When Love's Gone Country - By Merri Hiatt Page 0,9
said.
Meg stood before the rock, closed her eyes and said in a loud, clear voice, “I love you.”
The ground trembled slightly beneath their feet as the stone began to roll several feet to the right.
“How did you know that?” Jeremy asked, his eyes wide with astonishment.
“The feeling of love is often referred to as magic, like when you touch someone’s hand and you get this spark of something you can’t really name. I knew I needed to say it out loud because it said ‘spoken aloud.’ I figured there was a path somewhere because it was on the map and the clue said ‘a path most will never see.’ I closed my eyes because that is like being blind.”
“Wonderful job, honey,” Bob said, kissing her on the cheek.
“C’mon, let’s follow the path,” Jacob said.
The path wound around through dense brush, but it was easy to traverse as branches and shrubbery had been neatly trimmed to allow access.
“This is kind of fun,” Meg said. “I’m not usually up for this kind of thing. I’d rather know where I’m going and how I’m getting there.”
“Sometimes it’s good to give up control,” Bobby said.
Courtney and Brad exchanged glances. They’d had that very conversation last weekend. Of course they weren’t exploring a cave behind a waterfall. No, their exploration was of a different nature and included the words submission and dominance.
“Hey, Court, come here,” Jeremy yelled.
“Coming.” Courtney gave Brad a knowing look, then shimmied past everyone else until she had caught up with Jeremy. “What’s up?”
“Do you think we should cross this bridge? It looks kind of rickety.”
Courtney peered over the railing until she could see the undergirding of heavy support hidden underneath the bridge. “I think they want it to look unstable. More exciting and scary that way. I’ll go first.”
She walked bravely over the river flowing twenty feet below. The bridge swayed slightly under her weight. When she was across she waved Jeremy over.
He started off tentative, but quickly gained confidence. “Piece of cake,” he said when he reached Court’s side.
“You were smart to have someone check it out beforehand. Good thinking. Where’s Jacob?”
“He was right behind me.”
The rest of the group caught up to them. “Have you seen Jacob?” Courtney asked.
“I thought he was with you, Jeremy,” Bob said.
“He was. Then he was just gone.”
“Did he cross the bridge?” Meg asked.
“I didn’t see him cross it.”
“Jacob!” they all began to yell into the woods.
“Let’s not panic,” Alex said when he saw Meg’s worried face.
“I am Chief Atonga,” Jacob hollered from somewhere up in a tree.
“Jacob? Where are you? Get down here!” Meg said, her words laced with fear, annoyance and gratefulness that he had been found.
“I love Marion Little Bear and I want everyone to know it!” A rustling of tree branches overhead caught their attention, then Jacob came flying through the trees holding tightly to a vine as he sailed over their heads.
“Jacob!” Meg yelled, horrified that he was up so high and could fall at any minute.
“Look at him go,” Brad said. “He must be thirty or forty feet high.”
“Jacob Zyetta, you better get down here this instant!
“Can I go next?” Jeremy asked.
“Bobby, get him down from there. He’s going to fall and kill himself.”
“He’s fine. Look.”
Meg watched her son swing back and forth over the raging river. “Get him down, now.”
“He’s a boy. Boys do things like this.”
“Now!”
“I’ll help you,” Alex said, heading toward the tree the vine was attached to. Both Bob and Alex climbed the tree and when Jacob swung within reach, they snagged the vine and pulled it closer.
“Hey! I’m having fun. What are you doin’?”
“You’re scaring your mom. It’s not safe.”
“Seems safe to me.”
“That wasn’t a question,” Bob said, his voice neutral, but firm.
“It’s no big deal. I was just trying to have some fun.”
“You can have fun on the ground without worrying your mother.”
“She worries about everything. My being on the ground won’t stop that.”
“Jacob, we need to talk about your behavior lately.”
Jacob disentangled himself from the vine and began climbing down the tree.
“This conversation is not over.”
“It is as far as I’m concerned.”
“It was bound to happen sometime, Bob,” Alex said.
“I know. Our therapist kept telling us we probably wouldn’t see any real acting out behaviors from the boys until their teens.”
“Welcome to the teens.”
“Yeah. Welcome.”
Chapter Seven
“Are you okay?” Meg asked.
“I’m fine,” Jacob said.
“What possessed you to do that? What if that vine couldn’t hold your weight? What if it wasn’t long enough to carry you over the river? What if—”
“What if