Romance: Seducing The Quarterback

by Stacie Duncan

  So, she said her farewells and gathered all her meager possessions, and her uncle came to fetch her and deliver her to the men who had ordered her. They traveled for long days, and sometimes even into the night. Over the time, Sarah grew to like her uncle a great deal, and she partially wished that she was going to live with him and his family, rather than into the home of two strangers.

  “Now you wait here,” her uncle said as they stopped the wagon on the road in town. “I just need to pick up a few things, and then we’ll be on our way.”

  Sarah smiled and nodded. She allowed herself to look around. People milled around, and some children ran up and down the street. She wondered if she would come into town often, or if she would be largely kept holed up in her new home. Sarah took a few deep, shuddering breaths. She couldn’t help the deep, sick feeling of nervousness that had built up inside her.

  Sarah knew that her life was going to be changed forever. She did not know anything about this lifestyle, and she certainly knew nothing of these men. She had never even seen any of the letters they had written to her father. She wished he had let her read them. At least then she might be able to detect from their writing a hint of a personality, or at least whether or not they would be cruel or kind.

  Sarah had the urge to run into the town and away from her situation, but she knew that would ultimately end badly. She had no idea what kind of people lived here, and she could only guess that they were not all good and kind. And a woman alone was certainly an easy target for those who wished to do harm. Besides, she could see her uncle returning to the wagon, and she knew he would quickly catch her if she ran. So, she resolved to stay put, in spite of her overwhelming anxiety.

  “Alright then,” her uncle huffed as he got back in the seat next to her. “Off we go.”

  The rest of the journey seemed like an eternity to Sarah. Her mind was racing with all sorts of possibilities and fears. She buried her hands in her skirts and wrung them back and forth, and her entire body shook violently. She must have looked bad, for her uncle reached over and placed his hand on her knee.

  “Don’t you worry Sarah,” he gave her a smile. “These are good, hardworking, God-fearing men. They’ll do you no harm.”

  Sarah gave him a weak smile. His words did comfort her, but they did not completely dissolve the anxiety she was feeling.

  When Sarah was able see a small cottage and a large barn coming up in front of them, she bit her lip. She felt that her heart was going to beat out of her chest. She shook harder than ever when her uncle finally stopped the wagon just in front of the small home. He got out of his seat and moved to help her down just as three men walked out of the cottage.

  Sarah lowered her eyes, afraid to look at them.

  “Hey there Jonathan,” one of the men said to her uncle.

  “Good to see you,” her uncle replied. “Here’s our Sarah.”

  “Thank you very much for delivering her safely,” Sarah heard another voice.

  “Her things are just in the back,” her uncle explained.

  “Caleb will bring them inside,” the first man said, and she heard the third man head to the back, where he proceeded to take down her single trunk.

  “Well, I trust you to take care of my brother’s daughter,” her uncle said, and Sarah heard the hint of a warning in his voice.

  “Of course,” one of the men said.

  “Alright, I’ll be off then,” her uncle sighed, then turned to Sarah, and lifted up her face. “You be a good girl Sarah.”

  “I will,” Sarah said meekly.

  “Good,” he said softly, and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “I’ll write you when I get settled.”

  Sarah nodded, and watched as he got back into his seat. She waved at him, and watched as he set off back down the road. Now, she was finally alone with two strange men, and she shook with nerves.

  “Hello Sarah,” one of the men addressed her. “I’m Peter, and this is my brother Paul.”

  Sarah looked at Peter. He was tall, with a kind smile and a strong, clean shaven jaw. His hair was dark brown, and fell around his ears in short, messy curls. Sarah already felt at ease with him. His eyes were a warm, dark brown, and he looked very welcoming.

  Paul, however, did not look quite so kind. He maintained his distance, and merely nodded a greeting, his expression stern. He was just as tall as his brother, though he seemed to carry himself more rigidly. His hair was closer cut to his head, and it was combed off to the side. His jaw was outlined by a light layer of stubble, and his brow was strong. His eyes were a gold-flecked green. Sarah couldn’t help but feel unnerved by him.

