Waiting For August

Part 17~About last night...

I woke up to someone rudely kicking my shoe. It was dark out. Dusk had settled and it took me a moment to identify the dark silhouette that stood in the doorway to the stall.

Naomi. It was her scent that gave her away.

"Hiya toots." I grinned as I raised myself to a sitting position, stretching while I did.

"You cheeky bastard. I should have left you out here all night."

"So, what did I miss?" She was frowning at me. My eyes had already become accustomed to the dark.

"Well, you've missed dinner. And you've missed saying goodbye to almost everybody."

I had to think about that. After throwing axes, I couldn't remember much of anything except... "How are Jonah and Ben?" They had been with me. That much I did recall.

"Already sobered up and gone home I'm afraid. It's verily just you and me." She offered me a hand up. "Why don't you come up to the house and I'll fix you something to eat."

I took her hand and got to my feet. I could think of one answer to why not. Two words. Food poisoning. I decided to keep that bit of wisdom to myself. "That sounds..."

She cocked her eyebrow dangerously in my direction.

"Like a very nice idea." I smiled genuinely.

She hooked her arm in mine as we made our way back up to the house. Someone had been kind enough to put the horses in the stable for the night. My money was on Jackson. He always had my back and was as much of a country boy as I was.

At the house, I dropped down heavily into a chair at the table. It turned out that Naomi didn't have to cook after all. She simply had to warm up some leftovers. Several of the ladies had brought potluck and my plate was loaded with everything from homestyle fried chicken and green-bean casserole to crock-pot lasagna and fried, red-skinned rosemary and garlic potatoes. Damn these ladies could cook. I sincerely hoped there weren't too many leftovers here because if there was, I was going to get fat. There was nothing moderate nor healthy in the way that these women cooked.

While I wolfed down my plate, Naomi made us tea before joining me at the table. She stared at me, slowly sipping her herbal tea as she watched me eat. Something was definitely on her mind. I knew her too well for there not to be. I just had to wait for her to voice whatever it was.

It didn't take long.

"Caleb," she cocked her head to the side as she looked at me. "Tell me I don't have to worry about you."

"You don't have to worry about me." I parroted back to her, wondering where this line of thought was heading.

"I'm being serious here." A little crease formed between her eyebrows, the tiniest of frowns as she wrinkled her nose at me. She was truly adorable. "Are you really, truly, okay?"

I had no idea what had brought this on. "Why wouldn't I be?" I mean, I was a little stressed out over the lawsuit, but wasn't that to be expected? It was something out of the ordinary and having to deal with unfamiliar things often made a person nervous.

"I know you have a lot going on at the moment, and it feels like it's been ages since we've talked."

Ah. I see. It was just a general all-around worry that was on her mind. There was an easy enough way to handle this. I just needed to get to the meat of her concerns. I smiled and shrugged. "Go ahead, ask me anything."

"How are you and August doing?"

Well, Fuck. I walked right into that. I instantly regretted saying "anything". I took a breath as I dropped my eyes to my plate. It had defeated me. I couldn't eat the portion she'd brought me. I began pushing the remaining food around with my fork. Where to begin? What should I say? Did I tell her that I was falling in love with a guy who seemed terrified to be with me? That I too, was terrified at how distant he sometimes felt? That the idea of him walking or running was more real than the idea of him staying?