by T. I. Lowe
“When she’s ready. I don’t think she can keep right on carrying that load all on her own.” Lulu followed behind him with the pies.
After Crowley loaded everything, he went up to check on Leah before he left. He knocked softy on the door, but didn’t get any answer. He figured she was resting so he headed on out.
Throughout the night, the townhouse was loud and alive with laughter and fun. Crowley played his part as a fun-loving host, but kept sneaking to the porch to see if any light had come on in Leah’s apartment. Disappointedly, it never did. He gave up around nine, finally accepting she wouldn’t be joining them.
****
The next afternoon Leah went on an extended jog. After yesterday’s debacle, she was having a hard time shaking her ever-nagging anxiety. She was beginning to think God was sending her warning signs that it was time to come clean with the business of Brent.
She made her way to a park bench at the river and sat down to catch her breath. She nervously licked the scar on her lip as she wondered how difficult it would be to prove self-defense. She wished desperately that she had agreed with the doctor in Nebraska and filed a report. Then, she would have proof. She was pretty sure it was too late now. She knew a really good lawyer who would know the answers.
“I was beginning to think you took off on that jog, never to return,” Crowley spoke as he walked up to her.
She shook her head at his way of popping up unexpectedly. “I was just thinking about you, Crow.” She wiped her sweaty face with her collar. The curls that had escaped her ponytail now clung to her damp neck, and she tried to wipe them dry too.
Crowley sat down and handed her one of the red Gatorades he was carrying. “I hope it was good thoughts.”
She just shrugged and gulped the cold sports drink. She held the bottle up. “Thanks. Did your company make it off all right?”
“Yep. Everyone was disappointed you couldn’t make it last night,” Crowley said as he unscrewed the lid off of his bottle.
“Me too. I feel bad about missing it. How’d it go?”
“Terrible,” he said. “The dating game wasn’t much fun with Ana and her little boutique girls.”
“Please. Those women are walking models. I bet you all managed just fine.”
Crowley nudged her with his elbow. “I think Greg was the most disappointed you didn’t show. He spent the entire night pining away over your absence.”
“I’m sure the boutique beauties were good distractions.” Leah laughed.
“The guy has really got the hots for you, Lee. He spent the night looking outside, hoping to see your lights on, and hoping you’d feel well enough to come spend some quality time with him.” Crowley slipped a mocking pout on his face.
“Please, Crow.” Leah shook her head and stared out over the water, watching it slowly glide by. The sun was starting to droop a bit in the late afternoon sky.
“I can give you his number, if you’d like.”
“No thanks,” Leah said as she worked on unlacing her running shoes.
“Why not?”
Leah slid her shoes off and tucked her socks inside them. She then rolled her capri running pants up over her knees. Leah had to admit that Ana did do a great job in choosing exercise outfits. She loved how the fitted material moved with her strides and didn’t feel binding.
She got up from the bench and made her way down to the water’s edge. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not into the dating scene.”
Crowley slipped his flip-flops off and followed her. “Well, that’s not true.”
“How so?” Leah asked as she stood ankle-deep in the refreshing water.
“You agreed to a date next weekend.” He lightly kicked some water over the back of her legs.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes you do. Our fishing trip.” He grinned.
“A fishing trip is not a date, Crow.” Leah took a few watery steps and stopped. “When exactly are we going anyway?”
“Next Sunday,” he said and waited for her reaction on the date. He knew she didn’t have a clue that he knew her thirtieth birthday fell on next Sunday. She had not shared that tidbit of information with anyone. He only knew from her expired driver’s license and background check he did on her last fall.
Leah crossed her arms and stared at the water without answering.
“What’s the matter Lee? That day’s not suitable, or do you already have a hot date planned?” he teased. He shoved his hands inside his loose pockets and studied her.
“Lulu won’t like us skipping church to go fishing.”
“You just leave Lulu to me. It’s her fault anyway that you never have any other day off besides Sundays,” he said as the two strolled along the water’s edge.
