It was a nice moment when their eyes connected. It was so absurd that it became funny. They both started to laugh. She didn’t want him to think it was an offering for them to get too chummy. Her laughter ceased. “Okay, so I’m going to start on the kitchen,” she said.
“And I’m going to take care of that funky-ass bathroom,” he told her as he picked up a few of the larger pieces of wood and his toolbox. Amanda nodded.
“Oh,” he said to her before he entered the dank bedroom. “Keep the water warm that you use to wash the windows. Cullen was cheap and so is the glass. If the water is too hot, it will shatter the glass.”
Amanda mimicked his earlier words with her response, “Duly noted.”
It took nearly all day, but she managed to clean the one living room window and the kitchen window as well as the filthy shelves that held mold, mildew, and remnants from leftover meats and greasy bear fat soap bars. Riley explained that the grease helped with the dry skin. It was going to be a long winter. Since she had sent ahead the items to set up her new home, now was as good a time as any to use them. She opened one box at a time, taking out the pretty daffodil curtains that she hung at the kitchen window. Daffodils, daisies and sunflowers were her favorite. The kitchen would be daffodils, the sunflowers would dress up the living room, and the daisies would go in the bedroom.
Riley came from the bathroom to find her on her hands and knees, scrubbing the floors. That is truly a delightful backside. He had ventured out from the bath to get some coffee, but once he saw her engrossed in her tasks, he went about his job in the smelly little room that held the toilet. The first thing he did was rip up the bathroom floor and lay a new one. Once he saw the curtains she had laid across the couch, he had an idea.
The next time he came out of the backroom, he thought for a minute he had taken a nap and had awakened to a magical realm where he wasn’t cut off from his life. Amanda had transformed the space. Pretty daffodil dishes were prominently displayed on the shelves. A cute white teapot was on the stove and the shelves were organized. There was even a cute yellow rug in front of the farmhouse style sink that was actually white again, versus the black grimy coated one that was there earlier.
Most of the boxes had been unpacked. The living room window held long, mustard colored thick drapes that did wonders in staving off the cold coming through the thin glass panes. A pretty green rug was in front of the couch, which was now covered in a beautiful brightly colored quilt. The chair where he had slept last night was draped in a warm thick coverlet that said to any eye, “A man sits here.”
Amanda watched Riley’s face as he surveyed her initial pass at making this a temporary home for them. He wasn’t the man she had planned to come to Alaska to be with, but for the next few months, he was going to be the closest thing she had to a real relationship. She gave him a hesitant smile. “Well, it is going to be home. I might as well make it comfortable for us to hibernate in.”
She smiled at him again and his body responded. He only gave her a half smile as he headed to the bathroom to close the door and pray for patience. He was going to need a great deal of it to get through the next few months.
Dear heavens, she is delectable. He was also getting hungrier.
Chapter 7. Settling In...
Amanda was bundled up to her eyeballs as she made her way to the barn, walking behind where Riley was making a path. The man was in really good shape; he only stopped once as he used the shovel to dig, lift, and chuck snow to the side so they could get through. He flattened one of the empty boxes she’d emptied of the items she had shipped her goods in, and she was now carrying it to load it with more supplies. He also strapped two flat boxes to his back to load up the meats along with cording.
“We’ll hit the barn first, then back to the house. Wait for me to come back to meet you, then we’ll come back together to get the mattress,” he told her as he left her in the barn. She opened the box to fill it with more canned goods and preserves and looked for somewhere to rest it while she loaded it up. There was a small table in the corner of the barn, but it was pretty beat up. It would be perfect for her typewriter or her sewing machine. She placed it next to the door. There were some nicer pieces of wood in the barn that she could use to build a makeshift coffee table. Joy ran all through her when she found a battery-operated radio in a corner, covered in dust. Earlier when she was cleaning the kitchen, she had run across some batteries on one of the shelves. If they were lucky, they would be able to get a station if they used the antenna.
