by Sasha Gold
“You’re tired. I can hear it in your voice. You always sound scratchy when you’re exhausted.”
Luke grunted his agreement. “I am tired. It has been a long day, but a good day,” he hastened to add. “Even if the barn is pink. By this time next week Irmegard Becker will have the entire countryside laughing about it. But what do I care? I have my girl. My Lemon Drop. She’s not going away. That’s all I need. Get yourself over here, woman.”
Esme laughed softly. “Is that it? Am I all you need?”
Luke groaned in response, too exhausted to make any other comment. Esme waited to hear the words she longed for, but he added nothing.
She changed the topic. “My mother’s leaving with Edgar in the morning. Do you know what her parting words were? She thinks it was Simon’s intention to leave the ranch to her. And she asked me what you would say if you found yourself married to a woman who had neither money nor land?”
Luke shifted in the bed and grunted a reply Esme could not make out.
“Can you believe she tried to tell me that? I told her that if that were the case, my father would already be living out here, but she insists you just want my land and money. I told her that ploy wouldn’t work and I was certain you’d love me madly even if I had nothing. Just because my father married her for her money didn’t mean all men were the same. She has a chip on her shoulder though. She’s terribly bitter. I wonder if she ever believed in love.”
Esme waited. Her heart thumped heavily behind her ribs. The words, spoken lightheartedly, were the sum of all her anxieties about her marriage to Luke. She hadn’t said them the way she’d imagined she would, but at least the dreaded thoughts were out in the open. She wondered how he would greet them. Would he tell her what she so desperately wanted to hear, that he loved her more than life itself, or would he evade her as he always did with a joke or change of subject. She peered around the bathroom door only to find her handsome husband sprawled diagonally across the bed, bare chested, feet hanging over the edge, snoring softly.
She circled him and asked softly. “Are you pretending to sleep?”
He grunted again, a soft complaining noise that immediately gave way to steady breathing. She smiled both at him and at herself. She felt foolish and hated how clingy and petulant she sounded. It was a good thing he hadn't heard her confession.
She was turning down the last lamp, when a knock sounded at the door. She rushed to see who was there at such a late hour.
Loretta stood in the corridor and spoke in a hushed tone as she noticed the sleeping Luke. “I’m sorry to bother, but Consuelo did a head count of the boys and we are both concerned. Henry isn’t in his bed.”
Esme arched an eyebrow. “The long-awaited kittens have probably arrived. Let me put on my slippers and wrapper and help you look for him. There are only a few places Lilac goes lately. I’m sure she’s decided to deliver her kittens in the barn.” She glanced at the bed. “Luke’s fast asleep already. I won’t wake him.”
Once outside, Loretta and Esme crossed the barnyard in silence. Moonlight glowed on the newly painted building, the silver light making it glow orange rather than daylight pink. By the front door, paint brushes lay neatly spread across a canvas feed bag where earlier, her uncle Edgar had taught each boy how to maintain a paintbrush so it would be useful the next time they needed it. Edgar, in spite of the tequila and a full day of merriment, had patiently helped them wash and smooth the bristles, all the while lecturing them about the importance of keeping one’s materials in pristine condition.
The barn loomed larger in the darkened barnyard, presenting an eerie, silent immensity.
Loretta grinned conspiratorially at Esme. “It looks like a giant pumpkin doesn’t it? I wonder what your Uncle Edgar would say about ‘the subtlety of color’ in this light.”
Esme cleared her throat loudly, and mimicked her uncle’s voice, speaking in a voice an octave lower than her own. She puffed out her chest and said, “I don’t mean to boast, but I happen to be a bit of an expert on jack-o-lanterns.”
Loretta laughed. “He’s a sweetheart, but I did notice the more tequila he drank, the greater was his knowhow about almost everything. By tomorrow morning when he leaves on that trip, he’ll have another area of expertise – hangover headaches!”
They laughed as they pushed the door open and Esme called Henry’s name. The barn was dark and still. They heard no response. She tried calling Lilac instead. Nothing. Slowly she pulled the door closed behind them and pondered where the boy could be.
