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Bridge rolled her eyes.
“Well, dinner’s right through here,” Ellie added cheerfully. She took Bridge’s arm and guided her down a wide hall, leaving Cricket and me alone.
I smiled idiotically because this girl sucked all the mojo out of me.
“I-uh-I...” Smooth.
Cricket’s eyes widened in disbelief, probably because I couldn’t string a sentence together. She walked the direction Ellie and Bridge had gone.
“Come, boy!” she said, snapping her fingers. I jumped at the order, scrambling to her side as quickly as possible. The large mixed German shepherd fell into stride next to her. She bit her full lower lip to keep from smiling. I nearly facepalmed myself but held back. Now you have restraint? Charming.
“August said you row?” she asked. Her voice spilled over me like warm syrup. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the drugging sensation, then realized she’d asked me a question.
“Yeah,” I answered belatedly. Good. A short answer, but it’s better than mouth diarrhea. “I row...a-uh-boat...with-uh-my teammates.” Superb! Just-uh-superb.
“Do you use an oar?” she teased, biting her lower lip again. I found myself fantasizing I was the one that bit that lower lip. Her mouth distracted me. Answer her!
“Yes, smart ass, I use an oar,” I flirted, grinning from ear to ear because I couldn’t help it.
She smiled back, making me want to worship at her feet. Stick a fork in me!
“This is Useless Eugene,” she said, patting the side of her dog’s neck. “But I just call him Eugie.”
“Where’d he get a name like that?”
“When he was puppy, he took a liking to me and would only follow me around. We couldn’t get him to work unless I was there, and I was in school then. They’d take him out into the field, but he’d just come running back to the house looking for me. My pa called him a Useless Eugene and it stuck.”
“How old is he?”
“Thirteen.”
I looked down at the old boy and noticed a little hitch in his step. I could tell his bones were aching.
We walked into a large dining area with a long wood table and long benches instead of chairs that could probably sit at least thirty. The ceiling was lower in this room, making it feel more intimate. Along the center of the table laid a banquet. Platters full of chicken fried steak, fried chicken, actual piles of grilled steak and biscuits. There were bowls full of mashed potatoes, creamed corn and green beans with bacon. These people’s cholesterol must be through the roof, I thought, but looked around at the few already seated. There wasn’t a single overweight person there.
“If you worked twelve hours a day, burned approximately three thousand calories in those twelve hours with the sheer labor involved, you’d need dinners like this,” Cricket said with a smirk.
o;There’s heat, electricity and running water,” Jonah mentioned, setting our stuff on the sofa. “Although, you might want to keep a few extra blankets around when a blizzard comes ’round, and they will.”
“Thank you, Jonah,” Bridge said, studying her surroundings. “We’re very grateful,” she added.
Jonah smiled and nodded. “I’ll leave you to it. Dinner’s in an hour. See you there?”
“Of course,” Bridge answered waving at him before closing the door.
We stood in silence, taking in our surroundings.
“It’s-It’s definitely different than L.A.,” she said, breaking the quiet.
I was used to living in confined spaces living in a Brown dorm, but this was all very new to her.
“You’re going to be okay with this?” I asked.
She stiffened her upper lip. “Of course. I wasn’t lying when I said I was grateful. Besides, maybe they’ve got a shop in town. We can, like, spruce it up a bit?”
I laughed at her. “That’s cool, Bridge. I’ll give you some cash.”
“Can we afford it?” she asked.
