by Amanda
A large black and gray dog climbed threw a doggie door she hadn’t noticed, and immediately ran to Brian, who sat the cooler on the ground and squatted to pet it.
"Hey, ya, Jax, I missed you, too, buddy. See the pretty lady? That’s your new mommy, her name is Aria," he talked to the dog, scratching behind his ears, but smiled at her. Her heart jumped when she heard how sweetly and affectionately he spoke to Jax.
She moved over to the other side of Jax, squatted, and cautiously held her hand out for him to sniff, "Hey, there, big guy, nice to meet you," Jax responded to the greeting by placing his paw in her outstretched hand. She laughed out loud at this, and looked to Brian who was studying her intently. "You’re a good boy, aren’t you, Jax? I can tell, we’ll be good friends," she let go of his paw and gave him a quick pet before they both stood up.
"Good boy, Jax, go lay down," Brian commanded, firm, yet gently and Jax immediately made his way over toward the stairs. She noticed a large dog bed and food and water bowls with large containers attached to them so that he wouldn’t run out tucked under the stairs. Brian clearly loved his pets, she wasn’t overly surprised, he seemed to care for everyone. His eyes betrayed him, toward even Tasha and Lyle, though she could tell they both got under his skin. She was sure he was the kind of guy that would still do anything for them.
"May as well start the tour in here, I suppose. Up those stairs is a loft, mostly used for storage, Christmas decorations, baby pictures, every picture I or my sister ever colored, ever. Stuff moms keep, you know?" Her heart squeezed, no, she didn’t know. She never would know if her mom kept anything like that, she’d never get to see it ,it was all gone now. She nodded despite herself, he hadn’t meant it to remind her of what she didn’t have, she knew that.
"Jax lives under the stairs, his food is there," he pointed to a lidded storage tub. "I usually keep it filled for him, he doesn’t come inside the house, but he’ll try, he comes and goes around here as he pleases. Most of the time he sleeps in here, it’s climate controlled, but sometimes he sleeps with Thunder in the barn, I’ll go check on him in a minute. Oh, you aren’t allergic to any animals are you, sorry, I didn’t think to ask."
She chuckled, he sounded so nervous, it was adorable. "No, I don’t have any allergies that I know of."
"Good, because we also have the occasional cat running around here, none of them are ours, per say, but they take up residence anyway, they keep the mice away, I keep cat food in the barn. They’re all wild, you won’t be able to get near most of them," he explained, and then pointed to the freezers, "I always keep some steak and hamburger, and a few other things in the freezer in the house, but if we ever run low, you can find it out here. This fridge is for soda and usually a few beers too. I’m not a big drinker, but I like a few in the summer, maybe some wine now and again. Do you drink?"
"Not really, about the same, I guess" she had never actually drank before, but she felt that admission would hint at her sheltered past, what girl didn’t have at least a few on her birthday? Girls who hadn’t had birthdays in well over a decade, that’s who.
She noted there were three doors in the garage, one leading to the back, one to the front, and she assumed the one they were headed towards led into the house.
"I have an extra set of keys in the house, don’t let me forget to give them to you," he put a key in the knob and opened the door. "Normally I wouldn’t lock this door, or the one going into the kitchen, I keep all the exterior doors locked though, I locked them all up this time since I was going to be out of town." She nodded as he flipped on a light in what looked like an oversized closet. There was one small window looking out toward the gravel road and the front yard, against the other wall was a hat rack, several coat hooks under a shelf that housed baskets labeled "hats" and "gloves" and next to that a long wooden bench, and under the bench were what she assumed to be Brian’s shoes.
He sat the cooler down on the bench and slid his loafers under the bench next to a pair of worn cowboy boots. She couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.
"What’s so funny," he asked, blue eyes twinkling.
