Waiting For Eden (Eden Series) (12 page)

“Well, if I succeed in doing all
of this forgiving... do you think your son might forgive me for being so... prickly?”

Diana laughed and touched her softly on the cheek.  “I don’t think that Jamie would be able to resist such a pretty face even if he wanted to.”

“I don’t want him to...
detest
me.  I intend on treating my new neighbors like family.  This, of course, includes raiding your refrigerator at will...”

They laughed together for a moment, and then Diana rose to leave, citing numerous chores to be done.  “You’re welcome anytime
at our house, Alexandra.”

After Diana had left, with Kiester in tow, happy now with a tidbit in his tummy, Alex remained at the table, rolling the conversation over and over in her mind.  Her spirits had been lifted, some of the heaviness was gone from her shoulders, and she felt a strange tremor in
her core, a mere glimmer, but it was there nonetheless. 

It was not completely new to her, she had felt it once before, but it was many years ago, before she had ever laid eyes on Richard Winters.  It was
hope
. 

~~~~~~~

“A toast to new beginnings.”

The first shot of blackberry brandy slithered a hot path to her stomach like liquid fire.  Tears stung her eyes initially, but the aftereffects were warm and soothing, and left a sweetly pleasant taste in her mouth.

“Wow,” Alex rasped.  “That’s actually pretty good stuff.”

“A shot a day keeps the doctor away,” Aaron commented with a grin.  Alex noticed how much it mirrored his brother’s own devilish smile.  Aaron had the same head of thick, sandy hair as Jamie, but his eyes were a strange, misty gray color, and his face was the smoother, less rugged face of a younger man.  His features were nearly as handsome, however, and filled with that same lazy, self-confidence.

“How old are you, Aaron?” 

“
Twenty-five,” he replied with a wink.  “Not too young at all, I assure you.”

“
He’s only twenty-two.  Aaron’s always been a little bit too big for his britches,” Diana commented wryly.  “Now take those dirty things off awhile.  You don’t know the first thing about impressing a young lady. 
Manners
, Aaron.  Don’t you remember that word?”

Alex noted that Aaron was not
quite too old to flush at his mother’s words.  “All right, I get it.”  He began shrugging out of the greasy coveralls he’d been working in earlier. “Just pour another round in the meantime.  I had a long morning.”

Diana met Alex’s eyes, and rolled her own.  “Aaron works at the
Chevy Dealership out in Roulette.  He’s a grease monkey,” she added teasingly.  

“Grease
monkey my butt.  I’ll be head mechanic by the time I’m twenty-three.”

“I still think you should go to college.”

“I’m making too much money.  I’ll have my own business up and running in a couple of years.”

“Aaron is pretty good at fixing vehicles,” Diana admitted.

“Why Jamie always putts around on those John Deere’s, I’ll never understand,” Aaron quipped.  “By the way, Alex, I like that Ram turbo diesel I spy out there in the driveway.  If you ever need work done on it, you know where to find me. Course, if you get tired of it, I know where to find you a great Chevy truck.  Lifted and tuned even.”  He winked at her again.  “I’ll give you a special discount.”

Alex laughed, shaking her head, while Diana poured another round of brandies.  “I’ll make sure I give you my business, Aaron.  It’s brand new though, I hope it doesn’t need work any time soon. And somehow I can’t picture myself in a lifted truck.”

“Yet,” Aaron laughed.  “And once you do, you won’t go back.  By the way, where is that devil brother of mine?”

“He made
the first cutting of hay this morning.  He and Mouse are finishing up with the stacking right now.”

Aaron wiped his forehead in mock relief.  “Glad I went in on a Saturday.  Nothing worse than stacking hay in the mow.”  Diana just shook her head.

Alex sipped on the second shot of brandy, and it glided down to her stomach smoother and sweeter than ever.  She smacked her lips, grinning.  “I think I may have stumbled upon something here.”

