Omniscient Leaps (20 page)

“So official too,” I teased. “Are you going to scold me like all the normal adults in positions of authority?”

He chuckled as he ignored my last comment. I felt so comfortable when I was with him and I wondered how his other leapers felt about him. It didn’t seem likely that they all saw him as just a guide. I bet all of them had crushes on him. The thought didn’t make me happy so I shoved it aside.

“So you’ve recovered well I see.” Luke took a seat behind his desk and I sat in the chair in front of him. Everything felt so formal and it wasn’t how I thought of our relationship.

“I slept for almost three days straight.” He nodded his head as he shuffled the papers around on his desk. “How long did you stay with me?”

His blue eyes were blazing when he finally glanced up and I felt my pulse quicken. “Several hours,” he smiled. “I didn’t know girls could snore so loud, but then again I sleep alone. I guess I don’t even know what a male sounds like.”

My face pulsed like a blazing fire. Snoring was the last thing I wanted Luke to hear come out of me. “I guess…well it was probably because I hadn’t slept in over a day.”

He winked and I relaxed. “So I think we should start at the beginning with what you remember and go from there.”

“Do you think it will happen again?” I asked. I couldn’t focus on what he was saying. Now that I was here with him all I could think about was how I wanted to see him again, in my world.

“Of course you will leap. I think you get a little break but—”

“No,” I interrupted again. “Do you think you will come see me in my realm?”

Luke’s head dropped to his hands. “You’re relentless, are you not?” He peered up at me and I stared back at him with the most pleading expression I could rally. “I really don’t know, Kara. I don’t think optimistically in terms of us, so I would have to say that I appeared there to make sure you were okay after that ordeal of yours.”

“If it happens again, will you promise me something?” I was begging with all I had in my arsenal: hands, eyes and lips.

“What?” he laughed. “Are you serious?”

“I want you to promise that you will kiss me. I want you to promise that if you flash into my time again that you will give us a chance. If it happens again you need to believe that it’s a possibility that we are meant to be.” I was adamant, almost desperate, in my plea.

“I don’t know, Kara.” Luke’s hands immediately went for his hair and I smiled.

“If it doesn’t happen then I won’t harp on it—the kiss anyway. I think you are going to fold eventually, but I won’t force the issue.” His nostrils flared and I felt satisfied.

“Fine, I promise,” he finally said. “Now can we get down to business?”

“Yes, Mr. Thorpe, we can,” I replied.

He listened quietly as I rehashed all the details and events of the last few weeks. It sounded strange to hear the whole story in its entirety. Then I sat attentively as he went over the mistakes I made and told me what I could have done differently. Luke had a lot of experience doing his job and I owed him respect and silence even if I didn’t agree with everything he had to say. Although some of his suggestions would be effective in theory, I didn’t see them actually working out in the circumstances I experienced.

“Wow,” he began. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you sit so quietly. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“You haven’t seen me in school. I’m practically invisible.” I huffed.

“That’s hard to believe,” he announced. “For one thing, I can’t imagine you holding your tongue if you disagreed with something. And no matter what you think, there is no way you could be invisible.”

“I’m actually rather shy. Not that you would know that by my bright red hair, but I am. I just feel comfortable around you and it’s easy for me to open up and talk to you,” I explained. Luke just continued to stare at me with a mild amusement. “And as for invisible, trust me, no one gives me a second glance. Now, if
you
came to school, no one would be able to look away. Trust me.”

“They’d all be looking at my fashionable attire.”

“No they’d be staring at your gorgeous face and striking physical attributes. I know you haven’t looked in a mirror in years but trust me, I know.”

“I think you are biased,” he teased. “Besides, I did happen to glance in the mirror in your room.”

“And?” I folded my arms and arched an eyebrow.

“It was strange. I looked the same but I definitely don’t feel the same. I barely recognized the person I saw staring back at me.”

I stood up and walked around the desk to pull Luke to his feet. “Well I see the man inside and outside. You’re the real deal, Luke Thorpe. I just can’t believe no one realized it when they had the chance to snatch you up.”

