trying to take her, with all the love he has, and this is the moment she is finally letting herself go to him, giving herself to him, body, mind and soul.”
Yes, I felt that too. Again Clint and I were in sync and my heart swooned for him like it did the first time I told him I loved him.
“You are right. That is the moment.” I continued to stare, not taking my eyes off the woman’s face in Klimt’s Kiss, feeling the moment where she gives herself completely to the man.
It was then the darkness in me chose to suddenly pop its head up to give me its opinion too. “Yes, the man is lost in the kiss, but the woman is turning her head away, like she can’t get away from him. Like she cannot escape.” I suddenly frowned with that possibility in my head. I knew my real feelings burning inside were making themselves known, and this artwork was helping me to realize that. There was something about Klimt’s Kiss that felt like it was about the inability to escape and not about love. There are always many sides to looking at art, and now I was seeing two very conflicting possibilities.
Time to do something else.
“I smelt garlic and flowers when we first arrived. What was that?” I lifted my nose into the air to try and gather the smell again, taking in a deep, inhaling breath.
“Oh I wasn’t lying when I said we were going out to eat. I’ve also got a candlelit dinner that I had set up earlier for us in the next room.”
I spun around to look at the room we came in from. “Really? You hired caterers?”
“Yes, but they’ve gone now. We are all alone.”
I tilted my head back towards the artwork. “Except for Klimt’s Kiss of course.”
“Of course. They are welcome company. Shall we?” Clint grabbed my hand and started to lead me back the way we came. I looked at the Kiss once more and thought to myself, “She has no reason to want to escape; does she?”
I pushed my mixed interpretations aside as we walked back into a nearby room. There was a small table with wine glasses, a wine bucket and a bottle of wine was on ice on a small wooden table covered with a white linen table cloth. There were plates that were covered with silver covers. When Clint removed them, I saw we had garlic shrimp served with beautiful fragrant wild rice and a caramelized root vegetable salad.
“Wow,” I said, as Clint held out my chair.
“Am I forgiven now?” Clint asked, taking the seat across from me, taking the wine bottle and pouring us each a glass of wine.
“Yes you are forgiven, and just in time for the Garden Gala too. Tess is flying in the same day as the Gala next week. She might even come to the Gala if her flight arrives early enough. You don’t mind if she stays with us while she is in New York, do you?”
Clint moved his hands across the table and reached for mine, pulling them both to his mouth and kissing my fingers as he cupped them in his hands.
“Of course she is welcome to stay with us.”
I looked at Clint. I had to hand it to the guy, when it came to romantic gestures to prove his love and to say sorry, he really stepped up, but something inside me still had trouble deciding if Clint was using this as damage control, to avoid my suspicions that there was more going on than what I could see. I knew it had to do with that name. The name Samuel had told me, and the name Clint pretended not to know.
What was that name again? Oh yeah, that’s right - Devon Lockley.
Chapter 10
Devon Lockley
~ ~ ~
Maybe the years had made me soft, but something about this felt wrong. I should have retired this year, moved across state, and found a nice cabin in which to spend my remaining time on this earth, fishing and hunting. I needed to find a place where I couldn’t see their faces anymore. The images that haunted me. It was my fate that one day my demons would come back to get me. I already knew where I would go once I met my end.
This would be my last job before my disappearing act, a common career end to many Lappell members. Faking our death and going into hiding. I should