“Maybe he’s gone back to the cabin,” Esme suggested.
The two women went to the cabin and found two boys playing checkers. They looked up in surprise when the two women entered.
Loretta clucked her disapproval. “Ya’ll will be tired in the morning, especially after the day you’ve had.”
Esme smiled at the boys’ energy. Even Luke was asleep in the house, and if that didn’t prove the day had been hard work, nothing did. She wanted to hurry them off to bed, but had learned to respect the ranch credo they all lived by; unless it is an issue of safety, the boys make their own rules. If they were tired in the morning, so be it.
Loretta sat down to watch the game and showed little concern about the late hour, so Esme followed suit and sat too. They talked in hushed tones and Esme described long games of chess she’d played as a child with her Uncle Edgar and Uncle Simon.
Salvador shuffled in from outside and crawled into bed.
Loretta addressed Sal without taking her eyes from the checkerboard. “Sal, did you happen to see Henry anywhere out there.”
“No, ma’am. I was in the privy. But he told me he was going to sleep in the barn with his cat.”
Loretta swiveled to face him. “In the barn? I don’t think so! We were just there and called out to him.”
Esme was shocked too. “I don’t think Luke would approve of him sleeping out there alone. . .” She said. ”I know there aren’t a lot of rules for you guys to follow, but sleeping in the barn seems like a bad idea. Sal yawned loudly. “Yes, ma’am, Nolan told him that the hayloft is filled with ghosts, but Henry said he didn’t care. I think that made him want to stay there even more, so he could protect Lilac from them while she had her litter.”
Loretta exchanged a concerned look with Esme.
The checkers players embarked upon a debate about the possibility of ghosts in the barn or ghosts in any of the other buildings on the ranch. Apparently, Nolan had told them one time he had seen a child’s ghost standing at the water pump, washing off an apple and then proceeding to eat it. The boys marveled at a ghost that could eat apples and were pretty sure Nolan was just pulling their leg about the whole business. But, maybe it was possible. Maybe ghosts really did roam around the ranch crunching apples in the night.
“If Nolan’s lips are moving, he’s probably telling you a tall tale,” Loretta said. “What I can’t believe is that Henry would go to the hayloft at night. There are snakes, rats and all kinds of critters that come out at night. Henry’s usually afraid of his own shadow.”
Sal mumbled something from the depth of his bunk.
“What’s that?” Loretta asked.
The boy leaned his head over the side of the bunk. “He said he was taking a lantern to keep the ghosts away, but I doubt he did. Luke would have his hide over something like that.”
The skin on the back of Esme’s neck prickled. Her gaze locked with Loretta’s. They both jumped from the table and raced out of the cabin.
Outside, they heard Spanish curses followed by men rushing from the ranch-hands bunkhouse. The barn was in flames.
Esme hurried after the men running toward the burning barn. Flames flickered along the roofline and licked down the near wall, hissing, crackling, blistering the fresh paint as it grew. Smoke gusted heavenward into the black sky.
Roberto passed her, running, carrying a bucket in each hand.
At the door Esme struggled with the latch stuck with fresh paint. She slammed h
er shoulder against it. On her third attempt the door swung open. Behind her Loretta screamed her name, urging her to stay outside, but she ignored the woman’s warning and stepped into the smoky billows. Inside the huge building the passageway was illuminated by flames. It was as bright as noon.
“Henry!” she yelled. Four more times she screamed the boy’s name. Nothing. She ran to the ladder and climbed up to the loft, heat scorching her lungs. Before she could yell Henry’s name again, he appeared, startling her. Esme had to grab the loft boards to keep from falling backwards.
Henry clutched a bundled horse blanket to his chest. “I have the kittens but I can’t find Lilac.”
Smoke swirled around them. Esme thought she might faint from the heat.
“If we take the kittens out, she’ll follow us. There’s no time to look, Henry. We have to get out.” A beam plunged to the ground behind them igniting a stack of hay. A portion of a nearby wall tilted then crashed outward.
