by Marla Monroe
“Why are we stopping here?” Harry asked, pulling off his pack and resting it on the ground at his feet.
“It gets dark faster when you’re in the mountains. We need to find somewhere safe to sleep tonight, eh? Since this is a gravel turn off the main road, and it doesn’t seem used, there may be an empty house or barn we can sleep in tonight.” Thad let his pack fall to the ground as well.
“I’d forgotten. It did back home in Arkansas, too.” Harry helped his sister with her pack, then squeezed the woman’s shoulder.
“I’m going to scout ahead to be sure there’s not someone living back there. Stay with the women and watch the road behind you. Be ready to hide if someone does turn down it.” Thad shouldered the rifle off and handed it to Harry. “Don’t use it unless you have to. We don’t have a lot of ammo left.”
“What about you? What if you run into someone?” Harry asked.
“I’ve got a knife, and I’m planning to be very quiet.”
Abby realized he’d said we when he’d said there wasn’t much ammo left. He honestly had adopted them as his group. She liked that. He was a good man, just like Harry.
I need to stop thinking like this. Thad’s sexy accent makes my panties wet and Harry’s easy smile isn’t any better. I need to concentrate on making it to a new home before I get hearts in my eyes. I doubt either one of them are actually attracted to me anyway. I’m available and have boobs.
But every once in a while, Abby caught Harry looking at her with maybe a little more interest than before, and Thad gave her that half smile of his when no one else was looking. It made it more than a little difficult to stay on track with her plan.
“I doubt the drive will be much more than a half mile, so it shouldn’t take me more than an hour, hour fifteen minutes, to reach whatever is at the other end with some time to check it out and get back. If I don’t make it back in that time, move the women farther down the black top and camp off in the trees.” Thad opened his pack and pulled out one of the plastic water bottles, then checked the knife strapped to his thigh before he nodded and trotted off down the road.
Abby listened to the crunch of his boots on the loose gravel until it grew muffled, then faded to nothing. She prayed he would be okay and that there was an actual house or barn that would be better shelter than what she’d had lately. When she looked over toward Harry and Harriet, they were deep in conversation with Harriet emphatically shaking her head.
Before she spoke up to ask if something was wrong, the other woman stood up and stomped over in Abby’s direction. She plopped down next to her and sighed as if there was something heavy on her mind.
“Are you okay, Harriet?” Abby finally asked.
“Yeah. My brother thinks Thad would be a good man for me, but I’m not at all attracted to him. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with him. I think he’d make a great provider and all, but I’ve always been more attracted to blond men with blue eyes.”
“He isn’t going to try and make you go with him, is he?” Abby didn’t think Harry was that kind of man, but she didn’t really know him.
“No, of course not, but he doesn’t understand that there has to be more to it than just finding a man who’ll be fair and keep me safe. I’m not expecting love at first sight or anything, but there has to at least be a spark of something.” She turned and looked at Abby with pleading in her eyes. “Right?”
“Yes. There needs to be some jolt of awareness or it won’t work. At least, it won’t be as agreeable as it would be if you had some sort of chemistry going for you.” Abby reached over and squeezed the other woman’s hand. “I’m sure he knows that, Harriet. He’s just worried about you and is desperate to be sure you’re going to be okay.”
“I hate that he’s stuck with me like this. He left a woman back home he really cared about to bring me out here where he thinks I’ll be safer. She should have come with us, but she didn’t want to leave where she’d grown up or her friends.” Harriet leaned her head back and stared up at the sky. “I think it killed something inside of him that she didn’t think he could keep her safe out here by himself.”
“She wasn’t for him if she didn’t trust him. It sounds more like she cared about her friends more than she cared about your brother. He deserves better than that,” Abby told her.
“My brother has always been a hard worker. He built a business from the ground up and made it so well known that he had people all over the U.S. calling him to build their cabins. He had to turn away business because he just didn’t have enough men trained to his satisfaction to take every request.” Harriet looked at Abby with eyes shining with tears. “She hurt him, Abby. She broke his confidence in himself when she told him that she wouldn’t feel safe out in the Border Lands.”
“She was a fool. Harry is a strong, good-hearted man who will find a woman to appreciate him. Any woman with two eyes and a good head on her shoulders would jump at the chance to be his woman. You’ll see,” she told the other woman.
Harriet looked at her as if realizing something she thought should have dawned on her already. Abby wasn’t too sure she liked that look. Not directed at her.
“What about you? Would you be interested in my brother?”
“Ah, we’re not talking about me. I mean, he’s really good looking, and I’ve always been partial to a man with big hands, but I’m not exactly your brother’s type.” Abby couldn’t help but fidget under the other woman’s stare.
“How do you know what his type is? You’ve only known him for about twenty-four hours now.”
“Look at me, Harriet. I’m kind of big. Your brother is too good-looking to ever think twice about me. It doesn’t bother me because he still treats me with respect, but there aren’t that many men who want a woman with a lot of cushion.” Abby just shrugged and watched Harry as he walked down the road closer to the highway.
“The woman Harry was seeing back home was about your size, Abby. I’m telling you, he would be a good man for you.”