It took two trips, but she made it back to the house as Riley was coming back with a box load of bear meat. He had ingeniously used a flat box to set the meat on, and he pulled 100 pounds of meat in it. “We need to move fast, Amanda. It’s getting dark and the snow is coming down faster. The path I dug will be gone soon.”
She nodded and followed him back along the narrow pass he had dug through the thigh-high snow piles. It wasn’t a very long walk, but in the snow and semi-darkness, the trek back to the cabin felt like the longest workout of her life. And not the fun kind at the gym with a hyped-up trainer. This felt like six rounds in the ring with a boxer six times her size. Four times she fell as she tried to keep her end of the mattress over her head. Please ...please...please, let the bugs be gone. The fabric smelled like smoked meat, but even that was an improvement over the former smell of unwashed mountain man.
When they finally reached the cabin and got the mattress back on the bed, they both collapsed on it, still wearing all of their outdoor clothing. “Shit. I am tired as hell after that workout,” Riley confessed. He was sprawled out on his back staring up at the ceiling.
“I am too tired to even make it to the bathroom. I have to go real bad too,” she mumbled through the scarf that was covering her mouth.
“I have smelled enough urine for one day, so get up,” Riley said as he gave her a gentle nudge.
He still hadn’t moved. Amanda mumbled, “Only if you go and make us something to eat. I have no idea what to do with bear meat.”
“Deal.” He rolled to his side, pushing himself up from the mattress. He offered her a hand, pulling her up from the bed. “I’ll take those wet things.”
Unswaddling herself, she handed over her snow-soaked coat, hat, and mittens. The scarf she held on to as she tried to shield herself from the pong of the bathroom. It was uncertain how effective Riley Bishop was at cleaning, but she was about to find out. Shoveling snow and being too much man for the space he was occupying he had in spades; housekeeping and cooking was yet to be determined.
She squealed in glee when she entered the bathroom. The dark, pee-stained wood floor had been replaced with beautiful wood that looked almost like aspen. The dark green rug with the pretty white daisy in the middle she thought she had forgotten to pack was on the floor in front of the sink. A sink that had been cleaned was as bright as the freshly painted white wall behind the toilet. Riley had painted a field full of daisies on the fresh palette. Suddenly, her bladder reminded her why she had come into the room, and she closed the door to handle her business on a very clean toilet. She squealed again when she looked at the back of the door, which he had painted with a Sun Bonnet Sue and an Overall Bill. In the middle of them, they held a single daisy.
There was a great deal more to Riley Bishop. She felt naughty for looking forward to getting to spend this time with him. Besides, any guy who could free paint or even know who Sun Bonnet Sue and Overall Bill is, couldn’t be that bad of a guy.
Riley Bishop was also a pretty decent cook. Had she not helped him cut up the dead carcass of a bear, she would have thought she was eating the finest steak in the best restaurant in Boise. The spices she found on the kitchen shelf were used to cook two steaks to perfection, along with seared potatoes with cheddar cheese and canned English peas. There was no power to the cabin, so no fridge. She made a mental note that he only cooked an exact amount. The other meat was stored in a false closet that consisted of a wired fencing shelves that was tighter
than chicken wire and out of sight. There was only so much space in the kitchen for the meats to hang. Riley told her the other meat in the smokehouse would be safe, since it was so cold outside.
“This is amazing,” she told him. Her mouth was full of meat that she was trying to masticate. “That bathroom is amazing! The floor, the painting. Thank you.”
“Cheery is important when you are snowed in,” he said as he cut into the steak. Amanda had brought the nice silverware that Aunt Linnie had left her as well as a pretty decent bistro set. Riley had made apple cider for them to drink, and the bright orange mugs added a festive feel to the table.
“Yes, I was hoping to do the same with my daffodils and sunflowers,” she told him. “These potatoes are great. And I am from Idaho. I know how to cook a potato.”
