Chapter 11 #2
Gravel crunched under the truck tires as Grant and Everly arrived at Abel’s cabin the next afternoon.
Everly let herself out and stretched, her movements languid after a morning—most of the day, if she was honest with herself—spent in bed with Grant.
At least they’d taken enough time to make a dessert to avoid showing up totally empty-handed, she mused as she grabbed the chocolate pie from the dash.
Who would have guessed this man could bake?
She glanced at him through the windshield as he walked around the front of the truck and felt a blush creep into her cheeks, which was ridiculous considering he’d gotten up close and personal with just about every part of her over the last twenty-four hours.
He’d been so gentle with her body, just as she’d always imagined he would be.
Now the only question was how badly he would hurt her heart when this inevitably ended.
“Let me carry that for you.” Grant took the heavy dish as he reached her, then rested his other hand against the small of her back. He brushed his lips across her temple and shot her a look that had her insides melting. “You look gorgeous,” he murmured.
“Thank you,” she said, glancing down at the jeans and lightweight sweater she’d thrown on.
Nothing fancy, yet somehow she knew that Grant was telling her the truth.
She leaned into him as they walked towards the house, savoring the warmth of his hand and feeling every bit like the couple that Abel believed them to be.
“Come on in!” their host hollered from the porch, lifting a hand in welcome. His cabin resembled Grant’s in both shape and size, as if they’d been built from the same floor plan. Everly figured they probably had.
The gravel gave way to grass that swished beneath their feet, and the scent of sun-warmed earth mingled with the sweet smell of flowers.
Blooms of every color tumbled from pots on the porch and spilled out of garden beds lining the path: roses, peonies, petunias, and other flowers that Everly had never even seen before.
Dappled sunlight danced across the lawn and up the weathered wood siding, gilding everything it touched with a golden-hour glow.
A lean, long-legged coonhound came bounding from the side of the house, ears flapping and tongue lolling, tail wagging like a banner as it raced toward them with a joyful bay.
“Hey, Buddy!” Grant greeted the dog, stooping to scratch behind his ears. Buddy immediately flopped over for a belly rub, his tail still thumping in the grass while he waited.
Everly obliged with a tummy scratch, but Buddy made no move to get up, content to sunbathe in their path. Grant stepped around him with a chuckle, guiding Everly toward the steps as the floorboards of the porch creaked under their weight.
Abel opened the front door wide as they reached the porch. “Glad to see you two.” He and Grant shook hands.
“Thanks for having us, Mr. Mason,” Everly said as she offered her hand.
“Call me Abel, ma’am,” he said with a grin as he shook her hand.
He whistled, and Buddy charged through the yard and up the steps, barreling through the door behind them.
Everly inhaled deeply. “It smells amazing in here.”
“I hope y’all are hungry,” Abel said, already heading for the kitchen. “Green beans, homemade biscuits, and chicken and dumplings on the stove.”
Grant set the pie on the counter. “And chocolate pie for dessert.” He glanced through the window over the sink and frowned. “You haven’t tilled your garden yet?”
“Oh, I’ve been puttin’ it off,” Abel said. “My arthritis has been acting up so bad I can hardly hold onto the tiller long enough to make a dent in anything. Been meanin’ to hire somebody to do it for me, but haven’t gotten around to that either.”
“I’ll do it for you,” Grant offered. “Right now, before we eat. Won’t take me long at all.”
“Well, now, I didn’t invite you over here to put you to work—”
“Oh, he’s barely been outside all day,” Everly teased, trying to make it a little easier for Abel to accept Grant’s offer. “Some fresh air will do him good.” She winked at him before turning to Abel.
“Well, son, if you insist…would be nice to have it done.” He shuffled over to a row of hooks on the wall and removed a key. “This’ll get you into the shed. I sure thank you.”
Grant took the key and let himself out the back door. “Be back in a bit!” he called as the screen door slapped shut behind him.
Abel turned to Everly. “Why don’t you have a seat, Miss Everly.” He motioned toward the living room they’d passed through a moment ago.
She sat on the faded floral loveseat and couldn’t help but notice the portrait that sat on the end table. A much younger Abel in a suit and tie, standing next to a beautiful Black woman in a knee-length white dress, both of them beaming.
He followed her line of sight. “That’s Ruthie and me on our wedding day,” he told her, his eyes growing soft.
