Raised From the Flames

by Raina Wilde

  Her brother Justin had inherited the farm in Kansas after their father had died last year. Evita had been left with almost half a million dollars. Their father knew them so well, it wouldn't have been right any other way. Evita had written off her college debt and Justin had settled in nicely to the farm life, managing over two-hundred thousand acres of corn. It was once much more land, but over the years the acres at the edge had been sold off piece by piece, the largest portions at the end of their father's life in order to pay off the substantial medical bills he had accumulated. But it hadn't been enough to save his life.

  Evita sat back down and dabbed at her face. She waved at Justin again. He was her twin, and they were alike in ways both physical and emotional. Although she had always been the more studious one, they both shared a love of animals and the outdoors. She looked at Justin, so much different to his petite wife. He was 6'2", Evita herself was only slightly shorter, and his bright blonde hair was shorn close to his head. Evita wore hers in a neat bob that was just long enough to pull back in a ponytail while she was working. People always said she looked like Reese Witherspoon, though Evita always heard the implied "if Reese Witherspoon was bigger" even though no one ever said it outright. She didn't mind though; her mother and father had both been tall, broad and strong. Her paternal great-grandparents came to the midwest from Germany and her maternal grandparents from Iceland. They farmed the land and passed on a strong work ethic to their children. Where she was from in Kansas it wasn't uncommon to be tall, blonde and solidly built. It wasn't until she moved from her isolated farming community to Boston that she began to feel so much bigger than everyone else. Still, she did her best to keep in shape; she swam regularly, and her legs had the muscles to show it.

  Evita unrolled her diploma and looked at the words "Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine" printed at the top. She felt a thrill of nervous excitement. She hadn't yet started applying for jobs, but now that she had her degree there was nothing keeping her here in Boston. She would start applying as soon as she got back to her apartment.

  Eight weeks later she packed the last of the boxes from her apartment into her car and locked the door. She slipped the keys under the Super's door as she left the building. It was time to leave Boston behind. She had received a job offer from a rural veterinary clinic in Maine. A quick internet search showed the town of Appleby, Maine to have a population of 300 people surrounded by farmland and orchards. The veterinarian that ran a clinic 3 days a week there had recently retired, and was looking for someone to replace him. Evita would spend two days in the office and three days visiting farms up to a hundred miles away. The man on the phone said she would get a truck so she didn't have to put miles on her own car.

  The drive up to Maine was long, and it was dark by the time she got there. She pulled up in front of a small two story cottage. She had only seen it in pictures; it was one of the only houses for sale within a 10 minute drive of the veterinary clinic that wasn't too big. It was just her, and she didn't anticipate getting a partner anytime soon. Even though the house needed work, the selling point for her were the unusually high 13 foot ceilings.

  Her phone began to ring and she pulled it out of her purse and looked at the screen. It was Justin.

  "Hey big brother," she said. He was 2 minutes older than she was, and it had always been the running joke.

  "Hello beautiful, are you there yet?"

  "Just pulled up," Evita said. She shut the car off and stepped out into the dark. It was late May, and the nights were starting to grow warm. However, this far north she could still see her breath and a frosty dew had settled over the grass.

  "Watch out for bears," Justin joked.

  "Ha, ha. Don't even joke," she replied.

  "How's the house look?"

  "Dark. I hope the electric company turned the power on like I asked."

  "Just get a hotel if they didn't." Evita could hear Justin sneak his wife a kiss over the line.

  "None of that while you're on the phone with me," she joked, then said, "I have a hotel booked already, I don't have any furniture." Justin made exaggerated kissing sounds down the line. Evita laughed and wondered if they'd ever grow up.

  "Okay BB, I have to go. I'm going to unlock this place and see if we have light," she said.

  "Okay sis, talk to you later."

  "Love ya," she said and hung up. The key to the door slipped in easily and the door opened wide. She stepped halfway inside and used the small LED light on her keychain to see. The switch was on the wall to her left and when she flicked it the bulb above the door switched on and flooded the front yard with light. She flicked the next switch over and the lights inside came on. The house was a little run down, with wallpaper peeling from the walls of some of the rooms, and the kitchen was outdated, but she was excited to start renovating it room by room. She shut the interior lights off and locked the door again. The quiet and dark put her on edge, and she decided exploring her house was best left until the morning. She couldn't shake the feeling that something, or someone, was watching her from the dark. She jogged back to her car, closing the door quickly after sliding inside.

  #

  The next morning she left the hotel room and drove to a small general store she had passed the night before. Inside the shelves were packed with a bit of everything. She grabbed some breakfast and took it to the register. A man in his 50's or 60's was watching a small TV mounted on the wall above the door.

  "New in town?" he asked as Evita put her orange juice and blueberry muffin on the counter.

  "Yeah," she replied. "How did you know?"

  "You have Massachusetts license plates on your car. It's not yet tourist season," he said, pointing out the window.

  Evita smiled, "I suppose you're right."

  She took her bag off the counter and headed toward the door. Just as she was about to push it open, a man stepped inside.

