The Fourth Sunrise (19 page)

“
I held her tightly. Her breasts, which seemed a little bigger than I remembered, pressed against my chest.

“‘
This is why...’ I whispered into Christine’s ear. ‘This is why I can’t let you go. My heart is permanently stacked on top of yours. I gave up a long time ago.’

“‘
Can I be honest with you, Joel?’

“‘
Of course you can.’

“‘
All these years, I have truthfully loved my husband. But, one thing that I have always known is that I have always loved you more.’

“‘
Have you?’ I said, rolling on my back.

“‘
Of course I have. You couldn’t be possibly feel so much sincere surrender of feelings and I couldn’t possibly
not
feel the same way. I have loved you since the moment I met you thirty years ago.’

“
Christine then laid her head on my chest and slid her body down and rubbed her hands on the inside of my thigh. It was heaven.

“
I looked deeply in her eyes. I paused, and then I said, ‘You are the only woman I have ever wanted.’

“‘
Why, Joel?’

“‘
Because I'm a simple man. I loved you first. I didn’t know how to love someone that strongly ever again.’

“‘
Oh, Joel. You are so precious.’ Christine wrapped her arms around me and positioned my body above hers and then took her left hand and gripped me and placed me inside her.

“
We made love tenderly for what felt like two hours straight. My heart was overwhelmed by the lovemaking. All I wanted was for the moment to last forever. But sadly, like all of our encounters, time got ahead of us.

“
I knew she was meeting her husband in Seattle, Washington, in a matter of hours. I looked at the clock and it read five in the morning. Seven hours to be exact. I knew she would again have to leave soon. These were the terms I had grown accustomed to experiencing.

“
I looked outside and could see the first whispers of the sun’s rays about to break dawn.

“
I looked down at Christine and she was as awake as I was and I was still inside her, slowly making love.

“
Christine looked up at me and said. ‘I love you, Joel.’

“‘
I love you, too.’

“‘
I want to do something I have always wanted to do for you.’

“
I smiled. ‘What is that?’

“‘
I want to make you breakfast.’

“‘
You do?’

“‘
I do. I’m pretty good at it.’

“‘
You are?’

“‘
I am… so, although I could continue doing what we’re doing until I have to leave to get to my plane, I would dearly love to make you breakfast.’

“‘
Breakfast sounds pretty good.’

“
With that, I rolled off of her and reclined next to her on my back.

“‘
That was amazing, Joel. The single most pleasuring, passionate, heartfelt night of my life.’

“‘
Mine, too. Mine, too.’”

Chapter Twenty-three

“
I went with Christine to the kitchen. She had put on a robe and I put on my pants that I had on the night before.

“
Christine told me to go back to bed, and I told her there was no way I could be in the same house and not be with her every waking second. I did allow her to go to the bathroom alone, however. I just needed to be near her. I knew this would soon be over, and I couldn’t miss a moment.

“
One thing I knew for sure was, this woman was one incredible cook.
Holy crap! It was the best breakfast I’d ever had.
Everything she made, she put her own spin on. She made cheesy eggs with Hollandaise dressing, and onion hash browns with her own mix seasonings. Don’t even get me started on the meat. Best bacon, ham and sausage I ever had. She mixed them all with special seasonings. Delicious.

“
Without a shadow of a doubt, this is not only the best breakfast I ever had, but this is the tastiest meal I ever had.

“
Christine raised her orange juice glass to me and gave me an endearing wink.

“‘
When do you have to leave?’ I asked.

“‘
Thirty minutes.’

“‘
That soon?’ I was stunned.

“‘
Actually, I should have left by now. I’m pushing it, giving myself thirty more minutes.’

“‘
Stay one more day. Make an excuse,’ I said in a last plea of desperation.

“‘
I can’t.’

“‘
Why not?’

“‘
Because I made a promise I’d be there. He’s having a real big meeting and he needs me to be with him.’

“‘
I understand. I just can’t go seventeen years without seeing you again. Can we try to make this at least a twice a year venture?’

“‘
I can’t, Joel.’

“
You can’t? Or you don’t want to?’

“‘
Joel, I love you more than I ever thought I could love someone besides a husband. But I also have some semblance of a moral code. I know I am a huge hypocrite but what I feel is the truth. I think marriage is sacred and only because I love you at the magnitude that I do, and only because you love me with the incredible zeal that you do, can find it inside me to break the most sacred of vows that I have ever given. But I couldn’t live in that place regularly.’

“‘
Live in that place? What do you mean?’

“‘
Meaning, I couldn’t be with my husband and have a permanent lover on the side.’

“‘
So, what I am is convenient. Every fifteen years or so, you find it in you to take a stab at me.’

“‘
Joel, please. That is not what I meant. Please don’t take what I said that way.’

“‘
How should I take it?’

“‘
Take it as, you’re such an amazing man that a very good woman broke the most sacred of vows just so she can be with you.’

