I squinted at him. “Then what do the sailors feel?”
“The sirens are beautiful, yes. But their song and their beauty call to the soul, not to the body. The sirens don’t inspire lust. They inspire longing. A deep, wrenching longing. Bone deep, so the sailors would rather die than live without the siren.”
I stared at him as he stared at me. I could tell he was waiting for me to catch on to his meaning, it didn’t take me very long because he voluntarily filled in the blanks.
“Your wanderlust, or farfigneugan or whatever—that’s your siren’s song.” He tilted his head to one side then the other, as though studying me from different angles before adding, “I get that.”
Again my heart bloomed, and I wanted to give him a similar gift. So I asked, “And yours is going fast? Is speed your siren’s call?”
He shook his head and his smile fell away, even as he continued to study my face with his trademark intensity and focus.
“No, Jessica,” he whispered, gaining a step forward and pulling me into his arms.
“Then what is?” I lifted my chin.
He didn’t answer. Instead, he kissed me.
***
Dinner was great. Cletus’s sausages were delicious, and the boys ate all of my apple pie.
But I was extremely cognizant of my 5:30 a.m. Friday morning alarm, so I had to leave much earlier than I would have liked. Duane asked Billy if we could use the truck, and when it was time for me to go, Billy, Cletus, and Beau stood on the front lawn and waved goodbye. It was actually really sweet, and a thought occurred to me as we pulled on to the main road, the Winston boys still visible in the truck’s rearview mirror: These boys needed a woman at the house.
They missed their momma. And they likely missed their sister. I decided I would make a habit of cooking with Duane every Thursday night.
Also, it wasn’t right that all five of Duane’s brothers were single. Goodness, they were a handsome and sweet bunch. Their collective singleton lifestyle was a crime against women everywhere. I further decided I would take it upon myself to find each of them suitable girlfriends over the next year.
“What are you plotting over there?”
I glanced at Duane in the driver’s seat. We were paused at a stop sign; he was studying me with knowing eyes.
I shrugged and tried to suppress my guilty smile. “Nothing much.”
“That’s a lie. You’re planning something.” Duane pulled through the intersection and I lamented the fact that our houses were so close.
“I just thought it would be nice for me to help you cook on Thursdays.” I turned in my seat and rested my elbow along the back of the truck’s bench seat so I could stare at his profile.
“Mmm hmm,” he said, like he didn’t believe me.
“And what do you mean by that ‘Mmm hmm,’ Duane Winston?”
“I can see the gears turning. You forget, I know your face by heart. You’re scheming.”
I laughed, loving everything he’d just said. “You know my face by heart?”
“Don’t change the subject.” Duane made an unexpected right on to a dirt and gravel road, just a half mile from his house. It appeared to be one of the unmaintained roads used by park rangers and hunters.
“Where are we going?”
“I want to show you something, it’s why I borrowed the truck. Don’t worry, this won’t take long. I know you have to get up for work early in the morning.”
“Can you give me a hint?” We were swallowed up by trees and pitch black night on all sides.
“Sure. In fact I’ll just tell you. It’s a hunting cabin. Billy and I built it four summers ago. No one else knows about it.”
“Not even Beau?”
Duane shook his head. “No. Not even Beau. Billy…well, Billy suggested I keep it a secret.”
“Why?”
“Probably because both Billy and I aren’t as social as Beau or Jethro, or even Roscoe. We both used to have a habit of losing our tempers when kept in close quarters. At home. Cletus goes on long trips—boar hunting and whatnot—but Billy and I aren’t in that habit. He suggested we use it as a place to lay low, cool off.”
“Why don’t you stay there all the time?”
“It doesn’t have electricity, and it’s small. It’s got an outhouse and an outside well, but not plumbing.”
I studied as much of Duane’s profile as I could given the lack of light. “But you’re showing me now…?”
He nodded once. “That’s right.”
“Is this national park land? Or are we still on your family’s property?”
“My family’s property.”
“Basically, you and Billy share it?”
“More or less. He doesn’t use it much, since he works all the time. Our house, the big house, is really just a place for him to store his stuff and sleep.”
“So this cabin, it’s like your fortress of solitude.”