“Now who’s pushing someone into something?” Abby teased the other woman.
“Yeah, yeah.” Harriet got up and walked over to where they’d left their packs to fish around in hers.
Abby screwed off the cap of a water bottle and took a small sip to wet her mouth before taking a larger one to enjoy swallowing it down her parched throat. As much as she would have loved to chug the rest of it, it wouldn’t be good on her empty stomach, and she would need the water later. If they didn’t find running water soon, they’d be forced to take their chances boiling water from a creek or stream.
Harry turned around and started walking back in their direction. Abby watched his long legs eat up the ground between them, the material of his jeans pulled tight across his thighs with each stride.
Damn, he’s a fine-looking man! I bet that bulge between his legs is even more impressive when he’s all riled up than it is right now, and oohee, is it nice now.
Abby jerked her eyes toward his chest before he drew close enough to see where her eyes had been. Harriet met him with a bottle of water before he made it all the way to where she sat. He took a long pull, then recapped it and handed it back to his sister with a smile. Abby wanted to be the recipient of such a fond smile from the man.
Stupid! I need to stop fantasizing about the men! I’m only going to get hurt or embarrass myself.
“How long do you think Thad’s been gone?” Harriet asked no one in particular.
“My watch is in my pack. Go dig it out. I should have shoved it in my pocket so we could keep up with time.” Harry nodded toward their packs.
“Why aren’t you wearing it?” Abby asked him.
“No band. It broke a couple of years back, and I just usually keep it in my pants pocket but forgot it this morning.”
“Must be an old one that winds up then.” She knew most batteries would have died by now.
“Yeah. I grabbed it out of our dad’s things before we left. Mine was one of those fancy tell-you-everything
kind that the battery died in years back. Survival, my ass. How was it supposed to help you survive if the battery died in it?” He laughed, shaking his head as Harriet brought it over.
Abby watched him check it, then shove it in his pocket. “He’s been gone about thirty minutes. I’m going to sit about fifteen yards closer to the road. You two stay together and be ready to hide in the trees over there if I shout at you. We don’t want anyone to take us by surprise.”
“Let us know what time it is every once in a while, Har. You know how much I like to wait,” Harriet called after him.
Abby almost laughed out loud when he shot her the bird over his shoulder as he continued to walk away.
Harriet’s amused chuckle sounded so nice. She’d rarely heard that sound in the last five years. Mostly it had been moans and crying, or the stomach-turning sounds of one of the bastards rutting over poor Tammie. Her friend had kept quiet, not letting anyone hear the pain she had to have been in.
Thoughts of her friend soured her mood. There was a good chance the poor woman was dead now. If she was, it was probably a blessing. Why did life have to be so cruel?
“Are you okay? Why are you crying?” Harriet’s soft words made her aware that tears were flowing down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away.
“Nothing’s wrong. I was thinking about a friend I lost. I miss her and wish she’d had a better chance. Sorry. Didn’t mean to emote all over you like that.” Abby smiled, trying to recover some of her earlier good mood.
“I do that, too. It drives Harry crazy. The poor man should be used to female hormones and such by now. We were never apart when we were growing up. You should have seen his face when I texted him from the girl’s bathroom at school and asked him to go get me some supplies out of my locker.” Harriet’s face broke out into a huge grin. “Man, was he pissed, but he did it and made sure no one bothered me while I was cleaning up and changing. He’s really the best brother a girl could have.”
Abby smiled. “I can almost imagine it. I bet he was mortified one of his friends would see him with that stuff in his hands and rib him for the rest of his life.”
“Boys are so rude, you know?”
“I know. I did something similar to my fiancé, David, when we’d first started dating. I started earlier than usual and didn’t have anything with me at work. I made him go buy some for me and bring it to work. He walked in with a paper bag, acting like it was lunch, but his face was ten shades of red. When I went to get them out in the bathroom, I saw he’d triple-bagged the box. I teased him for weeks after that.” Abby had almost forgotten that memory. It had been a good one for them since they knew from that day on that they were right for each other.
“Did you lose him during the disasters or later?” Harriet asked in a quiet voice after a few minutes.
“During.” She sighed. “You know, for a while I was angry that he’d died, like he could have helped it or something. Then I felt horrible guilt over having felt that way to begin with. It took me a long time to get over all of it. Not that I’m over him that easily or anything, but I harbored so much anger and then so much guilt that I didn’t pay attention to what I was doing and ended up in a bad place.”
“I know what you mean. I walked around in a miserable fog for months after we lost Mom and Dad. If it hadn’t been for Harry, I might have starved to death or gotten snatched. I didn’t care at the time, but now I feel so bad for Har. He was feeling the same things I was, but he had to hold it together so he could take care of me. Now he’s stuck being responsible for me again.”
“Don’t do that to yourself, Harriet,” Abby snapped. “He isn’t stuck with you and you’re both responsible for each other. If you don’t look out for him like you were doing this morning, he’d run himself into the ground. You make sure he drinks enough water and tease him enough that he doesn’t brood.”
