Torchy’s footsteps grew nearer. “I heard Wimberly barking, and when I went to check on her, I heard some weird noises coming from the barn.” He paused. “You sure you’re okay?” I could hear him walking towards us.
“I’m fine, kid. You should head back. I’ll be up shortly, just gotta finish feeding the bulls.”
Torchy stopped. “Feed the bulls? But I—” He stopped. “Shit.”
I laughed faintly. “Yeah, so get your ass out of here or I’ll make you finish the chore.”
“Fuck—sorry, man!” I rolled my eyes. “I’ll make it up to you, I swear!” I listened as he walked away, hearing the barn door close.
Lucille and I both exhaled with relief. I lifted my palm from her mouth and stepped back. “You better get going.” I took my hat from her head and returned it to mine. She moved to take my jacket off, but I stopped her. “Keep it. It’s cool out tonight, plus it looks good on you.” She pulled my leather jacket around her body and nestled up in it.
She turned to leave but stopped, keeping her head low as she spoke. “Tonight wasn’t a fluke.”
I walked over to her and gently gripped the back of her neck until her eyes sparkled up at me. “I know.” I kissed her softly before forcing myself to let her go. “So quick trying to pretend there’s nothing between us.” My thumb brushed along her lower lip. “Andwhenit happens again, you know where to find me. Get some sleep.” She nodded and began to walk away. I quickly slapped her ass and watched her cheeks flush.
See you in my dreams, little viper.
Chapter Ten
Lucille
“Alright!”My mother huffed and wiped her brow. “I’ll work on moving the furniture out to make more space. Your brother is going to need all the room, and I don’t want anything getting in his way.” She tied her long hair up high atop her head. “Why don’t you go tackle the old hall closet? I figured we’d clear it out to make sure there is room for his meds and whatever else the hospital decides to send home.” She looked up at me and smiled. “Thanks again for helping me, baby.”
“Of course, Mom. Anything to help you and Boone.”
Mom and I had spent most of the day cleaning and prepping the house for Boone to finally come home. Between therapies, he still needed to spend most of his time at the hospital, but at least he’d get to come home every night. So, we were doing everything we could to make the transition easier. Mom even had another one of her famous peach cobblers baking in the oven.
I grabbed a trash bag and a few empty boxes and headed towards the hall closet. It was located at the far end of the house and away from the door. Mom had music playing on her old radio in the kitchen. It felt just like old times.
“Alright, now.” I swung the old closet door open. “Time to declutter.” I plopped down on my knees and began to sort stacksupon stacks of old gardening magazines. A habit my mother tried to pick up when I was kid but ended up abandoning days later. Even still, she kept her subscription until Dad finally made her cancel it.
So silly.
I chucked them into the trash bag one by one, pulling everything from the closet, sorting and tossing the most random things. There was so much dust, making me cough as I tried to wave it away. I stood up to check the highest shelf and found stacks of shoe boxes. “What’s in these?” I pulled them all down and sat back on my knees as I opened them one at a time. The boxes were filled with old family photos. Photos of Boone and I as kids, my parents and their wedding, their parents, photos of Cooper and the guys back in the day, and even photos of Forsythe through his years. I flipped through them all, spending at least an hour distracted by it.
I pulled a couple photos out and flipped through the polaroids. There were even a few of my parents when they were teens. “Mom! Oh my gosh…Mom! Come look at this!” I shuffled through old photos of her with a perm, my dad with a mullet, and then I nearly gasped at the last photo in the stack. It was a photo of Forsythe. Only, he looked a lot younger and had no tattoos or anything.
When was this?
I heard the screen door squeak. “Mom?” She didn't answer, but I heard footsteps which stopped behind me. “There you are. Hey, check it out—” I looked up to see none other than Forsythe standing over me as I held the photo of him in my hand. He was wearing another tight t-shirt and dressed in his usual dark-wash work jeans. His hair stuck out from under his cowboy hat as he just looked down at me with a smile. He really did look different from the young man in the picture.
“Whatcha got here?” he asked as he bent down behind me and pressed into me to look at the photo. “Would you look at that!” He whistled. “Hell, I must’ve been your age at that time.”
My heart raced at how close he was.
“What’re you doing here?” I looked around, searching for my mom.
He smiled at me. “Don’t worry, your momma is outside on the porch talking to Cooper about some measurements.”
“Measurements?”
He stood and looked down at me as his fingers played with a strand of my hair. “Yeah, we’re putting a ramp on the porch for Boone’s wheelchair.” His eyes wandered, and I suddenly remembered what the hell I was wearing. I snapped my head forward, feeling my cheeks blush, embarrassed by the old high school athletic, skin-tight tank and boy shorts I was wearing. It was a silly thing I had found earlier and put on to make my mother laugh, and now the man I was sleeping with had seen it.
Shit. Why did he have to see me in this?
Forsythe grunted and gently tipped my head back, kissing me softly. “You got nothing to be embarrassed about, Lucille.” His fingers grazed my cheek. “I like what I see. But, I better go before my control slips away. I would hate for your momma to find us in here…making a mess. Especially after you’ve worked so hard to clean all this up.” He plucked a bit of dust from my hair. It made me sad to know he was already leaving.
“Will you be back later?”
