Gypsy Moon

By Laura Marie Friend

Jesse Jo Parker is starting over after a divorce and raising her two sons. She goes back to her grandmother's home town of Harrington Falls, Ohio. A chance meeting on a hiking trail brings Jake Kieran, her former fiancé, back into her life but is this meeting a good thing?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Aug 7, 2018
• ISBN: 9780359006151

Book preview

Gypsy Moon

GYPSY MOON

by

Laura Marie Friend

Chapter 1

Jake Kieran stood under the heavy shade of the ancient sycamore tree which anchored the riverbank bend with its deep roots as the limbs stretched far over the river’s width, reaching for the other side. He locked each thumb into the front pockets of his faded Levi’s jeans as he stared down at the female figure curled up asleep against the grey-green bark of the tree. Her pink toenails peeked slightly out of the sandy soil, leading his gaze up her tanned well-muscled legs. His eyes traveled all the way to the cuffs of her khaki cargo shorts which rode high on her thighs as her knees were tucked up into her chest. Her legs were so long, he thought. Straight honey-blond hair draped across her face like a golden veil and her sunglasses tipped precariously on the top of her head, ready to fall off into the sandy soil.

Her head rested against the rough bark and her mouth was slightly open, her breathing slow and steady. The black v-neck t-shirt revealed a generous amount of her freckled chest and he smiled to himself. Her t-shirt was darker in places where she had been sweating but it was a miserably hot and humid August day in southwestern Ohio. August only had one kind of weather forecast in this state: humidity and heat so thick that you could cut it with a steak knife. It was walking through a thick curtain of steam. Perspiration dotted her upper lip even though she wasn’t moving.

For a moment Jake felt panicked as the thought that maybe she had passed out from the heat but just then she murmured in her sleep, mumbling words he could not understand. He stepped closer making sure he didn’t accidentally kick her with his scuffed black motorcycle boots. Looking down at her, he felt nostalgic and started to reminisce about the last two decades or so. Mentally he calculated the last time he had seen her here at this very spot. Their spot. She had loved the fact that it seemed like a secluded place, off the beaten path. He remembered her sense of adventure and wondered if she still possessed that part of her. He wondered what she would do if she woke up and saw him standing here over her? Probably punch him square in the mouth. He deserved it. He deserved more than that.

His life had been a series of failed marriages which had not given him any biological children. The only thing he was good at was making money, then remaking it when the latest divorce took a big chunk of his net worth. This cycle gave him something to work for, something to focus his intense energy on since what he wanted in life he had fucked up years ago. Tear it down, build it up. Meet another woman who would treat him like a bank account until he found she was cheating on him or he was cheating on her, rinse, repeat. He didn’t need a therapist to tell him that he was punishing himself for past mistakes. Jake Kieran was fully aware that he was into punishing himself.

Each marriage brought step-children that once he split with their mother, the children no longer wanted anything to do with him. The money train had stopped and so did his purpose in their life. He had an adopted daughter with the second wife, Amber, whom he hadn’t spoken to since the ink dried on the divorce decree from Heather, the fucking bitch. She moved with Amber out to Southern California to be near her parents. At first, Jake had tried to keep in touch with Amber, but Heather poisoned the only person carrying his last name against him. Then to add insult to injury, when Amber turned eighteen, she changed her last name to match her mother’s maiden name, Lerrette, and that was the last he heard about Amber or Heather. He gave up figuring if Amber wanted to get in touch with him, she would. Then he went about changing his will and his beneficiary to this woman napping under the tree. She had no idea that she was the heir of a fortune, but the sad truth was he had no one else.

Jake gazed out over the water, watching the sunlight reflect like a disco ball as the light danced on the ripples and current of the river. He smiled when he saw that sand still deposited at this gentle river bend just like it had years before. Most of the river had rock on the bottom making it impossible to wade without shoes but this was one place you could roll up your jeans and wade in the cold, clear water. With her trail running shoes beside her, he imagined that she had gone wading just before nodding off into dream land.

Was this his second chance, he wondered. Or should he just slip back into the thick Osage orange tunnel, cross the faded red covered bridge to his motorcycle and leave her life undisturbed?  He felt the stiffness in his stance and knew that even if his mind was logical, his heart was not. He was going to wait until she woke up. Though he would like to think that the two of them crossing paths at this very place was fate, he knew it was more nostalgia than anything. Nostalgia for a love lost. Nostalgia for a life lost, for a family that would never be realized. Jake wasn’t a man to really believe in fate, omens or superstition. Nor was he one to believe in God and all that religious crap. He felt there was a higher power but religion was diluted and tainted by men with their own selfish agendas.

