The Davonshire Series 2: Loving Words (6 page)

Elsie’s things had begun to arrive the week prior and Wilfred instructed Conchetta to put them into her room.  Another shiver ran through him as he mentally processed the words ‘
her room
.’  Elsie’s body would be arriving this afternoon to accompany all the things she shipped, bringing more girly things and girly ideas to girlify his man space.  His privacy had just ended. His life as he knew it was about to be over and every day he was going to be forced to be nice, share, not frown, and have conversations with her about his feelings.

Wilfred scowled at the notion that he was going to have to wear pants all the time.  This also required the covering of his man parts, as well as wearing underwear under his exercise pants so that his dangly parts didn’t over-excite her delicate sensibilities!  At the end of the day, sometimes a man just needed to decompress, drink a beer, and stick his hands in his pants while feeling the possibilities of life.

The great thing in the whole cluster of nonsense was that he was not sexually attracted to her and it appeared that she felt the same about him.  This was indeed a plus, but there was still a bit of concern in him about the spark that shot up his arm when she placed her hand in his.  Maybe the whole Delphina thing had him charged up and the spark was just a reaction to his shoes on that stupid Berber carpet. 
Who puts Berber in an office anyway
?

Wilfred sat in his office, staring at the wall.  Rod had made some paella and brought him some for lunch.  He had no appetite. He had no focus and decided that maybe a ride was what he needed to clear his head.

At the stables, Lancelot was bucking to be taken out for exercise and Wilfred was only happy to oblige.  He rode the back end of his property that he seldom visited and started to think about expansion projects.  Wilfred knew there was a cave back here and would make a point of taking Gianni spelunking sometime soon.  Time must have gotten away from him because his cell phone chirped, signaling the front gate was being accessed. 

He rode Lancelot hard back to the hacienda, coming around the front of the house and spotting the town car.  His heart skipped a beat. 
She had finally arrived
.  Elsie was here.

As she exited the town car with the dog kennel, she looked up and spotted him on the horse.  She only gave the driver a nod as she sat the dog on the front porch and attempted to help the driver remove her suitcases from the trunk.

So much for traveling light.  Women
!

He secretly bet himself that it was a bag full of unnecessary girly stuff.

She waved to him as he got closer with her main focus being on the horse. He dismounted, tying Lancelot’s reins to the cactus lawn jockey.  With wallet in hand, Wilfred thanked and tipped the driver.  He watched the car drive away, then quickly joined her on the porch.  “Welcome to Green Gables Ranch.” 

She gave him a quick glance, eyeing his loose fitting jeans, the well-worn cowboy hat, and boots that had seen better days, but her eyes remained focused more on the massive horse.  “That’s an impressive and powerful animal! Is it a mustang?” 

“Yeah, animal is correct.  Lancelot is a bit of a beast and he’s a mustang.  Do you ride?”

Elsie patted the horse on the nose.  “Nope.  I have never even been this close to one, but Devons rides and so I shall learn.”

He grinned at her, trying to make her feel that her decision to come here was a good choice.  At this point, he wasn’t so sure himself, but she was here, the project was moving forward, and so was he.  He looked down at the cage.  “This must be Champ.”

He used his cell phone that had been tucked inside his jacket pocket to unlock the front door and he picked up the cage in his left hand and her large suitcase in his right, leaving the smaller valise for her to grab as the three entered the house. 

“Come on in and I guess, welcome to your home away from home….”  An involuntary shiver slid down his back, his eyes misting up with the anger that was flashing through his body. 
Damn that David
.

He disappeared into what looked like an office, returning with a special collar for Champ.  Elsie was amazed at how spacious the hacienda was on the inside because on the outside it looked as if the house was holding its breath. There were skylights attached to solar panels in the ceiling that brought in lots of natural light. 

“Dinner is in about an hour. Your room is the first one on the right at the top of the stairs.”  He added that the housekeeper had put her things away and she could rest and freshen up before dinner.  Wilfred kept Champ in the cage and he took the dog towards the kitchen. 

“I’ll bring your suitcase up later, unless you need it now, and when you’re ready, come down and meet us in the kitchen.”  He pointed towards the back of the house. Before she had an opportunity to say anything, Wilfred had vanished towards the kitchen, taking her dog and the case at the same time.  She followed his instructions and left the larger case, only taking the valise up the wide staircase.

 The staircase reminded her of the open stairs in the
Brady Bunch
house.  However, these looked as if someone had cut some uneven pieces of wood, sanded them, and strung them together with chains.  As she got closer to the stairs, she smiled, realizing the stairs were made of uneven pieces of wood which had been sanded, strung together with industrial chains, and stabilized so that when you walked, they did not move.

As she reached the landing, she noticed five doors. The one to her immediate right must be her room.  To the left, directly across from her was a masculine bedroom.  Curiosity propelled her forward and the room that butted against hers was a woman’s room, sitting adjacent from a media viewing area. 
Odd.
Why would anyone want a television viewing area in a hallway
?  There were shelves with all the latest movies, video games, a video game console, a flat screen television, and eight comfortable chairs.  The next door was a linen closet set next to a set of spiral stairs that emptied into the kitchen.  The last room, sat at a weird angle with the door in the center of the wall. 
This room must belong to him and W.E. Devons
.  She would not look in and invade their private space.

