Music of the Soul Page 1

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Manufactured in the United States of America

FIRST EDITION

It’s Time

I leaned back in the large wicker chair in front of the immense freestanding rock chimney in the outdoor picnic area. I almost purred as I lay against Kimi’s chest as she ran her fingers through my hair while we watched our daughter Sammie having a snowball fight with Bobbie and Blake just a few feet away in the deep snow, close to the sleigh we came in on which was pulled by two huge Clydesdale draft horses.

I took a deep breath of mountain air as Kim absently tucked the heavy blanket around me tighter. I was almost sweating with the roaring fire, the blanket, and the woman I loved all generating heat for me. I was indeed a content woman. I looked back and up into the most amazing brown eyes I had ever seen, with flecks of gold that seemed to move about in them.

Kim looked at me in what most would have thought was a dispassionate manner. The stoic mask she always wore fooled everyone but those she let into our unorthodox circle of friends and family. Her eyes gave it all away, I saw passion, wonder, strength, and… curiosity. Her exotic Native American face suddenly broke into the warm smile she reserved only for me and Sammie. Bloody hell, it always got my motor running. Her soprano voice chimed out, “What is it Sky?”

I shrugged and gave her a whispering kiss on her lips and just snuggled in to watch the epic battle unfolding in front of us. Bobbie was getting so much better the past couple years, she even got rid of one of the forearm crutches she has needed ever since her fall from the cliff four years back. Her leg braces clanked and clacked. Her wife, Blake, told us that she is out climbing the damn mountains again. I guess it was inevitable, even a near death accident can’t keep someone as legendary as Silent Bob down for long.

Bobbi and Sammie were putting Blake into a crossfire and the giggling all around was contagious. Blake took a hit to the back of the head then grinned and snatched up a giggling Samantha and swung her up onto her shoulders saying, “That’s about it short stuff, it is almost midnight.”

I said softly, “Our baby is ten now Flower.” She nodded and I went on, “It’s New Years.” She tilted her head trying to figure out where I was heading with this. This was going to hit her out of the blue. This wonderful woman had torn herself away from her life, her family, everything she knew to be with me in London seven years ago. After we had met in that bloody Karaoke Queen competition. She did so without any hesitation.

For seven years our band, Satin Thunder has been at the top of the charts, and Sammi has grown up living nine months a year in London, growing up there and three months a year here in Issaquah when we visit Kim’s sister, Roberta Valentine, who I still don’t believe is her sister, but neither of them will confirm it.

It is like our daughter gets these glimpses into the world my Flower gave up for us. I think it is time. Our fortune has grown and residuals, merchandising and royalties will remain in the seven to eight digits for the next few years. Kim sacrificed everything she had ever known and I love her so bloody much.

I realized I was just staring at her, grinning like a bloody git. “I think it’s time that we show Sammie your world. I think it is time to retire from the music industry and come back home to Seattle, to Issaquah.”

She blinked at me a few times, did I finally stun the unflappable Kimi Soloman? Her smile slowly bloomed again. “You mean it?” She looked over to the women as they joined us near the fire.

My blonde angel came running over to us as I held the blanket open and she joined us in a cuddle. She shivered off the bit of cold from her playing. I grinned down at the single pink lock of hair that she always insists on having. She loves our friend Amber LaLanie’s bright pink hair and has sort of styled herself after her.

Kim looked at her and asked, “What would you say if we came to live here in the States? In Issaquah?”

She tilted her head and she narrowed her sparkling blue eyes that mirrored my own. “You mean. Like forever?” Kim nodded and Samantha’s contagious smile bloomed as she said excitedly, “That would be brill!”

I looked around at our makeshift family and said, “It’s settled then. This will be Satin Thunder’s final tour. Then we can come back to the life my Flower put on hold for us.”

There was some congratulations then Blake’s rough voice raised. “It’s time ladies!” She started the countdown. “Ten!”

We all joined in. “Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Happy New Year!”

We all cheered and I gave Kim a kiss full of promise for the next chapter of our lives together. This was my home, by her side with our daughter. I whispered, “I love you Flower.”

Her voice cut through me and warmed my soul as she replied, “I love you too Sky.”
I awoke to the sun peeking through the window and warming my face. I winced. Come on Roberta, work out the kinks. I stretched and my body was on fire like every morning since my accident five years ago, but the stretching felt great, loosening muscles that bunched up during the night.

