26. Mike
MIKE
I ’m trying to give Sylvia some space this week, though it’s tough to keep my distance. I want all the things. Everything. And I want it now. But I know she’s not on the same page, not yet, and I don’t want to spook her.
I’ve never found it so hard to be patient in my life. I try to think about the look of wonder on her face when she came home on Sunday and the tears in her eyes when she thanked me. That has to be enough right now.
Was she surprised at Daphne’s? She was quiet and I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Her text on Thursday and her evident pleasure makes me smile.
Things are on track at work. Dad is playing a lot of golf, which suits me just fine, and Lisa stops by daily to share feedback from her very happy client.
The new hybrid is bearing beyond expectation, which is all good.
No more illness and we are rolling through our biggest month of the year.
There’s nothing to plan and little to solve at this point. There’s just a lot of tomatoes.
That gives me time to think about what I’d change if I really was in charge.
I’d be planning for the next year’s exclusive crop, about starting our own plants, about becoming a year-round operation and creating more full-time jobs.
I wonder about doing our own hybridization so that no one else will be able to sow the same seeds.
I try to assess all the reasons why Dad is against what seems natural and intuitive to me.
Thinking about new cultivars makes me remember how much I enjoyed research, though there’s no bandwidth for that in my current situation.
I’m just going to call it a day when my phone buzzes on Thursday night. To my satisfaction, it’s Sylvia. A text and a call both in one day. That has to be progress.
“Have you eaten yet?” she asks.
“No. I’m just leaving work now.”
“Then come for dinner. Merrie has sent me home with steak frites. Well, not frites. Gratin and grilled asparagus.”
“Sounds amazing.”
“It smells great.” She clears her throat. “Come see the trailer and celebrate with me.”
It’s an offer I can’t refuse.
I head home and take a quick shower, then change before heading out.
There’s a bottle of Rhodes Vineyards wine in the kitchen that is due to be enjoyed, so I take that with me.
The rain is coming down in buckets, making it tough to see the lane that leads to Una’s place.
The fairy lights are on, though, twinkling like beacons, and I can see the glow of lights inside the trailer.
Una’s place is almost dark and I remember that she started treatment again this week.
Sylvia has the door open by the time I run under the awning.
I hand her the wine then reach up to tip out a bit of water that’s accumulated on the canvas.
It gives me something better to do than stare at her.
She’s wearing a black floral sundress that swings around her knees and leaves her shoulders bare.
Her hair is loose and she’s wearing a pale lipstick. She looks soft, feminine and alluring.
Is this a date?
Or is it a reward? I can’t help but think that every time Sylvia is welcoming to me – every time we have sex – it’s right after I’ve done something for her. I don’t want a relationship that’s about transactions and tallies.
I want more.
Despite my misgivings I duck inside, making sure I don’t touch her. I’m immediately struck by the fact that I am out of scale. I don’t fit in this place. I’m too tall. The top of my head almost brushes the ceiling and I feel like I’m crowding Sylvia out of her own kitchen.
Worse, she’s wearing some floral perfume. Her feet are bare and she smiles up at me frequently, her eyes dancing. She’s utterly and completely seductive.
I try to stay out of her way, but we end up brushing against each other and it’s just too much. It’s so private and secluded, so damn romantic with the rain on the roof and the fairy lights over the table, that I feel like I’m going to make a huge mistake.
Maybe both of us are.
This isn’t right.
“I have to go,” I say and it sounds rude, even to me.
Sylvia stops and turns to face me, her eyes wide and her lips parted. “I thought you wanted to start again.”
“I do. I did.” I push a hand through my hair and can only be blunt. “But this feels calculated, Sylvia. Like I did something for you, so now you’re going to seduce me in return.”
I know as soon as the words are out that I said the wrong thing because her face falls. I hate that I’ve hurt her feelings.
“That’s not what I meant,” she says.
“I know, but it’s how it feels to me. I want to be with you, but I don’t want to keep score. ”
“Of course not.” She speaks gently, looking around as if she’ll find the answer in the trailer’s kitchen, then looks up at me.
