A Red Leaf & Ten Orchids Ch. 05

Kayla walked out of the shed and over to Josh. He offered her a cigarette. After she'd accepted, she asked him "How did you know I was in there? Were you following me?" She felt slightly alarmed.

"No," he explained. "I was done for the night, and had turned off the light to go upstairs to bed. I wasn't going up just yet, and I'd been standing there for a minute or two, maybe longer. I'm a slow thinker, as you may recall. Anyway, I heard you coming, and then saw you in the doorway. I figured if I said anything, you'd about jump out of your skin, and if I didn't say anything, you'd walk into me eventually. As pleasant as that thought was, I figured that you'd probably pound me to pieces, so I walked out to give us a little space." He smiled.

She looked at him doubtfully. "That means that you must have walked right past me. It's not possible. I'd have known."

"Actually, it was close." he said. "You were about to stop just when I was this far away," he held out his hands. "I was thinking then that it might not have been a such a good idea, but you didn't stop, and you didn't turn, so I was home free." She didn't look convinced.

"All right," he offered, "I can show you our tracks in the dirt in there, if you want. Let's just wait a minute, though, there's too much solvent and gasoline in there for these things." They passed a few minutes in small talk, looking at the moon and stars, and then Josh opened the door of the SUV, and pulled out a flashlight.

"What's that for?" asked Kayla.

"Well, if we walk in together, we'll mess up the tracks. If I go in ahead to turn on the lights, you'll suspect that I will just create some to prove my story. This way, we can go in, and I can prove my innocence as we walk." Josh said.

"You certainly seem to know what I was thinking, are you a mind reader too?" Kayla smiled.

He shrugged, "Nope, I just know you're smarter than I am, and if I don't prove this to your satisfaction, you're gonna pound me to pieces anyhow. I'm just trying to save my skin here." Josh said.

"See? These are your tracks, going pretty much in a straight line. You stopped here, there, and there. Those tracks are deeper at the front. Right there's where you turned around to come back, and you can see that you didn't stop. Over here are my tracks going around you. You walked on a few of mine on your way out."

Kayla was impressed. "Was your father an Apache, or what?"

"Loans officer at a bank." Josh said, "Come on upstairs, I think I've got something for you." Josh said as he led her ahead, and turned on the shop light before leading her toward the inside stairs.

They went up to the loft, and he turned on the light there. He offered her a chair, and asked her if she'd like a cup of tea, or a beer.

She thought about the tea, but declined, thinking that if she had any more liquid, she might just explode at some point. After the two beers that she'd already had, Kayla didn't think she'd have much trouble dropping off quickly when she got to bed, she explained. "Aunt Rose snores a bit."

Josh chuckled, as he searched through his stuff. "I was thinking about you downstairs before you came in. I thought this might be just the ticket for you to wear tomorrow. It's old, so you don't have to worry if you get paint on it, and look here; it's not a v-neck. It might allow you to be cooler while you work, and since it will be too big for you, it will be nice and loose which equates to more comfort. Especially if you don't tuck it in, though in my opinion, it will just ruin your outline." he grinned.

Kayla stuck her tongue out at him, and blew a raspberry. She held the shirt out, and looked it over. His consideration of her comfort, while recognizing that she seemed to have a need to cover up touched her. It was just a light blue men's T-shirt. On the front was a black circle with a bleached steer's skull drawn on it. Above the circle was the word "PENHOLD", and under the skull was a banner that read "Versatile". "Who is this guy Penhold, and why is he so versatile?" she asked. "And how did you end up with his shirt?"

"It's a place, Kayla. Anyway, will it be ok for you? It's clean, and like I said, it's old, and I don't care if it doesn't survive." he said, "If you think it would be useful, it's yours."

"I think it will be perfect. Thank you very much." She said, meaning every word. Kayla changed her mind about having another beer, since she seemed to still be thirsty even hours after being dehydrated.

Josh looked at her and she laughed that it was a woman's prerogative to change her mind.

"I'll give you the point," he smirked, "since I can't even pronounce what you've just said, and since you can, I'm thinking that you're not exactly drunk."

She proved her sophistication by blowing another raspberry and they sipped on their beer in silence for a few minutes.

Josh asked, "So, what brought you out to the hired hand quarters?"

"I'm not a prude, -" she began.

Josh was in the middle of a swallow at that point. His eyes grew wide as he felt the beer go down the wrong pipe. After a full minute of choking and spluttering during which Kayla alternated between being concerned for him and tyring not to laugh at the faces that he made as he struggled, Josh settled back down.

"I guess I deserved that for making you blow cola out your nose earlier." he said. "What were you saying before my near-death experience?"

"I said, I'm not a prude, you know. Um, look, I know I must seem downright weird to you, and I wouldn't blame you for thinking that if it crosses your mind, the way I've been acting. I've just got some problems that I need to work out." Kayla said, "And it's really difficult for me. I'm not uncomfortable around you because of you.