The Golden Rule was enough for Jake to live by, do unto others as you would want done unto you, or something like that. Life wasn’t as hard as people made it out to be. If you peel back all the bullshit and drama, we all wanted the same things. Love, enough to eat, shelter, enough money, and some fun once in awhile. He didn’t need to work anymore, he had enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his life. He could buy pretty much anything he wanted that wasn’t too out there. Jake though, had bought everything he thought might make him happy. And it did, for a very short time. What he wanted most in life was sleeping in the sand just a foot away from him, literally at his fingertips this very moment.

Jake gazed down on her. In the distance coming the opposite direction, he could hear something brushing through the thick vegetation coming up the narrow trail. Probably someone hiking, he thought and felt himself become protective of her. He took a step to the side to block her from view of anyone walking on the trail. Out of the green vegetation, a silver haired hippie-looking woman in her mid-60’s emerged from the tunnel with a bright tie-dyed scarf tying her long hair back out of her face. In one hand, she held an elaborately carved wood walking stick and in the other hand one of those water bottles that you could loop over your wrist. His deep brown eyes watched her until she looked up with a start.  The woman wasn’t expecting anyone to be there too. He smiled to ease her anxiety and she smiled back. She passed him without saying anything and disappeared leaving only the sound of her rustling down the path. The noise of the woman’s passing caused the sleeping faerie to stir a bit and Jake knew she would open her eyes soon.

She swatted at her face as if she felt a bug had landed on her. He knew his presence was invading her space but he didn’t move. He was paralyzed now that his dream had started to come back to life. His intuition though, warned him that this was not going to be the happy reunion he dreamed of late in the night when he allowed himself such frivolity. He knew she would come out fighting.

Jesse Jo Parker felt something touch her head and it pulled her out of her feverish dream about her ex-husband and his mistress, now wife. The pain stung her heart and her mood felt foul even before she came back to consciousness. Her eyes fluttered open, she squinted for a moment against the afternoon sun reflecting blindly off the water. Raising her arms above her head, she stretched feeling the kinks in her back from sleeping in an awkward position. Then she stopped suddenly knowing that she was not alone.

Turning her eyes away from the water she found a familiar set of brown eyes staring back at her.

Holy shit!  Jesse yelled as she came awake with a start, her heart pounding hard against her rib cage.

Jake pulled back as if he was afraid she was going to punch him. Her hands came up and with balled fists, she rubbed her eyes as if she was seeing double. Jake?  Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest that she was afraid she would die of a heart attack that very moment.

Hi, Blondie.  He drawled softly with a big smile hoping to avoid bodily harm.

Jesse flashed back a quarter of a century. Was she still dreaming? This had to be a dream. No one called her ‘Blondie’ but Jake Kieran. She shook her head and opened her eyes again. Sure as shit, Jake Kieran sat in front of her in the flesh. His deep auburn eyes looking back at her.

She felt dizzy for a moment and braced her hands in the sand so she could push herself back against the tree as if the action would anchor her to the earth. The world tilted and spun for a moment. The heat, she thought, I’m probably dehydrated. Blindly she reached next to her hip and found her water bottle. Not knowing what else to do, she pushed the valve to open and took a long cold gulp of sports drink savoring its faint sweetness. The action bought her a moment to compose herself.

Jesse put the bottle back down on the ground. Jake saw in her eyes the bewilderment and disbelief.

Sorry, he said quietly. I didn’t mean to startle you.

Well you did.  Her voice was indignant. What the hell are you doing here?  Stalking me?

Jake’s face took on an annoyed expression and he stood up. He looked down at her and held out his hand. Let me help you up. 

Jesse stared at his outstretched hand for a moment and finally put hers in his. The touch of his skin burned her but even more, it brought on a dizzying sense of déjà vu. With a fluid motion, he pulled her up to her feet. For a moment, they locked eyes and then Jesse decided her only plan of action was to escape, so she reached down to put on her shoes.

Thanks.  She mumbled as she brushed sand from her heel and slipped on her sock. Without even bracing herself, she put on her shoe. Her yoga practice was paying off, she thought numbly.

Jake watched her fluid movement, the shape and grace of her body while being pulled distinctly back into their youth. I’m sorry if I scared you. I didn’t mean to do that.   He apologized awkwardly.

Jesse slipped on the other sock and shoe then leaned down to tie both. When she stood up, she had her water bottle in her hand while feeling her cargo shorts pocket for her keys. She was relieved to find them still tucked away. Jake sensed her next move and stepped to the right to block her route of escape.

