by Sharon Sala
Without wasting a moment, he did just that, watching her every expression until he knew where to touch that made her lose her breath—learning how sensitive the rosy nipples were on her breasts, and watching for the moment when her eyes shut on a moan. That’s when he knew that she was gone.
He took her to a climax once before he took her to him, and this time they fit in every possible way. Whatever joy he was giving her increased a hundredfold for him. No man had ever needed to be loved more. She was healing every broken piece of his heart.
Later, after getting dressed, Rowan took great care in smoothing out the sheets beneath the bedspread and then straightened the spread itself.
“Does it look okay?” she asked.
“It’s fine,” Bowie said.
“What’s happening between us is still ours, and I’m not ready to share,” she said.
When she finally stopped fussing with the bed, he gave a little tug to her ponytail and then brushed a kiss across her lips.
“It’s too hot to wear the sweatpants, and I’m not wearing my new clothes to work in, so it’s the old shorts and T-shirt for me. Is that okay?”
“It’s fine, but we could always get more clothes.”
“You’ve already given many things to me, not the least of which is food and shelter. I can wait.”
He understood the need to be self-sufficient more than most.
“Okay, but you are going to marry me, right? I mean…I’ll be giving you all kinds of things then.”
Rowan’s eyes widened and then suddenly filled with tears.
“Did you just propose?”
He grinned. “I guess I did. Is it too soon?”
“No, it’s not too soon, and yes, I am going to marry you and follow you to the ends of the earth if that’s where you take me.”
Bowie scooped her off her feet, laughing.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and started peppering his face with kisses and tears. If his phone hadn’t started ringing, they might have made another trip back to bed.
“It’s them,” he said, and answered quickly. “Hey, Aunt Ella. Are you already there?”
“Yes, and already cruising the car lots. It’s been so long since Mama and I have been able to run around that we’re having too much fun to make it back at noon.”
“That’s wonderful,” Bowie said. “Don’t worry about Rowan. I took her to work with me,” he said, and winked at Rowan. He’d intentionally led Ella to believe they were already there, to keep Rowan’s cover.
“Great. I didn’t like to think about her there on her own.”
“We’re fine. Have fun. Text or call me when you two start for home.”
“We will. Love you, honey.”
“Love you, too,” he said, then disconnected and put the phone back in his pocket. “Are you ready to go to work?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Then we’re out of here,” he said, and out the door they went.
Once he was outside, Bowie set the security alarm and headed for the Jeep.
Frank Crockett was washing his car as they got into the Cherokee and drove away, and Yancy Scott’s little redheaded girl was riding her bike up and down the road between the trailers.
It was a little after nine by the time they arrived, and when the crew saw Rowan get out of the car in shorts and the Salvation Army T-shirt, work came to a halt.
They were standing inside the house with big grins on their faces when he and Rowan walked in. He already knew Rowan would be a distraction, and they already knew she existed because he’d talked about her. Now, they were going to meet her.
Bowie noticed Rowan’s smile was a little shy, so he slid his hand across her back, wanting her to feel comfortable.
“Honey, these guys are my friends. Ray and Joe Tuttle are brothers. They’re the ones with the silly grins on their faces. The one in the red shirt is Matt Roller, and next to him on his right is Presley Smith. You share a hairstyle with Samuel Hooper, and Walter Adams is the one with the beard. Guys, this is Rowan Harper. She’s going to spend the day with us, so can the dirty jokes and try not to stare.”
Rowan laughed. “It’s nice to meet you guys.”
“It’s our pleasure,” Ray said, and the rest of them nodded, suddenly at a loss for words.
“Okay, as you were,” Bowie said, and they all went back to what they’d been doing. “I’ll walk you through the place, just so you’ll have an idea of the layout, before I grab a hammer.”
As soon as she’d had the tour, she looked around at what was going on.
“Is there anything in here that I could help with in any way?” she asked.
“No, honey, not right now until we get the rest of this trim up.”
“Then do you have some big garbage bags?”
Ray piped up before Bowie could answer. “Yes, ma’am. There are several boxes of them in the tool van. Just open up the back door and look on the shelf to your left.”
“Thank you,” Rowan said. She wiggled her fingers goodbye at Bowie and left him standing.
He didn’t know what was up until he looked out a few minutes later and saw her picking up building trash from the front yard. Pleased by her take-charge attitude, he dug around until he found a pair of gloves that should fit her and took them outside.
“For you,” he said, and tossed them off the porch.
“Thanks!” Rowan said as she put them on, then went back to work.
She liked being outside, and she liked being useful, so the time passed quickly. She had one trash bag full before she’d gone halfway around. She tied off the bag and threw it in their big dumpster, then got another bag and finished the other half of the yard.
Bowie was proud of her initiative and her willingness to get her hands dirty.
His crew was interested in the length of those long, tan legs and the way her eyes crinkled up at the corners when she laughed.
After catching them moving from window to window so they could watch what she was doing, Bowie frowned.
