Beneath These Fields

by Ward Maia

  He held one of his aunt’s ledgers loosely in his hands. The red numbers flashed through his head. He was still reviewing that period some ten years ago when the farm started to incur more debt than profit.

  Ellis would readily admit he wasn’t the most business-savvy person. However, even to him, buying an extra plot of land while buried deep in debt didn’t seem like a good idea. Yet that was exactly what Meredith Campos had done.

  The land to the east, bordering the farm, was put up for sale, and his aunt bought it, sinking a significant amount of money she didn’t have into an empty lot. And even more money into preparing the land and planting new coffee stalks and then having to wait until they were big enough to start producing.

  It seemed, financially, like the wrong move. Still, against everything Ellis expected, a short amount of time after that, the farm started to recover from the financial hole his aunt had sunk it into.

  Ellis turned his head to the general direction he thought east was. From where he sat, he couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Just the familiar rolling hills greeted him. He’d have to go there and… and what? See if there was anything unusual? How the hell was he even supposed to tell if there was something there?

  The sound of car doors closing pulled him out of his musings. A few minutes after that, Rudá walked toward him, pulling off the wide-brimmed hat he wore and stopping a few steps down from where he sat.

  Ellis’s stomach did a little flip as those dark eyes and grin landed on him. His mouth went dry as he remembered the glassy look in those eyes as he raked his nails down the other man’s back at the same time their bodies rocked against each other.

  He felt his cheeks warm and looked away, clearing his throat. He turned his gaze back to the east, and his mind was now a jumble of confusion, suspicion, and lust. Great.

  “Hey,” Ellis said, casting a flitting look over Rudá before turning away again.

  “Hi,” Rudá said and took the few steps separating them, sitting next to Ellis and directly in his line of sight, forcing Ellis to focus on him.

  “How was your day?” Rudá twirled his hat in his hand. He tilted his head to the side, trying to get hair out of his eyes.

  Ellis itched to push the strands away, but he curled his fingers into his palms, resisting the urge, unsure if his touch would be welcome.

  “Spent it going over some documents.” Ellis shrugged and rested the ledger more firmly onto his lap.

  Rudá’s attention flitted to the ledger and then back at Ellis. Ellis could almost see the thoughts working their way through the other man’s head. The fear and caution he saw cross his face made Ellis’s stomach drop.

  He knew there were things Rudá kept from him. But after the intimacy they’d shared the previous night he’d hoped… what, exactly? That Rudá would just come out and confess all of his secrets?

  Because they had sex once? Okay, maybe twice.

  “How was your day?” Ellis gave him what he hoped was a polite smile.

  The coziness of the situation did not escape him. Never would he have thought he’d be here, asking another man how his day was while trying to figure out a decade-old mystery.

  “Good. Had some meetings in town,” Rudá said.

  Ellis nodded as they lapsed into silence. It was a little awkward but not entirely uncomfortable.

  Rudá reached out to him, as if sensing his need to be physically reassured that what happened between them wasn’t a fluke or that Ellis’s confusing thoughts and emotions weren’t one-sided.

  His hand landed on Ellis’s shoulder, his fingers digging in briefly when Ellis still chose to remain silent. The weight of his hand disappeared, and he mourned the loss, even if the warm imprint of it lingered. But then he reached for Ellis again, hesitating only briefly before placing his hand on the side of his neck.

  Ellis closed his eyes despite himself when Rudá’s hot skin met his. He brushed his thumb over Ellis’s jaw, and the raspy sound his calluses made against Ellis’s stubble made him shiver. He leaned into the contact and sighed. Under normal circumstances, Ellis would never allow anyone to get this handsy with him. But they knew enough of each other to be… friends. Right? Or at least friendly acquaintances.

  Right. Friendly sexual acquaintances.

  At that moment, Ellis could imagine nothing better than locking himself in his room with Rudá and spending the rest of the day with his callused hands running over all of him, learning all the shapes of his body while Ellis did the same to him.

  Rudá’s thumb continued his slow torture, and Ellis sighed.

