Chapter 13
ABIGAIL
I heard the sounds of a chicken bawking at the side door. I swear I”ll cook that chicken if it does this again. I saw Elias had already left the bed when I jerked up from the soundest sleep in my life. If I hadn”t needed to go to the bathroom so badly, I would have rolled around in the sheets for another hour. As it was, Elias was leaving today, and I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could.
This bedroom offered filtered sunlight through the west side of the property. Antique, lacey shades adorned the leaded glass windows, and a distant memory of my mother”s bedroom flashed through my mind. I wondered what she”d say, looking at the almost grown-up daughter she birthed. Hopefully, I wasn”t a complete disappointment. I was trying. I was. Today would be another turning point in this adventure when I took up the yolk of this property on my own. There was still massive amounts of cleaning in every room in the house—mounds of junk to sort through, assessing the value of each piece. Dollar store junk would find its way to the curb. However, many items needed a trained eye, and I think we both can agree that it wasn”t me.
My head began to throb from that damn chicken repeating its toxic shriek until I ran down the side stairs and flung open the door, prepared to scream back.
”Stooooppp . . . ” The chicken immediately shuffled backward, though it was brave enough not to leave the stoop. I pushed open the screen door and almost stepped onto the largest brown egg I”d ever seen. ”Oohh! What do we have here?” I bent down to pluck the oval out of its clever ”nest.” The chicken continued staring me down, possibly looking for praise.
”Elias!! Come here now!” I called back into the house, realizing my habit of screaming his name would lead to dire consequences. In the meantime, I took pity on the poor feathery girl and gave her the praise she well deserved. ”Good girl. That was a great gift you gave me and very clever in your choice of nest.” She clucked her reply and wandered back into the garden.
I felt his heat on my back and the anger on my neck. ”You better have damn good reason to be screaming my name like that.”
I stepped aside as I pushed open the screen again, pointing to the hilariously deposited egg. ”It looks like your giant-ass shoes make for a good nest, big guy.”
What the fuck?”There”d better not be any slime in my shoe, or that bird is dinner.” I threw my head back, laughing until my belly hurt.
”I said the same thing.” I gently slapped him in the chest. ”Did I just make my first friend in Mystic?” I snarfed.
”Princess, you making friends with a chicken certainly tracks with your personality. What will you call her?”
I picked up the egg and turned it thoughtfully in my hand as I walked past Elias to the kitchen. Hmm? What does one call a chicken?
”How about Amy? I had a childhood friend named Amy. She called herself Amy the Great. I wasn”t sure why, but she was confident—like this chicken.”
He rubbed his beard, presumably contemplating my story. ”Why the hell not? Amy the Great it is.”
Our morning became a frenzy of mechanical lessons, warnings of complacency, and stolen kisses. Lunch came and went, and Elias disappeared again. Once I found him in the barn, I retraced my steps to see him with a tape measure, a tiny notebook, and a pencil behind his ear.
”Hey, you. What are you measuring?” I tentatively entered the space, creating a catalog of artifacts hung from the rafters to the webby corners under the hay loft.
He looked startled at my presence, shoving his notebook into his back pocket. I needed to see what he had written and knew that, to extract it from his very appetizing spot, I”d need a plan. I swung my hips to distract him and pressed myself to his chest, wrapping my arms around him tightly.
”Last night was amazing. I was hoping we could—you know—do it again before you leave?” I ran my hands over his ass, slipping the notebook out carefully. ”Please,” I begged for effect.
He looked at me quizzically. ”You don”t have to ask me twice or to look at my notebook.” Dammit! Busted.
I had the decency to look contrite and handed it back to him. He took it in one hand, took my hand in the other, and walked me back down the path to the house when his phone rang.
”Go upstairs. I”ll be there in a minute.” He commanded. Yes, sir!
By the time he returned, I was naked and wrapped in a sheet, awaiting my next order. Except, the look on his face didn”t say he was sticking around.
He sat on the bed, stroking my hair, twirling the ends around his thick fingers. ”That was my assistant manager. The mayor”s kid blew up his new car and needs me to fix it immediately. I”m sorry, princess, but I have to go.”