“Guys! What the hell? You act like you never saw a woman before. You haven’t done a third of what needed to be done today and it’s already nearly noon.”
They turned to face him, wearing equally guilty looks but without bothering to hide their smiles.
“Well, don’t get mad at us,” Joe said. “You’re the one who brought her to work, and we’re not dead. She’s pretty, Boss. She’s real pretty.”
“Yes, I’m aware of that. But give me a break. She’s my girl, and you’re expecting me to ignore all this blatant adoration?”
Samuel frowned. “What’s ‘blatant’ mean?”
Ray laughed. “It means stop standing around staring at her.”
“Oh! Right! Sorry, Boss,” Samuel said, “but I’m done tiling the shower in the master bath, and I’m going to start on the bathroom in the hall after lunch.”
Bowie shook his head and found something to hammer, while Rowan continued picking up trash, unaware of the commotion her presence had caused.
When they stopped for lunch, Bowie took Rowan with him to Broyles Dairy Freeze to pick up the order he’d called in.
“It sure feels good in here,” she said. “This is like how it was at home. We’d be all hot and sweaty outside and then go in to eat. It was twice as hard to go back out to work once we were cool and our tummies were full.”
“Is this too much for you, baby? I will happily take you back home if you want.”
“No, I don’t want to go back. I’m used to this. I want to stay with you. So I have the trash all picked up. What are you going to be doing this afternoon?”
“We’ll probably start painting in the back of the house. The tape and bedding got dry on the new drywall. The new cabinets will be delivered day after tomorrow, and I want everything painted before we bring t
hem in.”
“This is so exciting for Pearl and Ella. They are going to be living in style.”
“It’s no more than they deserve,” Bowie said, and then pulled into the drive-through, picked up the order, and headed back.
A good breeze had picked up, so they all ate out on the porch, laughing and talking, the men doing their best not to flirt with the boss’s girl.
Rowan sat with her back against the wall, listening to the banter and watching how Bowie was with them—how he straddled the line between boss and friend with such ease.
She ate her burger, but not all the fries. “Hey, Bowie, do you want the rest of my fries?”
Before he could answer, Joe raised his hand. “I call dibs if the boss doesn’t want them.”
Bowie grinned. “Give them to Joe. He’s always hungry.”
Joe jumped up, took the little paper boat with the fries out of her hands, and grinned. “Thanks.”
Rowan smiled. “You’re most welcome.”
* * *
Tiny was standing by Junior’s bed, holding his hand and watching his face for even the tiniest hints of his awakening. Her thoughts kept going back to special moments when he was a baby—when he was learning to walk, and the time when he was three and put a whole roll of toilet paper in the toilet then tried to flush. Water flooded the bathroom, and when it did, he hid under the bed.
He’d been such a happy little guy. She couldn’t believe where life had taken him. All she knew was that crying wouldn’t help, but God might. According to their preacher, God cared for good and bad people alike, so she started to pray.
She was halfway through the Twenty-Third Psalm, her go-to prayer, when she thought she felt his finger twitch. She stopped right in the middle of “I will fear no evil,” and looked down at his hand lying in hers.
“Junior? It’s Mama. Can you hear me, sweetheart? This is me squeezing your hand. Do you feel it? Can you squeeze mine back?”
She felt another twitch, and then all his fingers moved. It wasn’t a squeeze, but it was an acknowledgment of the request.
“Oh, Junior! Oh, baby! You’re waking up! Praise the Lord, praise the Lord!”
* * *
Melvin Boone was heading south, going as fast as the law would allow. He wanted to be as far away from his past as he could, where no one knew anything about him or his family.
Sitting at his mother’s side in the ER and seeing true revulsion on her face had been his undoing. He’d gone home after they moved her into a room that day and thought about killing himself. The only thing that stopped him was knowing they’d bury him in Blessings. How could he get away from what he’d done if they put him six feet deep in Georgia soil?
It wasn’t until they turned his power off that Mel made a move. Fate had decided for him. He hadn’t expected to leave town with any money. But he also didn’t want to skip out owing any, either. Being able to pay off his past-due rent by leaving all his furniture behind would get him out of debt, but the landlord took the furniture for past rent, then gave Mel the difference. Having money in his pocket had been a godsend. He had more than enough to get to Florida. He was damn good at cleaning fish. Maybe he could get a job on the docks. But whatever he did, he would do it on his own.
He’d been ignoring the calls from Emmitt, but when he read the text, Mel cried. No, he wasn’t going to let anyone know where he was. How could he start over if he stayed connected to the past? This exodus from all he loved was his punishment. He knew it. He accepted it.
He stopped at the Georgia–Florida border to fuel up, picked up a snack and a cold drink to take with him, and then he was back on the road. When the highway took him on into Florida, his fingers tightened on the wheel. He was scared as hell, but there was no looking back.
* * *
It was midafternoon when Bowie got a text from Ella, telling him they were on their way home. He sent one back and went to find Rowan.
She was in Ella’s room, running painter’s tape around the windows to prepare the room for painting.
