“Why don’t we give it a try for a while and see how it works?” He fingered the day old stubble on his chin.
“Okay,” she smiled and stretched a hand out. “It’s a deal. Two weeks?”
He took her hand in a firm grip. She could feel the calluses tickle the soft skin of her palm and she quickly pulled away.
“I’ll get your things from your truck,” he offered and moved to the front door.
“That’s not necessary,” she said, halting him. “You don’t have to do that.”
He turned, “I know I don’t have to, but I’d like to… if you don’t mind.” His brows shot up, waiting for her approval.
“Okay,” she quietly replied.
Leah followed Matthew out to the truck where he pulled her suitcase from the back. She picked up her toiletry bag from the mini seat behind the passenger seat and a small knapsack. She watched as Matthew effortlessly carried her suitcase which she had struggled to pull from the apartment the day before. He was carrying it like a loaf of bread as he held the handle and walked briskly back to the house.
Before she reached the porch, a lopsided building caught her attention. She took a moment to scan her surroundings and that’s when she noticed the dilapidated appearance of the place. There was the whinny of a horse as a chestnut stallion bounded around the old building she figured was a barn. He lowered his head and grazed the grass surrounding the structure.
She was admiring the sleek, masculine physique of the animal when Matthew appeared from around the side of the house. He’d removed the gray flannel shirt he’d been wearing when she came, and tied the sleeves around his waist. He was now clad in a soiled white sleeveless undershirt, and carried a toolkit around his waist.
He bent and lifted the front hoof of the horse, took a small hammer from his belt and hammered the shoe. The muscles in his arms rippled while he did the simple task. The beast nuzzled his shoulder at which time, Matthew patted its thick neck. The thought struck her that man and beast were similar. He stood and petted the horse. Leah didn’t want to be seen, so she hurried inside the house to get her new life started. A few minutes later, Matthew returned with his shirt on, unbuttoned. She could make out his bulging torso beneath the undershirt and she looked away.
“Your room is up the stairs on the right,” he said, pointing up the single flight of wooden stairs.
“Thank you,” was Leah’s quiet reply.
She could feel his eyes on her as she ventured up the unfamiliar stairs. There was dust everywhere and she wondered when last a woman was in that house? Why wasn’t a woman there now? How come Matthew wasn’t married?
The room was small and surprisingly neat. She could see that he’d taken the time to clean it in preparation for her arrival. The pink floral covers on the bed, and the soft lavender curtains told her that a woman once lived there and perhaps occupied that very room. Leah wondered who she was and why she wasn’t there now. The room had a faint scent of lilac and she noticed there was a perfume bottle on the small white bureau. She picked it up and brought it to her nose. It was a lilac scented perfume.
She smiled as she pulled out a clean pair of jeans and shirt. Badly needing a shower or some kind of cleaning, she went in search of the bathroom. She doubted there was indoor plumbing, but she was wrong… sort of. Upon checking the top floor, there was one other bedroom, a small room that looked like a sewing room and a tiny bathroom that looked like the only modern thing in the entire house. The problem was, there was no water in the faucet.
Leah bounded back down the stairs in search of Matthew, whom she found in the kitchen, slicing slabs of cured beef on a cutting board. He looked up when she entered and his eyes seemed to swallow her up like waves in an ocean.
“I hope you’re comfortable. I know the place needs a lot of work…,” he trailed off.
“I’m fine. I just need to wash up really bad. There’s no water in the bathroom upstairs.”
He put the knife down and faced her squarely, “I’m sorry about that. I need to get that fixed as well, but there’s a shower stall in the back yard. It’s secure and private… there’s an outhouse there as well,” he was looking quite uncomfortable as he spoke to her.
“Thank you,” Leah said quietly, but her mind was screaming. This is a freaking dump!
Had it not been for her circumstances, she would have jumped in the truck and driven back to LA in an instant. However, she had nowhere else to go except her parents. That was not an option so she bit her lips, looked out the back door and scanned the back yard. There, she saw a makeshift shower, enclosed with aluminum zinc sheets.
After grabbing her towel and clothes from the bedroom, she slowly walked across the yard to her new shower facility. Somehow, she found it amusing that she moved from an apartment in suburban Los Angeles, to a rundown ranch with a shower in the middle of the yard. She laughed softly to herself. Perhaps it was shock, but she found herself laughing quietly as she removed her clothes and scanned the surroundings for eyes that might be ogling her.
There was a pipe of sorts with a good chrome shower head. Her eyes followed the PVC piping until they rested on a small tank on stilts hidden between the trees. It looked fairly new as if it was put there for her benefit. At least Matthew was trying. At least, he offered her a home, whereas her husband of nearly a decade threw her out in the cold, without a thought for her safety.
Matthew was waiting with a table set for two. She was hungry and the food looked great. It wasn’t five star restaurant material but the cold beef had a certain charm to it. There were chunks of watermelon and cheese with thick slices of bread. To wash it down was iced tea.
“I want to apologize for the condition of the place. I wanted to have made it more comfortable for you,” his raspy voice echoed in her ear.
“I’ll help, just tell me what to do. That’s what I’m here for,” she watched as he swallowed and his Adam’s apple moved up and down.
