Amy was jolted out of her melancholy by as the clock out in the hallway softly chimed 12am.
“I can’t believe that’s the time. All that hard work you’ve done today and then I make you sit here while I talk to you. I’m sorry, I’m exhausted so you must be too.”
Talking to Norman had been very cathartic, it had been a long time since she’d shared so much of herself with one person and it had left her feeling tired and her heart ached with the slight pain of vulnerability. Would he judge her now? She had bared her soul to him and the idea of him dismissing it had her scared. She knew that come tomorrow morning, refreshed and ready for a new day she’d be a lot better at believing that she didn’t care what anybody thought of her, but now in the middle of the night and slightly tipsy from the whiskey it mattered what he thought. It mattered a lot.
“You didn’t talk to me. I wanted to know. In fact, it’s rather humbling that you shared all that with me, it couldn’t have been easy.” Trying to stifle a yawn he softly pushed Rollo off his knee and walked towards her chair. “I suppose you’re right, it is late and I am tired but I’ll stay if you feel you don’t want to be alone.”
Amy was touched by his offer. “Thank you, but no it’s fine. I’m going to bed myself now anyway. You go and get some sleep, I have another busy day planned for you tomorrow.”
Bending down, Norman lightly kissed the top of her head. “If it makes you feel any better I think both of them were jerks and you deserve so much more than them.”
Chapter 5
Norman straightened up, trying to ease the pain in his back. Clearing the strawberry fields by hand was proving to be much harder work than he’d anticipated.
Looking over towards the farm house he took a moment to savor the evidence of all the hard work put in over the past 6 weeks. The house was now shining white in the sunlight. Fully restored and freshly painted, it stood proud, not only as a reminder of its previous glory but also as a beacon of hope for the farm’s future endeavors.
Six weeks, Norman sighed to himself. He wasn’t sure how he’d ended up staying here for so long. What had started off as a two-week break from his life had somehow kept getting longer. He was under pressure now though to return to work. Mark had been bombarding him with calls and e-mails, apparently some of his clients were also starting to worry and questioning if he was ill. Whilst he knew that he’d have to go back to work eventually he had to admit that there was a part of him that wanted to stay. Sell his half of the real estate business to Mark, get rid of the castle, come clean to Amy and then ask if he could work here permanently. He could even ask her if he could buy a share in the farm. He would be able to instantly sort out her money problems and get the farm fully up and running so much quicker. A few nights this week he’d found himself awake, lying in the dark and thinking about how to go about explaining it all to her. Would she understand?
He was brought out of his musings by a white flash. It was Rollo bounding towards the field. That meant that Amy was making her way back also. It was a hot, dusty day and they were both in need of refreshment so she’d headed back to the kitchen to prepare a picnic lunch and, hopefully, a big bottle of water.
He smiled as she reached the abandoned tractor. The plan had been to drive it up to the fields to start clearing them but it had almost instantly broken down. Norman had taken a look at it but he was no mechanic and didn’t have a clue what he was looking for, so they’d made the decision to clear out the dead plants manually. They’d only been working for a couple of hours and Norman was already exhausted.
***
Five minutes later Amy and Norman were sat on a picnic blanket enjoying a lunch of fresh bread, cheese and a few tomatoes that Amy had managed to pick from the beginnings of her vegetable garden.
Considering he’d been used to fancy lunches of wagyu beef, truffles and $200 bottles of wine, he’d found that he really had a taste for the more simple pleasures. A few times now Amy had caught him trying to steal a slice of bread fresh out of the oven. He couldn’t begin to imagine how wonderful everything would taste once she was even more self-sufficient.
“That was perfect, just what I needed to help me keep going the rest of this afternoon.”
Amy looked slightly concerned. “I’m not sure if that’s going to be possible. I was listening to the radio in the kitchen and apparently there’s a storm heading our way.”
Norman looked up at the clear blue sky and scoffed. “Really? Look at that sky. I’m sure we’ll be finished and back indoors before there is even a grey cloud in the sky.”
Thirty minutes later Norman was looking up at the sky and regretting his words.
“Ok, ok, so it looks like I might have been wrong.” He was cut off by a rumbling of thunder and Amy letting out a quick squeak. Amused by her strange little noises, he couldn’t help teasing her. “You’re not scared by a little thunder are you”?
Amy turned around to look at him, her face clearly showing an unease and Norman felt bad for teasing her. “Right, obviously you are. Well, let’s pack up and head back to the house. We should hopefully be back before the rain starts.” It was almost as if the weather could hear and was enjoying proving him wrong. A crack of lightening was swiftly followed by the heavens opening and in seconds, they were both soaked by torrential rain.
No time to pack up or get to the house they both started to run in the opposite direction, towards an old, run down shack just at the nearest corner of the field. Worried about Amy, Norman took her hand and ran alongside her. “Nearly there, no need to panic, we’ll be fine. I promise.”
