8. Life’s a Beech Tree
“Idon’t know about this, Jack.”
“What’s not to know, Thomas? If we read the book, we’ll be here for hours.”
“How many hours?”
“Google said it takes the average reader about seven hours!”
“What about the…the readers like us?”
“I don’t know,” said Jack, “…nine…maybe ten hours.”
“So if we read through lunch and skip dinner, you’re saying we’ll be finished by seven?”
“Yes, and that’s if we don’t take any bathroom breaks or any other break for that matter.”
“Jack, I’m scared. I don’t think I can read for that long.”
“Exactly, mate! That’s why I’m saying…all we gotta do is wait for Jada to leave and we watch the Kiera Knightly version on our phones.”
“I don’t know…didn’t we say we were going to be better about just enjoying the simple things this week? I mean…shouldn’t we at least try?”
“Baby steps, mate…baby steps. Let’s start by watching the film adaptation. We can even turn on the closed captioning, so we can say that we’ve technically read Pride and Prejudice. The only difference will be…what is it…two hours and seven minutes instead of ten hours with no bathroom breaks.”
“What will we do to fill the rest of the time? They’re going to know we didn’t finish the whole book in just over two hours.”
They sat thinking for a moment before both of them said in unison, “Clash Royale!”
“Alright, fine,” said Thomas. “I’m in. Just make sure…”
“Shh!!!” interrupted Jack in a loud whisper, “Someone’s coming.”
They sat up straight on the comfier of the two library couches and tried to make a face that wouldn’t be mistaken for conspiratorial or devious. They failed miserably.
“You guys are already here?” asked Jada. “Wow! I sort of thought I’d need to drag you out of your rooms for this.”
“Please, m’lady. Jack and I are no strangers to nor evaders of the finer things in life.”
“Well, that’s good.”
“We’re very excited for you,” added Jennifer.
“Here you are,” Jada said as she gave Thomas her copy of the book while Jennifer handed hers to Jack.
“Wow, that looks rather short. Doesn’t it, Thomas?”
“Yes, Jack. Oh, how I do wish it was longer!”
“Well,” said Jada, “when you finish, you’ll have to read Sense and Sensibility, and Emma after that.”
With every title, Thomas and Jack’s smiles faded ever so slightly.
“There’s also Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Sanditon…enough to keep you gentlemen busy all week.”
“Ha!” exclaimed Jack with an over-the-top burst of nervous laughter meant to conceal the fact that he was losing his mind at the prospect of wasting days in books. “How wonderful!”
“Isn”t it, though? Well…ladies…you’d better leave us to it…the sooner we finish the sooner we can discuss it with you.”
“Book club!”
“Yay!” the men said in unison.
With that, Jada and Jennifer took their exits. Once the ladies were gone and outside earshot, Jack’s and Thomas’ smiles took an abrupt turn towards sour.
“Why would you bloody say that you wish it was longer?” asked Jack.
“Me? You’re the one who said it looked, and I quote, ‘rather short.’”
“She didn’t fill our schedules with lady poetry when I said ‘rather short.’ She filled our schedules with lady poetry when you said you wished it was longer. This is all your fault, you wanker!”
“Oh yeah…tosser?” Thomas shot back.
“Yeah!”
Thomas punched Jack’s shoulder with all his might. Jack saw Thomas’s shoulder punch and raised him an epic charley horse. In pain, Thomas lunged at Jack’s arm to give him a proper rug burn when…
“Oh, and I almost forgot…” said Jada as she reentered the library.
The grown men shot back to sitting up straight while once again, trying and failing to make normal human faces.
“...we’ve arranged for your meals to be brought up so you don’t have to waste time coming down for them.”
“Oh, bless you, dear ladies,” said Jack with the delicacy of an angel.
“Yes,” added Thomas, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his quad, “Thank you both.”
When they had disappeared around the corner for a second time, Jack said, “Alright, that’s enough. Let’s just get through this…” before switching to a nearly inaudible volume, “...and I’m sorry about the charley horse.”