He stuffed the last piece of bread from his place and took a sip of his drink. He seemed to be deep in thought and Leah ate while she waited for him to say something. She took the opportunity to take a good look at the man she would now call her husband… if you could call the arrangement that. A mail order bride. She had no idea what that entailed, but when she answered the ad, she had been under the impression that he was an old man who needed someone to run the ranch and prepare his meals. Come to think of it, nothing about the original arrangement was different, except that Matthew was not old. On the contrary, he was every bit the man.
Her eyes rested on his face for a moment. Some men wore their day old stubble well and he was one of them. Everything about him looked strong, she observed; from his nose to his fingers. Even lifting the glass to his lips made his biceps move. Leah felt her heart flutter just a little bit, observing him like that.
He rested the glass and lifted his head before she had the chance to look away. Their eyes made contact and she felt her cheeks grow warm. Gosh, no, she was blushing. Jeez! She dropped her gaze and bit her lip, embarrassed, but not before she saw the hue of his eyes deepen. Oh God, she thought, What is he thinking? Now, he’s thinking I’m the pervert!
“I think we should discuss…,” he fidgeted with the knife, looking uncomfortable. “Our arrangement… you know...,” He cleared his throat. “Our marriage.”
“I agree,” her voice was steady, which was a surprise.
“I don’t expect anything… er… wifely duties… I mean… intimate….,” He shuffled his feet beneath the table.
“You mean sex, right?”
His eyes flew to hers at her words. She blushed as he looked at her with his brows raised. “Yes, that, unless of course… you want to… I mean… only if you…,” he was having difficulty with the conversation and Leah found it amusing.
“I assure you, I won’t… but will let you know if I do,” she smiled sweetly.
His ears grew red, but she saw him expel a breath and realized he was relieved. Wow, she thought, an army
man who’s uncomfortable talking about sex, who would have thought it?
Chapter Four
Leah spent the next three days cleaning the house from ceiling to floor. The truck was returned, courtesy of Matthew who took it to town and had the company pick it up, riding a horse back to the ranch. As the stallion sauntered through the gate, she noticed how easy Matthew steered the animal. She’d ridden a horse before, when she was little… once… at a fair. She wondered if Matthew perhaps misunderstood about that. She didn’t mean to lead him on, but she was desperate at the time.
They settled into a nice comfortable home atmosphere, and it was almost like a regular marriage. Matthew was becoming increasingly comfortable around her and she felt the same. She’d get up in the mornings and make breakfast, at which time there would be the sound of hammering coming from the barn. She would call him and he would wash up and remark how lovely everything smelled. The only thing missing was a kiss good morning and a kiss goodnight.
On this particular afternoon, she made an early dinner. The sky was getting dark and the moisture could be detected in the wind. She didn’t need a weather channel to tell her that they would be getting some rain. Matthew was on the roof trying to do some repairs.
“Matthew?” She stood at the end of the ladder he used to climb up. The hammering had stopped so she thought perhaps he was getting ready to come down. “Matthew, are you up there?”
She was about to return to the kitchen, thinking that he’d gone off somewhere, when she had the urge to climb the ladder. She made sure it was firmly planted and then slowly ascended until her head was above the roof.
“Matthew?” He was sitting with his hands gripping his head as if he was in pain. Leah scrambled onto the roof on her knees, with much difficulty, seeing that she wasn’t too fond of heights. “Matthew?” She softly called his name but he didn’t respond. “Are you okay?”
“The mission is not complete,” he mumbled.
“I know, but that’s okay, you can do it tomorrow,” she reassured, crouching beside him.
“Abort mission lieutenant!” He said in a commanding tone.
“Matthew?” She reached her hand out to touch his shoulder, but pulled it back, unsure of what was happening.
“Stand back soldier, abort mission!” His voice came at her, louder than before.
The authority in his tone caused Leah to fall back on her heels. There was something scary about the way he said the words, as if he thought he was actually speaking to a member of his unit. A loose shingle moved and her right foot slipped, landing her ass on the hard surface of the roof. She found herself moving along with the shingle which carried her dangerously close to the edge of the roof. She only had time to let out a piercing scream, before she felt a hand grab her flailing one. He reached out and grabbed her other hand, pulling her up beside him. Leah clung to Matthew’s arms for dear life, trying to catch her breath, her heart racing out of control.
“Oh God,” she breathed, placing a hand on her chest and feeling the rapid pounding of her heart.
She turned to look at Matthew, who had a bewildered look on his face. A pained expression crossed him as he looked down at her. Then, he stood and pulled her to her feet. She still clung to him, not willing to let go lest she fall. When they reached the ladder, he went first and waited until she made the first step. She felt his hands on her hips, helping her down. The warmth of his hands seeped through her jeans, but it was a good thing he was doing that, because her knees were like jelly.
As soon as she was on solid ground, she brushed passed him and ran into the house through the gaping back door, disappearing up the stairs.
“What the hell was that?” She sat on the bed, her hands shaking a little. “This is not what I bargained for.”
