A Family Portrait

by J. J. Massa

  Tracey tried not to watch Tav too closely and forced herself to turn away.

  “They were great. We had a fine time. We’re all ready to hang the swing but we wanted to wait for you so we walked a little ways into the woods.” At her worried frown, he went on. “I just wanted to show them where my house is. We didn’t go all the way to it.”

  “Oh, okay.” Tracey wasn’t sure how she should respond, how she should feel. “Let’s have lunch and then we’ll hang the swing. I made the sandwiches earlier so we can just get right to it,” she promised.

  That plan seemed to be a hit so she went to bring out the food. Tav had surprised her by telling her that he preferred to eat outside when he could. She had to agree that it was a lovely day and they should enjoy it before the weather turned cold.

  Lunch was consumed and cleaned up with rapid dispatch. It was obvious that Jacob and Christopher were anxious to try the swing.

  “Tracey, did you enjoy yourself in town earlier?” Tav asked politely after taking a bite of his sandwich and a drink of his milk.

  She opened her mouth to answer and Jacob interrupted. “Of course she did, didn’t you see her smiling? Hurry and eat, Tav,” the little boy ordered him.

  Once again, she was prevented from speaking, this time she meant to reprimand Jacob for his rudeness, but Tav, calmly and gently intervened.

  “I asked your mother a question Jacob, and she was going to answer me. All good men know that it’s rude to interrupt when others are talking,” he said quietly. “You forgot, didn’t you?” he asked with an understanding smile.

  Jacob blushed profusely and dipped his head. “Um, yeah. I mean, yes. I’m sorry for interrupting, Mom.”

  She gave herself a little shake and answered, “Everybody forgets, Jacob. Just try your best.” She turned to Tav again and shared a smile with him. “I had a great time in town earlier, Tavist. Thank you for asking me about it.”

  “Well, we certainly had a good time working on our little project while you were gone, didn’t we boys?” He looked around at both children.

  Christopher crowed and clapped his hands, squirming with excitement.

  “We worked real hard, Mama,” Jacob said seriously, trying hard to sit still. “Just wait till you see!”

  Tav winked at Jacob and nudged him. “Jacob, I bet your mother would really like to know how our new swing is going to work.”

  “Oh yes,” Tracey grinned, enjoying the game. “Please Jacob, tell me all about it.”

  She looked at him wide-eyed and nodded her encouragement.

  She hid a smile listening to Jacob proudly explain how the pulley worked as Tav shimmied up the tree and looped the ropes over a thick branch. Jacob was pleased to show her the little boards that could scoot up to form a back and sides on the swing so Christopher didn’t fall out the front or back. They could be taken away if you were big enough not to need them.

  Finally, the deed was done and the swing was ready for its maiden journey. There was some debate over who would get the first ride, but Tav took the first turn so that he could test the strength of the ropes.

  First he took a swing by himself and then held Christopher on his lap. After five minutes of swinging with the squealing toddler, Jacob climbed onto Tav’s lap. When his five minutes were up, the boys insisted that Tracey sit on Tav’s lap and swing.

  He didn’t help her at all, the rat! He just sat there grinning with his eyebrows raised.

  When Jacob whispered, “He doesn’t smell bad, Mom, really,” her fate was sealed.

  She gingerly perched on one of his knees until Tav looped an arm around her waist and pulled her firmly up. “I can’t have you falling off, Love. Safety first.”

  Then, he dug his feet into the ground and gave the swing its push. She couldn’t stop herself from giggling like a little girl. It felt so good to be snug against this man’s broad chest with the wind in her hair.

  The boys ran in circles, clapping with excitement. After the preordained five minutes, Tav slowed and stopped the swing.

  “We’ll have to do some more of that later,” he rumbled into her ear, letting her off the swing.

  The boys continued to play with the swing for another half hour before Christopher began to yawn. Tracey didn’t have the chance to say a word.

  “I’m gonna go in with Baby Christopher and read him a story, Mom,” Jacob told her.

  “It’s been a busy morning and I want to rest.” His face turned red. “I liked hanging out with him today. I’m not done yet.”

