Chapter Five
I didn’t know what had come over Seth, but after I showed him to his room, he stayed in there until I knocked on his door a few hours later and announced that dinner was almost ready. Only then did he emerge, seemingly back to normal. Well, what I assumed would be normal for him, since I didn’t know him very well.
Seth joined Austin, who had already taken his seat, and his eyes gazed over the fare in the center of the table. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and brown gravy, homemade coleslaw, fried okra, baked corn, and biscuits. “Looks good,” he said.
“Thanks,” I said, adding food to Austin’s plate and then to mine. “I wasn’t sure what all you liked to eat, so I made a variety of things.”
“You didn’t have to go to any trouble. I’m really not a picky eater. Anything you want to make is fine.”
I passed Seth the biscuits. “Be careful what you say. You might find yourself eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner tomorrow.”
Not realizing I was only teasing, Austin fist-pumped the air with excitement. “Yes!”
Seth chuckled as he filled his plate. “You know, it wouldn’t be the first time for me, and I seriously doubt it will be the last. Who doesn’t like peanut butter and jelly?”
“Well, that’s a relief. I’m glad to know that if I ever want to take a night off from cooking that you won’t starve to death waiting on your next hot meal.”
He shook his head. “Oh, I definitely won’t. You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve eaten in the jungle. Trust me, peanut butter and jelly is not the worst thing I’ve put into my mouth.”
It sounded so dirty that I popped a piece of fried okra into my mouth to keep from laughing out loud.
Austin glanced up at him. “Did you eat lizards?”
“Sometimes,” Seth said, nodding in confirmation. “Also monkeys, turtles, and even caimans. Big ones.”
Austin stared at him in confusion. “What’s a caiman?”
I swallowed the okra and washed it down with a sip of water. “Caimans are a type of alligator. Sort of like the one that hangs out in Hank’s pond. Remember Charlie?”
Austin’s eyes widened. “That’s the mean ole gator that ate the bad guy. He tried to eat Aunt Emily, too, but Uncle Cowboy saved her. He’s a hero, ya know?”
I sighed. “I think your uncle Cowboy has been telling you stories again. I’ll have to have a talk with him about that.”
“Aw, Momma.”
I pointed to his plate with my fork. “Eat your dinner, Austin.”
Seth grinned sheepishly around a bite of food, swallowed it, and then mouthed sorry to me.
I shook my head at him, though. He didn’t have anything to be sorry about. Even still, for the rest of the meal, the conversation between us was a little stilted and awkward. That wasn’t Seth’s fault, either. Though Austin didn’t seem to mind, I found it strange to have a man eating at our table with us.
Sure, Jake, Cowboy, Ox, Judd, and sometimes even Junior would join us for an occasional meal. But that was different. Not only were most of them coupled up already, but I wasn’t sexually attracted to any of them. Nor did I have any interest in seeing one of those men twisted up in my sheets naked.
Seth was a very different story.
But now that he was officially working as my handyman and living in my home as a guest, I couldn’t ever go there with him. No way, no how.
After dinner, Austin asked if he could have some candy, so I gave him a bag of M&Ms that I’d been saving for him since last week. He wanted to open them all by himself, so I put up the leftovers and loaded the dishwasher while he did. Yeah, it took him that long.
Then we headed outside onto the porch. It was dusk, one of our favorite times of the day together. We’d sit on the porch and watch the sun set while the crickets and frogs began their nightly chorus and the coyotes ran through the woods behind our house, yipping at one another.
I sat in the old rocking chair that belonged to my grandmother while Austin lay nearby on the porch, marking in one of his coloring books. He shook his bag of chocolate candies. “Momma, do you want some?”
“Sure, buddy.” I held out one hand as he poured some into my palm. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, then set his bag of candy down on the railing. “I almost forgot about my Army men. I bet they want some candy, too.” Without hesitation, he ran inside to retrieve them.
Austin must’ve almost run into Seth in passing because the screen door hadn’t even shut when he stepped out on the porch and tried to catch a glimpse of the candy in my hand. “Are those peanut or plain?”
“Doesn’t matter. You aren’t eating them. I only have five pieces,” I said, popping them into my mouth.
He shook his head. “Selfish.”
“Ha. If you think I’m selfish, you should meet Austin’s biological father. He puts me to shame in that department.”
