Betty Read online

it.

  We got in the Jeep and drove to the restaurant, where we enjoyed a lovely meal of eggs and biscuits and gravy. We stayed for an hour filling up on free refills and talking about just about everything. Afterword we returned to the antique show and spent another couple of hours shopping for deals.

  It was starting to cloud up by the time we left, a small cause for concern since there was no top on the Jeep. Betty didn’t seem concerned in the least, asking if I would like to take a ride through a local state park. I readily agreed and we spent a long time driving the various roads throughout the park. She regaled me with stories of Sundays long ago when her dad would take the family for picnics and exploring the trails. From various other discussions I had had with Betty over the preceding months I knew that most of her early family life was anything but normal. Both of her parents had experienced problems with alcohol periodically, leading to job loss and some serious mental abuse of their kids. Her subsequent focusing on the one happy normal activity of her childhood was more than understandable, and more than a little sad.

  Realizing I was getting hungry again, I suggested we pick up some sandwiches, to which she wholeheartedly agreed. We drove by Lenny’s and picked up a couple of Stromboli’s and headed back out. I asked her where she would like to eat and she just smiled and told me she had the perfect place in mind, if I could trust her to make the decision. I had enjoyed every minute of the day so far and could think of nothing I would like better, and told her so.

  It took about a half an hour of travel, which ultimately lead to a one-lane gravel drive. With trees and brush scraping the side of the Jeep, we inched along slowly. I was definitely intrigued and Betty had an ear-to-ear grin going on so I just sat back and enjoyed the ride.

  The gravel drive had disintegrated into a dirt cart path by this time and my interest in our destination increased with every yard we traversed. The brush finally gave way to an open hay field, and I noticed an old barn on the property, the grey weathered siding mostly intact.

  She pulled up to the barn, shutting off the jeep before asking me what I thought of her farm. In all of our conversations, I don’t think she had ever mentioned anything about owning a farm.

  Replying to my questioning glance, she then said, “A girl should always have a few secrets.”

  Her and her ex had bought it on land contract a few years ago, but he had long ago lost interest in it. Since he wouldn’t come with her, she very seldom came out, and they had agreed to give it up due to their divorce. She had decided this was the perfect opportunity to come see it one last time with me, since I was a captive audience.

  Pulling a blanket out of the back of the Jeep, we took our food and walked to an idyllic spot under a big oak tree at the end of a meadow about a hundred yards from the barn. She spread out the blanket and we sat down to a wonderful lunch of Stromboli sandwiches and a bottle of wine that had mysteriously appeared out of the blanket.

  Minutes turned into hours but seemed like seconds as we whiled away the afternoon drinking wine out of paper cups and talking about everything. I doubt that I could actually relate to anyone exactly what we did talk about that day, but it was of little concern anyway. The smile on my face felt comfortable and natural, and the glow in my heart encased me in glowing warmth that had been missing in my life for a long time.

  Throughout the afternoon, the sky had continued to build its crescendo of dark grey and blue clouds in its unrelenting effort to grow itself into a hell of a storm. For our part we barely noticed as our conversations melded from one to another as in a symphony composed by collaborators on a deadline.

  Eventually however, we almost simultaneously became aware that something was happening; immediately stopping our conversation as we found ourselves looking up into the sky.

  We were staring up into the tree as the lightning struck it full force; seeming to attach itself to the uppermost tip and work its way down to the trunk in slow motion. In what seemed to take minutes, the lightning danced down the tree while pieces of the bark were being blown off, the whole show culminating in a huge explosion of dirt and bits of wood as it finally went to ground.

  Momentarily stunned by the enormous show of light and sound, we came around as we were unceremoniously showered with the remnants of the explosion; immediately followed by a downpour of cold, wet rain.

  Quickly we grabbed up our stuff and took off at a dead run for the barn. We found ourselves yelling to be able to hear each other, our ears ringing from the explosive force of the lightning. My heart was beating a thousand beats a minute when we finally entered the barn laughing.

  The next few moments were spent catching our breath and nervously laughing at how close we had come to death. When our breathing returned to normal, I took the blanket and wrapped it around Betty’s shoulders, the closeness of her tingling on my skin. Looking down at her, our eyes locked on each other, those beautiful pale blue eyes of my dreams.

  She was shaking, “Are you still cold?” I asked, my eyes never leaving hers.

  The rain pattering the metal roof surrounded us with sound as she quickly shook her head before reaching for the back of my neck with her hand and gently pulling my lips to hers.

  Electricity crackled around us as a bolt of lighting struck the roof at that exact moment, surrounding us with flashes of blue as it made its way around the inside of the barn, dancing gaily along the beams before diving into the ground.

  Looking back down at Betty’s face when the show was over, she was glowing, her smile wide as she whispered “WOW!”

  Pulling my lips back onto hers, the thunder echoed around us as our souls joined as one. The electricity in the air and the close call of earlier fed our passion for one another to a fevered pitch. Caressing each other passionately, we started exploring each other’s bodies with a fervor that up to that point in my life I never knew existed.

  Building in crescendo as we tried to satisfy the pent-up hunger for each other, our whole beings climaxed as a clap of thunder engulfed our noisy release of joy and emotion, rumbling the ground beneath us in apparent approval.

  Long past being cold any longer, we lay naked on the blanket in each others arms, our souls now entwined forever.

  Copyright 2012-2014 by J.T. Lewis

  Thank you for reading Betty, the story of Gabe and Betty. We hope you enjoyed this prequel to The Adventures of Gabriel Celtic.

  Check out the rest of the series below, available at all retailers worldwide:

  The Journal (Prequel)

  The Abducted (Prequel)

 

  Angel (Prequel)

  Murder! Too Close To Home (Perma-Free on all venues)

 

  Gabriel’s Revenge

  In Case of Death

 

  The Book of Gabriel

  Murmansk (Coming in the spring of 2015)

  Last Dance (Post-Series ending) (Would recommend reading last…always)