Love's Harvest, page 18
part #1 of A Salmon Run Novel Series
James found his way back to his bunk, careful not to move too fast. For at least a minute or more the married couple sat in silence not knowing how to broach the subject given its depressing nature.
Finally, Gayle took in a deep breath. “I know about the gambling debts, James. And the spent savings and lost investments.”
Another minute passed in silence. James searched for the words to say to his wife but was at a loss to find them.
“When were you going to tell me? Or were you?” she asked.
James didn’t have enough energy to raise his head. His eyes fixed on the floor in front of him. “I hadn’t thought that far. I knew I was in trouble, but I thought I could somehow win the money back, given that in the past I’ve had some success at the crap tables.”
“Spoken like a true addict, James.” Gayle took in a deep breath. “You’ve not only stolen from yourself, but from me, and what’s worse, from Jimmy and Bobbie, as well.” She wanted to read him the riot act, but at the same time she wanted to point him toward getting some help.
“I know, Gayle. I’m a mess. I only want to come home.”
In the fifteen years Gayle and James had been married, Gayle had never seen him cry. That was, not until now. “Look, you and I both know you need to get professional help,” she said calmly. “Nobody can do this for you but yourself. And even though I love you, I hate what you’ve become. So, I’m sorry, James. Until you straighten yourself out and prove I can trust you once again to be the kind of man you were when I married you, I’m afraid home’s still off limits.”
“If that’s the way you feel, I understand.” James wiped his eyes on his shirt sleeves.
“I’m not finished,” Gayle continued. “You’re going to stop pestering Julia and the employees at the winery, which now includes me, by the way. That business is hers to do with as she wants and not yours.”
James raised his head and made eye contact with his wife.
“You’ll apologize to your children for what you’ve done, and you’ll come back to church and sit with us as a family.”
“You ask for a lot, Gayle,” he said sourly.
“You’re the one who wants to come home, so I suggest you shut up and do as I ask. Otherwise, I’m this far from serving you with divorce papers.”
She held up her thumb and forefinger to show the distance of barely an inch. “I’m also aware of what you did to doctor the deed to the Nooksack Valley Winery and Vineyard. I now have that deed in a place where you’ll never find it.”
“So?”
She couldn’t help but chuckle. “So, one slip up, one false move, one little lie, one sideways sneer, and I’m taking that document to the sheriff and within minutes you’ll be placed under arrest.”
James couldn’t believe what he was hearing. To his knowledge Gayle had never before acted this forthright. He wondered if Julia had something to do with Gayle’s change of personality, for now both women were acting much differently than in the past. “You’d do that to the father of your children?” he asked.
Gayle stood up and sauntered up to the bars of his cell. “Oh, please, James. After what you’ve done to us, you have absolutely no room to talk. I’m going to have Sheriff Barbara release you into your own custody so you’ll have time to go back to wherever it is you’re staying and get ready for church.” Gayle turned and started toward the access door.
“But …”
Gayle abruptly stopped and turned to interrupt him.
“No ‘buts’, James or you’re toast!”
She turned around and exited, slamming the access door behind her for effect.
James tried to make sense of everything that’d transpired in the last half hour. He knew he was caught between a rock and a hard place, but he still didn’t believe for one minute he needed any kind of help whatsoever. He’d gambled and run into a rash of bad luck. That was all. As far as the winery was concerned, he’d let that issue lay dormant for now. Once he got things straightened out with Gayle, then he could again work at getting his hands on that property once and for all. There’d be nothing Gayle could do about it one way or another. As far as the deed was concerned? Well, he wasn’t sure what he’d do about that. But he knew Duncan would have the answer. Now his only problem was how he was going to get ready in time for church while nursing the worse hangover of his life.
~
Diego lay awake, staring at Julia as she slept with her head in the crook of his elbow and her arm stretched over the top of his bare chest. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever known, inside and out.
