“If that is truly what you want, and you think that will make you happy, I will take care of it for you. However, what if I take care of it, and it changes how you see me? It is one thing to think you know what I do. It is an entirely different animal to send me out to do it, and then see proof of it on the news,” he cautioned.
“Maybe you are right,” she told him.
He exited the interstate and drove down US 19 towards Blairsville. He turned down a long dirt road, which only held a sign that read Roger’s Cove.
“I will be interested to read up on the history of this place,” she said with wonderment.
He slowed down when he spotted the blue mailbox, almost hidden, but someone had cut back the growth around it. A sign had been put up which read Neary. Ezekiel Neary, my neighbor.
Less than two miles later, he made a right onto a paved road that traveled all the way to their new home. An actual log cabin came into view with a high tin roof, chalet styled windows, and a porch that wrapped all the way around the house. Three rockers sat on the front porch.
“This is your house?” She asked as Rocky popped up in the backseat.
“No,” he refuted. “This. This is our home. Welcome home.”
Chapter 16- Settling In
Rocky ran around the circular wrapped porch at least three times before he came inside. He could not stop talking about being able to fish off the back porch into the stream, which ran directly by the house.
“For a year or so, that was the only running water we had, since I couldn’t afford the water bill,” he said with a smile.
Shanice could not get over the beauty of the home. It was clean too. The kitchen held all modern appliances, with a mud room, a laundry room, and a sewing room.
“A sewing room?”
“Do you sew?”
“Yes!!! Yes I do!!!”
“Great,” he said.
“Rocky,” he called out to the boy. “Let me show you your room.”
He maintained his old bedroom for his son, in the eventuality that he would ever have one. He widened the closet in his old bedroom and turned it into a playroom to keep sleep time, homework time, and play time separately. Since his childhood, he’d painted it, added cartoon car wall appliqués, cool car curtains, and a sports car full sized bed. He was pleased with how it turned out.
Rocky was so ecstatic that he stood in the middle of the floor squealing. Many of the toys Man had as a child were old metal Tonka trucks. He kept them, even repainted most of them, so they all looked new. Nathaniel opened the closet door to show Rocky the playroom, which left the boy speechless. He turned to look at his new Pops with tears in his eyes.
“I love it here,” he told Nathaniel as he ran to him.
Nathaniel bent and scooped the boy up in his arms and hugged him tightly.
“It’s okay if you want to kiss me on the head,” Rocky told him.
“Only if you kiss me back,” Nathaniel responded.
Shanice clutched at her chest, which suddenly felt tight watching the two of them. I almost said no. Please, dear Heavenly Father, let this be real.
“Come on Shanice, or Sharon, let me show you our master suite,” he told her, lifting her in his arms. “I didn’t get a chance to carry you across the threshold into the house, but I can carry you across the one into the bedroom.”
He sat her down and turned her around. The right side of the room was nothing but windows that looked out into the Blue Ridge Mountains. The scenery was breath taking. Nathaniel walked over to the last window, cracked it a bit, and listened to the sound of the water rushing by.
“When it rains, the sound of the water coupled with the droplets hitting the metal roof, is very relaxing. It also makes me really horny. I’m just letting you know,” he warned her.
“Hornier than you normally are?” She asked with an arched brow.
“I’m not horny by nature. You simply make me insane. Even standing so close to you, I truly want to pick you up, carry you in that bathroom, and make you squeal too,” he candidly said.
“What’s stopping you?”
“Shit, you ain’t suggesting nothing I can’t handle,” he groaned. In one motion, he lifted her in his arms, pulled down her pants and underwear, carried her into the bathroom, and bent her over the large double sink vanity.
“Ooh, I have my own sink,” she said with excitement.
“I have something I am about to sink into,” he said as she felt him pressing into her. “Damn you feel so good Shanice. So, so good.”
It was fast.
So was she.
Again, she came like a two-dollar hooker the moment he entered her, then once more as he almost finished.
“I don’t know what it is about you either, but every time you enter me, I come undone,” she said, gripping his thighs as he pulled away, up righting their clothing.
“Is that not normal for you?” He asked zipping his pants.
“Hell no! Why do you think I agreed to marry you so easily? That thing is magical,” she said laughing.
They could hear Rocky calling them.
“Let’s go make some dinner wife,” he told her, reaching for her hand.
“Nathaniel,” she said, fixing her clothing.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you,” she beamed.
“No, thank you. I have led a very lonely life. I didn’t ever think I would find someone to share this with. Then, there you were,” he confessed. “I feel blessed to have you both.”
She started to cry.
She couldn’t help herself. She started to cry.
“Dammit! As crazy as this is, I know I am in love with you, and I only pray that you don’t break mine or Rocky’s heart and turn into some raging ass hat!”
“Not likely,” he said and pulled her into his arms. “I have been in love with you since the instant you told me I could spend the rest of my life in your arms.”
“So this has actually happened?”
“Ans it is as real as it gets,” he gleamed.
“Then tell me,” she smoothly requested.
“I love you Sharon,” he said laughing.
“I love you too Roger,” she responded with a chuckle.
“Aren’t we a pair?” he amused.
“I think we can be a happy pair,” she lovingly replied, the boy called to them again. “We are coming Rocky.”
Together, the three of them descended the stairs to enter the kitchen. Rocky opened the fridge to find it laden with food.
“Mama look at all the food!” He exclaimed with total happiness. “Yeah man I love it here!”
“I love it here too baby,” she told her son.
It seemed like a normal evening in your average household across America as they started dinner. Nathaniel handed her stacks of catalogs and his credit card to order anything that she and Rocky may need.
“Shanice, a car is in the garage for your use if when you need it,” he said gently. Twenty minutes later, they shared a meal as a family in their new home.
