Cards of Love: The Hermit

by Cora Brent

  And strangely, there were books. Piles of them, everywhere I looked.

  But all I cared about was the sink, a dark bronze faucet that emptied into a metal pail on a wooden shelf. I lurched toward it and let out a shout of triumph when a flick of my wrist produced a stream of water, glorious water. I felt no shame about cupping my hand under the stream and lapping it up like a dog until my mouth no longer felt as dry as the sand.

  Finally I straightened up and wiped my lips with the back of my hand, glad no one was around to see me behaving like an animal.

  “Did you get enough?” a deep voice asked and I shrieked.

  He must have crept in through the front door like a cat. But there was no need for him to be quiet. This had to be his house.

  Jeremy Gannon stood in the doorway and silently observed me as I blushed to my hairline.

  I stuttered and tried to come up with something to say.

  But all I could think about was how his arresting green eyes made me feel like I was standing before him completely naked.

  Chapter Four

  JEREMY

  When I set out to scavenge the desert for materials that would repair the enclosure I didn’t expect to come home and find a woman drinking out of my sink.

  I recognized her even before she turned around. There weren’t many women nearby to begin with and the shape of her sexy body had been on my mind ever since I saw her for the first time. Despite my best efforts to retreat from humanity I was still a man. And the sight of a well-rounded ass got me hard even when it was covered in bulky green shorts that looked like they’d been purchased at a military surplus store.

  She didn’t notice my arrival. She just kept slurping water like she was dying of thirst.

  I stood back and watched while putting the pieces together. I would have noticed if she’d parked her car outside and her white canvas sneakers were covered in dust. A few obvious scratches marred her pretty legs, like she’d gone trampling through a bed of cacti. I’d known she was from back east and likely unfamiliar with the perils of this climate but was she really dumb enough to go wandering around out in the desert in the middle of the afternoon without water?

  She finished drinking and let out a semi-orgasmic noise that sounded like ‘Ahhh’ before she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

  “Did you get enough?” I said.

  She screamed.

  I hadn’t been trying to make her scream. But hell, this was my house and I had a right to ask some questions.

  D.C. stared at me and it was actually kind of charming the way her face reddened with embarrassment. She was breathing hard and saying nothing. That was okay. I could wait. I had nothing but time.

  “Jeremy,” she finally said and it startled me that she knew my name. Betty must have told her. There was no big mystery but I wasn’t used to hearing my name spoken on a regular basis.

  “Oh my god,” she continued, crossing her arms over her chest and continuing to blush furiously. “I’m so sorry to just barge in. Your door was unlocked and I was desperate for some water.”

  I said nothing and waited for her to continue explaining.

  She wrinkled her nose. “It’s kind of ridiculous but I was out for a walk and somehow I got lost.”

  “Lost?”

  I almost choked on the word. Was she kidding? I glanced out the window and wondered how the hell she’d managed to get lost a few hundred yards from home. Betty had mentioned this D.C. person was a professor or a writer or something so she had to be plenty smart. But that didn’t mean she had any common sense. Some people were like that; could memorize a freaking dictionary but couldn’t figure out how to tie their damn shoes.

  “Yes,” she said, confused about my reaction.

  “You live just over the hill,” I informed her.

  She was confused. “Which hill? There are quite a few of them.”

  I pointed. “That one.”

  She stared and then wilted.

  “I’m sorry,” she said again and lowered her head. That made me feel like a dick. I hadn’t intended to make her feel bad. My manners were failing me again.

  “Look,” she said. “Let me just refill my water bottle and if you could just point me in the right direction I’ll find my way home.”

  I doubted that. If she’d gotten lost once she’d probably get lost again. I couldn’t have that on my conscience. Then I noticed that she was standing funny, kind of lopsided. A thin line of blood trailed from a shallow cut on her knee. The cut didn’t look too bad but she might have another injury. She shifted her weight and grimaced.

  “You’re hurt,” I said because I could recognize pain when I saw it.

  “No.” She shook her head.

  I tossed my backpack on the floor and took a step toward her. That seemed to make her nervous so I stopped. “Is it your ankle or your knee?”

  D.C. wrinkled her nose again. She had a cute nose, a smattering of freckles across the bridge. She pushed up her black wire frame glasses with one finger, a gesture she probably performed sixty times a day without realizing it.

  “My ankle. I managed to roll it when I took off running.”

  “Running from who?”

  “A snake.”

  “A rattlesnake?”

  “I think so.”

  “You shouldn’t run from a rattlesnake.”

  She finally looked me in the eye. “So I’ve heard. But sometimes you can’t help but follow your instincts.”

  We stared at each other. A normal guy would probably crack a joke to break the weirdness in the air but I was out of practice.

  D.C.’s light brown eyes watched me as I took two steps to the left and grabbed a wooden stool I’d made myself out of reclaimed wood. It was the closest thing to a kitchen chair I owned. I pushed it in her direction.

  “Take a seat.”