There are unshed tears in her eyes and I’m a dead man.
If she touches me, we’ll end up in bed, regardless of my misgivings.
“I don’t know how to do this, Mike. I’ve been alone for a long time. ”
Since we were together before. I know that now.
She takes a breath and continues. “I can see now why you might feel that way, but I was happy tonight. I wanted to celebrate, and I wanted to do that with you.” She sighs and shakes her head.
“I’m sorry I didn’t think it through. You’re right.
It does look very one-for-you-and-one-for-me, but that wasn’t my intention.
” She smiles just a little. “I’m so relieved and you made that possible. ”
“See what I mean?”
“I do.” She frowns slightly. “Can I try again?”
She looks so defeated that I can’t just walk out.
I nod.
Sylvia takes a deep breath. “For years, I was stressed about money and balance, and keeping everything on track, and whatever the future might bring. I was used to falling short and I thought I was managing our reality pretty well, but it wears you down. This week, I was able to put down that weight. It’s a wonderful feeling, one I never expected to have.
I was happy tonight and so I wanted to share this wonderful feeling.
” She smiles tentatively at me. “I wanted to celebrate with you, but not because you made this happen. I wanted to be with you.”
“Maybe we should start over again,” I suggest and feel like a hero when she smiles brilliantly.
“Yes, please.”
I stand and bask in her pleasure for a moment, then duck out the door again. I push some more water out of the awning as if I’m just arriving, then knock on the door .
She opens right away, still smiling. “Hi Mike.”
“It’s like you knew I was here,” I say and she laughs.
“Maybe I have psychic abilities.”
“Maybe. Hi Sylvia.”
She folds her arms across her chest and leans in the doorway. Her smile becomes wicked. “The weirdest thing is that your bottle of wine got here before you did.”
“Sounds like there are strange forces around this trailer.”
“No, they’re inside. And they’re not strange forces.
” She reaches for me, her hand landing on my shoulder and I can’t take another step.
“It’s just plain old magic,” she whispers, her eyes darkening.
“The kind you recognize right away. The kind of magic everyone should be brave enough to trust.” Her gaze searches mine and I can’t even breathe.
Then Sylvia Kincaid leans out of her trailer, slides her arms around my neck and kisses me as if I’m everything she wants and more.
I was already lost, but now she’s turned the key in my heart and claimed it forevermore.
I carry Sylvia into the trailer and straight to the bed at the back, then follow her down.
We kiss like we’re going to devour each other, like we’re inventing it, like we’re never ever going to stop.
She tugs up my shirt and my hands are under her dress.
She’s smooth and sleek, and the scent of her arousal is the sexiest thing in the world.
She’s wearing lingerie, matching panties and strapless bra in lace the same colour as her skin.
Her nipples are taut against the lace and I can’t resist them, cupping one breast in my hand and teasing the nipple to a harder point.
When they’re both taut, I rub my thumbs over them roughly, loving how she writhes and demands more, catching her nape in my hand and kissing her all over again.
She’s moving beneath me, driving me crazy, and I wish I could make this last.
I remember that there’s still something I want to do for her, and slide a fingertip beneath the top edge of her panties.
I flatten my hand against her belly and ease the panties down, my fingers sliding in her slick heat.
She catches her breath, then kicks off her panties, parting her thighs in silent welcome.
Her eyes are glowing, alight with pleasure and a welcome I can’t resist. I kiss her more deeply, then slide down the length of her, kissing all the way, then close my mouth over her sweet heat.
She gasps, then sighs, a delicious sound of surrender.
I slide off the bed to kneel beside it, cup her buttocks in my hands, lift her up and do my best to drive her crazy.
I’ve never seen her so wild or so abandoned.
It’s impossible to turn aside from her or to stop.
She comes too soon, to my thinking, so I start over again, making it last the second time.
I take her close then back off, teasing her and keeping her from the summit, until she’s writhing beneath me.
Pleasing her is making me crazy, too, and I know I won’t be able to hold back if she touches me.
The second time she comes slowly, arching her back and whispering my name, the sweetest sound ever.