"You, you’re like three different people all rolled into one," she gestured to his shoes under the bench, "Tennis shoes, next to cowboy boots, next to loafers, and I saw rubber boots in the garage. Not to mention your hats and coats." With both hands she motioned to the cowboy hat, baseball cap and flat cap hanging together on the hat stand, and to the worn work coat, leather jacket, and pea coat, that he had just hung up.
"I guess you’re right, I’d never given it much thought. But, now that I think of it, you’d be in hysterics over my closet, everything from sweat pants and gym shorts to tuxedos all living together in perfect harmony, it’s just who I am." He gave her a wide smile, revealing a dimple she hadn’t noticed before, he opened the door at the other end of the small room and turned back to pick up his cooler.
She quickly divested of her coat and shoes and followed him through the next door, into a beautiful, large, and very modern kitchen. She could tell when they pulled up that the two-story farmhouse had been well maintained, and loved. The outside was white with black shutters and a deep porch the spanned the front of the house, the kind she had given up dreaming about years ago.
"Clearly, this is the kitchen, the laundry room is off there," he pointed next to the door she had just shut, and she turned to see a decent sized laundry room with a newer stainless steel washer and dryer on one wall, and a long table and laundry sink on the other. She laughed at the "lost socks" sign hanging on the wall.
"Your mom, or your sister," she asked.
"Hmmm?" He was putting away the groceries in the fridge and freezer.
"The decorating, the lost sock sign, the hat and glove bin, your mom or your sister?"
"You don’t think I know how to decorate?"
"Honestly, no, probably not."
He smiled and shut the refrigerator, "Both, I repainted and put in all new appliances when I took over back in June, they all came to visit last month for Christmas and all they did was complain at the lack of art and décor, I really couldn’t care less about all that. They do, so they took it upon themselves to go shopping and hang it all up. I don’t care one way or the other," he shrugged, and added, "But, if you don’t like any of it, you’re welcome to change it."
"Actually, I love all of their choices. They did a great job," The dinning room opened into the living room, which was full of overstuffed suede furniture, it was all very masculine, yet cozy, she could see herself here. There was a large picture window with a seat in it near the front door, and family photos and a few tasteful pieces of art adorned the walls. There was a hallway on the opposite side of the room and a staircase with a small landing at the top, and at the far end of the living room were two doors on opposite sides of the wall.
"I’ll finish showing you the main level, and then we’ll go downstairs and then I’ll show you the upstairs, that door goes downstairs." He pointed towards the one closest to the hallway, "and this is my office, it has an exterior entrance, too. So any clients, or my assistant, Helen, shouldn’t intrude on our personal lives, though I can’t make any promises, you’ve met the people in this town," he smirked and led her into his office.
It was large, with plenty of windows, and two desks, it even had its own half bath, Brian explained that it was a new addition, as most of his clients lived closer to his house than to his office, it just made sense to have two offices. That meant he would be working from home a lot, and she had mixed feelings on that.
There were two bedrooms and a full bath on the main floor, Brian had the master on that floor, which he said had an en-suite bathroom, but she didn’t go in his room. There was also a small den with floor to ceiling bookcases, crammed full of books and a small leather sofa.
Downstairs there were four more bedrooms, a spacious family room complete with bar, pool table, fireplace and giant TV, and one full, and one half bath. All of the rooms were tastefully and modernly decorated, it turned out Geni
e and Julia had taken the time to furnish and decorate every room. Brian explained that they loved second hand and antique stores, and by the looks of the house, they had a good eye for quality. When they moved upstairs to finish their tour, she was surprised to find three more bedrooms, and another bathroom.
"Nine bedrooms? I was expecting a modest four, maybe five bedroom house."
"This isn’t the original house to the property. The original house burnt down when my dad was young, my granddad promised each of his kids their own room when they re-built…they had eight kids. The bedrooms aren’t huge, but they accomplished his goal."
"Wow, I’ve never seen anything like it, saying ‘nine bedrooms’ sounds like it should be colossal, but he used the space well, it’s very…homey. I love it. I can’t wait to check out the barns and other buildings in the daylight," she said as she walked into the last of the bedrooms.
