by Tara Lutz
The afternoon sun brought out flecks of gold in her blue eyes he had never noticed before. What was she doing? He was anxious to find out.
“See you in the morning?” She set her load of books down on the steps of the mercantile porch and stepped up onto the first step. Jessie placed both of her hands on Dex’s shoulders and kissed him square on the lips, then looked past him, to Rebecca.
“Bye Rebecca.” Jessie skipped up the rest of the steps and pulled open the glass door, the chimes above it announced her entrance.
Dex watched her leave wide-eyed. She left the taste of strawberries on his lips. He forgot Rebecca was even there, until he heard her speak.
“You two really have no idea. It’s kind of amusing.”
“What is it Rebecca? What are you talking about?” He stood still and felt her move so close behind him he could feel her breath on his neck.
“Ask your father,” she whispered.
A chill crawled up his spine. When he turned around to push her away, she was already walking away from him.
CHAPTER 13
“Dex!” His father was heading towards him in the field, the sound of the horse drawn plough he was navigating drowning him out. He tried again, using the name he had given his son when he was born. “ALEX SHARPE!”
Dex pulled the horses to a stop. They impatiently complied, and he spun around to see what was so urgent. He brought his hand up to his sweat drenched forehead, to shield his eyes from the unrelenting sun, and waited for his father to get closer. Dex’s sixteen year old muscles glistened in the late afternoon light. They ached, but not like they did when he first started working, full time, in the fields that spring. Dex had grown up and out and from a distance could easily be mistaken as a grown man.
He looked up at his father, resigning himself to the fact that he would never be tall enough to look directly into his eyes. “What is it?”
Dex hoped the answer would be that he was interrupting his work to take over for the rest of the day, even if there was only less than an hour or two of sunlight remaining.
“I need you to take the horses into town and pick up some feed at Moreland’s. I thought we had enough to last us the winter. Now I’m worried I was wrong.”
He reached to grab the reigns out of Dex’s hand, but his son held them just out of his reach; not that he was protesting giving them up, considering Jessie was working that day at Moreland’s. He couldn’t wait to leave for the day, but the request bothered him and nagged at his thoughts. His father had never under estimated what supplies they would need for the long winters that plagued their area. They had purchased two new horses that summer, but even with new additions added throughout the year, there had always been more than enough.
Dex didn’t know if he was being suspicious by nature, or if the stories Jessie made up, and recited to him during their walks to school, were starting to affect him. Her made-up tales always started out so happy and then ended in doom. Dex decided to forego any further interrogation and dropped the horses’ leads from his hands into his father’s giant ones. He removed his gloves and also passed them to him, knowing they would be a tight fit, but better than nothing.
The elder Sharpe put one hand on his son’s shoulder, his black eyes more intense than usual. “I need for you to be careful, Dex. I know you and Jessie like to go on little adventures, but you have to think and make good decisions. You’re very important.”
The sun had fallen lower in the sky, just behind his father’s head, making it difficult to see the expression on his face; to read his eyes. His grip tightened and Dex smiled uncertainly. These chats with his father used to be nonexistent, now they seemed to happen frequently. They made Dex feel as if his father was planning on him leaving and never coming back. It unnerved him. His mother had also recently started to have one-sided cryptic conversations with him, like she was about to let him in on a secret and then had second thoughts.
“Sure Pa, I will,” he easily responded. Dex had never given his pa any reason to worry about him or Jessie.
“Good.” He smiled a smile identical to his first born’s, slapped the horses, putting them back into motion, and slowly moved away; leaving Dex feeling puzzled as he watched him go.
*******
In preparation for his visit with Jessie, Dex wanted to clean himself up a bit. It didn’t matter how often she told him she liked the way he looked straight off the field, he needed to get rid of layer of farm grime that clung to his face. He found his mother fighting to carry a load of wood, to light the stove for supper, and hurried up to gather it from her arms. Unlike his father, Dex had started to tower over his petite mother, before he reached his fourteenth birthday.
