CHAPTER THIRTY

“Hurry up, baby, the shows going to start soon.” Ben waited in the living room of the guest house while Imara got ready for the afternoon matinee in town. As he looked in the mirror over the fireplace, Ben pushed his shaggy black hair back off his face then shook it back out. He hated his ears and how they stuck out, but no matter how he wore his hair, it never quite covered them.  He stepped back and turned to the side as he admired his arm muscles and how they stretched the fabric of his shirt.

“My, my, my.” Imara stood in the doorway watching Ben flex for his reflection. He smiled at her in the mirror as she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “You’re incredible, Ben. I’m not sure I want all those other women out there looking at you.”

Ben turned around and pulled her hips closer to him as he glanced down to her red lips. “We can stay here, baby, if you want. I don’t want to share you anyway. I’d be more than happy to climb back into bed with you all day.”

Imara pushed out her lips and shook her head no. “Un-un. No, sorry, my love. In the hundred or so years we have been married we have never been on a proper date; you can brave the next few hours with me.”

“Alright then, Thorin’s waiting out on the porch. Let’s get moving.” Smacking her ass as she walked by him, Ben looked down over Imara’s body from the back. He’d never seen her in anything but dresses and skirts, but the way those jeans hugged her curves sent shivers down his spine. He couldn’t wait to get her back home and peel them back off again.

“You now, I believe this is the first time we’ve ever been car riding together before,” said Imara as she looked out over the farmlands on their way into town. “I must admit that these leather seats are more comfortable than that old wagon of yours.”

“Uh-huh.” Thinking about his parents, Ben’s chest ached as he saw the tall corn growing along the roadside. The simple farm life was all Ben ever really wanted but was the furthest thing from his grasp anymore. “Maybe when…someday you and me are going to live on a farm again, or maybe in a cabin at the lake.

Imara could feel the longing in Ben’s heart for the simpler times when they first were married. It was all she wanted as well. She smiled and squeezed his hand. “We are living in a cabin by a lake, Ben.” She unlaced a finger from his grasp and pointed it down into the leather seat. “Right now, we are living that life. Be here with me now, sweetheart. Save the dreaming for bedtime and live with me right here and now while we still can.”

Hearing her words, Ben sighed and nodded. “I guess I spent a lot of time wishing and hoping that I could save you, that I ended up just…” Ben pushed his lips together tightly as he huffed out a disgusted breath through his nose and looked out the window. “I’m sorry, baby.”

“Stop, Ben. I don’t blame you. This curse is meant to torture you, not just by what he does to us, but what you’re doing to yourself with your guilt. You need to let that go and just love me.”

Ben clicked his tongue then kissed the back of Imara’s hand. “That won’t be a problem. I’ll love you until the very end.”

When Ben closed the car door behind Imara, he leaned into the window and took the cash from Thorin’s hand. “Alright, Ben, you should have plenty of money there for the movie and supper if you want it. You sure you don’t want me to pick you all up afterwards?”

Ben shook his head. “No, I can get her home alright. Thanks for the ride though.”

As they stood in front of the movie posters, Ben crossed his arms and sighed. “Any of this look good to you, baby.”

“Umm...don’t you laugh at me or anything, but can we watch this one? The one with the toy sheriff.”

Ben chuckled as he looked over at Imara. “Sure, baby, whatever your little heart wants.”

When they got to the ticket counter, Ben took the money from his pocket and said, “We want to see that show with the toys please.”

The woman behind the glass said, “That’ll be $5.00.”

Ben and Imara looked at each other in shock. “Excuse me ma’am. Did you say $5.00?”

“Yes, sir.”

Ben huffed through his nose and raised his eyebrows as he handed her his money. When they walked away with their tickets, Ben leaned over and said. “Jesus H Christ! If they’re going to rob you, they should at least wear a mask, so you know what’s happening. $5.00? That more than I made in a week back home on the farm.”

Imara wrapped her arm in Bens and sighed. “It’s just one day, Ben, and it’s not like me and Thorin can take all of that money of my family’s with us when we go to the Realm anyways. You worked hard all your life, let’s just enjoy this. You’ve earned every penny of it.”

