Echoes From The Past (Women of Character)

by Grace Brannigan

  Christie’s hands shook. She realized she was furious that it had been snatched away. She drew in a lungful of air, then another, pushing back the thoughts that threatened to bring her to tears. She felt overwhelmed by anger and for a moment, swamped with self-pity.

  The world could sometimes be a cold place, but not here, not these people. That thought became a conviction. She almost wished she hadn’t gotten this glimpse into life here at the farm. They had troubles, Garrett and his daughter, but they loved each other and that caring was half the battle won. They would make it.

  She looked down at the piece of cookie in her hand. She took a bite and chewed it, then almost gagged. The cookies that Hannah had taken such pride in were loaded with salt. She had added too much salt. Lifting her hand, Christie pitched the rest of the cookie as far as she could into the woods.

  She smiled, and then she began to laugh. Garrett had known. She put a hand to her mouth to stifle her giggles. Christie walked further from the house, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably. Garrett had known with that first bite that the cookies weren’t edible, and yet he hadn’t let anyone know. He’d even eaten a second one so as not to hurt his daughter’s feelings. Hell, he’d asked for the entire plate! Where do you find a man like that, a man who took such care with a child’s feelings? Unaccountably, the thought came: he would cherish a wife. The woman he loved would never doubt he was a man who cared deeply. What then, had happened between him and Judith?

  In that moment, Christie realized how lucky she was to have ended up here on Winding Creek property, even if only to see this type of love and trust first hand. Wistfully, she wondered if her life would have been different if she’d grown up in this town, or if she’d met someone like Garrett years ago, when she’d still thought there was a place for love in her life.

  Chapter Six

  A few days later, Christie prepared to leave the house for work. She paused on the kitchen threshold when she spotted Garrett climbing out of his pickup truck, a bag hanging from one hand.

  Christie backed into the kitchen, not really prepared to face Garrett. Her face felt hot as she recalled the dreams she’d had all night. If dreams were wishes she was in trouble. She’d dreamt she and Garrett had made love and she’d awakened tired and out of sorts. She remembered her sister Judith had yelled at her in the dream that she couldn’t have Garrett. After that, she’d tossed for two hours until she’d decided to get up at five thirty.

  Garrett walked toward the house. A beard shadowed his cheeks. His unshaven face coupled with his windblown hair, added to his raw appeal. Christie quickly backed away from the window as he mounted the steps.

  The door opened and he entered the kitchen.

  "Morning," Christie said, digging her hands into her pants pockets.

  "You’re up early." Garrett placed the package on the table. "These are for you." He opened the plain brown bag and pulled out a pair of high top leather boots and dropped them on the floor with a thump.

  Christie looked at them in surprise. "They’re for me?"

  "Yes." Garrett moved over to the counter, lifted the pot and poured himself a cup of coffee.

  Christie followed him as he carried his cup toward the back door. "Hang on a second. Why do I need boots?"

  Garrett turned on the threshold and Christie stopped a few feet from him.

  "It's a hard and fast rule anyone working around the horses wears steel-toe boots. Yesterday was the first chance I’ve had to go into town, so I picked you up a pair. They're not much heavier than regular boots, but they'll protect your feet." He looked down at her feet. "If a horse steps on you with those sneakers, you’ll have broken toes or a foot."

  "Oh." She looked down at the boots. "I didn’t think of that. How do you know if they'll fit?"

  "I've got an eye for detail. Size seven?"

  "Yes."

  "If they’re not comfortable, let me know right away. I can exchange them."

  "Thank you, Garrett. Please take it out of my wages." She pressed her hands together anxiously. "I have a question. I wanted to know if it’s possible to borrow a vehicle? I wanted to scout around the area, maybe do some sightseeing." Christie reasoned it wasn’t really a lie, she would be looking around the area. "I’ll reimburse you for gas."

  "Do you have a valid driver’s license?"

  "Yes."