By the time they’d reached the barn they were both soaked through. They stood just in the opening, teeth chattering and hopping from foot to foot trying to get warm. Norman shook his head like a dog and Amy laughed.
“I swear you and Rollo must share a gene somewhere down the line, looking at the state of you.”
Norman grinned back at her, his blue eyes sparking with mischief. “Is that because we both do this...” He took a step closer to her and shook as hard as he could, showering her in hundreds of water droplets as she shrieked and tried to run away.
“Oh, you’ll pay for that Norman, you forget I have much longer hair than you.” Bending over she shook her wet hair away from her face. Succeeding in getting Norman even wetter and whipping him with her hair at the same time.
“Ouch, ouch... Ok... Ok. You win. Please no more, I’m not sure I’ll ever be dry again.”
Norman looked down at his shirt that was now plastered to his chest and with one quick movement whipped it off. He stood in the middle of the barn topless and Amy couldn’t help but stare a little. His chest was long and lean with a six-pack she immediately longed to rest her head on. She could just see his hip bones jutting out from the top of his jeans. Her fingers itched to touch him, follow the line of his hips down until she reached... No, she shook her head. Not going to go there, Amy. She desperately looked around trying to focus on anything except the fact she was stood next to a gorgeous topless man.
Norman couldn’t help feeling amused and pleased by her reaction to his shirtlessness. He’d thought that the attraction he felt for her was mutual but it was nice to see some more evidence of it. He didn’t want her to feel too awkward though so he tried to change the subject.
“Well, this shack has certainly seen better days.” Norman had been hoping for another of Amy’s uncle’s chairs that seemed to pop up all over the place but no such luck this time. “Good job I managed to rescue the picnic blanket. We can make a kind of chair in the hay and wait for the storm to pass.
Amy suddenly looked fearful. “We have to stay here? Through the whole storm? But what if the barn gets struck by lightning? What if the thunder is so loud and heavy it causes the wood to splinter and the roof falls on us?
Norman was concerned by Amy’s phobia of storms. What had caused it? It was one thing to be a little jumpy but this was pure fear. “What happened to you?”
>
Amy stopped pacing and looked at Norman quizzically. “What happened to me when?”
“What made you so afraid of storms?”
“Oh, that. Nothing... It doesn’t matter.”
“Clearly it does matter” Norman replied. “You’re pacing the room and wound up tighter than a two dollar watch. Tell me. You should know by now that I won’t judge you.” He looked at Amy, his eyes shining with concern and held his arms out, palms up as a sign of promise.
“Oh well.” Amy started to pace again, her arms wrapped tight around herself.
Norman was struck by her big brown eyes and how sad they looked. He longed to take her in his arms but wasn’t sure how she’d react.
“I lived with my Mom and Dad in a little housing estate. It was just the usual suburban house. The highest one of a series of houses on a hill that led up to a church at the top. I could see the church from my bedroom window and often, before I went to sleep, I’d look through the window and say my prayers.” Even now after years and years Amy could still see the street in her mind.
“Anyway, one night there was a huge storm. It was the worst thunder and lightning I’d heard in all of my eight years. I’d got up to go to my parents’ room but first I thought I’d check the church was ok. Just as I opened the curtains a huge bolt of lightning hit the steeple and it went crashing to the ground. It must have hit an electric cable or something because then a huge fire broke out. The houses closest had to be evacuated and we all stood out in the street, watching as the firefighters tried to put out the fire. Some of the other neighbors brought us blankets and hot chocolate to keep us warm.”
Norman could tell that there was more to it than that. Something more had to have happened. He waited quietly for Amy to finish her memory
“It wasn’t until the next day that we found out the groundskeeper had decided to spend the night there so he could get an early start. He’d been trapped by the falling rubble and perished in the fire. To see all that when I was still such a young girl was traumatic, to say the least. I had nightmares for years and have hated storms ever since. So it might seem like crazing ramblings to you but storms can be very dangerous.”
As if on cue a clap of thunder echoed over the mountains that ran across the edge of the farm and Amy started frantically pacing again.
“Maybe if we made a run for it, we’ll reach the farm. What about Tabatha? What if she’s out somewhere soaking wet and scared? Should I try and find her? Bring her in here with us?”
Watching her edge closer and closer to a panic attack, Norman held out his hand. “Amy,” he said her name softly, as he would a wounded animal. “It’s ok. Come here.”
“What? Why? I don’t see how it’s any safer over there.”
He held out his hand again. “Take my hand.”
Amy walked over and tentatively took his hand. He pulled her gently into a hug. Wrapping his arms around her and lightly resting his head on top of hers.
“Just relax, ok? It’s all going to be ok.” He spoke soft, soothing words, trying to keep her calm. “Didn’t I promise you that already?” He felt Amy’s head move under his, indicating yes.
