Down the Dirt Road (12 page)

There was hope shining bright in the man’s eyes, Jennie hated to see him disappointed even though she didn’t like the reason it was there.  Still the man had seen so much heartbreak in his own life, losing his wife so long ago.  In the old days, if a man died and left a wife and family, his unattached brother would step up and marry the widow so she wouldn’t have to raise a family alone.  Her great grandmother had been widowed and remarried in that manner. 
They had died many decades later, deeply in love. 
Maybe there was something to be said for the old ways.

    “I told her Uncle Tommy but I don’t know that it will make a difference.  Let me go and open that gate for you.”

   She spun on her heel and
ran
directly into the solid form of Grayson Jenni
n
gs.
  Again.

    “Funny how we keep meeting this way!”  He s
miled down at her again with that
adorable, crooked smile of his.  Her heart fluttered slightly in her chest at the sound of his voice.  Her cheeks flushed a deep shade of crimson.

    “I have to open the gate for Uncle Tommy.”  Before Grayson could say anything else, she was gone, jogging to the gate.  She felt his eyes on her as she put distance between them.  Her reaction to his presence was angering her.  Hadn’t she vowed to swear off men for a very, very long time?  Barely a week since her heart had been trampled on and tossed aside she was attracted to a complete stranger.  There was no way she was going to ever fall for a smooth talking, sexy smile again.  She was young, there was plenty of time to worry about that later.  For now she had to focus her attentions on the matter at hand.  Getting Bessie out of the pasture.

    She swung the gate open wide and directed Tom junior as he backed his flatbed tow truck into the pasture.  Watching as the men strapped the chains meant for a
broken down car around their family pet was odd.  Seeing them pull her onto the truck with the winch and strap her down would have been downright ridiculous anywhere but there on a farm in a town lost in the time.

   Just as Tom junior pulled out onto the old dirt ro
ad and headed toward Greg Jeffri
es’ butchering place, Momma stepped out on the porch looking as fresh and put together in a black sundress
and neat ponytail
as Jennie had seen her since before Daddy collapsed in the bedroom.  Uncle Tommy and Grayson Jennings were just about to climb into Uncle Tommy’s truck when Momma waved to Uncle Tommy.

    “Hello Tommy.”  She spoke quietly but they all heard her.  Uncle Tommy walked up on to the front porch, took her by the hand and kissed Momma on the cheek.

    “Elise!  I am so happy you came out to say hello.  Jennie said you were nappin’.”

     “I was but I heard ya’ll outside so I thought you might like a glass of fresh sweet tea bein’ that it is so hot these days.  Johnny would have never forgive
n
me if I let you leave here thirsty and without a proper thank you.”

     Jennie watched as her mother’s eyes, previously dark with sorrow almost sparkled as she talked to Uncle Tommy.  Perhaps the similarities between the brothers comforted her.  Jennie found she didn’t actually care.  Whatever the reason, Uncle Tommy had given Momma something to smile about for the first time in over a week.

   As they settled into the porch rockers, Jennie heard her mother giggle.  The sound was as foreign to her as
anything;
Momma hadn’t laughed in days.  A deep chuckle next to her caught her attention.  Having forgotten the young man standing beside her, she scowled as she looke
d
up at him.

    “Just what is so funny?” 

     “The way you are watchin’ them, like you want to pounce on your Uncle or something.”

    “Not that it’s any of your business but my Daddy just passed away not more than a week ago.  Momma’s been so sad it’s strange to see her smilin’ again.  Course, Uncle Tommy is so much like Daddy…”

    Embarrassed that she had divulged so much, Jennie turned and walked away
mid-sentence
.  She had chores to
do and they weren’t gonna get done standing around with Mr. Brown Eyes as he cracked jokes that weren’t at all funny.

    She never heard the footsteps behind her as she filled the horse’s grain bucke
ts from the bin inside the barn so she cursed at the sound of his deep voice.

   “Here, let me take those.”  Grayson Jennings and his sexy smile looked down at her from at least six – t
wo or six- three feet of height, amusement at her choice of greeting shining in his chocolate eyes.

    “I can handle it just fine, thank you.”

    “I have no doubt that you can, Jennie.  I just want to give you a hand.”

    There was something about the way he said her name, the letters sliding off his tongue like silk that caused gooseflesh to break out all over her arms.

    “Fine,” she snapped.  “The horses are in the stalls at the end.  I’ll go feed the chickens and the rabbits.”

    Turning on her heel she stomped away to the chicken feed barrel, drew out the scoop and walked out of the barn to spread the feed in the chicken coop.

    “Are you always so angry when someone offers to help you?”

    “Do you always follow women around?  Some might call you a stalker.”

  
“If I were stalking you, you wouldn’t know it.  I studying criminal behavior, remember?”  He smiled brightly as he took the chicken feed from her and tossed the grains evenly in one easy motion.

     “How do you know my Uncle T
ommy?”

      The change of subject was obvious but she didn’t know what else to say.

     “I work on his dairy farm durin’ the day so I can pay for my classes at night.”

     “I don’t remember seein’ you around here before.”

     “I’m guessin’ you were too busy moonin’ over that boyfriend of yours to rightly notice anyone else.”

    Her head whipped around at the mention of her lost love and she all but snarled at Grayson.

     “You know Michael?” 

     “Graduated high school together.”

      “I think I would remember you if I had seen you around here before.  This town’s way to
o
small to hide in.”

       “I don’t hide but I don’t go runnin’ through the streets lookin’ for attention either.  I’m a quiet sorta guy, you know?”