It was breathtaking, one wall had French doors leading out to a small balcony, it was too cold to go out on tonight, but looking out the full-length glass she could see nothing but glistening snow illuminated by the bright moon and twinkling stars, for what seemed like miles. She knew right away that this would be her room, she loved it.
"May I have this room? I love these doors, it’s so peaceful here."
"Of course you can. I said you could have any room you wanted. This has always been my favorite, too. It was my room as a teenager. Julia and I would switch rooms often when we were kids, just because we could, and I finally settled on this one when I was fourteen. I loved to read out there. I have some chairs and a small table to put on the balcony in the spring. You’ll love it. I’m going to bring in the rest of our stuff, and then pay my old friend Thunder a visit. Make yourself at home, as this is your home now," he gave her a dimpled smile and headed back out the door.
She was glad for the time to think and just breathe. These had been the longest two days of here life. She had so much to process. For the first time that she could remember she felt truly safe. She couldn’t understand why, she should be terrified, out in the middle of nowhere with a man she barely knew, but for some reason she just couldn’t bring herself to feel anything but safe and comfortable.
She sat down on the edge of the bed-her bed-and took in her surroundings. They had chosen walnut furniture for this room, there was a large dresser with a mirror directly across from the bed, which was flanked by two night tables, and there was another tall dresser near the French doors, and a small vanity with a chair near the closet. They had used light blue and chocolate as accent colors in the few paintings, curtains, and on the comforter. It was all very soothing and comforting; it just felt like home. A feeling that was new to her, but she was beginning to appreciate more and more by the minute.
She heard the phone ring downstairs, and Brian’s low, deep voice responding to whomever was on the other end, he was truly a good person, something she had always thought was impossible, especially where men were concerned. But, at every turn he had done nothing but show her kindness and care. Not only her, but everyone around them, he was exchanging expensive legal work for baked goods, and for free it seemed. That was admirable.
The lawyers she knew were ruthless and money hungry. Like his wardrobe, Brian Harris made no sense. She looked down at her left hand, now weighed down by the most gorgeous ring she’d ever seen, maybe luck was on her side for once. She sighed and her eyes landed on the Bible that had been left on the dresser, she noticed that they left one in every room. She was sure Brian would tell her it wasn’t luck, but God. She just couldn’t believe, as he clearly did, not with all she’d seen and done. Even if He did exist, He wouldn’t want her anyway.
She heard Brian coming up the stairs, "Hey, Aria, I brought your stuff in from the car," he stood holding all of her bags at the door.
"Thanks, come on in. Just set them down, and I’ll work on getting everything put away," she stifled a yawn, "tomorrow."
He laughed and dropped the bags near the closet. "I think my mom left hangers in the closets, if not, or you need more, I have plenty in the extra closet in my room."
"I’ll let you know, thanks, for everything, you’ve been much better than I expected."
"It’s my job, remember," he winked, "Anna just called and invited us to Sunday dinner at their place tomorrow afternoon, I told her I’d have to talk to you and see what you wanted to do. I don’t care either way, also I…um, well, I go to church on Sundays, you’re welcome to join me, but I completely understand if you don’t want to come, that’s fine, too." The church would probably burn down if she stepped foot into it.
"I think I’ll skip church, if that’s okay, but dinner sounds nice, should I make something?"
"I understand, I’ll let them know to set two more places, if you want to make something I’m sure it would be appreciated, but you don’t have to."
"I’ll come up with something. I’ve been meaning to ask you, what religion are you?"
"Non-Denominational Christian, I go to New Hope Bible Church, Pastor Mike is wonderful, I’m sure you’d like him," he looked at his watch, "it’s getting late, I’m going to hit the hay, do you need anything?"
"No, I think I’ll take a shower and then go to bed myself. Thanks for everything."