I made a career choice a long time ago that didn't work out. Couldn't have worked out, but as you said. 'young and stupid'. Then I listened to some bad advice to try to help the career, and instead of helping, it actually made it worse."

Josh was listening transfixed as she spoke, but he still didn't really have a clue what Kayla was talking about. It didn't matter. He tried to follow along and he got some of it, but she wasn't giving him enough, but that was alright to Josh. He was happy talking with her and if whatever she was on about was making her feel better, then as far as he was concerned, she could go on talking all night.

Kayla continued, "The only good part was that I was able to afford to go back to college. Just when I thought that I'd never get out of that shitty job, my sister and her husband died, and I had to take care of Jilly as well. At least I was able to start a second career, but it's been a slow start. I'm glad I've got Jilly though. She keeps me sane." Kayla said, adding, "That's all I can tell you right now. If I feel like talking some more later, would that be all right with you?"

Josh looked into her green eyes and said "Of course Kayla, that's fine. Talk if you want to, whenever you want to. Or not. It's up to you. I'll always listen."

Kayla looked at him for a moment, "You weren't lying there looking very uncomfortable when I was here with you this morning. I'm a little curious about that."

Josh smiled a little. "I was really uncomfortable just before you came, Kayla. I opened my eyes and saw Jilly there, and I had to figure out if I was under the sheet or what."

He shrugged, "But after she was gone, I felt fine."

"You weren't upset that I was here, were you?"

"No," he smiled, "I was surprised to see you, and relieved that Jilly was on her way downstairs, because of the whole sense of awkwardness, but with just you and I here I was fine. I didn't even think to look for a weapon."

Kayla grinned, "You didn't feel awkward with me standing there at all? So I could have just pulled up a chair and talked with you if I'd wanted to?"

Josh looked a little confused. "Well now that you mention it, I guess I should have felt uncomfortable, really, but I didn't. You can talk to me about whatever's on your mind. I felt comfortable with you here. It was kind of like we knew each other in a way -- as nutty as that sounds, given the circumstances of yesterday."

Kayla found that she liked what he'd just said. She supposed that it was pretty close to him telling her that he felt at least a little like she had that morning. She felt a very small temptation to tell him that she'd have paid money just to be able to lie next to him in bed and hug him for about five minutes, but she knew that as impulsive as she could sometimes get, even she wasn't that bold.

Kayla stood up and leaned on the table with the fingers of one hand curled over his wrist. "I want to thank you for today. You made me feel welcome, and Jilly and I already feel like we kind of belong here a little bit. I had a great time with you in town today, and thank you for taking care of me when I felt faint, and thank you for being concerned over the way I've been behaving. I just need some time. I feel better here with you guys than I can remember feeling in a very long time. I want you to know that I think you're very sweet for being worried for me."

She leaned in and kissed his cheek. "Good night, Josh." She grabbed the shirt, and walked down the stairs. He watched her go, completely fascinated.

As she walked to the exit, Kayla had a hopeful and rather mischievous thought. She stopped at the doors, and said "Joshua, nothing personal, but you were working earlier in that heat too. You need to have a shower."

Joshua blushed a little, and he said "Yeah, I know. Sorry about that. I'll have one in a minute. Good night."

Kayla smiled at him and was gone. Her smile stayed on her face as she walked away.

"I'm counting on it," she said under her breath, remembering their conversation earlier in the bunkhouse.

"I don't have pay-per-view either, and a girl has to have dreams herself now and then."

Joshua picked up his beer and quietly spoke to it. "Of course, I won't be able to stand up now for another ten minutes or so without breaking something, or tearing my jeans, or tipping the table over..."

He'd meant none of it, and anyway, the bottle seemed unimpressed.

Suddenly he remembered her kiss. He touched the spot and he realized that Kayla had kissed his scar. Nobody but his own mother had ever done that. He smiled to himself and sat back astounded.

Kayla walked to the house with confused emotions. She found herself liking Josh more by the minute, but she really didn't think she stood a chance in the face of some pretty stiff and obviously determined competition around town. The thought came to her that Josh didn't seem to be at all interested in any of them, but he did seem attracted to her somehow, or so it seemed. She hoped it was more than concern for her.

It might just be that he's a nice guy, but that's all, she thought. And then her fears came roaring back. Of course that's all it ever could be. One look at her, and he'd suddenly feel the need to go grocery shopping, alone.

She stopped and physically gave her head a shake. Aunt Rose was right. She needed to face her demon somewhere, and this was the best possible place to do that. She would try for her OWN good, and if Joshua could help, fine. If it turned into anything later, that would be wonderful, but if not, well she was sure she'd live through it.

She remembered that he was only there for a little while, and the thought made her a little sad, but there wasn't anything that could be done about it, so ...

She smiled to herself for making the decision for herself, and went to the porch to grab the binoculars.

"I wonder what's on TV tonight," she whispered, as she leaned out to check the reception.

As she'd hoped, the binoculars really improved the picture quality.