Magnolia Bay Memories

by Babette de Jongh

  Erin’s eyes got even bigger, and her mouth dropped open, but then she blinked and closed her mouth. “I guess I deserve all that.”

  Heather crossed her arms and gave her daughter a hard look. “You guess?”

  Erin looked down again. “No, you’re right. I do deserve it.”

  “And Charlie deserves better than he’s been getting from both of us. So going forward, you and I are going to work together to make sure he gets the care and attention he has a right to expect. Right?”

  “Right.” Erin’s lips turned up in a tiny smile. “Am I done getting fussed at?”

  “I’m not sure; maybe not.” Heather pursed her lips, determined not to smile back. She knew she was a sucker when it came to her kids, and she had been especially easy on them lately. But it was time to lay down the law. “I’ll think about it while you’re drawing up a new chore list on the poster board I left on the kitchen table.”

  ***

  A few days later, just after lunchtime, Heather was cleaning the house when Jasper went nuts barking at the sound of a vehicle coming down the drive. He scrabbled at the back door, his usual song-and-dance when a delivery truck arrived. Overcast skies threatened rain, one of those early-afternoon summer monsoons that blew up out of nowhere, and Heather didn’t want the package to get soaked. She grabbed the garage door remote, then rushed out into the garage with Jasper bounding ahead of her. After snagging him by the collar, she opened the door.

  It creaked up by slow degrees, showing…

  Not the big tires of a FedEx van but the shiny bumper of Adrian’s fancy convertible. Not the…whatever kind of footwear FedEx employees wore, but a barely worn-in pair of tooled leather cowboy boots, tight-fitting jeans, and, well, Adrian. Damn but he was fine.

  With his hands on his hips and a slight smirk on his gorgeous face, he waited until the door had stopped squealing and squeaking to speak. “I’m here to ride Charlie.”

  She released Jasper, who bounded up to Adrian and—thank God—barely restrained himself from jumping up. Adrian rewarded the dog’s good manners by kneeling to pet him. “You wanna come with, Jasper?”

  Jasper wiggled all over and barked agreement.

  Heather looked up at the dark clouds that scudded overhead. “Are you sure it’s such a good idea to go riding today? The weather doesn’t look so cooperative just now.”

  “It’s all bluster.” Adrian continued to rub Jasper’s ears, eliciting whimpers of joy. “I’ll keep an eye on it. Not supposed to actually start raining till about 3:00.”

  “Okay, well… Are you sure you want to fool with Jasper too? I mean, I wouldn’t want him to get in your way and get stepped on or anything.”

  Adrian shrugged. “Your call.”

  She gave another glance at the dark clouds overhead. “Maybe he can come with you next time, and this time you can just concentrate on working with Charlie.”

  Adrian stood, the easy smile still on his face. “No problem.”

  For a second, they just looked at each other, then both spoke at once.

  “Listen—”

  “You’re not—”

  He grinned and motioned for her to continue.

  “You’re not gonna ride Charlie off the property just yet, are you? I mean, I think maybe you should work with him around here a few times before going out on the trails.” She swallowed. “Just in case.”

  Adrian’s grin faded. “I won’t ride Charlie off the property without your permission. Promise.”

  She nodded. For some reason, that promise didn’t make her feel much better. “Okay, well…” She looked back at the house. “I guess…”

  Adrian stepped forward and ran a gentle hand down her arm. “I’ll be careful. I won’t even ride him until I’ve done enough groundwork to know how he responds. I know it might be hard at first, but try to forget I’m here.”

  “Okay.” She called the dog to heel. “I’ll do my best.”

  For the next couple of hours, Heather continued to do her housework but couldn’t stop herself from looking out the kitchen window every fifteen minutes. Adrian spent an hour doing groundwork, making Charlie walk and trot and canter in circles on a long line before saddling up. Then he rode Charlie along the edges of the field, first walking, then trotting, then cantering.