It’s okay, though I guess your new hobby is being a creeper and stare at random sleeping women in the woods.  She snipped at him and crossed her arms.

He laughed deeply, making Jesse catch her breath. How long had it been since she heard Jake laugh?  Heard his voice even? She would never admit it to him, but his gravelly voice haunted her dreams since she divorced her ex-husband, Kevin. Late at night, Jake’s voice would fill her dreams and she would wake up in a sweat, reaching for Jake only to find an empty bed. Whenever she dreamed of her ex-husband, she only woke up crying and angry, relieved to find Kevin no longer beside her.

I’m not creeping on you, Blondie. I just was out riding and decided to stop to stretch my legs.

And you just happen to come to this very spot? Her hands came up to her hips defiantly. Just in the neighborhood?  The last I heard, you were still living up by Toledo, so you’re a long way from home, Jake. 

Jake felt a little thrill in his chest when Jesse gave away the fact that she had kept up with him, at least a little bit. Yeah, actually I was.  He shrugged and tossed the pebble he had been rolling around in his fingers into the water.

She tilted her head to the side and pulled her cell phone from her khaki shorts pocket. Her thumb touched the screen so the date and time showed. She held the screen out to Jake. August seventeenth. 

Jake looked at the date and looked into her eyes. Damn, he had missed those eyes. Those lips. Yes, it’s August seventeenth.

Jesse put the phone back into her pocket and crossed her arms, her left hand still holding her water bottle. She stared at him skeptically.

He knew what the date signified just as much as she did, but neither of them wanted to speak about it and bring up the past. Jake knew if he waited her out, Jesse’s impatient nature would do the dirty work.

Don’t you remember the date, Jake?  Her eyes narrowed. Jesse had no idea why she felt so angry over something that happened years ago.

Of course I do, Blondie. Why do you think I ended up here?  Jake ran his hand through his thick, auburn hair which Jesse noticed was now peppered with silver. Unfortunately, this only made Jake more attractive to her.

So you rode all the way down here to mark the occasion?  Her voice rang sarcastic and her anger would not subside.

He shrugged nonchalantly. Yeah, why not? 

She huffed and shook her head. I don’t know, Jake. I just figured you had forgotten the day altogether.

Why are you here?  He raised an eyebrow and her feeling of déjà vu returned. Actually, Jesse realized, Jake looked almost the same as that day years ago. He dressed the same, his hair was cut the same, his body was the same. With the exception of the lines on his face, some unfamiliar tattoos and the silver in his hair, he was the Jake of her memories. He hadn’t changed at all. Classic Jake, Jesse thought. He always had this way about him, this presence that was uniquely, well, Jake.

I live in Hampton Falls now. I like hiking back here rather than the state park because it gets so busy and crowded. Everyone comes to the bridge but not too many people venture into the preserve’s trails.  There, that sounded plausible. Though she too had been feeling nostalgic when she saw the date on the calendar and realized she had the entire Sunday free.

On August seventeenth?  Jake added mimicking her skepticism. He gave her his cocky grin and then laughed that goddamned sexy laugh of his. She had fallen in love with him just on the merit of his sexy voice and cocky grin. She felt her heart being pulled in his direction and she quickly shut it down. Closing her eyes for a moment she mentally locked her heart back in its dark dungeon. She was not falling for that shit again. Just for good measure, she imaged herself tossing the key down a black crevice to the center of the earth.

Yes, it’s a Sunday. I didn’t have to work and it’s a pretty day.

It’s hot as Hades, Blondie. You could get heat stroke out here.  He rebutted, wanting her to admit she had been thinking of that day he asked her to marry him.

Well I started hiking this morning before the heat, I was just on my way back to my truck. I was tired so I stopped here to rest.  And think she added to herself. She pouted, feeling like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Why couldn’t she just admit to him the truth?  Her stubborn Irish side was the culprit. That and Jake had hurt her like no other man ever had. He didn't deserve her love or nostalgic feelings.

Hmmm.  Jake murmured expressing his disbelief of her reason. He crossed his arms and tilted his head.

Jesse saw that at his temples, he had gone almost completely grey. Why the hell did that make him even more attractive? Why was she feeling as if she had missed him every day of the last twenty-six years? She sighed inwardly and admitted it to herself. Simply because she had missed him every day they had been apart. More acutely at first, then as the years passed, the feeling became more a part of her. Just something she accepted and felt acutely from time to time. She would brush it off as nostalgia while reminding herself she had done better for herself and married a doctor. Whole hella lot of good that did. A doctor who screwed half the nurses who worked for him and a few that didn’t.