  I thought she’d argue but she sank down with a relieved sigh while I crouched down to get a better look at her injury. I didn’t get close enough to touch her because that would have been too bold and anyway I was no doctor. Still, I could see that aside from some swelling and faint discoloration her ankle didn’t look too bad. It was probably a slight sprain. It wouldn’t require to a trip to the hospital but it would prevent her from stupidly roaming around the desert with no water or sense of direction. At least for a few days. At the moment it must have been hurting her.

  There were a few pieces of meat in the small box freezer I kept in the corner of the kitchen. I could sense her watching me as I retrieved one and offered it without a word.

  “Thanks,” she muttered and carefully pressed it to her bruised ankle. She had nice legs. Of course I’d already noticed that.

  I backed up and leaned against the wall so it wouldn’t seem like I was hovering like a creep. Part of me wanted to just get her out of here so I could get back to what I was doing. At an abandoned property about two miles away I’d found a few solid pieces of wood I could use as a more permanent fix to the fence and I’d been planning to get that done today. Once I started on a task I liked to get it finished. On the other hand, an even bigger part of me liked looking at this girl, liked checking out her legs and her tits and the way she shook out her thick ponytail after removing a dusty baseball cap.

  “I didn’t recognize you at first,” she said, twirling her hair in a girlish way. “When we unofficially met the other day.”

  “Why would you recognize me?” I said. Even though I realized Betty must have gossiped about my past life, I wanted to hear D.C.’s version.

  She didn’t beat around the bush. “Because you’re The Tulsa Kid.”

  I shook my head. “I always hated that nickname.”

  The way she peered at me made me feel like I was a puzzle she was intent on figuring out. There was a deep intelligence in her eyes that couldn’t be faked.

  “I remembered reading about the plane crash. And after that you pretty much disappeared.”

  I hadn’t disappeared. I’d just walked away. My ol
d friend and manager Darius knew exactly where I was although I couldn’t picture him handing out that information to the media. If anyone cared to look hard enough they’d be able to find me. I wasn’t hiding, not exactly. I just wanted to be away. Away from all of them and their questions and their pity.

  D.C. didn’t offer pity though. Perhaps she sensed that my silence was a sign that some subjects were off limits.

  She was looking around now. “You have a lot of books,” she observed, noticing the piles I’d stacked in various places. “You must be quite an avid reader.”

  “Got to do something to pass the time,” I said. Before I lost everything in my life that mattered I hadn’t opened a book since high school. Now they were my chief form of entertainment in this self-imposed exile. I hadn’t seen a movie in five years. The internet was a distant memory.

  Something in my tone must have turned her off because now she was taking the meat off her ankle and getting to her feet. She choked out an embarrassed laugh. “I have to admit, this morning I had no plans to escape a rattlesnake, sprain my ankle and trespass in my neighbor’s house. But I appreciate you being so nice about it.”

  I couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic. I didn’t think I’d been all that nice.

  “Where are you going?” I asked because she’d stuck her hat back on and taken two painful steps toward the door.

  She paused and blinked at me. “You said my house was just over the hill?”

  “Yeah. It’s about a third of a mile though.”

  “That’s not far.”

  “No, it’s not. Except if you’re hobbling around on a swollen ankle. Plus you’ve already proven that you’re the type who’s capable of getting lost in her own backyard.”

  There was a flash of stubbornness in her eyes and she tipped her chin up. “I’ll be fine. Thanks again for the hospitality, Jeremy.”

  I sighed. Yeah, I was being an asshole and she was calling me out for it.

  “Wait.” I dug in my pocket for my keys. “I’ll give you a ride.”

  She pursed her lips and I could tell she wanted to tell me to take my offer and shove it but then she glanced down at her ankle and deflated. “I’d appreciate that.”

  However, instead of heading outside she stared at me again.

  I raised an eyebrow. “You need me to carry you out to the truck or something?”

  She frowned. “Of course not.”

  I shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind.”

  Again there was the flash of stubbornness. “Well, I would mind.”

  I pointed in the direction of the open door. “In that case, the truck is that way.”

  She turned and limped out to my parked pickup as fast as her wobbly ankle would allow. I walked behind her. I stared at her ass. I didn’t feel bad about it.

  After making sure she was able to climb into the passenger seat I hopped behind the wheel. I stole a glance at her face before turning the ignition. A few sweaty strands of hair were stuck to her cheek and I resisted the urge to brush them aside.

  “What does D.C. stand for?” I asked, taking a stab at being friendly before slowly rolling the truck through the sand and toward the old O’Hara house.

  A faint smile crossed her face. “Deirdre. Deirdre Caroline. But no one has called me Deirdre in years.”

  I’d never met another Deirdre before. I’d only ever heard the name in a story.

  “Like Deirdre of the Sorrows,” I said, thinking of the ancient tale I’d come across in some book I read about folklore.

  She was surprised but she nodded, twirling her ponytail around one finger and gazing off into the distance. “My mother used to read to me from an old book of Irish mythology. The book belonged to my great grandmother. I’m not sure why she chose to name me after such an unfortunate story.”

  “She didn’t exactly have a happy ending.”

  The statement startled her. “Who?”

  I took my eyes away from the sand and found her looking at me oddly. I didn’t know why. “Deirdre of the Sorrows.”