  Tracey stared in awe as her six year old led his little brother into the house.

  Turning to Tav, she frowned. “What just happened here?”

  “I don’t know,” he replied, “but it was pretty cool, wasn’t it?” She nodded.

  “I’m just going to tiptoe in and peek. Be right back.” Tracey said. Tav grinned.

  “Okay.”

  She came out a minute later, her eyes moist with tears. “It’s the sweetest thing. He’s reading, “Go Dog Go” and Christopher’s fighting to keep his little eyes open.”

  *

  “I think you should celebrate the moment by swinging,” Tav told her. “I’ll push.”

  After a moment’s thought, Tracey apparently agreed. She spent a little time inspecting his “marvel of engineering” and then she climbed aboard. He stepped behind her and gave her a push.

  Leaning against the tree, he watched her, enjoying the sight of the wind whipping through her blaze colored hair. She had an enormous smile on her face. I wish I had my sketchpad…

  “Remember when you were a kid, Tav?” She had a look of mischievous childish delight on her face. “Did you ever do this at the playground?”

  “What?” he asked smiling at her. The smile vanished when she launched herself from the swing.

  He shot across the yard after her, thinking she was rolling in pain. When he landed on the grass beside her, he found her laughing with joy. Without a thought, he pulled her into his arms, laughing and rolling with her.

  “Woman!” he growled. “You scared the hell out of me!”

  Still laughing she said, “I think you probably have some hell left in you.”

  Looking down at her, he felt the air leave his lungs. “Do you know how beautiful you are, Tracey West?” Her wide, blue eyes were fixed on him, her pupils dilated. “You literally take my breath away,” he groaned.

  He reached out, stroked her hair, and gulped back a low, hungry growl. Giving in to his hunger, he covered her mouth with his. Willingly, she parted her lips, moaning softly as his tongue stroked into her mouth.

  She kissed him back just as hungrily, her tongue mating with his, exploring his mouth. Suddenly, she froze. He realized that he’d moved over her just a little and his erection pressed her thigh.

  She began to struggle frantically. He knew what she was afraid of. “Tracey?” he edged away from her, releasing her. “Don’t run away, Tracey.”

  He saw the wild, panicked look in her eyes but she didn’t run. She backed up until she came to a tree and pressed against it.

  “You—your… I wasn’t trying to…” her breathing was still ragged and her voice was pitched high.

  “I got hard because kissing you and holding you felt so good. Maybe kissing me felt good, too? Just a little?” Her face turned red, but she said nothing.

  “Tracey, I’m not going to pretend that I wouldn’t like to make love with you someday. You understand?” She nodded. “You may never feel that way. I hope someday you do. I will never do anything you don’t want me to do, Tracey. Okay?”

  He began to climb to his feet, holding out his hand to her. After long, indecisive seconds, she took it and let him help her to her feet.

  ———

  Brushing herself off, Tracey came to a decision. “Ashley won’t be home for an hour or so and I’m sure the boys are asleep. How about I buy you a cup of coffee?”

  Obviously startled, Tav looked at her and nodded. He stayed out on the porch w
hile she went inside to fix the coffee. After several minutes and a million deep breaths, Tracey brought Tav a steaming cup of coffee.

  They sipped at their coffee for a few minutes, keeping their thoughts to themselves.

  After a short while, Tracey cleared her throat.

  She forced herself to speak. “Tavist, you can’t miss the fact that I was married before.”

  “Um, no, I guess that didn’t escape me,” he smiled slightly.

  “Judging from your reaction to what happened earlier, I guess you know it wasn’t a slice of heaven?” She arched a ginger colored brow at him.

  “Ashley and Jacob have said a few things,” he confessed.

  Astounded, she considered him over her coffee cup. “I guess it says something that they trust you enough to talk to you.”

  He nodded and shrugged saying, “I’d like to think so.”

  She let out a breath. “It was bad, Tavist. Some things happened that the kids don’t know about—thank God.”

  He nodded, looking at her unblinking.

  “Jack, my ex-husband, used sex as punishment. He used everything as punishment.”

