Chapter 3
"I didn't expect that." Susan remarked as she stepped back from him, still feeling a little awkward after being so obviously overwhelmed by his kiss. "Most men would have chosen a more confrontational approach."
"I'm not most men." He said. "If I can see a way to defuse a situation that creates no harm, I'll take it."
"Well - " she started, not sure what to say, "I feel indebted to you. Can I pay you for your help?"
"I think you already did." he said with a playful look in his eyes. "In my wildest dreams I had no intention of kissing a beautiful woman today."
She felt another flush rising in her cheeks as she recalled the gentleness of the kiss and how it had taken her breath away.
"You should be an actor." She commented. "You played the role quite well."
"So did you." He said with a grin.
"Okay." She said, feeling a little uncomfortable. "I will be going and let you return to your work before your boss sees you not doing anything."
"Oh!" he said glancing back at the fence. "No need to worry about that. My boss is very understanding about these things."?
"About these things?" she repeated with mild astonishment. "You make it sound like it's a regular occurrence." She paused and said teasingly, "Which happens more often, saving women passing by on the road or kissing them?"
He waved his hand towards the field where the horses still watched them with intense interest. "Those are my bosses. They don't care what I do as long as I bribe them with an apple when I do it." The bay nodded at Brad's gesture and walked a few steps closer.
"I'm on my way to the beach." Susan said looking at the horses then back at Brad. "If you're planning to go - "
Brad cut her off, running his words together quickly, letting them loose before they leaped back down his throat and refused to come out, "Can I buy you a cup of coffee in town? I'm almost done here. I just have to clean up, and was planning to go into Soquel for some supplies a little later."
"I had this plan - ", she started then stopped her self. She looked out at the green pasture where the horses now grazed, and at the redwood forest that covered the hill beyond, their height making the hill a small mountain. The sky was a crisp blue. Cotton candy puffs of sea-bearing clouds sailed its surface. Susan didn't really look at the scene, as her mind was spinning. But the scene affected her enough to calm her turmoil of feelings.
Susan had unconsciously set her objective when she left work this morning. She wasn't sure what to call it, maybe an identity crisis. Perhaps she was the person that she had become, but she was more. Much more. There was the dreamer that she once was. A person who saw and felt the thrill of life's lighted moments. A person who felt the adventure of existence. What had happened to those elements of me? What happened to my dreams and joys?
Her life was like a broken vase, and she had to put it back together. The only pieces that she could see was in her past. The ocean. The sailor and her - sailing away into the Pacific sunset. To find her dream, she had to go where it was created and lost - the beach.
Her savior, the hippie, was not figured into her focus and could be a diversion from her plan that she may not want, though he did seem nice. No, she had opened an old book on page 18 years old. What she wanted then was a golden boy, blond hair blowing in the sea breeze as he mastered the sails, she at his side.
She wasn't actually going there looking for her wind blown sailor in white linen draw string pants, but going back to where he was created in her mind. Where she imagined them on their yacht and her sunning on the deck as they ventured to islands in a blue Pacific ocean. That place where her dreams took concept was her starting point that would lead to who she is now - inside. She had to go to the beach to do that. The beach on which she sat so many years ago and stared out to sea, creating the life that she wanted in her still innocent, hopeful mind. But this guy, her eccentric savior, didn't fit into that picture. He was just a friendly hippie who probably spends his life fixing things on peoples ranches.
" My name is Brad." he said, extending his hand and bringing her back to the moment.
"Susan." she responded, taking his hand. "Listen, Brad, I - "
"I know." he said, seeing her reluctant expression. "You're going to the beach.
"Okay, Susan - ", he said with a grain of disappointment as he stepped back towards the fence. "It was nice meeting you. Enjoy your day at the beach."
"Thank you again, Brad." she said as she turned and started walking towards her car, a feeling of regret building inside of her with each step. She stopped and turned, blurting out, "I'm going to Capitola."
He turned back to her and smiled. "Great. Capitola is right next to Soquel. I usually stop by the coffee shop in Capitola and watch the tourists. Why don't you join me? We can make up stories about them as they walk by and get crazy on caffeine."
A short laugh escaped her. "Well, you certainly know how to impress a girl, don't you?" she said, teasingly.
"We've already passed that stage." Brad responded. "I risked my life to save you from that cave man in the Healey
She laughed. "Yes, you certainly took the dangerous road on that one."
"I'm glad you noticed." He said jokingly. "In the process of putting my life in peril, I took another dangerous step by kissing you, which, of course, broke that barrier. Now we can go the hard part - conversation."
Susan found his humor endearing and there seemed something about him that was likable. Maybe it was the way he held himself, very relaxed, yet athletic. His cheerful tone and subtle wit. She stifled back a laugh and said, "You sound a little presumptuous, Brad, but I think I would like to meet you for coffee, and I know exactly where that coffee shop is."
A grin lit his face, "Wonderful. I'll meet you there in about an hour. I have to put stuff away, and hose down so I don't smell like a horse."
"I didn't notice." She said, but she had noticed. As soon as she had pressed against him, she had noticed a mingling scent of horse, leather, linseed oil, a touch of redwood and male. As she opened the door of her car he called out, "Do you like Mexican food?"
"Yes." She called back. "Why?"
"There's a place in Aptos, a couple of blocks from the beach. It's been there forever."
"Manny's. Sure, I know it well."
They both stopped and looked at each other and smiled as if they had just had a communication that long enduring couples have. "I'll see you in an hour in Capitola." Susan said as she drove off with a smile that wouldn't go away.
Maybe dreams just wait in the sidelines when you push them aside, she thought. And maybe they don't always come dressed in the picture that you gave them, but the results can still be the same on an emotional level. It's just being open to them when they pass in front of you - recognizing them as the reality of a dream before you discard it, never noticing that this is what you dreamt of all along, it just looks different..
She no longer cared if the weather was dreary and gray on the coast. It was looking like a beautiful day to go to the beach.
Brad quickly put his tools away and jumped into the truck. Glancing at his watch he thought he should have given it an hour and a half, but he would make it. He turned the truck and raced it up the hill, turning into the long drive that ran through the large green pasture where cattle grazed, up to the old farm house tucked against the trees at the far end of the pasture. He pulled the old truck up next to the Land Rover, jumped out and ran into his house to take a shower. He was in a hurry. He only had an hour.
All content - poems, posts & images - are ©2010 by John Evans. No permission is given to post, share, copy, print, e-mail, reproduce, distribute or link to. All Rights Reserved. Please contact John Evans at JohnEvansPoet.Com for licensing inquiries.
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