  “Come on now,” Peter said cheerily from beside her. “Let’s show you inside.”

  Peter led her up a small path that led to the entrance of the house. The place was small, but it had multiple rooms, which was a rarity. She couldn’t help but be incredibly impressed.

  “We built it ourselves,” Peter explained, and she could hear the pride in his voice. “It took us good long time. But, there’s plenty of wood around here, and we wanted to have the best. So I hope you like it.”

  “It’s very impressive,” Sarah commented with a small smile.

  “I’m glad you like it,” Peter said. “And over here is your room.”

  Peter led her over to an entryway and showed her into a small room. It was very quaint, and Sarah had no qualms about staying there, but she could not help the nervous confusion that was building up inside her. She had been brought here to be a wife. And here there were two brothers- but which one was she to marry?

  “Is something wrong?” Peter looked down at her, concerned.

  “Oh no,” Sarah shook her head, turning to look at him. “But, wouldn’t it make sense for me to share a room with my… husband?”

  “Ah,” Peter nodded. “I understand. My apologies, I didn’t know you were unaware of our unique situation.”

  “Which is?” Sarah prompted.

  “Well you see,” Peter explained, moving back into the first room. “My brother and I have seen the need for a woman around here. It’s just convenient for our purposes to have someone else doing the cooking, the cleaning, and minding things closer to home. We have to go out and mind the cattle, and we don’t like the idea of leaving the house unattended.”

  Sarah nodded her understanding.

  “We looked for women here of course,” Peter explained. “But most of the women in town were already taken, or unsuitable to our needs. So of course we were thrilled when your uncle mentioned you.”

  Sarah nodded once more, but glanced over to Paul. His stoic expression made her doubt that he had ever been thrilled about anything in his life.

  “So we both used our money to get you here,” Peter continued. “We really only need one woman around here- for now at least. You’ll be more than capable of handling what needs to be taken care of.”

  “So…” Sarah began, still very confused. “Am I not to marry either of you?”

  “Well, not immediately of course,” Peter chuckled. “You will marry one of us in time. The decision will be yours. You’ll have time to get settled down, and get used to our routine here. And you’ll get to know each of us better. Then, as time passes, we’ll all likely help to build another little place, maybe a little farther off on our property, so that you can raise your own family, but still live with us.”

  Sarah felt a heap of nerves at having to eventually make such a decision.

  “Rest assured,” Peter spoke yet again. “There’s plenty of time for that. For now, you just have to do your own set of chores and figure out how things work around here. You’re already a part of our family now.”

  Sarah relaxed slightly. She felt very welcomed by Peter. Paul, on the other hand, had yet to say anything to her. He had merely leaned against the wall as his brother spoke. He seemed disinterested- his mind was obviously elsewhere. Sarah made up her mind to stick very closely to Peter.

  “Alright, you’ve seen the house,” Peter clapp
ed his hands together. “Let’s show you the animals.”

  From the corner of her eye, Sarah watched Paul leave the house ahead of them. She wondered vaguely where he was going, but did not worry much. She was much more interested in the large building that rose up not far from the house. Peter led her inside, and she came face to face with various stalls for different animals. Most of them were horses.

  Sarah was taken aback by their immense size and beauty. She reached out to touch the one nearest her, a dark bay, but Peter quickly seized her hand.

  “Watch out for him,” Peter warned her. “He’s not very friendly. The only one of us he gets along with is Paul. He has a special way with the horses.”

  Sarah eyed the bay warily. It was little surprise to her that the unfriendly horse belonged to Paul.

  “This girl belongs to Caleb,” Peter explained, moving her over to a gray horse with a white mane. “And this fellow belongs to me.”

  Peter stopped her before a stall that held a beautiful yellow horse with a white star on its forehead. She tentatively reached up her hand to pet it, looking up at Peter for permission. He smiled and nodded, and Sarah then pet a line down its nose. She smiled broadly.