“What?” Thomas asked.
“Nothing. You ready?”
They both opened their novels, pulled out and opened their phones to the streaming app, hid their phones in their books, and faced each other.
“Count of three?” asked Thomas.
Jack nodded. They each tapped on the film, muted their phones, turned on closed captioning, and hovered their pointer fingers over the play buttons.
“1…2…”
“Good morning, May,” Avi said as she hobbled into the dining room still rubbing her eyes.
“There you are. Just waking up?”
“Mhmm…what have I missed?”
“Other than breakfast? Well, Bree here just said baba...”
“Good job, Sweetie!” said Avi as she sat down to join the little family.
“...and,” May continued as she slipped Bree a spoonful of mushy peas in between baby babble, “Kai and Devin got in trouble for trying to stow away in Daddy’s truck.”
The twins looked down in shameful sadness. Avi tried to express disappointment through her proud aunty smirk.
“Uh oh…so where’d Josh go?”
“Well, since there wasn’t hardly anything scheduled on today’s itinerary, he took some of the guests into London for some sightseeing.”
Avi perked up and asked, “Do you know which guests?”
“I think it was mostly the Americans…Mick, a few of the Jane Gang…I think Clara, Min, Kate…”
“Anyone else?” asked Avi, trying hard not to seem too interested.
“Oh…and Bonnie.”
“And…Mr. MacKinnon?”
A slow revelatory smile grew across May’s face. “No…why?”
“Did they say when they’d be back?” Avi asked as her grin mirrored May’s.
“No…but they left about a half hour ago. It’s an hour’s drive. I’d guess they’d spend at least four hours seeing the sights, and then have another hour’s drive time, so…maybe 3:30ish…”
“Do you know where he is?”
“Who?”
“Mr. MacKinnon.”
“I know, I just wanted to hear you say it,” May said as she and Avi grabbed each other’s hands and bounced in conjoined merriment like giddy tweens.
“When did this happen? How did this happen?”
“Nothing’s happened…and even if it did, there’s no time to answer now, but I’ll tell you tonight. In the meantime, can you do me a huge favor?”
May leaned in closer and answered and nodded with excitement.
“Can you make me a quick picnic basket while I get ready?”
“For two?” May asked as Avi got up from the table.
“Yes, please.”
May shrieked in a gleeful fit of happiness as Avi disappeared around the corner to begin getting ready.
“Oh!” said Avi as her beaming face reappeared from the hallway. “And two bottles of sparkling cider, please.”
With a hint of nonchalant franticness, Avi and her picnic basket explored every inch of Hawthorne Hall trying to find Mr. MacKinnon. Instead, she found Thomas and Jack entranced in the library. Jack had abandoned his copy of the book and was cozied up next to Thomas sharing his.
“Gentlemen,” she said to get their attention.
“Oh! Avi!” Thomas said nervously as he paused the show. “We were just watching a…reading a movie.”
“Pull yourself together, mate,” Jack whispered through a teeth-closed smile.
“Reading a movie?” she asked.
“What he means is…it feels like a movie…because the book paints such a vivid picture.”
“Indeed,” Thomas agreed.
“Yes, it’s my favorite. Listen, have either of you seen…” she stopped herself from singling out Mr. MacKinnon, “...the other guests?”
“Most of them went into the city,” said Jack. “Jada and Jennifer are around here somewhere. And after breakfast, I think I saw Dane and the Kensingtons wander outside.”
“Right…thank you,” Avi said as she took off down the corridor.
“Back to it, I suppose,” said Thomas pretending to be burdened.
“Yep…back to the grind.”
“It is rather awful, isn’t it?”
“Oh, of course. Well…I mean…I will say, he is at least somewhat charming in a stern…masculine sort of way…which I can respect as a…as a man, myself. But…”
“But it’s just so…well…and I do admire her radiant and devil-may-care attitude. As a man, I find that attractive.”
“Oh, of course,” Jack agreed. “But as a man it’s still stupid.”