“Let’s go!” She pulled him to the ladder.
Esme took the bundle of kittens from him and scrambled down the ladder as Henry followed her dropping from a few rungs up. Suddenly an arm wrapped around her waist and lifted her feet off the ground. It was Luke. He picked up Henry with his other arm.
As he ran through the barn, other support beams crashed nearby and the thick smoke made it difficult to find a way out. Esme’s eyes burned. Her lungs felt as if they would burst.
Luke kept moving, carrying them outside and further toward the house. They passed Roberto’s bucket brigade at the edge of the corral. It was only then that Luke released his hold on them. The boy took the kittens from Esme, cradled them to his chest to shield them from the heat. Esme toppled to the ground beside Henry. One look at Luke’s face told her he was furious with her.
“I had to get Henry out.” She shouted over the din, curling her fists with a fury that matched his.
Luke shook his head and turned away from her. He walked to Roberto’s side and helped him direct the boys who were valiantly trying to douse the inferno. It was like stopping a freight train with a feather.
Esme watched the fire race from the hay to the dry lumber. She felt helpless. The ranch was losing a valuable barn and all the hay in the loft. Esme worried about the cat too, and hoped Lilac would have enough sense to leave the burning building.
The hayloft fell; a whoosh of hot air sent sparks heavenward.
Luke shouted for everyone to get back from the barn. It was obvious the battle to save the structure was lost. Roberto tossed the last bucket of water on embers in a futile attempt to help, and then hurried away from the blaze, urging the boys to follow.
The roof collapsed as Henry gave a heart-breaking wail. Consuelo appeared and crouched next to him. She rocked him in her arms telling him at least he had saved the kittens. Beside them lay a blanket where four of them wriggled against one another in the flickering shadows.
The last of the barn walls fell inward sending a torrent of embers into the velvet night sky. Esme had never felt her mortality as closely as she did when she realized both she and Henry had been seconds away from being trapped inside.
Luke ignored her, and she felt a wave of vulnerability wash over. She wondered if he was angry that she’d gone into the barn or that the barn was lost.
When the building collapsed the crowd stood in stunned silence. The embers made the air shimmer, and the heat became overwhelming.
Esme went to her husband and laid her hand in his. In the red glow, his expression was grim, and his mouth made a thin line against his smoke-stained face. Surely he wasn’t angry about her going to get Henry. The boy crouched beside his kittens and to Esme’s surprise and relief, an ash-smudged Lilac made her way to the blanket. Henry grinned up at her as the cat began circling his legs, bumped him happily with her head, before she lay down to let the kittens nurse, oblivious to the chaos.
“Are you angry about the barn? Is that why you’re scowling at me?” Esme asked.
“Some, I am, but I won’t be by morning. I can build another barn.” He pulled her in front of him and wrapped his arms around her. He brushed a kiss across her temple and hugged her closer. “It’s you being in harm’s way that got to me. Seeing the woman I love run into a burning hay barn made me think my heart would stop.” He leaned down to look into her face. “Why are you smiling?”
Esme turned in his arms and looked into his eyes. “Because you said you love me.”
“Of course I do. Everyone knows I do.”
She pulled his arms more tightly around her. “Well, finally, now, ‘everyone’ does.”
Mesmerized by the flames, the crowd watched the blaze diminish as it faded into a heap of glowing coals. The men doused the perimeter with water, until Luke finally called them off.
He gathered the boys around and talked to them about how there wasn’t going to be any finger pointing about the loss of the barn. “Barns can be replaced,” he lectured, “but people can’t, and the important thing is that everyone is safe.”
Henry began to cry as Consuelo consoled him.
David grumbled. “Why the heck couldn’t it have burned down before we painted it? All that work for nothing.”
Consuelo reached over and smacked David across the back of his head. Nolan offered to stand watch to make sure there was no danger of another outburst of flames.
