by Lora Lindy
She laughed and knew immediately nothing changed from last night. She also knew at that split second last night’s caught in the moment just changed to caught in a lifetime.
He handed her both bags and as she set them on the bar. She closed her eyes with anticipation when she smelled the pastries. They smelled scrumptious. She immediately opened the brown bag first because she was famished, and she pulled out a metal tube. Sadness filled her heart because she knew he might be finished with the furnace in a few short hours. But those emotions would not be addressed today. Instead she decided to tease him a little. “Talk about iron in your diet.” And they both laughed. “I see you got the part?” She had to admit she was a lot disappointed.
“Yea Hardin Hardware went to Boston and picked it up for me yesterday. You should have heat in a few hours.”
She rummaged through the cabinets for paper plates, and there were none. Oh well, she guessed she would have to do the dishes, there were worse things. She dug out plates, mugs and her french vanilla coffee creamer.
Mike walked outside to his truck to get his tools. She intently watched him through the kitchen window. He organized his tools, taking out pipe wrenches and putting in socket wrenches and smaller screw drivers and any other tool he might need. All the while he loudly whistled. Even though he worked outside and all the doors and windows were closed she could hear what he whistled; Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues.
Since she loved Johnny Cash she couldn’t resist giving him a hard time. She opened the front door he stopped whistling to look at her. “Hey, Mike where did you learn to whistle that song?”
“In prison,” he answered then he started whistling again. Just before she shut the door he winked and smiled back at her.
She took a deep breath.
The door slammed as Mike walked in the kitchen and his nose was red from the cold. She reached for a mug and asked. “How do you like your coffee jailbird?”
He stopped in his tracks, scanned the items on the counter and saw the creamer, and answered with a grin. “I am a true man, I like mine black. I don’t use that sissy stuff.”
Were her ears deceiving her? His personality didn’t change a bit from last night, actually quite the contrary. “So you’re calling me a sissy?”
He walked over to pour his coffee and never looked at her. “If the shoe fits, and in your case if your tiny shoe fits.”
Lana looked down at her feet, he’s right, they were small. Her eyes widened and she walked over to him and put my hands on her hips. “Remember, I own a Dodge truck and you don’t mess with girls who own a Dodge.”
“Shall I pull up a chair so you can tell me that, eye to eye?” He looked into her eyes and his happy, feisty expression changed. When her gaze pierced his eyes, his dancing eyes turned solemn, being jolly left his soul. At that very moment, at that very minute he wanted her more than he’s ever wanted anything in his life. Her eyes mesmerized him, made him want to pick her up and never let go. My God, I want to be with her so much, I hurt, and I hurt desperately, Mike thought. He licked his lips ready to kiss her parted lips.
As he moved a little closer and she could see the veins in his neck were going crazy, throbbing. His eyes never left hers.
Just then, his cell phone rang.
She thought to herself, that damn phone.
He glanced down at his phone and sadness ran across his face. “I’m sorry I have to take this call.” He walked outside for privacy.
Maybe he had a girlfriend, or a wife. For a moment jealousy filled her heart. She quickly wiped that thought from her mind and heart. She did peak outside, and his conversation appeared serious enough he continued to stare at the ground. She fixed her plate and warmed her coffee in the microwave. She paced the kitchen floor and a few times and peeked out the window. Patience was a virtue she usually took pride in practicing, but she had none this morning.
He stood outside at least ten minutes. As he walked in she heard a car pulling up, Mike turned to the driver and raised one finger to let him know he needed one minute. Her heart sank when she knew he might be leaving.
“What’s going on Mike, are you okay?” She asked him as he closed the door.
“I will explain everything later, and I’m going to leave my truck. I don’t know when I’ll be back and I might not even be back today. You have my cell number if you need me. If I don’t make it back, I’ll send my brother Lance to fix the furnace. I will give you a call later, but I just don’t know when.”
Wow, umm, what could she say? “Don’t worry about the furnace, and I’ll see you later.” He reached down and kissed her on the forehead and then he left. Not the first kiss she had in mind, even though his lips were very soft.
Did this have something to do with his work? Did this have something to do with his family? Whatever happened, Mike’s demeanor totally changed after that phone call. This day did not start like she had hoped.
Chapter 10
12:10 p.m.
Lana dreaded the idea of going outside, but Mike said something about firewood on the side of the house. What’s in the bin might get her through one day, but no longer than that.
As she stepped out the wind and cold chilled her to the bone. The wind blew strong and the sleet and sand stung her face. It pierced her skin like glass cutting her. The only building on the side was a pump house but it was locked. She decided to give up and bring in all the wood from the bin and hoped it would last the day and night.
Walking back to the front of the house she felt an overwhelming eerie feeling come over her. It was an uneasy feeling of being watched. She looked over at the empty house next door. The small bushes next to the house scraped the side as the wind blew. It sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard. She quickened her step to the front of the house. As she rounded the corner her peripheral vision saw someone next door. Hairs stood up on the back of her neck when she saw a man, staring right at her. She pulled her windblown hair aside to get a better look. She saw nothing. She disregarded it as the wind moving the clouds and causing a reflection off the window. She ran the rest of the way to the front door, constantly looking behind her.