“So stupid…so stupid, indeed!”
“Thomas, wait! Don’t restart it from there. Avi came in and I missed what Mr. Bingley just said. Rewind it a few seconds.”
“There?”
“No…further…further…you know what, why don’t we just watch the entire scene again? You know…in case the girls test us to see if we read it or not.”
“It would be a travesty to go through all this trouble only to miss something the girls ask us about. And…and with that, if we feel like we missed other important parts, we could always go back and watch it again once it’s over.”
“The whole movie?”
“Well, I mean if we have to, we have to, right? As men.”
“That’s a valid point, Thomas.”
“Shh. I’m starting it again!”
“Oh, sorry…I’ve ruined it…better rewind it further, then.”
“Yes, well, I kind of have to, now. Don’t I?”
Except for the day she”d arrived, the weather was a little colder and cloudier than all her previous days at Hawthorne Hall. Avi spotted the Kensingtons right away. Sitting hand-in-hand on the stone edge of the garden fountain, they were busy saying to each other everything they needed to: absolutely nothing. Avi longed for that kind of love; the kind of love that was so confident in its accomplishments and longevity that it needed nothing more nor new. It welcomed both, though neither was a necessity.
A burst of breeze spun her to see Mr. MacKinnon sitting at one of the previous night’s guest tables and, yet again, he was hyper-focused on the contents of his notebook. Sensing her approach, Mr. MacKinnon closed it.
“Good morning, Mr. MacKinnon,” she said as he stood to bow. “Thank you for your decorum, but the rout is over.”
“It has nothin’ tae dae wi” decorum or the rout, Ms. Hawthorne. Yer beauty demands it.”
After a few moments of basking in his words, Avi continued, “I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to respond last night…about dancing with you.”
“Ah git it…with ye busy being arrested ‘n’ all…”
“Are those the rumors?” she asked with a laugh.
“Aye, at least th’ ones ah’ve been spreading.”
She slapped him on the shoulder before saying, “And here I was coming to make it up to you…”
“How so?” He then noticed the basket in her non-slapping hand. “Might it have anythin” tae dae wi” that?”
“Maybe. I was about to go for a ride down at the stables and seeing as you didn’t ride with the rest of the guests the other day, I wondered if you’d like to accompany me. And then if you’re hungry maybe we can…”
“Ms. Hawthorne,” he interrupted, “urr ye asking me oot on a date?”
“Heavens no. I’m simply saying yes to the date you asked me on and providing an alternative engagement.”
“A dance isnae a date,” he said.
“Of course it is. It’s a mini date and even more intimate than one riding separate horses or eating separate meals.”
He seemed to search his mind for a cunning retort, but she’d outwitted him.
“Of course, if you don’t want to…” she said as she turned to go inside.
“Ah never said that. Fine, I’ll oblige ye…bit only out o’ decorum.”
“Fine,” she said as she turned and began her embarkation down to the stables.
“Fine,” he said as he ran to catch up to her.
When they arrived at the stables, Avi assigned Big Winnie - the most hefty of the four mares - to Mr. MacKinnon. She, of course, took Gluestick and rode side saddle circles around her clumsy Scottish companion. As if trying to blame his poor showing as a horseman on the confines of the paddock, Mr. MacKinnon tried to convince Avi that Big Winnie would fare much better on the open fields of the estate. She didn’t. No horse would succeed under such poor direction, but her rider and his date both enjoyed the hours of riding across the vast acreage. They rode parts of the estate Avi had never seen before and eventually found a large beech tree under which they commenced picnicking. Mr. MacKinnon tied up the horses to some overhanging branches as Avi laid out lunch atop a thick navy blanket.
“So…grade me...how”d ah dae?”
She finished chewing and swallowed her strawberry before answering, “That depends…what grade scale do they use in Scotland?”
“A to D…bit grade me like this wis mah first time riding.”
“Was it your first time riding?”
“Na,” he said as they both laughed, “bit pretend t’was.”
“Okay, let’s see. I’d give you a solid… B-plus.”