  "Show Sam your license and let him know the morning you need a vehicle. I’ll talk to him about freeing one up." He took another swallow from his cup, moved past her and placed the cup in the dishwasher.

  "I appreciate that, Garrett. I’ll pay you for its use."

  He swung back around to her and shook his head. "Not necessary." Clearly on his way to the door, he stopped beside her and frowned. "Are you okay?"

  "Yes. Why?"

  "You look tired."

  "Oh." Being this close to him she could see the fine network of lines beside his eyes. "I, uh, didn’t sleep that great. Nothing to worry about." His nostrils flared slightly as he stared down at her.

  "It worries me when it might affect your work."

  "Oh, of course." Christie nodded with understanding, feeling a bit of a letdown. Surely she hadn’t expected some kind of personal interest? "No falling asleep on the job." She stepped back. "I won’t. In fact, I was getting ready to go out to the barn."

  Christie’s throat tightened. She could smell his aftershave and just being this close to him affected her strongly.

  "I’m sorry for being abrupt," he said. "I do care -- but -- I can’t. I won’t."

  An incomprehensible, crazy yearning seized Christie when instead of moving away, he took a step closer.

  Garrett’s head dipped slightly, then more. "The way you’re looking at me. . .." His mouth hovered over hers. "Maybe you’d better stop me," he murmured, putting one hand on the wall behind her head. She was free to move away, but in that moment she chose not to.

  His mouth touched hers, lightly, briefly, then again, harder and more satisfying. Sensation coursed through her and she pressed her fingers against the front of his shirt.

  Christie closed her eyes, totally involved in the taste, feel and scent of Garrett. He was so big and warm, his clothes carrying the clean scent of hay. She didn’t want to reject his closeness, even though part of her knew it was the safe thing to do.

  Garrett released her and stepped back. Christie opened her eyes, her thoughts jumbled in her head. Blood sang in her veins and her face felt hot.

  "That’s something I shouldn’t have done," he muttered, glaring at her as if it were all her fault he’d kissed her. "You’re Judith’s sister, for God’s sakes!"

  Elation leveled out. Christie couldn’t find words as he turned away and yanked the door open. Reaching back inside for his hat on the peg, he loped down the stairs and across the yard.

  Her mouth stretched into a smile, almost without her thinking about it. Something close to happiness filled her. Garrett had admitted she was Judith’s sister. He knew it was true.

  Who would have thought there’d be such an explosion of feeling between them, just because of one kiss?

  She sat at the kitchen chair, running her fingertips lightly over her lips. She closed her eyes as a momentary hopelessness gripped her. Did she have a right to be happy that this had happened? She liked being kissed by Garrett. It had been too long since she’d been touched intimately or held and Garrett had made her feel special for a few moments.

  Christie picked up one of the boots and found a package of new socks inside. The boot leather was supple beneath her fingers, the inside thickly padded. Kicking off her worn sneakers, she pulled on the socks and boots. As she laced them, a wry grin split her face. It was silly to be so happy over a pair of boots. She wondered if it was the gesture that meant so much to her or the fact that it was Garrett McIntyre who had given her the gift. In her heart she knew it had to be the latter, and that’s what worried her. Garrett didn’t want to feel anything for her, nor did she want to feel anything for him, but som
etimes attraction had a mind of its own.

  ###

  Christie looked forward to working at the farm each day. She helped Sue or Ally clean stalls and feed the mares and foals each morning. On warm, dry days the horses remained outside until early afternoon.

  Once cleaned, fresh sawdust or straw was placed in the stall, all the water buckets were cleaned and refilled. Sweet-smelling Alfalfa and clover hay was placed in the mangers. The last job was to rake the center aisles before the horses were returned to the barns for the evening.

  Mostly women worked in the foaling barns and handled the young horses. She didn't mind the manual labor in keeping the barn clean, but she loved the time spent with the foals.