  Now, they were full-out galloping. Adrian bent low over Charlie’s neck, and Charlie’s hooves flung clods of dirt out behind them. Heather backed away from the kitchen window. Just watching those two fly along like that made her nervous. What if something happened? What if they had a…a wreck? Charlie had promised not to hurt anyone—a “conversation” Heather still had trouble wrapping her mind around—but he might not be able to help himself if something startled him.

  What if lightning struck, scaring the horse and making him rear up?

  Adrian seemed to have no worries for the weather, no concern for the heat lightning that skittered along the undersides of the menacing dark clouds. Should she go out there and get him?

  No. He probably wanted to finish Charlie’s workout, and surely he was old enough by now to know when to come in out of the rain. He was, as her granny used to say, growed up and haired over. And he’d gotten that way without her advice or interference on matters of weather safety. But what if…?

  “Shut up,” she said to her disasterizing thoughts. To distract herself, she opened the refrigerator door and got busy organizing the condiments. One of the kids had opened a new bottle of ketchup even though the previous bottle still had plenty in it. She checked the expiration dates and hid the new bottle behind the old one.

  Heather rearranged the tall bottles and boxes on the top shelf, then noticed that the orange juice container had been leaking. With her head in the fridge, she wiped at the thick, slimy sludge. A loud boom shook the house—she shrieked and bumped her head when she straightened up too fast. The hum of the refrigerator went silent for a second. The lights flickered, followed closely by another boom.

  “That’s it.” She slammed the refrigerator door, then dropped the rag into the sink with a splat. She was bringing that fool inside the house whether he liked it or not. Having made the decision brought her anxiety down a notch.

  She peeked out the kitchen window on her way to the garage. Adrian and Charlie weren’t visible in the field anymore, so at least he’d had the good sense to go into the barn.

  Maybe she didn’t need to drag him inside after all.

  She stood at the open garage door and looked toward the barn. Its door was open too, but the angle was such that she couldn’t see inside. He was most likely unsaddling Charlie, wiping down the tack, and putting everything back where it belonged. Then, he would probably brush Charlie with a curry comb to remove the sweat marks left by the saddle.

  Peaceful moments spent doing those quiet, homely tasks were some of the best things about having a horse. Heather twisted her hands in indecision but decided not to intrude.

  She reminded herself that although Adrian was helping her by helping Charlie, she wasn’t obliged to turn it into a social call. Reva had said that Adrian wanted to work with Charlie because he missed having a horse of his own. This thing was between him and Charlie. Adrian could get his horse-riding fix, then get in his car and leave. Heather didn’t need to take him to raise just because he would be coming around here a lot.

  “Pretend I’m not here,” he’d said when he first showed up here this afternoon.

  But Adrian Crawford wasn’t an easy man to ignore.

  ***

  After tying Charlie’s lead rope to one of the stall’s bars, Adrian put up the saddle and tack, scooped the stall, and dumped and refilled the water bucket. With both barn doors open, a hot breeze pushed through ahead of the coming storm. Adrian took his time brushing Charlie, patting him and murmuring praise. “Such a good horse.”

  Adrian wouldn’t mind getting wet if it
started pouring rain and he had to make a run for it to his car. He had parked on the driveway next to Heather’s house, and figuring he would be dusty and sweaty after the ride, he had draped a big beach towel over the leather seat. He wasn’t worried about his car, but if this horse-riding thing worked out, he might buy a truck. He patted Charlie’s shoulder. “We’re gonna do this a lot more. I promise.”

  For a first time working together, they’d done great. Charlie had been responsive and eager to please, and the headlong gallop under the lowering clouds had been exhilarating. “Thanks for the ride, old boy.” Maybe, after another few practice runs in the field, they would try out the riverside trails.

  He led Charlie into the stall, unbuckled his harness, and hung it on the hook beside the door. “See you in a few days.”

  Adrian walked out of the barn, congratulating himself that he’d made it out before the rains hit. But halfway to the car, the bottom fell out.

  Without even one drop of warning, the rain descended in a deafening roar.