“What are we doing exactly?” he asked as I pulled him into a dancing stance.

“You’re going to waltz with me so I don’t look like a complete fool tonight when I try to do it,” I announced. “I was going to practice in my bedroom all alone, but since I haven’t flashed out I figured that I’ve got the best possible partner right here.”

He pulled away from me, leaving me to feel the sting of disappointment. Then I realized he had deserted me so he could turn on some music. It was an authentic atmosphere and I suddenly wished I had my dress. I wouldn’t need to go to the dance if I got to experience the real deal here with Luke.

When our hands made contact again, the electrical impulses that often accompanied his touch ignited within me. We moved around the room as if we were floating. It was nothing like the experience I had endured in the school gym. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine that we were actually in a ballroom in some grand mansion. When the music stopped and I opened my eyes, Luke’s stare was fixated on my face. He brushed his hand against my cheek and pulled away. Why did he have to be so honorable?

“Looks like you’ve got it down. I bet your dance card will be full,” he said with a grin.

“We’re not that formal. I think the actual Victorian style of dance will only be a fraction of the dance. The boys are just too awkward and they have insisted on having ‘normal’ music for the majority of the time.”

“I see.” Luke sat down on the couch and I joined him.

“Luke, how did you become a shepherd? Did you have a choice or was it just something that happened to you one day like leaping?”

“I had a choice,” he said softly as he glanced down at his hands.

I knew his position was special and he’d never appeared anything but honored when he spoke of it. Today he seemed to be conflicted. “Why do you seem like you are troubled by your answer.”

“Because when I was younger and I was courting women, I wanted nothing more than to meet the woman I was meant to be with. I wanted to have a family and live the life most people dream about,” he explained. “But the more women I spent time with, the more miserable I became.”

“You spent time with a lot of women? Were you some kind of ladies’ man? Not that it would surprise me,” I grinned. Inside my stomach flipped as I waited for his response.

“I did,” he replied impassively. “None of them interested me and even if they were beautiful in appearance, I wasn’t attracted to them. Even at my young age, I started to consider marriage to be a nonsensical dream. I felt like my parent’s marriage was most likely something extraordinary and I wasn’t likely to find something like that.”

“So you just gave up?” I said shocked. “I’m surprised the women would let you.”

“Well, I was approached by a veteran shepherd who said he had served his time and was ready to move on. He explained what the position entailed and told me to think about it. I got my affairs in order and met with him a month later.” He paused to look up at me. “If I knew someone like you existed, maybe I would have considered things a little harder. There’s no going back here, Kara. I committed myself to God and as it stands now, I have never heard of a shepherd getting involved with one of their leapers. It just doesn’t seem right.”

I put my hand over his heart and felt his pulse quicken. “Your soul’s saying something else,” I whispered. “Luke, did you ever consider that you were meant to do the job as shepherd, but you were also destined to meet me? There are no rules that say it can’t happen that way. If you hadn’t made the choice you did, you never would’ve met me; I see that as fate…or in our case, God’s will. I think we were meant to meet each other like this.”

“I want to believe that,” Luke admitted. “But until I get some other sign telling me otherwise we really need to keep this relationship from crossing that line. I enjoy spending time with you, Kara, but we can’t be anything more than friends right now.”

“What happened to the other shepherd? Where did he go?”

“I don’t know. He probably finished his life out in your realm,” Luke replied. “Why?”

“Did you know him personally?” I probed.

“Not really, no.” He stared at me with a puzzled expression tugging at his eyes.

“Then how do you know that he hadn’t met someone? Maybe God was ready to let him go after all his time and devotion served. Maybe he will do the same for you.” I could barely contain my excitement even if I was making assumptions that were improbable.

“I don’t think. The man just seemed tired. He didn’t have an aura of love about him.” He smiled at me weakly and stood up. “I’ve heard of shepherds who were over a thousand years old. I wouldn’t be surprised if he were one of them. He was definitely knowledgeable, more so than I am after one hundred years.”

“Yeah, well it was a nice thought,” I said, stretching out on the couch. “Did you have any other lifetime dreams before you became a shepherd or was having a family something you really wanted more than anything else?”

