Ten Years Later
In the distance, a horse-drawn carriage approached. Oliver and I were working in the garden as it turned into the driveway. I stopped the tractor and wiped my brow. Oliver squinted and shouted, “Who do you think it is?”
I climbed down and walked toward the house as I watched a lady in all black Amish attire step down. She removed her gloves and waved. It couldn't be. I picked up my pace as I got closer and stopped just a few feet in front of her. Her lips formed into a smile as tears welled up in her eyes, “It’s been a long time…”
“Mother,” I mumbled softly.
She nodded. I tried to keep my emotions in check. The last time we’d seen one another was when Grandpa Joe took me to get my things from the house. “What do you want,” I snarled.
She took a ragged breath, “I know the last time we saw one another wasn’t on the best terms. But I’ve come to right a wrong and ask for your forgiveness.”
I waved in dismissal and turned away, “It doesn’t matter now, if you’ve come to ease your conscience don’t bother.”
She approached and placed her hand on my cheek, “Oh Jacobi, I’m so sorry.”
I pulled away and searched for Oliver. He was approaching with a basket of tomatoes and squash. Mother smiled, “You and Oliver are still together?”
I held up my hand, “Yes ma’am, we were married ten years ago this April.”
Silence lingered for a moment before she opened her purse and handed me a piece of paper. “What’s this?”
“The deed to the farm,” she smiled.
“Grandfather’s farm?”
She sniffled, “Not anymore. He passed away in a tractor accident a year ago this fall.”
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled as I bowed my head.
She shook her head, “It’s okay. I know you and your grandfather didn’t see eye to on things.”
I remained silent before shoving the paper back to her, “I don’t want it!”
She kept her hands crossed as she stared at me, “Nor do I. I’ve come to tell you that I’ve remarried and I’m moving away. My new husband is very wealthy and has his own house and land, so I don’t need Starlight. Besides, the upkeep is too much for an old woman like me. I thought you might want it. I’ve already signed over the deed, all you have to do is file it with the recorder’s office.
I stood in stunned silence as she climbed back onto the carriage. “Jacobi?”
“Yes, mother?”
“I’m so sorry for everything that happened to you and I’m happy to see the man you’ve become.”
“Thank you,” I mumbled.
With a pull of the reigns, I watched as the horses trotted away and I wondered if I’d ever see mother again. The fact that she came all the way out here to give me the deed and to apologize for what happened all those years ago meant the world to me. Then the words of Grandpa Joe echoed through my head, “Time doesn’t heal the heart, it just dulls the pain,” and I couldn’t’ help but think, never have truer words been spoken.
Oliver approached from behind and wrapped his arms around me, “Who was that?”
“Mother,” I mumbled.
“What did she want?” He snarled.
I paused before whispering, “To give me the deed to Starlight…”
I immediately took his hand and we rushed to the pickup. Down the highway, we sped until we came up to the long-graveled driveway that led to the home place. The land was unkempt and overgrown and the ivy had begun to overtake the house. In the distance, I could see the lake where Ollie and I shared our most intimate moments…the lake I never thought I’d see again. In my mind, the image of our bodies intertwined making love on the shore flashed by. I closed my eyes and smiled as I took his hand.
In a rush, a flood of tears erupted from me and I fell to my knees. Oliver stooped down to hold me. It was all mine, the land that my father had so proudly poured his blood sweat and tears into was all mine. After a few moments, we stood and got back in the truck to make our way up the road to the house.
Once we parked and got out of the truck I spun around, gazed at the rolling hills around me, and started to cry. “I never thought I would see this place again.”
Oliver came up beside me and took my hand, prompting me to turn to him. He smiled just the way he did when we first met and I reached out to tuck a wayward strand of hair behind his ear. He closed his eyes to bask in my touch for a moment before we took off running through the sea of golden grain.
At the shore of the lake, we collapsed in the tall grass. Our lips were locked in a kiss. Our hands were searching to make contact with one another’s skin. We separated momentarily, he was on top of me and I was gazing up at him, “What on earth are we going to do with two farms?”
I gazed up into his eyes and smiled, “I have no idea.”
It was all so overwhelming. Grandfather would probably be rolling over in his grave if he knew I owned it. You see, it wasn’t even his to begin with. It originally belonged to my grandfather on my father’s side. When he passed away, he left it to my father. At the time, the land wasn’t used for profit. It was used to sustain the family.
When he met mother, she was living with her father and they were very poor. Her mother died when she was young, like Ollie’s. So, my father decided to give them jobs around the farm. He hired mother as a maid and grandfather to help tend the land. He had all these grand ideas and ways to make money from the things father grew.
Father eventually fell in love with mother, they were married, then I came along. She always said I looked just like him; same haystack-yellow hair, same blue eyes. I was the apple of my father’s eye. I still remember riding in his lap as he drove his tractor across the land. I still remember the way he would wrap his arms around me and I would tell him that I wanted to be just like him someday.
When he died, I didn’t think I could ever love again. I isolated from my family and immersed myself in work. Father never wanted Grandfather to own the land, but there was nothing I could do. Our family needed the income to pay the mortgage and since mother didn’t know how to operate a farm she promptly signed it over to Grandpa Hue. Now I have a chance to carry on my father’s legacy.