“It’s my choice to not have any other day off. Lulu has offered me more, so don’t go harassing her.”
Crowley raised his hands up defensively. “Yes ma’am.”
Leah turned quickly and kicked a long splatter of mud towards Crowley. She had dug her foot too deep without intending to. “Oops.” She laughed. “I didn’t mean to kick mud.” She laughed more as she looked at the mud speckling his cheeks.
Crowley stood almost completely still with his hands resting on his lean hips, as if contemplating on how to react. Leah realized too late that he was working the mud with his toes.
She took off running. “I didn’t mean it!” she said, but the excuse was fruitless. The mud slapped against her from the back of her calves all the way up to the crown of her head. She stopped dead in her tracks and started digging in the mud with her toes again. She launched a good splatter up Crowley’s side as he turned to retreat a little too late.
“You are so going to get it now, Lee,” Crowley said, too calmly for Leah’s likings.
She didn’t wait for the retaliation. She gave up the whole toe method and bent down to grab two fistfuls of mud and flung it at his midsection. Crowley followed suit and hurled a slimy chunk at her chest. It landed perfectly then slid into the top of her tank top as she screamed and giggled. Both ended up covered head to toe in mud.
Crowley had gathered another handful of mud and was about to launch it when he froze, mid-throw.
“Leah, stop moving.”
She ignored him and pulled her arm back to launch another mud grenade.
Crowley dropped the mud and held his palms up in surrender. “I. Said. Stop.” The look on his face and his tone made Leah automatically obey in confusion. He was absolutely serious. Before she could figure it out, Crowley slung her over his shoulder and in an instant was on dry land.
He placed Leah back on her feet and quickly grabbed up a broken tree limb. He sprinted back to the water’s edge and began beating the water with all of his might. Leah stood stunned at the man’s strength. He broke the limb and had to grab another to finish his job. Shock hit her when Crowley pulled a dead five-foot-long water moccasin out of the water. The monster hung limply in his powerful fist. His face was still set in a stern manner. Crowley started up the shore, still clasping the snake—when Leah fainted.
He threw the snake down and rushed over to her. “Leah?” he asked as he crouched down beside her. She was slowly coming to after he lightly shook her a few times. “Are you okay? It didn’t bite you, did it?” Crowley asked in a rushed tone as he started running his hands over her legs to check for any marks.
“I’m fine…It was beside me…in the water…wasn’t it?” she whispered, her hand covering her eyes.
Crowley helped her sit up. “Yep. Maybe you’ll listen to me a little quicker next time.”
“Was it poisonous?” Leah leaned forward, resting her forehead on her muddy knees.
“In a big way.” He patted her back. “You think you can stand?”
“Sure.” She slowly stood with Crowley’s help.
“Let’s go hose off.” He draped his arm around Leah’s lower back for support.
“I really hope no one just saw that,” she said. S
he allowed Crowley to pull her towards the back of his townhouse while she tried to untangle her jumbled thoughts.
“You actually fainted.” He laughed as he lightly tickled her side. “You wimp.”
Leah popped him in the gut with the back of her hand in response. He released her as they made it to the hose. He turned it on full blast and sprayed her.
“Ladies first.” He grinned as she hopped around under the cool shower.
“You’re trouble, Crow,” she said as she yanked the hose out of his hand and sprayed him in the face. She turned the water back on herself. She pulled her tank top away from her body and aimed the hose underneath it to wash out the sticky mud.
“I can help you with that.” A muddy Crowley grinned as he reached his hand out.
Leah shook her head. “Trouble,” she said as she refused to give him the hose and aimed the spray at the top edge of her pants. After a few moments, she handed the hose back to him. “I think that’s about as good as it’s gonna get.”
Crowley turned the hose on himself and tried unsuccessfully to work the mud off. He gave up and put the hose away. When he turned back, Leah was already heading back over to the bench to retrieve her shoes.
