Love Finds You

The scent of chicken soup and cornbread filled the kitchen as I watched my grandmother danced from the stove to the fridge to the cupboards and then back to the stove again. The light sounds of bubbling came from the pot as the lid wiggled over it. My grandmother hummed a strange soft tune as she went about her work with a gentle smile on her lips.

I rested my elbow on top of the hand carven wooden table that was centered in the middle of the kitchen. Slowly I eased my chin into the palm of my hand and watched the carefree woman. Her whole acceptance of me killing Monica was a little too easy, and no matter how many times I retold the story to her she still would say that Monica’s death was not my fault.

I let out a little ‘hmpf’ and casually ran a hand through my tangled hair. I had expected my grandmother to be cruel and full of malice but so far she was turning out to be a regular old country bumpkin. In my mind I laughed at the idea of this seemingly cold crow being that warm sweet smelling grandma only existed in cookie commercials. It was something twisted to say the least.

“Supper is almost ready.” I lifted my chin off of my hand when she hummed lightly to me from the stove. “Why don’t you go grab Gabe.”

I felt the blood rush out of my face instantly. She really was a sneaky old woman, painting this mask of sweetness and sugar, and then just when I had started to believe in her she snapped. Just thinking about that farmer’s hand sent a chill down my spine.

“You’re kidding right?” I asked unbelievingly.

She looked over her shoulder at me then with one dark eyebrow raised. “Why would I do that? I don’t know about you but that boys been up all day, helping me out in the morning with the farm, running errors, and just when that boys gets some quality time he has to go and fiddle with that bike of his.” She let out a sigh from the stove and tapped the wooden spoon against the pot. “I swear that boy’s going to make me die young worrying about him.”

I rolled my eyes at her yammering on about how great the farm hand was, but I knew her ploy now and even if I hadn’t figured it out I still wouldn’t have fallen for that perverted hillbilly. She took a deep breath in as if she was about to tell me more about her ‘boy’ when I put my hands up in defeat. “Alright, alright I’ll go get the guy.”

She smiled sweetly over at me. “Such a sweet grandchild.”

I rolled my eyes at her as I pushed my chair away from me. “Yeah yeah.”

The kitchen floor boards creaked with each step that I took across the room. The constant noises that came from this house reminded me of a scary movie where the wind would blow the shingles around on the roof and water would drip from the facet, and yet it had an oddly warm and comforting feel to it. I wasn’t sure why this house was making me feel this way but for whatever reason I was thankful for it.

I walked out onto the front porch and automatically wished that I had grabbed a jacket before heading out. The cold air nipped at my exposed arms and chest making me shiver instantly but despite the cold I just walked on off the porch, wanting to get this done with as fast as possible. When I had arrived at the farm it had been purely sunny with gold sparkling everywhere but now the fields were nothing but dark sticks in the ground and the sky was a black canvas with white flecks of paint.

Wrapping my arms around myself I traveled along the little dirt path that led to the barn behind the house. The barn was nothing special for it looked like I could only imagine every other one looking like. It was painted red with white trimming and made solely out of wood. There was a hayloft on the top half and big barn doors in the front that were left slightly ajar. A light shone through that small little crack, telling me that the farm hand was still screwing around in there.

I rolled my eyes at him and rubbed my shaking hands up the length of my arms. Faintly I heard the sound of music playing inside of the barn and as I neared it I strained my ears to try and make out song it was. When I was close enough I heard the heavy tune of the instruments blasting like some wannabe rock song and found myself rolling my eyes again.

When I reached the gap in the entrance I pressed my hand to one of the doors and slid it open a bit more. More light shined out into the dark cold night and I squinted my eyes as they adjusted to the change. When they finally did I ended up having to blink them repeatedly just to make sure that they were working correctly because the sight in front of me made my heart thump loudly.

In the middle of the dirt floored barn there was a magnificent bike. I didn’t know much about motorcycles so I had no way of telling what brand it was or style but it was spectacular nonetheless. The silver metal handles bars shined like a light held against a mirror. The controls and black leather seating all looked brand spanking new and I just wanted to run up to it and rub my cheek against it and then there was the paint. The only thing that gave away this bikes age was the dulled black paint that evenly covered the exterior of the bike. Despite all of the wonders of the bike however it was not what made my heart skip a beat.

Kneeling next to the bike in a pair of worn out grease and dirt stain jeans was Gabe. His body was smeared with black oil but it was mostly concentrated to his chest and cheek. His long hair was swept back as if he had been pushing it out of his face for a while now but out of all of those things it was his eyes that drew me in the most. There were intense and so focused…I had never seen eyes like that before and honestly it made me breathless.