  "Sorry," she said, stepping out of the way. She looked up at the man, not something she did very often, and was taken aback. He was at least six inches taller than she was. His shoulders were broad and square, and his hair was jet black. It was a little long, long enough to cover his ears, and curled at the ends. His eyes were just as dark. Evita's heart sped up a little as she made eye contact with him, but she wasn't sure why. Perhaps it was his sheer size—he was undoubtedly an intimidating man. His shirt was covered in sawdust and she saw he had a pair of work gloves tucked into the pocket of his jeans.

  "Hi Shane," the man at the counter said.

  Shane nodded in response. "Excuse me," he said to Evita. She smiled at him and then slipped through the door and outside. When she got into the fresh air she took a deep breath trying to calm herself. She wasn't sure why he had disarmed her so much, but it was unusual. A large black pick-up truck was parked in the driveway and Evita assumed it must be his. The truck had been lifted and modified to have large tires and was covered in mud. The back had an electric winch and steel cables mounted on a frame and a few toolboxes screwed down to the truck bed. Evita wondered what they were for before getting into her car and driving to her new house.

  After a few hours of walking through the inside and then around the outside of the house, she decided the kitchen and dining room need to be tackled first. If she was going to move in, she needed somewhere to cook and eat. There was another small room off the dining room that was in good shape. It was lined with windows and she thought it was probably a summer porch of some kind. A large set of french doors separated it from the rest of the house. It had a big closet, and she decided it was a good place to put a bed until the rest of the house could be renovated.

  She put on a pair of work gloves, turned the radio on and started ripping the cabinets out of the kitchen. Within a few hours she had the walls stripped down to the studs and started pulling up layers of old linoleum. By the end of the day the kitchen was a shell, ready for new sheetrock to be nailed up. She was most impressed with the wooden floor that was covered with so much linoleum. It would h
ave to be sanded, but she thought it will be beautiful once it was. She stood in the kitchen, hands on her hips, surveying the work.

  "Need any help?" a voice came from behind her. She turned, startled. It was the man from the store, Shane. He was standing in the open doorway and he had a six pack of beer in one hand while the other was inspecting the frame.

  "What are you doing in my house?" Evita asked.

  Shane smiled, "I saw the pile of wood in the driveway, thought you might need some help. I'm a carpenter."

  Evita, despite the reservations she felt about this strange man walking into her house without asking, was relieved. At least she wouldn't have to search around for a carpenter.

  "Well," she said after a minute, "that's useful."

  Shane laughed. He stepped forward and held out his hand. "Shane Le Fevre," he said. She stepped forward and shook his hand. She was amazed at his size, and for one of the first times in her life she felt small beside someone.

  "Evita Bauer," she replied. She released his hand and stepped back, as if eager to be out of the man's shadow. His eyes had a dark, inky intensity that unsettled her. She wondered for a moment if she should find someone else to do the carpentry work she needed, but then pushed the thought from her mind. It was ridiculous. No matter how intimidating he thought he was, she knew she could handle him.

  "So, Shane, what do you think of the progress so far?"

  Shane stepped into the kitchen and surveyed her work.

  "Great job, it's really cleaned up." He bent to inspect some of the wires. "I think it needs new electrical though."

  "I was afraid of that," Evita said, pulling the elastic from her ponytail and running her fingers through her hair.

  "Don't worry. I'll take care of it," Shane said.

  "Thanks, how much will it be?"

  Shane shrugged. "I'll let you know when it's done, how's that?"

  "If I give you a budget, can you stick to it?" Evita asked.

  Shane smiled at her. "If it's reasonable."

  Evita pulled her checkbook from her purse and wrote out a check for $15,000. It was half of what she intended on spending on the renovations, but thought it would be enough to cover the kitchen and dining room. Shane whistled at the sum.

  "Are you sure?" he asked.

  "Why wouldn't I be sure?"

  "It's a lot of money. Even for a kitchen."

  "Make it a nice kitchen," she replied, and he smiled at her. He folded the check and slipped it into his wallet. She studied him, the hair at his temples was going grey, but she didn't think he was that much older than she was. Maybe 35. The more she looked at him, the more she thought he resembled Mark Ruffalo, only bigger. She turned her face so he wouldn't see her smile and it dawned on her that her comparison to Mark Ruffalo was fitting—he had played the Hulk in the movie The Avengers.

  "What are you grinning at?" he asked.

  She faced him and smiled. "Nothing, just thinking that you resemble the Hulk."

  He laughed. It was easy and deep, and the sound of it sent a chill down Evita's arms. "You have no idea baby," he said, and Evita felt her stomach flip at the suggestive tone his voice had. He turned to leave after tucking his wallet into his back pocket.

  "Do you mind if I come back and take some measurements?" he asked.

  "No," she replied. She had turned away so he wouldn't see the blush that had risen to her cheeks. She grabbed a spare key off a nail by the door and handed it to him.

  "Wow, exchanging keys already?" he asked playfully. "I forgot to have one made."

  She put on a sarcastic fake smile, "I don't want your key. And I want this one back."