Ben groaned and said, “I can’t wait to see what supper’s going to cost.” He lifted up his arm, “Maybe they want my lifeblood.”

When they sat down in their seats, Ben looked around the dark theater. “Looks like we’re all alone, Imara.”

“Oh, good.”

Leaning into her ear, Ben asked, “You want to fool around?”

“No, I do not. You just behave yourself, Mr. Logan.”

As Imara rested her head on her arm along the seatback in front of her, Ben watched her while she laughed and marveled at the technology. His smile fell as he suddenly realized that someone like Imara, so sweet and pure of heart, just wasn’t meant for this world. That the truth was that the worst curse of all was that they were born into the wrong world and forced to continue in it long after their times were through. They just didn’t belong there anymore, but no matter what they did they had to keep returning anyway. They were living ghosts haunting the world with no way of crossing over.

“That was a right funny picture,” said Ben as he walked out of the theater with his arm around his wife. Catching a glimpse of the drugstore around the corner of the small shopping center, Ben glanced at Imara as he thought of a way to say it. “I was thinking that we should go get some…well, Thorin was telling me about these things you could buy so you don’t get pregnant.”

Giving him a quick smile, Imara just nodded. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that Daniel had already warned her that Eliza was coming again. “Alright, whatever you think is best.”

When the doorbell above their heads clinked, Imara looked over the aisles of supplies. While Ben went to the counter to inquire about the condoms, Imara browsed the shelves. In the back corner of the store was a photo booth, Imara looked over the pictures on the outside and smiled to herself.

With a brown paper bag in his hand, Ben came to Imara’s side. “I hope you’re alright eating back home, those things were even more expensive than the dang movie. I cleared the damn shelf though, so I hope you’re feeling energetic.”

Grazing Ben’s arm with her fingers, Imara looked at Ben and nodded to the booth. “Take a picture with me.”

Ben pulled down his brows and groaned. “Really?”

“In three lifetimes, we’ve never had a picture taken of us. I want one Ben.”

As Ben tried to figure out how to put money into the machine, Imara slid across the seat and straightened her hair in the mirror. After he victoriously got the coins inserted, Ben climbed through the curtain then sat down beside her and gave her a kiss on the cheek just as the flash snapped.

Imara smiled and pushed him playfully away. “You ruined it.”

Ben shook his head. “Nah, baby, it keeps taking them for a minute.” He put his arm around her back then pulled her in close and kissed her lips as the flash snapped again.

“Alright then. Let’s get at least one good one, please.” Imara took a deep breath then faced forward and smiled. Ben rolled his eyes and smirked at the camera as it flashed.

“There it is, now kiss me.” Ben tickled Imara as he puckered his lips to try to kiss her. She roared out in laughter as his fingertips found her ribs and the flash clicked again.

Ben pulled Imara onto his lap then put his hand on her cheek. “I’m not letting you out of here until you kiss me right.” Imara leaned into Ben’s face then gently pressed her lips to his as the flash snapped for the last time.

While Ben waited with his back against the booth, Imara tapped her foot of the floor as her eyes glanced around the delivery door. When the pictures finally came, she slid them out and put her hand over her mouth. “Oh, look at that Ben. I’ve never had my picture done before, is that what I really look like?”

Ben bent over to look at them and nodded. “Yep, that pretty girl is you, baby.”

Imara sighed as she curled her hair around her finger and inspected each photo. “When…if we, if she comes, Ben, I want pictures.”

Ben rubbed his forehead then looked at Imara. “She’s not.”

Imara nodded. “But if she does. I want pictures. It’s getting harder to remember her face and…I don’t want to forget. I miss her so bad, Ben.”

As his eyes teared, Ben blinked hard and blew out through his mouth. “I know.” Ben put his arm around Imara’s neck then pulled her to him and kissed the top of her head. “We will.” Pulling her away from the booth towards the door, Ben leaned into Imara’s ear and said, “Now let’s get back home. I got about a hundred of those things, when I’m done you’re going to need about a week to recover.”