Chapter 5: Battle Of Wills

Norah waved goodbye to the Purcells, grinding her back teeth with smile, as she walked back to her truck through the falling snow. Snowflakes landed on the back of her neck and melted swiftly, causing small rivers of moisture to snake down her back. The water was one more irritant to her degrading bad mood. It was just her luck to have a snowstorm in the middle of autumn.

“Norah,” Luke called from the other side of the truck. “You’re going to have to speak to me at some point.”

Norah pulled open the driver’s side metal door with more force than necessary, jarring the joint of her shoulder. She used the pain to fuel her anger. “Get us off this damn mountain, Mr. Blackford, and we’ll see if I need to talk to you again.”

“It was a just a joke. No hard feelings.”

“I’m laughing on the inside.”

Shaking his head, he got behind the wheel of his truck and guided them the mountain path.

Fifteen minutes into the drive, Norah saw his brake lights flash red. Coming to a hard stop on the gravel rock path, she huffed out a breath of frustration as she got out. She did nothing to hide the fury in her face.

“What the hell is going on?”

“The bridge is snowed out. We can’t go through.”

Norah placed her hands on her hips. “We can go around and take the pass.”

Before she finished what she was saying Luke was already shaking his head. “That’s a half-a-day’s journey. We won’t make it down before the heavy snow comes.”

“What are we suppose to do then? Build an igloo out here?”

“We can go to my cabin.”

She threw her hands in the air. “No.”

“Okay. You freeze out here. I’m going home.”

Norah grit her teeth, growling something unpleasant under her breath. Forcing her truck through over the bridge was stupid, and possibly suicidal. She had to go with Luke; there were no other options.

It didn’t mean she had to like it.

“Fine.” She poked his chest with her finger. “But only until the bridge clears.”

Luke smirked. “Yes, Ma’am”

* * *

The sight of Luke’s cabin gave Norah pause as she parked her truck in the drive. It was something out of a dream. They had stayed in his parent’s old place while they were married. The old thing had needed major work, but they had planned to fix it up together. They had even drawn up plans when they had spare time between work and classes.

In all their time together they had never really had a place of their own. It had been their chance. Their dream cabin.

He had made it come true.

“It took some time to build.” He was reading her mind again. “Everything turned out in the end though.”

“Any offers yet?”

“Not yet,” he replied, pulling his keys out of the back pocket of his worn jeans. “But it’s only been on the market for a couple of weeks. The realtor said it would sell fast, though, given the season and all.”

Norah frowned. “In a hurry?”

He opened the door wide, letting her step inside. “Get inside before you freeze to death.”

The cabin on the inside was spacious and inviting, decorated in muted tones of brown and blue. The furniture was sparse and simple, yet elegant in an undemanding way. The place looked exactly like Luke.

“I’m going to put on a pot of coffee and call down to Meg to let her know we’re okay.” He stripped off his wool-lined coat and threw it over the back of what looked like a recliner, covering the sight of a walking cane. “Put on a fire, will ya?”

“You’ve gone gimpy on me,” she said pointing to the cane.

“Accident.”

She watched his back as he walked into the kitchen. Luke had never been one to talk much about personal issues, but his tight-lipped response to the cane bothered her. Still, she let it slide. They were worlds apart now. She had no right to pry.

Norah took off her coat and scarf, and draped them next to Luke’s things on the chair. The fire a few minutes to start, reminding her how long it had been since she had experience the true cold. The warmth came quickly as the fire took hold. She sighed in satisfaction. She still had it.

A flash of something familiar caught Norah’s attention as she got up from kneeling on the floor.

A framed picture sat on the dark wood coffee table tucked away in the corner of the living room. Norah found herself walking towards without a thought to the implications as to why. Hurriedly pulling her fingers out of the woolen gloves, she took the picture and stared at the smiling facing. Something in her heart cracked.

The picture was of the day she had given birth to their little boy. Luke sat behind her on the hospital bed, supporting her tired body against his broad chest. Their baby was cradled close in her arms as they both stared down, heads touching, at their little miracle.

Norah remember that moment so vividly. Doctors and nurses kept coming and going through the room, but they hadn’t noticed the intrusions. They had simply been lost in their own world, speaking in quiet whispers as they cuddled their child. He was such a joyful little boy, and looked just like his father.

They had named him Lucas after his daddy.

Her hand went instinctively to the pendant around her neck, clutching it in her fist. When they had gotten home from the hospital Luke had given her the necklace with their son’s birthstone placed in it – a blue topaz to mark the occasion. She hadn’t taken it off since he placed it around her neck.

“I’ve forgotten what he smells like.” Norah could feel Luke close behind her. He was always nearby somehow, always watching. Even after all that had been broken. Tears burned the backs of her eyes. “It’s funny. I can remember the way his hair felt and the sound of his laugh, how it used to shake his little body. But I can’t for the life of me remember what he smelled like.”