“What? No thank you for the great time or no thank you for saving your life?”
She turned and tossed him his flip-flops. “Thank you for the great time. Thank you for saving my life. Blah, blah, blah,” she said, grinning.
Crowley stood with his hands on his hips, dripping wet. “You just gonna take off on me?”
Leah laughed. “Look, buddy, I’ve got mud in places where mud is not welcome.” She waved at him as she crossed the street. “I’ll catch you later.”
Leah flew through the door and raced up to her apartment. She went straight to the bathroom and turned the shower on. She stripped and jumped in before the water had time to warm completely. As she washed away the mud, she couldn’t help but giggle at the silliness of her afternoon.
Leah stepped into her bedroom to retrieve some clothes after de-mudding. As she pulled a shirt over her head, there was a knock at the door. She hustled to pull on a pair of pants and dashed to the door, grinning.
As she opened the door, Leah had to readjust her eye level—way down. “Who are you? Aerobics Barbie?” Ana stood before her wearing a pink tank top bejeweled with silver rhinestones and matching yoga pants.
Ana whipped her flirty ponytail off her shoulder. “Please. My legs will never be long enough to pull off being Barbie. You, on the other hand, can be.” She nodded toward Leah’s long legs.
“Whatever,” Leah said as she stared down at her petite friend before glancing down the stairs.
“What? Are you expecting someone else?” Ana asked, raising her perfectly plucked eyebrows.
“No. There’s only a few who can get up to my apartment. I didn’t know you were one of them.”
“Let me in,” Ana said as she raised her full arms. “I brought pizza and diet Mountain Dew.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.” Leah stepped aside and motioned for her company to come in.
Ana headed straight over to the dinette and began unloading supper. “Lulu gave me a key for emergencies.”
“This is an emergency?” Leah asked, gesturing towards the pizza and soda.
“Yes. Jake went home, and now I’m lonely.” Ana pouted.
Leah went a few steps to the kitchen to grab two plates and some napkins. “I can’t believe you would actually bring such contraband into Lulu’s.”
“The pizza is Lulu-approved with super thin crust loaded with veggies only and very little cheese. And the sauce is even organic.” Ana slid a piece on each plate.
“Regardless, you’re bringing the trash home with you,” Leah said around a mouthful of pizza. Ana shrugged and dug in, too.
“By the way, thank you for supper.” Leah smiled.
“You’re welcome, honey.” Ana smiled back.
The two enjoyed their pizza in silence for a short bit until Ana asked, “Why do you have a pile of muddy clothes?” She pointed to the soiled clothes near the bathroom door.
Leah served them both another slice of pizza. “Crowley saw me down by the river earlier and thought it would be fun to mud bomb me,” she said, trying to sound annoyed.
“Jerk,” Ana said between bites.
Leah nodded her head as she chewed. Changing the subject, she asked, “When’s Jake coming back?”
“Next Thursday. He and Crowley were talking about him moving his office down here. He handles all of Crowley’s financial stuff anyway. It would be more convenient for us all.” She took her last bite before asking, “So, what do you think of Jake?”
“Good grief, Ana, he is just the dreamiest thing.”
“What do you think about us together?”
“You’re dreamy. He’s dreamy. I think you make a perfect match.”
“I agree.” Ana slid a can of soda over to Leah and opened one for herself. They took large guzzles of the cold fizz to help wash the pizza down. Ana put her can down and released a man-sized burp.
“Eww. Gross, Miss Priss.” Leah laughed and burped in the process, causing both friends to be overtaken by a giggling fit. After they settled down, they moved over and stretched out on the comfy sofa.
“We missed you last night,” Ana said, resting her head on the back of the sofa.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Since you called to tell me you weren’t coming, I brought two of my friends so I wouldn’t be the only female around all of that testosterone.”
“Oh, come on, you wouldn’t have minded that.” Leah grinned. “Did any of your friends make a love match?” Leah began flipping through the TV channels for a movie.