  He put his head down and ran, barely hearing a high-pitched sound rising above the noise. He had left his car unlocked and the keys on the passenger seat, so his only thought was to get inside the car as quickly as possible.

  Then the high-pitched sound his mind hadn’t registered as anything other than noise resolved itself into the organized tones of Heather’s voice calling his name.

  He looked up to see her running toward him, holding a big black umbrella over her head. Her Keds slapped on the wet pavement, scattering raindrops. Then he was under the umbrella with her arm wrapped around his waist. “Hurry. Come inside.”

  He shivered, suddenly cold, suddenly realizing that he was already soaked to the skin. He wrapped his hand over hers on the umbrella’s handle, and together, they rushed into the shelter of the garage. He shook out the umbrella and set it upside down on the concrete floor. Heather wiped his face with her hands, then shook her fingers, splattering droplets on the floor where puddles formed under the umbrella and their feet. “You’re soaked!”

  “So are you.” Her jeans were soaked to the thigh and damp up to… Well, he wasn’t going to look up high enough to figure that out. “You really didn’t have to come out there and rescue me. In another ten feet or so, I’d have made it to my car.”

  She gave him a mischievous grin. “And mess up your precious leather seats? I don’t think I could allow that to happen. Not on my watch.”

  Leaving the umbrella lying where it was, she hooked his arm with hers and led him into the house. Instead of turning right into the kitchen, she led him into the neat-as-a-pin laundry room and brought a towel down off the shelf. She started to wipe him down with it, then paused, blushing. “Here.” She handed over the towel and pointed to a closed door he hadn’t noticed—but if he had, he’d have thought it was a closet. “There’s a mudroom with a shower through there. Get cleaned up, and I’ll leave out some dry clothes for you.”

  Great, he thought. I’ll be going commando again. Not that he minded hanging loose in theory, but going commando around Heather was maybe not the best idea.

  “I promise I won’t peek,” she said. “In fact, I’m gonna have to rush to change into dry clothes and get the kids from school, so if you don’t have to leave right away and you know how to work a washing machine…”

  He nodded. “I think I can manage that.”

  “Great. I’ll put some sweats and a T-shirt on the dryer. Meanwhile, make yourself at home until I get back. Wash and dry your clothes, make a cup of hot tea, pilfer the fridge for a snack, whatever. If you have to leave before I get back, just leave the back door unlocked and the garage door open.”

  “Okay.” As if. He would never leave here with everything unlocked. Anything could happen. “Will do.”

  “Barring any complications, I’ll be back soon.”

  “Okay, thanks.” He took a step toward her, hoping to dissolve her tendency to hover over him like a mother hen. “Please don’t make yourself late because of me.”

  “Oh!” Her cheeks turned bright pink. “Of course. I need to hurry.” Then she whirled around and ran in the opposite direction. “I’ll be back in a minute with dry clothes,” she said from the kitchen.

  “I’ll wait here until you get back.” Because somehow he could imagine her tiptoeing into the laundry room, terrified that she might inadvertently see him naked.

  She hustled back in two minutes later, carrying the same clean folded sweats and shirt she’d given him before. “Here you go. I’ll see you when I get back from picking up the kids…I guess?”

  “Yep. I’ll be here.”

  “You’re welcome to stay for dinner.” Her cheeks turned rosy when she met his eyes.

  Her shy blush made it impossible to say no. “Thanks. I’ll take you up on that offer.”

  She smiled, her cheeks going apple-round in her sweet face. “Josh will be so happy to see you here when he gets home from school. There’s shampoo and soap and stuff in the shower.” She turned to go, all but closing the laundry room door behind her before she turned back at the last minute. “But there’s dog shampoo in there too, so be warned.”

  “No worries.” He couldn’t help but grin at her concerned expression. “Either way, I guess I won’t have to worry about fleas.”

  Chapter 8

  Heather drove to the middle school in the pouring rain, the windshield wipers going only slightly faster than her hammering heart.

