Chasing Ghosts

Ch. 3

Harper Creek, Tennessee

January 2004

"Wes," Ana scolded, "That is not folding, that is wadding."

He raked a hand through his freshly shorn hair,

"Damn, Analeigh, cut me some slack here!"

She regarded the flustered man with amusement,

"Listen, Corbin, if you can't take orders from me, how do you expect to take them from your commanding officers?"

"It's being ordered around by a bossy teenager I can't handle," Wes shot back and his eyes danced with mischief.

"You were a teenager until about six months ago too, Wesley," she reminded him cooly with a defiant pop of her hip.

Wesley barked a laugh but softened a moment later when he recognized the pain behind Analeigh's sassy remarks,

"Look Ana, I haven't felt much like a teenager since I made this decision," he admitted quietly, "my leaving affects everyone around me."

"The decision," Ana thought, "the time away..."

When Wesley got from Basic Training with a high and tight haircut and muscles that weren't ever there before, Analeigh was knocked on her ass. He seemed older to her, somehow; colder, even, and far more distant. Wes wasn't interested in drawing out the pain by getting close to the people he would leave back home. He was waiting for his orders to ship out and Analeigh wasn't ready in the least bit. She absentmindedly sat down on Wesley's bed as she folded another shirt. Time passed in silence and her pile grew, all the while Analeigh could sense Wesley studying her. Eventually, Wes came around and sat down next to her with a heavy sigh.

"Thank you, Analeigh, for helping me," he said softly, his startling blue eyes boring into her.

Analeigh couldn't recall anyone ever looking at her that way. Wesley's gaze searched his face and her pulse quickened with a sudden awareness of her attraction to him. It was a face she'd known her whole life, a beautiful one at that, only now he looked older and wiser, almost like he knew things he couldn't tell her. Drowning in the sudden intensity of the moment, Analeigh found herself aching to see Wesley's trademark cocky half-smile. She wanted to bring out the dimple that appeared on his left cheek whenever he found something to be especially amusing. That damn dimple had a hold on her, and Ana hadn't seen Wesley's genuine smile in months.

She tentatively reached up and stroked the back of his head where the hair was shorn especially close. It felt soft, like peach fuzz, her fingertips instinctively committed the feeling to memory. While Tanner was dark-haired and deeply tanned by outdoor work like his father, Wesley had inherited his mother's blonde hair and pale blue eyes. Even as a little girl she had admired Wesley's eyes and she had wished her own constantly changing Irises could be beautiful like Wesley's. Back in reality, Analeigh had suddenly become very aware of Wes' nearness beneath her soft touch at the nape of his neck. His side pressed up close against her and Ana melted into the incredibly solid warmth.

"Wes?" She whispered his name like a prayer.

He swallowed hard and raised a questioning eyebrow, prompting Analeigh to wonder if he didn't trust his voice. Maybe he was feeling it, too.

"I'm going to miss you terribly," she whispered after a pregnant pause.

Wesley's expression changed into something unreadable and he dropped his eyes, his hand reaching over to find her without words. Without thinking, she reached for Wes's other hand and wrapped it in her own, forcing him to turn toward her.

"I said," she repeated firmly, "I am going to miss you."

Wes was still for a moment, but he didn't pull away,

"Bug," he said, his voice breaking as he used his horrible childhood nickname for her, "I think I'll miss you most of all."

Analeigh wasn't prepared for his heartfelt reply and to her utter horror, she felt tears form in her eyes. Wesley's gaze turned tender and it was all that she could take. A few rogue teardrops rolled down her cheeks, betraying the fear, apprehension, and worry that had gripped her since he broke the news. Wes was part of her world. Harper Creek and Corbin Ranch and Tanner and Wes: that was her world. It was safe here; they could escape to the firefly patch whenever things got too heavy, but where would Wes go?

"Shit, Ana Bug, don't cry," Wes pleaded quietly.

Analeigh couldn't make words come out, but she tried to stop the hot tears by squeezing her eyes closed.

Wes groaned and pulled Ana so close that she was nearly in his lap.

"I think I've only ever seen you cry once," Wes recalled, "when you and Tanner climbed that damn tree and dad told you not to, but you idiots did it anyway."

Ana sniffed and dared to open her puffy eyes. Wes was watching her with an expression she didn't understand, but there was an unmistakable heat growing between them that Analeigh couldn't ignore.

"The highest branch broke, and so did your leg when you came tumbling down. That was the first time, in the twelve years that I'd known you, I'd ever seen you cry. You've always been tough as hell, Ana," he breathed reverently, "There were tears then, but after the hospital, Pop took you for ice cream and you were all fixed up... but now? These are tears I don't know how to fix, Analeigh. You aren't a twelve-year-old with pigtails anymore and I can't win you over with ice cream."

Analeigh didn't miss the way his eyes hooded slightly when Wesley acknowledged her growing up and she shivered, squeezing his hands and rubbing her thumbs over his calloused skin,

"And now I am sad," she agreed, "but that's okay. You'll always have my full support to chase your dreams, Wes."

Wesley didn't look convinced and this was starting to feel heavy. It scared Analeigh to see him looking at her like that; like he wanted to strip her down to her bare soul and potentially devour her whole. Sure, she'd been dying to gain his attention in any meaningful way for years now, but she didn't quite know what to do with it.

She shifted awkwardly and cleared the thick emotion from her throat,

"And for the record, cowboy, you can absolutely still win me over with ice cream."

She offered a watery smile alongside her joke and was rewarded with the one-dimple grin she'd been longing to see. Just one more heart-stopping smile from this gorgeous man before he got on a plane to God-knows-where would tide her over until Wes came home.

"It will be okay," he assured her, closing the last of the distance between them to lean his forehead against her own.

They sat that way for a long while, soaking up one another's nearness and the feel of Harper Creek, Corbin Ranch, and Analeigh and Wes.