Chapter 18
Hettie shuffled down the hallway and slammed her bedroom door with such force that it rattled the picture of Audrey’s grandparents taken on their wedding day that hung in the hallway.
Audrey had expected some attitude, but she’d thought it would come in the form of pouting, yelling, or maybe even a few threats about her moving out to live in the retirement home with Bitsy.
But it looked like Hettie might be trying her worst tactic—called silence.
“Well, darlin’ aunt,” Audrey whispered as she went into her bedroom and eased the door shut. “Nothing you can do or not do is going to ruin my evening. It was straight out of a romance book, and I’m meeting him in the orchard tomorrow evening.”
She awoke the next morning to find that not even the aroma of coffee was drifting down the hallway, much less bacon or maybe cinnamon toast. She found Hettie sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee in her hand and half a dozen cookies on a plate next to her.
“Good morning,” Audrey said cheerfully.
“Is it?” Hettie barked.
“Did you only make one cup of coffee this morning?”
She tilted her head up so far that if another tornado came through Spanish Fort, she would have spun around like a whirligig. “This is instant coffee with a shot of whiskey to cut the horrible taste. You can make your own coffee and breakfast.”
Audrey went back to the kitchen and put on a full pot of coffee, made herself a bowl of cereal and a piece of toast, and sat down at the table.
If her aunt wanted to act that way, she would take a sack of sandwiches to the barn and not come back to the house until after dark.
Maybe she would even sleep in the equipment barn that night.
That would give Miz Barky Britches time to settle down and stop pouting.
She finished her breakfast, washed her bowl and spoon, and set about filling a paper sack with enough snacks and sandwiches to last all day.
That done, she dressed in a pair of work jeans, a T-shirt, and boots.
She grabbed her old straw hat from the rack inside the back door, crammed it down over her hair, and headed outside with the sack in one hand and a small cooler of sweet tea in the other.
“Mornin’,” Walter said from the bottom of the steps.
“I wouldn’t go in there,” Audrey said. “She’s on a warpath.”
“Got coffee in the pot?”
“Yep, but I had to make it. She’s drinking instant,” Audrey answered.
“Then I’ll make a pot out in the barn,” Walter whispered and nodded toward the sack of food. “Do you plan to be gone a week?”
“Maybe,” she answered.
“I understand there’s an empty trailer next door,” Walter chuckled.
“I’ll give her a couple of days to get in a better mood, but that is an option. I’m sure that Brodie will rent it to me, especially if I offer to walk his pig every day,” she said with a smile. “We should get going before she comes outside and decides to unleash on us.”
“You betcha,” Walter said and followed her out to the equipment barn. “How did the date go last night?”
“Good,” she answered. “No, it went great, and we’re going out again next Friday night.”
“Just don’t rush into anything,” Walter advised. “Take time to learn all about each other. Ira and his brother got into a big squabble because neither of them really got to know Clarice. You know the story and how miserable that woman made both their lives.”
“I do, and I will be super careful, Walter,” she told him.
“Brodie and I fought a lot in the past, but looking back, I was running from what my heart was telling me. I knew he wouldn’t sell me his farm, and I didn’t really want it for myself, but Aunt Hettie had her heart set on putting the two farms back together. ”
“And you’ve never been a good loser, have you?” Walter slid the barn door open.
“Nope, I have not,” she replied, “but in this case the loser just might be the winner after all.”
“Funny how things work out like that, ain’t it?” Walter said.
***
Several local men had shown up to help with Tripp’s barn on Saturday morning.
They were determined not only to get the dry wall put up in the apartment and the workroom but to also do the bedding and taping.
They had met their goals by the end of the day, but it was well past quitting time when everyone stood around to visit about what Tripp wanted to do with the large portion of the barn that would be used for a store.
Brodie would have gladly skipped supper and gone straight to the farm, but Joe Clay had made chili and Tertia sent over a chocolate cake for desert—two of his favorite foods.
He impatiently sat through the meal, helped with the cleanup, and then raced upstairs to get a quick shower and change from his work clothes into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.
Dark had settled in by the time Brodie made it to his farm.
