by Melody Anne
“How was she able to keep up with ten children? Did it lessen with the younger kids?” Erin asked.
Brackish smiled fondly. He’d been really lucky having such a great mother. “She was on top of us. I honestly don’t know when she slept, because she was always up before us making breakfast, and she never went to bed before we did. I think she survived on about three hours of sleep a night, and she always did it with a smile. I rarely heard my mother lose her temper.”
“That’s rough,” Erin told him.
“It seems that way, but it worked out pretty damn great. All of my siblings, every one of us, have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree. Three of my siblings have a Masters, and three of us have PhDs.”
“That’s unbelievable,” Erin said. Then she looked sad. He waited for her to continue. “I was in school when my grandparents got sick. I had to drop out to help them. They tried fighting me, but they’d already given up so much to take care of my brother and me, and I knew the least I could do was give something up for them. They would’ve lost the restaurant if I hadn’t stepped up.”
“I would’ve done the same,” Brackish told her. He reached over and grabbed her hand again. “And you know, it’s never too late to go back to school.”
“I gave that up. I don’t know why, but I’ve put everything into the restaurant. Maybe because it keeps my grandparents alive for me.”
Brackish could see the pain on her face, so he decided not to push her on that right then. He’d have plenty of time to focus on her education later — if they were still together. He wanted everyone to reach their dreams and then surpass them.
Brackish lifted his sleeve, showing her a mangled sixteen-inch long scar. “See this?” he asked.
“What happened? Is that from when you fell from the tractor?” she gasped.
“Nah, that didn’t even break the skin. This was from when I was fifteen. I was running line with two of my brothers when we came up to a trapped cow. An injured cow in barbed wire is never a good combination. I jumped from my horse and went to investigate, seeing if there was any way to save her. I touched her head, startling her, and she freaked out, trapping my arm between her and the wire that instantly ripped into my skin.”
“Holy cow, please admit you felt that one,” she said with a gasp.
He laughed. “There’ve only been two times in my life I’ve gotten seriously injured. Both times were because I was doing something stupid. I knew better than to reach into barbed wire with a scared animal. That was bound to end in disaster.”
“It’s not stupid to want to save the life of an animal,” she said.
“It’s never stupid to save anyone or anything, but sometimes you have to know you can’t. That was one of those times. And yes, I felt that pain. But the adrenaline was pumping so it didn’t really hurt until later.”
Brackish slowed and exited the freeway, turning toward Mt. Rainier, a little under an hour away. When Erin saw the sign, she smiled.
“We’re going to the mountain aren’t we?” she asked, her worry wiped away as excitement took its place.
“You’ll soon find out,” he told her. “Now, tell me more about you.”
She sighed. “I always dreamed of growing up in a home with both parents and a handful of siblings. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted nine siblings, but I wanted noise and chaos, and family trips. We didn’t do a lot of that.”
“There was both good and bad with having so many siblings. One bad thing, I always dreamed of growing up with brand new clothes and shoes instead of hand-me-downs. My mom bought a lot of neutral clothes, so yes, I got hand-me-downs from my sisters. It sucked. I was grateful that my feet outgrew theirs pretty fast so my mom was left with no choice but to get me new shoes, but most of those came from Goodwill instead of a shoe store. But I understood why we had to be on a tight budget.”
“Were you resentful for having that many siblings?”
“No. You’d think I would’ve been, but I love my siblings. We’ve gone on with our lives and don’t often talk, but I see the strength, determination, and abilities of each one of them, and I can’t imagine this world without a single one of them in it.”
“You seem too good to be true,” Erin told him. “Most people would have some resentment at least.”
“It really doesn’t matter where you are in life, you’re guaranteed to find someone who has more than you, whether it’s more ability, more money, more charisma, more of anything. If you focus on what others have instead of focusing on what you can achieve, you’ll lose every single time,” he told her.
They neared the mountain as their conversation paused. Erin was obviously contemplating his words, while he was thinking of his past. There had been a lot of good and bad, and he was who he was now because of where he’d come from. He wouldn’t take any of it back.
The radio was playing quietly in the background and as their conversation paused Brackish could hear a Luke Combs song that was one of his favorites. He reached over and turned it up as his hands tapped on the steering wheel. He smiled over at Erin just as the chorus sounded inside the truck. Then he sang out loud to her.
There’s no stopping me once I get goin’
Put a can in my hand, man I’m wide ass open
The tick tock of that clock is like a time bomb
By half past ten I’m half past tipsy
At quarter to twelve, man I’ve done had plenty
The countdown’s on when the first beer hits me
Five, four, three, two, one, Too many
The song ended and Brackish turned down the radio, catching his breath from singing so hard and loud. Erin wore a grin as she chuckled.
