Chapter Five
Jesse looked immensely angry at being called a cowboy. 'What did you call me? The de Silvas are self-respectful, not cowboys!"
I could see that Jesse was very proud that he's a de Silva, whatever that was.
"Whoa, down, boy. Sorry about the cowboy remark. But you do dress like one. You know, spurs."
Jesse appeared to calm down for a moment. "Sorry, querida. But I just get so mad when people call me a cowboy…"
I held up my hand. "Let's have a ground rule, OK? First: don't talking in foreign language, whatever that was. Sec—"
"It's Spanish for 'beloved'," Jesse interrupted.
I was just preparing to glare at him when I understood what I heard. Beloved! Me! Excellent. Much better than 'babe' or anything, as Paul used to call me. But I pretended not to notice. "—ond, no interruptions, and tell me exactly what occurred. Please begin."
"My name is Hector de Silva. My loved ones called me Jesse. I am the son of a ranch owner. I was going to Carmel to marry my first cousin, Maria de Silva. I stayed overnight at a boarding house, which I believe was your house, and I stayed in your room. But Maria loved Felix Diego, a slave-runner instead, so she asked Diego to kill me in my sleep. I was supposed to die in your room. But then Paul and you came to save me. You were deeply against Paul trying to rescue me, because you were afraid that if I don't die that night, you and me will never meet in the future. So Paul tied you up and left you in the barn. But while I was tethering me horse, you made a noise and I came up to investigate. Then I saw you.
You assured me that you were from the future, and told me about Maria's plans. So, while Diego was going to kill the dummy, which he believed was me, I confronted him. Then we fought. I managed to push him down the stairs. But he had pushed you to the floor, and you knocked over the lantern, setting fire to the barn. We jumped down together onto the ground safely. Paul just went back to his years. Then you said goodbye. I asked for your name, and waited for you. Even though I lived for fifty more years, I wasn't happy. Because I didn't find my one true love. You." Jesse stared intently at me as he finished his narrative.
Tears were gathering in my eyes. I just can't help it. It was like, a tragic love story. You know, the hero and heroine can't be together 'cause he's dead and she's alive, and the heroine giving the hero up, and the hero waited for the heroine for a hundred years. So… romantic. And to think it didn't happen because of Slater. And I want to change
that. I want the happiness that was supposed to be mine. Jesse and I were meant to be, but we lost it due to Slater's meddling. God, how I hated him.
"Tell you what," I said. "I'm going to right this wrong. That is, if you'd rather die and wait for one hundred and fifty years for me, than living."
Jesse looked passionately at me. "Oh, querida, I'm willing to wait a thousand years for you."
He reached up and cupped my face in both hands. And that's when he kissed me.
One the lips.
And I don't know why, but I did too. Kiss him back, I mean. Because somehow it felt very right to kiss him instead of Paul. The fireworks thingy, plus all the years of longing in his kiss. Plus, that was the only time we had for kissing, if what happened next was any indication.