“Och. Not bad…better than ah expected, at least.”
Suddenly, a chilling gale swept through lunch, knocking over their ciders and covering Avi’s neck and arms with goosebumps.
“Let me git that fur ye,” he said.
Avi thought he was going to clean up their drinks but instead, he stood up, removed his tailcoat, and draped it over her shivering shoulders.
“Thank you,” she said with a blush that warmed her more than the coat.
“Na problem,” he said as he picked up the drinks before laying down on his side and digging in.
“Mr. MacKinnon?”
“Aye?”
“Is it alright if I…ask you a personal question?”
“Ah suppose that depends on th’ question...”
She paused for a moment then asked, “Why did you break up with Bonnie?”
Mr. MacKinnon smiled and shook his head like he wasn’t going to answer and filled his mouth with another grape for good measure.
Still, Avi persisted, “She’s just so beautiful, and she seems to love you so much…”
He scoffed, “Bonnie does nae love me.”
“Yes, she does.”
“Ye think ye kin tell, huh?”
“Yes.”
“Efter four days?”
“Yes.”
“Weel, ah forgot ah was talkin’ tae an American.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” she said with an offended smile.
“It means ye conflate ev’ry word ye possibly kin.”
“I don’t follow,” she said.
“Ah mean ye use th” word love like it means a hundred different things…ye love cheeseburgers, ye love yer Maw, ye love yer chums, ye love yer books, ye love yer brother, ye’ll love yer husband, ye’ll love yer kids…bit what ye feel for each o’ them ‘n’ how ye show it…they’re completely different. So, o’ course…by yer definition ah still love Bonnie ‘n’ Bonnie still loves me, bit...”
“Alright, then…which of those examples of love, you just mentioned, best describes the way Bonnie loves you.”
Mr. Mackinnon thought for a moment and responded, “like a cheeseburger.” Avi laughed as Mr. MacKinnon’s countenance became a little more somber. “Like a cheeseburger that has pickles ”n” tomato ‘n’...condiments she didnae mean to order.”
Avi didn’t understand but couldn’t help but feel a little sad.
“And…which of those examples would describe your love for Bonnie?”
Without hesitating he said, “Ah love Bonnie like ah love mah football team…ah wish ‘em well, bit they keep on pissin’ me off too much t’ stick around.”
Avi laughed so hard she snorted; which only made her snort again. She waved her hand back and forth in front of her nose practically begging for it to stop, but it wouldn’t.
“Och, how embarrassing fur ye,” he said through a chortle.
“I’m sorry…oh, I’m so sorry. There…all better.”
“Juist breathe…”
“I’m fine…and I have a comment….about what you were saying.”
“Mmm…cannae wait…”
“No, I’m serious. I think…now bear with me for a moment…I think you’re absolutely right.”
“Good…sae whit’s there tae bear?”
“Let me finish. I think you’re right in that maybe love was not the best way to describe what Bonnie still feels for you, but…I think she is very much in love with you still.”
“Okay...whit”s th” difference?”
“Well…I think being in love is being in the process of learning to love someone perfectly…you said yourself we use the word love to mean so many different things, but I think there’s an ideal out there…a perfect love that’s attainable…maybe not even in this life…because it’s only achieved after a lifetime of learning it.”
“Whit?” he asked.
“I mean it doesn’t come naturally to any of us. It’s so against our very natures. It’s selfless and enduring and strengthens with the fading of physical attraction.”
“Like th’ kind o’ love two wrinkly, ugly, ol’ fowk share…”
“Exactly. It’s a love that has no shortcuts, which makes it so rare…especially today. But whenever you’re on that path…whether you’re one second or one hundred years in that process of learning that perfect love, you’re in love.”
Mr. MacKinnon sat up straight on the blanket deep in thought.
“Sae teenagers…puppy love…they could still be legitimately…”
“In love…yes,” she said.
“Mr. ‘n’ Mrs. Kensington…in love.”
“Of course.”
“Bonnie?”