“You really got into that one,” she said.
“I swear that song was written just for me,” he told her.
“So you were a wild child who drank too much?” she asked. “It doesn’t sound like you had time to be that way.”
“No, I was a disciplined child . . . until I went to college. Then I was certainly wild, and for a lot of years, yep, I did drink too much.”
“Do tell,” she said. They had no awkwardness together. From the second they were together till the moment they had to part, they could talk and talk. It felt natural and right. It was great. He could literally talk to this woman all day and night and still want to talk more. That was highly unusual for him.
“I don’t want to scare you away, but when I was in the Army I worked for a very select group, the US Army Intelligence Support Activity. I was free from the farm, and working far less hours than when I’d been at home, and I had a lot more time on my hands, which I found out was dangerous. You might’ve noticed I get a bit energetic and need to burn it off or I go crazy.”
“You do have a lot of energy,” she said with a chuckle.
“I can’t give details of missions, but I was assigned to an operation in Maracaibo, Venezuela, and as luck would have it, they have a bar or two with music, drinking, and plenty of dancing. One night a couple of buddies and I decided it would be a good idea to visit each place in town that served alcohol.”
“I can already see this ending badly,” Erin said. She was turned toward him, fully engaged in the story.
“The night went on, and we were hammered, and just starting. The last thing I remember that night was a killer lightning storm starting on Lake Maracaibo, which happens almost every night of the year over there.”
“A storm happens every night?” Erin asked, not even asking about the drinking.
“Yes, it’s an amazing phenomenon, but that’s a story for another time. My buddies and I had met up with some other . . . friends at a bar, and we were getting rowdier.” He had to catch himself and change girls to friends. It wasn’t good form to talk about other women while on a date even if it was something that had happened twenty years earlier.
“Did anyone end up in jail?”
“I have no idea how or why, but we ended up at the lake and I decided it was a great time for a swim. So I
stripped off all of my clothes and jumped into the water — and yes, I realize now as a rational, intelligent adult, that jumping into a lake with lightning flashing all around isn’t the most brilliant thing to do, but I blame my youth and the alcohol. I was out a ways, calling for the group to join me when I saw flashing lights.”
“Yep, the police arrived,” Erin said with another laugh. She was enjoying the story.
“Yep, the Policίa were standing there, flashlights pointed directly at me. Now, common sense would be to swim back and take my punishment, but tequila was making me more foolish than normal. I called out to the cops to strip on down and join me.”
“Oh my gosh,” Erin gasped.
“Yep, so they told me again, in an even firmer voice, to get my ass out of the water and back to shore. Common sense would say to listen this time. But nope, I yelled at them they’d have to catch me if they could. Then I turned on my stomach, did a dive, and stuck my ass in the air, before swimming away.”
“You actually mooned the cops?” she gasped.
“Yep, I mooned the cops,” he told her.
“Oh, I bet you were in sooo much trouble. I’m surprised you’re still not in prison. In a foreign land, you definitely don’t want to look like an ass, much less show your ass,” Erin said, laughing harder at her own joke.
“I have no clue how long or how far I swam. But then, what felt like out of the blue, a boat appeared next to me. For a second I thought it was the Loch Ness monster coming to take me under. It had been long enough for me to sober up some, and this time when a cop yelled at me to surrender, I didn’t have any comebacks. I got on the boat and sat there naked; they didn’t give me any clothes or even a towel. They did, however, handcuff me. I think they were trying to humiliate me. It didn’t work though, because it was a really warm night, and I’m a pretty confident man. I have nothing to be embarrassed about,” he told her with a wink that made her roll her eyes. He did notice her eyes stray to the V of his pants though, making that body part twitch.
“I bet your Army superior was ticked off,” she said, quickly changing the subject.
“Well, I obviously didn’t have any ID on me, so it took me some time to convince the police I worked for the Army. I spoke pretty good Spanish, which didn’t help me convince them I was with the military. Most of the military guys they knew didn’t speak more than a handful of Spanish words. In the end I spent two weeks in jail before I was released to my unit. The worst part of the entire experience was I didn’t get a shower for three days and that damn lake was super salty, oily, and all-around disgusting. By the time I was allowed a shower, I had dark, oily flakes peeling off of me. I was gagging from the smell and sight. My buddies nicknamed me Brackish after that. Once you get a military nickname, you’re stuck with it for life. So, if you ever hear someone call me that, you now know why.”
“Wow, I can’t believe you survived a jail in Venezuela. That’s harsh,” she said. “They aren’t cozy and comfortable like our jails here. People die all of the time in those lockups from sickness, malnourishment, and fighting.”