Luke’s mouth curled upwards and he moved towards his bookshelf. He pulled a large book from its tight spot on the shelf and carried it towards me. “I wouldn’t say that I dreamt about being an artist, but I love to draw. I’ve been sketching things as long as I can remember.”

I opened the book and gasped. His landscape sketches were unbelievably detailed and full of emotion. I wanted to cry as I engrossed myself in their beauty. There was page after page of unique locations, landmarks and even sketches of people. The further I delved into the book, the more I realized it was easy to narrow down the period of time in which they were drawn.

“These are… gosh, Luke, unbelievable,” I said in complete awe. “I never knew so much depth and emotion could be expressed in a landscape drawing.”

“Thank you,” he replied humbly. “I’ve had years to perfect my craft.”

“Do you have other books? I mean if you’ve been doing this since you became a shepherd you must have tons of these.” I glanced up at him and he pointed to the shelf.

I jumped to my feet and began pulling the thick bound books off the shelf. Luke appeared almost embarrassed by my enthusiasm, but I knew it was just his modest front taking over. I sat down on the floor and spread the books out around me. It felt like Christmas morning. Luke sat down on the couch and watched me delve in.

When I had finally finished with the last one, I stood on a stool to place them back on the shelf. Unfortunately, I lost my balance and reached for the shelf above. A stack of papers came rushing down around me.

When I finally took notice of what surrounded me, I gasped. Luke ran over and began gathering them up in a frenzy. “You weren’t supposed to see those,” he sighed.

“Luke,” I choked through tears. I grabbed his arm. “Please. I want to see them.”

One glance at my face and he handed them over. He moved to the other side of the room and watched from a distance as I carefully studied each and every picture he had drawn of me. My stomach was in knots when I realized how he saw me. He really did think I was beautiful and the love that reflected back in my sketched face told me that he knew exactly how I felt too.

My whole body trembled as I tried to stand. My approach was slow and cautious. Luke refused to look at me. He closed his eyes as I handed him the pictures. “I wasn’t imagining things the night you came to my time, was I?”

He opened his eyes and glanced down at me. “What do you mean?”

“You whispered that you loved me, didn’t you?” I croaked. My throat was so dry I could barely speak. “You are fighting this, Luke. I understand why, especially if you feel the same way. After seeing those pictures, I’ve never felt so special in my entire life.”

“You are special, Kara,” he said, moving past me to return the pictures to the shelf. “You shouldn’t have seen those. You are too observant for your own good and you really shouldn’t be here.”

“Just answer the question, Luke. Did you say it or not? Not that it isn’t obvious by the pictures I just saw,” I whispered.

“Yes, I love you. I feel things for you I’ve never felt in my entire life and I’ve lived a long life. But I’ve already explained the complications here. We need to—” He was beside himself and it was my fault.

I ran over to him and threw my arms around him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to push. I won’t do it again. Please don’t be upset.”

We stood in a silent long lasting embrace. My shoulder was damp and I felt an overwhelming amount of guilt for putting Luke in such a grievous position. “Did I tell you I’ve decided on a college?”

“You’re really good at this, Kara,” he laughed as we pulled away from each other.

“What? Being a complete creep and forcing you to admit stuff you shouldn’t have to. Yeah, I am good at that,” I groaned.

“No, I meant changing the subject,” he smiled. “So where are you going?”

“Rosewood College. It’s a small college on a lake in the Virginia Mountains. That should be fun, right?”

“You will be living a dream, so to speak,” he teased.

“Yeah, now all I have to do is figure out what I want to do with my life. I have spent so much time immersed in books trying to learn all I can and I don’t even know what I want to
be
when I grow up. I don’t even have a hobby. How sad is that?”

“You’re young,” Luke commented. “And you have plenty of time.”

“Maybe if I hadn’t spent so many years trying to blend in with the wrong people I might have taken the time to figure myself out. My mom wouldn’t even let me get a job because she wanted to make sure I did well in school. I owe it to her to figure things out.”