by Abbie McAnn
She was about to set the book back on the stack, but then she saw the cover of the next one. It was The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks.
She put Romeo and Juliet back on the stack, and then she turned the whole pile so that she could read their spines.
The next book down was Pride and Prejudice. There was also, The Fault in Our Stars, Jane Eyre, The Phantom of the Opera, Wuthering Heights, and at the bottom of the stack was Fifty Shades of Grey.
They were all popular love stories.
She thought about Sam sitting here and reading Fifty Shades of Grey. She giggled at the thought and then immediately felt bad. John had forbidden Sam from going around women, ever. Maybe this was the only way that he could experience that kind love.
She left the room after that. She walked towards the kitchen, feeling like a horrible person. She shouldn’t have snooped in his room, and she shouldn’t be pitying Sam. She certainly wouldn’t want anyone to pity her.
Besides, what was so great about love anyway? It had never worked out for Kate the way she it wanted to. And her last attempt with Eric had left her broke and homeless. What was Sam really missing out on?
She walked into the kitchen and went about making breakfast. She scanned the pantry and decided that it was a good morning for waffles.
It wasn’t until she set the waffle iron on the counter that she noticed the flowers. There were two beautiful red tulips on the counter. They were still partially closed; it was probably too early in the year for them to bloom.
Next to the flowers were her car keys. Sam had left them for here for her to find.
What did this mean?
“Sam?” she called out, but he didn’t reply. Either he was outside, or he was hiding from her again.
She picked up one of the flowers to examine it. Where had he picked these from? She hadn’t seen any tulips around the outside of the house.
Her heart filled with warmth as she stared at the flowers. In the three years that they were together, not once had Eric ever gotten her flowers. She had only known Sam for one day and he was already more thoughtful than her last boyfriend.
She was also grateful to have her keys back. She hadn’t felt trapped here yesterday afternoon, but she still wanted the option to leave. Sam trusted her enough to give that back to her.
While the waffle iron heated up, Kate searched the cupboards for a vase.
She made the waffle as quickly as possible and scarfed it down quickly. She felt jittery, like her body was stuffed with nervous energy.
Why am I so eager to see him again? He only gave me a couple flowers. Besides, that may just be a part of his morning routine. He probably brings in flowers every morning to brighten up the place. There’s really no reason for me to overthink this or the romance books. I need to stop thinking about this.
She really tried to stop thinking about it, but it was impossible to take her mind off her mysterious roommate.
After breakfast, Kate bundled up and headed outside to start her morning chores.
The light in the barn was already on when she got there. Sam was in one of the larger stalls where they kept the cows at night. She knew this because she could see him.
Once again, Kate stared at Sam in shock, her jaw on the ground. He was turned away from her, which was a good sign that he hadn’t noticed her presence. The stall wall obscured the lower half of his body, so she was only able to see his back and the back of his head.
He wasn’t wearing a shirt, making it very easy to check out his strong back. As he mucked the stall, the muscles along it rippled and flexed. He had strong, broad shoulders with well-defined muscle groups going into his arms. His skin tone was different than what she had seen on him yesterday. It wasn’t the alarmed red or the bluish-gray that she had glimpsed before. Now it looked like it closely resembled her own skin tone.
Did he really have that much control over it?
The back of his head was still bald; that hadn’t changed overnight. Now that she had time to examine it, she could confirm that he really didn’t have ears. But he had no trouble hearing her, so he must still have something that functioned as ears. She just couldn’t tell from where she stood. What she hadn’t been able to see before were the slits on Sam’s neck. It looked like someone had cut him three times on each side.
She continued to examine Sam as he worked. She knew that she should feel some fear; after all, she was staring at an alien. But at least from this angle, Sam looked mostly human. He looked normal. Actually, he didn’t just look normal. Sam looked hot. He looked like he could be on the cover of some cowboy romance. All he needed was the hat.
She backed out of the barn, trying not to alert Sam to her presence. For some reason, she didn’t want him to know that she had seen him. Or maybe she just didn’t want him to know that she had liked what she’d seen. It was for the best if he didn’t know. She didn’t want him to get any ideas. The books that Kate had seen on his bedside table made her think that Sam had at least some idea of what love and romance were. She didn’t want to do anything to lead him on, because as much as she liked what she had just seen, she couldn’t forget about what she saw yesterday. It had only been just a little glimpse, but it was enough to know that his bottom half was very much not human. Kate still wasn’t ready to deal with that yet. She tried to block any thought of the large appendages coming out of the lower half of his body.
A drop of water hit Kate’s head, distracting her from her thoughts. She looked up at the cloudy sky, just in time for another drop to hit her on the nose.
Great, more rain. Why did it have to rain so much here? It was already freezing outside, the last thing she needed was more rain. Though Kate had to admit that the timing was right; she needed it to cool off her thoughts.
She sighed before walking back into the barn.
Before he came back into sight, Kate decided to give him a warning this time.
“Sam? Are you in here?” Kate called out.
She paused for another minute, before turning the corner into the aisleway.
