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A Prophecy of Shadows

Chapter 7

The next morning went by fairly quickly. Maggie had homemade buttermilk biscuits, country gravy with bits of sausage, coffee and juice for a light breakfast early on. Afterward, James asked Cam to ride with him into town to pick up the meat order for the barbecue that evening. After they left, Jessie went with her mom out into the garden, picking vegetables to be used in the dishes that evening, as well as doing a little weeding to the rose bed. It was times like these that took her back to when she was little, she and her mom working side by side in the garden. Time might have transformed her from a child into an adult, and made the laugh lines around her mom’s eyes a little deeper as well as adding silver to her hair, but the happiness and love never changed. Once again she thought there wasn’t a better gift Cam could have given her for her birthday.

It was nearing noon when the front door banged shut, heralding the guys’ return. Maggie grabbed the trash bag that held the weeds, along with the shovel and trowel. "Jessie, if you’ll take the basket of veggies in, I’ll get the rest of this stuff put away. While you get cleaned up, I’ll put together a lunch basket for you and Cam." She brushed her knees off as she stood up. "And take your time. You know your Dad is going to show him the new smoker he got, and all the bells and whistles that goes with it."

Jessie giggled. Her father was a diehard grill master, and enthusiastically shared his hobby with anyone who happened to stand still long enough to be dragged into the conversation. Sure enough, when Jessie went into the kitchen and set the basket on the counter, her father was already listing the positive attributes of the Weber smoker, how easily it maintained its temperature just by adjusting the vents, and other features she would have picked up on if she had hung around long enough to listen. Instead, she went upstairs to take a quick shower and change her clothes.

Maggie was busy filling the picnic basket when a knock sounded at the front door. Wiping her hands on her apron, she went to see who it was.

"Hey, Mrs. Watson!" was the greeting from the young woman on the porch.

"Charlene, honey, come on in! I didn’t know you were in town." Maggie held the screen door open for her, as she had her hands full.

"Actually, I’m on my way out, but mom said Jessie was here for a visit, and I wanted to stop and say hello before I left."

"She’s upstairs changing at the moment, but she’ll be down soon. And who do we have here?"

Charlene smiled as she turned the carrier around, pulling back the coverlet. "Jacelyn Eileen, who just celebrated turning four months old yesterday."

"Oh, Charlene, she is just beautiful. I’d have to say she takes more after you than Jack."

Laughing, she said, "And Jack would thank you from the bottom of his heart! She has her daddy’s eyes, and I’m pretty sure his feet. The rest we’ll have to wait and see." At that moment the little one started waking up, fussing as she did so. Charlene felt along the side of the carrier, and then searched the oversized purse she had slung over her shoulder. "Crap. I forgot her bottle over at mom’s. Would you mind keeping an eye on her for a moment while I run over there and get it?"

"Not a problem, take your time," Maggie replied as Charlene handed the precious bundle to her. Setting the carrier down in the middle of the coffee table, Maggie talked softly to the infant, trying to keep her occupied until Charlene returned. A few moments later she heard Cam come in the door and subsequently water running in the kitchen sink. Peeking around the corner, she asked, "Cam, would you do me a favor? Will you talk to this little rascal until her mother gets back with her bottle? I’m trying to finish packing that basket."

"Is Jessie upstairs?" he asked quietly as he came in the living room, drying his hands on a paper towel.

Maggie nodded, and watched as Cam retrieved a small rectangular item wrapped in a royal blue cloth from behind the TV.

Handing it to her, he said, "Slip this underneath everything," then turned his attention to the now fussing infant.

Maggie knew what he was planning, Cam having shown her the items last night after Jessie had gone to bed. That he had given them a head’s up beforehand and made them a part of this very special weekend had only endeared him to them that much more. She hurried into the kitchen and slid the package underneath the napkins, then started placing the sandwiches and other items on top of that.

Meanwhile, a different scene was unfolding in the living room. Cam leaned over the carrier, looking at the baby who was quickly working herself into a snit. "Hey, there. What’s the matter, little one?" His answer was the transitioning from fussing to crying. Unlatching the safety buckle, he carefully picked up the baby, cradling her in the crook of his arm. And her response was to immediately turn her head towards his chest and start rooting.

He couldn’t hold back his laughter. "Sorry, munchkin, I don’t have the right equipment for that." Frustration quickly set in and she started fussing again, so he reached down and brushed the knuckle of his little finger against her mouth, to which she quickly latched on to.

Jessie ran her hands over her shirt, smoothing out the few wrinkles that were there. Checking her appearance in the mirror, she left her room and came down the stairs, vaguely becoming aware of Cam’s voice as she neared the bottom step. "Sorry munchkin; I don’t have the right equipment for that." ‘What the hell?’ she thought as she rounded the corner, coming to a sudden stop at the entrance to the living room.

