“You like flowers?”
“Some of them. Why?” He nods toward my fingers. “Oh. Yeah, Drogheda used to braid these into my hair when I was younger. They have long stems that are perfect for that. I don’t know if I liked them before then, but I know I’ve loved them ever since.”
“How long has she been with you?”
“Since I was seven or eight I guess. Something like that. A long time. She’s like family now.”
“Did you have a different housekeeper before her?”
“No. That’s when the business sort of took off, I guess. Life changed a lot after that.”
“How do you mean?”
“Well, before that, we lived closer to Greenfield. Our house was much smaller, we only had one car. I went to public school and got to play at the playground. Daddy was home more and Mom was just…happier, I guess. I don’t know. It seems like everything changed all of a sudden. Not that it was all bad. Don’t get me wrong. But Drogheda was definitely one of the good things to come out of it.”
“So you’re saying you were happier when you were poor?”
I laugh. Even to my own ears, it sounds a little bitter. “Would that be so strange?”
Trick shrugs. “Maybe. Money solves a lot of problems.”
“For adults, that’s probably true. But for kids, sometimes it just creates them. I didn’t care that we didn’t have a lot of money. I was happy. And, let me tell you, there are a lot fewer expectations when you’re poor, too. Well, not even poor. Just not…wealthy.”
“Poor little princess, is that it?”
I whip my head around to look at him, immediately taking exception to what he’s insinuating. But I see his playful grin and my anger dies. I smile. “Sounds like it, doesn’t it? Poor me?”
“Nah, you’re not the type. I knew that after talking to you for two minutes.”
“You did?” This should not please me as much as it does. I try to suppress my wide smile.
“Yep. I knew you were a phone sex operator right off the bat. And I’ve never met a snobby phone sex operator in my life.”
I laugh. “And just how many have you met?”
Trick tilts his head back and starts counting on his fingers. I watch him tick off ten and then start again.
“Um. One,” he says anticlimactically, grinning. “Just you.”
“Well, I hate to disappoint, but…”
“You never disappoint. I don’t think you have it in you. In fact, I might go so far as to say that you strive not to disappoint.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It just seems that way, like maybe your father has everything all planned out for you and you’re going right along with it.”
I want to argue, but he’s hit a nerve that feels all too raw and real. I’ve wondered the same thing a thousand times, especially lately.
“You left your dream behind. How is that so different? You’re not going after what you want either.”
“I think it’s very different. My choices have been out of necessity and responsibility. And I haven’t left anything behind. I’ll still get what I want out of life. It will just have to wait a little longer.”
“Some things don’t wait.”
“The things that are worth it do.”
We reach the storage shed and Trick unlocks the door and opens it, flicking on the light switch to the right. I stand off to the side as he looks for the chairs. The hot, still air feels suffocating and a light sheen of moisture breaks out on my skin. I lift my heavy hair off my neck and fan my face.
I see Trick move a big piece of plywood. Behind it is a stack of six or seven folding chairs with padded seats. He grabs two and backs out to close and lock the door behind him.
When he turns to me, he stops. Just stops and stares at me. He leans the chairs up against the shed and steps toward me.
“You know what would make this picture perfect?”
“What?” I ask, breathlessly hoping he’ll kiss me, even though I know it’s wrong.
He takes the little white flower from my fingers and tucks it behind my ear. “With your hair piled on top of your head like that, all you need to be a Southern Belle is a flower.”
His fingers trail down my cheek and neck as he drags his hand away. Without meaning to, I sway toward him, wanting to prolong the moment, the feel of him touching me.
I let my hair fall and Trick reaches out to steady me, his hands strong on my upper arms. He’s so close I can feel his warm breath tickling my cheeks.
“Are you okay? Is the heat too much for you?”
Good God, what a loaded question!
“I’m fine,” I manage to eke out.
We stand like that, staring into each other’s eyes, until Trick releases me and looks away.
“I guess we’d better get back before the kids get into trouble,” he says with a lopsided grin.
“Yeah, we can’t have that, now can we?”
I wish I could recover as fast as Trick. My knees still feel weak and I’m more than a little disappointed that there hasn’t been another attempt at kissing me since the field party.
It’s for the best, it’s for the best, it’s for the best.
That’s my mantra all the way back to the stable.
When we arrive, Jenna is sitting in Rusty’s lap and he’s helping her place her fingers in the right position on the neck of a guitar.
I glance at Trick and he smiles at me and shakes his head. “Crazy kids,” he mutters under his breath. I laugh. Sometimes I do feel like the adult in my relationship with Jenna. I think it’s funny that apparently Trick feels that way with Rusty, at least part of the time anyway.
Jenna spots me. “You’re back! Rusty and I were just talking. We think a trip to the pool is in order since it’s still so hot.”
Trick in swim trunks and nothing else? Um, yes please!
“Okay.”
“Yay!” Jenna squeals. “I told you she’d be down.”
“You forgot to mention the best part, though,” Rusty says, playfully pinching her side making her giggle.
“Oh, yeah. To be more specific, Rusty and I think we ought to go skinny dipping in your pool.”
Thoughts of seeing Trick in the buff makes my cheeks flame and my stomach flutter with excitement. But that won’t be happening tonight.
“Jenna, we can’t. You forget that Drogheda is still here.”
“So. You know she sleeps like the dead.”