Waiting For Eden (Eden Series) (8 page)

“Hey,” he murmured.  “What is it, Alex?
  I really don’t understand what’s going on here.”  Against his better judgment, he pulled her a little closer, drawing her into the circle of his arms.  And it felt just a little too good.

She
actually rested her head on his chest for the space of ten seconds, and then he felt her trembling.

He squeezed her a little tighter
.  “What’s up here? Maybe I can help you, Alex.”  Even as the words came out of his mouth, he knew they were wrong.  His touching her was wrong.  It wasn’t just for comfort.

She came alive then, pushing back against his ch
est, breaking free of the circle of his arms, and setting him off balance.  He was pretty sure she was choking back sobs. 

Wheeling, Alexandra
then scrambled up into the truck cab, turned over the ignition and peeled out with the tailgate still down. At the entrance, she must have realized her mistake, and slammed it back into park again to shut it back in place.  Then she burned rubber again onto Route 6 like she was churning smoke at a truck pull.

Jamie
merely watched her fumbling, erratic departure in speechless amazement.  He wanted to be pissed off, but only found himself in a state of confusion.  A screech owl sounded its eerie call somewhere in the darkness, and a reflexive shiver passed through him.

He’d recognized the wounded look in her eyes, and her jumpiness at being touched only confirmed his suspicions. 
Someone had abused that girl at some point.  He knew when to leave well enough alone, he supposed, but it didn’t matter anyway.  She’d made the decision for him.

