Her eye lock didn’t waver. “How long were you in?”
“Long enough.” I shifted on my feet.
I had never been one to flex my service, tabs, and shit like that. My interest was finding out why she was inPlasters,Georgia. It wasn’t a tourist spot. My mind told me that she had to be here for a reason.
She picked up a pack of our black pepper cracked beef jerky, then flipped it over. Her shoulders lifted. “This is a nice shop you got here. Do you need any help?”
I wasn’t surprised by her offer to help. It was second nature to want to be a part of a mission, a team. I studied her confidence that cloaked most of her nervousness. It wouldn’t be bad having her around. “I could use some help around here and possibly on the farm. You ever work with livestock?”
“I can’t say that I have, but I can learn pretty much anything that I’m taught.” She grabbed another bag of jerky, a bag of potato chips, and beef sticks before she moved to the counter where the cash register was.
I reached for the products in her hand. Electricity passed through us when our hands slightly rubbed. It wasn’t what I would call romantic electricity, but that didn’t negate the shift that I felt. I silently rang up the items. “It’ll be thirty-eight dollars.”
She reached in her pocket, pulled out some cash, and flaked off two twenty-dollar bills. There was slight hesitation before she handed me the bills.There goes that electricity again.
“Can you be here at 0600?” I asked after I took the cash out of her hand. Eye contact wasn’t needed.
She didn’t respond until I gave her the change. “I can. Thank you.”
With that, she turned to leave. My voice stopped her. “What’s your name?”
She glanced over her shoulder. “Winters. Yours?”
“Dawson. I’ll see you in the morning, Winters.” I moved to the other side of the counter to head to the sanitation room. Wewould close soon, so it was time to make sure everything was cleaned.
I stopped when I noticed that the shop was still quiet. I looked at my brother, who had an arched brow. When my eyes moved to my mother, she wore a smirk that I knew would be accompanied with words that would annoy me at any second now. “Son, I would never claim to be a prophetess, but that’s gonna be your wife.”
I waved her off. “Okay, Ma. So were the last seven pretty women that were single and nice to me.”
Top Of the Morning . . .
It was 0430, and I sat in the bay window of my kitchen with my morning cup of coffee before I went for my morning run. I had a set routine that I liked to stick to. It helped with the chaos in my mind. I lived my life to control the things that I could.
I would have to adjust my routine slightly to accommodate the addition of Winters, but I didn’t mind. My father felt it was best if I gave her a tour of the farm today and got the paperwork done. We typically paid in cash, but we still needed records for payroll.
I looked around my kitchen and sighed. I’d built this house after I retired four years ago. I could have built it long before then, but I was all over the place when I was in the military. The last five years of my career I spent in Hawaii, 25th Infantry Division.
My last years of leadership in the Army as a sergeant first class (E-7), I handled leading thirty to forty soldiers at one time in the areas of discipline, training, and combat readiness. I also mentored younger NCOs. When my twenty years hit, I was alltoo ready to retire. My family farm brought me peace. That was all that I wanted these days.
I built my home with my future family in mind. A lot of people were surprised that I didn’t get married when I was younger. They were more surprised when I told them that I never planned to get married while I was active duty. I had nothing against individuals that did, but I never wanted my spouse or children to experience the loss of me during a deployment. I’d seen the aftermath and pain of that up close and personally.
If I never married, then I could control the hurt that a woman or child felt. The possibility of marriage was there in my last five years after I was done with deployments. I dated, but the moment I brought up farm life, it told me what I needed to know. I always knew that I would come back toPlasters. I needed the woman I was with to be comfortable with that.
I finished my coffee, lost in my thoughts about my future children and wife. My smile welcomed itself to the thought of my wife at the stove cooking with my arms wrapped around her from behind and our children on the couch in the living room, playing or watching their favorite movie. My arm lifted almost as a muscle memory to remind me that it was time to stretch and leave for my run.
It took me fifteen minutes to stretch before I was out of my house and on my way. At this time of the morning, there were more people up than one would think since this town consisted of mainly farmland. There were small family farms, a nice-sized chicken farm, and the diner was twenty-four hours. I only waved at those who waved at me.
My headphones covered my ears and played music lowly. I averaged eight miles a day unless I was in a hurry, which was rare. It took me about fifty minutes to run my eight miles.
Wait, is that?In the distance, I saw a very recognizable woman running toward me. I knew her body was toned based on what she wore yesterday. Today, I appreciated her running gear for further confirmation. The waist trainer that she wore was noticeable under her shirt, but I knew that it was more than that. I was sure that she conceal carried. This was my town where I grew up, and I carried.
As we got closer to each other, her expression remained stoic. Her stride was even and steady. Her running gape wasn’t wide, which was expected because of her height. Just as we were about to pass each other, she gave me a simple head nod. I returned her gesture. She was a hard shell. I had a thought of why. I had no desire to fix her; I just wanted to understand her.
An Orientation to Remember. . .
My chest rose and fell at a semi rapid pace as I jogged in place in front of theRosebuds Bed & Breakfastto bring my heartbeat down. My run this morning was unexpectedly calming. For the first time, I wanted to savor the run and enjoy the air. It didn’t feel like a routine. When I ran in Atlanta, the city noise overshadowed the calmness of the run.
As much as I didn’t want to, my mind continued to wander back to Dawson. I didn’t know what to expect when I got to the butcher shop. What I didn’t expect was for him to be so attractive. His full salt-and-pepper beard gave sexy and wisdom. I knew he was a veteran before I came, but I still didn’t expect him to be in such good shape. Farm work must have been God’sgift to the body. Well, no, that couldn’t be, because I had seen fat farmers.