“So I take it he’s not in the picture?”
“Not really. He has better things to do than help raise a child—like drinking beer and hanging out with his buddies. I’ve spent the last four years trying to get him involved in my child’s life, but he just wants no part of it.”
“I wondered why he wasn’t in the picture, but I didn’t want to ask.”
I shrugged. “Well, now you know.”
Austin came barreling through the door with a handful of green Army soldiers. But the moment he saw Seth standing there, he dropped them onto the porch and reached for his bag of candy. “Want some candy, Seth?”
Seth issued me a take-that look. “I’d love some, squirt.”
Austin poured only four candies into Seth’s hand, so I gave him a take-that look right back as he thanked him. Oblivious to our funny, yet childish exchange, my son sat down on the deck and started arranging his Army men in a circle.
Seth tossed his candy in his mouth and chewed them up. Once he swallowed, he said, “The kid didn’t learn how to share from you, did he?” Then he grinned.
I laughed and shook my head. “Nope. I’m not very good at sharing.”
His eyes grazed over my body. “Good. Because I’m not, either.”
Heat filled my face. Somehow, I didn’t think we were talking about the same thing anymore, so I didn’t respond. He must’ve noticed my hesitation to speak because he changed the subject. “It’s about to rain.”
I gazed up at the clear sky which was darkening due to the sun setting over the horizon. But there wasn’t a single cloud in sight. “Maybe you shouldn’t quit your day job as a handyman. I don’t think you’d make it as a weather forecaster. There’s not any indication of rain coming.”
He grinned. “Sure, there is. Not only can I smell it, but I can feel it coming. You really should tune in and trust your senses more.”
I gave the air a quick sniff and didn’t smell anything unusual. “I know what rain smells like right before and after it storms. But I don’t smell anything.”
“You do. You just don’t recognize the scent yet. It’s very faint.”
I sucked in another nose full of air and then realized how stupid I looked trying to smell something that wasn’t there. “Is this a trick to make me look dumb?”
“No, I’m serious. It’s going to rain soon.” He squinted at me. “You really can’t feel it in the air?”
I shook my head. Although I felt a small temperature drop in the surrounding air, I was certain that had way more to do with the sun dropping below the horizon rather than rain coming in. “I think you’re pulling my leg.”
“Guess we’ll see,” Seth said confidently. “By the way, while you were washing up the dishes, I started a list of all the things you’ll need me to do around here and left it on the counter for you. Some were obvious, but feel free to add anything you want to the list. Tomorrow, I’m going to get started on tearing down this porch, so you’ll have to use the back door until it’s completed.”
“Okay, thanks.”
“I plan on getting up at daybreak to get started, so I’m going to take a shower and hit the sack now. Unless you need me to do something for you tonight.”
If that wasn’t a double entendre, then I didn’t know what was. “Um, no. I’m good. Thanks for being here and offering to help out. I appreciate it.”
“No problem,” he said, nodding. “Thanks for dinner. It was great.”
“You’re welcome,” I said with a sincere smile.
Seth headed back inside, and I sat there taking in my surroundings and feeling like the luckiest woman in the world to have such a magnificent place to call my own. I was so proud of what I had accomplished already with the house and the land, but I couldn’t wait for everyone else to see this place the same way I imagined it to be in my head.
I glanced down at my son who was coloring a horse in his book. “Ten more minutes, Austin. Then we need to get you into the bath and off to bed.”
“Aw, Momma. Not yet.”
“Sorry, monster. Momma has to work tomorrow. But we’ll do something fun on my next day off, I promise. Maybe we’ll make some fudge popcorn and stay up late watching that new cartoon movie that’s out. How does that sound?”
“Yes!”
“All right. It’s a date. Well, then, hurry and finish your picture.”
As Austin went back to coloring his horse picture, I leaned back in the rocking chair and closed my eyes, listening to the sounds around me. My son scribbling, the locusts buzzing, and the wind rustling through the oak trees. But then something unexpected happened.
A faint rumble echoed in the distance.
…
To my surprise, it had only taken Seth three days to tear down the old rotten porch and build a new sturdy one in its place. Which was some feat considering I hadn’t been there to help him. Not only had I worked all three days, but, by the time I arrived home each afternoon, my sore feet had been ready to fall off.