  At this very moment, Adrian Crawford was naked…naked…in the mudroom shower at her house. And unfortunately, she’d seen enough of him uncovered to imagine exactly what (or mostly exactly what) that would look like.

  She didn’t know what to do with that thought, so she called Reva.

  Reva’s breathless “Hello, hey, Heather. What’s up?” couldn’t compare to Heather’s inability to catch enough oxygen to answer.

  “H-h-hey, Reva.” She might have been close to hyperventilating. “I’m on my way to get the kids.”

  “What’s wrong? Do you need help?”

  “Not help,” she clarified. “Just advice. I need to know what to do next.”

  “Okay, shoot.”

  “Adrian is naked…probably, I think…in my shower…at this moment.”

  Reva made a laughing/choking sound. “And yet you’re on your way to pick up your kids? Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have me pick them up instead and bring them to my house? I’ll be happy to do that, just saying. You could turn the car around and go back right now.”

  “No, no.” Heather felt herself blushing, all alone in her car with her fingers clutching the steering wheel and her foot on the gas pedal. “I just need to talk it through with you about what to do once the kids and I get back home.”

  Reva laughed. “I don’t know, honey. Unless you want to bring the kids here to spend the night, I’m not sure what to tell you.”

  “I’m not bringing my kids to spend the night with you. I invited Adrian to have dinner with us. But…I haven’t done that since…” She felt an unwelcome surge of self-pitying tears crowd behind her eyeballs like a mob of protesters pushing against a chain-link barrier. “I don’t know how to act around a man anymore. What am I supposed to do?”

  Reva sighed. “Baby girl, all I can tell you is to be yourself. Either he’ll love and accept you the way you are, or he’s not worthy of you. Either way, being yourself, without restraint or apology, will give you the only answer you need.”

  ***

  Adrian showered with the kids’ shampoo and soap-on-a-rope in the mudroom shower, then dried himself with the dark-brown towel Heather had given him.

  The colors in the mudroom were designed to hide dirt. Brown, forest green, black iron. Hooks on the walls crafted from bent railroad nails welded together. A leather belt with a rodeo buckle hung from one; an old sweat-stained cowboy hat hung from another. The wall art w
as an assortment of framed collages made from chopped-up license plates.

  Adrian dressed in the sweats and T-shirt Heather had left on top of the dryer, then started the washer. In the kitchen, he met up with Jasper, whose little stub tail wagged.

  Adrian reached down to pet the dog’s silky head. “Where’s the tea, do you know?” Even as steamy hot as a Louisiana summer could be, on rainy afternoons, a warm mug of Earl Grey hit the spot.

  In the search for tea, he didn’t have to hunt much. As organized as Heather kept her kitchen, everything was easy to spot and located closest to the first point of use. Mugs above the coffee maker and the electric teapot, spoons and a steeping ball for loose tea in the drawer below, boxes of assorted teas and coffee beans in the pullout pantry drawer below that. He was beginning to see why Abby and Reva had hired Heather to be in charge of the shelter’s daily operations.

  Standing barefoot on the cool kitchen tile floor, he waited for the tea to steep and noticed how clean the floor felt under his feet. He couldn’t help but contrast the difference between the immaculate house and the dusty, cobweb-filled barn. He had given Heather a hard time—maybe somewhat unfairly, he realized now—about the state of the barn.

  Adrian had been critical of the state of Charlie’s stall and his feed-and-water bins, and yes, the whole setup could’ve been better. Charlie’s stall should have had fresh bedding. (It wasn’t as if a bunch of bagged pine shavings hadn’t been gathering dust in the corner.)

  But he had to admit that barns everywhere were dusty because hay created dust. Horse bedding made from pine shavings created dust. Dirt tracked in on horse’s hooves created dust, and wind blowing through open windows and doors created dust.

  He would take the first opportunity he could find to apologize to Heather. And, if she would listen, explain why he had overreacted. Maybe not tonight, when they were surrounded by her kids, but some other time soon. Even if he had to steal her away from the shelter one day and take her out for coffee or something.