His attention otherwise occupied, he didn’t see Jessie standing there as he cuddled the infant, talking softly to her. "It’s not as good as a bottle, but you can gnaw all you want," he said with a grin, his eyes crinkling at the corners as the infant regarded him with a serious stare for such a little thing, cooing as she alternately suckled and bit down. "Yeah, I bet you’re teething, too, you little piranha."

Jessie felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. It took her vision dimming around the edges for her to remember to actually breathe. She had no idea what kind of effect seeing Cam holding a baby would have on her. Legs wobbling slightly, she took a couple of steps back, silently passing the doorway and heading into the kitchen. All she knew was that she needed to get outside. She had forgotten her mother was in the kitchen, preparing the lunch basket.

"Jessie? Are you okay, honey?" Maggie focused a concerned gaze on her daughter, noting a distinct pallor to her skin. Watched as Jessie opened then closed her mouth, before shaking her head.

"Just need some air," she said in a slightly choked tone as she headed out the back door. Maggie wiped her hands on a cup towel, ready to follow Jessie out the door just as Cam came into the kitchen.

"Is the momma back yet, Maggie? This little one’s about to chew my knuckle off!"

Ahhh. So that was what had spooked Jessie. Maggie’s smile spread across her face as she took in the scene before her, trying her best not to laugh out loud. "Charlene will be back in a minute; she had to go across the street to get the bottle."

Five minutes later Charlene reappeared, bottle in hand, with Jessie close behind. Maggie did a quick assessment, happy to see the few minutes was all Jessie had needed to compose herself. Poor baby. That the scene had been a shock to her was obvious, but fortunately she had been able to recover fairly quickly. Maggie tried her best to keep her face neutral…she could only imagine the reaction Jessie was going to have in the next hour or so.

Charlene stayed long enough to feed Jacelyn and do a little catching up, but soon had to take her leave since she had a long drive ahead. Maggie wasted no time in handing the picnic basket to Cam and shooing him and Jessie out the door shortly afterward.

Jessie looked back at the door as they walked down the cedar plank steps. "You get the feeling that she was trying to get rid of us?" she asked, puzzled at her mom’s behavior.

Cam shrugged nonchalantly. "Probably was worried about the food going bad, if she’s anything like my Mom." They strolled past the workshop and out into the meadow where the spring flowers were beginning to bloom, busy little honeybees buzzing from flower to flower. A warm jasmine-scented breeze drifted along with them as he held her hand, taking in the deep blue sky with fluffy white clouds, an eagle flying overhead, along with some deer in the distance as they headed down to the creek. Cam eyed a huge oak tree, noting a swing hanging from one of its limbs. Gesturing towards it he asked, "Was that your swing down there?"

"The swing, and the tree." At his puzzled look, she continued. "I was a bit of a tomboy growing up, much to my mother’s consternation. When I would get tired of swinging on the swing, I’d climb the tree."

Cam looked at the size of it before asking, "How far up?"

A sheepish look was followed by a mumbled, "All the way."

"You’re kidding."

"Nope. Mom started calling me a spider monkey because I spent so much time up there. Well, after she got over having a heart attack in the first place."

By this time they had come up alongside the massive oak, the creek visible in the distance. A small concrete picnic table with (built-in) benches sat a few feet away, sheltered from the sun by the branches. Cam was about to set the basket down on the table when he noticed three sets of handprints permanently embedded in the hard surface. The largest hands were on either side of the table, framing a smaller, more feminine set, which in turn framed the imprint of a child’s hands. In the very center between those little impressions was an arrowhead. "Are these…?"

Jessie reached out and touched the prints. "Yes, those are mine, along with Mom and Dad’s. He was almost finished with the table when I found that arrowhead, and he came up with the idea of insetting it in the tabletop. He told me we were creating our own family artifact, a fossil that might be discovered hundreds, maybe thousands of years later, like the pyramids in Egypt. From that moment on, I was hooked."

Cam traced the outline of her handprint. "You were a tiny little thing, weren’t you?"

"Well, I was six, so I guess it’s a good thing I wasn’t freakishly large," she said jokingly.

"Woman," he said ominously.

"Last time I checked, I was," giggling at the look on his face.

"You’d better be careful. I heard it was someone’s birthday today."

"And?"

"And that usually entails a spanking…if you don’t behave yourself, you might be regretting it later."

"Promises, promises," she said as she rolled her eyes, before that little voice of reason told her to shut up.

