by P. C. Zick
“Have you heard anything from Geraldine?” she asked one Sunday in late June.
“Nothing,” Jacob said. “Her brother in Tallahassee hasn’t heard from her either.”
“That’s all the family, right?”
“That’s right. Her parents are gone. She does have a childhood friend in Jacksonville, and I’ve thought of calling her, but then I stop. Do I really want her back in my life?”
“I think you want to find out if she’s OK; there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, if you didn’t, I’d be worried.”
“How are things going at the barn?”
Leah launched into a description of the current work, which included putting up dry wall and constructing the kitchen and bathrooms.
“They’re knocking out the back wall to expand so the kitchen is big enough,” she said. “It’s really going to be something. Of course, getting it done in a month was very optimistic. We’ll be lucky if it’s done by August.”
“Is Dean paying for all the renovations?”
“He is. Dean told Stan, the contractor, that there was no limit. He told him to make it right the first time.”
“That’s very generous of him,” Jacob said. His elbows rested on the table as he tapped his fingers. “I wonder what he wants in return.”
“He’s becoming very connected to the place. I don’t mean just the barn renovations, but the farmland and the river folks. He’s been driving some of them to their appointments to the VA or wherever they need to go. He goes down to the camp at night sometimes and plays guitar with Bud.”
“He’s the schizophrenic?”
“Right. At least that’s what the diagnosis is. I think it’s a case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but the VA is reluctant to use that diagnosis. But the point is, Dean’s interest in him is bringing him out of his shell.”
Leah watched Jacob and knew he was thinking about what she just said. She wished she could bring the two brothers together. They were both good men who learned to hate one another at an early age.
“Maybe you could come down sometime and take a look,” Leah said. She was hurt that Jacob had never visited the barn, and she knew it was because of Dean.
“I don’t think my brother wants me around there,” he said. “I’ll wait until the grand opening.”
“You better come to that,” Leah said. “I expect you to give the opening prayer for the ribbon cutting.”
Leah left Jacob after helping him clean up the kitchen. She drove the van down to the barn. She didn’t know what she might find to do, but there was always something. Dean told her they were ready to start thinking about paint, so she’d gotten some paint strips to choose from. Maybe she’d be able to make a decision today.
Dean was in the kitchen area cutting boards to frame the back wall. Plastic hung over where the old wall had been removed. No one else was on site today. They were completely alone for the first time in a month.
“Hello,” she said when she came inside.
He stopped sawing and raised his goggles. Leah almost gasped when she saw him without his shirt on. It wasn’t the first time, but it was the first time when they’d been alone.
“Hi there,” he said. “I thought I’d get some of these cut, so they can start framing tomorrow. Stan gave me all the measurements.”
“I’m sure he appreciates your help.”
He walked toward her, and they stood in the middle of the room looking at one another. Nothing had changed between them. Their eyes locked and neither moved or said a thing. Leah wasn’t even certain she was breathing, but she could hear the blood pulsing through her ears.
“I wanted to show you something up in the loft area,” he said. He took her hand and led her up the stairs. “Be careful, we still have to secure a few boards. Surprisingly, this place is in pretty good shape for having been deserted for so many years.”
Her hand was lost in his big rough hand, and she felt safe and secure as if he’d wrapped her in a protective bubble.
“I’m wondering if we should put in a walk-in closet on either side where the roof slants down. You could store bedding materials, and it could serve as a private dressing room for the more modest.” He pointed to the sides of the room where the eaves of the roof came down not allowing for standing room in those corners.
“I think it’s a wonderful idea,” she said. “Thank you for thinking of it.”
“I think we should put in some lockers, too. It would give them a sense of security to have their own private spot they could lock.”
“That’s a great idea.”
He still held her hand when they turned to one another. Each took a half a step closer until the front of their bodies touched.
“Leah,” he said as he grabbed her in his arms. “I can’t stand this. I can’t stand seeing you every day and laughing with you and talking about all our favorite things, and not being able to touch you. It’s killing me.”
He began kissing her hair as she reveled in the feel of his chest beneath her face. She breathed in the scent of him, his sweat mixed with an after-shave she didn’t recognize. Musk. He smelled of musk, the scent of sex as she imagined it.
She looked up at him as his bent his head. They sought each other’s lips and began searching for what they’d both been missing for more than a month. The kiss deepened as she ran her hands along the line of his shoulders, as finely honed as his pecs. She felt him tug on her t-shirt tucked into her shorts. He pulled the shirt up over her head, and only then did they break the hold of each other’s lips. He looked down at her blue simple bra with lace over the cup.
“You’re beautiful,” he said as he began unsnapping the bra in the back. When it fell to the ground at their feet, he held both of her breasts in his hands and bent down. He kissed each one with reverence. “Beautiful. Simply beautiful.”
He locked his lips over one of the nipples and suckled her tit as she threw her head back with the power of the sensation rippling through her whole body.