“Yes, because she still hasn’t let go of you and gotten off that path and process.”
“N’ what about…” he said before pausing.
“What?” she asked.
“Well…by yer definition…ye could be in love with me…”
“No. I mean…in theory, yes…but…no.”
“Na?”
“No.”
“How so? Ah mean here we are on this lovely date…way more than one second into it…”
“I know, but…”
“N’ ye said even one second on that path ‘n’ process, sae…”
“Well…perhaps my theory could use some… fine-tuning.”
“Ah see…” he said.
“You’re rather pleased with yourself, aren’t you?”
“A little.”
“Mmm. Well, I have one more question for you…”
“Na…na way! Ah answered like…five o’ yer questions. ‘Tis mah turn.”
“What? No! I just answered your question as to what the difference between love and in love is…”
“Na! That wis an extension of a question ye already asked…”
“Fine…fine. Just go…”
A slight drizzle started to patter against the overhead leaves that somewhat shielded them.
“Uh oh,” he said, “rain’s pickin’ up.”
“It’s little more than a mist. Ask your question, Mr. MacKinnon.”
“Mah question from lest night has still gone unanswered…”
“Will I dance with you?”
“Na…why don’t ye drink?”
Unlike the night before, Avi had time to think about her answer, and her initial gut response to the thought was to shrink in pain. She could only recall one occasion where she had summoned the strength to talk about her parents’ deaths with her siblings, and that was years ago…and that was with them. Could she talk about it with Mr. MacKinnon? Should she even? Her mind spun like a worshipful whirling dervish, and even though he couldn’t gauge the strength of her internal tempest, she discerned his fear that his question had somehow crossed a line.
“Ye don’t need tae answer if…”
“No, it’s okay,” she said, and to her surprise, it was. “Umm…it’s kind of a long story, but about twenty years ago…my parents were at one of my dad’s work parties. On the way home they got into an accident and both my parents died on impact. And alcohol was involved, so…”
She was never good at telling stories. They were always far too short and focused on the most important points rather than the fine details that best communicated the emotions associated with the events.
“Mo creach-sa thainig!” He said as if the shock of her story had caused him to forget to westernize his Gaelic. “Ah’m sae sorry. Ah hope th” other driver”s still rottin’ in prison somewhere.”
“There was no other driver,” she said before pausing. “Dad had a little too much to drink at the party. Mom did too, and we were told Dad went off the road and hit a tree.”
“Ah shouldn’t ‘ave asked,” he said. “A’m an eejit.”
“No…forget it. I’m fine. I just feel bad if my story ruins the fun we were having. If I asked you the same question about not drinking, would your response put just as much a damper on our picnic as mine?”
“Mibbie…Ah mean, mah story also involves mah maw ‘n’ da… ‘n’ there was some trauma ah guess ye’d say.”
“I can ask another question if…”
“Na, ah’m a’right. Sae when ah was sixteen, ah came home blootered…drunk…from one o’ mah pal’s pairties. Ah figured Maw ‘n’ Da wid be in bed, bit they wer’ waitin’ up fur me.”
“Did you try to sneak in through a window?”
“Na, ah tried sneakin’ in thro” th” front door…dinnae work.”
Avi was back to laughing again.
“Afore ah knew what wis happening, Maw wis yelling in mah face. Da wis yelling in mah face. Th” room wis whirling ‘n’ mah head wis hurting. Suddenly, a saw mah dinner, snacks, ”n” drinks all over Maw’s face ‘n’ blouse…Ah boked everywhere.”
“You puked…on your mom?”
“Aye. Ah did, ‘n’ ah’m still ashamed. Ye ever boke all over an angel? ‘Cause ah have. Tis a grave sin. Th’ saint o’ a woman even stayed up all night holdin” th’ long locks ah used tae have as ah repeatedly dry heaved over th” lavvy. Ah’ve never had a desire tae drink again.”
Avi tried to fight her urge to laugh. She could see the night”s traumatizing impact on him, but she couldn’t help it.
