Chapter 12 #2
“Oh, how lucky! It’s one of the things I’ve always envied my cousins of having the ability to do. I can’t see anything in the dark.”
“Do you know how to light the hurricane lamps?” he asked.
“Kind of, but it’s been a while.”
“Let me show you.” He took the box of matches from the kitchen then they walked around the house, lighting the hurricane lamps placed here and there in each room.
It didn’t take long before a warm glow lit up every room of the house.
“We don’t always have to light them all, but I thought it would be nice to do so tonight. ”
“I like it. Would it be terrible if I did it often?” she asked.
“We can do it every night it you want to.”
“I feel kind of awkward,” she confessed.
“Why?”
“We’re alone, in what is supposed to be our own home. I just feel kind of awkward.”
“For what it’s worth, you’ve completely relaxed in our house. You seem quite at home here. And you’re speaking as though you plan on staying.”
Angelle nodded slowly as she looked around the room. “I honestly can’t imagine living anywhere else. Can’t imagine myself leaving here. But when I realize that, I start to want to hyperventilate.”
Boon laughed. “Your heart knows what your brain hasn’t figured out yet.”
“You’re probably right. I just need to figure out how to get out of my own way.”
“I have an idea,” Boon said.
“Okay…”
“Let’s not consciously think about it. Let’s just go about our time here without questioning it. Put all consideration of the future out of your mind and just live in the moment. We’ll see where it leads us when we get to where it is.”
Angelle grinned and a weight seemed to be lifted off her shoulders. “I like that idea.”
“I have another idea,” Boon said.
“And that is…”
“Let’s go sit out on the porch and watch the night fall. We can listen to all the nighttime sounds and creatures.”
“I really like that idea, too.”
“I do have some good ideas from time to time.”
“I believe you. That’s two in just a few seconds,” Angelle said with a grin as she draped her dishtowel over the faucet to dry, then walked over to Boon.
“The evening is my favorite time to just sit and experience. You’re going to love it,” he said, leading her out onto their back porch.
He paused long enough to grasp the handle of a hurricane lamp and took it out with them.
He placed it in the far corner of the porch, then went back to sit beside Angelle, pulling her near.
And there they sat for more than an hour; Angelle leaning against Boon, and Boon’s arm draped protectively over her shoulders.
Each time Angelle heard a sound she didn’t recognize, she’d stop and focus, sometimes hazarding a guess, sometimes just looking at Boon expectantly.
Each time he’d tell her what it was… a particular type of owl, a whippoorwill, a frog or even an insect that was unique to Whispers, she’d nod and log it into her memory like she was going to have a test on it.
It wasn’t long before she started trying to stifle her yawns.
“You’re tired. We should turn in. It’ll be an early day tomorrow.”
“Will it?”
“It will. My mother and father are both early risers. We should go to them before they come to us.”
Angelle covered her mouth when she unexpectedly yawned again.
Boon stood and extended his hand.
Angelle placed her hand in his, and he pulled her to her feet. “I am tired,” she confessed.
“Hot shower first?” Boon asked as he led her into the house.
“Oh, yes. That’d be great if you don’t mind.”
He leaned over like he was going to tell her a secret and whispered in her ear. “It’s your house. You can take a shower any time you want to.”
Angelle laughed and instinctively pecked a kiss to his jaw.
He had been chuckling, but that stopped when she kissed his jaw.
“Sorry,” she said, getting bashful suddenly.
“No, no sorries. I love when you kiss me. The things it does to me just make me speechless. You can kiss me any time you want to.”
Angelle blushed as she tried to contain her smile.
“Tempest put our things in here,” he said, leading her to the first bedroom off the family room. “Take your time, get whatever you need for your shower and relax in the hot water if you want to. I’ll grab one after you.”
“Thank you.”
Angelle gathered a pair of shorts, clean undies and an over-sized teeshirt.
She went straight to the bathroom and almost groaned with pleasure when she turned on the faucet, gave it a few seconds and the water started steaming up the bathroom.
“I love hot, hot, hot showers,” she whispered.
She stepped into the tub, her lips pressed into a straight line as she considered her options.
Resigning herself to rushing through her shower rather than taking her time luxuriating under the spray of hot water, she quickly washed her hair and her body.