No one wanted to leave him alone, so the boys set up card tables. They were not willing to let a perfectly good card-playing opportunity pass. If Nolan was going to be up, there was a good chance they’d hear a few good stories and learn more card-playing wisdom from the man they all loved and respected. Even though it was well past midnight Consuelo offered to serve up tacos al pastor to everyone.
Luke and Esme bid the group good night and returned to their room where Luke splashed water on his face and arms to clean off the soot and dust. As he toweled off he asked, “Did you say your lovely mother thinks the ranch is hers?”
Esme washed too and then slipped into bed “Yes, that was her latest story.”
Luke got into bed beside her and pulled her in close. “That’s going to be a problem for you.”
“Oh?”
“Where will your sheep live, if she owns the ranch? Do you suppose Mr. Rodriguez will take them back if you ask nicely?”
“I’m not asking him anything.”
He ran his hand down her side stopping when it rested it on her hip. “Where will you keep them?”
“Here.”
“Nothing doing. I don’t like sheep. If I would ever consider having them, it would only be after a whole lot of persuasion on your part.”
Esme yawned and snuggled closer.
“Both of us need to be awake if you’re going to do any convincing. I might consider leasing a small pasture to you, but I’ll charge extra for sheep.”
“I can’t imagine what you’re talking about. How would you go about collecting payment from your own wife?” She raised up on one elbow and gazed at him.
A faint glow of moonlight lit the room, just enough light for him to see her looking at him with an expression of utter innocence. In just a short time, Esme had gone from shy and innocent girl to bold and alluring woman. She knew just how to tug on him, to play him and tease him back. The transformation filled him with such tenderness for her, but it stirred him too. His body responded to the subtle weight of her in his arms.
He gathered the hem of her gown in his fist and swept it over her shoulders, tossing it aside. He smiled at her gasp of dismay. If she was trying to appear indignant, her small laugh gave her away. She wanted him too, and he marveled at how it was possible for a man to be so lucky.
With gentle pressure, he coaxed her back to the mattress and kissed her. Her response to him was, as usual, immediate, her arms curling around his neck and her lips parting. He stroked her mouth with his tongue. Slow, drugging kisses that made a pulse of desire pound through his body.
He kissed her breasts, but didn’t linger like he u
sually did. Instead he kissed a soft trail down her belly and noted her shocked reaction. Her breathing stuttered and she tensed beneath him.
“Let me,” he whispered.
“Yes,” came her soft reply.
He grasped her knees, drew her open and skimmed his hands down her thighs. His dark, sun-tanned hands a sharp contrast to the creamy skin of her thighs, her soft flesh a contrast to his work-roughened palms. He kissed her sex and gently, like the tips of butterfly wings, licked her.. She was slick with desire, the scent enticed him. He groaned. She was sweet and hot and everything he’d imagined. Her small pants and cries made him wild and he had to fight to control the lust that surged through him. She writhed beneath him and he felt her pleasure building. She fought and bucked, but he held her, pinning her to the bed until she arched and cried out his name.
As she floated back down from the heights of her climax, Luke gathered her in his arms and entered her. She groaned with the pleasure she still felt and hugged her legs to his hips.
His body was filled with scorching need. Her orgasm was the most erotic thing he’d ever known and it took only a few thrusts before he found his own release.
“I love you, Esme.” He tried to ease his weight from her, but she held him.
“Stay,” she said. “Don’t go.”
And he did.
Esme turned in his arms and kissed him. By dawn Luke promised she could have any pasture she wanted.
Chapter Fourteen
Edgar and Henry crouched over the bucket of paint and studied it. The boy stirred it slowly. The colors swirled and turned a deep crimson. Both Henry and Edgar murmured their approval.
“It’s like the color of a ripe apple,” said Henry.
Edgar stood and stroked his chin thoughtfully. “I would say it is the color of a raspberry picked at the perfect moment, on a summer’s morn.”
“Yup,” Henry replied. “Or that.”
The Rodriquez family came down the road, their buckboard rattling over the ruts of the road. The three boys hung off the sides, waving at Henry, and jumped off while the wagon was still moving.