Chapter 12
They’ve spent more time fixing up the dairy farm than they have back at the house, and Wyatt’s glad for it.
Wouldn’t say it’s part of a plan to sway them into staying here, but he hopes they might fall in love with the place.
It’s larger than where they’re at now, with more land to farm and more animals to tend.
They could easily bring their current herd of goats down the road and…
no, he’s getting ahead of himself. Making plans as if this situation is permanent, and it’s not.
He hasn’t slept well in days. Fucked up nightmares keep him awake. Gwen screaming for her life up in the frozen tundra of Alaska, something he never actually heard but can imagine well enough to manifest while unconscious, or Addison dying after having that baby.
Their encounter with Jeff put a lot into perspective.
It made it crystal clear that he needs to stop thinking about how much he wants to leave this place in search of some mythical safe zone and focus on what’s important.
They’ve made plans to get the ultrasound machine next week, and he’s spent every free moment with his nose in those books.
It still doesn’t feel like enough. They should be seeking out a community with a doctor, but that could be asking for more trouble.
He can’t let what happened to Jeff and his baby happen to Addison.
Her own anxiety seems to have eased once they started spending more time on this new farm. She looks as happy as Emma when they load up every morning to come here and work on crossing projects off the list.
Today, though, her eagerness to get rid of him is suspicious.
“When do you think you’ll go hunting for dinner?” she asks, sweeping the same patch of kitchen floor she’s already swept ten times.
“Why?”
“No reason. Just hungry.”
They have boxes of snacks from the other house, so he knows she’s in no danger of starving. “Do you and Emma wanna come along?”
“Not this time. There’s so much to do…” she trails off, her smile one hundred percent fake. “Soon, though.”
Is she growing tired of him already? Has he been hovering too often?
Her behavior lately gives him whiplash, though he isn’t one to judge when it comes to running hot and cold. He’d tried to keep her from realizing how attracted he is to her, but over-corrected and pushed her away.
She was about to ask him something at the library that he knew would sound like, ‘why are you being so weird?’ So he’s done his best to stop behaving like he’s annoyed with her in an effort to hide his feelings.
Since then, she’s been looking at him differently. Gives him delicate smiles while glancing at his lips on a semi-regular basis, and he’s caught her staring at him more than once when she thinks he’s not looking.
If he didn’t know better, he might think she’s…attracted to him, too. Flirting with him even, but her insistence that he leave her alone now reminds him that he’s reading the signs all wrong.
“I keep saying you don’t have to do all this cleaning. The book says to avoid strenuous activities,” he warns.
“Wyatt, I’m fine. I feel great. The morning sickness is even gone today. I can sweep.” She stares out the window at a perfectly sunny day. “The weather looks sketchy. You should get going before it rains.”
Okay, she really is trying to get rid of him.
Fine, he thinks with a stubborn frown. If she wants food, then he’ll show her exactly how good he is at rustling up a meal.
* * *
He returns that evening with a string of rabbits and a full-sized deer on his shoulders. All the game is out in full force with the arrival of early winter, trying to stock up on food for the long haul.
Addison’s smile is quick as she watches him offer up his catch. “You scored!”
“Damn right I did. Come on, I’ll show you both how to prep ‘em. We’re eating good tonight.”
She may have been sick of him earlier, but now he’s proven he has value. He can bring home dinner from the wasteland, and that isn’t something she can ignore.
They spend an hour prepping meat for stew before Emma and Addison disappear into the house with sneaky looks between them.
This shit is getting out of hand. He’ll have to say something soon.
When he sees them again, they’ve dressed up for dinner and left him speechless.
“We found these in one of the rooms. Aren’t they pretty?” Emma flutters the edges of her new dress with little purple flowers across the fabric.
He nods, trying not to stare at Addison’s newly revealed collarbones and how that deep red dress hugs her just right at the hips before flaring out. It’s the kind of thing he assumes women wear on summer days for picnics or whatever type of event calls for a swishy dress.
Swallowing hard, he is transfixed by the sight of her. “What’s the occasion?”
