A Red Leaf & Ten Orchids Ch. 04

**Well, I suppose that anyone can get along - now and then - a little, anyway...

O_o

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Now that he was finally alone, Joshua got out of bed and walked to the "bathroom" for a minute before making his way to the coffeemaker. That had been a few minutes of mild torture – waking up with a full bladder, the erection from that, and not being able to do anything about it. He supposed that he ought to consider himself lucky that no one had expected a long conversation from him, but he did feel a little better for beginning an apology.

Armed with a cup of coffee, he was back in front of the mirror and shaving inside of a minute.

He had almost settled into "automatic pilot" mode, but his visitors a little earlier kept coming to mind. He liked them both – he couldn't help it. He was a little sad that he likely wouldn't ever get to know them beyond seeing them around the place while he tried to get things done for Rosie.

"It sucks to be you," he told his reflection.

The fact that he'd met a gorgeous woman who'd wanted to kill him was at least momentarily amusing from this morning's perspective.

He almost cut himself when he'd smiled then, since he felt a lot better today and much more like his usual self. He'd leave Rosie with the place looking its best and then he'd be gone. He had his own troubles. And there wasn't anybody who could help him with them. They were just little things - like what the hell he was going to do for a living soon? He wasn't agonizing over it and he had a few options, but it was there all the same. He also wondered if the ghosts that he carried would ever leave him alone.

He thought that Jillian was the sweetest little girl that he'd ever seen in his life and Kayla, well, that was a kind of beauty that somebody like him just never came into contact with. Now that she wasn't glaring daggers at him, he recognized that he was human enough to think for a second that just maybe he might have a little better than a snowball's chance in Hell with her.

He tossed that thought as he looked in the mirror and saw what the world had always seen when anyone had looked at him.

"It really sucks to be you."

Cleaning off the remnants of his shaving foam, he drew as much of a mouthful of the hot coffee as he could and swallowed it – eventually. It was in preparation for brushing his teeth. Joshua shaved every morning when he could and brushed his teeth without fail, but he absolutely hated what toothpaste did to the taste of coffee.

He grabbed some more of his clothes and got some laundry started. Pulling on some clean jeans and tugging a T-shirt over his head, he poured himself a second cup and began to make a list of the groceries that he'd need from now on. With that done, he made his bed. It was something that hadn't come to him naturally, but his time in the service had fixed this habit in him.

Done with his coffee, he trotted down the inside stairs, and slipped outside. He was careful to close the hasp on the doors. The driving shed was no place for a small child. He was just climbing into his truck when Rose came around the front.

"Joshua Taylor, don't you believe in answering when somebody wishes you a good morning?" Rose asked sternly.

"I'm sorry Rosie, I didn't hear you. Good morning." Josh replied.

"Where are you going this early in the day?" Rosie demanded.

"Look, Rosie. I know you have some family here now, and, ... well I don't feel like butting in all the time. I was going to get some groceries. I've got the little kitchen fixed up in the loft now, and I can pretty much live out of there when I'm not working. I won't disturb you that way." Josh explained.

"You finished the kitchen up there? I want to see that! Come on and show me." Rose said, and she began to walk toward the shed. Josh sighed and gave up his attempt at slipping away unnoticed. He fell into step with her.

Kayla was just inside the door of the bunkhouse. She let out a breath and began to sweep again but then stopped as a thought came to her. Joshua had been about to leave. She'd been a little hopeful that they could iron out what had happened the previous day over the neutral ground of the breakfast table, but he plainly had other plans. She decided that she couldn't blame him much between yesterday and how he'd woken up.

Once they got up the inside stairs, Rose looked around with approval. "Looks great to me, but what about walls, inside walls?"

Josh replied, "It's kind of open concept. It's not formal or anything. I can put in some walls where they're needed. The only ones that have to be there are the ones holding up the plumbing and the little counter. Why don't you decide what kind of apartment this should be and I'll wall it that way? Everything is hooked up now, so I can do it any way that you decide." Josh suggested, "I'll put up the wall studs and wire the place and then I'll drywall it."

"I see you've got about two cups worth left in that coffee maker. Why don't we talk, you and I?" Rose said. Joshua shrugged.

