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“You don’t have to. Just take some time for yourself and relax a little bit. You can go ahead and get settled in upstairs too.”
I stand up and walk over to where she still sits in her chair, bending down I place a soft kiss on her forehead before I make my way out the back door to get to work. I’m going to have a busy day on the farm but I know my thoughts won’t stray far from my girl.
Chapter6
Annalise
Iwatch Aaron head out the door before I get up and set my dishes on the counter. I fill the sink up with hot water and the dish soap that I find under the sink. He said not to worry about the dishes but it’s literally the least that I can do. Besides, I don’t have anything else to do today anyway.
When I had said that I was going to leave tomorrow I was surprised at how strongly Aaron reacted to the news. I don’t really want to leave him and the thought of having only enough money in my wallet for a bus ticket and not much else is a little terrifying. If I get to Austin and can’t find work I would be screwed.
I don’t want to stay here though either. The thought of living next to Conrad makes a chill run down my spine and I just get depressed thinking about Aaron letting me stay because he feels bad for me.
I want him to want me like I want him. I fell in love with him months ago when I first looked up and saw him standing there watching me. I was so shy and afraid that I would embarrass myself that I barely talked to him for the first month. My mom used to tease me about my obvious crush on the neighbor man.
When she got really sick, towards the end, I used to sit next to her bed and tell her about the little conversations that we would have or how I caught him working outside without his shirt on. I didn’t really have any friends so it was nice to be able to tell someone about how Aaron made me feel and I think that my mom liked the girl talk and seeing me so excited about something.
Thinking about my mom causes a pang in my heart and I absentmindedly rub my hand over my chest to try to dull it. My mom was the best and not a day goes by that I don’t miss her terribly. She was so beautiful and sweet with the brightest smile that anyone had ever seen. She was charming and smart and she loved me more than anything.
I think that the only reason that she married Conrad is so that I would have something after she was gone. She knew that she didn’t have much time left and Conrad had money and lots of it. With that, I could go to college or whatever. What she didn’t realize was that Conrad was a creep with a roving eye. I have a feeling that he would give me the money for college but I wouldn’t like the strings that came along with the money.
The thought of college doesn’t bring with it the excitement that it probably should and I know that it’s because if I leave, I will probably never see Aaron again.
I head upstairs to grab some clothes to throw in the washer. I don’t have much so I head into Aaron’s room to grab his hamper too. By the time I’ve cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms and done the laundry, I realize that I’m starting to get hungry and it’s almost lunchtime. I finish putting the last of my clothes back in my backpack before I grab Aaron’s folded clothes to carry them across the hall and put on his bed. Then I head downstairs to make some lunch.
Just as I reach to open the fridge, Aaron and some other men step in through the back door and head over to the sink to wash their hands. Aaron pauses when he sees me and instead heads in my direction.
“Go ahead and help yourself to the fridge boys. I’ll be right back.” He says as he grabs my hand and pulls me from the kitchen.
I can feel tingles from where his hand wraps around mine and I’m sure my face is starting to turn pink. He pulls me into the living room before he stops to turn back towards me.
“Everything going ok?” He asks.
“Yeah. I was just about to grab something to eat if that’s ok?”
“Yeah of course. Help yourself.”
“Ok. Thanks.”
“What have you been up to?”
“I cleaned up the house a little bit and did some laundry. I didn’t want to mess with your things too much so I just left your clothes on your bed.”
“You didn’t have to do that, Sweets.”
I blush at the nickname but manage to tell him that it’s no big deal before one of his men yells a question at him from the kitchen.
“They’ll be out of here soon.” He says as he heads back towards them.
I nod but decide to wait them out. A lot of people tend to make me nervous, especially a bunch of big strange men.
I wander over to the bookshelf in the corner of the room and browse through the titles before I land on Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It’s a favorite of mine and I pull it off the shelf and make my way over to the couch. I plop down and open the book, thinking I can get a chapter or two in before the kitchen is empty.
I only get a page in though before Aaron is walking back into the living room with a plate in each hand. He sits down next to me and hands me one of the plates filled with a sandwich and some chips. I thank him before taking a big bite of the sandwich. Yum. Turkey and Swiss, my favorite. I moan around the bite and I can see Aaron stiffen out of the corner of my eye.
I turn to see him frozen with his own sandwich paused halfway to his mouth. He’s just staring at me and I start to panic that I’ve got some food on my face. I bring my hand up to swipe across my mouth, trying to wipe off any crumbs that might be stuck there.
I look back at Aaron and he’s still staring at me. Finally, I can’t take it anymore.
