River Lane

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

            “No.” I was never much of one to give into demands easily. Not giving him a chance to retort, I continued. “I guess we are going to be stuck here for a while. Why don’t you go get some more wood in and I’ll try to find us something to eat.” I turned my back on him and started digging through cupboards.

            When he was done chopping a few small logs and had filled the wood box, the sun had set and it was complete darkness outside. The air had chilled considerably and I was very thankful for the fire that was going in the stove, making the cabin a little more cozy. As he brought in the last armload of wood and dropped it in the box, stuffing a few more small pieces in the stove, I put a plate of biscuits and a few bowls of soup on the little table. We ate in silence and when we were both finished I picked up the dishes to hurry and wash them; more for the sake of something to keep my occupied than anything else. It became very disconcerting when he stayed in his chair and stared at me the whole time. Unfortunately it didn’t take me too long to wash the dishes, since there weren’t very many that were dirty. Putting the last of them away in the cupboard, I walked past him, grabbed a small book off the shelf and curled up in one of the soft chairs. I had every intention in the world of completely ignoring his as long as physically possible. I had barely sat down when he began to loudly clear his throat. Peeking my eyes over the very top edge of the book I looked to see a very stunning set of eyes sitting in the chair straight across from me.

                                                                        Garrett

            Garrett knew she was trying to avoid him, but he wasn’t going to let it slide that easily. He had tried to be patient with her because he didn’t want to spook her away, but he seriously wanted to know what had switched in her brain to make her start acting so cold to him again. One way or another he would get it out of her. Sitting down in the chair across from her, he tried to get her attention. He tried to hold back a smile when he seen her dazzling eyes peek over the edge of the book she was reading.

            “Anything you want to tell me?” She instantly covered her face back up with the book. She was trying to hide. There was no way that anyone could possibly read a book that was that close to their face.

            “Nope,” She replied quickly. “I’m pretty content just sitting here reading my book thanks. Shaking his head he decided to give her a break for a little bit longer. She’d tell him eventually. That was one thing that he was starting to learn about Nayvee. If there was anything that you wanted to know, you just had to wait for the right moment to ask. Nodding his head, he stood up and walked over to check out the bookcase. He found a few funny books by Baxter Black and although he had no intention of actually reading much, he picked one up and sat back down. The book was pretty entertaining and it didn’t take long for him to actually start reading.

            An hour or so later he was starting to wonder if something really was wrong, as he had never heard Nayvee stay this quiet before. Glancing over at her, his heartstrings tugged to see her curled in a ball in the chair, deep asleep. He figured that if she had been awake, she would be stressing about the fact that there was only one bed in the whole room, and not even a couch for one of them to crash on. He was glad that he didn’t have to have the argument with her.

            Placing both books back on the shelf, Garrett cradled Nayvee in his arms and carried her over to the bed, pulling back the blankets and laying her gently down. Shaking his head he walked outside to gather a few more pieces of firewood.. As he came back inside, he stared at her peaceful expression, and he was caught up with how beautiful she was. He refused to take into consideration how much he was beginning to feel for her, and before his common sense could talk him out of it he took off his pants and climbed into the bed. Wrapping his arm around her middle and resting his chin near her shoulders, he silently thanked god for who ever it was the slashed her tires and gave him this chance to be alone with her. 

            Early the next morning, Garrett was awoken by a loud crash, followed by Nayvee’s screech. Jolting up out of the bed like he had a firecracker in his pants, he looked over towards the floor where a metal pie pan was rolling near last nights biscuits. Up where the pan had fallen from was a small raccoon, sitting still like its paws were stuck in the cookie jar, as another one scurried across the floor, trying to find an escape route.

            Nayvee shot up out of bed and reaching toward the floor, (giving me a fantastic view of her rear end), she grabbed her boots and started throwing them across the room at the coons. Not succeeding in hitting them, she rushed out of bed to grab the broom and started to beat at them, as the rushed around the room trying to get free of the crazy woman yelling at them.

            Not being able to refrain from the humor of the situation, I bent over on the bed and was soon laughing so hard I could barely breathe.

            “Stop laughing and help me damnit! Its your fault they got in here!” Nayvee screamed at me, causing me to laugh even harder. Feeling the blanket underneath me begin to give way, I didn’t even have time to reach desperately for safety before I came crashing down on the hard floor. Tears were rolling from my eyes as I struggled to gain my breath as well as my composure. Finally calming myself down I looked up to see a bunch of yellow straw smack me in the face, and Nayvee holding on to the end of the accusing stick.

            “I beg your pardon?” I asked, demanding to know the reason behind the simple assault. She cracked a small smile.

            “That’s the price you pay for leaving the door open for wild creatures to come inside and scare the daylights out of me!”

            “I’ll show you wild animal,” I growled as I lunged for her. Letting out a squeal, Nayvee dropped the broom and took off. She was not calculating the fact that she had no where to run. Instantly grabbing her around the waist, I threw her onto the bed. She weighed no more than a feed sack so it was easy to do. She popped up and scrambled backwards towards the wall. It did her no good. I leapt onto the bed in front of her, and pushing her down, I straddled her lap and pinned her arms above her head with one hand.

            “Name ten candy bars!” I said as I started relentlessly tapping her on the forehead with my knuckles. Giggling uncontrollably she tried to answer.

            “Snickers, Butterfinger, Milky Way, Skittles…”

            “Nope! Skittles doesn’t count, its not an actual candy bar.”

            “Fine! Reeses, mounds, I don’t know!”

            “Ok then what is it you were thinking yesterday when you shut down and ran away from me all over again?”

                                                                        Nayvee

            I instantly stopped laughing and wiggling underneath him, the same time that he stopped knocking on my dang forehead and stared down at me so intently.

            “I wasn’t trying to shut down on you. I was actually enjoying our ride together for the most part. I was just thinking a lot and it changed my mood for a bit. That’s all.” I hoped he would believe me and let it go. I really didn’t want to go over this again.

            “Answer my question Nayvee. I wouldn’t ask you if I really didn’t want to know, and I want us to be honest with each other. You can tell me anything you know. You can trust me.” Deciding that maybe I really could believe him, I gave in almost instantly.

            “I was thinking about all the time we’ve spent together since we first met. ALL of the time we spent together. And the repercussions of some of those moments.” I gave him a look, hoping he’d catch on so I didn’t have to go into detail. I knew the moment that it clicked in his brain and the dark clouds gathered in his eyes. I was expecting a full retort from him, or maybe even for him to get off and walk away. Imagine my surprise when instead of getting angry, his gaze softened and his lips crushed down on mine. All clear thought disappeared in an instant.