~Chapter Eighteen~
We arrived after eight o'clock and found the tractors already roving. They'd been roving for a long while now, but it had often been dad, Jonny, and I who'd been the ones to start the final weekend. Memories assault me as I got out of the car and the thick, heavy yet light air filled my lungs and clouded my ears with it's out of city sounds. I felt much warmth that I begun laughing.
My mother had hired the old foreman's son to care for the ranch, and every year I was awarded with papers and papers to inspect and file. It was a gruesome task I left for the evenings, or, sometimes in the morning. I only had one chance this time.
Marvin Junior greeted us with his big smiles, pulling Jonny and I into big hugs. He already had a twenty year old second son, so one can imagine he'd lived quite long.
"I thought you lot weren't coming," he'd exclaimed upon seeing who had jumped out of the odd bunch.
I was grinning, too happy to temp it down or change it to a more society approved way. "We wouldn't miss it for the world," I said, hands on Jonny's shoulder.
"Yeah, I still have to beat her, y'know," he said, and I rolled my eyes. He was starting to talk like Chris now. A cough sounded behind me.
I blushed. Too excited I'd nearly forgotten my friends. "And who are these guys?" MJ asked. "Oh, not that I'm not excited with the newcomers. Please, feel welcome. It's about time this place was shared anyway."
I grinned. "MJ, this is Elliot, Chris, Andrew, Mathew, Elaine, Elijah and Meredith," I announced, rather happy at the large compilation before me. Everyone waved as their name was mentioned, and by the end of it, MJ was staring between Elliot and Elijah.
"Damn, never been witness to twins before," he mumbled, which caused many to laugh, including the workers who'd stopped to meet. I waved as I recognized many of their faces. "How d'you tell who's who?"
Chris was the one to answer, laughing boldly. "That's easy," he said, grabbing onto Elliot's shoulder with more vigour. Elliot scowled. "The one that's sniffing at Chrys' heals all the time's Elliot."
Elliot whirled around and caught him in a head lock, causing everyone to laugh as he knuckled him. "This one would be joking around."
MJ adjusted his stance so that his thumbs were hanging off the loops. "Oh, don't worry," he smiled. "I got that one. Well, since I know exactly why you're all here, why don't we get the show on the road? I assure you my ladies, the field is set."
Jonny's mouth dropped and he stared from MJ to me; and back again. I tried not to laugh. "You're supposed to be on the male team, MJ," he exclaimed.
MJ laughed, turning around and walking away without a word. I coughed my laugh as Jonny turned to glare at me. "Well, that sums things up," I said. "There's enough room in the main house for all of us, so we'll settle in first and then go join them. How does that sound?"
The harvest part had more fun than I'd ever remembered. After dumping our bags in the living room in a hurry to get there, the hurry having been psyched by Chris and Elaine's eager to learn enthusiasm, we'd all found ourselves in a wheelbarrow race down the farm, collecting pumpkins that quickly piqued enthusiasm to win.
Elliot deliberately went slowly, I figured. "You need to learn to lose," he'd said lightly. He'd gotten an already rotting pumpkin to the face slugging his face. Oh, but the madness after that. It wasn't the ripe ones we went after, but rather the rotting ones. And I remember pulling some into the wheelbarrow just for the plan. Sunday was always the day of the game.
We were all sticky and wet by the time lunch rolled around. Marigold, the housekeeper, had prepared the simplest lunch I'd ever tasted, and I loved it. Everyone ate up heartily. Jonny and I showed them places we could come up to, including the creek, the waterfall where we found most of our other friends, and we went jumping into the water pool below it.
Elliot had been stunned I'd done that, even more so when Jonny had no qualms about it.
"It seems prim and proper can get obnoxious and loud," he'd whispered as we stood out of the pool, attempting to dry against the cool weather.
I'd blushed, but leaned in closer to him. "We already knew that," I'd said, adding a wink in the end as I'd sauntered off.
