CHAPTER 7
Maple
We turn off the road along the driveway that leads to Old Man Farnsworth’s house. As if secluding yourself up at the top of the mountain wasn’t private enough, there’s a driveway that’s barely visible in-between the trees. Blink and you miss it, not that anyone would be up here in the first place.
Forrest’s big truck handled the snow perfectly, but he still drove slow just in case. It seemed slower than normal for him, and I appreciated him keeping the pace down considering everything that just happened. He was looking out for me and my safety. He didn’t need to say it. I knew it.
We didn’t say a word during the drive. I was still in shock from everything that had happened. I was just looking forward to getting to his house and getting inside. It was already starting to snow and at this elevation I imagined it could come down quickly and it would stick.
I also wanted to see what this house looked like after all these years. The driveway seemed longer than I remembered, but when we turned the last corner it came back to me. I knew we were there.
But we weren’t. What was this?
This wasn’t the house I remembered. Nothing like it.
Instead of an old house built with boards, there now stood a one-story log cabin. It looked like a picture out of a Christmas card, complete with smoke coming out of the chimney.
“You live…here?” I ask.
“Yes,” he says. “And so will you. At least for the next few days.”
“I have to work later.”
“You saw that snow when we were coming in?”
“Yes.”
“The road will be blocked by the time we try and get back down the hill. You’re stuck up here with me.”
“Oh,” I say, realizing that that’s the entire reason I came here in the first place. I wanted to see his domain. And of course to see him.
He puts the truck in park and comes around to my side to open the door.
“Thank you,” I say as he helps me down. His truck is high off the ground and he helped me get in earlier. I’m impressed by how considerate he is. It would seem like he wouldn’t need to be, living up here by himself after all.
“There are some hidden holes in the snow. Better if I take you.”
“Take m—“
He reaches down and scoops me up with a single hand, then closes the door with his other.
I’d think with one hand he’d need to throw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, but he doesn’t. He cradles me like you would a child. Am I that light? There’s no way. Then again we’re not talking about a regular sized guy. This is a one of a kind man who lives off the land and survives with his hands and his wit. At least he does now.
I feel the crunching below his boots as he carries me across the front yard. He doesn’t labor at all. His speed is the same as if he were walking without me. If he can handle me this easily out here I can only imagine how he can handle me in other places.
When we get to the front steps he sets me down and opens the door.
“No key?”
“Nobody’s coming up this way.”
“I did,” I say as I stomp my feet on the mat before entering the house. I recognize the mat from our store, but don’t remember him purchasing it.
“No one in their right mind would,” he says.
I look up at him and see he’s smirking. He does have a sense of humor.
“So you wrestle bears and eat porcupines for lunch?”
“Only on Wednesdays, or when my stock from your store gets too low.”
His face goes back to deadpan. I like that he doesn’t laugh at his own jokes first, not that he actually laughs at all. A smirk doesn’t exactly qualify as a laugh, but it sure does qualify as sexy.
He helps me take off my jacket and then hangs it carefully from a hook by the door.
“This place looks…different,” I say.
“That’s the same thing I said when I got here.”
“What do you mean?”
“The man on the phone described it in a lot better shape than it was. The roof had already collapsed and the basement was flooded.”
“You didn’t sue him or try and get your money back?”
“I expect b.s. these days, and am surprised when I don’t get it. Not the other way around. Unfortunately it’s become the reality of the way things work now. I wouldn’t say it’s your generation’s fault, but it did seem to start around that time. Maybe it’s just that people your age are easier to fool, and since it worked so well it spread more mainstream.”
“I don’t follow you?”
“The internet. Social media. People will believe anything. The cost of college tuition is through the roof these days, indebting not only the student but the parents who put their life savings on the line in the best interest of their children.”
I pause, not really sure what to say. I knew there was more to him than meets the eye, but I didn’t know how much more.
“But now’s not the time to talk about that, and you never seemed like the b.s. type,” he says.
“You figured that out just from coming in the store?”
“You can learn a lot when you watch and listen, and don’t speak.”
I look over at his wall and see a bookshelf covers an entire wall. An entire wall! It’s filled with everything from medical texts to fiction.
“You can read anything you like later. First we need to take a look at you.”
“I’m fine.”
“You may have internal issues from all that bumping and sliding.”
“How did you know I was bumping and sliding?”
“I saw your car just when it started to slide. I got caught in a blind spot in the hills for a couple seconds after, but when I came out I did the mental math and figured out really fast what must have happened.”
“And you decided to rescue me?”
“Anyone would have done the same.”
“That’s not the reality of the way things work these days.”
“I’m not really from these days.”
I pause, taking him in deeply for the first time at this distance.
No, he’s certainly not. Everything about him is so congruent. There are no games or smoke and mirrors. He’s direct, honest, and completely masculine in a way other guys only wished they could be.
There are people paying big money all around the country for gym memberships to get stronger, but here this man is lifting me up like I’m nothing and I’m one hundred percent sure he doesn’t have a pass to 24 Hour Fitness.
His shoulders always looked so broad in the aisles of our store, but even here in his home they seem just as wide.
And there’s no way he has access to steroids or anything like that which are so prevalent and easy to obtain these days. How can he be so naturally buff like that?
And his voice is as deep as that ravine my car tumbled down, yet I don’t see or smell a cigarette anywhere. That’s natural too?
This guy must have broken the genetic mold when he was born. It’s like he got enough testosterone for an entire village and now the result of that biology and years of being on this earth is what’s standing in front of me right here and now.
And biology is the only way you can describe what’s happening now.
I want to kiss him again and to put my hands all over him and more importantly for him to do the same.
But he said nothing after our first kiss. My impromptu kiss that was a lot more than just a thank you, even considering that he saved my life.
“Are you really a doctor?” I blurt out.
“I was. Not anymore.”
His short reply lets me know not to press forward.
“But my skill set hasn’t changed, and doctor or not I need to have a look at you. You can go in the bathroom and take a shower first. Calm down a bit and get your bearings, but when you finish grab a set of my clothes from the storage cabins just next to the shower. They’ll be too big and they’ll fit something like a hospital gown. But at least you’ll be covered enough, then I’ll be able to examine you.”
I freeze in place. Examine me? I don’t even realize how much time is passing as I just stand there staring at him.
I can see in his eyes he wants to kiss me, to touch me, and a whole lot more. I want it too.
They say when you escape a near death experience you feel more alive than ever. Right now I sure know what they’re talking about.
I need a shower, a toothbrush, and a whole lot more. But right now I don’t care. I just want him to take me as I am right here on his cabin floor.
But he doesn’t make a move.
“Okay,” I say. I stand there a second longer, waiting for him to make his move, but he doesn’t.
I turn and walk towards the part of the cabin where the bathroom must be.
When I step inside I see a shower and an absolutely amazing wooden tub. How in the world did he seal it?
And how in the world can I convince him to get in there with me later?