Chapter 22: Safe and Sound
“Someday,
someone will walk into your life that makes you realize why it never worked out
with anyone else.”-Unknown
Jamarcus had learned a
lot about Danielle from their silly little radio game. He was ready to learn more. In particular, he still had tons of questions
about Danielle’s date with Caleb. First
off, didn’t Caleb have a girlfriend?
What was he doing with Danielle anyway?
Second, what had happened to her up there on their hike that had been so
life changing? Jamarcus had no idea that
he had brought her to the exact spot of her conversion and was confused by the
emotional shift in her.
“The Falls? You brought me to the Falls?” she had almost
whispered.
“Uh, yeah…is that ok?”
“Sure….it’s just
that…well, never mind, I don’t want to get into it.”
Jamarcus wasn’t sure if
bringing her here was such a good idea afterall. He went on to explain, “We will be dining at
the top of the Falls. I heard they have live
music playing and I know how much you like music so….” Jamarcus wasn’t sure if
he should continue.
“Oh cool!” exclaimed
Danielle. “I love this restaurant! Shall we?”
Jamarcus ran over to
her side of the truck and opened the door to help her out.
“Wouldn’t want your
knee to get slammed again, would we?” he teased.
Danielle was off her
crutches but was still hobbling around sporting her new knee brace. She appreciated the help Jamarcus was giving
her. He helped her into the gondola at
the base of the mountain. As soon as
they started their upward ascent, Danielle had to face her fear of heights
again. She reached out and grabbed on to
Jamarcus’ arm. He was a little shocked
that Danielle moved in so close to him on the ride up, but he was more than
willing to be her security blanket. He felt her body tremble a little bit and
figured out what was going on.
“Danielle, you aren’t
afraid of heights are you?”
This time, Danielle was
true to herself. She wanted to impress
Jamarcus but thought better of it.
“Maybe” she thought, “I will impress him by being honest for a change.” She went with her gut and said, “Afraid is an
understatement!” Jamarcus laughed and
pulled her in closer as he said, “Well, you’re safe with me.” He could smell the scent of her shampoo as he
held on to her protectively. Danielle
squeezed her eyes shut when a breeze gently swayed the little gondola car. “Don’t worry, I gotcha.” Jamarcus
reconfirmed. “We’re almost there
now.” As they went higher and higher up
the mountain, Danielle looked over the edge and tried to guess the location she
and Caleb had gotten stuck. When they
were almost at the very top, she looked over to her right and saw the ledge she
had been stuck on. No wonder the people
from the gondola had been telling them they were idiots. Although she and Caleb had almost made it to
the top, had they gone up any further, they would have encountered a 20 foot
sheer wall. There was no way to get to
the top cabin from where they had been hiking.
Had they tried to go up anymore, they would have needed Search and
Rescue to come get them. She shuddered
at the thought.
“Are you chilly?”
“Um, no, I just uh was
thinking. Remember when you saw me after
the day I had with Caleb?”
“How could I forget?”
“This is where we
were. She pointed over the side of the
gondola cart to the cliff”
“You have got to be
kidding! How did you get way up
here? The path is nowhere near
that? More importantly, how did you get
down?”
The gondola came to a
swinging stop. They had made it to the
Falls Restaurant and a hostess was helping them out of their cart and showing
them to their table.
“Maybe, I will tell you
all about it sometime,” Danielle responded, “ but right now I am just starving.”
The live music for the
night was a lone piano player who played with so much passion you would have
thought you were sitting in Carnegie Hall.
He was playing Some Enchanted Evening as they took their seat at the
table for two. The décor of the cabin
was as Montana as they come. There were
pictures of horses and cowboys, elk racks, and the head of a moose. The coat stand was made completely out of
welded together horseshoes. Jamarcus was
impressed with the entry way chandelier made completely out of elk antlers. He had never seen anything like it. He confessed to Danielle as they were seated
that he had never even heard of an elk until he had had his first dinner with
her grandparents. Danielle giggled. She had grown up with elk her whole life and
she thought it was insane that other people had never even heard of them.
Danielle had seen the
décor of the cabin a hundred times but now what she was interested in was who
else was dining there atop the mountain that crisp, clear, fall evening. She was surprised that she didn’t know anyone
up there at all except for Lucy’s little sister Lexie and her husband Jag. She waved a quick hello and then turned her
attention to Jamarcus. She watched him
taking in the scenery. He was in pure
awe of it all.
“A little different
than Jamaica?” Danielle asked.
“Just a little…”
Jamarcus laughed.
“You know, everyone in
town is wondering how a guy from Jamaica ended up coming out to Montana? We don’t see many…blaa…I mean Jamaicans
around here.”
“Why did you stop
yourself from saying black? That is the
color of my skin you know.”
“Obviously, but I
didn’t want to sound racist or anything…”
this conversation was getting awkward for Danielle and she wanted to
change the subject.