  “His name is Ben,” Peter told her. “He’s the sweetest of the bunch.”

  Sarah smiled as she stroked his nose. He released a puff of air at the contact, and caused her to giggle.

  “Now there’s just one more for you to see,” Sarah allowed Peter to turn her so that she was facing further down into the barn.

  Paul stood there, holding the reins of a beautiful horse. Its coat was largely white, with mottled gray on the nose and going down the legs. Paul ran long strokes down its powerful neck. Sarah thought it was the most elegant animal she had ever seen.

  “She’s yours,” Peter said, and Sarah smiled broadly.

  “Really?” Sarah nearly jumped up and down in her excitement.

  “Of course,” Peter laughed, and Sarah approached the animal. She immediately made to go pet the horse, but stopped short as she became wary of Paul’s proximity.

  “Come on,” Paul spoke to her for the first time, though his expression was still stern. Sarah slowly made her way over to the horse, petting it gingerly on the nose. Close by, Paul watched her, his eyes intense.

  “Here,” he spoke again, and moved back, gesturing for her to follow. Sarah moved to stand closer to him, coming to a stop by the horse’s shoulder.

  “Like this,” he said softly, and ran his hand over the horse’s neck and shoulders in a smooth line. Sarah looked up at Paul, and then back down at the horse as she mimicked his motions.

  “That’s it,” Paul said softly, though Sarah couldn’t tell if he was talking to her or the horse. Sarah looked her horse up and down, marveling at its magnificence. All the while, she felt Paul’s eyes on her, and she felt an anxiety welling up inside her.

  “Well, now that we all have horses,” Peter spoke, and Sarah was relieved to be reminded of his presence with them. “I thought we could all go for a ride, and show you the property.”

  Sarah flushed, and said nothing as Peter moved to take his horse out of its stall.

  “What’s the matter?” Peter cocked his head in confusion.

  Sarah opened her mouth to answer, but shut it again from embarrassment.

  “She’s never ridden before,” Paul said from beside her, his tone clipped. Sarah blushed, embarrassed by her lack of skill, and embarrassed that Paul had called her out on it.

  “Oh,” Peter nodded. “That’s alright; you’ll have plenty of time to learn here. For now, you can ride with me.”

  Peter set to work saddling up his horse, and Sarah waited for him to be ready. Paul put her horse back in its stall, and then moved over to the large bay at the other end of the barn. Paul glanced over at her, and waved her over. Sarah blushed, and moved over to where he stood in front of his horse’s stall.

  “Have you ever saddled a horse?” Paul asked her, his face expressionless.

  “No,” Sarah answered softly.

  “Here, watch me,” Paul took hold of his horse’s reins and led him out of the stall. He led him over to Sarah and held out the reins, gesturing her to take them. Sarah looked between Paul and his horse, and balked at the idea of taking the reins.

  “Here,” Paul took hold of one of her hands and laid the reins in them. “He won’t be any trouble- I promise.”

  Sarah felt reassured by his words, but still intimidated by the animal. She watched as its muscles twitched every now and again, and it moved its head according to where Paul moved. Sarah couldn’t help but think that if this huge animal had a mind to take off, she wouldn’t be able to hold it back.

  Paul never moved far. He merely retrieved a saddle and blanket from a rack outside the stall and returned to the side of his horse.

  “Now watch, and listen carefully,” Paul told her.

  Sarah took in all the information as Paul instructed her on how to properly saddle a horse. She made mental notes, and reviewed them several times in her head. Finally, the horse was saddled, and Sarah hoped that he would take the reins from her. The horse was getting livelier as he sensed that he was going to be ridden, and he had begun to take steps back and forth, and it was making Sarah nervous.

  “Did you get everything?” Paul came to stand beside her.

  Sarah nodded, and hoped that he would take the reins from her.

  “Good,” he gave a nod. “Now watch me and listen again.”

