“Ohh, what’s that?” she asks excitedly.
“Hello, yes, and no.”
“Say hello again.”
“An-nyeon-gha-seyo,” he says slowly and she mimics him a few times until she gets it right.
“I’m going to say that to Ms. Ching today,” she says.
“Is she even Korean? ’Cause if you’re not sure, don’t,” I warn and she shrugs. “I’m serious, Amara. That could be offensive.”
“I’ll ask,” she sighs before getting up from the table.
We are all done eating, so she grabs the plates and puts them in the sink. I wash them while she goes to get her backpack. Meleck joins me at the sink. He’s so close and smells too damn good.
“Thanks again for breakfast. It was really good and that jam was fye,” he says and I blush like this is the first time I’m hearing a compliment about my jam.
Lawd, I’m doing the damn most.
“You’re welcome. I’m about to take her to school. Are you going to be okay till I get back?”
“Yeah. I’m straight. I got a few more things to look at and measure out there,” he says.
“Okay. I’ll be back in about thirty minutes.”
“Take your time.”
He walks to the door, puts his boots on, then walks out. As I wash the dishes, I watch as he treks back to the barn.
“He’s cute,” Amara says as she walks back into the kitchen.
“He definitely is,” I say and she laughs. Needless to say, she spends the entire ride to school talking about Meleck. He’s impressed her as much as he has me.
Chapter 7
Meleck
Waking up in a comfortable bed, working on acres of land before the sun comes up, eating good food, and being in the presence of a beautiful ass woman are a cowboy’s dream. It’s simply perfection and I couldn’t ask for a better morning.
I learned a lot from my grandfather. Growing up, he would always talk about seizing every opportunity before it gets away. His exact words were, “Son, go after life as if it’s something that’s got to be roped in a hurry before it gets away.”
When Wren mentioned her electrical problems at the bar, his words ran through my thoughts and I knew I had to seize the moment. There was no waiting till the morning; the moment was then and I took it before I lost it.
After our breakfast together and my entertaining convo with her sweet little sister Amara, I came back to the barn to check every outlet and measure all connections. I also check voltage limitations. Before I disconnect the power or start with the breaker box, I decide to map out the new direction of the energy flow. Luckily, I find a drill and start marking the new locations with holding holes I don’t know how long I’m drilling but she returns in the midst. The feel of her soft hand on my back grabs my attention.
“Hey,” she says and I stop. When I turn around, she has a perplexed look on her pretty face. “I guess that drill is louder than I thought. I’ve been calling you for minutes.”
The drill is small and handheld. While it makes noise, it’s not loud at all. Her location to me is why I couldn’t hear her. She’s standing on my left side. So I turn to face her and apologize, then pull on my left earlobe.
“I’m partially deaf on this side. A fucked-up hazard of military life. That’s why I was discharged,” I tell her and tryto read her facial expression as I speak. It doesn’t change; she doesn’t have any reaction, just soft words.
“Oh, my bad. I didn’t know,” she says sincerely.
“Of course you didn’t. I didn’t tell you,” I say and she gives me a wry smile.
“Right. I mean… I couldn’t… Shit, I don’t know what the hell I mean,” she says, stumbling over her words in an innocent way. My revelation clearly caught her off guard and she’s having a normal but non-negative reaction of surprise.
“You’re good. Trust me. It’s been two years and I’m still adjusting to the shit myself.”