“She was a beauty,” Everly said.
“Inside and out,” he agreed, crossing the room to pull a thick album from a bookshelf. He handed it to her, then sat down next to her. Buddy followed him onto the sofa and curled up with his head in Abel’s lap.
She opened the worn cover. More wedding photos adorned the pages. Abel & Ruth on the steps of a chapel. Cutting a wedding cake. Looking out from the backseat of a getaway car. “That was 1972,” Abel said, peering over her arm. “Seems like yesterday sometimes.”
“You both look so happy,” she commented.
“Oh, we were,” he said. He flipped to the next page, to photos of the two of them standing on the steps of a cabin.
Grant’s cabin, she realized. “Of course, folks around here had a lot to say when we married, and none of it was kind. But I didn’t care.
From the moment I saw her, I was a goner.
I just knew. I knew in my soul that she was mine. ”
“Do you have any children?” Everly asked, her throat suddenly tight.
Abel smiled and shook his head, then flipped to the next page. A photo of Ruth holding a beagle pup and sitting in front of Abel’s cabin was the only one on the page. “Ruth and Bingo,” Everly read out loud.
“We never were able to start a family,” Abel said quietly.
“But Ruthie was always taking in stray animals, and our pets were like children to us. Bingo was a hunting dog that didn’t hunt too well,” he chuckled.
“Somebody dumped him along the highway and he found his way up here and became ours. I’ve kept on like she would’ve wanted, taking in the ones nobody wants. That’s where Buddy here came from.”
He patted the hound, then ran wizened fingers over the photograph, tracing the elegant loop of Ruth’s name. “I’d give anything for one more day with her. But I know I’ll get it. Just gotta wait my turn.”
Everly blinked back tears and had to clear her throat before she could speak again. “She was lucky to have you.”
Abel smiled faintly. “I was the lucky one.”
She squeezed his hand. “I imagine it can get pretty lonely up here sometimes,” she said softly.
He let the album close with a soft thud.
“It can,” he agreed as he rose to return it to the bookshelf.
“I drive into town pretty regularly. But I’m always glad when Grant is staying at the cabin.
Good to have company close by.” He crossed to the kitchen window and peered out, then shook his head with a small huff of amusement.
“That boy always finds something to do every time he’s here. Won’t take no for an answer.”
Outside, the tiller roared steadily. Everly rose and peered through the back door to see Grant managing the machine easily, turning over the earth so that his neighbor didn’t have to. “Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me at all,” she told Abel. “He’s been that way for as long as I’ve known him.”
He nodded. “First time he ever set foot in this house, he patched up a crack in one of my windows. Still airtight to this day. He makes sure I’m stocked with firewood in the winter. Leaves food on my porch, claiming he’s bought too much. I swear I’ve gone plumb soft ever since he came around.”
Everly smiled to herself. If only Abel knew just how selfless Grant had been these past few days. “He’s got a good heart,” she said, joining him in the kitchen.
“He does. And I can tell you do too. I hope he’ll bring you up here again,” Abel commented as he stirred a pot on the stove.
Everly hesitated. “I’d like that very much. Things are complicated between us, though.” She took a small stack of plates that he handed her and began to set the table. “I’m not sure that Grant wants anything permanent.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t be so certain. He looks happier around you than I’ve ever seen him. Walks a little lighter. That’s a man in love if I ever saw one.”
Grant? In love with her? Everly knew he wasn’t planning anything for the two of them beyond this time together. He’d said as much yesterday, that this couldn’t go anywhere. Still…a small part of her warmed at the thought.
A few more minutes passed, and then the muted rumble of the garden tiller suddenly ceased. Abel glanced out the window again. “Done just in time for dinner. He made short work of that, and I’m grateful. Now I can get my spring crops planted out.”
“He’s the best man I’ve ever known,” Everly said softly as she laid silverware next to each plate, still considering Abel’s earlier comments.
Grant had gone above and beyond to help her, but that didn’t mean he was in love.
He helped everyone. The fact that they’d gotten physical…
she couldn’t let herself read too much into that.
“You got yourself a good one,” Abel told her, before stepping out onto the back porch. His muffled voice carried through the closed door, calling Grant to come inside and eat.
Everly smiled to herself and crossed into the kitchen to finish preparing. Grant was a good one. She just hoped she could keep him.
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