After gazing at the clouds for a while and holding Ollie I finally spoke up, “Ollie, let's restore this place and make it just how it was all those years ago when we first met!”
His eyes danced for a moment, “But Jacobi, how are we going to manage two farms? It takes all of our energy just to manage the one at Grandpa Joe’s.”
I smiled and placed my hand on his cheek, “With you by my side I have the strength I need to handle anything. Besides, there’s no place I’d rather you be, than right here under the Starlight sky with me.”
He buried his face in my chest, “Oh Jacobi, you always did know just what to say to make me feel invincible.”
I chuckled softly, “That’s what lovers do. It’s you and I against the world and any storms that come our way, we use our love to weather them.”
Our lips met in a kiss before we stood and started walking toward the old market where we sold the goods we picked, and where customers paid for the goods they picked themselves.
Ollie took a ragged breath, “It’s going to take a lot of work to get this place back to the way it was before.”
Just past the market, I saw the old barn where we used to keep the tractors and passenger buggies. I pointed and shouted, “Look! Remember!”
I took his hand and raced toward the direction of the barn. As I slid the door open, a whirlwind of dust swirled around us in a magical cloud. Ollie sneezed and waved his hand as I ran around frantically, “It’s all still here, all the buggies and…”
I paused in front of the tractor I used to drive and turned to him as a wave of emotion hit me. As I met his gaze, visions of the day we met flashed in my mind. I’ll never forget the way I felt when I drove up and saw him standing there waiting for me, like an angel God sent down from the heavens.
I
wiped away a rogue tear and my lips trembled as I asked, “Wanna go for a ride…for old time’s sake?”
He giggled, “Jacobi, I doubt they’ll even start!”
I jumped aboard the one I used to drive, turned the key, then pulled the choke before hitting the start button. A few rolls of the engine, then a belch of smoke erupted from the exhaust pipe, which prompted me to shout, “Oh yeah!”
“Come on!” I said excitedly as he rushed over and took his place right behind me.
I closed my eyes. I’ll never forget the first time I reached back to take his hand. At the time, I just wanted to make sure he didn’t fall, but when I felt his fingers press into my shoulders, I felt a surge of electricity pulse through my body like I’d never felt before.
Just as it was back then, I felt it again. This time his arms were dangling in front of my chest as he rested his chin on my shoulder. Slowly we pulled out of the barn and began driving the little road that twisted and curved around the property. I couldn’t wait to go inside the house and see if everything was as I remember it.
I dreamed one day, that Ollie and I would eat lunch at the kitchen table daddy had made once again. But I wasn’t sure if mother took that with her or not. I assumed she’d been living with her new beau with her showing up out of the blue like she did. Those assumptions were confirmed as we pulled up the old house and noticed the ivy stretching out across the porch.
I shook my head. That was this same porch Grandfather used to demand to kept showroom clean. The same porch where he pressed his boot to my neck and threatened to kill me. All the memories came flooding back to me. That’s when Ollie kissed my cheek and dismounted. He stared up at me, “Are you okay?”
I nodded and gazed down at him as he followed up his first question with another, “Shall we go in and see how much work it needs.”
“That sounds great,”
We stepped onto the porch together and I ran my hand exploratively across the rails. I turned my gaze to the meadow and took a deep breath, “I’ve missed this place so.”
Ollie took my hand, “Did you ever think we would be standing here, holding hands on the front porch knowing this was all ours.”
I turned to him, “And it shall always be ours. Did I ever tell you why daddy named this place starlight?”
He shook his head, “Daddy always said that the stars shined so bright out here that you could count every one of them right here.”
He rested his head against my shoulder and sighed, “That’s so magical.”
“Father always said that if you ever felt alone, you could just gaze up at the night sky and know that somewhere out there, someone else was looking too.”
OLIVER
I lifted from him and met his gaze, “Did you ever come out here when you felt alone?”
He nodded and mumbled, “Every night…”
My lips trembled as I replied, “I used to do the same thing at Grandpa Joe’s.”
Tears formed in the corners of his eyes as he whispered, “No.”
I nodded silently as he continued, “You mean to tell me that you used to gaze up at the stars too?”
I nodded again as he moved in closer, “So that means you were that someone and I wasn’t alone.”
I shook my head as he smashed his lips against mine and pinned me against the wall. He separated from me and traced his fingers down my jawline. His eyes were half-lidded and his tone was dripping with desire, “That means, you were always the one.”
My lips formed a half-smile as I smirked, “Yep.”
“Oh, Ollie…”
“Jacobi,” I whispered as our lips met again. I could feel his chest pressed against mine. Every breath he took, he took one of mine and I took one of his. I could feel the outline of his cock through his jeans pressed firmly against mine; longing desperately to be unleashed and join with mine in a baptism of lustful fire.
We crept our way to the door and stepped inside the house. The once well-polished floors and shiplap were highlighted in a snow-like dust. The davenport and remaining furniture were covered in white sheets. They were antiques years ago, the first time I’d seem them.