“Now, don’t ye snort again, Ms. Hawthorne…Ah’m bearin’ mah soul tae ye.”
“I’m so sorry…I’m so sorry, but it’s funny.” Mr. MacKinnon smiled as she continued, “Someday I shall have to meet your saintly angel mother and ask her about that night.”
“She’d have loved tae meet ye.”
“She...she passed away?”
“A little over a year ago,” he said with a nod.
“I’m so sorry…now I feel like an…what’d you say? An eejit?”
In an instant, a flash of white lightning followed exactly by a clap of thunder startled them and their horses. Gluestick reared and pulled with full force on her rope as Big Winnie cowered in fear. Mr. MacKinnon rose and ran to stop her, but it was too late. Gluestick had gotten herself loose and darted off across the marshy meadow.
“Whoa, Gluestick!” shouted Avi, but she was already well beyond the hill. As she watched her favorite mare fade into the distance, the droplets of rain seemed to connect, forming raging torrents in the atmosphere all around her.
Untying Big Winnie, Mr. MacKinnon yelled over the roaring deluge and thunder, “C”moan, let”s go efter her!”
“In an open field?! We”ll be galloping lightning rods! We have to wait for the storm to pass!”
“Whit about yer horse?!”
“She’ll be fine!” Avi hoped aloud. ”She knows where the stable is!”
With that, Avi sat on the ground as close to the tree as she could, pulled her knees up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them to try and stay warm. Her teeth chattered and her drenched body shook uncontrollably from the cold. Having already given her his coat, Mr. MacKinnon had nothing more to give except himself. With a hesitation that said he was half expecting her to slap him for his uninvited touch, Mr. MacKinnon sat down, wrapped his arms around Avi’s quivering body, and rubbed her shoulders to try and generate heat. She allowed it with gratitude and savored the sensation of his embrace and the racing of her heart. Their breath poured out like smoke into the cold, falling sky, but no words accompanied the haze. For the first time all day, they didn’t need words.
After a few minutes, Mr. MacKinnon said, “Ye know…ah think ah know why this is happenin…”
“Why?” she asked in a scattered whisper.
“Tis mah angel mither punishing ye fur laughing at her story.”
The shivering made it almost painful to laugh, but yet again, she couldn’t help it.
After fifteen minutes of fighting to stay warm, the darkest cluster of clouds blew East, revealing the sun and its unabated heat. Mr MacKinnon stood up while still holding fast to his female companion.
“Let”s git this off ye,” he insisted, removing his tailcoat from her shoulders. “This soaked thing will only make ye colder now.”
“Thank you,” she said as her trembling began to subside. Then came her epiphany. “Oh no!”
“Whit? Whit is it?”
“What time is it?”
Mr. MacKinnon pulled out his phone, checked the time, and said “Two-twenty-three…why?”
“I need to be back by three-thirty, but we should be fine if we start heading back now.”
Avi climbed up on the horse.
“Yer afraid Bonnie’s gonna see us on th’ same horse ‘n’ freak out, aren”t ye?” he asked.
“Of course I am. She’s a paying customer. I’m the owner. It doesn’t bode well for business when the owner is sharing a horse…soaking wet…with another woman’s ex…especially when he wasn’t her ex before she got here.”
“We”re gonna share a horse?” he asked with a childlike grin, obviously missing everything else she’d said. “Ah thought ah wis juist gonna walk along side ye all th’ way back.”
Avi tried to look angry. When she failed she said, “Hurry up,” and scooted forward to make room.
He pulled himself up and sat behind her, but he sat a ways back. It was unfortunate. He had always come off as playful and flirtatious, yet he had now twice in mere minutes demonstrated a reluctance to contact. She, on the other hand, tended to take a more silent and distant approach to the opposite sex. The sudden tsunami of openness, laughter, and human contact under the beech tree altogether astonished her. She had depleted her daily word count in a matter of minutes with Mr. MacKinnon, but what surprised her most was her proclivity to his touch.
“That’s not going to work,” she said.