  Early in her second week of work Christie returned late to the house one evening. The sky had deepened to a dusky pinkish/gray as she walked tiredly up the back steps to the kitchen. Surprisingly, she hadn't seen Hannah all day. Usually she saw her out with her father or at lunchtime. Although Hannah at first had seemed determined to keep her distance, she seemed to be coming around little by little. Christie had begun to grow fond of the eight-year-old. How could anyone with a heart keep a child at arm’s length, especially a child so thirsty for attention and determined not to show it?

  Christie entered the kitchen and found a note from Ruth that her dinner was wrapped and in the refrigerator. She felt touched by the older woman's thoughtfulness. They weren’t anything near friendship, but Christie knew the older woman had softened toward her to some degree, if not actually warmed up to her.

  Christie went to her room and washed up quickly. She had missed lunch and felt quite hungry, and Ruth’s cooking was not to be missed.

  Exiting her room into the dimly lit hall, a slight movement caught her eye. Garrett walked toward her down the hallway, his only covering a towel. Christie stopped, stared at his wide, hair-dusted chest. Desire clenched hard and fast at her stomach. She met his equally startled gaze.

  "Christie." He stood still, one hand on the towel at his right hip, the other hand clutching a pair of jeans. "Sorry, didn’t know anyone was in the house." He lifted the jeans. "Dryer."

  "Sorry," she mumbled. "Next time I’ll make more noise."

  He smiled with genuine amusement, then turned sideways and entered his bedroom, closing the door.

  Christie took a deep, fortifying breath, her face heated. Quickly, she walked to the kitchen and her dinner. Annoyed with herself, she clenched her shaking hands.

  She had tried to deny to herself the attraction she felt for Garrett, but seeing him like that, just now, didn’t help.

  She had an idea she wanted to put to him. She had been thinking about it all week, once she’d found out about the small apartment above the barn. She also knew the renovations were just about complete. It was difficult being in the house day after day in such close proximity to him. Too intimate, distracting her, filling her head with thoughts about a man she couldn’t have. How could she ever forget he’d belonged to her sister?

  Christie heard footsteps and braced herself as he entered the kitchen.

  "You were out to the barn pretty late."

  "Just finishing up."

  "Hours are --

  "I know -- work is over at five." She shrugged easily. "It was my choice to hang around with Ally."

  Garrett lifted his cowboy hat from the peg by the back door, pushed the door open, then paused to look over his shoulder at her. "You work hard. You’re doing a good job."

  "Thanks." She smiled.

  "I’m going in to town to get Hannah. See you later." With that he was gone.

  Her dinner was delicious, but suddenly she wasn’t hungry. Garrett and Hannah drove into town on a regular basis and Christie was curious as to the reason why.

  She left the kitchen and walked down the hallway into the living room. Opening the glass doors that led to the terrace she walked outside, the stone cool on her bare feet after the day’s unrelenting heat.

  She settled in one of the comfortable lounge chairs with a sigh and was content to listen to the muted sounds of the night.

  Christie sank further into the cushioned chair, mesmerized by the unrelenting inky darkness. At the apartment she'd shared with Ellen, she never recalled the night having this deep stillness. She lifted her feet and curled into the chair. Lucky man, Garrett appeared to have it all.

  She lifted her gaze to the heavens. She wished she could move on with her life. Sometimes she felt as if she was running in place, afraid of what the future might hold or what it might lack. She had always been so strong when Ellen was alive, now, she felt anything but. She wanted someone to lean on, and yet that very idea was foreign to her. She and Ellen had been a team, but in the end she’d made all the decisions. Ellen had been too weak, and the last two weeks of her life, too absorbed in the process of dying.

  Christie had used Garrett’s vehicle several times in the last week, driving into town and the surrounding area. She was becoming familiar with the roads and outlying towns. She needed to find somewhere special for Ellen’s ashes, but she didn’t know what that place might be.

  Guilt touched her as she wondered about her nephew Eric. She hadn’t talked to him in almost three weeks, thinking only of her need to keep moving, her goal to connect with Judith. With sudden resolve, she knew it was time to call him.