Sitting down at the table, Cam unpacked the picnic basket and they enjoyed a leisurely lunch amid their bantering. The setting was perfect—peaceful, quiet, the only interruptions being from the flight of a sparrow, or a curious deer trying to get a closer look. Finally, he felt it…it was time.

"So, speaking of birthdays, I believe you’re celebrating one today."

Jessie grinned at him. "Really? You sure about that?"

"Yep, sure am." Lifting the lid on the picnic basket, he reached inside. "And that usually means there’s a gift involved somewhere along the way."

Jessie watched as he pulled the surprise out from the basket and laid it above the arrowhead, between the imprint of the tiny hands as if they were holding it. It was a rectangular shaped item wrapped in royal blue silk, tied with a simple silver ribbon. It was about the size of a paperback novel, but not as thin. She stroked her fingers over it, seeing if she could discern what lay underneath.

"Go ahead…open it."

Picking it up, she noted it had some weight to it. She tugged on the ribbon, the bow untying easily, before she unfolded the silk. Gasped when she saw the treasure in her hands. "Cam…this is…beautiful," she said, the awe evident in her voice. It was a rectangular jewelry box crafted of highly polished silver, delicate vines and roses etched into the sides. The top, however, caused that to pale in comparison. An exquisitely detailed raven, wings spread in landing, was facing an equally life-like wolf.

He bit his lip, trying to keep his grin contained. "I found a Navajo silversmith whose specialty is custom made items. It’s completely crafted by hand. I told him what I wanted, and he created the box, then added the engraving." Cam watched as she touched the raven and then the wolf with her fingertip. "Go ahead…open it."

She glanced at Cam, then back down at the box. Lifting the hinged lid carefully, she saw the inside of the lid was polished like the outside, but what was engraved there had her blinking back tears.

His voice was a soft caress. "I know how much you like Shakespeare. I also know when we met, especially when I asked you out, you doubted your judgment of men…of me. When I was trying to decide what to have engraved inside, that quote from Hamlet was the first thing I thought of. Back then you were filled with doubt, but you gave us a chance. I wanted something that would remind you, regardless of what happens, to never doubt my love for you."

Jessie’s thoughts wandered back, recalling their unconventional start, him wanting her to give them a chance as they sat on her front porch, and her not being sure whether she was ready to take that chance…if she’d ever be ready again. But having taken that leap of faith, they had ended up falling in love. Staring at the graceful script, she realized he couldn’t have chosen better if he had tried.

"I’ve never been given anything more beautiful, more precious than this," she whispered as she raised her eyes to his. Watched as he swallowed once, twice, looking at her so intently she was about to ask him if he was okay. Instead, he reached for the box.

"Well…maybe I can change that," he said softly. Taking the silver box from her, Cam moved off the bench and knelt down in front of Jessie on one knee. Reaching into the box, he grasped the silk loop inside the front, lifting the false bottom to reveal the true treasure that lay beneath. Nestled on a bed of dark blue velvet lay one of the most beautiful rings she had ever seen. Picking up the delicate ring, Cam set the box on the table. Taking Jessie’s hand in his, he looked into her eyes. "This ring belonged to my Great-Grandma Abigail. It was her engagement ring, and it’s been handed down to the eldest son each generation to give to the woman he’s chosen to be his wife." Holding the ring between them, he asked, "Jessie, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

When Cam took the jewelry box from her, she wasn’t sure what to think, but as he knelt down on one knee, time slowed to a crawl. When he took the ring out and then proposed, their time together flashed through her mind, snippets from the time they had met, working together, falling in love, what she had seen this morning—all culminating in this one moment. After that mental rush there was a silence, a calmness and clarity that settled into one softly whispered word…

"Yes."

Only when they got back to the house did Jessie realize her parents had been ‘in the know’ the entire time. They were practically bouncing, waiting for their return. Her mom was the first to spot the ring on Jessie’s finger before happily embracing the two of them, her father close behind, laughter and congratulations being exchanged all around. It didn’t take long for the word to spread, and that evening the cookout grew from the four of them to include friends and neighbors.

The next day they lingered over breakfast, sharing the time with her parents. There were a few tears when it came time to leave, and Jessie hugged both of her parents closely, not exactly sure when they’d see each other again. Her mom’s whispered, "You did good, little one," as she looked at her future son-in-law had Jessie smiling.

Watching her parents and her childhood home fade in the distance as they started down the road, she sighed softly. It was nice to be able to come home, even if it was only for a little while. Felt Cam squeeze her hand reassuringly, understanding without words where her thoughts were. Shrugging off the slightly melancholy mood from saying goodbye to her parents, she focused her thoughts on what lay ahead. Next stop—San Antonio.

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