Summer's Loss

Chapter 10

Brice

Brice stared at the door after she left as if he could still see her walking down that hall. The shy girl that had walked into his office only days ago was now gone, in her place was a this new, confident girl that he had somehow insulted. When she had burst into his office he could have sworn he saw lightning in those green eyes. It had left him dumbfounded.

He had made a plan the night after he met her that he was not going to allow himself anywhere near her, just to be safe. He had told Tom that Abigail would be better off with the YCC crew as an excuse. He still truly had no clue why he felt the way he did around her. There was an air of phenomena surrounding her that gave him chills. She was a completely different person today, and Brice had a feeling that there was so much more about her that he didn't know yet, and that part of him that he didn't understand wanted to find out what those were.

He shook his head and looked away from the door, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. As soon as he had met her eyes with his own, his plan had been completely forgotten. He couldn't find the right words to respond to her anger. She thought that he didn't like her, that he thought she was immature. The ache in his chest was another mystery he'd be up all night thinking about.

He knew he should regret telling Tom he was going to work with her again, but he couldn't. He felt good about it, and he hated that he felt that way. He wanted to hate himself but he couldn't. He sighed and forced himself to focus on the work before him, even though his mind was still wrapped around the green eyed storm that had just walked out of his office.

~

Brice sat in his truck, parked in the parking lot of the Forest Service Headquarters. He willed himself to get out but he couldn't bring his hand to move towards the handle. He knew that when he got out, he would go to his office and wait for the girl that left him in a state of confusion and unexplainable feelings.

So he sat in his truck and watched the morning sun rise slowly higher. It hit the building before him and illuminated the wood paneling along the exterior walls. The building rested against one of the many hills surrounding the valley, not too far from the highway that ran through the valley like a river of asphalt.

Finally, he took a deep breath and forced himself out of the truck. He walked slowly to his office and took a seat behind his cluttered desk. He rarely spent any time in it so paper work tended to pile up faster than he could do it. The majority of his time was spent outside. He tried to pass the time by attempting to organize the mess before him but soon gave up. Instead he sat back in his chair and played with his thumbs.

He jumped at the knock but quickly composed himself and said a brief, "come in".  Abigail stepped through the door and quietly closed it behind her, her eyes downcast the entire time.  Her dark hair was pulled up in a high pony tail and she was wearing a loose fitting black T-shirt with a pair of dark blue boot cut jeans with a tear at the knee, revealing sun kissed skin.  He stared at her and she stared at the floor, both in complete silence.

"I'm sorry," her voice startled him out of his silence.

"For what?" He asked.

"For the way I acted yesterday, it was uncalled for."  Her eyes glanced up and met his, then flashed back to the floor.

"If any one should be sorry, it's me."  He paused when she looked at him again, this time her green eyes stayed locked with his, "It was rude of me to say I'd work with you and then kick you out with YCC after one day of working together." Abigail's lips turned up in a half grin.

"No hard feelings then."  She said before continuing on, "So what's the plan for today?"  Her eyes drifted to the pile of paper work that sat before him,"I hope you're not planning on making me do all that."  She gestured to the untamed pile of papers.

"No, we'll save that for a rainy day."  Brice smiled at the way her shoulders relaxed when he said they weren't doing paper work, "There's a few creeks we need to check on.  There's been complaints about brush and foliage piling up and blocking the flow."

"Where at?"

"Here and there, but we'll start at the Sutter Creek campgrounds, that's where we've been getting the most complaints."

"I've been there!"  Abigail exclaimed, her entire face lighting up, "when I was a little girl and my mom and I used to come visit my uncle, I would swim in a fishing hole near the campgrounds."

"I think I know the one you're talking about," Brice said while gathering the few things they'd need to take with them, "but I can't say I've ever swam in it."

"You'll have to try it sometime."  Abigail smiled.

Her words, innocent as they were, gave him chills and he immediately looked away from her, becoming sullen once more.  He picked up the remainder of his things and grabbed the work truck keys, "We're wasting time here."  He stood up and walked to the door, making sure to go wide around Abigail.  Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her eyebrows pinching together as if she were thinking hard about something, but he wasn't about to inquire.

He made his way to the back door which led to where the work truck was parked.  He climbed into the drivers seat of the small single cab F-150, all too aware of Abigail's proximity to him.  She smelled like a forest right after the rain.  He started the truck and punched it into first, anger and another horrible feeling running through his veins.