“‘
What separates your mind from your body?’ I asked. ‘Why can't you see me a couple times a year? I don’t think that’s too much to ask.’

“‘
It
is
too much to ask Joel,’ Christine said. Christine paused and then sat next to me and held my hand. ‘My husband has never done one wrong thing to me. He has never even raised his voice. He is an amazing father and a hard-working provider. The only fault he has is the thing that was given to him by God himself. It’s his personality. He’s the dullest man I have ever known. Any resemblance of intrigue was long gone after high school.’

“‘
He isn’t passionate, he isn’t affectionate, but what he is that he is extremely considerate and he shows how much he loves me by what he does for me. He would walk on broken glass for me.’

“‘
So would I,’ I said honestly.

“‘
I know, Joel. But I married him. All I can say is, it’s a testament to how powerful
our
love is as to why I have given myself to you on the two nights I have.’

“‘
That’s not enough,’ I said, plainly and simply.

“‘
It’s all I can give. I want to go back to the way we used to do it. I miss going down to the post office in Washington, D.C., and pouring out my heart to you in letters.’

“‘
I need a little bit more. This is too hard. Just give me a little more. I’ll take once a year.’

“‘
Once a year?’

“‘
Yeah.’

“
Christine looked at me and smiled. ‘Look, let’s do the writing thing and if something organically can come up, then yes. Of course we can see each other.’”

Present – Delta, Colorado - Coffee Shop, 3:20 a.m.

“Organically?” Sharee asked.

“
She meant organically, according to her life. Not organically, according to mine.”

“
Why is that?”

“
I’ll get to that in a second. Let me tell you how it finished.” Sharee perked up.

1998 – Delta, Colorado - Christine’s House, Kitchen, 7:00 a.m.

“I looked at Christine and knew her answer of if something could ‘organically happen,’ that was the closest thing I was going to get toward seeing her more often.

“‘
It’s our third sunrise together,’ Christine said, looking out of her kitchen window as the sun continued to rise.

“
Christine opened the door and the two of us stepped out onto her porch.

“‘
You know, this time you have to go.’

“‘
I will need you to drive me back, so technically I will be seeing you drive away.’

“‘
We’re going to need to leave soon.’

“‘
I know,’ I said. ‘I’m just taking in the beauty of the sun.’

“‘
It is spectacular, isn’t it?’

“‘
Breathtaking.’

“‘
Joel?’ Christine asked. ‘Why do you think this happened? Why do you think, our lives keep slamming us back together?”

“‘
You see, Christine, I don’t look at it that way. I don’t look at it as if we have seen each other by chance. I have actually gone to great lengths to try to see you. No. I don’t look at it as chance. I look at it as I have longed for you so abundantly that I created my own luck because I was dealt a really unlucky hand.’

“‘
You were?’ Christine asked.

“
I had a royal flush right out of the gate and was quickly told it wasn’t my hand to play. As a matter of fact, I was told it wasn’t my hand and I was going to have to give it to a complete stranger, one who was right beside me. But once every fifteen years I get to spend an entire night with my royal flush!’

“‘
I’m sorry, Joel. I’m sorry for the both of us.’

“‘
So where do we go from here?’

“‘
I don't know. You know, I still have the letter back at my hotel.’

“‘
You still have the letter I sent back to you that you wrote me?’

“‘
Yes.’

“‘
I want to see it.’

“‘
Seriously?’

“‘
Yeah, I’ll take you to your car and then we will go to the hotel.’

“
Christine and I went back inside and got completely dressed.”

Chapter Twenty-four

“
We went back to the parking lot and my truck had a ticket on it. Crap. I hated tickets of any sort. They’re just a hassle. I plucked it off the windshield and rolled my eyes.

“‘
How much is it?’ Christine asked. She was still in her blue vehicle.

“‘
Fifty-five bucks.’

“‘
Gotta love it. They probably close this street to parking during the fair.’

“‘
Actually, I don’t love this.’

“‘
I’ll pay it if you like.’

“‘
No. I’ll definitely pay it. I wouldn’t trade last night for anything.’

“‘
So, where now?’

“‘
Comfort Inn.’

“‘
Believe it or not, I don’t know where that is. So lead the way.’

“
So, I led her to my hotel. We went to the room and looked at the letter. Then we parted ways and that was that.”

Present – Delta, Colorado, Coffee Shop, 3:25 a.m.

“Wait! What do you mean that was that? Did you kiss my...” She faded out.

“
Did I kiss your…what?” I asked.

“
Ass.”

“
Did I kiss your
ass
?” I asked, very perplexed. I had no idea what would possess her to ask me such a question after telling her the story. I stared at Sharee, slowly looked at her very closely. “Sharee, why would you say that?”

“
I didn’t mean to say my butt.”

“
You actually said, ‘my ass.’”