He pulled her close so her breasts smashed against his chest, and he swayed his upper body back and forth to feel the full force of their nakedness. Dean began fumbling with his belt buckle after a few minutes and pulled down his jeans, which he laid on the floor.
“We don’t have a blanket, but you could lie down on these,” he said in a voice she’d never heard before—somehow deeper and huskier.
She didn’t dwell on that for long because she gasped when she saw he’d pulled off his briefs to reveal himself to her. She was amazed at the size of him; it was unlike anything she’d ever imagined, even when she dreamt of him.
“It will be all right, Leah,” he said. “I won’t hurt you; we’ll go slow.”
She smiled and undid the button on her shorts before pulling them down to reveal blue bikinis. Dean took care of the rest of that job. She sat down on his jeans with her butt on the crotch part.
“Here, let me take off the belt,” he said. “I don’t want that pretty back of yours getting scratched up from my belt buckle.”
He kneeled between her legs and gently laid her back on the floor. He began kissing her thighs and moved up her legs and then to her belly. She was writhing beneath him and raising herself toward him, so he concentrated on her most private part. She’d never experienced anything like the sensations going through her as his tongue darted in and out of her. Nothing else in the world mattered. She grabbed his head and pressed him to her even more. Then there it was—the release. She heard a scream, not sure if it came from her or from him. It must have come from her because his head was still buried in her.
He moved himself up her body until his face reached hers.
“Are you ready for me?” he asked.
“Yes.” It sounded more like a moan than a word.
“This might hurt at first, but you are very juicy, so it might be easier. Just know that if it’s too much, tell me to stop, and I will. We can take this part very slow.”
She nodded her head, unsure if she
could even speak.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked as he fumbled with his jeans now under her head.
“Yes, yes, please.”
He pulled a small package out of his jean’s pocket and ripped it open.
“I’m sorry, but we need to use protection,” he said. “I’d like to just feel you, but we’ll wait for that.”
He rolled over on top of her and kissed her nose.
“You’re lovely,” he said as he raised himself up slightly. “Remember we can stop at any time.”
She gave a gasp as he entered her. She felt a slight pain. It was nothing more than the pain of feeling a needle go in the arm for a shot, then it was gone and replaced by the most pleasant sensation of all, and then she knew the screams were coming from her for sure. Dean was moaning, and his eyes were closed and then suddenly he was jerking, and she wondered if she’d hurt him. Then he relaxed, opened his eyes, and looked at her with a smile on his face.”
“Sorry, it was so quick, but I’ve been dreaming of you every night for more than a month,” Dean said. “I couldn’t hold back any longer. Next time it’ll be better.”
“Next time? When? Right now?”
“You need to give me some time, say thirty minutes?” Dean said and then laughed. “Maybe we could move down to the motor home and be more comfortable.”
“I’ve never been more comfortable in my life,” Leah said. “Is it like this every time?”
“For us it will be, but it’s never been like this for me ever before.”
“So it’s like we’re both virgins?” Leah asked.
“You, my dear, are no longer a virgin,” he said as he stood and offered her hand to pull her up off the ground.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Leah walked around with a smile on her face in the days after she and Dean met in the loft. She wondered when they might be able to see one another again, alone. As the work progressed, someone was always at the barn or garden, and Leah didn’t attempt to be alone with him again. She knew what would happen, and her guilt about Jacob overcame her desires on most days. The nights alone in her bed at Susie’s were the worst.
When she saw Jacob for their next weekly Sunday dinner, she barely touched the salad he’d made. She left as soon as she could and went back to Susie’s house. She knew she wasn’t spending time thinking about their relationship because Dean was always there in her mind. Whenever she remembered Dean’s breath on her hair or his hands and tongue in her private places, she became wet and tense. How could she think about marrying Jacob when all she wanted to do was peel Dean’s shirt off his tanned and tight chest?
She saw Dean daily, but he also kept his distance most of the time, except in those moments when he passed her a hammer and let his fingers linger for longer than necessary, but there were always people around them as the deadline for finishing the barn loomed.
Tommy Jackson wrote the first story the week after he visited the church. His words and Simon’s photos created a personal picture of the Deer River folks. The article covered the Church’s vote to let Leah continue with Soup’s On. It drew so many people from the surrounding areas to volunteer that Leah assigned Carol and Joshua the tasks of handling the extra hands.
Donations of lumber, paint, appliances, bedding, and food needed to be stored. Leah worked with the VA in Jacksonville to see that anything they couldn’t use went somewhere else in the state.
Leah and Dean both were grateful that Tommy agreed not to mention Dean’s public identity in the article, but Dean promised that after the barn was built and running as Leah wanted it, he’d give Tommy an exclusive interview with Harold Grant and his transformation from tat king to farmer.