Just like now.
I’d gotten off work only an hour before, and my feet ached so bad that it felt like I’d been walking on sharp rocks. I didn’t even want to stand on them long enough to cook a meal, and the thought of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner was sounding better by the second. But knowing Seth had worked hard on my porch all day long, I needed to provide him a good meal. That was the least I could do. After all, it wasn’t like he was getting paid for it.
So I grabbed up the bowl of string beans that I had harvested from my garden yesterday and headed out onto the new deck to sit down. That way I’d get a head start on dinner while my sore feet were propped up on something. But the moment I stepped out the front door, I forgot that I even had feet, much less felt any pain.
A very shirtless Seth was at the bottom of the stairs, hammering the last board into place as he finished installing them. His tanned skin glistened with sweat under the hot midday sun, and with every swing of the hammer, his biceps bulged, tightening just enough to show off the veins in his strong arms.
It was total arm porn, and my mouth watered.
Though he hadn’t been wearing a shirt for the past three days while working in the sun, I’d maintained my distance and hadn’t seen him this up close. God, I was stupid for not finding a reason to come out here sooner. No woman should miss something this good. If I was smart, I’d call up all my girlfriends and have them all come take a good look. But like I told him already, I’m not one for sharing…even with my friends.
He glanced up. “Hey, what do you think?”
“Um, it looks great. Really great,” I said awkwardly before taking a seat in my rocking chair. “I’m impressed.” Even if I didn’t want to be.
There was just something about a shirtless, sweaty guy in nothing but jeans and boots that did something to my insides and had my breath backing up in my lungs. So I kept my head down and started snapping string beans as fast as I could.
“Where’s the munchkin?”
“My mom took him to the park to play. She’s going to drop him off soon. Where’s Romeo? Have you seen him lately?”
“Yeah, he’s in the barn taking a nap,” Seth said, turning to lean on the new porch railing.
I glanced up, forgetting that I wasn’t supposed to be looking at him. That’s when I noticed the multitude of scars marring his back. I hesitated, wondering what they were from, but didn’t have the nerve to ask.
Seth continued to make small talk about what he would be working on next, but I barely heard a word of it. My mind just wouldn’t stay focused long enough to hold up my end of the conversation. There was just no way I could concentrate on anything with Seth running around half naked like this.
So the first chance I got, I made a beeline for the kitchen and started dinner. It was safer that way, though I wasn’t sure if I was talking about for me or for him. Seth might have to adjust to living under the same roof with a rambunctious four-year-old, but I had to adjust to living with a hot handyman who apparently doesn’t own any shirts. Pretty sure I made out better on this deal than he did.
Thankfully, Seth washed up and put on some clothes before we sat down for dinner. That definitely put me at ease. So did Austin’s arrival. He made it home minutes before we ate and spent the entire meal talking about his fun day at the park.
Sometime after dinner, I had just switched a load of towels from the washer to the dryer when I came out of the laundry room. Austin, wearing the Batman costume that he had leftover from last Halloween, was rummaging through a drawer in the hallway in search of something. “What are you looking for?”
“These,” he said, holding out a blue pair of child safety scissors with a plastic guard on them. He started to run off toward the kitchen, but I snagged him by his cape before he could pass by me. “Okay. Hand them over. You know you aren’t allowed to use these unless you have an adult helping you.”
“But Seth needs ’em. He’s making me a paper airplane that flies. He said so.”
“Okay, but you still aren’t allowed to get scissors on your own. I’ll carry them in there for you and give them to Seth myself.”
Austin ran ahead and beat me to the kitchen only by a few seconds. Seth was sitting at the kitchen table folding a piece of construction paper into sections before he flipped it over and did the other side. “See, Momma? It’s gonna be an airplane.”
“I see that. Cool.” I held the safety scissors out to Seth. “Austin said you needed these.”
“I did a few minutes ago. But I just used the ones in the knife block, since I didn’t know where any were.” Then he gazed at Austin. “Is that where you ran off to? To get me some scissors?” When Austin nodded at him, Seth scowled. “Buddy, I’m sure your momma doesn’t want you playing with scissors. Next time, just show me where they’re at, okay? I don’t want you getting into trouble. Or better yet, getting me into trouble.”