That was something else as well. That feeling of 'done' loomed over us, I realised, and we tried to temper it down, but mixed with the 'complicated' feeling we both felt, it was stronger as the seconds went by.
We all rode to the town in horses, after a short, ten minute lesson for the novices, and I learned Elliot could be patient, ergo with a few dirty tricks. I showed them the honey fields where the ranch provided the local stores and some nationals with maple syrup. It was the sweetest thing, and I had to promise Elaine she could go home with a jar. We'd been a sight to all the other ranches as we'd passed their ranches. It was a short one-hour ride and we arrived rather early, early enough to find ourselves in the middle of a parade.
"I'd completely forgotten about this," I said, mouth tilting up in a smile.
"I didn't," Jonny said beside me, adjusting his glasses. He needed a tighter pair.
Elaine's brows were curious as she stared around her. "What is it?" Meredith asked. I knew when she saw it. "They have a carnival," her voice was full of excitement.
I laughed. "Yeah, it goes on during the whole pumpkin harvest," I said. "This is the last weekend so the shows will go on until tomorrow midnight. I think they have a dunking game if anyone wants."
Elliot turned to stare down at me, still tall even on his saddle. "Dunking game, huh?" he asked.
I blushed, but rolled my eyes. "And a nice strength game if you wish to try it." Elliot smirked.
"We could come tomorrow," Mathew said. "We'll be leaving towards evening, so why not push it back a little, enjoy the celebration until midnight?"
"Things always taste better when they're about to end," Elijah added, nodding his answer. Everyone gradually agreed to it, and we all moved to the town to get acquainted with it. Elaine went off with Mathew and Andrew to test out the qualities of a good wine as a store was pulling out samples. I shook my head at that.
Everyone else just departed, but I knew Jonny took Chris and Elijah down to the tech store. It was a new one we'd not seen a year ago. I stepped into the supply store and found many people in there already.
The list in my pocket, I took the time to calculate the numbers. So far they were of reasonable prices if compared to the quantity. The line moved slowly, and by the time I strode up to the counter I was sure I'd acquainted myself with every nook and cranny of the storehouse.
"I've got an order for Maple Grove," I said. The man on the other end peered over his spectacles at me. He nodded as his eyes rescanned the paper, noticing the adjustments I'd added in.
"Same as last year," he nodded. I frowned. No, it wasn't the same as last year. I'd just adjusted quite a lot of things in the paper. Considering the quantities our investors and consumers expected, MJ hadn't thought to expect a miss of yield and hadn't... my thoughts trailed off as I realised MJ had never made that mistake.
He'd always been proper about it. He'd just tested me. Curiously, I nodded. "Yes, that's right," I said. A smile barely touched my lips before I realised what I was doing. I coughed. "When can I expect the delivery?"
I asked. The man glanced up, staring at me curiously. "Same as last year," he said, expecting my understanding, "same as every other year."
"And when would that be?" I asked. His lips barely pressed together but I noticed annoyance. A line was waiting behind me, I knew, but I'd be damned if I didn't get the service I wanted.
"Listen, miss," he said, "you must be new so I'd temp it down for you, okay? Maple Grove orders the same supplies every year, and we supply the same things every year; and as the year before this and the one before that, they will arrive after the Harvest End weekend, not an hour more. Are we in the clear?"
I nodded, smiling appreciatively. "Quite," I said. He nodded, and jotted down the notes, though I could tell he wished to grumble. He turned the book around and pointed the pen at the signing bottom.
I took it and wrote my name and signed my signature. The man's eyes shot up in earnest surprise. "Miss. Jenkins!"
I smiled, turning the book around. "Good day, sir," I said, turning around at a few raised brows, and walking towards the door. Elliot was there, staring as I walked to him.
"Ready to go?" he asked.
"I didn't know I had an escort," I teased. Elliot rolled his eyes but took my hand and pulled us out. "So, where do we go to next?"
