A Groom to the Altar by Patricia Sargeant

Author:Patricia Sargeant
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mediopolis Communications LLC

Chapter 7

DeAndre had been too trusting.

Ten minutes later, he sat in Elisha’s Volkswagen as they sped past the interstate entrance that usually took him to work.

“Where are you taking me?” The reflection of the freeway entrance disappeared in the passenger side view mirror.

“To Whetstone Park.” Elisha kept her attention on the rush hour traffic. She turned right off of Henderson Road and merged with the cars driving south on High Street.

“I’m not dressed for a stroll through a park.”

“I warned you.” Elisha sounded unsympathetic.

DeAndre settled into silence. Elisha’s scent surrounded him, flirting with him in her car. He was torn between aggravation and amusement. He’d half expected such a trick. Asher often described his sister as “strong willed.” That was an understatement. But it also was one of Elisha’s many features that he was hopelessly attracted to.

Hopelessly in love with?

He hit his mental brakes and took evasive maneuvers. “You realize this is kidnapping.”

“Do you want me to swing by the police station so you can file a report?”

“There’s probably a fine for filing a missing persons report for yourself.” DeAndre shrugged. “Besides, I’d only be further delaying the inevitable.”

“Smart man.” Elisha pressed the power button on her car’s compact disc player. “Just sit back, relax, and enjoy some Mary J. Blige.”

Mary J. Blige’s “Everything” contemporary rhythm and blues love song played through the car’s stereo system. DeAndre shot a look at Elisha, but her attention was on the traffic. That was the song they’d danced to during Asher and Zora’s wedding reception. It was their last song of the night before he’d driven Elisha home. Did she remember? Had she chosen that song deliberately?

Two-and-a-half Mary J. Blige hits later, Elisha turned into the entrance. She stopped her car in a space just beyond the lot near the Whetstone branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library. Did she intend to walk the entire length of the park? DeAndre considered Elisha’s sneakers. They looked much more comfortable than his cap-toe, lace-up Oxfords. With a sigh of resignation, DeAndre pushed himself free of the Volkswagen and joined Elisha on the unplanned exploration of the community park.

Whetstone Park was located north of downtown Columbus in the Clintonville neighborhood. It was a little more than 136 acres of active and passive use parkland. DeAndre had forgotten how beautiful it was in every season, like pastoral art scenes framed in a museum.

The park was surprisingly busy for a weekday morning in March. DeAndre watched the squirrels racing across the grass and followed the flights of birds until they disappeared above the trees. Soon the tension he hadn’t realized he carried in his neck, shoulders, and back eased away.

DeAndre exhaled, amazed at how much lighter he felt. “Thank you.”

Elisha’s smile filled him, made him feel brighter. “You’re welcome.”

“How did you know I needed this?” DeAndre gestured around them. He’d let Elisha set their course. She’d led them to a meandering path that traced a lazy creek.

“I knew you needed this because I know you.”

She made him feel vulnerable. DeAndre wasn’t used to that.

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