  “What were you doing out in the fields last night?” Rudá asked, thumb still caressing his jaw.

  “Trying to find… something,” Ellis mumbled, looking out to the fields.

  “Did you find it? I mean, before Duke tried to—how was it you said it—‘drag you down to the depths of Tartarus’?”

  The question startled a laugh out of Ellis, easing some of the tension that had been building inside of him. Rudá chuckled alongside him, and when they trailed off, the space between them was occupied by an amicable silence.

  “I had fun last night,” Rudá said quietly.

  “Me too.” Ellis cleared his throat and swallowed down his nerves.

  Rudá smiled and pulled one of Ellis’s hands into his.

  “Come on. I’m hungry and in need of a shower,” Rudá said.

  Ellis sucked in a breath at the image of a soapy, wet Rudá. Rudá must’ve read his mind because he smiled that mischievous dimpled smile that made Ellis’s heart do a backflip. Even if he told himself it was just a result of the sudden movement as Rudá pulled him to his feet, their chests bumping.

  “A shower sounds like a good idea,” Ellis said.

  “It does,” Rudá said in a husky voice as he pulled Ellis behind him and into the house.

  Chapter 16

  THE DAYS that followed were filled with more food and sex than Ellis ever remembered having. And of course, coffee.

  He kept digging into his aunt’s ledgers, but so far, nothing else seemed out of the ordinary. From what he could tell, things were stable and even prospering. There were a couple of missing ledgers and documents, but Ellis found himself not worrying about those as much as he would’ve when first arriving at the farm.

  His days were filled with work and reading. His evenings filled with exploring hands and breathless kisses.

  With Rudá’s soft chuckle when Ellis’s stubble tickled his stomach as he promised to show him his secret technique. Followed by demands for “more” and “God, don’t stop” and stuttering moans as his fingers pulled at Ellis’s scalp.

  They were also filled with pictures. Ellis took to wanting to make a record of everything. From the fields to the house and the people. Even of Ina, even if she was still less than sympathetic toward him.

  Ellis had relaxed more after she left and then felt guilty, because Rudá clearly liked having his sister around.

  A knock on the door pulled Ellis’s attention from more distracting thoughts. He looked up from the documents he was reading at his aunt’s desk and saw Mr. Mustache—Seu Jorge—standing in the doorway.

  He looked like he was smiling, but even though Ellis had gotten more familiar with his facial expressions, it was still hard to tell. Because of the mustache and all.

  He said something Ellis thought sounded like “visit” and… “thieves.” Ellis wasn’t sure. The other man tilted his head toward the stairs, and Ellis nodded. He shuffled the papers into a drawer and followed the man out. Even if he couldn’t understand Seu Jorge, he’d find out if thieves had come to visit or not.

  Seu Jorge turned out to not be too far off the mark with the visiting thieves comment.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Campos.” The man with the mustache—Ellis was beginning to think it was a fashion thing around these parts—and honest-to-God sideburns extended his hand to Ellis.

  “The pleasure is mine, Mr….?” Ellis said politely.r />
  “Carlos Madeira. You can call me Carlos. This is my son, Diego.” He indicated the man that looked like a younger version of him with his thumb.

  “Pleasure, Mr. Campos,” Diego said, in a smooth and surprisingly deep voice.

  “Call me Ellis.” Ellis shook the younger man’s hand. “To what do we owe the pleasure?” Ellis plastered on his most polite smile.

  Carlos hooked his thumb in his belt buckle and nodded as he spoke.

  “It’s my understanding that you intend to sell the Blue Feathers Coffee Farm, Mr. Campos. Sorry, Ellis.” He gave Ellis what was by all accounts a friendly smile.

  The question irritated him for some reason. His hackles rose, and his first instinct was to deny it and politely escort them out. It took him longer than it should have to remember that, actually, he did want to sell the farm, and the fact that there were potential buyers coming to him instead of having to look for them or, worse, rely on Meredith’s lawyer, Francisco, to look for them, was a good thing.