This was going to be an awesome Valentine’s Day, I had something special in mind for my wife even though we agreed not to do anything until Kim and Skylar got back late tonight. I reached behind me with a smile curling on my lips. I furrowed my brow and reached back to pat empty covers.

The familiar warmth and comforting presence of the love of my life was missing. I sat up and looked back to where Blake always laid, pulling me into her, protectively, lovingly. I smiled at the thought of her arm wrapped around my waist and her face nestled into my shoulder. I shimmied the warm tingle away with a widening grin. Damn that woman got my motor running. Now where did she get off to?

I let the blanket drop from me as I saw a small red hea
rt sticky note on her pillow. I picked it up and grinned. Surrounded by dozens of little hearts was a set of GPS coordinates. My smile threatened to split my face. The minx! I knew these coords. I looked out the window to the snowy Cascade Mountains, my second home. They were where I found my peace.

I swung my left leg out of bed, rubbed out a couple knots then grabbed my right leg with my hand and dragged it out. Spending more time massaging and waking it up, working out some of the pains that crept back in over night.

Then I reached down and grabbed my leg braces and went through the tedious routine of strapping my legs up. I tightened the straps and grabbed my forearm cuff crutch and stood. I clanked and clacked to the bathroom, my right leg spasming out to the side as she sometimes did, Righty had a mind of her own. I chuckled at the fact that I had more hardware on my legs than Robo Cop. I stopped to grab some heavy winter clothes on the way, then quickly got ready for the day. I felt much better after a fast but scalding hot shower.

Once I was geared up and my braces strapped on I laced up my climbing boots and shrugged on my winter coat before clacking out of my residence on the upper level of the lodge that housed Blake and my outdoor outfitter business.

I looked at the glass elevator that could take me down a level to the cafe and office. Sometimes I was lazy and took the damn thing, but not today, I needed to stretch out my leg muscles some more if Blakester was where I thought she was. I walked down the wide, rough hewn timber stairs on the grand staircase taking long diagonal strides to put some strain on my leg muscles and loosen them up.

Once I reached the office level I smiled hugely at Sandra who had come in today to open up the coffee bar. That woman was always helping out. She had her own charitable foundation to run but she insisted on still working for me part time like she has for almost as long as I can remember now. I waved my free hand at her and her face and eyes lit up like they do every time she see’s me. God I love that sweet gentle woman.

I passed her and went into the office, sneaking a peek down to the lower level where the retail space was. My people were prepping to open the doors soon. We pride ourselves in never closing our doors except on Christmas.

The office slash product catalog and brochure store room wasn’t empty. Ramona was there manning the radio by the big map of the area on the wall with a single red pin in it near Beggar’s Creek. My suspicions were correct, someone was out there. Our policy is to always have homeplate manned, always at the radio, when someone was out.

I grinned at the far too innocent woman who turned back to look at me. I smirked and asked, “She’s there huh?”

The chocolate skinned woman gave me one of those smiles that will make any man or woman do whatever she wanted and replied, “I’m sure I have no idea what you are talking about boss. I’m just taking a break.”

I grinned, “Your dimples won’t work on me woman. We haven’t even opened yet.” She fluttered her eyelashes at me and shrugged, crinkling her nose. A woman in her early thirties should not be able to look so cute. Ok fine, her dimples work on me, I sighed in surrender and said, “Fine, have your conspiracies and cal me Bobbie for the twenty three millionth time Ram.”

She winked and said, “You got it boss.” I threw a small rubberband ball on the desk at her as I opened the door to the open stairway down into the large vehicle bay below. Would you look at that, Shadow, Blake’s all black chrome snowmobile was gone. I started clanking toward mine, the red one that Vernon had special formed leather cuff that padded and held my right leg in place as I rode.

Sure enough, my backpack and all my gear were lashed to the back of the seat. I took the two water bottles off the seat and slid them into the inside pockets of my coat then started mounting up. I slid the crutch into the modified shotgun holster strapped to the side of the handlebars.

I didn’t have to look up to know that giant mountain man slash handyman would be there by the bay doors, where nobody had been when I walked in. It’s kind of scary how stealthy the man is. I started the snowmobile and looked up and the shaggy man with his layers of flannel grinned from behind his beard and opened the door as I just rocketed out of the vehicle bay out into the compacted snow. Waving at Vernon as I passed.