“Yes, sir,” Austin said, lowering his head, as if he knew better. And really, he did. Because I’ve told him that every time we used the scissors together.
Seth gazed up at me. “Sorry. I didn’t ask him to go get them. I didn’t even know that’s what he went to do.”
I raised my hand. “It’s okay. I sort of already figured that out. I think I’ll just keep the scissors somewhere else from now on,” I said, placing them in a cabinet up high. “Ya know, just in case.”
Then I headed around the island to load the dishwasher and wipe the counters down. He went back to work folding the paper while Austin watched over his shoulder, fascinated with the making of his paper toy. Within minutes, they had identical airplanes and were flying them back and forth to one another across the kitchen.
When Austin’s throw went wild, the plane landed on one of the kitchen chairs that had been pushed back away from the table. Seth started to reach for it to probably throw it back to him, but Austin threw his tiny hands into the air. “No! Don’t touch it.”
Seth froze in place, looking as puzzled as I was. “Why not?” he asked.
“Because the airplane crossed through the force field and now the wood has poisoned it.”
I held my hands up as Seth glanced at me. “Don’t look at me. I’m not touching it if it has wood poison.”
He grinned. “Wood poison, huh?”
“Yep, it’s pretty deadly,” I told him, keeping my face serious. “That rickety old barn has a lot of wood poison which is why Austin isn’t allowed to go inside of it. Right, Austin?”
He shook his head. “No way. I’m never going in there.”
I grinned. “Good.” The things parents do to keep their child safe.
Seth eyed the airplane and then gazed back at Austin. “Well, someone has to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. I guess it’ll be me.” He reached for the airplane and lifted it from the wooden chair.
Austin’s mouth dropped open. “That’s not good. Now you’ve been poisoned.”
Seth shook his head. “Nah, I’m fine. There’s no such thing…as wood…poisoning.” His hand clutched at his heart as he staggered around, groaning and moaning, then he fell to the ground with a loud thud and rolled onto his back with his eyes closed.
Austin’s eyes widened. “Oh no!” He ran over to me and pulled at my arm. “Seth’s dying, Momma. Quick, save him!”
I stifled a laugh. “Um, how?”
My son scrunched up his face and thought about the answer to my question way too long for anyone to make it out of this scenario alive, but I waited patiently for him to come up with a solution. Finally, he said, “Well, Lily says that when the princess ate a poison apple that the prince woke her up by kissing her on the lips.”
Seth lifted his head from the floor. “Just for the record, I’m down with that.” Then he let his head fall once more, closing his eyes as if he were sleeping.
A giggle slipped past my lips, and I placed my hand over my mouth and turned away to compose myself. But my son was adamant. “Momma, hurry and do something before he dies.”
I smiled down at him. “Okay. Maybe a Popsicle will wake the sleeping princess from his nap. And of course, since you bravely tried to save Seth, you get one, too.” I reached into the freezer for two Popsicles, and Austin let out a whoop.
Seth instantly sat up. “Popsicles? That’s all I get for that stellar performance?”
“You don’t like Popsicles?”
He smiled. “I like them just fine, but I think the kid was on the right track with the first idea.”
I cleared my throat and shook my head to stop Seth from saying anything more in front of my child. “Well, since you’re sitting up and talking, I think you’ll live. No further treatment will be necessary.” I held out a cherry Popsicle to him. “You’re cured.”
“Figures,” he said, rising from the floor and taking the frozen treat from me.
I shrugged. “Better than nothing.”
“I guess,” he said, ripping the wrapper open down the seam and pulling out the Popsicle by the wooden stick. Then he grinned. “How come this wood isn’t poisonous?”
“Because the Popsicle is the cure,” I reasoned, and then began to help Austin open his.
But my kiddo wasn’t having it and shook his head furiously. “Momma, I can do it all by myself.”
“Oh. All right.” I handed it over to him but cringed internally. There was nothing more frustratingly boring than watching my child slowly do something that I could do for him in mere seconds, all because he wanted to do it “all by himself.” But I knew he’d never learn how to do anything on his own if I didn’t give him the opportunity to try. So I watched quietly while he worked on it. It took him forever, but he finally got it open. “You did it. Great job.”
