Chapter 11
Spring rains had filled the pond to its brim. Paradise stood at the water’s edge with her hand in Blake’s and took in the
idyllic view of moonlight on water and the little footbridge on the right side of the pond. She inhaled the sweet scent of
flowers mingling with the loamy aroma of the pond and exhaled the last of her tension. The light glimmered on a tangle of
white honeysuckle blossoms along the left side of the pond and bounced off the smooth surface of the water. She let the symphony
of crickets chirping and frogs croaking wash away the anxiety that had steadily crept in over the past few days.
Blake put his arm around her waist and pulled her against his side before he pressed his lips against her temple. “Better?”
She watched a fish splash in the middle of the pond. “Much. Sometimes it takes nature to put everything into perspective.
God created all this and keeps the world ticking along. We humans complicate things so much. I’m glad we live here and not
in a big city where it’s so easy to lose touch with what really matters.”
“You have a way with words,” he murmured against her hair.
She turned toward him and lifted her face up for a kiss.
His lips came down on hers, and the passion in his kiss sparked her own.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back in a promise to him and herself that she’d never let go of this love they’d found.
No matter how long it took for things to get sorted out, this was where she belonged.
His breathing was ragged when he lifted his head. He wrapped a long strand of her light brown hair around his finger. “You
ever wonder why things work out the way they do? I never dreamed when you left all those years ago that you’d be back in my
arms again. That we’d have such a single purpose in working together for a future.”
“God knew. I think it takes some years to get perspective on the bad things that crash into our lives and send us barreling
off in a different direction. Without the experiences we’ve had, we wouldn’t be here.”
His phone sounded with a text message. “I don’t think I’ll get that.”
“You should. It’s late, and it might be important.”
He grimaced and dug out his phone. “It’s Mom. There’s a leak in her bathroom sink, and she can’t turn the shutoff valve.”
Paradise gave him a small push. “You run ahead, and I’ll be right behind you. Your long legs will get you there quicker without
me slowing you down.”
“I don’t want to leave you here alone.”
She gave him another push. “Go. I’ll be right behind you.”
He gave her a quick kiss before jogging off. She watched him disappear into the trees lining the pond, and the sound of his
steps faded into the sudden chorus of frogs. Their little interlude was over, but it was okay. It had given her the peace
she needed.
She started to follow him to the house and spotted something glittering on the little footbridge.
It almost looked like gems sparkling. What on earth?
Skirting the edge of the water, she walked through the bullrushes toward the bridge and stepped onto the first board.
It shuddered under her weight, and she paused.
Blake had cautioned her about walking on it because it was for charm only until he shored up the joists, but she wanted to see what still sparkled in the center of the bridge.
The moon retreated behind the clouds, and she would need to get closer to determine what it was.
She gripped the handrail and decided it felt solid enough, so she sidled along the floorboards, which felt soft underfoot.
Just four feet and she’d retrieve the item. She inched along until she was a foot away and leaned down to pick it up as the
moon emerged in full force. She stared down at a collar embedded with stones. The musky big cat odor hit her then. This collar
had been on the leopard watching her from the trees a few days ago.
She picked it up and looped it around her wrist, then started to retreat to the shore when a board cracked beneath her.
She grabbed for the railing, but the floorboards under her split open, and nails pulled loose from the handrail.
Still holding the board and the collar, she hurtled into the murky water in the middle of the pond.
The water went over her head until she found her footing on the slimy bottom of the pond. She bobbed up with the water reaching
her chest. She swiped the water smelling of algae and moss out of her eyes.
A gator slithered into the water toward her. Its tail splashed as it propelled toward her with its eyes barely peeking above
the surface.
She wasn’t in danger of drowning but in danger of being eaten.
Adrenaline shot through her, and she moved as fast as she could toward the safety of the land, but it was slow going with the mud so slippery on the pond’s bottom.
Fear dried her mouth. Those giant teeth would clamp around an arm or a leg any minute, and the gator would have her in its
death roll.
The handrail board was still in her hand. Maybe it would do as a weapon.
The gator was coming fast, and she turned toward it. Its mouth opened, and she jammed the board in as far as she could and
turned to scramble onto the grass. She spared a glance behind her and saw the gator retreating. Shivering and wet, she scurried
away from the water before it changed its mind.
Something moved in the tree to her right, and she stared up into the blue eyes of a leopard.
At least the boys hadn’t awakened while Blake repaired the bathroom plumbing issue. His mom worked on mopping up the floor
while he found plumbing flux and a soldering iron to reconnect the pipe under the bathroom sink.
He backed out from under the musty-smelling bathroom counter. “I might need to replace the cabinet floor. It’s already swollen
from the water. We’ll let it dry before I replace the contents and see if it returns to normal. But it won’t be too expensive
if I have to put in a new cabinet bottom.”