“Over here,” Sam replied, his voice coming from the same stall he had been in before.
How is he able to camouflage himself so well? Kate wondered as she walked over to the stall he was in. She would have never known that he was in it if she hadn’t seen him there just minutes before. The only thing that gave him away now were the two blue eyes staring down at her.
She had meant to say something else, but she found herself asking, “Are you able to change your eye color too?”
“It’s the only thing that I can’t control. Why? Do you not like the color?” Sam asked as his eyes filled with worry.
“Oh no--that’s not the case at all! You have beautiful eyes, Sam. The blue is so striking, so bright and bold, that it looks almost unnatural. I was just wondering if you were doing it on purpose,” Kate replied. Her face felt like it was on fire from how much she was blushing. Did she just admit that she thought his eyes were beautiful? How embarrassing.
Sam didn’t immediately respond. What was he thinking? She would give anything to see his expression right now. His eyes were as intense as ever, making it impossible to discern any one emotion.
“You have beautiful eyes too, Kate,” Sam replied. Was it possible that his voice sounded even deeper than before?
Kate swallowed, but her throat was suddenly so dry that it could have been a gulp.
Luckily, old Lucinda knew how to help a girl out. The cow mooed as she came into the stall from her run. She was completely unbothered by Sam's presence, taking loud steps in the direction of her hay.
Sam broke eye contact. His eyes were suddenly gone, so he either turned his head or closed them. She heard lots of shuffling coming from the stall and could only assume that he was trying not to get stepped on.
“Should’ve just locked her in her run,” Sam muttered, probably to himself.
The stall door opened, seemingly of its own accord. She still couldn’t see Sam’s eyes, but she cou
ld hear a lot of movement beside her. She tried to follow his blurry outline, but it was impossible. She was still searching for him when something brushed against her leg.
She was wearing jeans and work boots, so it was hard to tell what it was. She could feel the weight of it across her boot. It didn’t hurt, like something stepping on her toes, but it was heavy. Part of it brushed against her jeans, and it grabbed at the material. It almost felt like something was sucking the pant of her jeans away from her leg.
Just as quickly it was gone and the weight on her foot was lifted.
“Sorry,” Sam murmured. He was in the aisle way with her now. His eyes were floating a few feet away from her.
She looked at his eyes and then down to where the lower part of his body would be. The outline of his body there was too blurry for her to see, just like it was every time she looked. Kate wasn’t sure why that was, because she could at least kind of make out where the outline of his head and torso were.
She didn’t know how to reply, so she didn’t. Part of her was grossed out by what must have been his appendage touching her. It had felt almost like a snake slithering across her leg. But Sam had been so nice to her that she didn’t want to make him feel bad.
“Um, I can finish cleaning the stall,” Kate offered.
They went about the rest of the barn chores in silence. Sam had already fed the animals, so she mucked the stalls while he went about other tasks. It was hard to tell exactly what he was doing, not being able to see him and all, so she kept interrupting her work to watch him.
He started by milking the first dairy cow and then the goats. It was a task that she hadn’t quite taken to yet. Instead of throwing out the unpasteurized milk as she had been doing, he set it aside. After he was finished with that, he trimmed all the goats’ feet. He then picked the horses’ hooves and spent a few minutes grooming them.
After the barn, Sam made a quick stop in the house to drop off the milk. When Kate asked him about it, Sam said that he would show her how to pasteurize it later. He told her about how John used to make all his own dairy products. The ones that she had found in the fridge were from Sam carrying out the tradition.
Kate was fascinated by how Sam talked about John. It was obvious the love that Sam had for him. He truly was his father.
They spent the next part of the morning in the greenhouse. Sam had an endless amount of knowledge about the plants and their care. There was something so inspiring about listening to people talk about their passions. It was obvious from the way Sam talked that he loved the garden. Not just the garden, but all nature. Even when they went about their chores outside, he seemed to know everything there was to know about the Washington wilderness. He knew the answer to every one of her questions, and she had a lot of them.
The rest of the day was mostly uneventful. In the afternoon Kate took the ATV back out to the lean-to to get more wood. From what little she knew about his appendages, it was obvious that Sam couldn’t drive one. John had written as much in the binder. Instead, he swam through the lake to meet her at where the wood was stored. It was much faster this time with Sam helping her load and unload the wood. When they were finished, it was time to feed the animals again.
Kate was exhausted by the time they were finished for the day. She plopped down on the couch, ready to veg out for the rest of the evening. Why didn’t anyone tell her that hard work was so hard?
“Do you mind if I watch TV with you?” Sam asked hesitantly.
“Of course!” Kate replied. “Why don’t you put something on and I can go make us some dinner.”
“Oh, uh, that’s ok. You don’t have to worry about feeding me,” Sam replied.
“It’s no trouble at all!” Kate said. Kate might not be the best cook in the world, but she could throw something edible together. She made a mean buttered noodles.
She hopped up from the couch, surprised by the amount of energy she suddenly had.
“Really, Kate. It’s okay, you don’t have to worry about me. I’ll find something else to eat later,” Sam said. His voice was quiet, subdued.