“Whit won’t?”
“She’s a big girl, but we’re already exceeding the weight she’s comfortable carrying. The last thing she needs is to have you sitting on her dock. If it were Gluestick she’d have thrown us by now.”
Avi wasn’t lying. Not only did she want her horse comfortable, she knew Big Winnie would get them back faster with Mr. MacKinnon’s weight off her hip. But, more than anything, she wanted a reason to draw him back in.
“Where should ah sit, then?”
“Over the true ribs.”
“Are there such things as false ribs?” he asked before looking down at the horse’s side to get his bearings. “Bit that’s where ye’re sitting.”
“I never said it wouldn’t be cozy. Hurry, please. She’s uncomfortable.” Mr. MacKinnon scooted forward.
“Closer,” she said.
“There?”
“No…how would you like it if someone sat there on you?”
“Ah”m pretty sure ah”d be uncomfortable if anybody sat anywhere along mah spine.”
“Mr. MacKinnon…” she said.
“Sorry.”
He inched forward.
“Closer.”
Again.
“Closer.”
He inched forward until there was no gap between them and said, “Any closer ‘n’ ah’ll be ridin’ up front.”
“Well, I’m sorry,” she said, “but this is how you double. I hope you can bear it.”
“Ye’re juist sae innocent. Ah don’t know whit tae do wi’ mah hands that’s appropriate.”
Avi looked back over her shoulder and saw Mr. MacKinnon’s hands raised high above his head to avoid any ungentlemanly contact. If her sides and jaw weren’t still aching from all the lunchtime laughter and compulsive shivering, she would have done more than grin.
“A little higher maybe. Yep, that’s perfect… just like that.”
Mr. MacKinnon chuckled and said, “Och, ye think ah won’t keep ‘em up here th’ whole ride, do ye?”
He wouldn’t. He tried of course, but after several minutes of teasing her by riding with his hands stretched toward heaven, they began their descent. She watched his hands drop to his knees which, for all intents and purposes, were her thighs based on their proximity. With a stroke of courage, Avi removed her right hand from the picnic basket she’d been carrying in her lap and rested it atop her upper leg. There, she waited with anxious impatience for the grazings of his wrist that came with every other rocking motion from the galloping horse. The rest of the way back, nothing was said aloud. There was no playful banter. There were no questions or answers. The only words said were those spoken through their skin.
As they approached Hawthorne Hall, Avi didn”t even care that they’d beaten the van home. Her mind was elsewhere…speeding through the blur of romance’s heavy haze. They stopped the mare just outside the garden hedges on the east side of the mansion house as Mr. MacKinnon dismounted and reached up to help Avi down. He placed his soft hands against her damp sides and with little effort, lowered her past his piercing stare.
Back on solid ground, she noticed his hands remaining at her side. Avi looked down at the buttons of his shirt, afraid that even a fraction of a second”s glance would have her lost forever in the blizzard of his arctic blue eyes. She instinctively placed her hands against his chest, uncertain if her intent was to establish a barrier or to reciprocate his welcomed physicality. Stepping away from his delicate embrace, she found her half-hearted inertia inadequate to escape. With vigorous gentility, he held her in place; not quite ready to let her go. Had she so desired, Avi knew she could break free with even the slightest jerk despite the strength he possessed to hold her there indefinitely. Finally, the boldness of his soft clasp inspired her to peer into the winter storm. His irises raged turbulent with want. And in their reflections, she saw her eyes telling a very dichotomous tale; one that began with a passive demand to be let go and ended with the euphoric inquiry, “What are you waiting for?”
“Mr. MacKinnon,” she vulnerably whispered, “this behavior is quite unbecoming of a gentleman.”
“Ah’m sorry Ms. Hawthorne. Please excuse mah impropriety, bit with how beautiful ye are…it feels improper not tae,” he said as she once again felt him inching closer towards her.
“To what?” she barely said, as she slowly rose on her tiptoes, growing ever closer to his beaconing, full lips.
“Tae…tae…”