  She took a sip of her coffee.

  Tav took a gulp of his, turning his head. Wasn’t his hair above his collar earlier?

  Can hair grow that fast?

  Shaking her head to clear those odd thoughts, Tracey went on. “I like you, Tavist.”

  Smiling wryly, she said, “Nobody’s more surprised than I am, believe me.”

  He looked back at her and smiled that endearing half smile of his.

  “Tavist, I just don’t know if I could ever be more than friends with a man again. I just wouldn’t want you to expect more from me than that.” There, she’d said it. She sat rigid, waiting.

  He sipped his coffee again and then put the cup down, turning to her. “Can I tell you a little about how I feel, Tracey?” he asked, politely waiting for her to respond. She nodded.

  “Liking a woman, loving a woman, having a mate—it’s about more than sex.” She saw that mischievous little boy smile again, “Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got nothing against sex.” He winked. “But loving, liking, and mating are about caring. You want to be with that person, know they’re safe, comfortable, and happy. Just sharing moments, good and bad is what I hope for—assuming things ever got that far…”

  “Tavist, I don’t know if I could ever get past worrying that you’d change—that someday, you’d hit me or hurt me.” She felt her eyes filling. I’m definitely going to bed early tonight. I’m emotionally exhausted. What a day!

  “One of my best friends did something to hurt his woman. That’s very unusual for our kind,” he began. Our kind? “She told me she’d worried about him doing it again. When they talked about it, he told her to try to trust him for just a few hours and then a few more.” He gave her a little smile. “I was really proud of him when she told me that.”

  “I guess he might have something there…” she slanted a look at him. “Just, I don’t know, okay?”

  “Fair enough. I think it’s a big deal that you’d even consider being my friend.” He stood and picked up a napkin that had blown away at lunch. Turning back, he looked at her for several minutes.

  “What?” She asked.

  “Jacob said that Sue would be visiting for a day or two next week.”

  “Yeah?” she wasn’t sure where this was going.

  “I’ve got tickets to a big outdoor concert next week. I’d sure like to take a friend. Will you think about it?” he asked, making it easy enough to back out.

  “Tavist…” she felt uneasy staring into those beautiful gray eyes. I could drown in those eyes. He definitely doesn’t blink enough, though.

  “Think about it. Talk it over with Sue. I won’t be mad if you don’t go. I promise I won’t even bring it up again. Just let me know if you decide to go.”

  He handed her the napkin he’d picked up and held his other hand out. After a minute, she took his extended hand. He raised it to his lips and kissed it, dropping it quickly.

  “I’ll go and meet Ashley’s bus but I won’t bother you anymore today,” he smiled.

  The poor man is probably as emotionally exhausted as I am.

  ———

  “Tav!” Ashley came running toward him and then stopped short. “Hi, Tav.”

  “Hi, Ashley!” He smiled. “How was school?”

  “I get to dance in the school play! Aunt Sue always took me to my dance classes and now I get to dance in the play!” She was so excited she could barely walk straight.

  He gave her a quick hug. “I’m so proud of you! I can’t wait to see you dance. You’ll have to tell me when, okay?”

  She looked at him, shocked. “You’d really come, Tav?”

  “Wild horses couldn’t keep me away, young lady.”

  She grabbed his leg and gave him a tight hug. “Mom will get to come this time, too. Daddy can’t stop her now, can he?” She was still bubbling over with enthusiasm.

  “Nope, nobody can. She’ll be there, too.” It was hard to keep his voice even but he managed it. “Hey! Wait till you see what Christopher and Jacob and I did today.” He grinned at her.

  “What? What did you do?” He’d never seen her act so much like an eight-year-old girl.

  “It’s a surprise. Jacob and Christopher will tell you all about it.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Jacob and Christopher came tearing up the dirt road.

  They were only a few feet from Tracey’s yard now so Tav stopped. “I’ll see you guys in the morning, okay?”

  Ashley hugged him and ran off to meet her brothers. Their excited chattering warmed Tav as he walked back to his own house.

  Although he had dozens of pictures in his mind that he wanted to sketch out, he picked up the phone. He had a very important call to make.