We sat in silence while Austin finished his Popsicle, but I couldn’t help but be a little taken aback. Watching Seth playing with my child had seemingly sent a hormonal flux running rapidly through my system. Maybe my attraction to Seth manifested itself at the wrong time, but I couldn’t believe how charismatic and personable and completely at ease he was with Austin.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t let myself be distracted by Seth. No matter how sexy his tolerance of kids was, I needed to keep the cognitive ability to make smart, rational decisions around him. Because Lord knows I hadn’t thus far.
After Austin finished his dessert, I washed all the stickiness from his hands and his face. Then I went to check on the towels in the dryer while the boys cleaned up the scraps of paper on the table, leftover from their airplanes. The towels were dry, so I stood there folding them while vaguely listening to Austin asking Seth in the kitchen if he’d ever flown on a real plane before.
“Sure, lots of times,” Seth replied. “I don’t have a fear of flying. I have a fear of crashing.”
“What would you do?” Austin asked, the suspense in his voice making me giggle as I bent down to grab the last towel from the dryer.
“Well,” Seth said. “I’d probably shit myself to death before we hit the ground.”
I stilled. What the hell?
Austin chuckled as Seth continued. “Either that or I’d just be cushioned enough to make it through the crash. But even if I lived, I’d be too embarrassed to be found so I’d have to hide out in the woods when the searchers came to rescue me.”
Worried that Austin was going to take him seriously, I straightened quickly and forgot there was a wooden cabinet directly above the dryer. The top of my head bashed into the corner of it, and pain lashed through my skull. I cried out, the sound reverberating through the room, as my fingers went straight to my smarting scalp to check for signs of blood.
Within seconds, Seth appeared at the laundry room door to check on me. “Are you okay?”
Still a little dazed, I shook my head. “Not really. I hit my head,” I said, swaying back and forth. “Now the washing machine looks like it’s breathing.”
“Jesus. How hard did you hit it? Maybe you should sit down.”
“No, I’m fine,” I said, noting that my vision was starting to clear. I rubbed at the knot that was already forming on my scalp. “Damn it. That hurt.”
“Let me see,” he said, moving closer and taking my face into his hands to hold my head still. His fingers ventured through my hair until he found the sensitive spot.
I winced. “Ouch. Don’t touch it.”
“You’re not bleeding, but you’re going to have a big knot there. And probably a massive headache.”
“Already have that,” I told him as he released me. “That was instant. I’m sure it’s fine, though. I’ll put some ice on it once I get these towels put away.” I started to reach for the stack I’d just folded, but Seth grasped my arm to stop me.
“I’ll do it. I’m sure I can manage to figure out where they go. Just take it easy for a minute, would you?”
I gazed up at him. “Okay, thanks. Where’s Austin?”
“He’s looking for the spaceman in the living room.”
“Spaceman? Um, maybe I should sit down.”
Seth grinned. “I didn’t want him to get upset that you were hurt, so I told him that I saw a spaceman orbiting the couch earlier. He’s in there looking for him. I figured it would keep him busy long enough for me to make sure you were all right. I didn’t want him to see you if you were seriously injured.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that.” Then I remembered what he’d told my child that made me hit my head in the first place. “Could you do me one more favor, though?”
“Sure.”
“Could you watch the colorful language around him? Shit and hell aren’t that bad, but I definitely don’t want him graduating to anything worse than that.”
“No problem. Anything else?”
I nodded and then immediately regretted moving my head so much. “Yeah, maybe not tell my child that you would shit yourself to death if your plane crashed and that you would have to hide from the rescuers to keep from being embarrassed. Even though Austin is potty trained, he still has occasional accidents.”
“Oh yeah. Sorry about that. I didn’t mean any harm. I was just trying to make him laugh.”
“I figured. Just be careful what you say around him. Your stories are getting a little too…candid, perhaps? Just remember, he is only four and takes everything to heart.”
“Like wood poison?” Seth asked, lifting one brow.
I laughed. “Hey, it’s kept him far away from that old barn. When we first moved onto the property, he was fascinated with it and kept asking to go inside. I told him no, but I was afraid if I turned my back even for a second that he would end up in there. So the wood poison was extra insurance that he would stay out of it. So far, it’s worked.”
“Smart move.”
“I thought so. Sometimes a parent has to get a little creative. Kids are so impulsive.”
He winked. “And gullible.”
Yes, that, too. Thank God.