      “You don’t seem so quiet right now.”

      “You make it easy to talk.”

       The silence that fell over them was tense, electrically charged.  Jennie searched for something witty to say but she was so emotionally drained from the day, her usual gift for words was long gone.
  It was time to end it and get rid of the handsome Grayson Jennings.

     “Well, thank you for your help with feeding the animals.  I’ve got to get inside and make something for dinner for Momma while she is actually awake and out of her room.  I’ll be seein’ you.”

    She was already halfway to the house as she waved a hurried goodbye but she heard Grayson’s quiet words as clear as day.

    “You can count on it.”

1
0.

    Sleep was slow to come that night.  Finally collapsing in her bed at half past nine, Jennie fully expected to fall deep into a dreamless sleep.  Her body ached with exhausted, her mind and emotions were completely drained.  Instead, she tossed and turned, begging the sandman to finally come and put her out of her misery yet no relief came.  Her thoughts were full of chocolate brown eyes and crooked smiles.

    Giving up completely on sleep sometime around midnight, she padded quietly out of her room and down the hall to the kitchen.  A full moon provided enough light that she didn’t need to flip any switches.  Taking a glass from the cupboard, she filled it with ice cold water from the tap
and slowly drank it as she stared out the window over the sink.  The pasture seemed oddly empty and quiet knowing Bessie was no longer out there.

    It was Labor D
ay weekend.  The streets would be full of townsfolk tomorrow for the annual parade and festival.  Momma always entered her strawberry pies in the pie tasting contest but not this year.  The only one who done any work in the kitchen lately was her and there was absolutely pie baking talent in Jennie’s genes.
   

    Maybe Momma would want to go to town for dinner.  The fried chicken and pulled pork sandwiches bound to be served would make a nice change from all the casseroles they were still working on from Daddy’s funeral.  She could almost taste the barbeque and cole slaw in anticipation.

   She made up her mind on her way back to bed- even if Momma refused, she would go for a bit.  A change of pace might be just what she needed to get Grayson Jennings out of her mind.

   What she didn’t count on was running into the handsome aspiring cop at the first booth she stopped at.

    His deep voice nearly made her drop the fried dough she had just purchased.

     “Hullo Jennie Marshall.  Nice to see you again.”  His lopsided grin held a certain amount of boyish charm that she found very hard to resist.

     “Hell
o,
Mr. Jennings.”  She really hoped he couldn’t hear the sound of her heart pounding against her chest wall.

      He laughed.  “Please, call my Grayson.  Mr. Jennings make me sound so… so… old.  Are you … here with anyone?  Your Momma maybe?”

       She tossed her tangled curls over her shoulder and began to walk away from the food cart.  “Nope.  Momma wasn’t quite feeling up to going out today.  I had few errands to run so I thought I might grab some lunch.”

    “Starting with desert?”  He reached up and rubbed a smudge of powdered sugar from her cheek.  Her skin tingled where he made contact, throwing her insides into a tornado of turmoil.  Her cheeks flushed as she looked down at the greasy hunk of sugar covered dough in her hand. 
Little white dots of sugar
covered her
tank top
that was as red as her cheeks
.

     “I always eat my desert first.  What if I get full?”  She actually laughed at her own joke.  It was the first time she had laughed since Daddy died.  It felt good.

      “I suppose that would be the best plan.  I think I will join you.  Wait here.”  Grayson stepped over to the pie tent and grabbed a piece of apple pie, dropping a dollar on the table and hurried back to her.  “There, now we can have desert together.  Maybe after you will let me get you a barbeque dinner?”

      Jennie couldn’t help but smile at the hopeful look in Grayson’s eyes.  Before she could stop herself, she agreed to the invitation.  “OK.”

     “Just like that?  OK?  I thought I might have to apply my strong powers of persuasion to convince you.”  There went that crooked smile again. 

    “I’m hungry.  I’m gonna eat either way, no harm in you sitting at the same table right?”  She tried to sound flippant, uninterested but her body betrayed her as she offered a
wide, warm smile to the boy who seemed to make her go against everything she wanted to do.

    “No, I don’t rightly think there is any harm in sharing a table.”  His ever-present smile grew bigger, more crooked.

   Grayson Jennings was not handsome in the traditional sense.  His body- strong and hard from working the fields was large, almost cumbersome as he walked through the crowds.  Close cropped hair, as dark as the eyes she couldn’t seem to resist was typical of any farmer in the area and
then there was that lopsided smile, akin to that of a six year caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  No he was nowhere near as classically good looking as Michael was with his crystal blue eyes and towheaded mop he had never outgrown but he did something to Jennie that Michael never had.

    They made their way through the crowds, eating desert and chatting about the weather in search of an empty picnic table or a shady spot under a tree.  Jennie heard herself laughing and for the first time in what felt like months, she was as relaxed as she ever had been.  Grayson was easy
company, he made her feel good and she relished that feeling after so many days of feeling so rotten.

    She should have known there was no way the day could keep going so well.  As soon as they settled in on a grassy knoll, Jennie looked up and caught site of the two people she had sincerely hoped she would never, ever see again.

    About twenty feet in front her, holding hands and gazing at each other with disgusting lovesick expressions stood Trisha and Michael.

     “Seriously?”  She mumbled jumping to her feet and dumping what was left of her fried dough on the grass.  “I have to go.”

     “What’s wrong, Jennie?”  Grayson rose from the ground reaching for her hand as she turned to leave.