by Donna Kunkel
Mandy had stayed at her side. Her brown eyes followed Alex’s movements, while her tail swished.
“What are you waiting for?” Alex asked.
Mandy walked toward the door, stopped, and looked back to Alex.
Was the dog actually waiting to show her the way? “Okay, girl. Lead on.”
Mandy walked the rest of the way to the door and stared at the handle.
“I’m coming. Hold your horses,” Alex said. “Are you reading my mind?”
Mandy barked.
“At least when I talk to you, I can say what I want. Do you mind?”
Mandy shook her head.
“I swear. It’s as if you understand me.” No more delaying, she had to face the barn. Would it be as old as the cabin? Maybe about to fall down? Just open the door. Alex followed Mandy through the door into the fully enclosed storage area that had shelves running along the wall next to the cabin. The shelves were piled with all kinds of canned goods and box mixes, anything that wouldn’t spoil. Not a single herb was hanging up. He had to be normal; what she felt must have been from static electricity. Three cans of soda stood out. She moved closer and ran her fingers down the cool surface. “I’ll have to save you for a special occasion.” She moved back to the other door across from the one she’d come through.
Mandy pawed at the concrete floor in front of this door. Alex shut the cabin’s door and opened the other one, which opened into a large barn. The scent of fresh hay and warm animals filled the place. She was surprised that the storage area and barn weren’t overly cold. He had to be heating the areas to keep them above freezing. Even out here with the animals, the barn was neat and organized. Nice. This man obviously took pride in his possessions.
Mandy bounded in and headed to the stall to take care of her business.
No wonder she didn’t smell wet dog in the cabin. By coming out to the barn, Mandy didn’t have to plow through the snow drifts. Alex had to give Steve credit, he took good care of his animals. She almost tripped over the boots he’d left by the door. She slipped the large rubber boots on and her feet swam in them. By only lifting them a little bit or else shuffling could she keep them on.
Steve was already at work trying to clean out a stall. The cow kept nudging his arm making his job twice as difficult. As he picked up a shovelful, the cow nudged his arm again, making him drop half of the shovel’s contents. Alex couldn’t help but break out in laughter at the cow’s antics.
At the sound of her laughter, the cow turned then started walking toward her. Her laughter immediately stopped and her eyes widened as the cow continued approaching her. Shit. Now what? What would this big animal do?
Steve looked up. “Alex, this is Anna Belle. Don’t worry, she’s extremely friendly. Maybe even too friendly. Scratch her behind her ears and she’ll be your friend for life.”
Alex relaxed some as the large animal strolled toward her. Anna Belle moved up against her. Alex took a step back. Anna Belle moved up again.
“Stay still and let her lean up against you. If you keep moving, she’ll keep following.” Steve snorted with laughter, then turned away.
“I’m not used to animals this big.”
He turned his head back in her direction. “You could really help by keeping her out there so I can finish cleaning her stall.”
She finally got the courage to reach up and scratch the cow. Anna Belle. He had named his cow. But then, so would she. After all, the cow acted like an over-sized dog. Anna Belle leaned so hard against her she almost got pushed over. In the time it took her to get used to the cow, Steve had finished with the stall.
He exited the stall carrying two metal buckets. “Here, take the water bucket. I’ll show you where the water is so you can take care of watering her from now on.” As they walked toward the cabin, Anna Belle followed them contentedly.
“Won’t she make a mess out here walking around?”
“I don’t care. I’ll simply clean it up if she does. She enjoys the chance to stretch her legs so I let her walk around the barn. When it isn’t snowing she can go to the outside pen.” He showed her the sink by the barn wall where she could dump, clean, and fill the water bucket. She carried a half-full bucket back to the stall while he carried the full feed bucket. Anna Belle continued following their every move.
Was the bucket filled with rocks instead of water? Her arm could pull out of the socket by the time she got to the stall. He carried buckets around like nothing. No wonder his shoulders were so wide, and his body was so large. If he did this all the time he would have to be in good shape. She sure wasn’t. What did she expect? Her day usually entailed sitting at a desk. She didn’t carry buckets of water or feed.
After Steve spread some fresh straw around for Anna Belle, he headed over to a door near the corner closest to the cabin. He removed a wooden peg and flipped the latch back. “You’re new, so don’t be surprised if some of the hens are skittish.” He pulled the door open and waited for Alex to go in first.
A long narrow room ran along the side of the barn. There were all colors and varieties of chickens: white, black, brown, and combinations of colors. Birds were sitting in boxes along the barn, perched on bars, or wandering around. Two all-white ones flew off to the farthest perch, but the others continued searching for food on the floor or sitting in their nesting boxes.
Steve showed her how to fill the feeder and waterer. “Why don’t you collect the eggs while I clean up the floor?” He handed her a wicker basket then started sweeping the floor and dumping it in a wheelbarrow he’d brought in with him.
Alex headed over to the boxes. First, she picked up the eggs from the empty slots, then she gathered the eggs from all the black birds who appeared to be the friendliest. She then went to the buff colored one. All the while, a brown hen with white speckles strutted around, following her. Several headed down to the feeder, so she emptied those boxes. Now this was a job she could do. She moved on down the line to the noisy red and black hen. It watched her every movement. She reached in under the bird and it pecked her arm. Thankfully she’d already had the egg in her hand when she yanked it back. She rubbed the back of her arm.