I didn’t even consult my gps and picked a southward trail through the majestic pines, a path I knew like I knew my own living room. Before long I was blasting over a snowbank and over the frozen creek. I was glad we had got approval from the state to improve the trails or I would have to hike in the last bit, which would delay me from claiming my prize, I’m not as fast as I was when I had two good legs, except on a mountain face. I cut down a freshly widened and groomed trail that gave access to the area by snowmobile or four wheeler.

I came to a stop beside Shadow, who was parked at the base of a majestic cliff face that went east and west as far as you could see. While not a daunting height, just over three hundred feet, it gave the appearance of a stone wall guarding some ancient kingdom, just a sheer rock face. The locals like me call this wall The Skin.

It held a significant part of my heart. It is both where I almost lost my life, and where my life truly began. My fall five years ago to the ledge about sixty feet above my head where I spent two days in the cold with critical injuries was where I knew I would die without telling the woman I loved the truth.

But against all odds, the people in my life I most cared about, my odd eclectic family of friends who are closer to me than blood had found me. I lost some fingers and toes to frostbite and my legs will never be the same. The stroke in the hospital later screwed up the speech center of my brain and I apparently speak with my old heavy Australian accent though I can’t hear it. Over the decades in the USA I had all but lost it, but it is apparently back with a vengeance.

The funny thing is, even with all of that, I saw that as the luckiest time in my life. It brought Blake and I together and all the lies and half truths were thrown aside and we admitted our love to each other. The following years have been the happiest times of my life.

Blake wouldn’t let me give up and shouldered all my frustrations and anger over losing my freedom to go to the mountains I loved almost as much as her. Her motto was one day at a time one step at a time. She brought me through it and now the mountains are once again mine.

I grinned as I looked up and slid my leg out of it’s cuff and sat side saddle as I strapped my backpack on my back and slung the coil of rope over my shoulder and across my body. I exhaled and watched my breath fog the air, I couldn’t get rid of the grin as I pulled the crutch out of the holster and fit it to my forearm and hopped off the snowmobile into the snow.

I clanked over to the cliff face and slid the crutch over my shoulder and into the holster on my backpack. I pulled out a bottle of water from inside my jacket and downed it. Hydrating is important. Then I pulled off my gloves and they hung on their lanyard as I laid my hands on the rock and just communed with it.

It was always like a religious experience for me. The mountains were sentinels that stood through time. They were here before me and would be here long after, standing witness and chronicling the ages. I looked up and started to free climb. My grip adjusting automatically for the fingers I had lost. I let my right leg just drag behind me. I had learned that it was easier for me if I didn’t try to use it in my climbs since Righty is a stubborn bitch and does whatever the hell she wants.

This was where I was meant to be when I wasn’t at Blake’s side. I took in the fresh, crisp air, deep into my lungs. I made short work of the bumping up and traversing easily, all of the physical therapy had strengthened my upper body to compensate for my legs until they were strong enough to hold me up all day.

I reached up and slapped my arm over the ledge in an arm hook and pulled myself onto the long wide ledge. My smile bloomed when I saw my prize. There was Blake, sitting on the ledge with a picnic lunch on a blanket on the packed snow on the ledge, her back to the wall in the very place she had repelled down the cliff to find my broken and battered body. I pulled my crutch from its hol
ster and clacked and clanked the five steps to her.

Such a beautiful smile, filled with so much love. I reached out and grasped her hand as my eyes drifted to the rock wall behind her. There were large, stunning, angel wings painted on the rock face with my initials painted in the center of them… RV Roberta Valentine.

I touched the wall tentatively then looked down to the other half of my heart. She pulled me down to sit with her. She whispered, “Happy Valentine’s day Ro.” Her smile was half compassion half mirth at her little joke as she stressed the word Valentine. She crinkled her nose playfully.

I grinned, “Har har… yes Valentine’s for Valentine.” Then I got serious, “You Blake Reston-Valentine, are the Valentine of my heart.”

I silenced the sarcastic remark that she was about to utter with the most passionate kiss I had ever shared with her. Giving my soul to her, caressing her with, and wrapping her in my love, the mountain bearing witness as we renewed our vows to each other with the beating of our hearts.