  "Yes, Ma'am," he replied. He ducked out the door. "It was nice meeting you, Evita." He was about to leave when he turned to ask another question.

  "Do I have creative freedom in this kitchen?"

  "What do you mean?" Evita asked.

  "Do I need to run all of the decisions by you...do you want to pick out the hinges and the appliances? We can go shopping together..." he winked as he said it.

  "I don't have time for that," Evita replied.

  Shane shrugged, but he still had a grin on his face like he didn't believe her. "Okay."

  She stood in the doorway and watched him go. She saw he wasn't in his truck this time, but was on a Harley Davidson motorcycle. He swung onto it easily and it started with a rumble. She watched him roar out of sight down the road before she went back inside to sweep up the dust and debris left on the floor before leaving for the night. She found herself thinking about him as she drifted off to sleep that night back in her hotel room.

  #

  She started work the day after, and was kept busy for a week learning the ropes and slowly taking over the work load. Two of those days she spent driving around introducing herself to the farmers she would undoubtedly be visiting often. The land was pretty here, so much different to her native Kansas. There were gentle rolling hills, cleared of trees, that looked out over ragged mountain ranges to the west. Occasionally the land dipped low into a thickly forested river valley, the pine trees and ferns growing so close to the road that she couldn't see into the trees.

  One evening, just before sunset, she stopped at a scenic rest area a few miles from her house. The gravel rest area was no more than parking for a few cars, a picnic table, and a trash can. It overlooked a valley with a river snaking through it. Blueberry bushes covered the side of the hill she was parked on, and in the distance were mountains that looked hazy purple. She sat on the picnic table and listened to the sound of crickets as they started their songs for the night. Suddenly she heard a rustling sound from the bushes a few yards away. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. She wasn't usually spooked, especially by animals, but something was making her feel on edge. She retreated back to the car and as her headlights swept across the picnic table she saw a giant black bear emerge from the underbrush. She gasped at its size, much larger than an average black bear. It stood on its hind legs and placed its paws on the picnic table. For a second Evita thought the table would break under the bear’s weight. The bear looked at her and she felt there was something familiar about its eyes. After a moment the bear turned around and retreated back into the bushes. Evita watched him go, and then pulled away. After driving slowly and carefully back to her hotel, she slipped into a fretful sleep, filled with dreams of bears.

  The next day was Saturday and she woke up early to go to the house. When she pulled up, she saw Shane's truck was in the driveway. He was mowing the front lawn. She watched him for a few minutes, still amazed at his size and strength. Finally he noticed her and shut the mower off to come over.

  "Hello, gorgeous," he said while wiping his hands off on a rag. "How are you this morning?" She noticed he had black bags under his eyes and looked tired.

  "I'm okay. You look like you need to go back to bed," she said.

  "Yeah, rough night’s sleep. But..." he drew out the word and reached down for her hand. His hand was smooth and warm, and although she would have normally pulled away from a man brazen enough to grab her hand without asking, she found herself entwining her fingers into his as he led her toward the house.

  "I have a surprise for you," he winked at her suggestively.

  "It better be a sanded kitchen floor and new wiring," she replied.

  "Oh, it's better. Close your eyes," he said when they get to the front door. He slipped behind her and covered her eyes with his hands. She walked slowly into the house, with the press of his body behind her guiding the way. She wanted to walk slowly, to stay in this position. His solidity behind her felt incredible.

  "Open your eyes," he said when they had come to a stop. His breath was warm against her ear and she shivered. When she opened her eyes she resisted squealing like an excited little girl.

  "This is beautiful," she said instead. Shane had not only sanded the floor and replaced the wiring in the kitchen, he had built custom maple cabinets. They were stained dark, almost black, but since the kitchen
had large windows and faced south the effect was somehow warm. The floors were stained to match, and the walls were painted a crisp clean white. The countertop was a beautiful white granite and he had installed stainless steel appliances.

  "This must have cost so much more than I gave you," she said finally.

  "Nah. The appliances aren't brand new. Close, but used enough that I got them at a pretty good discount," he ran his hand over the wood. "The wood came from my lot. It's right next door, actually. I milled the trees down myself in my shop so these are all solid wood."

  Evita breathed in deeply. It smelled like freshly milled wood, sweet and earthy.

  "I love it," she said quietly.

  "Good," he replied.

  She turned to him then and kissed him on the lips. They were salty, but soft. At first he was surprised, and he didn't resist but he didn't react either. Then Evita felt his arms wrap around her body and pull her in tightly. She gasped at the strength of him, the easy way in which he pulled her close. He moaned into her lips, a deep wild sound, and she felt her body react. She pushed against him, running her fingers into his hair. It had been a long time she had been with a man. She was always so focused on school and work that she felt like she didn't have the time or energy for a relationship with another person.

  Shane lifted her up so swiftly and easily that she gasped. His large hands cupped her thighs and wrapped her legs around him. Evita clung to his back, her arms not long enough to encircle him. He walked her through the newly installed kitchen toward the dining room.