When he first woke, he was torn between making love to her one more time before leaving or allowing her to sleep as long as she could while nestled in his arms. That was an hour or more ago, and he was glad he opted for the second choice. Not that he didn’t enjoy making love to the woman, but to watch Julia sleep with such a look of complete satisfaction on her face made him realize how lucky he was.
He was in love with her. This he knew for certain. And if he wasn’t mistaken, she was falling for him as well. Yet neither of them said the word love to each other throughout the entire night, not even once.
Diego had it on the tip of his tongue several times, but thought better of saying it since this was only the very beginning of what he hoped would turn into a very long love affair. And he didn’t want to scare her away by coming on too strong. And what about marriage?
As he lay staring up at the ceiling, he could think of at least a dozen or more reasons to not go there. Julia was a famous concert pianist, the owner of the winery, and a recent widow. He was a displaced Mexican farm worker with nothing more to his name than an old car and a crucifix. Yet the dream of Julia cuddling a baby girl while singing in a porch rocking chair haunted him. Particularly since the little girl happened to look at a great deal like the two of them.
He smiled at the thought of sharing the rest of his life with Julia, even though he wasn’t sure how to make that happen. For now, he’d stay content simply knowing she cared for him as much as he cared for her. Yet, if he ever had the chance to make her his wife, he’d sacrifice everything near and dear to him for her merely to be happy. “Te amo, my darling. I love you,” he whispered into her ear as he gathered her into his arms.
Julia stretched her body against his and a smile soon found its way onto her face. Gradually, her eyes opened. Her face was buried into Diego’s chest, whose body hair playfully tickled her nose. She raised her head to see if he was yet awake and found him staring back at her smiling.
“Good morning,” she said.
“Buenos dias, mi amor. Did you sleep well?”
Julia gave him a teasing poke in his side. “Yes, what little I did sleep, you beast!”
Diego quickly turned her over and lay on top. He studied her face and then kissed the tip of her nose. “I’m sorry, Señora. You said you had trouble sleeping?”
Julia began to giggle. “Not trouble sleeping, trouble getting to sleep. Someone, I won’t name who, kept wanting my attention.” She rubbed his back with her talented hands. “Diego!”
He could feel himself grow hard again against her leg.
My God, I am a beast!
“Oh, sí. I apologize. Someone, I won’t name who, kept responding to my kisses.” He kissed her again, this time on her chin. “Julia!”
Her lips parted, and Diego took that as a sign she was ready to be kissed silly, which they did as if they‘d never have the opportunity to kiss again.
Julia moaned, as was her habit. Diego ground his manhood against her mons. He knew she was more than likely sore from their evening’s activities, but he had to be inside of her one last time.
“I’ll take it slow this time, my darling,” he assured her.
Diego sat up and placed Julia’s legs above his on either side of him. He then lifted her above him and gently lowered her onto himself until he was fully sheathed. She leaned forward and let him do all the work as he nuzzled her breasts in his mouth, first one and then the other. Every movement was slow and sensuous, both of them taking whatever time they needed to make sure their partner felt exactly what they did—cared for, attended to, loved.
Julia closed her eyes to concentrate on slowing down her escalation toward orgasm. Seeing this, Diego began to time his own response to hers, listening to her breathing and matching it with his own. “Open your eyes, Julia, and look at me. I want you to watch me come as much as I want to see you do the same.”
~
Julia at first felt self-conscious. It was one thing to scream out in ecstasy in the dark of the night, but now lit by the morning sun, she’d no place to hide. Yet as soon as she opened her eyes and peered into the dark and hooded orbs of her lover, she forgot all about her shyness. Above all else, she wanted to share that kind of intimacy with Diego and no one else.
She’d never made love to a man in this sexual position before and so at first she felt a bit awkward. Gratefully, Diego used his strong arms to move her up and down his shaft, teaching her what he liked best. Soon, however, she overtook both of their bodies’ responses by setting their lovemaking to her own rhythm.