“Ah Dex, perfect timing.” She stood back, swiped a piece of dark hair off her damp, dust kissed cheek and brought her hand up to her son’s face. “So handsome. You must be hungry.”
With that suggestion, his stomach growled, but it was quickly pushed aside by thoughts of an impromptu trip to see Jessie.
“Always, but pa needs me to take the wagon into town for a pick up at Moreland’s.” It was hard to hide the grin on his face.
His mother returned a knowing one, “Jessie must be working.”
He nodded and smiled wider; his tanned skin turning a light shade of red.
“Well then, bring her back here for supper. Peter caught a rabbit this morning. It’s the perfect night for stew.”
It was a little warm for a hot meal and lighting the stove would turn their small house into a sweatbox, but it sounded like a perfect plan.
“Done. I just have to wash up before I go fetch her.”
He deposited the firewood beside the kitchen stove, exited the back door and filled up the wash tub behind the house. The water felt refreshing when Dex splashed it over his head and upper body, then rubbed soap under his fingernails to loosen the dirt caked under them, despite the gloves. When he was satisfied that he was clean enough to put on a shirt his mother had washed that morning, Dex patted himself off with a thread bare towel and pulled his arms through the garment he selected. He banged the thick buildup of dirt off his boats, buttoned up, tucked in the shirt, and pulled up his suspenders. He shook his head to get rid of any excess water that clung to the ends of his hair, spattering his shoulders with tiny droplets. When he was satisfied, he headed to the barn to ready the horses; thoughts of Jessie not allowing the smile plastered across his face to diminish.
CHAPTER 14
It took ten minutes to hook the horses up to the wagon that Dex would need to hull the bags of feed back to the barn. Another fifteen had ticked by before he was securing them outside the general store. It was almost twilight and he could see the lanterns Jessie had lit, glowing through the front window. He tried to remove the excited bounce from his step as he ascended the stairs. He had just seen her yesterday. Had it been that long already? It seemed longer.
The bell above the door chimed, a wave of spice and grains greeting his senses as he entered. Jessie was behind the counter: elbow up, one hand supporting her head, the other tracing along print in a catalog. She stood when he came through the door, her smile, the one that was just for him, lighting up her face, and moved quickly around to the front of the counter. Knocking over a small candy display, she jumped into his arms.
He had gotten taller, but she had stayed the same height since she had turned thirteen. She was fifteen now, beautiful, fun and all his. He smoothed his hands over her goldilock curls and twisted one perfect ringlet around his finger, before pulling her back, to kiss her softly on her bright pink lips. She tasted like cola and cinnamon. He had missed her.
“What are you doing here?” She asked, breathing cinnamon on him. “I thought I wouldn’t see you until tomorrow.” She said it like it was years away. It felt to both of them that it could be.
“Pa needs me to pick up some feed. He thinks we don’t have enough to last the winter. Before I left, ma invited you over for supper. Rabbit stew.” Her face crinkled at this,
not at the invitation, but at the thought of eating a rabbit. She liked rabbits; but she loved Dex more.
“Great!” She danced towards the back room where the bags were stored, still holding onto his hand. “Mr. Moreland asked me to figure out the order for Monday. It’s almost done, then I can close up.”
She stopped and turned back to him. Please don’t say you can’t come, he thought.
“We’re still taking Sammy swimming tomorrow, right? She has been bugging me all week about it.”
Relief washed over him. “Of course. We should see if Peter and Gerald want to come too, so we can swim out the island.”
Her little sister, Sammy –why did her parents name give their girls, boy names? – was too young to leave by herself. She was cute, but the amount of time she spent trailing behind her big sister, sometimes got on his nerves, especially when he wanted to be alone with Jessie.
“There is something I want to show you,” he winked at her, her dimples twinkled at him. He remembered why he was there. “I’ll grab what I need and throw it in the wagon.” He didn’t want to let her go, not when he had just got there.