She tiptoed back to her room and slowly opened the door.  Elsie squealed in delight.  Never had she seen such a lovely room.  The room was so romantic with soft gray walls and rich brocades in the draperies.  The plush velvet piping on the bedding that had been folded back revealing a delicately stitched Matelassé gray coverlet that covered the queen size bed.  There were at least three pillows and two bolsters in varying hues of gray, purple and one in hot red.  She lay back on the bed, propping her head on the pillows, and felt like a princess – a princess who had a purple dog bed by the bathroom with a matching watering bowl for Champ!  She turned her head to the right and spotted the bathroom.  She was uncertain if the bathrooms were shared with the room next to hers but there was only one way to find out.

She bounded from the bed and first peered into the closet to find all the new clothing she had purchased hung, sorted and organized.  She checked the dresser drawers and found the new packs of underwear she had been purchased had been opened, washed, folded and placed neatly in the drawers.  At this point she assumed there was a housekeeper that she had to meet and explain that she didn’t need her washing her things or waiting on her – there would be no more of that nonsense.              Finally working her way to the bathroom, Elsie’s breath escaped her when she saw the plush purple throw rugs, the matching shower curtains, and the dressing table full of atomizers, cotton balls, and frilly stuff for her face and skin.  Half of the product in the cabinet she had never heard of and was afraid to try, but this… this was a haven for a woman to call a retreat.  She had to give a special thank you to whoever decorated this room for her.  This in itself was worth the price of admission.  She would ease her way in slowly, cause no waves, do a great job, and try to get hired on with Davonshire House.

Wilfred collared Champ and showed the dog how to enter and exit the back door.  Satisfied with how quickly the dog learned, he added some water and Kibble to his bowl, only to find the animal had fallen asleep on his new dog pad. Was he narcoleptic as Elsie had previously said?  Or maybe the poor fella was just overly tired from the trip?  He remembered Lancelot out front and knew he was ready for some oats and a rub down.

 There was still about an hour before dinner, so he locked the front door and rode Lancelot back to the stables.  He gave the horse some fresh oats while he rubbed him down and returned his riding gear to the tack room. 

 The golf carts had begun to arrive at the house and the teams were all coming to the hacienda to meet the newest member of the household.  Wilfred hadn’t invited
any
of them to the house and the nosy buzzards were just coming to take a gander at the lady and watch him squirm.  He would have the last laugh when they all met her and saw he had not hired a sex toy.

After hanging his hat by the kitchen door, he arrived in the kitchen to find White Bear, Raul, Mario, Rod, and Jaelon all seated at the table.  Wilfred used the downstairs bathroom to freshen up and he could hear Gianni telling some tall tale.  No one believed a word the young upstart was saying which was a distraction because no one noticed when Elsie had entered the room.  White Bear had risen from the table to refill his coffee cup and raised his hand to Gianni, all the while making eye contact with Elsie and asked, “How?”

Elsie had never seen a real live Indian before and assumed the gigantic man was speaking to her since he was making eye contact.  She raised her hand as if reciting the pledge of allegiance and responded, “How!” Everyone turned to see her and Gianni was the first to speak.  “Hey, lady.”  He smiled a boyish grin and walked over to take her by the arm and guide her over to the table, not missing a beat and still chattering on.  “He was talking to me, but maybe you can help me win this argument.”

She wanted the floor to open and swallow her whole because she had just made a racist comment without even realizing it.  White Bear walked over to her and she thought he was going to smack her for the insult or scalp her, but instead he extended a massive paw that completely engulfed her hand. 
Scalp me… that is racist too.  Oh Gosh Dang it.  I am a racist
.

“How,” he paused to make her feel even smaller than she already did just by standing in his shadow, “do you do?  And I do speak English.”  She dropped her head in shame and he gave her a light punch in the arm.  Raul introduced himself, then Rod and Mario.  Conchetta began to cry and Jaelon began to chatter on about something as she dragged Elsie from Gianni’s clutches and White Bear’s grip to the table to be seated beside her. “Why are you crying,” Elsie asked Conchetta.  Whatever the housekeeper said in Spanish must have been inappropriate because Raul, Mario, White Bear and Wilfred all gawked at her in disbelief.

Gianni broke the weird moment by making it weirder, “That was awkward.  I guess you don’t speak Spanish, huh, Lady?”

Elsie shook her head no and the men all breathed a sigh of relief.

Wilfred tried not to stare at the interloper, but she was immediately accepted by everyone.  She toyed over her dinner, seemingly uncomfortable under everyone’s gaze, all the while laughing with Jaelon, listening intently to Gianni, talking with Mario, eyeing Rod with curiosity… and avoiding looking at him.  Wilfred was pleased that his ad hoc family had gone out of their way to make her feel welcomed into this new environment. Each wanting to share their favorite parts of the ranch. Gianni couldn’t wait to show her the greenhouse.  Jaelon was excited to show her the new workspace. Mario was anxious to teach her to ride. Conchetta was happy to have another
mujer
in the house.  White Bear added well-timed grunts.  Who knew what the heck Raul was talking about, but one thing was certain, they were all excited she was here. 

With dinner over, Elsie helped Conchetta clear the table.  Gianni explained the recycling bins in the kitchen.  Rod said goodnight and headed to the guesthouse. Jaelon caught a ride with him.  Elsie was yawning. 

She finally looked at Wilfred to say, “What a day.  I think I’m going to turn in early so I can be ready to get started in the morning.”  She added as she and Champ headed towards the stairs, “I have a great deal to learn before Ms. Devons returns.”

She had not flirted with him.  There were not any subtle advances.  Wilfred could not remember the last time he was in the presence of a female, non-family member who wasn’t trying to get into his pants.  This was a new experience for him.  Based on his understanding, the only women who did not have a reaction to him were lesbians.