Was Kate pushing too hard again?
“Oh, okay, if you’re sure,” she relented. “I’ll just go make something for myself and you can put whatever you want on. I’ll be a few minutes.”
Fifteen minutes later, Kate settled back into the couch with her hot bowl of mac and cheese. She knew that Sam was still in the room because she could hear his quiet laughter. It was a very pleasant sound. She looked up at the screen to see Jim playing a prank on Dwight.
“Oh, I love The Office!” Kate exclaimed through a mouthful of pasta.
“Really? Oh good. I was worried that I might be the only one who liked it.”
“Wait, seriously? Everyone loves The Office! Why would you think that?” Kate asked in surprise.
“I don’t know, it’s not like I had anyone to talk to about it besides John. I mean, I talk to plenty of people online through blogs and Reddit and stuff like that, but I guess I never thought to ask anyone about their opinions on it. John hated the show. He would never watch it with me. Though I’m pretty sure the only episode he saw was Scott’s Tots. I guess I couldn’t really blame him.”
“Oh gosh, that episode is awful! I always skip it when I re-watch the show. It has to be the cringiest episode of television history.”
“I thought so too,” Sam said. “John had to assure me that stuff like that doesn’t actually happen in real life.”
Kate thought back to what else he had just shared.
“I didn’t really consider the fact that you could talk to people online. I guess I thought that John was the only person you talked to.”
Sam snorted.
“I would’ve gone crazy if I only talked to the old man. I spend a lot of time online and I’ve been able to meet a lot of people over the internet. I used to have more time for it when John was doing most of the chores. But since I’ve taken over caring for the property, I’ve been really busy. I had to put my master’s on hold for the foreseeable future,” Sam said sadly.
Kate was dumbfounded. Did he say master’s? She really knew nothing about this man. She barely even knew what he looked like.
“You went to college? How are you doing a master’s? I thought you said that no one can see you.”
Sam chuckled. When he responded, there was no trace of that earlier sadness. “You thought I didn’t go to school? You really must think that all I am is a lake monster.”
“No, I don’t think that! I was just being stupid. I’m-”
“It’s okay Kate, I was just joking. It’s not like we’ve really had a chance to talk about it. John was already loaded when he found me. I don’t know how, but he was able to get me a fake identity. He used it to enroll me in an online middle and high school. I got my degree in Agricultural Sciences from Oregon State’s e-campus. I started my masters in Horticulture last year in their online program. I guess now that you're here helping me, I might be able to start doing it again.”
“Wow. Sam, that’s so impressive! That explains how you know so much about plants and the animals. Did John want you to study it?”
“He let me pick whatever I wanted to study. I was really interested in biology at first. I still remember most of what my home was like and it’s completely different from Earth. It’s fascinating learning about all the species of life on this planet and how it evolved over time. As far as I know, most of my world is just water. But maybe it’s just an early version of Earth. Maybe someday, millions of years from now, my world will evolve to have great land masses and my people will grow two legs just like you humans.
“Or maybe, my people are the advanced ones. Maybe my world used to resemble how Earth is today, but then a great flood consumed all the land. Maybe my people evolved to survive in the great oceans. Maybe that is going to happen to Earth too.”
Kate was speechless. That was the most Sam had said yet about his home and his people. Sam seemed so well adapted to Earth, yet he had
been born to a life underwater.
How had he gotten here?
The question was on the tip of her tongue. She was dying to ask Sam more about his planet, his people, his childhood, and how he ended up on Earth. But Kate had to remind herself that even though it seemed longer, she had only known him for little more than a day. She needed to be more patient.
Using an amazing amount of self-control, Kate instead asked, “So why did you choose to study Agriculture?”
“Because it just made sense. What was I really going to do with a degree in Biology? It’s not like I could do field research anywhere but here. And at the time, I was becoming so obsessed with marine biology that it was making John worried. All I ever talked about were plants and animals that I would never actually get to see with my own eyes. John really beat himself up for not being able to give me those experiences. So I switched to Agriculture. We already had a few animals and the garden. It wasn’t very impressive back then since John was as new to this lifestyle as I was. I discovered horticulture through it, so it all worked out in the end,” Sam finished. She imagined that he ended his last statement with a shrug. For all she knew, he did.
∞∞∞
As exhausted as she was, Kate had a hard time falling asleep that night. Her mind was too overcome with thoughts of Sam. She imagined what it was like for him to grow up here with John. She tried to understand what it was like for him to grow up with no one his own age; with no friends except the ones he had met online.
Kate’s friends had come and gone over the years, but she had always had Jessica. Her sister was the one constant in her life. How could she have survived without Jess?
Even when she eventually fell asleep, her dreams were full of Sam. In each one, she was visited by the man in the lake.
Chapter 8
The next few days followed a similar routine. Every morning Kate was greeted by a new set of flowers on the kitchen counter.
Sam was always the last one to go to bed and the first one to get up. She had yet to beat him to the barn. She was beginning to wonder if he even slept. With how alien he was, it seemed possible that he might not need to sleep. But then why did he have a bed?