“Yeah, the secret to eternal youth.  Just look at this gorgeous young lady here.”  Aaron leaned over and kissed his mother on the cheek.  “Would you believe she’s actually sixty-five years old?”

“Aaron Michael Sheldon, bite your wicked tongue! And no more brandy.”

He dropped his hands to his mother’s shoulders, and rubbing her gently, bent again to peck the top of her head.  With her chestnut mane pulled back in a cute ponytail, Alex noticed that she did look very much like a young girl.  She was amazed at how much love the Sheldon family openly showed one another.

“You’re probably leaving grease prints on me,” Diana muttered sternly, trying to keep her lips from curling into a smile.

“Once again, I get the hint.  But actually, I
can
hear the shower calling to me right now.”  He gave his mother a final pat, and with a wink at Alex, he ambled for the stairs. 
“Come to me, Aaron, my darling, my love....you filthy, dirty little naughty boy…spankings for you…”
  He disappeared into the upstairs hallway.

“See what I have to deal with, day in and day out?”  Diana questioned laughingly.  “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“No, unfortunately, I was an only child.”

“I wondered if Jamie would be an only child. 
We wanted another baby right away, but it took us so long to conceive Aaron.  We were lucky.”

“My father left when I was six.  My mother had a couple of boyfriends after that, but nothing too serious.”

“I’m sorry to hear that Alex.  Just remember, whenever you want to experience what it’s like to have a brother, just pop your head in here.”  Diana moved to the sink, and ran water for the dishes. “It can get a bit crazy.”

“Can I help you with that?”

“No, no.  There’s not many.  Jamie and Mouse are in the barn, could you let them know I’ll have supper ready in an hour?  And you’re welcome to stay, too.”

“Oh.  Thank you for the offer
but I should get back... but I’ll go tell them.  I suppose I owe Jamie an apology anyway.  If he’ll speak to me, that is.”

Diana laughed.  “Well, you certainly made an impression on Mouse.  He wouldn’t shut up about you the other night.”

“So Mouse is actually a friendly sort of guy?”

“Yes, he’s t
he best.  He’s a great help around the farm too.  If you ever need someone to do some odd physical job or another, Mouse is as trustworthy as they come.  Don’t let his appearance fool you.”

Alex rose.  “Thanks for the tip.”  The brandy simmered in her belly as she made her way to the back door.  The picture of Mouse chattering away about
Oww-lex
made her want to giggle. 

For Christ’s sake, she had nearly maced the poor guy.  What a fiasco that would have been.  She made a mental vow to chuck the mace vial when she got home.  She wouldn’t be needing it anymore.  And perhaps she could use Mouse for some handiwork. 
Running fence on her own was a job she didn’t look forward to.

The grass in the yard was tall and
soft; whispering against her ankles, for the spring rains had been frequent and nourishing.  Pockets of dandelions nodded brightly wherever she looked, and Alex realized that she actually preferred the grass long and free, as opposed to the carefully manicured lawns of the suburbs, with their perfectly criss-crossed mow paths and fastidiously installed landscape edging.

She approached the double barn doors with long, sure strides, the brandy smothering her apprehension effectively, and slipped inside.  The rumble of the hay elevator was noisy, and the sweet scent of freshly mowed hay was thick and cloying.  Through the dusty air, she spied Mouse up on a hay wagon, chucking bales down onto the conveyer belt with an easy and rhythmic motion.  She followed the direction
of the bales to the right side of the barn, where Jamie caught and stacked the rectangular blocks of hay into the mow.

He was naked to the waist but for a pair of gloves on his hands, his hips and thighs clad in faded blue jeans.  Alex stood silently for a moment, watching the play of muscles across his back and shoulders as
he bent to heft a bale, and then stacked it firmly in its place within the mow. 

