Page 49 of Mia Amata

“Great. Hey, Lucky!” He knelt down, petting Lucky while I went back to my room, grabbing my purse.

I walked back out; he was standing there with Lucky at his side.

“Looks like you have made a friend,” I smiled.

“He is a great dog,” Jacob said looking down at him.

“I’m ready to go if you are,” I said.

“I’m not ready yet,” he said. I looked at him questioning, he bent over kissing me again. “Now I am ready.” He smiled. I smiled shyly. This was going to take some getting used to. It still made me uneasy. We went out to his pickup. He walked me to the passenger side, opening the door for me. I started to climb in when a wave of dizziness came over me, I would have fallen to the ground had it not been for Jacob catching me.

“Mia Amata!” he cried, looking concerned, “Honey!” He picked me up, gently placing me on the seat of his truck. “Are you OK?”

I took some deep breaths, then nodded. “I’m OK.”

“Are you sure? You and the baby are OK?” That surprised me a little bit, he seemed to really be concerned about a baby that wasn’t his.

“Yes, the baby and I are fine.” I smiled at him. “The doctor explained that sometimes dizziness and nausea can happen during pregnancy. I’m fine now.”

He relaxed a little, reached out, and stroked my face. “Are you sure you want to go today?” He kissed me gently.

I smiled at him, “I’m sure. I’m pregnant, not dying.”

That got a smile from him. He kissed me again, then shut the door for me. He walked around the truck, climbing into the driver’s side. I buckled my seatbelt asking, “So where are you taking me?” I asked.

He smiled, reaching out, taking my hand in his as if it was the most natural thing to do. It felt… nice. “Well, I thought about taking you to a fancy restaurant but changed my mind. Instead, I would like to take you to my most favorite spot where we can have a picnic.” He nodded toward the back where he had a blanket with some pillows.

“That sounds lovely, but… um… I don’t see any food?”

He laughed, “I called in an order to one of my favorite restaurants, we will stop there to pick the food up. I hope you like fried chicken and potato salad.”

“Sounds great,” I said.

“Good,” Jacob looked at me. “I really want some place private, so we can get to know each other better, I thought a quiet picnic would be better than a noisy restaurant.” Pretty soon he pulled into a restaurant parking lot, telling me he would be right back he went in to get our food. He was soon back, putting the food in the backseat. He climbed back in, saying, “I hope bottled water is OK, I didn’t know what you would like to drink.”

“That’s fine, I really don’t drink soda. The food smells good. I’m eating for two, so I hope you brought enough!” I replied making him laugh. He pulled out on the street, starting to drive out of town.

“We will be there in about 20 minutes,” he said. He reached over, taking my hand again. It felt very natural. “That house right there is where my parents live,” he said, nodding to a large two-story house. He drove a little past it, turning off the main road.

“Are we on their property?” I asked.

“Yes, this road leads to my favorite place. Somewhere I grew up, spending a lot of my childhood.” We drove along for a few minutes through some trees when we finally came to an opening.

“Oh, Jacob,” I exclaimed, “it’s beautiful!” Sitting before us was a small cabin with wildflowers around it.

To the north of the cabin was a lake. There was a pier going out over the lake with a small rowboat on the shore next to it. It could have been a painting.

He stopped the truck at the cabin, saying, “Come on, we are almost there.”

“This isn’t it?” I asked, confused.

“Not quite.” He smiled at me, climbing out of the truck. He came around, helping me out of the truck. “Come on,” he said, taking my hand. “I’ll walk back for the food and stuff in a minute.”

He walked me down to the pier, helping me up the steps, walking out to the bench at the end. He was showing me different things, then pointed down at the water. I looked; it was so clear you could watch the fish swimming by, several feet down. “I fish here a lot; fishing is really good. Stay here, give me a minute to get things ready.”

I sat down, watching him walk to the rowboat. He did a few things to it, then went to the truck to get the picnic things, putting those in the boat. Walking back to me, he said, “Your chariot awaits Madam.” I smiled nervously, taking his outstretched hand.

We walked over to the boat, he helped me in, holding my hand until I was able to take my seat. He was wearing shorts, took his shoes off, putting them in the boat. He pushed the boat out into the water a little, wading in with it. He leaped in the boat smoothly and sat down taking up the oars. He started rowing, we were soon on our way out into the lake. I trailed my hand in the water while I looked around at the scenery.

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