Okay asshole, yes, I remembered the date and I decided to hike back here. When I was hiking the loop back, I stopped at the sycamore to cool off and I guess I fell asleep.

So you remember too?

Of course I remember, Jake. You know I never forget birthdays or dates. Your name, maybe, but not the date you asked me to marry you.  She felt tears coming up into her eyes but fought them back. She was not going to cry in front of Jake. Enough tears had been shed over him.

He smiled at her in a sweet sincere way. Jesse knew it was the rare moment that he let his guard down. It was the best day of my life, Jesse. There is no way I’m going to forget one of the happiest moments I ever experienced.

They locked gazes and just stared at one another for a moment. Neither knew what to say to the other. So much time had passed between them. Their lives took different directions and they hadn’t talked in twenty-six years. Jesse felt the familiar stirrings in her heart, her chest. The dreams they had, the future they planned and the hope all crushed and destroyed before they even got married. Now he stood in front of her, looking almost the same as the day he asked her to be his wife. The day she told him she was pregnant with his child. Right here, at this spot underneath this very sycamore tree. Jesse wondered what would happen if they could just go back in time to that day knowing what they knew now. Would they be able to stop the tragedy that was mere months away?  But that was frivolous thinking. You don’t get to travel back in time. And who knows if things would have been different between Jake and her. There was no way of knowing and it didn’t matter now.

Yet Jesse still remembered the moment as if it happened just minutes before and not over two decades ago when she was just eighteen. Jake had decided to pick up some car part for a foreign car he was fixing and took her along for the ride. Together, they rode on his old black and chrome Harley on a day just as hot and muggy as this day. August in Ohio meant a month of feeling as if you were suffocating the moment you stepped outside. She couldn’t remember exactly where they stopped for the part, some old junkyard that had probably closed long ago. Jake had taken a detour on a quiet twisting road and Jesse saw the red covered bridge tucked back away from the road, flanked by old sycamore trees. She had begged him to stop so they could explore the bridge.

They had pulled off the road by the gate. There was a small break in the fence and a narrow trail leading through tall grass where ironweed and Joe Pye weed grew in bursts of pink and deep purple. She had taken Jake’s hand and led him to the old bridge while he pretended he was going against his will. When they walked the old wide wood planks of the bridge to the other side, they found a narrow trail that split to the right and to the left. Jesse who could never stand leaving an adventure on the table, pulled him to the left. They hiked with grass and weeds brushing their legs, until they had found this quiet, tranquil spot at the bend of the river. Jesse had been transfixed with an enormous sycamore tree reaching across the water of the river bend as if reaching for the tree on the opposite shore, another sycamore with expansive limbs. The two trees appeared to be trying to hold hands, Jesse thought.

Jesse hadn’t been able to resist the sandy bend so she had kicked off her tennis shoes and rolled up her jeans to wade into the cold water. Jake sat on the bank and watched her as she took one tentative step and then another until her toes hit the rough rocks.  She turned around and slowly making her way back to him while chasing cray fish out of their hiding spots.  Each time she unearthed one of the crustaceans, she would let out a giggle.  When she came out of the water, he stood up and helped her back up the bank. He pulled her close and held her gently, telling her he loved her more than anything. At that moment, she pulled back and stared into those auburn eyes she had so fallen in love with.

Jake, would you love me forever?  She had asked naively.

He had cocked his head to the side, the way a dog does when its puzzled. Of course, Blondie, why wouldn’t I love you forever?

Jesse looked down at her toes resting on the tops of his black motorcycle boots. She was terrified and thrilled at the same time. The news was boiling over in her heart, she couldn’t wait anymore. I’m pregnant, Jake.

Jake’s eyes grew wide in disbelief and he had gripped her hands harder. What?  He had almost shouted the word. Jesse had feared at first that he was angry with her. They hadn’t planned this. They hadn’t even talked about whether they wanted kids at all. Hell, they hadn’t even been dating that long.

I’m having your baby; I saw the doctor yesterday.  She had repeated feeling her heart stuck in her throat. He was going to break up with her and she would have to raise the baby alone.

Then Jake’s face broke into the biggest smile she had ever seen. Jesse?  Are you sure?

Yes.

He pulled her against him so hard, she lost her breath. Oh my god, Blondie. A baby?  He pushed her back to look into her eyes. We are having a baby? 

"I’m not very far