When they were seated, Rose began "Joshua, I owe you a great big apology. Left to your own devices, you and my niece spent an hour or so yesterday demonstrating what strong-willed adversaries you can be. A lot of that was my fault because I didn't tell either one of you that the other one would be here. I did have my reasons. If I had told you that she was coming, you'd have reacted much like you're reacting now – by retreating because you feel uncomfortable about it. I know you're shy, Joshua Taylor. Everyone who knows you is well aware of that."

Josh looked at his cup. Rosie's got a full head of steam up today, he thought.

"And Kayla wouldn't have come if she'd known there was a man working around the place and keeping odd hours. She's very protective of Jillian. And she's got a right. Joshua, I feel the need to have what's left of my family around me now, so I can help them where I can. That way I can feel useful around here again. I think you can understand that.

My niece needs a place for a new start, Jillian needs a place to be a child in and an apartment in Phoenix is not that place. We can do this Joshua, you and I, because whether you realize it or not, you became a part of my family nine years ago in that house over there. I expect you to remain a part of my family, and my family eats meals together, don't we?" Rosie finally wound down.

"Come on, Joshua." Rose's eyes had lost the fire they'd had. "At the very least, that little girl needs some kind of male figure in her life for right now, and my Sam's gone. Just be nice to them while you're here. That's all I ask."

Josh looked up and opened his mouth. "What?" asked Rose.

"Never mind. I was about to say something very stupid, and very hurtful to your niece if she were here. I've already got enough to apologize for. Forget it, Rosie. I'll help where I can. The kid twisted my heart in a knot last night when she hugged me."

Rose smiled. "What were you going to say?"

He shook his head. "Please, it was just a childish swipe. And I regret thinking it, even if I didn't speak the thought - which I now regret telling you that I'd had." said Josh quietly.

"We speak plainly around here, Joshua Taylor," said Rose in mock gravity.

"Ok, just remember that you forced it out of me. I was going to ask what had happened to Jillian's original 'male figure', and then I was going to ask if he'd been tossed out of the picture for being considered too dumb." Josh said regretfully.

Rose looked at him and said,"Car wreck." as she got up from the table.

Joshua Taylor squeezed his eyes shut and hit his forehead with his palm. "Rosie, I need you to run me over with your car. Could you do that for me? I'm thinking eight, maybe ten times ought to do it."

Rose was down the stairs and on her way to the door. "There's breakfast for you on the porch, come on!"

Josh walked out into the sunshine for the second time that day, and headed for the house. On his way past the bunkhouse, Kayla opened the door, and said,"Hey."

Josh turned toward her, and said, "Hi Kayla. Look, I need to talk to you – "

"And I need to talk to you, too. Uh, truce, ok? What do you say? It's a little out of the ordinary for me, but I'm actually trying to be nice," smiled Kayla. "I want to avoid having to wear my label."

Josh sighed a little guiltily. "Another thing that I regret saying. Ok, truce. We'll talk a little later on. Right now, I'm still smarting from the subtle whipping I just got. She gave me both barrels in her quiet way." Josh smiled ruefully. "I am SO glad she doesn't know my middle name."

"Kayla smiled a little conspiratorially. "Don't feel bad. She gave me both barrels earlier and," Kayla's voice dropped to a whisper," she didn't say 'Good morning' to you first like she let on to have " she winked.

"But what does your middle name have to do with it?"

Josh smirked at her. "If a mother uses your full name, every name you have, you just know you're in deep shit." He winked back at her, and walked to the porch.

Kayla laughed then, a really good laugh. It felt like chains had been unlocked from around her ribs. She realized that he was right, of course. She also realized that she'd give a lot to spend more time in the blue light of those eyes. When he wasn't murderous, Josh did have a lot of charm, she thought.

She came in from the yard and sat down next to Jillian and opposite Josh. Rosie set a cup of coffee in front of her. "How's it going in there?" she asked. "And what was so funny?"

Kayla said, "Nothing Aunt Rose." Her eyes smiled at Josh over the rim of her mug for a moment. "It's not bad. I'm done for now. Mostly, I just needed to sweep it out. It sure doesn't look like a man has been living in there –"

Josh looked up.

"Well at least none of the men I've known." she smiled, trying to cover the barb that she hadn't intended. "I'm having trouble thinking of it as a bunkhouse. It sure doesn't look that way to me, well, what I'd have imagined one to look like."