Knowing he was near climax, Diego used the gentle touch he used when strumming his guitar to excite the small bud at the top of Julia’s slit. He searched her eyes as she did the same with him. Their timing was perfect.
For the first time, they at last came as one, no longer distancing themselves from one another, but rather sharing equally the quiet rapture of the other person’s total release. They huddled in each other’s arms, he still inside of her. Their bodies shimmered in the sweat of their lovemaking.
Some time passed. Julia wasn’t sure if she’d dozed off or not, but she and Diego lay face down in the bed, exhausted from not only their night’s events, but also this morning’s session. Nothing was said, and perhaps nothing had to be said, for their bodies had communicated all that was held within each of their hearts.
Diego turned on his side and came face to face with Julia. Reaching over her, he played with her sweat-moistened hair, while she finger-traced minute circles on his back.
“As much as I hate to say it, I have to get up and go to church. Gayle’s expecting me, and I kind of want to go for myself as well. I’m sure you understand.” Julia tried to move her legs but instead felt as if she’d somehow been glued to the bed.
“All right, Julia. I’ll let you go this one time, but don’t expect me to give in to all of your wishes and demands,” Diego said teasingly as he gave her a love pat on her backside.
“Ow! You’re going to get it now, Señor Gonzales-Martinez!” she said as she rolled out of bed and onto the floor.
Diego sprang from the bed before she could get herself up onto her feet. “Not if I get you first!”
Julia moved to get away from him but even before she tried, she knew it was useless. Diego scooped her up into his arms and led her into the bathroom. “What are you going to do to me, you …” Julia couldn’t think of a thing to call him she was having so much fun. “… you … uh … bad man!”
He set her down in the shower and kissed her before turning on the water. “I’m going to wash you all over, from top to bottom. Then I’m going to do the same to myself. We don’t want any of those Lutherans telling us we stink, do we?”
“You’re going to church with me? Today?” Julia was stunned but thrilled.
“That’s the plan, Julia! Do you have a problem with that?” he asked.
She threw her arms around him and kissed him one more time. When she came up for air she said, “None whatsoever, Diego! Absolutely none at all!”
Chapter 13
By the time Diego went back home and dressed it was too late to retrieve the Crestliner. That was, if he and Julia were to make it to church on time. Swiftly, he put on a pair of Dockers, a white polo shirt, and a sports jacket out of respect.
The weather was going to be hot again today, but to show up in a church without a jacket was simply not how things were done at Our Lady of the River, the Catholic Church in town. Diego assumed the unspoken rule applied at Riverside Lutheran as well.
He grabbed his keys out of the tux pants pocket and ran toward his truck. After a couple of pumps on the gas pedal, the engine of the jalopy fired up and sent him up the hill to Julia’s front door.
Diego let the truck warm up while he knocked on Julia’s door to see if she was ready. When Julia opened the door, Diego’s breath hitched. She looked absolutely radiant. He grinned, hoping their love making most likely had been the cause of her healthy glow.
A simple yellow and white sun dress was all she had on, that and her favorite white beaded sweater. Today, however, she was wearing her hair down and loose. Diego noticed also that she wore a hint of mascara and a light-coral lip gloss. Yet between her smile and her long legs in her heeled sandals, Julia was absolutely ravishing. He hadn’t realized he’d let out a seductive moan until she glanced at him coyly and then winked.
“I suspect we’d better get going, or we’ll never make it out of this house,” Julia said flirtatiously.
Diego ignored what was going on inside his pants and answered as gentlemanly as possible, “Señora, your chariot awaits!”
He swept his hand toward his beaten-down utility truck and Julia lost it. For a second, her mind flashed back to the Cinderella fairy tale with its pumpkin chariot driven by four church mice. For heaven’s sake, it’s even orange like a pumpkin!
“Show off!” Julia said laughingly to Diego.