Jacobi rushed up the stairs, pulling me behind him as he did. Once we reached the top, he paused and placed his hand on the doorknob. The anticipation lingered in the air was almost unbearable. I was holding my breath, waiting for him to open the door and see if the room was as he had left it all those years ago.
He opened it, and a stale rush of wind blew around us. He turned to me and smiled, “It’s just as it always was.”
Then with a gleam in his eye, he whispered, “There’s something I never got the chance to do…”
I placed my arms on his shoulder and played with the back of his hair as I sighed, “I think I have an idea what it is.”
“Do you now?” He smirked.
I pulled his suspenders from his shoulders and tugged at the bottom of his button-up shirt. He rasped into my mouth, “I’m so turned on right now.”
I pushed him down on the bed as he gazed up at me. Those deep blue eyes were full of passion as he growled, “Make love to me!”
I crawled cat-like up his body and dove onto his neck. I could feel his hand slide down the back of my pants and cup my butt. He panted in my ear, “I’ve dreamed of this moment since the day we met.”
“So have I,” I whispered.
In a swift motion, we began to undress one another. I tore open his shirt, sending buttons catapulting around the room like bullets in a war zone. He slipped his hand into the front of my pants and caressed me as I did the same to him. All that remained was the sound of mattress squeaking beneath our shifting bodies and our labored breathing. He hissed in my ear, “You are the air I breathe. When I take you in, I take in your life and the thought of your essence filling me sets my heart on fire with need.
I replied, “I’m so lost without you and when I’m not near you, my body longs to be one with yours.”
“Oh Ollie,” he cried out.
“Jacobi,” I sighed.
Moments later, I was lying on my back and my legs were resting on his shoulders. We had managed to strip away the last remaining garments separating our bodies from being one. Here we are again, skin to skin, heart to heart. Just two boys who have come full circle. Back to the place where it all began. He met my gaze as he positioned himself in front of me. I closed my eyes and bit my wrist as I took him in. His thrusts were like thunder crashing, his slides were like lightning igniting the electricity surging through my veins. We were two halves of one soul united by the mutual need to come.
A short time later, he collapsed on the bed next to me and grinned, “I just came inside of my husband, in my childhood bedroom!”
He looked amused as he covered his eyes with his arm. “Was it everything you thought it would be?” I asked as I traced his chest with my finger.
He uncovered his face and kissed my forehead, “Even more than I could have imagined.”
We laid there for a few moments longer before getting up to get dressed. Jacobi just let his shirt hang open and his suspenders dangle to his sides as we explored the rest of the house. The only room that was empty was his mother’s room and a few random things about the house.
Jacobi sighed as we stepped back outside and closed the door behind us, “I guess she didn’t want to remember anything from her former life.”
I shrugged, “Well it’s her loss because I can’t wait to start the second half of our life here at Starlight.”
EPILOGUE
In the coming months, we’d get up at sunrise and drive over to Starlight. Nail by nail, board by board, we rebuilt and restored his father’s legacy and now our own. The land and house had never looked better for our grand reopening. We’d placed an ad in the paper announcing it, and people came from miles around to relive the precious memories of their childhood.
It was the first of October and the fields were full of pumpkins ripe for the picking. We’d stocked the farmer’s market w
ith lots of wonderful produce and had the tractor ready with buggies to transport people to the fields to pick a pumpkin of their own. The grand reopening went down without a hitch and we made enough money to know that this was now our life.
On the pages of our hearts, I never thought our story would end like this. Through all the hard times and pain, love had won in the end. Christmas is coming soon and I have my eye on the perfect tree for the farmhouse. Jacobi marked it for me so no one would cut it down. We also hired a couple of boys to drive the tractors so we can focus on the business side of things and enjoy the fruits of our labor.
The other night as Jacobi and sat on the porch we noticed the two boys walking down to the lake. He turned to me and smiled warmly. I took his hand and said, “What do you think they are up to?”
He smirked, “I know what they’re up to. Let’s just see how long it take for the one to stop being stubborn and just join his friend in the water.”
I arched my brow, “Look, we were scared virgins. I didn’t know what to do.”
“I’d think getting naked in front of you was the sign I wanted you.”
“Now you say something, Mr. boys aren’t supposed to like boys in that way.”
We shared a laugh and silence lingered between us for a moment before Jacobi mumbled, “There they go!”
I motioned for him to pass me the binoculars, “Let me see!”
He passed them to me and I smiled as I watched them embrace, then kiss before sinking down into the grain.”
As I pulled them away, I handed them back to Jacobi and stood, “Maybe we should give them some privacy and go make some magic of our own?”
He stood with a grunt and took my hand as I offered it to him, “Sounds like a plan to me.”
In case you’re wondering what we did with Grandpa Joe’s place, we lease it out for folks that want to stay close to the farm. We named it the Joseph and Effie May Thomas house. So, if you find yourself wanting to escape your troubles or if you just want to escape to a little slice of paradise here on earth…come to Starlight and I’m sure you will find the magic your heart seeks in time. I know I found mine.
Under the Starlight Sky Page 5