"It used to be just a big room like an army barracks, and it would house a dozen men in cots with the washroom added later," Rose said, "Years after, it was used as a cool storage. The thing hadn't been used at all in years until Joshua cleaned it all out and turned it into a little house all on its own with walls and doors – the works. He did that maybe six years ago now."

"And don't kid yourself. He's no angel, I just keep on top of him, is all" Rose chuckled.

Josh looked at the line of hills in the distance and decided to let that one by as well. His gaze drifted down to Kayla's hair for a moment.

"I'm going to divide up the rooms a bit." continued Kayla "There's one for Jilly, and one for me, but I'll need to get some things out first to make some space."

Josh was suddenly aware that he had been staring at Kayla. He wondered where she put the batteries to power those eyes. Her hair was tied up so that the fall of it was clear of the back of her neck. There was still a lot of it, he mused. Her laugh had sounded so free. Childlike, but a bit lower.

When she wasn't looking as though she was having trouble deciding whether to beat him, shoot him, or steal his truck, she could sure cast a spell. There was also something green that was just visible near the right side of her neck, but he couldn't figure it out. She was stunningly beautiful. He was aware that he was being charmed, though she appeared to be unaware of her effect on him.

And now she was looking at him. He felt his face flush.

Jillian saved him by reaching out and touching his knuckles gently. "Hi." she said shyly.

"Hey, Jillian," Josh laughed, "How are you today, darlin'?"

"Fine. Thanks for finding me last night. I got lost and it was pretty scary." she said. "I'm sorry for going into where you live this morning. I shouldn't have gone, but I wanted to see you."

"I understand Jillian. Hey listen, – " he began.

"Everybody calls me 'Jilly', so you can too, ok?" Jillian suggested.

"Ok, thank you, Jilly. I was just going to say that there are some things around here that you need to know about. From now on, I'm going to keep the shed doors locked if I'm not in there, or if it's not ok for you to come in. If they're open, you can come on in because that means that I'm there. Also, I don't want you wandering outside the big yard alone, ok?"

Josh said. "There haven't been kids around here in a while, I guess, so I need to take a look around to make sure it's safe for you." Josh looked at Kayla, who was smiling back at him.

"If you see something that you just have to explore, you need to ask your mom first, because I'll tell her what buildings and things are safe beforehand, ok?"

"'Kay." replied Jillian. "But Kayla's not my mom, she's my aunt."

"Oh, sorry Jilly, I didn't know that." said Josh. Jillian looked at him for a moment longer.

"Lookit, Kayla!" Jillian cried excitedly, and pointed at Josh's arm. "He's got -"

"Jillian," Rose interrupted, "if you're done with breakfast, come over here, I think it's time you learned to dry and put a few of the smaller dishes away."

"'Kay." said Jillian as she got down and ambled over to Rose.

"Where were you going when my aunt stopped you?" Kayla asked.

Josh shrugged, "I was about to go run a few errands. I need to order some parts for my bike and then I thought I'd get myself some groceries. I was thinking that I didn't need to get anything big started around here today, so if you need a hand with anything, I'm free."

"Don't you eat here?" she asked, "With Aunt Rose?"

"I did," he said, "but I don't want to intrude. She's got company now, and –"

"And we'd prefer if you ate with us," Kayla said earnestly. "I can understand how you might think, Joshua, but this isn't really a family gathering. Jilly would be a little disappointed if you weren't here." She winked, "Don'tcha love how I'm shamelessly using my niece?"

"Anyway, there's no need for you to feel like that. I think that Jilly and I are more like the guests."

Kayla found that Josh had a way of being casual and friendly while still being very polite. She liked it, though it was something that she found that she had to get used to. At one point, she commented on it.

Josh thanked her and then added, "My mom raised me right, I guess, though I'm not always this polite when I'm being an idiot." He sighed, "It happens.

Kayla, there's plenty of room in the barn for the extra bunks and things that you want out of there. I can have the inside of the bunkhouse painted for you in a day or two, I just need to know the colors that you'd like." Josh offered as he pushed his plate away.

Rose appeared at the table again as if by magic.

"Ok, now we're getting someplace." she said. "Here."

"What's this?" Josh looked at the sheet of paper in his hand.

"Well, you said you were going grocery shopping. So, we need groceries. That's the list, and my credit card. Don't lose it. Also, Kayla needs to know where things are in town, so you can show her around a bit. You should take her car; she needs to drop off the trailer. Bart said to see if it still overheats without pulling the trailer."