“Thank you.” Riley could not help but blush a bit. “Amanda, what do you, or rather what did you do, back in Idaho?”
“I was an adjunct English Professor at the local community college extension and I helped my Aunt Linnie run her newspaper,” she told him.
He watched the sadness in her eyes when she mentioned her aunt. “Did she pass before you left Idaho?”
She only nodded while she sipped at the cider. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. She blinked furiously, wishing away the tears. Change the subject. “What about you, Riley Bishop?”
“Part time, I make furniture. Mostly end pieces and kids’ stuff. I have plans to make larger pieces when I get more time, but usually during the winter, I work on commission pieces.”
That was a surprise. “And what do you do full time?”
His eyes locked on hers, “I am the Deputy Sheriff.”
Chapter 8. Getting closer...
The darkness at four in the evening was a bit unsettling. She began to think that being up here by himself was why Cullen kept the windows so dark. It didn’t work for her. Even with the limited daylight, she needed light to shine through.
“Hey, I found a radio in the barn. And there are some batteries,” she shared the news as if she was about to make a rum cake.
“Speaking of radio,” he said as he sprang from the chair. In the back bedroom there was a CB radio, which was probably what the antenna was for on the roof. He keyed the handset a few times, searching for a frequency. His brother came back over the radio.
“You three all right up there, Riley?” the Sheriff inquired.
“Ms. Perkins and I will make do through the storm. Cullen lost the fight with a bear right before I made it back up the hill. We have him cooling in the outhouse until spring,” Riley said in the mike.
“Anything we can do for you two?” the Sheriff asked.
“Yeap.” He told his big brother. “On the first clear day, chopper us in some sweet potatoes and some clothes and books for me.”
Amanda tapped at his shoulder, “A TV and some DVDs with a player would be nice too.”
The Sheriff came back through the mike, “Let the little lady know we heard it, but you need power. Did Cullen get the generator?”
“Didn’t see one. We do have a radio though, so batteries would be good during the refueling,” he told his brother.
“Roger that. Wait one,” the Sheriff said as the line went silent. The static could be heard and then a lady’s voice came on.
“Riley, are you keeping warm up there and is there enough food?” It was Harriet.
“I am Ma. Cullen always keeps his pantry stocked. There is enough here for two to last us a few months,” he reassured her.
The line was quiet again. Harriet asked, “How is the lady?”
He looked at Amanda and gave her a cursory glance, and then answered, “She came prepared for the long haul.” The line was quiet again.
Harriet was back on the line, “Ronnie tells me a bear got a hold of Cullen Mulroney up there.”
The mike was keyed again, “That’s true Ma.”
The next words from his mother filled the cabin like the stench of Cullen’s intentions. Harriet’s voice was low when she spoke into the receiver, “Well, if the Lord’s willing and the creek don’t rise, then I may finally get to be a grandmother.”
She ended it with an I love you before Riley turned off the radio and unplugged it from the battery. His eyes were slow to drift over to Amanda, who was standing there with a butcher knife in her hand. “Ain’t happening, Bub!”
He held up his hands in mock surrender and moved towards the living room to take a seat in the chair. With him out of her hair, she went to work on the bedroom. The bedroom smelled like the smokehouse as she set about up righting the room, spraying the mattress with odor neutralizer. It helped tremendously to curb the smell, and she laughed as she washed the dirty bedroom window and hung the thick bright yellow drapes. I hope it does kill the smell. I don’t want to dream I am eating a steak and wake up with a mouth full of mattress.
The floors she would do tomorrow. The room became cheerful as she made the bed with the thick flannel sheets she had sent ahead in another box. She layered the bed with a cotton wool blend blanket followed by her heavy daisy quilt. From the hope chest she pulled out two large pillows which had been vacuum sealed in bags much like the heavier items. One of these she should give to Riley to use on the couch. There was a lighter quilt in the chest for springtime, which she would also give to Riley to use on his makeshift bed. It was only going to get colder. Thus far, the pile up of snow was providing some insulation, but it was still a cold filler in the cracks. They were going to have to get their hands on some mud.
