Blood of the Rainbow Read Free Page A

answered - dunce!
    Jared sensed her embarrassment. He smiled. “I do both.”
    “Jared, can I ask you a question?”
    Jared chuckled, and answered the questions Sara was too shy to ask him. “No, I’m not married. And no, I don’t have a steady girlfriend – yet ,” he added giving her a sideways glance.
    Sara rolled her eyes, sighed, and lied. “Very informative, but that wasn’t what I wanted to know.”
    Jared appeared to be deflated. “Oh….”
    Sara blushed again and took a deep breath. “I don’t want you to think I’m prejudice, but which tribe are you from? I mean, obviously you’re Native American, right?”
    Jared smiled. “Aren’t we observant? Was it my dark skin, high cheek bones, or long hair that gave me away?” he teased. “Please tell me it wasn’t the accent. I’ve been working extremely hard, not to say ‘how’, when I greet people. You tell me. Guess Sara.”
    Great – now you’ve offended him.He’s just too polite to say anything. “I’m not good at guessing games,” she blurted out. Offending him was the last thing I wanted to do.
    Jared stood in front of her, forcing her to either look at him or the ground. “Oh come on – try - please ….”
    Oh God – don’t beg Jared . Very quickly, Sara taxed her memory, but she came up blank. Sara had been fascinated with Native Americans since she was a child, which was probably one of the things that attracted her to Jared, but not the only one. She glanced at the thunderbird on the wide leather band on his wrist. She took a pot luck guess. “Navajo?”
    Jared studied her eyes, his expression serious, and unreadable.
    Oh God, Sara thought . I must have gotten it wrong!
    Jared finally grinned. “You got it right.” He stepped to her side again.
    Sara sighed noticeably. She still wasn’t thinking clearly. “Do you live on a reservation?” Idiot! Her face turned a deeper shade of red. You’re so stupid! Of course, he doesn’t. There are no Navajo reservations anywhere near Shreveport – you moron!
    Jared softly laughed. “No. I live at Wisteria Hall, to the north of Cross Lake. But, my grandfather still lives on a reservation in Arizona. Maybe I could take you there sometime. ‘Raging Storm’ plays at the annual country music convention there every year. If I can keep my schedule clear enough.”
    Sara was relieved. “I’ve always wanted to see Arizona. I loved ‘Geronimo’ and ‘Last of the Mohicans’.”
    Jared laughed again. “Well at least you got one of them right.”
    Sara looked horrified. “What?”
    They started walking again. “Ah – Sara - ‘Last of the Mohicans’ took place in Colorado.”
    Sara blushed again. “Oops – sorry. Guess I took the movies too seriously.”
    Jared smiled. “It’s all right. I’ll enjoy serving as your guide.”
    Sara was getting confused. “Where – in Colorado?”
    “No Silly!” Jared chuckled. “Arizona. I’ll look forward to showing it to you… all of it.”
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    They walked a while longer before Sara built up enough courage to say anything else. “Is Wisteria Hall some kind of plantation?” She hoped the house would be a safer subject. If you embarrass yourself much more, your face is going to burst into flames. You already look like you’ve been sunburned!
    Jared smiled slightly. “Yes. During the slave days, it was a huge cotton plantation. It’s about eight or nine miles outside the city limits.”
    Sara felt a little braver. “Why is it called Wisteria Hall?”
    They neared the curb. Sara’s last question seemed to make him uncomfortable. He smiled again, and reached down, taking her hand. “You’ll understand when you see it.”
    Jared led her across the street, where they stopped at a low, white picket fence. When they’d crawled over the fence, instead of letting go of Sara’s hand, he laced his fingers with hers.
    Sara was caught off guard. Jared’s touch sent chills down her spine. If I had known you were here, I would have