Kayla, get him to stop at the hardware store so you can pick out the paint for the bunkhouse and buy it. Also, see if they have what we were talking about earlier. Joshua has my card. Make sure he doesn't lose it.

Joshua, take her someplace for lunch where they don't oil up their cutlery to keep it from rusting, please. You know what I mean, someplace without flypaper rolls hanging from everywhere. You're paying for that part. You should get the groceries after lunch, so things don't cook in the car."

Rose stopped for a breath and looked at Kayla.

"At least with you along, it shouldn't take hours for Joshua to shop for groceries. You probably know how to shop cheaper than he does anyway, and you can peel off any women who might get stuck to him along the way. Jillian can help me keep the puppy out of trouble, so get going. And don't lose my credit card."

Both Kayla and Joshua sat through the lecture looking at each other with their eyes wide. They both got up and headed for the yard. Josh turned and asked, "Uh, Sarge, what did you use to do in civilian life?"

Rose lunged forward for something, and they took off for the yard in a trot.

"What was she reaching for?" asked Kayla with a grin, "the dishtowel?".

"Flyswatter. She's wicked with that thing. I'll bet she's still the state champ." he laughed.

As they walked to the car, Josh stopped and said to Kayla, "Listen, It's going to be as warm as it was yesterday for sure and you're wearing that denim shirt. If you know where your clothes are, why don't you put on something cooler? You're gonna melt dressed like that."

"I'm ok, "she replied, "this is a bit cooler than Phoenix. Here, you drive." she said handing him the keys. "I don't know where we're going, and you probably know more about cars than I do, so if it acts up, you can just talk some sense into it." Kayla untied her hair. He was speechless.

Josh stared as they approached her car, but didn't say anything. He recognized it from the previous year when it had almost T-boned him on his motorcycle. He wondered why he wasn't at all surprised, but decided to let it go. This seemed like a different woman completely, and he liked today's version a lot better.

The first part of their drive passed in a slightly awkward silence. Josh broke it first by asking, "What are you supposed to see if they have at the hardware store?"

"Jilly's birthday was yesterday, and Aunt Rose didn't have anything picked out for her. She intended to take us all out to dinner, and talk to Jilly about it then. Afterward she planned to go wherever she could to get what Jilly told her she wanted. But you and I got all tangled up."

She sighed, "My imagination took off for the horizon, my reasoning went south, and you were beset by snakes." she said.

"Joshua, I can't tell you how sorry I am for being such a fool and getting wound up so tightly. I ruined everyone's evening by being stupid. And I pointed a gun at you after you helped us." She found herself fighting back tears, and beginning to lose the fight..

Josh groaned. "Listen. I'm really sorry I got so angry. Maybe you made a bit of a judgmental error, I dunno. But I can see how it might have played out in your mind. Don't drag yourself around the block over it. Yesterday I said the cruelest, harshest things I've ever said to anyone before and I'm ashamed of myself."

Kayla shook her head, "No Josh! You don't know it, but you were absolutely right about me! I –"

He interrupted her gently, "Come on, Kayla, Whatever happened before is done. I'd rather forget the whole thing. I will say one thing though; you're one tough lady. Faced with what you thought you were faced with, not many people would have done that."

Kayla looked up from her hands. "Yeah, Most people aren't as nuts as I can be. What do you mean?"

Josh smiled, "I'm telling you, I almost peed in my pants looking at you with that Colt in your hand. The only hope I had was my uncertainty about it really being empty. Please don't ever draw down on me again."

Kayla laughed and fished out a Kleenex to dry her eyes. She flipped down the visor and checked the mirror. "Glad I didn't put on makeup, I'd look like a raccoon." she said.

Josh looked over at her and said, "If you didn't put on any makeup and you look like that, Kayla you don't need makeup, and that's a fact."

Kayla was blushing now, but she said, "I also want to thank you for what you did for us yesterday. I almost got Jilly killed. If you hadn't come along -" She looked out the window blinking hard. "Why are we stopped?"

"You began to cry. I'm not driving around town with a crying woman, and I don't know why." he said. "Besides, it's a good test for your engine temperature, idling with the air on for a few minutes. It's up a bit, but I'll bet it drops once we start moving again, especially since the trailer is empty now. But are you ok?"