  Dropping her feet to the stone floor, Christie rose and walked back into the living room. She found a cordless phone on the table beside the door and brought it out onto the terrace with her.

  She stared at the phone keypad for several moments. What if Eric didn’t want to talk to her? The last time she’d seen him it hadn’t been a happy occasion. She had dropped him off at his father’s apartment. She still recalled his silent tears as his father kept him from following her. Christie bit her lip and took a deep breath as she punched in the numbers. Anxiously, she waited as the line rang.

  "Hello?"

  Christie’s hand jerked when she heard Darrell’s voice in her ear. In a brief moment of panic she almost hung up on the phone.

  "Hello?"

  "Darrell," she said evenly. She and Darrell had never hit it off, but she had tried for her sister’s sake to get along with her husband.

  "Christie, is that you? Are you okay?" He sounded surprisingly anxious.

  "Yes, I'm fine." She could hear a child singing in the background. Christie’s hands began to tremble. Eric loved to sing. "I’m okay. How is Eric? I can hear him singing." Some of the tension eased from her body.

  "Eric’s fine. Why haven’t you called before this?" he demanded in a low voice.

  She gripped the phone. "I’ve been traveling."

  "You can’t say you’re going traveling and not tell anyone where you’re going."

  A bitter laugh left her lips and she felt the pain of it to her toes. "Fancy you saying something like that, Darrell."

  "You’ll never let me forget, will you?" he muttered. "Ellen understood why I left her. I couldn’t stand to see her like that. It was easier for everyone."

  "Easier for you." She heard his curse. Christie could imagine Darrell in his and Ellen’s old apartment, running a frustrated hand through his almost black hair.

  Suddenly ashamed at her own rigidity, she quickly said, "Listen, I don’t want to fight. For Eric’s sake, we’ve got to be civil. Can I say hello to him?"

  "Sure, but first tell me where you are in case I need to contact you. You just disappeared one day. Your friends at work didn’t know where you had gone and your boss said you took a leave of absence. Geez, Christie, I’ve been worried out of my mind."

  "Why would you worry, Darrell? That last day, I told you I was going to find Judith."

  "I thought you were bluffing. You haven’t seen your sister Judith since you were a kid. I didn’t think you’d pack up and just leave."

  I didn’t want to, she cried out inside. She tightened her lips against letting the words escape. "You know I couldn’t stay. I felt like I was being eaten alive." The memories.
Ellen was everywhere she looked. "I told you I had to scatter Ellen’s ashes," she said with quiet deliberation. "Ellen asked me to find Judith, to make her a part of our lives once again."

  Reluctantly, it seemed, he said. "Did you find her?"

  Christie drew a deep breath, and it hurt her to say what she had to say. "Judith died, Darrell. She died right after she sent Ellen that letter."

  He swore. "Then come home. There’s no reason for you to stay."

  "I can’t. There are other reasons I can’t leave yet."

  "Ellen had a memorial service. Let it all go."

  "Ellen asked me for more. I made her a promise."

  "It’s a crazy idea, taking ashes across the country."

  Tensely, Christie said, "How can you criticize my choice to honor Ellen’s last wish? Can I talk to Eric?" she asked in a measured tone.

  "Hang on."

  Christie heard voices in the background and then Eric’s sweet, innocent voice. "Hello, Aunt Christie."

  Relief spread throughout her body, yet she felt as if she wanted to cry. "Eric, it’s so good to hear your voice. How are you doing? I could hear you singing just a minute ago. What song was that?"

  "Itsy bitsy spider. I learned a new one this week. Mrs. Gardner taught me."

  "Which song did you learn?"

  "Wee Willie Winkie. Mrs. Gardner said it’s the best song she ever heard anyone sing."

  "I’ll bet she’s right. Are you looking forward to school? It’s so exciting that you’ll be starting in the fall." She had thought she would be there to see him get on the bus that first day of school.

  "It’s okay, I guess," he said slowly, as if he hadn’t made up his mind yet. "Daddy said I’ll have new friends."

  "Of course you will. I’m very excited for you."