her in for a kiss, a kiss that held all the familiar love
and passion she thought she’d lost forever.
To kiss a stranger shouldn’t happen, but was he a
stranger really? His warmth and tenderness embraced her soul and she knew she
had finally found the man of her dreams.
To Be Continued...
Watch for Brandon & Kate's Story
in a future book.
Other books by this author:
England, 1778 – Historical Romance
A motivational book for positive thinking
Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Deanna also invites you to visit her websites: