A Red Leaf & Ten Orchids Ch. 07

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Jilly's thoughts on dating? Eww. Kayla learns Josh's past.
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Part 7 of the 17 part series

Updated 10/27/2022
Created 09/22/2011
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TaLtos6
TaLtos6
1,930 Followers

**I know that I could have just added this to the last chapter, but I wanted them to stay a little separate in the mind of the reader.

I've got to go write the next chapter now. I haven't really decided whether to stoke the flames or snuff them out, so it'll be a surprise to me too, I guess. O-o

--------------------------

Josh yelled that they were just finishing up the trim, and that they'd be right over. Kayla had closed the door to the bathroom. When she emerged, Josh took his shirt off, and washed his face and hands quickly. Kayla threw him a towel, and watched as he dried off.

There were some scars, almost parallel to each other at a slight angle off of horizontal on his front, one across each pectoral, and two more below, one very faint, the other a bit more pronounced through his six-pack. The top one lined up with one on his left bicep that she had noticed the day before in the cantina and in the loft. She couldn't imagine that they were related to his facial scar.

These were regular scars, not burns, and she could see that they had been stitched. She'd wait to ask him though, in case he had some baggage attached to them.

"I can't get over how your body moves." she said. "It's fascinating to watch".

Josh smiled shyly and said that he felt much the same. "I could watch you move all day. Wait a minute! I have been watching you all day!"

She laughed and called him a smart-ass, and told him they'd better get going before Aunt Rose came over with the flyswatter. They walked to the door, but Josh suddenly said, "Wait!" in alarm.

Kayla froze, not knowing what to expect. Josh closed the gap between them, and gave her bottom a slight squeeze. "OK, I'm good." he sighed, passing her, and trotting out the door.

Over dinner, they discussed how Kayla would like the sparse furnishings arranged. Josh pointed out that he'd never tried the kitchen appliances in there. They'd need to have something for heat as well since it wouldn't be warm all year.

Jilly proudly displayed another Band-Aid, and Josh tousled her hair. She told him that the cardboard wasn't working on her bike as well. He explained that they didn't last too long, and he'd replace it for her after supper, and then show her how to do it for herself. Daisy sat on the porch, looking in.

"Why can't Daisy come in here with us?" asked Jillian.

Rose answered. "Because she's got to learn not to beg at the table. We were on the way to good mealtime manners with her, until you two showed up. Now I've got to start all over. Don't think I don't know that you've been sneaking her food under the table, Missy. If I didn't stay on top of her, she'd just reach over and take what she wanted, as big as she is. She's as bad as that one over there." she said indicating Joshua.

Josh leaned down, and whispered to Jillian loudly. "Never mind, Jilly. I'm glad you're here. Before you and Kayla came, I had to eat out on the porch with Daisy. We always ended up fighting over the dog food, but she'd always win, and I'd have to settle for the crumbs that she missed. I get to eat in here with you now."

Jillian laughed and giggled. Josh loved to hear that sound. When the three of them laughed, Josh couldn't imagine finer music. He noticed Rosie glaring at him.

"You be careful, Joshua Taylor. I can make that dream come true, if you'd like."

Josh straightened up immediately, and affected a stiff British accent. "You will notice Madam, that I am wearing my halo this evening."

Rose countered immediately. "Well if that's a halo, it's slipping some. I thought it was just a dirty neck."

Josh looked wounded.

He noticed that Kayla was looking at him thoughtfully. Suddenly she reached into her pocket, and produced Josh's coin from the day before. "Jilly, she began, I completely forgot to give this to you. Josh gave it to me for you. It's from Canada. That's another country. What is it Josh?

"It's a two dollar coin. Like it says there. About twenty years ago, there were a lot of one and two-dollar paper bills being made, and they just cost too much for how short a time they lasted. So they made a one-dollar coin because it would last longer. The first ones had a picture of a loon – that's like a strange, great big, pointy-nosed duck, Jilly. They live in some parts of the United States too. I think I have one of those coins here; I'll find it and give it to you as well. Because of the bird, people began to call it the 'loonie'." Jillian laughed.

Josh went on; "So then they did the same thing for a two-dollar coin," he said pointing to the one that Jillian held, "but they didn't know what to call it. I thought that the answer was obvious – it should have been called the 'doubloon', but no, nobody ever listens to me. Instead, they called it the 'toonie'. That's a polar bear on the front."

Jillian looked at the coin and said, "So it's two dollars?"

Josh smiled. "It's worth two dollars in Canada. Almost nobody around here knows what Canadian money looks like. You can't spend it here, but you can save it because it looks more interesting than American money, I think."

Jillian turned it over. "Who's this lady?" she asked.

Josh explained, "That's Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth the Second."

"She's the Queen of England, Jilly." said Kayla.

"More to the point of why she's on Canadian money, she's also the Queen of Canada officially, though most Canadians don't even consider that. The business of running the place is handled by the Canadian parliament. There's even a Governor-General, and that person is there to represent the Queen's power." Josh said.

Kayla spoke up. "There you go again. Will you just make a statement that DOESN'T bring me more questions? Yesterday was a whole day of riddles for me, Josh. Margarita joked with you and made out as if you were foreigner."

She turned to Rose and whispered with a grin, "She also told me that he sleeps with polar bears!"

Rose laughed and said, "Doesn't surprise me a bit."

Josh said, "Well, you just have to pick your moment, you know? Compliment them about their fur, buy them a beer, maybe a case of Scotch..."

Kayla turned back to Josh and said, "Very funny. I'm on the hunt for answers, mystery man. I'm a woman, and I warn you we're all detectives by nature, right?" she asked Jillian, who nodded.

"I hope you don't mind, but I've been pumping Aunt Rose for info on you for three days. I'm trying to get all of the juicy pieces to your puzzle. She told me that you were married once."

Josh smiled and said, "I was. Not to a polar bear, but close enough. I think she was a badger. I've got scars - " He pointed to his chest. Jillian shrieked and laughed.

"Wait." cried Kayla. "I'm closing in! What was your wife's first name?"

Josh scowled. "It'll come to me... I'm trying to remember... I think it was Doreen."

"Janice? Aunt Rose said it was 'Janice'."

"Yeah. It was Janice. So that's it then. Janice the badger." sighed Josh. Jillian laughed.

He looked at Kayla a little accusingly. "Wait a minute here, Nosy Parker. Am I going to get my turn to ask YOU twenty questions too?"

"Probably not." Kayla answered.

"Well then," Josh joked. "I may not answer any more of yours, then." He turned his nose up, and looked toward Jillian. He gave her a wink, and she giggled. She thought this game was great fun.

"And you told me that you go there once a year." Kayla stated, pointing to the coin.

"Oh, at least –" Josh said.

"And what the heck is that over your heart?" Kayla asked, pointing to a tattoo on Josh's chest. "It's beautiful really, but it's been driving me nuts since yesterday. And who is 'Patricia', or 'Patrice', or whatever that says? Inquiring minds need to know. You were married to 'Janice', but you thought enough of old 'Patrice' there to stitch her name into your hide. 'Pro Patrice'. I can only imagine what kind of pro." Kayla sniffed.

Josh smiled. "I wasn't really trying to make a mystery out of it. You just didn't ask the right questions, and since you're so nosy, I thought I'd have a bit of fun with it.

This is a leaf obviously, a red maple leaf. And it doesn't say 'Pro Patrice'. It says 'Pro Patria'. Latin. It means 'For Country'. I'm usually in Canada for almost all of the year because I live and work there, unless they send me someplace else. I come and visit whenever I can, usually for a couple of weeks here and there. But there are no polar bears in my neighborhood, though there might be a couple of drunken cougars the odd time on a Saturday night."

"Same idea," he said, "you compliment their fur..." Rose and Kayla groaned.

"That's why Margarita made all that noise about me being northern riff-raff and a foreigner, and that's why I joked that folks lock up the silver when I come to town. Doesn't matter where you go Kayla, some folks don't like foreigners. The maple leaf isn't a good enough clue, I guess, but it means a lot to me. So now you know my dark secret. I'm Canadian."

Kayla thought for a minute. "Well that's not a bad thing..." she smiled

Josh grinned. "I've never thought so either."

"Why do they send you away?" asked Jillian.

"They get mad at me sometimes." smiled Josh.

"What does that mean, are you a secret agent or something?" asked Kayla.

Josh thought that was hilarious. He laughed for a full minute.

"A minute ago, I was sitting here facing a shrewd female detective." he chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye. "What happened to her? I want to see her again. Kayla, look at me. A secret agent has to be able to blend in. The best ones don't look like James Bond. They're instantly forgettable, if they're any good. This face is definitely not suitable material."

"I like your face!" Jillian sprang to his defense.

"That's not what I meant, but thanks, Jilly. Come on Kayla, If you had just met me for only two minutes, something about me would stand out in your mind." he said pointing to his scar. "You would remember me for this, not the color of my hair or how tall I might be, but for this alone. That's why I can't be James Bond."

"Then I don't understand." said Kayla.

"I think she's going to need to buy a vowel, Rosie." Josh said.

Rose sighed as she rolled her eyes, "Some female detective you are. Joshua is a soldier."

"Well, I used to be, " said Josh.

Rose stared at him/ "What happened?"

The humor in his face evaporated a little, "When I got back after Sam passed away, it made me take stock of my life. Back when I enlisted, my life was a complete train wreck. I didn't care if I was breathing or not. There were a few times that I'd have preferred to not be breathing, actually. I joined the Forces because they'd give me honest work, and some of it I might not even have to think about. They gave my life some structure, and I made some friends, and believed in what I was doing. I still very much believe in the job, too.

But after Sam was gone, I started to think that I wanted to do something else with my life, move in a different direction. Without a university degree, there's only so much room for advancement and I'm not getting any younger. I thought I'd maybe settle down, but I don't know where. I just felt that it was time to move on, so I requested release. It takes months for that to happen. And just when I was making plans to come down this time, I was advised verbally of my formal release."

Rose was shocked. "Joshua, why didn't you tell me?"

He shrugged, "I figured that you have your own decisions to make right now. I see that you've made a few, and not that it's my place to tell you, but I concur with two very good ones." he said, indicating Kayla and Jillian.

Rose had been studying his chest as well. "Those are new." She pointed at the scars there.

Josh held up his hands, "I fell down."

The women were both looking at the dagger tattoo and he didn't feel like talking about it, so he stood up to head off the question.

"So, if we're done here, I'm going to start on the furniture moving, after I fix the motor on Jilly's bike. Come on, Peaches." Josh said to Jillian, as he headed back toward the bunkhouse. Jillian went along to see her new room as well, with Daisy following along.

Kayla looked at Rose. "I'm not stupid. I've been having a lot of fun poking him for info and listening to him dodge around. I mean look at him. Most people can't buy that in a gym. I can see that he's probably never lifted a set of weights; he's actually DONE something someplace where he couldn't just put the bar back on the rack, drink from a water bottle, and then get back behind his desk, though I can't say that any soldiers that I've ever seen look quite like him.

I just wanted to hear things from him directly. I like his voice, and his way of joking around. But what does he mean by all of that? What are 'the forces'? It sounds like he left something out to me."

"Well I can see that you've been glancing more than casually." Rose chuckled.

"They use different names where he comes from. Their military is called the 'Canadian Armed Forces'. And you're right, Kayla. He's not telling it all. And he didn't have that dagger on his arm last year, or those scars on his chest either. He's a proud man, and he's got a right as far as I'm concerned. But I think he's getting a bit lost, if he's found out that he doesn't have that place for himself anymore. I don't know what he's going to do now. Let's leave well enough alone for the time being."

"Do you think he was serious about teaching me to ride Sam's bike?" asked Kayla.

"Sure he is. He knew that Sam used to ride you around on it. He's seen the pictures. I've told him that between the two of you, you were the one who could never get enough of that thing. Marcia was never as thrilled as you were. He just didn't connect you to the photos when he met you." Rose said.

"Aunt Rose, I've got to tell you something. When we were riding, just that little bit, I really enjoyed being with Josh." She laughed. "I couldn't believe that he was stuck there afterward though, not being able to stand up." she giggled, testing her aunt's reaction.

Rose laughed and remarked, "I knew what was going on right away, honey. Sam used to come courting me on that machine of his. My folks never liked him because of it, but I didn't care. Sam was so different from all of the other boys. Never said too much, but if you learned to listen, his heart would tell you everything you needed to hear.

That bike's got a lot of magic in it you know, and some tales to tell if it could talk. I knew beforehand what Josh's reaction might probably be. I can see that he cares about you a lot, so that was easier than predicting the weather.

That problem used to happen to Sam all the time with me on the back too. It's got to do with the girl, and the way that it shakes, and where he's sitting. He used to have to ask me to fill it up with gas because he couldn't stand up without embarrassing himself. Of course, there were times when I helped his problem happen on purpose." she smiled.

"He wanted to put another saddle on it for me, but I wouldn't hear of it." she giggled. "So he just moved the places for me to put my feet. We used to go off into the desert at night. Got up to all sorts of fun, too!" she finished with laughter and a tear.

Kayla's eyebrows were up, and her mouth was open in a mix between shock and a smile. She'd heard some of the other female relations speak of Aunt Rose when she was a teenager. They hadn't been very charitable, and the tamest phrase they used was that she'd "always been wild". For her part, she'd always loved her aunt dearly. These revelations just made her love her even more, now that she'd had a glimpse of Rose's courage. She was a woman who had found a man who loved her like she wanted to be loved, and she didn't give a damn what anybody thought back in that day.

The move into the bunkhouse didn't take very long at all. The truth was, Kayla and Jillian didn't have that much furniture, and everything they owned could fit into the trailer. They'd need some curtains and a couple of desks actually, because of Jillian's schoolwork, and Kayla's job. Those were just details that they had plenty of time for yet.

Josh stood leaning against the door frame as Kayla asked Jillian where she'd like to sleep that night. Jillian indicated the couch in the house. She said that she'd like to sleep there for one more night because she didn't like the smell of the fresh paint. Kayla agreed that it was a good idea to get used to her new room when it didn't smell, but that she herself would be sleeping in the bunkhouse that night. She told Jillian in a whisper about Rose's snoring. Jillian laughed.

Then Kayla mentioned that she and Joshua would be going out later on, and that she might be back late, though to herself she thought that they'd probably come back not that long after they'd left. She kept that part silent.

Jillian looked at Kayla for a second, thinking, and then she asked. "Are you going out on a date with him?"

Josh began to smile.

Kayla wasn't sure how to answer. She'd had nothing to do with men in that regard since very shortly after Jillian came into her life. "Well, no... not exac –"

Jillian sensed that she was on to something. "You are! You're going out on a date with Joshua!"

Josh was trying hard not to laugh.

"Ewwww!" Jillian exclaimed, screwing up her face in disgust. Kayla was smiling helplessly at Joshua, who had started to chuckle in spite of himself. She'd been cornered.

"Are ya gonna kiss him?" Jillian demanded. Josh was now laughing quietly.

Kayla began, "Jilly, when ladies and men go on a date, it's kind of the custom unless they find that they really don't like each other, that they kiss goodnight, so..."

"EWWWW!" Jillian repeated, but with Kayla joining in. They laughed. Josh collapsed with laughter, and had to hold himself up against the doorframe.

-------------

Josh had backed the SUV up to the driving shed. He worked in the back to remove Daisy's wire mesh. He was glad that it could go in and out without much fuss, but there were a couple of anchors that had to be unbolted. Afterward, he folded down the rear seats and used the shop vacuum cleaner to tidy up. He spread a sheet of heavy plastic out near the tailgate, and remembered there was some firewood that he wanted right close to the bunkhouse before closing it up. Just about the time that Jillian was bunked down on the couch for the night, he said goodnight to her and went upstairs for a shower.

Kayla had her shower in the house and had just left Jillian and come out to the porch with a cup of tea in the early evening gloom. She looked over toward the shed. The light was on in the loft. She grabbed the binoculars, and willed Joshua to turn around.

"Kayla Fraser! That's not very nice, is it?" Rose's voice came from the darkness of the porch on the far side.

Kayla spun around so quickly that she almost threw the binoculars. "Wha – Aunt Rose, I was –" Kayla sputtered.

Rose's voice was low so as not to disturb Jillian, "What you were doing, Kayla Fraser, was spying on Joshua, probably while he's undressed. You really shouldn't be doing that, should you?"

Kayla's face felt like she was standing next to a roaring fire, even her ears were hot with embarrassment. "N-no. You're right, Aunt Rose."

"Well, I can see how you would think it was very nice, actually. And I can't say as I wouldn't have done a thing like that myself back in my day, given the chance with a man like him. So I'm telling you right now, Kayla Fraser, you've got exactly ten minutes to stop that." Rose snapped.

Kayla blinked. "Uh, Aunt Rose?"

Rose said, "Well if he's fool enough to put that loft in, and then overlook the windows, he deserves it. I'll have to tell him to put some walls in though. Maybe by the end of next week." she said with a wink as she walked into the house to refill her tea. "I'm going to see what's on the television."

TaLtos6
TaLtos6
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