She stood in front of the fire trying to gather her bearing and calm down her emotions. The morning started out bad, and it got worse. This incident played havoc on her raw emotions. All that just added worry to what already happened with Mike.
The morning seemed so ambiguous with the incident with Mike. She wondered what made him leave. Surely, he would have told her if there were a family emergency. She racked her brain trying to figure out what made him leave. Then an uneasy thought crossed her mind. Maybe he was a drug dealer. Oh God, she hoped not. She wished she wouldn’t have thought of that because now she’ll worry about it. If he was a dealer he would definitely have people come after him. She couldn’t jump to conclusions, and she needed to give him a chance to explain.
*****
While reading her book The Count of Monte Cristo her cell phone rang. “Hello.”
“Hi stranger, how’s your morning so far?” asked Mike.
“My morning has been great, and yours?” Her heart started beating fast just hearing his voice. She turned the corner down in the book and sat it on the coffee table.
“Busy, and I wanted to tell you how sorry I am I ran out on you.” His thoughts drifted to last night. How his heart ached for her. He knew he wouldn’t waste any time on this woman.
“That’s okay I could tell it was important.” She wanted to know the reason, but she figured Mike would tell her in due time.
“We’ll talk about it later tonight. How about if I can get away early this evening we go out to dinner?”
She could hear Mike shut a door. The door shutting was a good sign he’s in an office. Unless of course, they were making drugs in the warehouse, and he shut the door so she couldn’t hear the drugs being made. She rolled her eyes at herself for thinking such a ridiculous thought.
She didn’t bring the right clothes to go out to
dinner with anyone, especially if it’s a nice place. “If you don’t mind, why don’t we have dinner here?” She needed to think on her feet. “That way if you’re running late you won’t feel bad. How does that sound?”
“You do have a point. I tell you what, if I get done, how about I order a pizza and pick up some beer? There’s a place called Franco’s and they make a great pizza.”
Beer and pizza did sound good. “That sounds great, and if by some chance you’re running late, don’t worry about it.”
“You are so sweet. I did want to tell you I’ve been thinking about you today and I enjoyed last night,” he said.
She could tell he seemed as breathless as her. Even though their conversation was over the phone, she could hear between the lines. “I’ve been looking at the fire and thinking about you too. I enjoyed yesterday as well. Do you miss me?” Her heart was caught up in the moment. Normally she didn’t ask men that question, usually she didn’t care.
“Yes, I miss you more than I ever thought possible, and what does the fire have to do with us?” Mike asked. Tonight he intended to show her how much he missed her, he planned on kissing her. The thought of kissing her in front of the fire made him breathless.
“That’s what my grandmother always told me. My grandmother was Native American and her ancestors looked into the fire and the flicker of the flames told them their future.” She walked around the room cleaning. She picked the pillows up and fluffed them and put them back on the couch. She walked into the kitchen and emptied the dishwasher and she rearranged the toiletries in the bathroom.
“What did the fire tell you about me?”
“That’s a great Indian secret. I could tell you but then it might not come true,” she said. She stood by the fire and stared at the flame, hoping some kind of prophecy from her ancestors would enlighten her.
“I certainly want every wish to come true. See what you’ve done to me, you make me miss you even more. To be honest, I have done nothing but think about you today. You linger in my mind when I’m getting coffee, walking down the hall, and sitting at my desk. I have a ton of stuff to keep me busy here. But I’m having a hard time concentrating. I just wanted you to know I do miss you and I’m thinking of you.” He whispered.
“Mike is there someone with you?”
“No.”
“Why are you whispering?”
“You’re taking my breath away.” Mike couldn’t believe he said those words to Lana. He never said those words to any woman, but he didn’t believe in playing games. He believed in spitting out whatever crossed his mind. “Thinking of you makes me breathless.”
She wasn’t quite ready to call him baby because that’s her intimate word. It’s a silly thing for her to think, but everyone had that special word they withhold until that special moment. Her word happened to be baby. She chose another word, a fitting word. “Sweetie, you are needed there, and that’s hard for me to say because I’d love for you to be here. But your priority needs to be work. I’ll be here when you get home. And don’t forget we have nine more days together.” Two weeks ago, she never dreamed she would say those words to a man, much less someone she just met.
Mike liked it when she said home, and he especially liked the nine days. But he also knew that a few days wouldn’t be near long enough. He thought the way she said it, it sounded like it was permanent. With her he wanted it to be permanent. “Well, I just want you to know I would rather be with you,” he said softly.
“I want to be with you too,” she whispered. She didn’t want to hang up and she could tell he didn’t want to hang up either.
Because the conversation seemed to be getting heavy he decided to lighten the mood. “So what do you want to do this evening besides eat pizza?” He asked.
She wanted to say make love to you, but she couldn’t be that bold, at least not yet. But she was bold enough to say. “The only thing I want is for you to hold me.”
Then a long pause of silence, and she could hear Mike take a deep breath. “That my sweet lady I’d be more than glad to do. How about I hold you while we lay in front of the fire? And maybe the fire will tell us what’s in our future.”
