circumstantial, and we need to ignore it and move on. I’m much too old for you, and I can tell you for sure, I’m not interested in someone like you. So if you stick to your art lessons, which is why you’re here, and I concentrate on my work, the summer’ll be over fast enough.”
I slid a little closer to him on the seat. “You said you’re not interested, but you didn’t say you weren’t attracted.”
He finally looked at me, and the angry passion nearly made me shrink back. “Who the hell wouldn’t be attracted to you? You’re beautiful, you must know that. And you give off this vibe ... I don’t know what you’d call it, but it’s there. Doesn’t matter, though. Just because you feel something doesn’t mean you have to act on it. And trust me, I’m not.”
He opened the door, got out of the truck and slammed it behind him. I watched him stalk into the house. He didn’t look back to see if I were following him inside.
I sat for a long time in the dark cab, alone.
I WAS USED TO living with women. My grandmother had lived with us until her death, so between her, my mom and Ali, Dad and I had been outnumbered. And even after she wasn’t around, it always felt like the females were predominant in our home. I was okay with that; they treated me well, fed me and kept me from making stupid mistakes most of the time.
After Grandma and then my parents were gone, it was just Ali and me. She was young, but she’d picked up where Mom had left off, taking on the cooking and most of the housework. Her marriage to Craig was a little bit of a surprise, and it left me with a house that felt empty. I learned to get by on my own. When Ali and Bridget moved home, my sister’d picked up her role in my life as if she’d never left, and there was no doubt her little girl had me wrapped around her finger. I was used to being in the minority. I could deal with it.
Or so I’d thought.
In the two weeks she’d been living in our house, somehow Meghan had shifted the balance so that sometimes I felt like I was an interloper in my own home. I thought I knew what it must be like in a college sorority, thanks to the giggling, the private jokes and the chick flicks on TV in the evenings. My sister had morphed from the mature, responsible woman I’d known for the past seven years to a teasing, winking teeny-bopper.
And Bridget wasn’t any better. She was thriving with the extra attention and was quick to tell me each night how much everyone at school loved the new art teacher. She brought home different projects each day, and even I had to admit that it was cool to see the improvements in her work when she pointed them out to me. But the breaking point came one late afternoon when I came in from the fields to find the three of them in the living room, with the carpet rolled up, dancing to some crazy music from Meghan’s iPod blaster.
Seeing them jumping and gyrating around was the final straw. I needed to escape all the estrogen that was flowing through my house before it consumed me and I found myself doing the cha-cha slide or whatever the hell they called it. So as we finished dinner, I announced that I was going into town to run some errands.
“Tonight?” Ali frowned at me. “Can’t it wait until tomorrow? I can pick up what you need. I’m helping Meghan at the school for a few hours in the afternoon.”
“No, it really can’t.” I spoke more adamantly than I’d intended, and they all three looked at me in surprise. “I mean, I need this part for the tractor first thing in the morning. I’ve got to go round to Boomer’s and then to the hardware store and talk to Mitch. And I want to see if Mr. Harper’s around, so I can ask him about the bees.”
“Okay.” Ali shrugged. “I was just trying to save you a trip.”
“Yeah, thanks. I’m going to head out now. See y’all later.” I practically ran through the door, and I was pretty sure I heard giggling behind me as I got into the truck. The
I slid a little closer to him on the seat. “You said you’re not interested, but you didn’t say you weren’t attracted.”
He finally looked at me, and the angry passion nearly made me shrink back. “Who the hell wouldn’t be attracted to you? You’re beautiful, you must know that. And you give off this vibe ... I don’t know what you’d call it, but it’s there. Doesn’t matter, though. Just because you feel something doesn’t mean you have to act on it. And trust me, I’m not.”
He opened the door, got out of the truck and slammed it behind him. I watched him stalk into the house. He didn’t look back to see if I were following him inside.
I sat for a long time in the dark cab, alone.
I WAS USED TO living with women. My grandmother had lived with us until her death, so between her, my mom and Ali, Dad and I had been outnumbered. And even after she wasn’t around, it always felt like the females were predominant in our home. I was okay with that; they treated me well, fed me and kept me from making stupid mistakes most of the time.
After Grandma and then my parents were gone, it was just Ali and me. She was young, but she’d picked up where Mom had left off, taking on the cooking and most of the housework. Her marriage to Craig was a little bit of a surprise, and it left me with a house that felt empty. I learned to get by on my own. When Ali and Bridget moved home, my sister’d picked up her role in my life as if she’d never left, and there was no doubt her little girl had me wrapped around her finger. I was used to being in the minority. I could deal with it.
Or so I’d thought.
In the two weeks she’d been living in our house, somehow Meghan had shifted the balance so that sometimes I felt like I was an interloper in my own home. I thought I knew what it must be like in a college sorority, thanks to the giggling, the private jokes and the chick flicks on TV in the evenings. My sister had morphed from the mature, responsible woman I’d known for the past seven years to a teasing, winking teeny-bopper.
And Bridget wasn’t any better. She was thriving with the extra attention and was quick to tell me each night how much everyone at school loved the new art teacher. She brought home different projects each day, and even I had to admit that it was cool to see the improvements in her work when she pointed them out to me. But the breaking point came one late afternoon when I came in from the fields to find the three of them in the living room, with the carpet rolled up, dancing to some crazy music from Meghan’s iPod blaster.
Seeing them jumping and gyrating around was the final straw. I needed to escape all the estrogen that was flowing through my house before it consumed me and I found myself doing the cha-cha slide or whatever the hell they called it. So as we finished dinner, I announced that I was going into town to run some errands.
“Tonight?” Ali frowned at me. “Can’t it wait until tomorrow? I can pick up what you need. I’m helping Meghan at the school for a few hours in the afternoon.”
“No, it really can’t.” I spoke more adamantly than I’d intended, and they all three looked at me in surprise. “I mean, I need this part for the tractor first thing in the morning. I’ve got to go round to Boomer’s and then to the hardware store and talk to Mitch. And I want to see if Mr. Harper’s around, so I can ask him about the bees.”
“Okay.” Ali shrugged. “I was just trying to save you a trip.”
“Yeah, thanks. I’m going to head out now. See y’all later.” I practically ran through the door, and I was pretty sure I heard giggling behind me as I got into the truck. The
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