I thought about that. The others weren't around yet. I had one place I wanted to show him, and only him. "Come with me?" I asked. Elliot, brows furrowed curiously, nodded.
I showed Elijah a place I'd found riding on my own. It was barely five minutes out of town but was secluded. Elliot's brows shot up as he realised it was just a swing over the lake.
"When did you find this?" he asked. I smiled, jumping off the horse and walking towards the lake's edge.
"Lone riding one day brought me here," I said. Silence followed as I felt Elliot come in behind me. He put his arms around me, holding me close to him. It was times like this that made me wonder just what he meant by 'complicated'. Was he fighting something? "It was actually the first time I'd come here without my mum."
Elliot nodded. "She didn't want to come?"
I shook my head, feeling a bubble of emotion erupt as I thought about that first time. "Um, no," I coughed the lodge in my throat. "She passed away." Elliot didn't really need to hear the how of that situation.
He tensed behind me. "She loved you," he said, so softly I couldn't imagine he'd said it. But the emotion behind those words had been questioning Elliot's determination to put things at arm's length.
Had he lost someone, too? "I guess you can relate, you mum having passed away too," I said, turning to peer at him over my shoulder.
Elliot's frame tensed more. "How about you show me this thing? Is it stable?" the topic change was common now. He'd skirted about his family and only spoken about Elijah and Rosa, as they demanded I come around more than was necessary for projects, but he'd never mentioned his father or mother voluntarily.
I nodded. The looming emotion quickly changed to excitement as I grinned. "It's for two," I said.
Elliot grinned, stepping around me and towards the water. He inspected the thing for a moment; they were really just two tyres put side by side over the water. "Need some company?" he said, turning back to smile at me. I grinned.
We spent the moment talking about anything and everything, listening to the sounds around us, attempting to get higher and higher. It was a magical moment for me. I didn't allow any thoughts of doubt and uncertainty to permeate into my mind, and instead let myself go into the moment.
Questions spilled from me and Elliot was the most patient answerer. I listened to his deep baritone explain things I didn't know and probably never would, because I just needed him talking. My feet kicked out and my back nearly leaning in a careless position, I allowed myself to feel free. The sky was bright and the air was cool.
"You're not listening," he suddenly said.
A smile filtered onto my lips. "No, I'm not," I said.
Elliot chuckled. It was deep, hoarse. We'd both deemed the moment too good to startle the sudden peace around us with loud words. "Then why ask?"
I shrugged, pulling myself upright to stare at him. He was leaning on one side of the swing. "You have a nice voice," I said. "No, not nice: it would never be considered nice in grandmother's society standards. No, you have a deep voice, the kind that would have ladies dropping their hankies for you."
Elliot's brows furrowed as he considered this. "I don't know if I should ask but should I know what dropping hankies mean?"
I grinned, remembering the one time I'd done just that. Oh, if he only knew what he'd done by returning it to me. "Google it," I said. Elliot's brows shot up.
"Now that's not nice," he said. "I answered your questions, care to elaborate on your answers?"
I blushed, making to think extensively about it. Elliot groaned. I giggled. "Alright, alright," I said. "When a lady, no matter who they are, drops their hankies close to you, or at their passing, they're inviting you to their bed. It's up to the man to choose whether he's a gentleman, and ignore the invitation, or a rake, and accept the invitation."
I watched as he contemplated this, and then his eyes widened and his brows shot up as he finally understood. I laughed. "You are no gentleman, Elliot Dupree."
He laughed, throwing his head back with unabashed amusement. "No, I'm not," he said. We didn't say much for a moment, staring across to the other. How had I landed in this position, staring back at the Elliot Dupree who didn't hide whatever he was feeling at the moment? He had soft hair that made my fingers clench around the rope in reminiscence. And pretty pink lips that had my own tingling with awareness. Had we truly done all those things in the past weeks?
"On the voice thing," he suddenly said, but he wasn't staring at me, rather at my lips. They suddenly felt dry. "What's up with the tonal discrimination?"