A blind date, which could have gone terribly wrong, ended up being her saving grace. The well-balanced dinner was a far cry from a can of something she normally microwaved for her and Rocky. He prepared the fresh vegetables from the amazing garden he maintained in the back yard.
“I love you,” she admitted Nathaniel with ease.
“I love you too,” he replied with reckless abandon.
“What about me?” Rocky wanted to know.
“Of course, we love you too,” they both responded in unison.
It was going to be a nice life. However, there was one thing he needed to handle to ensure that everything would go smoothly for his new family.
Nearly four months had passed before a new contract came through for him. The fax machine kicked in, and Shanice, wide eyed, knew what it meant. Her husband taught her to shoot and arm the traps around the property. Rocky, doing well in his new cub scouts group, still took his bi-weekly martial arts lessons. He was vi
sibly upset when he saw his Pops prepping a backpack.
“Where are you going Pops? My birthday is Sunday! I thought we were having a party?” Rocky wondered with a disappointed in his little voice.
“I will be back by Sunday. Daddy has to go to work,” he assured the boy. Kissing them both, he loaded his favorite suitcase with his long-distance rifle, a few knives, and his favorite Krueger. He kissed them both again, climbed in the vehicle, and drove down the road. She was nervous, but he was a pro.
“He’ll be back soon. Let’s get some breakfast,” she told her son. Shanice was proud that she’d learn to make simple meals for her family. Rocky was flourishing, and she’d even made a friend. ‘All would be well’ she told herself as she went about her day.
Nathaniel had a job to do in Raleigh. It was an easy in, easy out. A perfectly aimed ice bullet to the chest of the face on the fax machine, and the contract was complete. There was one other thing he wanted to take care of before he headed home. His next stop came way of Charleston to the grand opening celebration of the new initiative to clean up and rebuild the new Mt. Pleasant.
Elbow rubbers and hob nobbers from far and wide showed up to congratulate Mr. Eric Guilfoyle, the man responsible for turning around the run-down neighborhoods. Nathaniel stood in the crowd as well, wore his best suit, and clapped vigorously at Eric’s success. It didn’t take long before Eric spotted him.
He saw the expensive shoes the man wore first.
Then, he noticed the extremely rare and costly watch on Nathaniel’s arm. The tailor-made suit fit the stranger like he was born to wear it. What set the suit apart was the pink shirt underneath.
“It takes a confident man to wear a shirt that pink,” Eric said to him.
“I have enough money that I can wear a plastic suit if I want,” he coldly responded.
“I assume that’s why you are here, to talk to me about investing in this new lucrative venture,” Eric said cockily.
“Among other things. Is there somewhere we can talk in private?”
“Of course, this way,” Eric greedily said.
The door was barely closed when Eric turned, finding his belly stuck with a very large knife. His mouth opened wide to yell out, but a needle was stuck in his neck along with a stern warning.
“Quiet! Or, I will inject this directly into your heart. Talk about a painful death,” Nathaniel told him.
“Who...what...whyyyyy?” Eric asked, baffled by the turn of events. “Don’t kill me. I have money. I can pay you,” he tried to reason with him.
“Too late! Shanice sends her regards,” Nathaniel told him as he held the needle a few minutes before taking his last shot at the man. “The boy, Rocky, is an awesome kid. You missed out on a blessing there. I will raise him right, though. In a few months, he is going to have a little brother or sister.”
Nathaniel pressed down on the needle. The stab wound wasn’t that deep and missed several organs. However, Eric’s attempts to pull it out, jimmied the knife, and made it nick an artery. In his unconscious state, Eric would bleed out before anyone found him. Nathaniel slipped out the side door of the patio and moved around the side of the country club to locate his car.
That was easier than I thought. Greedy bastard.
Driving down the highway, he merged onto the interstate and called his wife. Shanice answered on the third ring.
“Hey Sharon, I am headed home,” he greeted.
“How was work Roger?”
“It was a killer two days,” he boasted.
“Drive safe. We are having meatloaf for dinner,” she told him.
“Awesome, see you in a few,” he declared.
“I love you Roger,” she told him.
“I love you too Baby,” he said before hanging up the line.
The bloody gloves were left in a rest area right off I-20 as well as the suit and pink shirt. The shoes were going home with him. Those were the second thing he’d purchased with his first big pay check from the company.
He’d walked many a mile in those shoes.
“And miles to go...before I sleep,” he said softly. Tonight, he was having meatloaf. He loved her meatloaf. He hummed to himself as he drove home to his wife and son. Soon, an addition would be added to his happy family. When the baby was born, he definitely planned to send for his Mom to come up and lend his wife a hand with the new born.
It was good life. He’d earned it.
I earned her.
That was good enough for him to sleep peacefully at night in her arms. A place where she’d promised he could spend the rest of his life. A promise he held her to because it was also his favorite way to end his work day... in the arms of the woman he loved.
- Fin -
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
As an award-winning, best-selling Amazon author, Olivia loves a good laugh coupled with some steam, mixed in with a man and woman finding their way past the words of “I love you.” An author of contemporary romances, she writes heartwarming stories of blossoming relationships about couples not only falling in love but building a life after the hot sex scene.
When Olivia is not writing, she enjoys quilting, playing Scrabble online against other word lovers and spending time with her family. She is an avid world traveler who writes many of the locations into her stories. Most of the time she can be found sitting quietly with pen and paper plotting more adventures in love.
Olivia lives in Hephzibah, Georgia with her husband, son, grandson and snotty evil cat, Katness Evermean.
Learn more about her books, upcoming releases and join her bibliophile nation at www.ogaines.com
Subscribe to her email list at http://eepurl.com/OulYf
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