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If I could convince him to come work on the farm, not only would I be able to spend more time with him, but it’d actually genuinely help us out.
“Hey! Hold up,” Marcus said, grabbing my shoulder to spin me around towards him. “What’re ya doin’?!” he said, lookin’ at me in a panic, as if I was about to walk off the roof of a skyscraper to my doom. “I was talkin’ about me!” he said defensively. “That fella’s the trouble you need to keep at bay!”
Marcus was so rarely an excitable fella, unless I got him to talkin’ about his books and such. This weren’t one of those times. So it was strange.
But what good was he around the farm, with his scrawny arms and his bookish nature?
I furrowed my brows, staring at my cousin.
“You ain’t much for farm work, Marcus and you know it.”
“Hey,” Marcus said, looking genuinely offended. “I can pull my weight and then some,” he said, sticking his chin in the air. I’d stung his pride, that was for sure. Ain’t often I’d seen him so defensive.
But then there was that biker babe, it was clear his talk with Mr. Fennel wasn’t goin’ well, the big old man was tuggin’ his suspenders and lookin’ away from Asher, refusin’ to meet his gaze. And whenever Mr. Fennel did that, it was because he was bein’ a right prick and couldn’t face up to whoever he was doin’ it to.
“I’m ready to head off and tend to a farm of my own, and I will soon enough regardless. But I figured if my cousin could use a hand, I’d offer it. Since you’re all on your lonesome and everythin’,” he said, Marcus’ hands upon his hips as I watched Asher pull away from Mr. Fennel and climb back atop his big ol’ hog.
I stared at Marcus, my eyes going a bit hard. I was getting annoyed, because I just wanted to talk to Asher and Marcus was distracting me. Killing my buzz.
I took in a deep breath, trying to look intimidating.
“You got your own stuff going on, and he’s just a guy lookin’ for a lucky break, some work to get him through a rough spell or something, I bet. I don’t know why else someone’d be out here in the middle of nowhere. And we’re supposed to help those in need.”
“Only as it makes sense to do, Shelby. You can’t put yourself and your ma at risk invitin’ a man like that into yer home!” Marcus declared adamantly, and I’d never known him to be so assertive with me, so persistent. So nagging.
Asher was already fed up it seemed, and he revved his engine and in a blaring moment, he began to cruise on by, and for a glorious moment his green-eyed gaze met mine.
“Darn it, Marcus,” I sighed, watching Asher make his way back onto the road.
“I’m just trying to do the good thing. The right thing. And you’re just bein’ a fuddy duddy. He’s just a guy, not an axe murderer.”
“You don’t know that, Shelby,” Marcus insisted, eyes wide, and I could tell he was serious. He weren’t kiddin’ around. His concerns were real. “You remember what they used to say about that one farm over on 12th district road? Burnt down because some punk from the city lit it up in flames. Just fer a laugh,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at me so serious.
All while Asher pulled off onto the road and began to drive away, and — then it seemed — out of my life for good.
I could’ve cried. I hadn’t seen a real man around this place in a long time, and he was hotter than the sun. Great body, that serious lookin’ face... He looked like the kinda guy that I’d regret going after, but I didn’t care about that. I was curious, like the second I saw him I became obsessed with wanting to know everything.
I licked my lips and then turned my glare on Marcus again before stomping by him, my cowboy boots turning up little tufts of dust behind them.
“If you don’t give strangers a chance, you’ll never meet anyone new.”
Boy, did I not know what I was gettin’ into.
* * *
I took my pa’s old truck back to the farm, left arm out the window as I enjoyed the sunny day, lamentin’ the lost opportunity for a new experience. Though it was all for naught, it seemed, as up there ahead, right alongside the road outside my place, was the fella on the motorcycle come to a halt, lookin’ over what seemed like a map.
Which was an odd sight, not many folks used paper maps nowadays, they all used their phones and tablets and such.
It was my
chance.
There he was, sat on his bike on the side, legs crossed in the dirt as he looked over the map, his long blonde hair brushed back as he seemed so serious.
I pulled over to the side, crawling over the passenger seat and rolling down the window. There were better ways of doing it, I know, but I had an ulterior motive. If I leaned out the window just so, he could look down my plaid shirt a little, which was undone down to the fifth button because it was so darned hot.
Nothin’ wrong with some harmless flirtation.