He quickly harnessed Pansy and set her outside of the pen and started down through the orchard on their nightly walk.
He would have been disappointed if Audrey had given up on him and gone home, but he would not have blamed her.
His whole mood lifted when he saw her sitting on a blanket on his side of the place where the fence used to be.
“Hey, I was hoping I didn’t miss you,” she said. “Walter and I worked all day and past suppertime on tractors. I figured you would give up on me and go home.”
Brodie tied Pansy to an apple tree and sat down beside Audrey. “I was thinking the same thing about you. Glad that we are both here, though. We put in a long day, too. Had some local help who were good at bedding and taping, so we kept at it until the job was done.”
Audrey scooted over and laid her head on his shoulder. “I thought about you a lot today.”
Brodie draped an arm around her and kissed her on the forehead.
“It seems like a week has passed since last night. Did I tell you that Aunt Bernie has planned a speed dating night at Bo and Maverick’s bar?
It starts at six and is over at seven. She wants all three of us guys to be there, and you of course, but if you would rather go somewhere else, I’ll bow out. ”
“I’d love to go,” Audrey said. “That sounds like a lot of fun, but are you going to be jealous of the men who will sit down at my table?” Audrey asked.
“Not at all, because I’m going to be the only one that sits with you,” he said. “Are you going to attack any women who flirt with me?”
“I will mark my territory with a long, sexy kiss on your lips when we first arrive,” she teased.
“I can live with that.” He grinned.
A little seed of doubt floated into his mind and planted itself right in the middle of his heart. What if Bernie wasn’t really good with him dating Audrey. Did she have something up her sleeve with this speed dating thing? Was she really trying to keep them apart?
“Your expression tells me that the wheels are turning in your head,” Audrey said.
“Yes, they are,” he agreed with a slight nod. “I’m wondering if…” He went on to tell her about his thoughts on Aunt Bernie.
“Well, we’ll just have to ruin her plans if that is what she is thinking,” Audrey said. “I do not intend to give anyone my phone number except this organic farmer that I have a slight interest in getting to know better.”
“Slight?” Brodie raised both eyebrows.
She snuggled in ever closer to his side. “For now, but you never know what the future holds. That slight could turn into something more in a few weeks or months. Are you in a rush to see where this relationship is going?”
“Relationship?” he asked.
“What would you call it?” she answered with another question. “We’re a little old to say we’re going steady, and even if we weren’t, I don’t see a class ring on your finger.”
“Relationship suits me just fine. I lost my class ring on my first deployment to the Middle East. I would like to know if we are exclusive,” Brodie said.
She didn’t answer for a few seconds and then nodded. “I’m not planning on seeing anyone else, and besides, I don’t have time to even get to know two men at once. But I have to admit that I have teased Aunt Hettie about seeing all three of you Callahan brothers.”
Brodie chuckled and a sense of relief washed over him. “I bet she loved that. I’ve got so many irons in the fire that I couldn’t possibly throw another one into the blaze.”
“Okay then, but before we get into this relationship, let’s lay out some ground rules.
Number one. We will always be honest with each other.
Number two. If at any time one of us decides that we aren’t happy, we don’t let things rock on.
Number three. We don’t let anyone else influence us in the way we feel. ”
Brodie loved her forthrightness and honesty. “I agree. Shall we seal our deal with a kiss?”
“It might take two or three to seal a deal this big. But not a whole make out session because I need to get back to the house,” Audrey replied, and moved over to sit in his lap.
With her arms around his neck and her fingers tangled in his hair, she brought her lips to his in a steamy kiss that sent sparks dancing all around them.
After five minutes, she pulled back and wiggled out of his embrace.
“Anymore and I’ll drag you back to the trailer or out to one of your barns,” she panted.
Brodie’s words came out between gasps for breath. “And just what would be wrong with that?”
She stood up. “I don’t sleep with anyone after just one date. That would be moving our relationship too fast.”
“But you want to?” Brodie stood and folded the blanket for her.
“Of course, I do,” Audrey answered. “That tells me we are on the right path. See you in church tomorrow.”
“Can we sit together?” Brodie asked.
She blew him a kiss. “Maybe after the sixth date.”
***