She got out only a few minutes after she’d gotten in.
“Almost done!” she called out as she dried off and ran a towel across her hair a few times.
She took the time to brush her teeth before she dressed and stepped out of the bathroom and into the hall. “Your turn,” she called out.
“Already?” he asked.
“I didn’t want you to have to wait.”
“I appreciate that, but you can take a long shower if you want to. If I need another bathroom, there’s another right beside it.”
“I know. But, I didn’t want to… I just felt like…” She sighed, giving up trying to explain what it was that she was feeling.
“You don’t feel at ease yet.”
“I do, more so than I thought I would. I just didn’t want you to have to wait.”
He smiled, knowing full well she still felt like a guest. While he understood it, it was still frustrating to him — he had after all had the home built for her. “It’s okay. You’ll relax eventually.”
“I’m relaxed!” she exclaimed as he moved past her to get his own night clothes out of the dresser in the bedroom their things had been placed in. He came out of the bedroom a few minutes later and went right into the bathroom.
Angelle wandered through the family room, touching all the little knick-knacks and browsing through the books scattered throughout the shelving on either side of the large windows.
A very, very old book caught her attention and she carefully took it down from the shelf.
She ran her fingers reverently over the outside cover that had been faded and yellowed with age.
Moving subconsciously toward the nearest chair, she curled herself into it, pulling her legs up to tuck beneath her as she opened the book and began to read.
She smiled to herself as her eyes skimmed over the words — some olde English, and some Latin.
The pictures were so highly detailed that even with the effect the years had had on the linen pages, every little vein of every leaf, every little pointed edge, or furred stem was clear to see.
Someone had taken a lot of time to very painstakingly, very lovingly almost, document every plant, every tree — she turned a page and found a sketch of a small gray bird with yellow on its wings — and animal they’d observed.
“I see you’ve found Terrus’ book.”
Angelle looked up to find Boon standing just inside the family room watching her.
“I’m sorry. I should have asked,” she said apologetically as her legs unfolded and she hurriedly made to stand up.
“No, don’t stop. Go ahead and read it. He’ll be happy to know that someone is reading his book.”
Angelle looked down at the book cradled with utmost care in her hands. “It’s beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book so exquisitely illustrated.”
Boon smiled and moved closer to her, his gaze focused on the book she held. “Terrus made it. It identifies most of the plants and wildlife, insects included, in Whispers. He gave it to me when I was little boy. I only flipped through it partially a long, long time ago.”
Angelle extended her hands offering him the book. “I’m sure it’s special to you,” she said as he took it from her hands and flipped the pages roughly.
Angelle’s whole face contorted as he handled it like he would any book he’d just brought home from a book store, instead of the very old, very fragile piece of art that it actually was.
“Not really,” Boon said with a shrug. “I mean, it’s nice that he gave it to me, but I really never took much time to look at it.
Glanced at it when he gave it to me, but I already knew the things that are in it, so I never picked it up again.
” He smiled at her and handed it back to her. “Here. It’s for you.”
“Oh, no! I can’t take it. It’s invaluable! And it was a gift. But I’d really feel better if you’d let me put it back on the shelf,” she said, taking it from him like it was a newborn baby.
Boon laughed. “It’s killing you that I wasn’t more careful with it.”
“It really is,” she admitted.
“It’s yours now. You can read it or protect it as much as you like.”
Angelle considered refusing the gift, but when Boon reached for it again she quickly decided she had no choice but to accept it.
“Thank you!” she exclaimed, clasping the book to her chest to prevent him from flipping it open and thumbing through its pages again.
“It’s very special to me and I’ll protect it always. ”
He laughed when he realized she was intentionally keeping it away from his grasp. “I hope you’ll read it, too. You’ll learn about all the things native to our area.”
“I will. Carefully.”
“Terrus will be thrilled that you appreciate his handiwork. You know, come to think of it, he might have even made it himself, instead of misting it into being.”
“I don’t know him, but I’m fairly certain he did it with his own hands. You can see tiny little brush strokes in the illustrations. He’s very talented,” Angelle said.
“You should tell him that. It will mean a lot to him. And if you’re going to read much longer, you should move close to the hurricane lamp so you don’t hurt your eyes.”