  Ellis nodded jerkily and motioned for the men to follow him into the living room. Once they were all seated—except for Seu Jorge, who stood in the corner with his arms crossed, glaring at the two men—Ellis smiled, but it felt strained.

  “You mentioned something about the farm,” Ellis said after getting the niceties of asking them if they wanted anything to drink out of the way.

  “Yes.” Carlos crossed his legs. “We would be very interested in purchasing your farm.”

  “Why?” Ellis blurted out before he could stop himself. He was naturally suspicious of people, and these two made him more suspicious than normal.

  Carlos raised his eyebrow, but his son answered.

  “Some ten years ago, your aunt bid on a plot of land we were trying to buy.” He gestured between his father and himself. “We’d just like to buy it back. If you plan on breaking apart the farm into smaller plots, we’d like to have the chance to make an offer on that piece first.”

  Ellis crossed his legs, just like Carlos. He forced his face to stay blank. He laced his hands together and gave himself a few seconds to absorb what they were saying.

  “You mean the land to the east? That’s the only plot she bought ten years ago,” Ellis said.

  “Yes, that’s the one,” Carlos said.

  Ellis nodded as silence settled between them. All things pointed to that piece of land. But no matter how much Ellis searched the ledgers and documents, he found no particular mention of anything specific. Production had certainly increased after that land was incorporated into the farm, but he couldn’t find any mention that it was specifically because of that plot.

  “I’ll be honest with you, Mr. Campos.” Carlos uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. “We’re prepared to make a generous offer.”

  The number that came out of his mouth made Ellis’s head momentarily go blank. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Seu Jorge uncross his arms and curl his hands into fists. He looked ready to pounce on the first person to provoke him.

  Before Ellis could respond, Rudá entered the room, and the warm smile on his face froze and faltered a bit.

  Rudá’s gaze jumped from Ellis to the two men sitting across from him. Ellis saw recognition cross Rudá’s face, and he stared back at Ellis.

  Ellis’s stomach flipped at the look of betrayal that crossed Rudá’s face before he was able to hide it. Ellis couldn’t help but feel guilty, even if rationally he knew he hadn’t done anything wrong. They had come to see him, after all.

  “You started without me,” Rudá said and took the seat next to Ellis.

  Even though his smile was placid, Ellis could read the tension rolling off him, and he did his best to seem at ease. He took a deep breath and gave Rudá the rundown of the little impromptu meeting they were having.

  Rudá whistled, not trying to hide his surprise, when Carlos repeated his offer, cutting Ellis off.

  “That’s a generous offer.” Rudá clenched his jaw and looked at Ellis.

  “It is a more than generous offer, and I guarantee no one around these parts will make you a better one,” Carlos said.

  He clearly wanted to push his agenda—whatever it was—on Ellis.

  “I’m sure that’s true.” Ellis rushed to speak as Rudá opened his mouth. Regardless of the conflicting emotions he was all of a sudden feeling at the thought of breaking the farm into smaller plots and selling it, the farm was still his. “But I’m still waiting on some documents, and I won’t be able to commit to anything before that.” He gave them his best winning attorney-of-the-year smile.

  It might have been his imagination, but both Seu Jorge and Rudá seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at his words, even if it was in no way a guarantee that he wouldn’t sell to these men.

  Ellis got to his feet, a clear signal that the meeting was over. The other men followed suit, getting to their feet as well.

  “Here.” Carlos handed Ellis his brown-and-green business card. “Call me and we can discuss more. I’m sure we can come to an agreement that will be profitable to the both of us.”

  “Thank you,” Ellis said and pocketed the card.

  He escorted the men to the main double doors and shook their hands goodbye.

  “Nice to see you again, Ru.” Diego shook Rudá’s hand and held on for just a bit too long.

  Jealousy, ugly and fast, curled itself in Ellis’s stomach and made him clench his hands into fists. He forced himself not to poke the younger Madeira in his bright green eyes. Barely.

  “You too.” Rudá flashed Diego his dimpled smile, which only made everything that much worse.