She squeezed his hand and gave him a light push in the direction of the storage room. “The quicker we get this done, the quicker we get home.”
Home, he liked that. He kissed her on her forehead, her head fit perfectly under his chin, then sent her back to her book.
Dex caught her watching her as he loaded the ten heavy bags into his cart. He smiled and yelled over his shoulder, “nothing to see here, miss. Get back to work.”
She snickered and lowered her head. His smile never leaving her lips.
To Dex, Jessie had always been beautiful. First she was his fairy-like surrogate little sister, with cherry cheeks and black eyelashes, complementing her angel blond hair, baby fat clinging to her arms and legs. Her blue eyes matched the sky, when she looked up the birds that she followed through the woods, before Dex grabbed her hand, putting her back on the path to school.
Then, she was growing. Her limbs and height frustrating her while she tripped over rocks, branches, anything in her path. Her hair had darkened to match the color of the hay swaying to the summer breeze in the fields, her eyes to the shade of the pond when the sun was directly overhead. It seemed all of a sudden, Dex went to bed one night and the next day Jessie wasn’t a girl anymore. The hair that had always hung down her back in a loose, close to falling out braid, now framed her porcelain face with perfect curls. He noticed the way her eyelashes touched her cheek when she blinked. Her legs were long and lean, her thin waist gave way to her slightly rounded hips, and her breasts made all the boys forget about her blue eyes that glinted with gold. Dex enjoyed how people had started to stare at Jessie, almost overnight. He didn’t realized that they were also staring at him. His dark eyes complimented her blue. Her blond hair flattered his black. His tanned skin contrasted her ivory white. They were made for each other. More than either of them had yet to realize.
“All done,” they both satisfyingly declared at the same time. Jessie and Dex, just like clockwork.
She flited around the room, from lantern to lantern, turning them down. Dex starting on the opposite side to help her finish faster.
They reached the door, intending to leave, when a voice sounded from upstairs. It reminded Dex of a cat crying for attention at night, when everyone was asleep.
“Dex Sharpe, is that you I hear down there?”
Rebecca Morehouse stood in a revealing night cloak, halfway down the stairs, her black stringy hair hanging limp on her shoulders. Jessie laughed under her breath and instinctively grabbed Dex’s hand. They were both used to this. It was one of the many inside jokes they shared – ‘So is today the day you break up with me and finally start dating Becky? I was thinking about tomorrow. Didn’t your ma invite me for supper? I do love her chicken pie. Oh that’s right, but can you wait until after school? We have a test, remember?’ – he would kiss her and promise her that he would wait until after school. She would giggle.
“Hi Rebecca. Jessie and I were just leaving.” Dex said, squeezing her hand. Jessie waved up the stairs giving the impression that she was waving to a small child; saying hello and goodbye at the same time.
“Oh Jessie, I didn’t see you there.” Jessie had been working at the store all day. Rebecca had walked past her a dozen times.
“Really?” Jessie’s eyes narrowed.
This is going to be fun, Dex thought.
“Earlier, didn’t you ask me how Dex was? Well you can see he’s fine.” Jessie winked at him. “Very fine.”
Dex pulled her out the door. “Night, Rebecca.”
The door clicked shut behind them, Jessie’s laughter floated on the summer evening air that was so thick he thought he could grab it and put it in his pocket to listen to later. She was to the wagon before him and gingerly put her foot on the lift. Dex hurried to catch up to her so he could place his hands around her waist to steady her. He only let go when he was sure she was secure.
“You know, maybe tomorrow might be a good day to dump you, for Rebecca,” he teased, climbing up beside her and instructing the horses forward.
“Could you wait until after our swim? I did promise Sammy.”
CHAPTER 15
“Ready, set,” she dove under the water and re-emerged a few feet in front of him, “GO!”