  Sarah watched, with some confusion, as Paul instructed her on how to properly unsaddle a horse. Paul even racked the saddle when he was done. Then, he came to stand by Sarah, and much to her relief he took the reins from her hands.

  “Your turn,” he said softly as he ran his strong hand over his horse’s neck.

  “What?” Sarah uttered, panic gripping her.

  “Saddle him up,” Paul said, and merely looked down at her.

  “But…” Sarah felt fear creep into her body as she looked up at the large, powerful horse beside her.

  “I’m right here,” Paul sighed, slightly annoyed. “I’m not going to let him hurt you. Now saddle him up.”

  Sarah blushed, and felt a slight surge of irritation at Paul, but moved over to the rack to collect the blanket and saddle. She staggered a bit under their weight, but eventually managed to get them back over to the horse. She made a motion to place the blanket over the horse’s back, but the animal released a sound of protest, and slightly tossed his head. Sarah retreated as the horse began to stamp its feet.

  “You’re okay,” Paul said soothingly to the horse, and placed his hand on its back, stroking slowly. The horse released another noise, but it did calm down. Paul looked at Sarah over the horses back and nodded once, gesturing for her to try again.

  Sarah took a deep breath and gathered her courage. She moved close to the horse’s side, and gently laid the blanket over its back.

  “Well done,” Paul mouthed at her from over the horse. Sarah couldn’t help but smile at his slight praise, and she proceeded with the rest of the saddling process. When she had finished, she stepped back.

  Paul took hold of the saddle and made sure it was secure. He knelt down and checked the buckling, and then stood back up. He draped the reins over the horn of the saddle, and then fitted one of his boots into one of the stirrups. The horse took a few eager steps forward and back as Paul mounted him. Paul shifted from side to side; making sure his saddle was secure.

  “Very well done,” he gave Sarah a nod as he took up the reins, steadying his horse.

  “Thank you,” Sarah said breathlessly, still shaken from the whole encounter. Paul looked down at her, and she thought she saw his lips curl up in a tiny smile.

  “Ready?” Sarah turned as Peter came up on his horse behind her. He extended a hand and she took it, allowing him to help her up onto the back of his saddle.

  “Here we go!” he said as he urged his horse onward. Sarah tightened her grip around Peter’s waist as the ho
rse began to settle into a brick pace, and he chuckled. Sarah looked over to Paul beside them. He was facing forward, deliberately ignoring them.

  Soon, Peter began to tell her about each place they came to. The property was truly beautiful, and Sarah couldn’t help but be impressed. She loved the small stream that ran not too far from the house. She imagined going there to cool off on warm days. She loved the vastness of the place. She could picture herself running through the fields and the trees by the stream. She smiled to think of building a life here.

  At length, they came upon the large herd of their cattle. Peter explained that they mostly took care of themselves, but one of them was usually there to keep an eye on them in case of predators, or if one of them needed medical attention. For the time, Caleb was out there, and he rode his horse in between the cows, making sure all was well. Sarah understood now why they needed such a vast amount of land.

  Even so, and as overtaken as she was by the beauty of the land, Sarah found her eyes wandering quite often to Paul. He was the very picture of dignity. He sat tall and strong on the back of his horse, his shoulders broad. His green eyes constantly swept over the land, always watchful. Every now and then, he would look over at Sarah as she watched him, and he would lock his eyes with hers for several seconds at a time until she had to look away from the intensity of his gaze.

  Peter continued to talk to her, describing various elements of the landscape as they appeared. He explained to her what they called each place so that she would better know her way around the place. Sarah took everything in silently, working hard to remember the names of everything she saw. She was overwhelmed with the beauty. After a while, Peter directed his horse in another direction away from the herd.

  At length, they came to the base of the nearby mountains, and Peter explained that that was the end of their property line. So, after taking a look around that area, they turned back to head home. The sun was beginning to sink in the sky, and various shades of pink, orange and blue filled the horizon.