It was her turn to take a deep breath. “I would like very much, and I might even throw in a great back rub.” Truth be told, she just wanted to see him without a shirt.
There was another pause with a deep breath. “It’s a date. How could I turn down that offer?” He could only imagine how it would feel for Lana to touch his bare skin. His body quivered the thought of her touching him, softly. It would drive him crazy, he knew that without hesitation.
“You can’t, and I think you deserve a back rub after a hard day’s work.” Actually, she wanted to give him more than a backrub.
She heard a knock on the door at Mike’s end, and he covered the speaker of his phone, but she still heard Mike answering something about times and dates. Then he uncovered the speaker and said. “I’m sorry babe that was one of the guys.” She loved it he called her babe because she felt cared for and a part of his life. If he felt the same way about that word as her, they were headed the same direction. “As much as I hate to say this, but they need me in the other room.”
“I understand, you hurry and do your job and I’ll be here when you get done.”
“Okay babe,” he paused, and he wanted to say I love you, but he didn’t, he just said. “I’ll call when I can.”
“Bye babe.” It sounded good to hear her voice say that word.
“Bye.”
She danced her happy dance in front of the fire. Oh my God, what just happened with that phone call? I met this guy two days ago and I’m already calling him words of endearment.
Then sudden nervousness enveloped her, she still don’t know what he did for a living.
*****
When she put the tea kettle on, she stood at the kitchen window and looked all the way down the road. It looked so desolate and eerie, and the woods looked so baron. There were some visible houses in the distance, through the woods. A person could see for at least a half mile through the woods since all the leaves had fallen off the trees.
She put her face over the cup with the tea bag as she poured the hot water in it. The steam felt so good sweating up to her face. Lana loved the smell of tea when the hot water first hits the tea bag, and it was even better with lemon. Steam rose through the air as she raised and lowered the tea bag. While she waited for the tea to get stronger, she just looked out the window at nothing.
After a few minutes something caught her eye in the distance. Through the woods way far off, she saw a red jacket moving at a house on another street. She guessed he was the owner hauling firewood to the back porch. She watched the red jacket move back and forth from the back yard to the front yard two or three times, at least.
Who knows, maybe he wanted to wrap his water pipes. A cold front was expected and he needed to prepare for it. Anyway, it wasn’t any of her business, but she would mention it to Mike later. She glanced down at her tea, it looked strong enough. As she glanced up, she jumped back when she saw the man intently looking her way. She knew he couldn’t see her but it startled her. Lana calm down, he sees smoke come out of the chimney and the lights on, she thought to herself. After all, it was the neighborly thing to do to watch out for their neighbors. She took a deep breath and laughed at herself for getting so spooked all the time, she hasn’t been here but a few days and she’s been skittish a lot. This reaction was not like her, but she excused herself from being scared. After all no one rented any houses on the block, and it’s normal to be a little frightened.
*****
Bored, and checking the clock every five minutes she decided to watch the news or catch a movie. Swigging on her tea and watching TV, she wrapped up in a blanket pointing the remote towards the Sony, and surfed through the channels. She stopped when she got to a special report. Today’s update: Early this morning a local U.S. Marshal in Boston Massachusetts Marshal Frank Belamy was shot while serving
a felony warrant. The spokesperson for the U.S. Marshal’s office, Stacey Farmer said the house has been under investigation for several months for drug trafficking. The shooter was captured and is in custody at this time. Frank Belamy is in critical condition at Massachusetts General and more details on the 5:00 news.
She thought, how sad and I hoped he pulls through okay. She surfed some more channels and stopped on the movie, Gone With The Wind on TNT channel, and she couldn’t refuse one of her favorite oldies.
Chapter 11
10:45 p.m.
A strong fire burned and all the lights were off except for the bathroom light. Lana sat on the couch and watched the TV even though it’s on mute. Some war movie happened to be on, and soldiers got shot then drag themselves to safety.
The movie didn’t interest her. Her mind raced with disappointment. Sadness engulfed her emotions. Sadness filled her heart because Mike didn’t call her to let her know he wouldn’t be coming. But listen to her whine, she originally came to the beach for the solitude and now that she has it, she’s sulking like a two year old.
While lying on the couch brooding in her sorrows she heard a car coming down the road and she jumped up and put on her housecoat. She didn’t turn on a light as she peeked out the window. In case the person happened to be someone besides Mike, she wouldn’t answer the door. Not only that if it was Mike and he’s tired he may want to get in his truck and head home. She anguished over the thought. It was Mike, and she saw him get out of the SUV and he talked a few seconds with the driver.
He looked so handsome all dressed up, he had on black slacks with a white button up shirt. His tie was loosened and the top button undone. The excitement that overwhelmed her was almost unbearable. She wanted to run out and hug him.
He made a slight goodbye gesture to the driver and she saw him look at the house. He walked to the truck and put a briefcase behind the front seat. He looked at the house and then back at the truck, and she knew he contemplated going home. He chose to get in his truck and leave. She was heartbroken, more than heartbroken. She ran back to the couch and crawled under the covers and wept.