He bent his large body over mine and kissed me deeply, searing the memories of the past three days upon my lips and heart. If I”m being honest, Elias terrified me. Beyond his size, his eyes permeated my soul, and I found the right combination of words and mannerisms to calm my hamster wheel of a brain. I wanted more from him but knew my time with him had ended. Who knew if we”d see each other again? He said he would come back to Mystic—to me. I wasn”t so naive that I believed him. He had a life before me and will have a life after me. Once again, it was time to evolve, and this new beginning could be the springboard to a future I could only have dreamed of. If ever there was a time to believe in myself, it was now.
It was a slow recovery from his dizzying kiss. I knew I had to let him go.
I stared into his big brown eyes, threading my fingers through his silky, wavy hair. I will add this tactile memory to all the others I”ve collected and run on a loop for the rest of my life. ”I”d like to be selfish and duct tape you to this bed. You”d be my handyman, literally and figuratively.” I smirked, tracing the shell of his ear and making his chest rumble. ”I”ll miss you, Elias. You saved me—literally. I won”t ever be able to repay you, but I will send you gas money as soon as I get a paycheck. Thank you for everything.” He kissed me lingeringly, pulling my bottom lip and whispering promises of returning soon. I desperately wanted to believe he”d be back. I”d pray that he did. Until then, I”d suffer silently.
Reluctantly, I released him from my embrace, turning toward him as he righted himself on the floor. He pulled his shirt off the back of the couch where it landed last night and pulled it on. The view was spectacular, and I wished I had my phone to take a picture. He must have read my mind.
”Up here, princess, look at my face.” He flashed a devilish smile. ”You really should take a picture. It”ll last longer.”
I was out of bed in a flash and yanked my phone from my jeans pocket, diving back into bed, ready to snap the perfect personal pleasure pose for tonight.
”Ready!” I exhaled heavily after my dash around the room.
We both laughed like children as he stripped off his shirt again, flexing his biceps in several manly poses, demonstrating how delicious he looked.
”Hang on,” he called and spun around. I didn”t know what he was doing until he slowly turned back to me with his hands in his hair, and my jaw dropped. His low-slung jeans dropped several inches lower, revealing a deep V and a dark brown happy trail.
”Geezus, Elias. I might still use that duct tape on you yet. You are so fucking hot.” His smile pulled to his eyes, and I wanted to cry at my impending loss. I snapped three more pictures and dropped my phone into my lap, mentally exhausted.
“What do you have for me, princess?” He stalked back to the bed and yanked the covers off me. Fuck. He bent over me again, sucking and pulling on each of my nipples until they looked like ripe roses. I threw my head back, and, before I knew it, he was taking a spank-bank full of deviant photos. ”Fuck, yeah. You”re so sexy, Abigail. I”m going to miss this tiny body.”
I watched him gather the few things he had around the room and stuff them into his duffle bag. The sadness in his eyes was visible, and I didn”t want him to go. I still couldn”t believe my luck at having met such a man. I”m not a trusting person, though it was effortless with him. Trusting in his word was all I had; I”d make sure he knew that.
I dragged myself out of bed and pulled on my jeans and a T-shirt, leaving off my undergarments. I didn”t have time for those luxuries now; Elias was leaving me.
”I”ll walk you out,” I whispered, following him down the side stairs to the driveway where he had parked.
He put his bag on the front seat of his truck and turned to face me one last time.
We both started talking and laughed.
”You first,” I said.
”Abigail. This place, you, has been one hell of a trip. I couldn”t have possibly planned anything like these past few days, and I would do it again to meet you. You”ve changed me; I don”t know if that”s good or bad. I”ll think about it more, but I”m sure you cracked me open in a way I hadn”t expected . . . thank you.” Giant arms pulled me tightly against his solid chest, and I listened to his heart thump softly in his chest for several minutes. Who knew when I”d feel this safe again? ”Do you remember what I said about renting a car for this week? You have a plan. Stick to it. You have my number if you get stuck.” He kissed me softly. ”You can do this, Abigail. You will succeed. I believe in you.”
For the first time in my life, someone believed in me. Someone encouraged me and my plan. Maybe this time I won”t fail. Or better yet, I will have the courage to pick myself up and keep forging ahead with a positive attitude. Elias believed in me, and I wouldn”t let him or me down.
I pressed both hands to his chest, copping one last feel, ”Thank you again, Elias. You”ve made a difference in my life, too.”
I pushed back and let him board his vehicle as I rubbed my damp eyes. He rolled down the window after he put the truck in gear. ”Tell Amy the Great she will need a new nest for her eggs.” He winked and rolled backward down the drive, leaving me empty and alone.