“Well, obviously, you
are not racist because you agreed to go on a date with me…blind folded!” he joked.
“Haha! Yeah that’s right. I just want you to know up front, that the
color of your skin doesn’t bother me one bit.”
“Oh good, cuz the color
of your blue eyes doesn’t bother me one bit either.”
“Hey!” Danielle swatted
her cloth napkin at him.
Jamarcus pretended to
dodge. “No seriously, I know we come
from two totally different backgrounds and I hope that doesn’t bother you.” There, he had said it. He hadn’t wanted to bring up the race issue
before the appetizers had been served but now he felt thankful that it was out
of the way. The waiter brought out the
homemade cornbread and honeybutter and took their order. Danielle ordered first, “BBQ Ribs, corn on
the cob, and coleslaw.” Jamarcus said,
“Make it two.” Danielle couldn’t
remember the last time she had actually ordered for herself on a date. Usually she would have said, “I don’t know,
what do you want?” which was always followed up with a “I’ll have what he’s
having.” She had been so indecisive
before but being around Jamarcus was bringing out a different side of her…a
side she quite liked: an independent, selfless, stripped down side. As the piano player played Cough Syrup, one of her favorite songs
at the time, she thought of an analogy. With other guys, Danielle had been acting like
a five piece band but with Jamarcus she was a slowed down, acoustic, almost
organic version of herself. She felt
like she could tell him anything but right now she wanted to know more about
him.
“So, I don’t have a
cool radio game like you did…so tell me about yourself.”
Jamarcus hadn’t wanted
to dominate the conversation, but he could tell that Danielle genuinely was
showing interest in wanting to know about everything in his life so he didn’t
hold back. One of the qualities of his
parent’s marriage had been the unique level of honesty. Jamarcus knew that if tonight was the
beginning of anything special, he would want to start out as honest as
possible. He took a breath as he told
Danielle about his early college years, certain that she would be disgusted
with him and beg to leave before the food came.
However, just the opposite occurred.
Danielle reached across the table and grabbed his hand and reassuringly
said, “What’s in the past is simply that…the past. It takes a lot of courage to admit to your
immoral ways…and on a first date. If
you’re trying to scare me off though, it won’t work,” she laughed. “Go on…”
Jamarcus told her about
his special spot on the beach. He told
her of his mother’s dying words and the look in his father’s eyes as she
slipped out of this earthly existence.
He told her of crying out to God, there by the shore, and giving all his
sins away. Both of them were wiping away
tears as the main dish showed up. He
told her about his conversion, he told her about hearing the news about his
father, he told her about the flight back home where he had met the
Jacobs. He told her of the funeral, the
will, the Laughing Waters painting, the money.
Danielle listened to every word attentively, asking questions when
needed for clarification. She had been
so enthralled with Jamarcus’ story, that she hadn’t been paying attention to her
bbq ribs eating etiquette and had managed to get bbq sauce all the way up her face.
“You got a little
something right there,” Jamarcus pointed to her cheek.
Danielle stuck out her
tongue to try to lick it off but missed.
“No, right there…”
She grabbed her napkin
and dabbed the corners of her mouth.
“Almost. Here let me get it.” Without thinking, Jamarcus reached across the
table with a clean napkin and wiped the bbq sauce off her cheek. As soon as he did it he realized how forward
that must have seemed. He froze for a
moment until Danielle said, “Thank you.”
The way those blue eyes looked at him reminded him of something. Instantly, he knew the look. The same look his mom and dad had for each
other. Only now it was his turn. This was too good to be true. He stayed in that position a moment longer
lost in her gaze. He wanted to kiss her
but knew that would be bordering on just plain rude. He snapped back to reality and sat back down,
placing the napkin back on the table.
Danielle loved that
Jamarcus had a natural instinct to take care of her. How many times had she seen her own mother
straightening her dad’s tie before heading out the door to church? How many times had she seen her dad tuck a
stray lock of hair behind her mom’s ear.
These little acts of love are what Danielle desired the most in a
man. And so far, with all the men she
had dated, she had never felt that way around any of them, except for
Anton. The few dates she had been on
with him, he had doted on her almost near obsession levels. But this was different. With Anton she had felt like a helpless
little girl, relying on his money. With
Jamarcus, she could imagine wanting to “straighten his tie” for the rest of her
life. As she looked into his eyes as he
bent over the table to dab off the bbq sauce, she felt like she could see
eternity. She saw him and her, she saw
beautiful dark skinned babies, she saw laughter, she saw joy, she saw….what was
it? She saw love! How was this possible on just a first date?
Their eyes stayed
locked on each other until they were interrupted by their waitress.
“Ahem, you two
lovebirds ready for some brownie pie with ice cream?”
“Yes, please,” Danielle
said dreamily not moving her eyes from Jamarcus.
“Uh-huh” was all
Jamarcus got out.