“There isn’t one,” Addison replies. “Feels good to wear something pretty for a change, that’s all. I’m lucky I found one to fit.”
“Nice. Real nice. It suits you.” He almost chokes on the air in his mouth.
She looks at him like it’s the best compliment she’s ever gotten, so maybe he hasn’t completely fucked up yet.
Or so he thinks, but those thoughts are dashed when they both act strangely during dinner.
There’s a secret brewing. It makes him uncomfortable and wary, even though he knows he shouldn’t be.
“You two got something you wanna say?” He gets right to the point. They’ve been glancing at each other all through the meal, and he’s about to come out of his skin with fear of the unknown.
Addison bites her lip. “We have something to show you.”
He follows them up the stairs and to the last bedroom at the end of the hall.
Addison flings open the door after a long pause, holding her hands out Vanna White style. “What do you think?”
This room was dirty and dark the last time he saw it, but they’ve clearly worked on it in secret.
“Looks good.” He squints. “When did you do this?”
“Oh, here and there. While you were cursing at that baby cow that keeps escaping and trying to herd it back into the pen, and then today, while you were hunting.”
“That cow is a menace.” So that’s why she’s been so eager to shove him out the door and why no one helped him corral that calf.
“We washed the curtains and took the boards off the windows, and there was even some clean bedding in the dryer. And the flowers, did you see them? Aren’t they pretty? We picked those from the other house.” Emma says, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
“Knocked it outta the park. It’ll be a good spot for you two to sleep if something happens and we gotta stay here,” he agrees.
Emma’s face falls.
Addison goes quiet, one hand landing lightly on his arm. “No, Wyatt, it’s for you. We fixed this room up for you.”
He gapes at her. Suddenly, all the hard work put into this space jumps out at him like he’s seeing it for the first time. The windows are clean, not a spot of dirt or dust.
The bed is made up with fresh sheets, and the corner is turned down like a fancy hotel.
All the stains on the hardwood floors are gone, and a small cup holds several stems of yellow flowers.
They did this all for him.
“We’ve been thinking,” Addison continues.
“That moving here might be a good idea. This place is bigger, it has more resources and fireplaces for winter. It’s safer to be here if Vincent comes looking.
To be honest, it just feels more like a fresh start.
It could be good for all of us. What do you think?
I um…I know that you’re attached to the other house for good reason.
You grew up there after all, and I’m not suggesting that we abandon it.
I just hope that you might see fit to join us here for the majority of our time? ”
This is what he wanted but was too afraid to ask for, fearing she might say no. Now, she’s done up this room for him as if he needs a fancy place to stay to sway his opinion on the matter. As if the two of them aren’t enough all on their own to make him stick around.
She fears he may let them split off into two separate living situations, and not for the first time, he wants to punch her husband square in the jaw for shucking them like trash on the sidewalk.
“Only if you want to,” Addison continues quickly when he fails to answer right away.
“We can keep supplies at the other house for safety reasons. And some of the animals can stay there, too. It doesn’t mean we never go back.
I know you wanna stay there, I get that.
This is only an option, and if you hate it here, that’s okay too. ”
“We’ll need to bring the goats over,” he agrees.
“We can still tend the land over there and keep both places running, but I think staying here full time is the best plan, at least over winter. You know this farm is an easier target, though, right? It’s got better fences for the dead, but if other people find it, they could try to take it from us. ”
“I know. I still think it’s worth it.”
“Okay then. Let’s stay here.”
Addison grins, her hand on his arm, giving it a little squeeze.
Emma twirls in the middle of the room, arms out wide. “I love our new house!”
Our house. That’s got him ready to get choked up if he’s not careful.
“You didn’t have to do all this. Fixing the room up. But thank you. And I um…about the other place and me growing up there, I think we need to talk about—”
“You deserve to have somewhere peaceful, Wyatt,” Addison tells him with a dismissive wave. “You haven’t seemed very happy there, and I got to thinking that maybe you might not have the best memories of that place. A change of scenery for a while could be nice. You don’t have to explain anything.”