"Stop thanking me, I’m your husband. Sunday school starts at nine, so I’ll leave here about eight thirty, I should be home by eleven thirty, depending on how many people corner me afterwards. Todd and Anna usually have Sunday Dinner around two. Let me know if you need anything, goodnight."
"Sounds good, goodnight." Brian gave her one last smile, and was headed back downstairs.
She found what she needed for the night from her pile of shopping bags and took a long bath to relax and decompress from her long day. Once back in her room she found sleep easily and without hesitation, perhaps it was the lock on her bedroom door that made it so easy for her fall right into a deep sleep, or maybe it was all of the small cracks Brian was making in the walls she had around herself.
According to her new cell phone, it was after nine when she woke the next morning. She knew Brian would already be in church, but the quiet still took her by surprise when she dressed and made her way downstairs, it wasn’t a bad quiet, just not at all what she was used to, no cars, sirens, or people. She found a bright orange sticky note on the counter addressed to her;
Aria,
I left for church, I should be back before noon.
Sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up, I hope you
slept well. Make yourself at home, see you soon.
Brian
Her heart swelled, and once again she thought about how sweet he was, he didn’t have to leave a note, but he did, just to let her know he was thinking of her. She smiled as she thought of all the things he’d done for her over the last few days. He used her nickname, the one she introduced herself as…the one no one had used since she was twelve and moved in with Jack. It felt right, it was becoming someone new and going back to someone she had once enjoyed being, someone Jack had destroyed. She shuddered at thoughts of her "uncle" Jack. He wasn’t really her uncle, she didn’t have any family left, that was just the excuse he gave when anyone questioned him. She pushed aside thoughts of Jack and her previous life, she needed to move on and start fresh with Brian.
She made herself an omelet, and a cup of coffee, it felt good to get acquainted with this kitchen-her kitchen. Cooking had never been this pleasurable for her, more of a chore that she enjoyed, but she had never had the freedom to just make whatever pleased her, she’d never had ownership over it, it was a liberating feeling. She laughed to herself, funny that she should find what many women found oppressive to be so freeing.
She rinsed her dishes and put them in the dishwasher with Brian’s. She decided to put away her new things and then search for a cookbook and decide on what she would take to the Erickson’s.
Just before noon she was frosting her second pan of brownies when she heard the garage door open, she smiled to herself,
she hoped Brian would like them, she had found a box of hand written recipe cards that she assumed were his mother’s and used a brownie and frosting recipe from it. The chocolate frosting was the best she had ever tasted, and she was proud to be able to take credit for making it. She wanted to be the best wife in every way she could to Brian.
"Are those brownies? Please say yes." His eyes were bright and shining when he came into the kitchen. He reminded her of a small child begging to lick the bowl, and she couldn’t help but laugh.
"They are, I was hoping you would say that, I made two batches, I thought we’d take one and a half with us this afternoon and keep the rest here for us."
"Awe, why can’t we keep them all here," he mock whined at her, "Kidding, I’m sure the kids will love them, that was very thoughtful of you." He picked one up from the tray she was putting together.
"These are amazing, better than my mom’s, but don’t tell her that."
"I found the recipe in the box above the refrigerator, I assume it’s her recipe."
"They are, she made copies of all of our favorites for both me and Julia as graduation presents," he said around a mouthful of brownie, and his hand snaked out to grab another, she snatched the dish away and secured the lid.
"No more until dessert. That’s a sweet present, I hope it’s okay I poked around your kitchen."
"Our kitchen, and of course it is, whatever you need, just look around or ask. I have nothing to hide, what’s mine is yours."
"Thank you. I made egg salad, I thought we’d eat a light lunch since we have a couple of hours before dinner."
"Sounds perfect, thank you," he moved to the cupboard to get plates down, and she took that as her cue to get the food. She moved to the refrigerator, taking out the salad she’d prepared and a container of vegetables she’d cut up earlier and took them to the table.