She also gathered up Cullen’s things. Maybe there was something in the closet that Riley could wear. The search was fruitless. Riley was far larger than Cullen across the shoulders and chest and everything stunk like skunk. In the empty box that had held some of the towels and sheets she sent, she packed up her dead fiancé’s clothes to be thrown out the back door and burned come spring. It was starting to be much the same way she felt about her life.
The bottom of the hope chest held her sewing machine wrapped tightly in flannel. That material she would probably need to make Riley a pair of pajama pants. She pulled out the patterns she had sent for a man’s shirt, comfortable trousers, and lounge pants. The last and final box held all the material she had sent to stitch her way into Cullen’s heart as the perfect wife. It was supposed to be a beautiful life. Aunt Linnie would be so disappointed in her.
Amanda took a seat on the floor.
Women, like children, Riley had found, should be checked on when they got too quiet. He found her sitting in the floor, wrapped in a piece of flannel crying. “Amanda, I got the radio to work. I even found a channel that is doing like a mystery theater kind of thing,” he said as he reached for her hand. “I also made us some cocoa. The next show is about to start.”
She accepted his hand and he pulled her up from the floor. She didn’t even pull away when she noticed they were holding hands while he led her to the couch. The fireplace crackled as she took a seat and he draped her legs with the extra throw she had added to the corner of the well-worn sofa. Before taking his seat in the chair, he handed her a warm mug. Riley covered his legs with the soft and warm throw she put on the chair and leaned back to listen to the murder mystery on the radio.
This was home for them. Amanda had done a good job. He was looking forward to getting to know her better. The tears had stopped while she sat there staring at the fire and listening intently to the story. Under normal circumstances, he would bring that bear skin inside and make love to her on it of the fire. There was nothing normal about this. What made it so abnormal was that it felt good. It felt comfortable. It had a cozy vibe as if they had been sharing a life for years versus a day or so. He could not help but look forward to the next few months.
It was only the second of November. It would be early March before he could even attempt to get down the mountain. There was no way in hell he would be able to last that long. He opened his eyes and looked at her. My God, she is lovely. He was even starting to like her and s
pending time locked up with her, didn’t seem that bad, He only wished it was in the comfort of his home, versus such a tight living space.
Tomorrow, after he fixed that desk to hold her typewriter, he would need to make a worktable of some sort for the sewing machine he saw. It was smart of her to get one that did not require power. After that, he was going to start making baby furniture. There was no way she was getting out of here in the spring without carrying his child because his penis was telling him it could see liking her as well; it twitched every time he got close to the woman. It was a like a divining rod searching for water.
Not only was he hungry, he was also getting thirsty.
Chapter 9. A shocking confession...
The days turned into weeks as Riley worked on furniture pieces and Amanda worked on her novel. It was obvious that she was avoiding him for the same reasons he knew she should. He wanted her. As each day passed, the pull he felt for her was evident. His body had betrayed him several times, putting her on notice that he needed her. They shared meals like clockwork, and after each meal, she retreated to the bedroom to work on her novel.
One afternoon, after hearing so much sawing and scraping, Amanda wanted to know what he was doing. She stood in the doorway, spying on him as he worked. She eyeballed the strong, firm hands that turned and smoothed the wood. She crossed her legs as feelings rushed to the juncture between her thighs as his hand gripped tight to a piece of wood, smoothing it out with a wood butter. His hands slid up and down the solid plank in even strokes and her mind was going into hyper drive. Get back to work. It is only a piece of wood that he is working.
As for him, he was working with more than one piece of wood. One of them consistently was poking him the belly. Each day, it seemed to get harder. It was nearing Thanksgiving when he called back on the radio. “We have a special package coming your way, Riley,” he was told. “Look for it tomorrow.”
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