The entry had been correct in her journal foretelling the 6.0 earthquake from the previous day. That would be nothing in the grand scheme of things. So much more to come. Tomorrow morning would bring another larger quake, just off the coast of northern California. What would follow…
Under Another Sun. Ravynn held onto that thought and the image of the Woman on the Water that had been imprinted on her mind since she was a teen. The longing in her heart she felt every day afterwards kept her focused and kept her sure it was all very real. She had missed her window then. But tomorrow? It would all be different. Change was coming.
Matt had been skeptical and hesitant when she’d invited him over. Invited him to spend the night even. It had been weeks since the divorce and he’d last slept in his own house, his own bed, with his own wife. His voice sounded leery over the phone, but he’d accepted.
Ravynn felt guilty for playing on his feelings like that, but she needed to see him one last time. Needed him to be there with Amelia when she left. Her mouth had said all the right things that morning, and Matt believed her. She put on her happy face and grabbed her new camera. It was time to go back work, after all, she’d told him. Too long had she leaned on him and neglected her art and her work.
Matt had been all too agreeable and eager for any sort of improvement on her part, she knew it. It was selfish, undoubtedly, but necessary.
The sun had set upon a tumultuous day, and darkness disguised the mess it had left behind. Everything felt still and calm and right as she kissed Amelia goodnight. The girl was already asleep when Matt leaned in and tucked the blankets up high under her chin the way she liked it. Ravynn slowly laced her fingers around his. He froze at first, as if his fingers didn’t know what they should do. She rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand and his softened, letting his fingers intertwine with hers. His hand felt so very warm around her cool digits. His strong hands had always given her comfort, and she felt it now. Slipped her thumb in between their hands and caressed his palm, rough and calloused from years of manual labor.
She waited there, just holding his hand, letting him ease into it. He turned his head to look at her and she could see the millions of questions on his face, in his eyes as they searched hers. Pulling on his hand, she urged him to turn and face her. She grabbed his other hand and held it too as she stared into his eyes. She wanted to soak up this moment, capture it, take a picture that would last in her mind forever. “Come to bed with me,” she whispered. Her heart wanted to drink him in one last time.
His lips parted as if to speak, but nothing came out. She could both hear and see the breath catch in his throat as his chest rose but did not fall. As if he were holding his breath, afraid of what might come next. He shook his head, face a mask of confusion before he spoke, “I don’t understand.”
“Just for tonight, Matt. Come to me.” She could feel the corners of her mouth tugging downward, and she forced a smile. “Come with me.” She didn’t wait for an answer but turned to leave the room, giving his hand another tug to follow. At first, he didn’t budge, but then finally followed her across the hall.
Inside, she shut the door behind them, stared up into his face. Lifted a finger and traced the crow’s feet outside his eye. Ran her finger and across his lips, as if to shush him before he could protest. Her hand moved to his temple, then up into his hair, stroking the salt and pepper hair back away from his face. The gray grew in faster the last few months, but she didn’t care. She thought it made him even more attractive.
Again, she tugged his hand, moving them closer to the bed, and this time he protested. “What are you doing? What are we doing?” He took his hand back from her and placed it still at his side.
Although she hadn’t wanted to read him, she ended up doing it anyway. The confusion radiated off him like a furnace, pushing its heat out toward her. The fights were too fresh, the wounds still too open and raw. The journals, their unnerving accuracy of them rattled Matt to the core. The fear in him remained.
“Make love to me?” Her body pressed in close to his, keenly aware of his trepidation. His hand stayed at his side.
“You know I love you, Ravy. And I always want you, but…” he shifted his gaze past her, no longer looking at her.
“Just tonight,” she pleaded softly.
He shook his head in the negative while his hand came up to stroke her arm very lightly.
She pulled him closer, and sat on the edge of the bed, him leaning over her. She crawled onto her knees and put her arms around him. “Come hold me then.” She looked up at him hopefully. She pulled him into bed, their bed. Clothes still on, above the blankets, he tucked his arm under her. Put her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat. Every time she spoke, he could hear and feel the beats pick up. She kissed his chin, his bottom lip, his mouth. His breath came out unsteady, shaky, and his body was rigid, unwilling to trust and give over to her. She couldn’t blame him. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and breathed him in. Always loved the way he smelled; he never wore any cologne. Natural. Pheromones and sweat mixed, intoxicating her. She wanted to inhale him and hold onto it forever.
She ached to make love to him one last time, but she’d broken him, and nothing could be done about it. She breathed softly on his neck as she kissed him and felt him quiver and sigh. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. There they slept, in each other’s arms all night.
In the morning, she woke too early. Anxious to begin her day, her journey. Full knowing what she must leave behind. Rolled out of Matt’s arms and gazed out the window as the sun hinted its pinkish glow from behind the clouds and over the horizon. The clouds swept across the sky in a single brushstroke.
A rustle of blankets behind her brought her attention around. “Come back to bed?” Matt’s voice was groggy.
“Can’t. Into the shower. Then off to work. You know.” She gave him a smile. Her body blocked the sun from Matt who was shrouded in sleep and silky morning shadow.
“You can.” He lifted the blankets and held them out as a welcome. “Let’s start over. Crawl in together. Start right now, Ravynn.”
“That’s what I’m doing, Matt.” She walked across the room to the bathroom. Left the door open, lingered a moment while her eyes drank him in. “I do love you, Matt.”
WITH morning still in its early beginning, Ravynn stepped out of the car at the beach. She kicked of her shoes and left them there in the sand, not bothering to toss them into the car. There was no need. Glanced up at the baby-blue sky and thought it looked so fresh, like new beginnings. She breathed in the damp salt air and knew that it should be happening about now. Off the coast…
The cool sand trickled around her toes as she pressed them in, deeper, disappearing them into the beach. The sensation pricked goosebumps over her flesh. Ravynn closed her eyes and imagined the earth speaking to her, whispering its secrets. Change is coming. More every day. Faster and faster until it can’t be stopped. She wiggled her toes and a vibration came up to tickle at the bottom of her feet. The earth shifted below, agitated. Still undiscernible to the layman, Ravynn used her senses to feel what was coming.
She never even took her camera out of the car- had never meant to. It was all a ruse, an excuse to get her here. The waves were choppy, gray-blue and spirited, dancing and slapping at one another. Not many people on the beach this early, and rarely anyone but surfers in the water anyway. The water this far north was mostly too cold for play.