“Good. Listen… The thunder is getting quieter and it’s further apart from the lightning. It’s moving away from us. It will all be over soon and we can get out of here.” He brought his hand up to her head and stroked her hair. Needing to reassure her. “Tabatha will be fine; she’s no doubt curled up on a bed back at the house. You know what she’s like, clever cat. No way she’d let herself get caught in this. Not like us stupid humans.”
Holding her close he listened to the sound of Amy’s breathing getting deeper. With her head resting against his bare chest his initial need to protect her was now fighting the urge to kiss her. Almost as a test, he lightly placed a kiss on top of her wet hair. She let out a sigh and snuggled closer to him.
Unable to resist any longer, Norman placed his hand on her chin and softly lifted her head up. His eyes met hers and it was his turn to sigh now. She was so gorgeous. A single tear was running down her cheek and he wiped it with this thumb, caressing her cheek as he did so. Amy turned her head and kissed it, taking the tip into her mouth for a split second. Then they stood, looking into each other’s eyes, both knowing what they wanted but both a little scared to make the first move.
Still with his hand on her face, Norman leaned forward and kissed her softly. He felt Amy instantly melt against him and start kissing him back. She tasted as good as he’d imagined, like strawberries, needing no further encouragement he deepened the kiss.
Feeling the kiss deepen Amy wrapped her arms around Norman’s neck and rubbed her body against his, needing to feel him closer. A small part of her was wondering if they should really be doing this as she was technically his employer but then his hand lightly brushed her nipple and she no longer cared. Pulling away from him for a moment, she took his hand and led him to the makeshift hay bed.
***
Amy awoke the next morning to the heat and the return of the sun, shining where it could through the gaps in the shack. Arching her back and stretching slightly she took a moment to revel in the ache that ran through her body and the sight of Norman’s muscular chest. He lay on his back, with one arm above his shoulder resting over his eyes. The other was curled around Amy, his fingertips just brushing her hip.
Amy smiled secretly to herself. Despite her initial misgivings, last night had been totally worth it. Making love with Norman had been amazing. The first time had been explosive and passionate, a release of all the feelings that had built up over the past few weeks. The second and third were tender and they’d taken the time to explore each other’s bodies, reveling in the intimacy. The fourth had been at some point in the middle of the night, both still half asleep and yet neither had wanted the night to end. They’d finally thoroughly exhausted each other and Amy had collapsed into Norman’s embrace and into a deep sleep.
Now with sleep leaving her, Amy grew nervous. What happens next? Norman was due to finish his work here at the end of the week and move on. Would that still happen? Amy shivered slightly and settled back down into Norman’s arms for a while longer. She didn’t like the thought of him leaving at all.
***
Stirring as he felt Amy nestle in beside him, Norman was struck by how happy he felt and it wasn’t just how happy he felt after last night, which had been amazing, but also how he’d felt over these last few weeks. He’d never known before how much was missing in his life. The cars, the houses, the women -- all seemed to have covered an aching hole inside of him that he only now realized needed filling.
Stroking Amy’s soft skin, the smell of her scent filling his senses, he came to the realization that he loved her. He’d thought that he’d been in love before but it was nothing like this. Amy was amazing. Of course, she was kind and thoughtful but she was also smart and extremely resilient, she’d had to be given all she’d been through, but it hadn’t made her overly bitter. A little guarded perhaps, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Taking the time to enjoy the deep feeling of love that seemed to flow throughout his whole body, Norman lay still for a little while longer. He didn’t want to ruin the moment by overthinking things. He knew that he needed to come clean about who he was and he wasn’t sure how Amy was going to take it. He just needed a few more minutes to enjoy this new found and yet fragile happiness.
Chapter 6
Amy set two places at the kitchen table for dinner. It was the same routine she’d done every day for the past six weeks but this time, it felt different. She’d decided it was time to tell Norman how she felt about him. She wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do but she needed to say it before he decided to leave. If he felt the same way he could stay longer and they could see how things went. If not… well, then at least she’d know and they could both move on.
Hearing movement on the stairs, Amy nervously ran her hands down her apron, smoothing out the n
ow non-existent creases. Then, realizing what she was doing and that she was still wearing her apron, she hurriedly whipped it over her head and crumpled it up in her hands. Why now was she concerned about how she looked? He’d seen her first thing in a morning, before coffee. He’d even seen her covered in who knows what, from cleaning out the old cow shed, and yet now she wanted to look nice for him. She’d even gone as far as applying some mascara and a light pink lipstick, which she only really wore when she was leaving the farm or needed to look smart when the bank manager was visiting.
Norman entered the kitchen and Amy smiled. She was amazed by how he seemed to immediately settle here, it was as if he’d always been here. Tonight, though, the normally relaxed atmosphere between them was tense. Neither sure what last night had meant to the other. Amy decided she’d be the one to break the ice.
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