He walked up behind her and kissed the back of her neck.
“Good job, honey!”
“Thanks.”
“Aunt Ella just called. They’re on their way home, and they don’t have a key to get in. It’s less than two hours before quitting time. How about I take you home now so you can let them in? You can clean up before they get there, and I’ll bring supper home with me from Granny’s so no one has to cook.”
“Okay. I’ve finished in here, anyway.”
They walked back to where Ray was working. “Ray, I’m going to drop Rowan off at home, and then I’ll be right back.”
Ray gave him a thumbs-up, then pointed at Rowan. “You, pretty lady, are one hard worker, and it was a pleasure to meet you.”
“Thanks. Tell the guys I said goodbye,” she said, and then they headed out to the car. “I hope I’m not too dirty to ride in this.”
He laughed. “I ride home in this every night needing a bath and clean clothes.”
She grinned. “Oh, right.”
As they started home, she reached across the console and patted Bowie’s leg.
“What’s that for?” he asked.
“For… Because I love you.”
The sudden lump in Bowie’s throat caught him by surprise.
“And for that, I am truly grateful. I love you, too.”
She nodded. “I know.”
“Am I that transparent?” he asked.
“Oh, no, nothing like that. The faeries would never have let us under their tree if you hadn’t been my true love.”
“Really?” Bowie said, and then shook his head. “I think I keep saying that, don’t I?”
“It’s okay,” Rowan said. “You had no way of knowing.”
She was right, and he still didn’t know what made her tick, but he also didn’t give a damn. She was his and that was all that mattered.
The little redhead wasn’t riding her bike anymore, but she and another girl appeared to be running races as Bowie drove into the park.
“I don’t think that little girl runs out of energy,” Rowan said. “She was on her bike when we left, and look at her now.”
Bowie glanced up the road. “I remember being like that. I’d go out to play in the morning and only come back inside for meals or when it got dark.”
“All of my friends were at school, so when we were out for the summer I was on my own for entertainment, only I never ran out of things to do,” Rowan said. She hopped out of the car and yelled “Race you!” and headed for the steps.
He caught her before she got there, threw her over his shoulder, and left her hanging upside down as he unlocked the door.
Rowan was laughing so hard she could barely breathe when he dumped her onto the sofa and stole a kiss.
“You beat me!” she said.
Bowie grinned. “Come lock the door after me. The girls should be back within the next forty minutes or so, and I won’t be far behind.”
“See you soon,” she said, then stood in the door, waited for him to wave, then watched him drive away. As soon as the door was locked, she danced herself across the floor, stripped off her clothes and tossed them in the washer, and headed for the shower to clean up.
* * *
Cora was pouring herself a glass of sweet tea when her phone signaled a text. When she saw Emmitt’s name as the sender, she read it anyway, only because she was hoping it might be news about Junior.
Mama, thought you would want to know that Junior is showing signs of regaining consciousness. He remains in guarded but stable condition. Mel is gone. He left town without intent of coming back. He does not return my calls or texts. My heart tells me we’ll never see him again.
Cora put her phone back in her pocket and took her sweet tea to her recliner. She took a sip and then set
it aside as she turned on the TV. She found the show she wanted to watch and turned up the volume.
She liked Ellen DeGeneres. Ellen made her laugh. But the longer she watched, the less Cora felt like laughing. In fact, laughing right now felt wrong. She changed the channel to a cooking show, then took another drink and put her feet up.
Before she knew it, she was crying again.
It was either cry, or die from the pain swelling up inside of her. She knew why Mel was gone, and that was going to be one more blot on her conscience to deal with. Today, life was just a little too hard. Maybe tomorrow would be better.
* * *
Rowan was squeaky clean and sitting with her feet up, enjoying the cool air, her Coke, and Bowie’s book on constellations when she heard a car. She jumped up to see if it was Pearl and Ella, and it was.
“Need any help?” she asked as they began gathering up all kinds of shopping bags.
“We’ve got it,” Ella said.
They came inside, grinning from ear to ear.
“What’s the secret?” she asked.
“No secret. Come with us to the bedroom. We have something to show you.”
“Okay.”
They dumped all the bags onto the bed, and then pointed.
“Open them,” Ella said.
“They’re all for you,” Pearl added.
Rowan’s expression must have registered her shock, because the girls high-fived each other and grinned.
“Go on!” Pearl urged.
Rowan emptied the first bag onto the bed and squealed in pure delight. Then she did the same to the next, and to the next, until all seven bags were empty. By the time she spread the contents out all over the bed, she was crying.
“I can’t believe you did this,” she said, and hugged Pearl and then Ella. “They’re beautiful, and all my size!”
“It’s the most fun we’ve had in ages,” Ella said. “Start trying them on. We want to see you model every one of them, while we go start supper.”
“Oh! Bowie said he was bringing supper home.”
Ella sighed. “I knew there was a reason why I love him so much. I am seriously too tired to cook. So, Mama and I will just go sit on the sofa and wait for the runway show to begin.”