Jamie shoved his hands down in
to his pockets again, beginning to feel the cool sting of the crisp night air.  “Well, Alexandra, city or no, it looks like you have plenty of problems to deal with,” he muttered.  He felt a heavy weight descend on his shoulders as he uttered the words.  “Join the club.”  He made his way slowly to his own vehicle, and headed for home.

~~~~~~~

Alex had wavered on the verge of telling him everything.  Jamie’s big hands on her shoulders had been so disconcerting… they felt both forceful and tender at the same time.  When she smelled his scent up close, a strange shiver had gone through her body.  In that crazy millisecond all she wanted was for him to hold her.  Tightly.

That one shimmer of
fierce longing was enough to shake her back to reality.  She had put her hand against his chest and pushed.  It accomplished nothing, initially, for she only felt the hardness of his body, the play of smooth muscles as they contracted at her touch beneath his shirt. 

James was right about one thing.  He was no boy, but a man, pure and simple, and she damn well knew it. 
He
knew that she knew it.

In a sudden fearful burst, Alex
had torn free of Jamie’s grip, and ran to the front of the truck.  She hopped inside, turned the key in the ignition, and slammed it into drive.  Twenty yards into her escape, she realized that she had left the tailgate down, and came screeching to a halt again. 

She closed it hurriedly, and then chanced a look into the rearview when she was back inside.  James was a dark form in the distance, standing there
and watching her retreat.

“You
idiot!
” she cursed at herself, and the tears flowed in like a torrent as she tore off onto Route 6, letting the darkness of the road ahead swallow her.

Waiting for Eden

~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 7

The note on the kitchen table read,
“Be back in a while, there are warm-ups in the fridge.  Love, Mom.”
  Jamie retrieved the Tupperware bowl and stuck it in the microwave on reheat, then plopped down at the table.  He rubbed his forehead, realizing it was the first time that he had sat down all day.  Long forestry rounds again. 

He’d been taking up the slack for Max Weikert, who was going on sixty-
seven, and had a good touch of arthritis in his joints.  Max had thumbed his nose at retirement, though, ascertaining that the forestry service was what kept his joints oiled at all.

Not that Jamie minded all the running
.  Being in the mountains pleased him to no end.  In his book, the only thing that came close was plowing up the fields in the springtime, when the soil smelled so fresh and ripe that you practically expected the sod to turn green with new growth before you finished tilling it. 

With his first bite of homemade chili, his thoughts turned again to his mother and her note.  It was a bit odd, for
a Thursday night. She rarely went out on a weeknight. 

Diana Sheldon had started dating again a few months back, after four years of seeing no one but her girlfriends since
James’ father had died.  Finally, Wayne Connor had come along, and had livened up her social life a bit.  Connor owned a small motel near Cross Fork, and was a decent enough man, but he worked evenings, at least during the week.  Their usual outings fell on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons.

His thoughts drifted inevitably toward his father.  The loss was still there,
and still as fierce as ever.  Time had healed the pain a bit, but the strange emptiness remained, like he had somehow lost a vital organ through the process of grief. 

Only he had
n’t suffered physically from it.  It seemed to him just the opposite.  Jamie had shouldered the responsibility of caring for his family eagerly, moving back in with his mother and little brother without regret.  And he was a stronger man for it. Family was everything.

The back door banged and Diana Sheldon breezed into the kitchen.  She dropped a picnic basket on the counter and washed up at the sink.  “Where’s that brother of yours?”

“If I were to guess, he’s probably over at Jimmy’s working on that tired old Mustang again.”

“Well, if I know Aaron, he’ll have it up and running before long.  He sure has a knack with
engines.”  She wiped her hands on a towel and gave him a sunny smile.

Jamie grinned back, for his mother’s smile was always good medicine for the wearied soul.  Her long, chestnut hair was thick and rumpled, like she’d been out walking in the breeze for a while.  Her eyes were deep brown and thick-lashed, accentuated by a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose.  She had a saucy, scheming look about her, like she’d been up to mischief.

“Picnic, mom?” he questioned with raised eyebrows and a pointed glance at the basket.  “Who’s the lucky fellow?”

“No, I was just visiting the new neighbor.  Dropped off a few goodies and such as a welcome.  We had a nice little chat.”
             

Jamie’s brow furrowed, and he cleaned his bowl of the last drop of chili
with a wedge of wheat bread.  “New neighbor?  Since when?”

“Since last week.  I
really thought you would have heard something of it by now.  She moved into the Wilkens’ place.  She’s fixing it up for horses.”

“She?”

“Yeah.  Her name is Alexandra.  Actually, she said she’d run into you before, and… how could you not remember
her
? Wow, she’s really a knock-out.”

He stared in surprise for a moment, and then laughed harshly.  “Run into me, huh?  Close enough I guess.  We’ve certainly butted heads a couple of times.”

“She’s really pretty, don’t you think?”  Diana prodded, with that glitter in her eyes again.  Jamie merely snorted in disgusted response.

“Now, James.  Anyway, we had a good, long talk, and she’s really got that place looking a world of difference already.  It seems a lot of work for a young woman to take on.  But she doesn’t seem to mind, she’s quite dedicated.  I think she’s a charming young lady.”

His hands slapped down against the table top of their own accord.  “Charming?” he bellowed.  “We must be talking about different people.  The Alexandra I know is an ill-tempered, ornery, stuck-up little city-”  Jamie’s breath left him in a whoosh when his mother thumped him on the back.

“Bite your tongue!”

“And married,” he wheezed.  “She’s not on her own, Mom.  She’s got a city-bred uppity husband.  What the heck did they buy the Wilkens’ farm for?  A weekend getaway place?  If they think they have themselves an upper-crust
estate
, they’ve sure got another thing coming,” he snorted.  “That place is going to take nothing short of a miracle-worker with a penchant for self-flagellation.”

“Jamie,” Diana replied tersely.  “You need to learn to get your facts straight before you make rude assumptions.  Alex lost her husband in an accident not too far back.  She’s
here because she’s making a new start for herself.  Away from the city.  Because she’s
not
that type, and she likes it here.  Rein in your sarcasm a bit, please.”

Jamie’s mouth fell open like a trap door.  Some of the pieces of the Alexandra-puzzle came together with a click in his head.  His mother was watching him curiously, waiting for a response.  The only thing that came to mind was the word, “Oh.”

Diana laughed.  “Well, now that we have that settled, when you get a free second, you should go over and pay her a visit.  She looks like she could use a few friends her age. She’s completely alone.”

“She’d maybe have a few, if she knew how to treat them,” he muttered.

“Ruffled your feathers, did she?”

“More like she plucked them, one by one.”

Throwing back her head, Diana laughed again, this time getting him to grin along with her.  “Wish I could have been there to see
that
.  You need to get your feathers rumpled once in a while.  You’re too full of yourself.”

Jamie clutched his chest in mock pain.  “Aah, another wound to my manly pride.  Sharp-tongued females will be the end of me.”

“Just get your butt over there, and do the neighborly thing.”

“Don’t try any matchmaking, Mom.  You know I have responsibilities.”

Diana’s face sobered, and as if on cue, the back door banged again and Tracey ambled in.  Diana saw her son’s eyes cloud over like a curtain had swished itself starkly across them. 

“Hello, Mom!” the young blond sing-songed gaily, before moving to stand behind Jamie’s chair.  “Hello, honey-buns,” she said, dropping a loud kiss on the top of his head.

He could smell alcohol, but he wasn’t much surprised.  “I thought you were working tonight, Tracey.”

“Well, I was, but they didn’t need extra help after all.  So they sent me home.”

“Extra help, my ass.  They sent you home for coming to work lit again, didn’t they?” he ground out.

Trac
ey’s blue eyes instantly flooded with tears.  “What an awful thing to say, James.  You’re so rotten to me sometimes, I could just...
die
!”

Diana stepped in quickly, taking the girl by the shoulders.  “Trac
ey can help me with the dishes a while.”  Jamie nodded tensely and stood.

“Where is he going?” Trac
ey demanded, sniffling now and wiping at her eyes with her fists ridiculously like a scolded child.

“He has to finish up with planting the back field before it rains.  It’s not too wet to get in, is it James?”

He grabbed a baseball cap and a flannel shirt from the coat rack.  “No, it’s low down there in the meadow, but I should be fine.  It’s been a few days since the last shower, I’m sure it’s dry enough.”

“Good, because you know how Dad always wanted the corn planted by-”

“Yeah, I know, by the end of May.”  As Diana herded Tracey to the sink, Jamie stepped out the back door, feeling both guilty and relieved in the same moment.  He might be taking up some slack for old Max, but his mother sure took a shitload for him.  He’d talk to her about it later.  Something had to be done about Tracey.  She was getting worse.

Jamie ambled to the barn, soaking up the warm evening rays of fuzzy sunlight, lifting his face into the mellow breeze.  The air was soft, scented with lilacs and freshly mowed grass. 

God, he loved the four, even seasons that Pennsylvania had to offer, with the earth forever changing, sprouting, growing, and ripening.  Then with a final sigh, putting itself to sleep, ever so gently, and the great mounds of snow that covered the fields and mountains in a crisp, ivory blanket.  He wouldn’t trade his home for anything, not even for an island paradise in the Caribbean.

Hopping on the tractor, Jamie put it in gear and backed up to the corn planter.  He just had a few things to straighten out, to put his life in order, to get his ducks in a row.  Work would be his life, he reasoned, and the thought of love and romance only made him snicker. 

Best not to even dally with the idea, he’d blown that option, screwed things up royally.  One mistake.  But fuck was it was a whopper.  And lately, it seemed the consequences were never-ending.

Sighing,
Jamie aimed the tractor toward the back field, noting the way the sun had dipped in the west, steady on course for its final, golden descent.  He had about an hour and a half before the shadows grew too thick to see clearly.  Enough time to finish up anyway. 

His father would have been elated at the prospect, breaking out the blackberry brandy as soon as he’d tucked the planter away for the season, a Michael Sheldon tradition.  The family would have raised their glasses and toasted to a good harvest ahead.  Now, finishing only left Jamie with a hollow feeling in his gut, like he hadn’t eaten in awhile, and his insides were turning in on themselves.  

Jamie allowed his muscles to relax, and adsorb the vibration of the steady diesel engine beneath him.  It had a soothing effect, something like a pacifier, he mused.  After all, he’d been pushing toy tractors around,
put-put-put
, since he was old enough to crawl. 

He laughed a little, remem
bering how his Dad had told him that after he’d hit four, he’d only touch the green tractors, and that they’d have to say
John Deere
on the side, or he’d have absolutely none of it.  There’d been nothing but Deere tractors on the farm since.

His thoughts invariably turned to Alexandra Winters, and he wondered for the thousandth time what she was all about.  What she was up to, to be exact.  There was obviously something floating around in her head other than feathers, and it sure had him wondering. 

Curiosity killed the cat
, he thought wryly, but shrugged his shoulders anyway.  He’d pay her one more visit.  It was the neighborly thing to do, after all. 