“I feel like I’ve known
you a long time,” Danielle confessed.
“Well, you have been
working for me for almost a month now,” Jamarcus teased back.
Danielle started to
take notice of all his facial features for the first time. When he smiled, his eyes would squint almost
to where you couldn’t see his eyes at all.
It was like he was so happy, it actually consumed his face. His teeth were so white which contrasted with
his dark skin. His chin had just a hint
of masculine scruff. His hair was
trimmed and short. Danielle looked at
his broad shoulders and noticed just how ripped he was. How had she not noticed before at work? She loved his posture. He looked like he was in charge but had a
certain humility about him that made him almost, what was the word? Irresistible!
He had a lot of girls going gaga over him when he first made his
appearance in Boomerang Valley but he wouldn’t give anyone the time of
day. It was as if he already knew what he
wanted and was holding out until he found what he needed. Danielle hoped what he needed was her.
Jamarcus interrupted her
thoughts, “So, do you mind if I ask you a question or two now while we are
waiting for dessert? I feel like I have
monopolized all the conversation this evening.”
The piano player was
still playing. This time he started
playing Laura Story’s song Blessings. Danielle wondered if talking about the
mountain was too intimate. What if she
just ended up breaking up with him in a month.
As soon as she thought it, she dismissed it. She couldn’t imagine ever breaking up with
Jamarcus Demont. She knew what she was
about to tell him would make her extremely vulnerable and she didn’t want to
talk about the Falls with just anyone.
But he wasn’t just anyone she rationalized.
“Um, alright…” she said
hesitatingly.
“I have been dying to
know why you were wearing one lone red glove the day I saw you in the parking
lot.”
“I thought you might
ask me that,” Danielle answered. She
took a deep breath and started to talk.
This time it was her turn to bear her soul. And she didn’t hold back either. Jamarcus sat listening intently, so intently
that the hot fudge was melting his ice cream on top of his brownie pie. Danielle reminded him to eat, which he did,
only this time Jamarcus smeared hot fudge above his lip.
Danielle started to
laugh, “Um, you’ve got a little something right there,” she pointed to his lip.
“Seriously!” Jamarcus laughed grabbing his napkin.
“Oh don’t worry, I’ll
get it for you.”
Now it was Danielle
leaning across the table and using her napkin to get the fudge off his lip. Again their eyes locked as they gazed into
each other’s eyes. Danielle wanted to
kiss him right then and there but knew she should wait. What was the rush anyway? She could tell by the look in his eyes that
there would be many more dinners and dates with him. She sat back down and finished her
story.
“Wow!” was all Jamarcus
could say. The piano player was playing Home by Michael Buble. Danielle thought it ironic, that sitting up
here in the Falls Restaurant talking with Jamarcus that she could feel so
completely at home. She didn’t want the
evening to end but she knew it was time to be getting home. She no longer was afraid to reach out for
Jamarcus’ hand as they stepped into the swaying gondola for the ride back down
the mountain. The air was much chillier
now than when they had gone up. Jamarcus
instinctively put his muscular arm around Danielle to protect her from the cold
wind. Danielle snuggled into his warmth.
Once they got back down
to the truck he opened the passenger side door for her once again. “What a complete gentleman,” she
thought. As he started the engine, he
teased, “What station would you like?”
“Haha! I actually get to choose? Well you know I love the Christian stations
but I also like just Top 40.”
He changed the dial and Capital City’s song Safe and Sound was playing.
“I could lift you up
I could show you what you want to see
and take you where you want to be
You could be my luck
Even if the sky is falling down
I know that we'll be safe and sound!”
I could show you what you want to see
and take you where you want to be
You could be my luck
Even if the sky is falling down
I know that we'll be safe and sound!”
Danielle sang along, “Safe and sound…” Jamarcus reached over to hold her hand and
smiled. Danielle knew she was going to
spend the rest of her life with this man.
She didn’t know how, and she didn’t know when, but she just knew. God had intervened in her life once
more. She was supposed to be heading
back to college in a few weeks. Since
she didn’t have Anton’s money anymore, she wouldn’t be able to afford
tuition. Now that she was working at the
fitness center, she could save up her own money but she suddenly didn’t want to
leave Boomerang Valley…not after tonight. Maybe she could finish her degree with online
classes and internships. Jamarcus wondered what Danielle was
thinking. He didn’t have to wait too
long because she said, “Jamarcus, if I ever play that radio game again, this is
the song that will always remind me of you.”
Jamarcus laughed, “Safe and sound, huh? Okay, as long as you don’t ever play this
game with anyone but me.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it!”
They stopped at a stop sign and Jamarcus couldn’t hold back
anymore, he leaned over and cradled her face in his hands and gently kissed her
on the lips…and Danielle eagerly kissed back as the music continued to play in
the background.
Capital Cities. Safe and Sound. Rec. 1 Feb. 2011.
Capitol Records, 2011.
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