I felt a smile tug at my lips. "A man with a nice voice is one who's in control, who's capable of handling situations with a sound, practical mind." Elliot nodded. I went on. "One with a deep voice explains for a man who's ruled with passions and rarely thinks things through. Don't worry: you can still get a good girl as these days all of them are seeking moments of bliss rather than forever."
Elliot grinned cheekily. Icy eyes glinted mischievously. "All of them?" he asked. I blushed. "If all of them, then I'm pretty sure I want to visit this court. I wonder how many hankies I'll get out with."
I scowled. "Why, you uncouth lout," I said. Elliot laughed. "The elders would see you a mile away and scare their girls back onto their bosoms."
Elliot's grin was contagious and my body lost a battle I hadn't known to be fighting. "Then I'll extract them from those bosoms with a few carefully constructed words."
"Like you did me?" I quickly backtracked as I realised what I'd just said. It was too deep, too much emotion in one tongue. Elliot's frame tensed, and mine quickly followed. "Um, sorry," I said, couching a wedge in my throat. My gaze quickly shuffled to stare out at the lake, mortification sweeping through me in waves.
From my side view I could see Elliot turn back to stare at me, ready to say something. The moment, however, was interrupted, thankfully.
"I told you we'd find them together," we heard Chris say. We turned around and found them all staring down at us from up the gentle slope. Elliot and I shared a look and both of us laughed. We were glad the cold moment had been interrupted.
"You guys done being sweet already?" Elijah called.
Meredith waved her hands exaggeratedly as we got out. "Yeah, there's syrup harvesting to get to," she said. "I want some maple syrup."
We quickly adorned our shoes, and as the others waited, I thought of what had just been. It had been a magical moment. It had been so beautiful and peaceful, the best moment so far. I couldn't imagine what had gotten into me to say the last words.
Rakes always got the lady's heart and crushed it, and I'd implicated Elliot had my heart. Would he crush it? Would he hold it? Oh, how I missed the moment of no thoughts already. I thought we'd leave without him saying a word, but then he grabbed my arm and stopped me.
I turned to stare up at him curiously, hiding a wildly hoping heart thumping in my chest. He stared back at me, the most curious expression on his face. And then, his arm went around me, his hand landing on my back as he pulled me closer. He stared, still contemplating something, never saying a word. I held my breath, not trusting myself to hold the moment. Would he dare show me something to prove my words? Was he holding it?
He swooped in and kissed me. Unlike his usual kisses that left me wanting to shred the disturbing vêtements that dared keep us apart, this kiss stole the air right out of my lungs and invited me into the confines that Elliot refused to let open and often shut them as soon as he noticed it was open. This kiss refused to let me go, demanded I grab hold, and yet, in a blinding effect, coerced me from the overly warm and bouncy bosom I'd held on to since forever and convinced me with words so carefully woven that I let go and ride with him into the bumpy, wild and untamed world that was his.
My sharp intake was deep and ragged, but my lips still leaned toward his, my body held in place by his strong, capable arms. Elliot's eyes were closed, and I quickly leaned up and pecked his lips, not wanting him to open his eyes and regret his bold move. It had been a bold move.
I became aware to the fact that Elliot was smiling in the kiss, and pulled back to stare at him. Elliot's sharp eyes were staring back at me, crinkles by their side explaining the reality of the moment, and the grin he bore broadened and highlighted the laugh lines I'd guessed he had.
"Someone's frisky," he teased. I blushed.
Before I could reply, however, Chris shouted out an unrepeatable comment that had me jumping straight out of the moment. Elliot shouted another back, and the laughter that roared around us was outrageous.
My grin couldn't stop. Had Elliot answered me? He had, I suppose, but what did he say? I didn't know, but when he whispered in my ear as he helped me onto the horse, a blush stole from my skin and spread to places unseen.
Yet, I nodded. I would do this. I wanted to do this.