His mother’s hair was still wet from the dousing with water while she had tried to turn off the supply valve. “It’s a good
thing you’re a jack-of-all-trades.”
“And master of none?” he teased.
“You’re the master of all of them. I hated to interrupt your evening with Paradise. The two of you have gotten so little alone time.”
He washed his hands in the sink and dried them. “Plumbing waits for no one. Is Frank good at plumbing?” His mom had been dating
a former classmate, Frank Ellis, a well-known land developer. Blake liked him.
His mom’s cheeks grew pink. “I haven’t asked him.”
He quirked a brow and smiled. “It’s important to know these things before your relationship progresses any further. When are
you seeing him again?”
She made a show of picking up the wet towels strewn on the floor. “I invited him to the cookout on Sunday.”
“Ah, is that sort of like walking through fire to meet everyone involved in this complicated family? Well, Paradise’s complicated
family, at least. Ours is straightforward.”
“Her family will be part of ours. Did you pick up the ring?”
“Sure did. It’s gorgeous. Want to see?” He tossed the towel onto the sink. His mom followed him to his room where he dug out
the black velvet box. The two-carat emerald sparkled in its setting of diamonds that accentuated its perfect square shape.
“The jeweler said it came from Zambia. Do you know where Dad bought it when it was in a necklace?”
She touched it with a reverent finger. “I have no idea. We didn’t have much time to talk about it before he left on that final
tour of duty. I waited to wear it until he came home, but he never did. It stayed in the safe all these years. It’s much prettier
in a ring. I think Paradise will love it.”
“I hope so.” Blake closed the lid of the box and put it back in his drawer under his socks, then glanced at the bedside clock. “Whoa, it’s later than I thought. It felt like fixing the plumbing only took a few minutes, but it’s been half an hour. Where’s Paradise? I didn’t hear her come in.”
“I didn’t either, and she would have come to check on your progress to see if you needed help.” His mom clutched her hands
together. “This is worrisome. Maybe she’s talking with Drew.”
“Let me go check.” Blake headed for the kitchen door and walked to the garage to climb the steps to the apartment on the second
floor. Music played from inside, and he rapped his knuckles on the door. “Drew?”
The door opened almost immediately. Drew was alert and still dressed. “Everything okay?”
“Is Paradise with you?”
Drew’s eyes widened, and he shook his head. “You’ve lost her somewhere?”
“I left her at the pond to rush home to fix a leak, but she shouldn’t have been more than five minutes behind me. It’s been
half an hour.” Fear gripped Blake and he turned to run down the steps. “We have to find her,” he called over his shoulder.
Drew’s footsteps pounded down the stairs behind Blake. “Where’s the pond?”
“Out near the swamp. It will be faster to take the Gator. Come on.” He grabbed the tranq rifle, then they ran for the parking
lot. Why hadn’t he paid attention to the time?
They reached the utility vehicle, and Blake barely waited for Drew to land on the passenger seat before he turned the key
and accelerated to the pond.
A smooth path extended through the field and stopped at the ring of swamp tupelo trees circling the pond. He parked the Gator.
“We’ll have to walk from here.” He cupped his hands to his mouth. “Paradise!”
A lion roared behind him in the predator enclosure as if his shout had startled it.
He ran along the narrow flagstone path with swamp privet grasping at his clothes.
They broke through the last of the vegetation into the clearing around the pond, and he spotted her at the same time Drew gasped. Why hadn’t she answered him?
Paradise stood motionless on the right side of the pond, staring into a tree. Something glittered on her wrist.
“There’s a leopard,” Drew whispered. “Above her head.” He reached for the tranq gun and aimed.
“It’s got a collar on. It didn’t attack her before.” But the way its tail lashed told him the leopard was agitated and might
make a different choice this time. Could he scare it off? “Don’t look it in the eye. Drew, you have your real gun?” When he
nodded, Blake exhaled with relief. “The tranq works too slow. Shoot your gun off in the air after I start yelling.”
Blake snatched a fallen tree branch beside the trail and held it aloft. “Hey, you there! Get out of here. We don’t want you
here.” He spread out his left arm and waved the branch in his right as he approached the tree where the leopard crouched.
The animal’s blue eyes watched Blake advance, and it flinched when a gunshot sounded. It pinned its ears back and backed away
before vanishing into the canopy of trees overhead.
Paradise whirled and ran straight into Blake’s arms. He held her trembling shoulders. “He’s gone. And why are you soaking
wet?” She smelled of pond and mud. Had the thing chased her into the water?
She stepped away and held up her arm with something circling her wrist. “It’s a long story. I need to warm up and I’ll tell
you what happened.”