  Ellis pictured himself slapping the other man with a glove and challenging him to a duel. That’s what people did back when the house they were in was built, right?

  Something squeezed his forearm, and Ellis snapped his attention down and saw Rudá’s hand touching it. He looked up and blushed at the amused look Rudá aimed at him.

  Ellis looked away. Apparently he wasn’t as good at hiding his jealousy as he’d like.

  “Can we, um… can we talk?” Rudá asked, sounding uncertain.

  “Yeah, sure,” he said and let himself be led back to his aunt’s office.

  Ellis stood by his aunt’s desk and was about to start questioning Rudá about everything and demanding answers, when his phone rang. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out, intending to turn it off, but his mother’s name and picture flashed on the screen.

  He stared stupidly at the screen for so long that her call went to voicemail before he could even reject it. Five seconds later it rang again, his mother’s picture staring up at him once more.

  This time he did have enough presence to reject the call. But he still stared at the screen, unable to put the phone down.

  Worst-case scenarios raced through his head. His mother rarely called him. Usually her assistant contacted him, normally to confirm his presence at one of his mother’s monthly charity events or biweekly obligatory family dinners.

  “So,” Rudá said.

  The single word snapped Ellis out of his trance, and he raised his head to see Rudá leaning against the door he’d closed, arms crossed in front of his chest.

  “So.” Ellis cleared his throat, still reeling from his mother’s call.

  “The Madeiras, huh?” Rudá asked, cocking an eyebrow at Ellis.

  Ellis held back his frustration. He wished Rudá would just come out and ask whatever it was he wanted to know. Come to think of it, maybe Ellis should take his own advice.

  “The piece of land they wanted to buy, the one to the east.” Ellis imitated Rudá’s stance and crossed his arms over his chest. “Why is it so important?”

  “You didn’t answer my question,” Rudá said.

  “You haven’t answered mine either,” Ellis pointed out, tilting his head to the side.

  Rudá huffed out a frustrated breath and rubbed the back of his neck.

  “I’m not gonna go around in circles with you, counselor.” Rudá spat out
the last word, as if it were an insult.

  “Then how about you answer the goddamn question and stop jerking me around. In fact, I’d appreciate it if everyone stopped doing that. It’s offensive, thinking I don’t know what’s going on,” Ellis said.

  “And who else do you think has been jerking you around?” Rudá asked skeptically.

  “Francisco. My dear aunt’s lawyer. He really expected me to believe that he’s been the lawyer in charge of this estate for ten years and doesn’t have all the documents? Eight to ten days, give me a fucking break.” Ellis shook his head, finally venting all the frustration that had been festering since that first phone call that had told him about his inheritance.

  He looked at Rudá and waited for the other man to deny it, to say he was wrong. It would be a lie; Ellis knew that. Even if part of him, a significant part of him, wanted the other man to convince him it was all in his head. That no one was jerking him around or lying in hopes of delaying the sale of the farm. Of course, he didn’t.

  Rudá was silent. It was all the confirmation Ellis needed. He snorted and turned his back to him, walking toward the open window. The sounds of the outside world could barely be heard from in there.

  “Are you going to sell to them?” Rudá’s voice sounded closer, and when Ellis turned around to look at him, he saw the other man leaning against the desk.

  “Are you going to tell me about that piece of land to the east?” Ellis asked.

  Rudá sighed and rubbed his temple, shaking his head.

  “If your aunt wasn’t already gone, this would kill her,” Rudá murmured.

  Ellis straightened his spine, anger boiling inside of him, quick and hot.

  “Yes, so you’ve told me. Guess you answered your own questions, right?” Ellis headed toward the door and tried to walk past Rudá, but the other man shot out his hand and grabbed Ellis’s arm.

  Ellis tried to jerk away from him, but Rudá kept his grip tight and yanked him closer to him.

  “It boggles my mind that you don’t seem to understand that while this is your farm, it’s not your home.” His words were harsh and hit Ellis harder than he wanted to admit. He tried to pull away, but Rudá just hauled him even closer.