“What’re you doing?” Cassidy mumbled. I thought she’d be asleep already.
“I’m gonna do my morning chores early and then I’ll come back and go to bed. We can’t sleep too long though ‘cause Mom and Dad will get suspicious.”
She grunted, falling asleep before I made it out the door.
The sky was brightening and birds were chirping as I walked up the worn path. Weariness overtook me and I couldn’t wait to get back to the room and sleep. At the corner of the fence, I picked up my basket and the small bucket used to scoop meal from the barrel. Something moved by the hen house and I looked up, heart accelerating.
McKale was leaning there with his arms crossed, waiting for me. My body reacted to the sight, heating and buzzing. I got my act together, gathering my things and moving toward him.
“Hey,” I said, feeling shy and self-conscious about the potato-sack apron that covered my shorts and t-shirt. “Is everything okay?”
He stared at me warmly for a minute without replying, and then he ran a hand through his red locks.
“Aye, all is well. I needed to see ye once more before I took to bed.”
“Oh,” I breathed. His voice sounded different. More confident and serious. The heat that began when I saw him now completely took over my body. Unlike when we’d first met, he didn’t try to avert his eyes from me. He was openly drinking me in with an inquisitive newness, unperturbed by my less-than-attractive clothing ensemble in the morning light. I set my basket on the thick fencepost.
We moved forward at the same time, not stopping until we were kissing again, his hands wrapping around my waist to pull me close while my fingers found his hair. It was just as passionate as our kiss on the dance floor, only this time we could hear one another’s shortened breaths and satisfying little sounds. A low moan rose up from his throat. Knowing I caused that pleasure from deep inside him gave me a strange taste of power.
A sudden snap from the path startled me and I pushed away from him. He kept a hand on my waist, protectively.
“’Tis alright,” he whispered.
Leilah and Rachelle stood at the opening of the path in their aprons and bonnets with baskets in their hands and astounded looks on their faces. McKale lifted a hand to them in greeting. The girls simultaneously broke into giggles and turned, running down the path away from us. I let out a laugh and McKale grinned.
“I’d best leave ye to yer work. Unless, er, perhaps ye’d like a hand since I frightened away the help?”
I smiled at his offer. I appreciated that he was willing to jeopardize his man card to help me, but I was perfectly capable of doing it on my own.
“It won’t take me long, McKale,” I told him. “You go get some sleep. I’ll see you this afternoon, right?”
He pulled me to him again and laid his lips gently against mine.
“I fancied it when ye called me Kale.”
A shiver slid down my back and I sighed. Who was this guy? Was this who’d been hiding under that shell all along? Because I liked him. A lot. He made me feel like a new and improved version of myself.
“Another date today, aye?” he said against my lips. “The two of us.”
“Okay,” I whispered. One more cute grin, and then he was walking away, down the path, standing taller than I’d ever seen him. I couldn’t bring myself to move until every trace of red hair disappeared into the village.
Mom came to our room and woke us with two plates of food at midday. We took the plates with slow, guilty movements.
“You girls must have stayed up too late last night.” She was sitting cross-legged on the woven throw rug while Cassidy and I sat on our beds. We nodded at her and chewed our food.
“So, where exactly did you take the car for six hours?”
The bite I’d just swallowed halted in my esophagus, and Cass turned as green as a pixie. For a moment I wondered if Mom was talented enough to give us both the Heimlich at the same time. She gave a halfhearted grin at our choking silence.
“You girls know I’m a light sleeper when I’m not exhausted. And I’ve been on my guard with everything going on lately. We would have let you go if you had asked, you know. You could have left sooner and had more time away.” She shifted her pointed gaze back and forth between the two of us. “Ah, well. What a shame.”
Cassidy and I looked at each other.
“Mom…,” I began. As the “mature and responsible” older sister, I felt the sting of blame from within. Saying sorry seemed so measly.
She put us out of our misery by shrugging and standing, brushing off her bottom and leaving us.
“Shitballs,” Cass said, around the mouthful of bread she’d yet to swallow. I nodded my head in agreement. Mom tried not to show it, but I knew she was hurt that we’d run off behind her back. I set my fork on the plate, not hungry anymore.
I couldn’t restrain the snark. “Told you we should have just asked.”