“Ya’ need something Dollface?”
I jumped at the door and felt my face instantly start to heat up at being caught staring at him. I could already feel my heart face from being startled and a blush creeping onto my face. Then I realized that he had called me ‘Dollface’ once again and my embarrassment was quickly replaced with annoyance.

My lips curved into a frown. “It’s Audrey.”

He scoffed before reaching down for a tool “Well then Dollface did ya’ just come here to spy on me or was there something I could help ya’ with?”

I bit the inside of my cheek because he was still refusing to call me by my name but another part of me was even more furious at him for assuming that I would spy on him! I mean me spy on a dirty lecherous southern redneck? As if. “Grandma told me to tell you that dinner is ready.”

“’bout time.” He smirked not taking his eyes off of what he was doing. “Let me finish up here and I’ll be in in just a minute.”

I rolled my eyes in a kind of ‘whatever’ way but the radio that was on top of a toolbox caught my attention. The louder rocker-like music was blasting through the speakers of the dusty old radio while Gabe when about his work. “You know I pictured you as more of a Keith Urban kind of dude.”

“Who?” He looked over his toned dirty shoulder at me.

I swallowed hard and dropped my gaze to the ground. “Keith Urban…the famous country singer.”

“Oh,” He said turning back to his bike. “I don’t listen to country.”

“You’re joking.”

“’Fraid not.”

“But aren’t all southern people supposed to be country freaks? I mean I thought it came with the tuff along with gallon hats and horseback riding.” I felt another breeze blow through the crack in the door and instantly gave my arms a little rub. “I really didn’t expect you to be listening to this kind of rocker shit.”

There was a clang of his tool dropping to the floor right before he picked himself up and spun around to face me. “Rocker shit? That’s right there is Def Leppard. They were one of the most popular rocker bands in the 80’s.”

I felt my eyes grow wide with surprise that he was so defensive about it. I gave a nonchalant shrug. “Well they couldn’t have been too popular because I’ve never heard of them.”

“You’re kidding?” He asked disbelievingly and then scoffed. “Let me guess ya’ only listen to Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.”

I felt my cheeks heat up and I snapped back defensively. “Not since I was like two!”

He let out a dry laugh as he folded his arms over his chest and then rolled his eyes. “Right, so what is it that gets ya’ flustered now?”

I tightened my grip around my own chest and lifted my chin up a notch. “Ed Sheeran and Frou Frou.”

His brows knit together in confusion. “What? I’ve never even heard of them.”

“Of course you wouldn’t you’re still living in the 80’s.”

“The 80’s rock bands are timeless!” He shot back with a few steps forward.

I rolled my eyes at him and flicked some of my hair away from my face. “Yeah well not that conversing with you instead fun and all but I think I’ll head back inside where it’s warm.” I shuddered at the cold as another breeze blew in from the doors.

Gabe’s smile quirked up along the edge as he looked at me before he wiped his black stained palms on his already dirty jeans and scoped out the barn. “Well now what kind of man would I be if I let an innocent girl like ya’ wondering around by herself at night.”

My nose crinkled as I frowned up at him. “It’s not like I’m going to get lost.”

He gave a little roll of his shoulders before wondering over to the side of the barn. There were a few clanking noises as he rummaged things around on the dusty table. He let out an ‘Ah-ha’ sound as he found what he was searching for. A smile spread across his face when he lifted up an old worn in jean jacket. “I knew it was over here something.” He smiled triumphantly before giving it a few quick shakes.

I rolled my eyes at him and turned around to the exit. “Great now we can go.”

“Now hold on there Dollface.” My frowned deepened at the use of the nickname and I glared over my shoulder at him. With a few quick strides he was standing right beside me. His faded greens eyes sparkled with something mischievous as he leaned in closer to me. I felt my throat grow tight with each inch he closed between us, his warm breath pressing against my cheek like a caress, and the smell of oil and dirt wafted around me.

I felt the fabric weigh down on my shoulders and then suddenly everything snapped back to normal. My eyes traveled down from Gabe and to the jacket that now hung on me. I looked back up to see Gabe taking a step ahead of me with a smug smile on his face. “Okay now we can go.”

He walked out of the barn and into the darkness but I couldn’t help but feel something warm spread throughout my body. Before the warmth could hit my chest I snapped myself out of it and tugged the jacket closer against me. I wasn’t naive. I knew what the warmth had meant but I also knew that I could never let that warm feeling get out of hand because if I didn’t keep it under control someone else would die.