  “Hey Lake, it’s Tav,” he identified himself as soon as Lakon Montgomery answered.

  “Underdog! How’s Sweet Polly Purebred?” he crowed.

  “Funny, very funny,” Tav said dryly. “But that’s not why I called.”

  “Are you going to make me guess or are you going to tell me?” Lakon continued to antagonize him.

  “You saw Marc and T. Paul, huh?” he asked, hoping to cut the explanations short.

  “Nope, man, Mya saw Marc, that’s all. He examined her and told her that I should ask about Sweet Polly Purebred when I spoke to you. No idea why.”

  Tav sighed. “First, how’s Mya? Any complications?”

  “No, she’s doing fine and so are the pups—all three of ‘em. Marc and the rest of them—they all say there’s no lasting damage done from the miscarriage.” Lakon still grieved for his lost pup, Tav could hear it in his voice.

  “Elke’s all excited. Is she making Mya crazy?” Tav asked, trying to remind the other man of happier times.

  “Mya’s loving it. But being able to get away helps. If she were there the whole time, I think it would drive her crazy.”

  “You guys still doing those concerts outside of Atlanta next week?” Tav asked Lakon.

  “Yeah, we’ll be right up the road, less than an hour away. You up for company?”

  “I’d actually like to come to a concert. I thought I’d bring a date.” He waited. Lakon was sure to have something to say.

  “A date? A DATE! My little brother’s got a DATE!” Tav could hear Lakon’s grin.

  “Not Myles, he’s my baby brother. It’s Tav, Baby. He wants to bring a date to one of our concerts next week.” Obviously, Mya had walked up and Lakon was giving her the scoop.

  “Lake? Pay attention,” Tav said quietly.

  “Sorry, man. Does this mean what I think it does, Tav?” Lakon’s voice had dropped to a quieter tone.

  “Yeah. I found my mate. She’s a little skittish so she might not go, but I’m hoping.”

  Tav didn’t want to disappoint Lakon either.

  “I’ll make sure your name is at every entrance. I want to meet her. Is she Were? If not,
does she know you’re Were?”

  “No, she’s human,” he growled. “I’m not even sure I can get her to go out with me, Lake. I think spilling the family secret is a little premature,” he snapped.

  “Don’t you take that tone with me, young man!” Lakon snapped back at him, laughing.

  “I’ll let you know, okay?”

  “Okay, fair enough.” Lakon said.

  They hung up.

  ———

  Tav was out hunting and sniffing around his acreage when he heard a little voice.

  “Tav?” Ashley called softly, “Tav the wolf?”

  He turned and loped toward her house. As he came out of the trees, he found her in the same place he had the previous night.

  “Hi, Tav,” she smiled up at him.

  He leaned down and licked her cheek. She giggled.

  “Did you see the other Tav today?” she asked him. He nodded. “Did he tell you about my play?”

  Tav wagged his tail and licked her face again. She hugged him tight.

  “I really like it here, Tav. I hope we can stay here a really long time,” she said into the thick fur at his neck.

  I hope you can stay here forever, Ashley.

  “I have to go to bed but I wanted to ask you something.” He looked down at her.

  “Will you tell the other Tav that I really like the swing he made with Jacob and Christopher and thanks?”

  Tav nodded and wagged his tail. He licked her chin and stood. She stood too and hugged his neck again. He watched as she turned and tiptoed back into her house. He listened until he heard her climb into her bed.

  Chapter 6

  By the time the following Friday rolled around, Tracey felt like a politician because she was waffling so much. One minute she wanted to go with Tav and the next minute she was sure it was a disaster waiting to happen.

  The man showed up every morning, shared a quiet cup of coffee with her and walked Ashley to the bus stop. He reinforced the railing on the back porch and rebuilt both the front and back steps. He’d trimmed the bushes all around the house.

  While he was doing all of this, he managed to look as sexy as sin and teach both boys various life lessons. She’d gone to the library by herself, the grocery store, Wal-Mart, and had even gone to the hair salon for a full treatment. It was sheer heaven.