Harriet smiled, then a devilish look gleamed in her eyes. “So you’ve been watching him, have you? Maybe you’re interested in him after all.”
Abby was just about to deny it when a noise that sounded like footfalls on gravel snagged her and Harriet’s attention by the look on the other woman’s face. They turned and looked in the direction in which Thad had disappeared earlier. She didn’t see anyone, but could hear the crunch of gravel every few seconds.
Harriet wildly waved her arms in her brother’s direction, then turned toward Abby. “Harry’s coming. He’s motioning us to hide in the tree line.”
“Grab the packs and let’s try not to make too much noise.” Abby picked up hers and carefully walked over to where Harriet had pulled hers over one shoulder and was trying to pick the other one up.
She took Harry’s pack and urged the other woman off the side of the road. They picked their way through the grass and weeds, reaching the tree line just before Harry joined them.
“It’s probably Thad, but I didn’t want to take the chance,” he said.
“How long has it been since he left?” his sister asked.
Thad pulled out his watch and squinted down at it, angling it into the light that filtered through the trees. “Looks like about forty-five minutes or so.”
“Who are you hiding from?” a thickly accented voice asked from behind them.
Chapter Five
“Oh, my God, Thad! You scared the crap out of us.” Thad regretted sneaking up on them when he saw the look of sheer terror turning Abby’s face white even as she narrowed her eyes at him.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to. I’m so used to being as quiet as I can that I didn’t think to warn everyone I was behind you.” He winced when Abby dismissed him by turning her back and stomping back toward the road.
“Come on, Harriet. I hate weeds. Those beggar’s lice get all over your clothes and it takes forever to pick them off.” Abby motioned for Harry’s sister to follow her.
“What are beggar’s lice?” Harriet asked as they pushed past the scruff to step back onto the gravel.
“It’s stickweed. Depending on where you’re from, it has a lot of other names as well, like Sticky Willie, cling rascal, grip grass, and catch weed. I’m sure there are more, but those are the only ones I’ve ever heard of. The seed pods cling to anything that rubs against them. It’s nature’s way of spreading the plant around.” Abby was telling the other woman.
“Okay, we have those back in Arkansas. I guess I never thought about what they were called. I just called them a nuisance.” Harriet’s lighter laugh helped Thad relax a little about having scared them.
“You know that was thoughtless, Thad.” Harry shook his head before picking up his and Harriet’s packs.
“I know. Honestly I wasn’t thinking when I walked up behind you guys,” he told the other man.
He immediately felt guilty again at the frustrated expression on Harry’s face. The man seemed to have a perpetual frown since he’d met him. Thad was pretty sure it had to do with the fact that the man was beginning to doubt himself. Thad knew he wasn’t helping the situation any. Harry was a good man and had a good head on his shoulders, but it would be nearly impossible for one man to be able to defend a woman alone when other men up to no good traveled in groups.
“Why were you out here in the first place? Why didn’t you walk back down the road from wherever you were?”
Thad shrugged. “I wanted to be sure there wasn’t anything troubling down the trail I found when I was looking around. It ended at what I think used to be a smoke house. I was so close to the road that I decided to walk through the grass instead of going all the way back down the trail and then the road. It’s almost dark, and we need to get settled, eh?”
Harry nodded as he kicked his way through the grass with a little more force than was really necessary. Thad watched the man reach where the women were talking on the gravel road. He picked up Abby’s forgotten pack and shouldered his own before joining them. Abby didn’t look in his direction when he stopped next to her.
“The house is empty of people. I don’t think anyon
e has been there since all the trouble started. The dust is thick enough to be at least five or more years old. There’s even some food left in the pantry. We’re lucky the icebox was cleaned out or there might have been a hell of a stink,” he told them.
“Probably not. Electricity has been off for enough years that anything still in it would have moved past the rot and just be musty now.” Abby shrugged. “Does it look safe enough to spend the night in?”
“Yes. Let’s start walking. I’d rather get inside before it’s full dark. Plus, walking through the yard to the front porch won’t be easy in the fading light. It’s grown up even more than the fields are.” Thad handed Abby her pack.
“Thanks,” she mumbled without looking at him.
The four of them crunched down the gravel road that dead-ended at an overgrown circular gravel drive. He heard Abby sigh as they pushed through the waist-high weeds, occasionally stumbling on the uneven ground.
“Why is this so grown up when the road leading to it wasn’t this much? I mean, they’re both gravel, right?” Harriet looked up at her brother for the answer.
“More than likely they built the circular drive later, only clearing out the top layer of grass and dirt before spreading the gravel. If you don’t maintain it, the gravel gets shifted over time and grass re-emerges from old seed and spreading root systems,” Harry told her.
Thad picked up there. “The gravel road was built up using sterile dirt and graded with new gravel repeatedly so that few grass seeds ever made it beneath the gravel. Still, over time with this much neglect, it’s slowly being reclaimed by nature.”
They’d reached the front porch and carefully climbed up the steps. Thankfully they were concrete and hadn’t crumbled over time. The porch wasn’t, and had deteriorated. There were several loose and rotten boards that Thad made sure they all knew about as he led them to the front door.