“My friend Marla didn’t mind flirting with the whole bunch of them.” Ana shook her head in disapproval. “But my friend Jenny seemed to really hit it off with Greg.”
Leah stopped flipping and looked towards Ana. “Really?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Crowley was taunting me today about Greg having the hots for me, but I figured he was just giving me a hard time.” Leah shrugged.
“P-a-lease. Crowley barely hung out with us last night long enough to know anything that was going on. He kept going out onto the front porch.” Ana shook her head and eyed Leah.
Leah shrugged and went back to surfing through the channels. “Maybe that spicy chili gave him gas.” Both women laughed at the idea. Leah found a chick flick playing, and the two settled in to watch.
Two hours later, they gathered the pizza garbage for Ana to carry with her. She turned back around at the door. “Let’s go biking tomorrow.”
“Okay. I’ll let you use me to keep your mind off Jake.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Are you sure we are allowed on the property?” Leah asked again as Crowley loaded her bike in the back of his truck.
“Absolutely. It’s where I go to do all my fishing,” he said for the umpteenth time. After he finished loading her bike, Crowley noted her black T-shirt and black capris. “Black isn’t the best color for a fishing trip.”
Leah looked down at her outfit. Dawn was breaking, and she wasn’t awake enough yet to have given her wardrobe much thought. “What color is?”
“Lighter colors reflect the sun and heat,” he said, but she was already heading back inside to change. He climbed in the truck to wait. “Please don’t take a hundred years,” he said to himself.
When Leah pulled the truck door open, not even five minutes later, Crowley was actually startled. “Wow. That was fast.” He nodded his approval with her choice of a light blue T-shirt paired with the tan cargo shorts.
She’d bought the baggy, well-worn cargo shorts last week from a thrift store as a joke for Crowley and to also annoy Ana. As she glanced his way, she felt as if the joke was on her, because there he sat, wearing nearly the exact same outfit as her. How had I not noticed earlier?
“Funny, Lee,” he said as he pulled away from the curb. “Fishing twins
.” He smirked.
She ignored him. “Are you sure we won’t get in trouble for trespassing?” she asked nervously.
“I’m sure.”
“Well. Good. Ever since I’ve started jogging past that beautiful drive, I’ve been dying to get a glimpse past the gates.” Leah smiled.
Crowley hit a button on the sun visor as they reached the wrought iron gate a few minutes later. A massive stone archway outlining the gate announced they had arrived at Big Oaks Plantation. As the gates slid open, he looked over to Leah. She was beaming with excitement. He pulled the truck into the drive. “Stop holding your breath, Lee. I don’t want you passing out on me again.” He grinned.
Leah gasped in awe as the truck crept under the massive oak trees that formed an archway along the driveway. She’d never seen trees like this before. Long branches were dressed in a sweeping drapery of silver Spanish moss and reached out as if to greet the tree opposite of them. The grand hostesses graciously beckoned their visitors forward towards the enormous, white plantation house.
The three-story mansion was fitted with a deep porch that lined the entire front. The porch, with its inviting heavy rocking chairs, two hanging porch swings, and cushioned wicker chairs that were grouped around small tables, called to guests to come sit awhile. Voluptuous ferns swung on hooks across the front of the porch, hanging from the rafters. Large black shutters and a shiny tin roof dressed the house with even more southern charm.
Crowley nudged Leah as he steered the truck to the side drive to the left of the house. “I said breathe, Lee.”
She shook her head. “It’s absolutely breathtaking. Have you ever gotten to see the inside?” Leah asked, mesmerized. The plantation was an image straight from a civil war movie or novel.
Crowley fought the urge to smile. “Yeah. I’ve been allowed in a few times.”
As she took the property in, Leah noticed that the plantation seemed to be vacant, yet well maintained. “Do the owners live here?”
“No, the owner does not,” Crowley said as he pulled around back.