A shaft of light pierced the dim air from a crack in the wooden barn board, striking his chest with a filmy, golden glow as he turned to retrieve the next bale.  The play of both shadows and light seemed to define the contours of his rippling upper body like it had once been etched from stone, but had now come vitally alive.

You’re delusional
, she thought to herself with disgust, but her teeth caught her lower lip as she continued to watch anyway, the brandy filling her with a flushing warmth that began at the tips of her toes, then spreading slowly upward to splay across her cheekbones. 

Who would have dreamed
that he would be built so perfectly?  The thought tugged the corners of her mouth down, for it bothered her that merely watching him toil had affected her so consciously.  He was-
what had he called it?
- Her arch nemesis
.  It’s the damned brandy
, she thought again for the tenth time.

The elevator shut off suddenly, plunging the barn into silence.  The dust hung in the motionless air, suspended.  Alex swiveled her gaze to Mouse, who was waving at her heartily.  The wagon was empty.

“Hi Oww-lex!”

“Hi there, Mouse.”
             

“Jay-me.  It’s Oww-lex.”

“I see that,” Jamie responded, hopping down from the rows of neatly stacked bales.   He stopped several feet in front of her, his blue eyes regarding her curiously, but coldly.  She almost lost her nerve and retreated.

Alex cleared her throat nervously.  “Your mom want
ed me to tell you that dinner will be ready in about an hour.”

Casually, Jamie reached to pull
on a tee-shirt that he had previously discarded over the railing, and wiped his forehead with it.  Alex could see that he was dusty and covered with a thin sheen of sweat, but her stomach fluttered in appreciation anyway. 

Up close, his tautly ridged stomach was as impressive as she remembered from their previous outing
, and the curious scent of fresh hay and male sweat was... well, very good.

“
Okay Alex, well, thanks for passing on that information,” he added when it became obvious that she was waiting for a response.

“Pork chops?”  Mouse inquired.  When Alex shrugged, he added, “I hope it is pork chops, Jay-me.”  Only he pronounced pork chops,
poke-chupps
. 

“Is there something else you wanted, Ms. Winters?” Jamie prodded, his lips
finally quirking up at the corners. 

Alex took the half-smile as a good sign, and
pointedly chose to ignore the sarcasm in his tone.  “Well, I
would
like to talk to you for a minute, if you have the time.”

“Yeah, I have a minute.  Mouse, why don’t you take the wagon back out to the field.  We’ll bale the rest up tomorrow afternoon, if you can help.  If not, I’ll have my lazy brother lend a hand.”

“Course, Jay-me. Ah’ll help you.”  Mouse sauntered off to the tractor, calling over his shoulder, “Ah luv to drive thuh Deere.”  He pulled his large frame up onto the tractor, actually making the huge piece of equipment appear small, revved it up, and then backed the wagon out of the barn with a joyful whirl of dust and diesel rumblings.

When the noise of the tractor had faded away, Jamie slanted his dubious gaze back to her face.  “What’s up, Alex?” he asked in a coolly neutral voice.

She decided to plunge right in.  “Look, I just wanted to apologize for the other day.  I was... nasty.  There I said it. I acknowledge it.  Please forgive me?”

He looked at her in amazement, and then laughed sharply. 
“I must be dreaming.  This couldn’t be Alexandra Aimee Winters apologizing to a local forester-slash-farmer.  Why are you kissing up to my mother, anyway?  She’s starting to think the world of you, and if you ever treat her-”

“I adore your mother!”

His eyes narrowed.  “If you ever treat-”

Alex reached out and grabbed his arm to stop his words. “Jamie
, I meant what I said.”  The muscles bunched and flexed, tightening beneath the pressure of her fingers. 
He can’t stand my touching him
, she thought briefly, and it caused a lump to form in the base of her throat. 

She relaxed her fingers, dropping her hands to her sides.  “I’m sorry,” she repeated determinedly.  There.  She’d done what she came to do.  Without looking back at his eyes, she turned
and left.

~~~~~~~