The day was one of those late summer days, when it felt like it would never snow again. The water that had warmed under the sun, all season, swaddled them like a wool blanket. Dex and Jessie left their three siblings splashing in the shallows and swam to the island that was almost exactly in the middle of the small lake. Jessie flipped over on her back, while Dex leisurely cut through the water in her wake. She stopped, floated and treaded water without effort, then looked back at him with mischief in her eyes. Splash.
“Hey!” Dex moved close to her, their submerged feet bouncing off each other. “What was that for?” He sputtered.
“Before Rebecca yelled down to us last night, did you see her watching you load the wagon? I swear she was ready to eat you.” Her lips were turned up slightly, her eyes giving away her feigned jealousy.
“Of course I did. Did you see me bend over a little more often than I had to?”
Another splash; this one hit him directly in his face. He wiped away the musty tasting water and grabbed her offending hand.
“Ha, Jessie.” Dex kissed her damp cheek and playfully pushed her head below the surface. She swam out from under his hands and popped up behind him, to return the favor. They wrestled friskily for a few more moments, until he gathered her into his slippery arms and kissed her tenderly on the lips.
“Rebecca Sharpe does have a nice ring to it.” He pushed away, out of her reach, and dove into the water to swim sprint the remaining distance, to the island shore.
Jessie allowed herself to again be swallowed by the tepid water and glided smoothly just below it surface. They both arrived on the island at the same time, and lay side by side on the rocks to try and catch their breath. Basking in the mid-morning sun, their fingers latched together, Jessie turned to face Dex, a wayward curl plastered across her check. He reached to tuck it behind her ear, tenderly tugging its lobe between his thumb and forefinger.
“Seriously though, Rebecca can be creepy.” He hadn’t told Jessie what Rebecca said to him, that day outside the store, when Jessie first kissed him, but he had never forgotten.
“I think it’s nice.” She placed her hand on his chest, feeling his heart returning to rest. “She can look at you all she wants. I know, all you see, is me.”
“For as long as I can remember, you have always been all I see.” He moved to completely put his arms around her, her head resting comfortably where her palm had been moments before. “I could lay here all day, but I really need to show you something.”
“Ok,” she disappointingly murmured against him, her lips tickling his damp skin. She stood and reached down, to pull him up; Dex doing most of the
work. She curled her arm through his, and let him guide her off the shore shrouded with pebbles, to the thin sprawl of trees behind them.
Trees grew sparsely on both sides of the pine needle strewn path. Their footsteps echoed off the ground, making Jessie think that they were perhaps walking on a hollow shell. A family of crickets hummed in her ears, singing along with the loan bird chirping their arrival. Dex held her hand, but moved just slightly ahead, surveying their path for stray branches that could trip up his cute, clumsy girlfriend. Entering a clearing, he directed her to a tree on their right, and stopped.
“Look,” he said smiling at her smile, pointing to the tree.
She spotted it immediately, just above her eye level. D + J 1875. She reached her hand up and traced over the carving. Sap stuck to her finger tips; it was brand new. With her hand still on the trunk she glanced back at Dex.
“When did you do this?” She asked. Then she had another thought. “Why 1875?” It was 1885.
Dex rested his hand on her back, just above her waist. “That’s the year I knew I could never live without you. I was seven, and I knew.”
She moved to face him, and look into the eyes she knew better than her own; her hand reached to run her fingers through his damp hair. “Don’t ever leave me.”
Her bottom lip was quivering. The thought terrified him. Why would he leave her?
“Never.” Dex bent to kiss her, but she pulled back, to look at him.
“Dex, don’t ever swim out here again on your own! What if something happened?” She scolded and swatted his arm.
Jessie was always worrying about him. She told him stories about nightmares she had, where she was looking for him, not being able to find him, and then thinking that maybe he never existed. It was like he was a dream and one day she would wake up and he would be gone.
“Don’t be silly. But deal. Anyway, Gerald was with me. Don’t expect him to do it again though. I think he saw a snake around here somewhere.”