  “Oh.” She nodded and settled back into the cracked seat that could use a good hosing down. “No, she didn’t have a happy ending.”

  The conversation was obviously bothering her for some reason. At least I didn’t have to think of another way to bridge the silence because we’d already covered the short distance between our properties.

  “You weren’t kidding,” she said when I came to a stop ten feet away from her front door. “My house really is close.”

  “That it is.”

  She looked back at the direction we’d come from. “I can’t believe I was stupid enough to get lost and wind up a stone’s throw from home.” She chuckled. “Maybe I can add that story to my book. About how I almost became part of the myth of the Superstitions.”

  “You’re writing a book about the Superstitions?” I’d wondered what the hell a beautiful young woman was doing out here on her own.

  “Yes. I got lucky and received a grant that enabled me to take a sabbatical from my teaching position. It was funny, I’d put out some feelers in search of an opportunity and this just kind of fell into my lap. I would have been crazy to pass it up. This area is so interesting. The famous gold mine, the ghost towns, the lost prospectors.” An eager expression crossed her face. “You’ve been out here for awhile. Do you know a lot about those stories?”

  “Some.” Everyone around here had heard the stories. Some were probably true and some were probably lies. It made little difference to me either way.

  My one word answer disappointed her. She shifted and reached for the door handle. “Thanks again for the ride. I’m really sorry about the whole trespassing thing.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Deirdre.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Usually I go by D.C.”

  “Then I’ll call you D.C.”

  She was thoughtful. “Deirdre’s fine in this case.”

  “Whatever you say.”

  She was about to exit my truck when she paused and turned back to face me.

  “What did you mean?” she asked. “The other day you said you might not be the only man wandering in the desert.”

  “Exactly what it sounds like.”

  “Is there someone particularly dangerous I should know about?”

  My eyes strayed to the rearview mirror. The shadowy hulk of the mountains took up all the space. “There’s a couple of guys closer to the foothills you’d be better off avoiding.”

  “Why?”

  “Because everyone has a reason for living all the way out here and sometimes those reasons are bad.”

  “Bad?”

  I didn’t know if she was being dense or fishing for information so she could jot it down for her book. Either way, it wasn’t up to me to inform on every drug dealer or low life hiding from the law. Still, I hated the idea of her being alone and vulnerable out here.

  “Just keep your doors locked. Be ready to defend yourself if you need to.”

  She nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll do that.”

  “Great.”

  She climbed out of the truck and I thought that was finally the end of the discussion until she leaned back in. “I have one more question.”

  I shrugged. “Ask it.”

  She swallowed and fidgeted. “You said you saw me the other night.”

  Now I was starting to feel guilty. And hard. A dangerous combination. I wanted this girl and I wanted her just for one thing. But I wasn’t going to have her. That would bring all kinds of complications and I hadn’t been a fan of complications for a long time.

  “What was the question?” I asked.

  “What were you doing out by my house the other night?”

  I answered honestly. “Going for a walk.”

  “Do you do that often? Walk alone at night?”

  “All the time. There’s nothing like being deep in the desert under the stars.”

  She digested this information. “You know, there was a moment when I was standing in
front of the bedroom window. I’d just come out of the shower.”

  I waited. I knew where she was going with this.

  “And, uh…” Her voice trailed off.

  “And you want to know if I saw you naked?” I finished.

  Her eyes narrowed. “Did you?”

  I didn’t feel like lying. I was bad at it anyway.

  “Yeah, I saw you.” I leaned in her direction. “I saw everything.”

  She slammed the door to the truck and limped into her house.

  I drove away.

  Chapter Five

  DEIRDRE

  Why had I asked? I’d already known the answer.

  Maybe I just wanted to hear him admit it.

  Maybe I wanted to startle him, to knock something loose behind those inscrutable green eyes.

  Or maybe my reason was more basic.

  In spite of Jeremy’s scruffy bearded appearance and rather standoffish manner I couldn’t help noticing a few things about him. For starters, the guy was sex on a motherfucking stick. And he looked at me. He wasn’t real obvious about it but I saw the way his gaze flickered over my body. I couldn’t deny that it turned me on, the way he looked at me.

  Sex wasn’t a priority in my life. It wasn’t because I had no feelings. I knew how to get myself off when I needed that kind of release. But something inside of me had been crushed into oblivion ten years ago and I had never figured how to repair it. The few flings I’d had since then weren’t worth remembering. I could hardly recall the faces of the men they were attached to.

  But after Jeremy admitted he’d seen me in in all my bare skinned glory I was embarrassed and I didn’t know what to say. I closed the door to his truck harder than I meant to and staggered away with as much dignity as my sprained ankle would allow.

  Thankfully he drove off without any further follow up.

  “I saw everything.”

  Jeremy’s last statement had been so casual, so matter-of-fact. He hadn’t apologized or seemed ashamed. And I had to admit that technically he hadn’t done anything wrong. He told me he’d been out for a walk, that he hadn’t realized I was living there already. I believed him. There was no fence around the property and the house had been empty for a while so he was likely used to cutting through the area with no worries about disturbing anyone.