“Don’t do this.”

“Was it fate, do you think?” She turned on him, eyes bright with rage. “We’ve been together, what, one lifetime for the past eight centuries? Soul mates we’ve called each other. Was this the price of our love - for us to be together? That our son had to die.”

She watched as Luke went stiff. “You say this, after all this time?”

“Maybe eight lifetimes was too many!”

Norah clutched the frame to her chest as if somehow it would save Lucas from harm. She wanted everything to go back to the way it was. She wanted her family to be whole again.

“He’s gone,” she cried. Anger swelled with the sorrow as she gazed at Luke made of stone. Did he not feel the pain too? Did he not mourn their son? “Lucas is gone, and you’ve reduced him to a damn photograph!”

“There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of him. My god, Norah – he was my son! He haunts me, Norah. Every night I close my eyes I see our little boy.” Luke grabbed her tightly by the arms, his face a cold mask. But his eyes – something dark blazed in his eyes as he stared her down. “So do you.”

“You’ve got nerve,” He whispered, acid dripping from each word. “I have loved you forever it seems; through wars and poverty. I thought we could face any hardship that came our way. And we did. But when Lucas died…when our son died you didn’t fight back Norah. You gave up and ran away.”

Norah choked back on her hysteria. The heavy weight sitting on her chest began to press down on her lungs. She couldn’t breathe. She needed to air. Utterly confused, she struggled against his grip, but his hold never faltered.

She shook her head. “No, I…I couldn’t face it. There’s too much pain for us to be…”

“No, Norah.” Luke pulled her closer, wrapping his arms tightly around her body. “I let you run from me once but not again.”

He crushed his mouth against hers, his kiss on the edge of brutal. Norah felt herself stiffen against his sensual assault. The wave of anger she had been riding so high on swiftly turned into something deeper, fueled by a dark desire that only Luke could provide. She succumbed to his touch, meeting his kiss with one just a potent. Her hands reached under his shirt, stroking her fingers over his bare skin.

In a whirlwind Norah felt herself was being sucked down into a vortex of emotion, everything in the past seven years bursting into a storm of need. This was insanity. But she pointedly ignored her common sense, pushing it the back of her mind, letting herself surrender to the moment.

To him.

“Please, Luke. Touch me,” Norah whispered against his mouth. “Make the pain go away.”

Luke lifted her into his arms, carrying her into the bedroom a few feet away. Gently, he laid her down onto the comforter, never taking his gaze once from hers. The loud rush of blood filled her ears as she watched him undress. She was nervous, but she needed him too much to back away now.

“I love you.” He laid himself on the bed, turning her into his arms so they faced each other.

Norah kissed him deeply, closing her eyes against his declaration.

They embraced and caressed each other in the darkness, allowing the night to enclose them in a world of their own. And as it faded slowly into the rays of the sunrise, the lovers fell asleep in each other’s arms.

* * *

The morning light shone down upon Norah’s face in a myriad of colors. Blinking slowly, she stared at the stain glass window Luke had created to capture the sunrise. It was one of the things the talked about when they were planning to build the cabin. She had always admired the stain glass displays when they visited the city. It was a silly dream, but he had built it for her anyway.

Shaken, Norah turned away. Luke lay gloriously naked beside her, only part of the comforter covering his thighs and midsection from view. His long black hair was hung loosely on the pillow as she had taken it down during their love making. One of his arms was draped behind his head, cushioning him as he relaxed in slumber.

With a feather touch, she ran the tips of her fingers over the edge of his jaw, savoring the feeling of the stubble on his chin. Her fingers traveled a path down his neck, over the expanse of his chest. The feel of him brought back a flood of the desire. No matter how much time they spent apart, no matter what he looked like, he always made her feel tender and vulnerable like nobody else could.

She kissed him softly, lingering over his mouth as she tried to remember the touch of his lips. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m not as strong as you think I am.”

As quietly as possible Norah slipped out of the bed and gathered her clothing from the floor. Dressed haphazardly, grabbed her bag from the couch, and slipped it over her shoulder. Only when she had everything did she finally glance back the bed. Luke was still fast asleep, a small smile curving his edges of his mouth.

Her lip quivered at the thought of leaving, but she bit down to stop it from shaking. The taste of blood filled her mouth. Steeling herself against the pain, she left quickly, closing the door softly behind her.

Norah was a mile down the road before she felt herself take a deep breath.

The tears bombarded her with a torrent of emotions. Feeling as if she had been shattered into a million pieces, she let them fall, one by one as they rolled down her face to stain her shirt. Everything inside screamed at her to turn back, to go home to the only place where she truly felt safe and loved. But her foot remained on the gas pedal; her destination straight to town.

She never looked back.


Prompt 7: Incorporate the words glass, wood, metal, rock, feather in this chapter.

"14 Days, 7 Prompts, 1 Story Contest" 
Word Count: 2121
Total Count: 5706