Leah could not get the incident from her mind. What if she’d fallen off the roof? Would she have died? Perhaps not, but she’d have surely broken something. And what was with Matthew? Was he crazy, talking about aborting mission? Was that why they discharged him? Gosh, what did she get herself into?
She stayed in the room until she was sure her hands stopped shaking and her heart was beating normally. Matthew was pacing at the bottom of the stairs when she came out. She stopped at the top of the stairs and looked at him for a moment. The man was beautiful. His face was no less gorgeous than one of any of the men in the Playgirl magazines. Yes, she’d seen those. She’d had her chance to ogle and dream. Now, looking at him, that’s what she saw. His body was built like an athlete, sleek and toned. Plus, he could not be more than around forty, so what happened to make him go off like that?
She slowly descended and he turned, his eyes telling her that he was concerned for her.
“Are you alright?” His voice was gravelly.
“Yes, how about you?”
He hesitated and looked down at the floor, “Yes, I’m fine.”
“Matthew,” he looked up at her again. “Let’s eat.”
She finished descending the stairs and passed him into the kitchen. What she really wanted was to ask him what happened, but thought better of it. He might not take kindly to her intruding. They ate a meal of corn stew, made with the cured beef. It was hearty and rich, and Matthew sopped every last sauce with the bread served with it.
“That was delicious,” he complimented when he was done.
They were still sitting at the table when the first drops or rain kicked up the dust in the yard. She noticed his eyes raised to look at the ceiling. He must have been fretting about the roof and whether or not it will leak.
“Do we have enough pots, pans, and buckets…. Just in case?” She blurted out. Might as well stir into action instead of worrying about the situation.
“Let’s see,” Matthew got up from the table, his relief registering on his face. He must have thought that Leah would ask him about what happened on the roof.
Leah pulled out some pots from the cupboard in the kitchen while Matthew fetched some plastic tubs from the barn. By the time he returned with the containers, the rain had started to soak through the dry earth, forming brown puddles.
His hair and shoulders had caught some heavy drops, causing his hair to curl slightly from the moisture. This made his face soften, giving him a boyish look. Leah noticed how a lock worried his forehead and she had the strongest urge to brush it away.
They checked every room in the house to make sure there were no leaks, but nothing happened just yet.
“Maybe too soon. The rain just started,” he told her, eying the ceiling as he walked around.
A sudden clap of thunder reverberated through the building, startling her out of her wits. Leah jumped, grabbing Matthew’s upper arm. There was another, louder than the first, shaking the little house. Matthew encircled his arms around her and she rested her forehead on his chest, shaking with each blast.
His arms were warm, strong, and secure. He was like a large cocoon that was protecting her from the elements. She seemed extremely short next to him with the top of her head barely reaching his chin. There she stayed until the rumbling faded into the distance. He didn’t let her go immediately, and suddenly, she became aware that her breasts were pressed into his torso.
Leah stepped away, blushing severely. She made a few steps back to put distance between them, but something was off. There was something cold touching her feet. She looked down and the floor was covered in water.
“We have a leak!” She shrieked.
There was a steady stream coming from a section of the living room near the front door. Matthew told her to set one of the larger containers while he took the stairs two at a time to check the bedrooms. He came back with good news. The upstairs was fine. That’s where he repaired today, but he never got the chance to check over the living room.
“I’m sorry. I know this is really not what you’d hoped for. I’d understand if you want to end the contract,” he seated himself at the kitchen table and brushed back his hair from his face. It was still damp, and the lock of hair at
his forehead was forever falling down. Leah felt the urge to touch it again.
“I have to admit, it’s… different,” she smiled. “But the two weeks we set isn’t over yet. I’d like to see what happens by then.”
Matthew worked through the night, removing the container as it filled while Leah set another. They rotated the containers until late into the night. Matthew told her to go to bed but she refused, making coffee for them both.
There were moments she caught him looking at her and she would feel heat rise up her neck. In one instance, she caught his eyes on her breasts and it gave her a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was not an uncomfortable feeling, just an unfamiliar one. As they worked to change the containers, occasionally, they would bump into each other, or their hands would brush. At these moments, they would pause, looking at each other, then the spell would be broken by the splash of water.
Leah was captivated by the way Matthew moved for a large fellow. He was agile and moved almost soundlessly. She didn’t know much about what he did in the Navy, but it seemed he was well trained.
“It’s only a trickle now,” his deep voice penetrated her thoughts. “It will soon stop.” He walked to the broken window which he had patched with a piece of clear plastic. “It’s now just a drizzle.”
She moved up beside him and looked out over the yard. She couldn’t see anything in the dark. Leah looked up at him questioningly. Matthew turned, facing her.
“Oh, the sound. I’ve come to know the sound depending on how heavy or light the showers are,” he said. “Even without hearing it on the roof.”
“That’s amazing. I can’t hear the difference. This roof doesn’t make a sound, why?”
“When my father re-built the house, he had padding placed under the shingles to fade the sound.”
“Oh, but the rain is so soothing,” she remarked.
“At the time, my grandfather was living with us. The sound of the rain reminded him of a flood that happened when he was a boy. He got scared every time it rained.”
Reminding The SEAL (Navy SEAL Military Romance) Page 9