“This is beyond anything I ever thought would happen,” Leah told Susie one night on the rare occasion when Leah came home before dark. “It’s incredible to see all my dreams come true. So many people want to help. When I first arrived, I think most of Victory thought I was a nuisance.”
“No one ever thought that,” Susie said. “We’d never seen anything like you before. Are you sure all your dreams are coming true? What’s going on in your love life?”
“Everything’s on hold until the barn is finished.”
“What about Dean? You two practically drool over one another whenever you’re together. How in the world could you marry Jacob when you’re so obviously in love with Dean?”
Leah knew her face was turning red, but the light was fading, and she hoped Susie couldn’t see the blush.
“Dean is working very hard on the barn. We don’t talk much.”
“I bet. Reggie says he hardly ever sees him at the Tavern. That doesn’t make Sally Jean very happy.”
“Sally Jean? Are they going out?”
“I don’t think so; I know she’s hanging out at the bar more than I’d like. She’s also hanging those boobs out more than is necessary, too.”
“Are you jealous?”
“Of Sally Jean and Reggie? I guess I’ve wondered if he’d be tempted, but Reggie’s always been true blue. It did make me wonder though when I found out he’d been with Mable the night Dean ran off. He’d never told me about the two of them, and after Mable died there was a lot of talk about her.”
“Maybe it didn’t mean anything to him, so he didn’t mention it.”
“Sure, that’s what I thought. I hope so,” Susie said. “I’d hate to think I’d picked a guy just like my daddy. He would be wiping the bar with Sally Jean’s bra.”
“Was he really all that bad?” Leah asked.
“He was that bad. And worse, he never tried to hide it from Mom, Lisa, and me. He deserved to die the way he did. I don’t say that about anyone, but I hated that man. It really messed Lisa up. She’s never had a relationship last past a month or so.”
“Then it’s all the better that you’ve found someone like Reggie,” Leah said. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“How did you know you loved Reggie?”
Susie looked over at Leah who kept her head down waiting for the answer.
“If you’d ever been in love, you wouldn’t be asking me that question. Or you could be asking because you think you love the wrong person.”
Leah rocked for a few minutes, thinking about Susie’s response. “I guess that might be true.”
As Leah lay in her bed trying to fall asleep that night, she kept seeing Dean’s face before her telling her how beautiful she was. When she tried to imagine Jacob looking at her in the same way and saying the same words, nothing came.
The light of the full moon streamed through her window. Susie told her she was welcome to put up blinds or curtains, but she’d been so busy it hadn’t been a priority. As she turned over toward the wall, she wished she’d driven over to the Dollar General store on the outskirts of town to find some mini-blinds. She rolled out of bed and found the pair of jeans she’d worn that day. She pulled a long sleeved shirt out of the closet and put it on over her tank top. She slipped on her flip-flops and looked in the mirror. She ran the brush quickly through her long thick mane. She smiled at her reflection and grabbed her purse off the dresser.
When she reached the barn, she pulled up to the doors, but when she got out of the van, she walked past the barn and straight to the motor home. The lights were off, but Dean’s bike sat next to the door. She knocked so softly she wondered if he’d even hear her, but within a few seconds, the door opened and there stood Dean, naked.
“I thought that might be you,” he said as he pushed the door open fully to let her in. “Or let’s say I was hoping it was you because you’ve been keeping me up all night.” He pointed to his penis standing at full attention as she came into the motor home.
She didn’t say anything. She kneeled down in front of him and took him in her mouth, gently sucking and pulling while he grabbed her hair and pushed her head closer to him.
“Where the heck did you learn how to do that?” he said when she finally stood, and he caught
his breath.
“I dreamed it last night,” she said. “And I couldn’t wait to see the results.”
He picked her up and could barely turn around in the small space, but he managed to throw her down on the rumpled sheets of the bed where he’d been tossing and turning only moments before.
He reached down and unsnapped her jeans and helped her snuggle out of them. While he fiddled with the condom, she tore off the shirt she’d hastily put on before coming to him and within seconds she was a naked as him. He lay down beside her and pulled her over on top of him. She straddled his hips and began doing a dance, flipping her hair over his face and chest as she swayed on top of him. He grabbed her hips to still them long enough for him to enter her.
“If you’re going to be moving like that, I better be inside of you,” he growled, as she lowered her face to his neck.
“And if you’re inside of me, you’d better be kissing me like this,” she said as she took his lower lip between her teeth and pulled before settling down on his lips and pushing her tongue inside.
Later, while lying in each other’s arms, they finally slept.
When Leah woke in the morning, Dean was making coffee. “I thought we could take a cup and go for a walk down by the river,” he said. “I’ve been doing that every morning before the workers get here. It clears my head.”
“Sounds wonderful,” she said as she took a mug from him and sipped from the hot brew. “I don’t usually get to the church until after nine. What time is it?”
“You’re almost late,” he said. “We slept in today. I guess we needed it after that work out.”