The two brown hens, sitting in the neighboring boxes, clucked loudly. They turned their heads to keep a beady eye glued to her hand. The second she headed toward them, they attacked. This time they nailed her good. “Shit,” she pulled her arm back and rubbed the sore spot. She tried the black and white striped birds. They also attacked. “What am I doing wrong?”
Steve stopped spreading the fresh hay and walked over. “You can’t show any fear. Just reach in. The eggs are ours, not theirs.” He removed the eggs from the black and white birds. The brown ones ruffled their feathers and continued to watch her, ignoring Steve. “If they keep defending their nest”—he shooed the birds away—“get them to move.” He placed the last eggs in her basket and went back to take care of the wheelbarrow. He made it look easy.
They left the henhouse, put away their tools, and he looked at Alex’s arm. “They got you good.” He got a paper towel and wiped off the places where they’d hit her hand hard enough to draw blood. “I’ve never seen anyone as skittish as you. They’re only chickens.” He showed her where to leave the boots in the barn, and they headed back inside.
The chores might have been finished, but she was exhausted. How did he do it every day? She’d used muscles she never knew existed—well, at least, she didn’t have them. At least he only had one cow and around a dozen chickens. Thankfully he kept the hay, straw, and various feeds inside the barn so they didn’t have to go out into the storm. She wanted to go back to the cabin, get cleaned up, and relax.
Before she even got a chance to do any of those things, Steve said, “We still have one more job to do.”
Chapter 4
Alex wandered into the kitchen. “Now what?”
“The storm has let up a little. I need to get your clothes out of your car before it picks up again. In another day, I’ll have to dig a path out,
the way this snow is accumulating. If we have several more days like this, it’ll be impossible to get to the road. Where are your car keys?”
“In my purse, wherever that is.” She turned in a full circle as she searched the room.
He walked over to the bookshelves and tossed her purse to her. “I need you to wait outside on the porch. If I lose sight of the cabin, I’ll call out.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“If the storm gets bad again, keep shouting so I can follow your voice back. How many bags do you have and where are they in the car?”
“I have one small suitcase in the trunk, one toiletry bag behind the driver, and a small bag of food and drinks on the front passenger seat.” She tossed her car keys to him and pulled out her cell phone. No signal. Again.
“I’ll get as much as I can.”
“Get the suitcase, at least.” Her magical talent for reading people’s intents made her trust him, but she’d feel safer with her wand nearby.
He walked over to the front door, removed her coat and hat from a series of hooks by the door, and tossed them to her. She put on her still damp shoes, coat, and gloves. He donned a heavy, denim coat and placed a dark brown, furry hat on, pulling the edges down to cover his ears and neck. He lifted the door brace, set it next to the door, and headed out onto the front porch.
Alex slipped her phone in her coat pocket and followed him out. The cold air bit at her face and neck. A light snow was still falling, but she could see a ways out. Snow covered everything. If she’d been at home, she would have been enjoying the white-covered landscape.
Mandy pushed out between them. She went to one end of the porch, stuck her nose up sniffing the air, shuffled to the other end, and sniffed again.
Alex pulled her phone out and held it up, trying to catch a trace of a signal.
“Any signal?”
“Nothing.” She put the phone back in her coat pocket. “But I thought I’d try just in case.”
Steve pulled a pair of snowshoes out of a storage box that was tucked up against the cabin’s wall. He walked off the porch, sat on the steps to lace up the bindings on the snowshoes, and pulled on his thick gloves. “I’ll be back as soon as possible.”
Mandy wandered back to the middle of the porch and leaned up against Alex.
Alex watched Steve trudge off through the snow. He gradually became fainter and fainter the farther out he got, until he melted into the landscape. Please let him be safe. How would she find him if something happened? The snow was significantly deeper than last night. She would never have been able to cross it without snowshoes today.
All of a sudden, the sky opened up and dumped. The snow muffled all sound and absolute silence reigned. Even with Mandy leaning against her, giving her a little warmth, the frigid air cut right through her wool coat. The wind started blowing, showering her with snow even under the porch roof. After what seemed like forever, Mandy pricked up her ears. Alex listened carefully but couldn’t hear anything. Before she could make a move to stop her, Mandy bounded off the porch, jumping through the deep snow. A couple of minutes later, Mandy jumped back up on the porch and shook, flinging snow everywhere.
Alex called out to Steve every fifteen seconds or so. Several minutes passed without any sign or sound from him. “I hope he gets back soon,” Alex said to Mandy.
Mandy gazed up at her, then turned back to continue her vigil, ears pointed straight forward.
What will I do if he never returns? Could I venture out to help or would I get lost? What else can I do? She continued calling out his name.