“I have nothing to compare it to since I’ve only been in jail once, but it wasn’t so bad. At least I didn’t end up in prison. That’s where people die. I was pretty much left alone in jail.”
“I have no stories like that to share. My life has been pretty boring compared to yours,” she said. “Am I safe going on a date with a criminal?” she added with a mock scared look.
“I can’t guarantee I won’t attack,” he told her with a waggle of his brows. “But since I have big plans for us, you’ll have to risk it.”
“Well, just be aware I’ve left your photo and contact information on my counter in case I don’t return. So, kill me at your own risk.”
He laughed again as he squeezed her fingers. “I don’t know. It’s always the women who are the sneaky ones. Maybe I should’ve left your photo on my counter. What happens if I come up missing?”
“Hmm, would anyone miss you?” She laughed again. “Besides the five-million siblings?”
They pulled into the parking lot at the mountain and Brackish jumped from the truck, first helping Erin out, and then grabbing two backpacks he’d put together for their hike. He leaned in and kissed her one more time, unable to stand not having her lips against his for one more minute. He pulled back before it grew too heated.
“Are you ready for an adventure?” he asked.
“More than ready,” she told him.
They both stopped for several heartbeats as they gazed at one another. He was falling harder and harder. Would he hit rocks, or dive into a lake when he landed? He wasn’t sure. But at least it was an adventure — and at least he was enjoying the person he was on the ride with. He had a feeling it was going to just get better over time.
Chapter Eleven
Erin’s nerves were so high she was visibly shaking. She’d been with Steve all morning and afternoon and had been looking for any possibility that he wasn’t the man he’d been presenting to her.
All she could conclude was that she didn’t really know who he was. There was the man with eyes of steel who’d protected her when she’d been harassed. There was the man who laughed with utter joy, and there was also the nerd who could win in a game of jeopardy. He was all of those men and so much more, and she couldn’t see any falseness in any of them.
He was also a man who turned her on. She’d only had sex one time before in her life. As a nearly thirty-year-old woman that was quite a sad thing to even think about. She’d been told how much she’d missed out on by not having sex. But her one and only time hadn’t been pleasant at all. It had, in fact, been a nightmare. But she’d changed a lot since then.
For the past several years she’d worked seven days a week, not having time to date, not having time for anything but work. And to top it off she hadn’t felt a spark with anyone. She was hit on often in the restaurant — far more than she’d like, but she’d never felt the need to flirt back, never wanted to take it beyond the restaurant doors.
And then Steve had come through her diner like a class five hurricane, and her life hadn’t been the same since. Did she want to go back to the woman she’d been, or did she want to explore more about the person she could be with Steve? She wasn’t sure. She knew she wasn’t in any hurry to turn back right now.
“I don’t get out enough for hiking. I’m on my feet all day at the restaurant, but it’s not the same as climbing mountains and seeing nature as well as using different muscles than on a flat surface,” she told him after they walked for several minutes in comfortable silence.
“I don’t know how you do that. I can only be inside for so long before I have to stretch my muscles. I’m a tech nerd as you’ve figured out, but I have only so much patience at a computer before I have to run or lift weights, do something physical,” he told her.
As they hiked, they chatted more about work, life, and their youths. They passed lakes, and the Ohanapecosh River that majestically fell seventy-five feet in a silver spray. She slipped at one point and Steve caught her as she laughed with joy. There were goats playing in a field and flowers blooming all over. Even though she’d worked up a good sweat, she was enjoying herself so much, she didn’t notice. That was the best form of exercise.
By the time their hike was over, and they were back at Steve’s truck, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to take another step. He’d told her they’d be together the entire day, and it was barely noon, so she wasn’t sure what was coming next. She just knew she wasn’t ready for their time to end.
She’d learned more about him, finding every new piece of information more fascinating than the last. They’d laughed a lot, had a few spectacular kisses, and had held hands. But he hadn’t put any further moves on her. She was disappointed in that. The waterfall experience had been an opportune time for him to sneak in another kiss — and a damned romantic one at that. All along the rest of their hike, she’d found many places she wouldn’t have minded sneakin
g away for a few more scorching kisses. She wished she could be a woman who initiated intimacy. Maybe someday, but not yet.
Erin was an independent woman, so she was shocked at how much she liked him treating her like a lady. He always opened the door for her, always made sure she was settled before he got comfortable, and always allowed her to finish her sentences, not trying to one-up her or interrupt. She felt cared for with him, something she’d never been interested in before meeting him.
Erin was lost in her thoughts as Steve started his truck and began driving away from the mountain. She was disappointed he hadn’t pinned her against the truck and kissed her like he meant it. She might explode if he didn’t help her release some of the sexual tension she’d been feeling for hours, heck . . . to be honest, for weeks.