~~~~~~

Alex pushed the wheelbarrow full of woodchips into the stall, dumped it carefully, and then tried to back out again without whacking herself on something hard.  She was already one big bruise.  She wondered if clumsiness ran in her genes, like a deep, dark family secret that everyone had hidden from her, in the desperate hopes that it had skipped a generation.  She maneuvered, squeezed, and cajoled, finally making it out safely. 

The damn stall doors were too narrow, and they definitely called for widening in the future.  A large animal could catch a h
ip or shoulder on the rough wood easily, not to mention a lowly human as accident-prone as she was. 

She paused for a moment, analyzing, and blew
the hair off of her forehead with a forceful breath.  A randy yearling colt could smash a person up against the doorjamb if he had mind to as well.

“Excuse me.”

The man’s voice shot her up in the air a foot, and she whirled around with a gasp.

“Sorry miss.  I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Who are you?” she voiced firmly, irked that she was so startled, and this guy was definitely up in her space.  He was a tall man, with blondish hair peppered with a smatter of grey, carefully combed and parted in a neat little wave.  He had on a business suit, an expensive one, she noted with a trained eye.  Her eyes dropped to Italian loafers, which were now coated with a fine mist of sawdust, and she self-consciously brushed off her own dusty jeans.

“I’m Brian Ridgeway,” he responded with a smooth smile, and extended his hand.  Alex took it suspiciously, it would have been rude not to, but now she had a good idea what the man was up to. 

She’d visited Ezra in the hospital again only yesterday
.  Ridgeway at ya yet, girl?
She’d looked at him funny at the time, but the old guy sure had been right on target.

Ridgeway noticed her eyes harden and lifted his eyebrows.  Alex just stared, figuring his opinion of her manners really didn’t matter much, since her days of kissing suited butts at the law firm were over anyway.  She had no one to please but herself, and her future customers.