Mandy leapt off the porch and disappeared in the falling snow. Now they were both out in the snow. Within a couple of minutes, Mandy came back. Good. Mandy must have headed straight to Steve and come back. He had to be close for her to return so quickly. Sure enough, a solid white blob appeared in the snow. A couple of minutes later, he hefted her luggage on the porch, removed the snowshoes, and knocked the snow off them before he stored them back in the box. Alex dragged the luggage inside while he tried to shake some of the heavy snow off before coming in. No matter how hard he tried, snow clung to his coat like Velcro.
“I guess that’s all I’ll get off.”
“Did you have any problems finding everything?” She hung up her coat and hat and cleaned the fog off her glasses.
“No, but the end of the driveway was a pain in the ass. I slid on it coming and going.”
“I did that last night too.”
“I could hear you faintly, but I got disorientated on my way back.” He slipped out of his coat and hat. “When I saw Mandy, I followed her trail back. But then her trail started to disappear. So I yelled to her. I sure was glad she came out again to give me some fresh tracks. At least I got everything in one trip. Any more snow and I’m not sure if I could have made it up the slope to the car.” He took their coats and hung them up on the line to dry. “I want to get all this sweat rinsed off. Maybe you’d better warm up a little first before getting your shower. I’ll only need a few minutes and the bathroom will be all yours.”
She went over to the fire and stretched out her hands toward the warmth. The fireplace had a good pull; there was only a trace of pine scent in the cabin. By the time he was done showering, her hands had become nice and toasty. She couldn’t help but look over when he came out. If she’d seen him in a bar, she wouldn’t have looked twice. But something about him drew her attention. Boy I must be losing it to find a man attractive in a flannel shirt and sweat pants. She continued to look and had to admit, he is attractive in an off-beat sort of way. I wonder what he would look like in a nice suit. Watching him warmed her whole body. How had he avoided being claimed by some woman?
“Is something wrong?” He moved to the kitchen.
“No, I’ll go get some clothes.” He headed to the kitchen sink while she took her suitcase to the bedroom. He had no clue how he could affect a woman. She selected a shirt and underwear. No clue at all. She’d have to try and give him some space. He probably wasn’t used to sharing his cabin. She couldn’t afford to tick him off, if she had to spend a month here. But then…it could be a good month being stuck here with a nice man like him. She shook her head. No, she needed to give him his space.
He called to her while she was still pulling out some clean clothes. “You’ll probably want to use a clean pair of sweatpants and a clean hoodie for around the cabin. Set the others aside for doing chores in. I’ll fix us some lunch while you get your shower. You need to wash down first and then turn the shower on only long enough to rinse off. There’s only a limited amount of propane for heating water. We don’t want to run out before the roads are clear enough for a truck to get out to refill the tank.”
She took the clothes he’d laid out and some of her underwear into the bathroom. By the time she finished cleaning up and strolled out of the bathroom, he had the breakfast dishes done and had placed two bowls of soup with crackers on the table.
“Feel better?” Steve asked.
“Definitely. But I could have enjoyed another fifteen minutes under the hot water.”
Steve’s nose twitched and he sneezed. His eyes started watering. He moved toward the door to the barn.
Alex stopped, “What’s wrong?”
“I forgot something in the barn. I’ll be back in a little while.” He continued to the door, sneezing as he went.
Alex looked around then headed toward him.
“Just stay inside,” he said.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“I can’t handle perfume or strong fragrances.”
“What fragrances?” Then it came to her, “Oh, my creams and deodorant. I never even thought about them.”
“That’s okay. I’ll go out in the barn until the air clears.”
“Are you sure?”
He dashed over to the table and picked up his food. “Don’t worry about me.”
Alex watched him leave then headed back to the bathroom and inspected her toiletries. Apple
shampoo, rose hand cream, mystery scented face cream and soap. Then there was the deodorant, toothpaste, and a couple of other scented items. She was used to them, but he obviously wasn’t. She picked up his soap and sniffed, almost no fragrance. Then she opened his medicine cabinet and looked at the contents. Everything was unscented except for his lime shaving cream. By the length of his beard, he hadn’t used this for a while. No wonder all her stuff bothered him. She’d have to use as few as possible. He shouldn’t have to leave. It was his home, and she was only a guest. She closed the cabinet and went back to the living room. There wasn’t anywhere she could go in this small cabin to stay away from him. She’d have to wait for the fragrances to dissipate.
Mandy wandered over to her and sniffed her all over.
“I know girl. You’re not used to all these smells either.” She stroked the dog’s head. “His nose must really be sensitive. I’d just walked into the room and he ran. I’ll do better from now on.” She set her fingernail polish remover and a couple of tissues on the table. After he came back in, she’d have to go out to the barn to remove her polish. That way the odors would be someplace else.
****
Steve sneezed all the way to the barn. Damn woman. Wasn’t it enough to let her use my bed last night? Now she’s chasing me out of the cabin with all those strong, conflicting fragrances.
Anna Belle strode over to him and leaned against his shoulder.
“I know. It’s not her fault. She doesn’t know how sensitive my nose is.” He shoveled his soup in before it got cold.
As much as he’d like to take her to a neighbor’s house, he couldn’t. Touching her fingers stirred something deep inside. For some weird reason he wanted to protect her and keep her close. Maybe the storms would continue and he’d get a chance to know her better and figure out why he was so damned attracted to her.