“All the best for you, my lady!” he answered as he opened the passenger door for her to climb in. “It may look like a bucket of bolts, but this little Señorita Bonita will get us anywhere we wish to go.”
“I should’ve known you’d think of your truck as a woman.” Julia fastened her seat belt as Diego crawled in behind the wheel. “Should I be jealous?” she teased.
“Shh, quiet. I don’t want her to know about you yet. We’ll keep her in the dark to make sure we make it to church and back again safe and sound.”
It’d been some years since Diego bantered with a woman, let alone another human being. True, he did enjoy taunting his niece and nephew, but that wasn’t the same thing. Bantering had a sexual element to it that he hadn’t realized he missed until he connected with Julia.
“All right, then,” whispered Julia. “I won’t tell Señorita Bonita if you won’t.”
By the time the two of them arrived at church, the organist was already half-way into the opening prelude. Julia searched for Gayle and saw her sitting with her children several rows back from the front altar. Not wanting to make more of a scene than she and Diego already had, Julia chose to sit toward the back of the church. Not knowing exactly what he was supposed to do, Diego merely followed Julia as they scooted toward the two empty seats in a back pew.
Diego surveyed the church from top to bottom. It was substantial, he thought, but plain, especially compared to his own church.
For example, there was little or no color in the carpet or on the walls, no statues of saints and no votive candles. He did see one stained-glass window, but it didn’t depict an event from the Bible or a Station of the Cross as did the numerous stained-glass windows of Our Lady of the River. This one merely looked like the blue and purple flames of a dying fire.
Instead of stucco walls like those at Our Lady, everything at Riverside Lutheran appeared to be made of wood. The tall v-shaped ceiling reminded Diego of a ship turned upside down and he smiled at the unusual beauty of its symbolism.
As far as the décor was concerned, a solitary tapestry hung from the wall, depicting a wooden cross set against a blue sky and a field of flowers. Diego was entranced by the simplicity of the church, but he had to admit he preferred the atmosphere of his own over and above the simple austerity of Julia’s church.
Suddenly the thought came to him as to how quiet many of the Lutherans, like their church, appeared, positioned on the pews wearing their beiges and grays. He had to smile. In that moment he realized how proud he was to sit next to Julia, radiantly shining in her inappropriate, non-Lutheran, bright yellow sundress.
After a few hymns had been sung and the announcements made, it was time for the children’s sermon. Something about Pastor Knudson appealed to Diego. He was funny, he obviously enjoyed the children who attended his church, and he had a softness in his manner and voice which was infectious.
As he listened to the pared down story the minister presented, he flashed once again on the image of a little girl with long brown hair and curls dressed in a yellow and white sundress seated on the steps of the altar next to the pastor.
She was tall and thin for her age but her face was once again the spitting image of him. Diego shook himself out of his daydream when out of the corner of his eye he saw of all people James Reynolds walking along the inside wall of the church to find his seat next to his wife. Diego tried not to feel anger toward the man, but it wasn’t easy. James Reynolds was a mean and greedy man as far as Diego was concerned, and if he could help it, he wanted little or nothing to do with him.
As soon as Julia saw James, she reached for Diego’s hand. It’d been some time since James had made an appearance at church. Julia was as surprised as she was horrified to see him. After what James had said and done the night before, Julia knew she couldn’t trust him to do the same at church. Nothing would upset her more than to have James make a scene in the presence of all her friends and church family.
“Maybe we should go,” she whispered to Diego.
Diego lovingly squeezed her hand. “No, Julia. We’ve a right to be in God’s house just as much as him. You relax. Nothing’ll happen, I promise.”
~
The children’s sermon ended with the congregation standing and singing “Jesus Loves the Little Children” while the children paraded down the center aisle toward their special time in the park across the street. James’s attention and eyes followed his kids Jimmy and Bobbie as they left the auditorium. As he did, he saw Diego and froze.
