A Red Leaf & Ten Orchids Ch. 13

Kayla spoke with concern in her voice. "Josh, he sounded pretty rough to me, -"

Josh laughed. "He can be. He can be one mean son of a bitch, but then I tend to put off a lot of people at first glance myself, don't I? And anyway, he won't be that way to you. Underneath, he's the best person that you'd ever want to meet. He's the absolute perfect gentleman, and he has the biggest heart I've ever known. When he gets off that plane though, I'll be wearing earplugs.

He might even want to kill me, depending on the prevailing wind direction, temperature, and other atmospheric conditions at the time. I never could predict what would set him off on me, but I've cheated death so far, haven't I? As soon as he gets one look at this place, he'll come around pretty quick and get on board. He was already beginning to champ at the bit even on the phone. I just don't know if I'll survive it once he hits his stride."

"Joshua what's wrong?" Kayla asked. "It looks to me like something's bothering you."

He kissed her and sighed. Looking back toward the horizon, he said. "Nothing for now. It's another thing that I don't want to talk about. Please don't ask me about it now. That other stuff you heard was me filling him in that I now have somebody that I want listed as my dependents. I still have papers there for things like life insurance. That way, if I get run over by a bus, they'll actually have to pay somebody, I guess."

"Who was your beneficiary until now, Joshua?" Rose asked.

"Well, I really didn't have anybody when I enlisted, so I just made my Mom the beneficiary, since she had to put up with me. When she died, I just switched it over to you, Rosie."

Rose was touched, "Well thank you for the thought, Josh, but you change that, as that man said. If you two are serious, then I think you know what you ought to do in case something awful happens."

Kayla was shaking her head, but Joshua grinned, "Well, if you're going to put up a fuss about it, then Daisy will be a rich hound some day."

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Rose had gotten up and walked down the stairs from the loft after bidding Josh and Kayla goodnight before she'd walked together with Daisy through the darkness. They'd passed through the halo of the light that shone down from the single fixture on the front of the barn, back into the gathering darkness that grew around them as they left that halo behind and neared the house. She'd opened the door and Daisy had gone in ahead of her to look for her waterbowl and have a drink before lying down at the foot of Rose's bed to let out the characteristic loud groan that she made whenever she was about ready to sleep.

As she'd done for more than three hundred and sixty-eight nights in a row since her husband's death, Rose prepared to go to sleep alone. She went through all of the same motions that she'd made every other night since then.

There was only one difference tonight and she had no explanation for it at all. Tonight, she'd been about to put on her nightgown and get into the bed alone again, but she didn't.

She'd undressed just as she had on all of those other nights, but for once, she'd just stood and looked at herself in the mirror by the soft glow of the light on her nightstand. She'd smirked a little at herself, thinking that it could be a lot worse, but that was about it as far as her thoughts went.

Rose would never have been the kind that had much of a real thought about it, but whether she was able to admit it to herself or not, the fact was that Rose had once been a beautiful little girl who'd grown into a beautiful young woman once upon a time. Her Sam had told her so several hundred thousand times at least, but she'd always just fluffed it off, happy that he'd thought so, but never believing it. She'd allowed herself to admit that she'd been a little pretty and that was as far as she ever went. She'd never see it, but Rose was still lovely. The only difference was that tonight, she just felt a little differently, that was all.

Tonight, post-menopausal or not, Rose had gotten into bed naked and she had no idea why, not that it mattered one bit.

Rose looked at the ceiling from her bed. She was incredibly happy, and felt more positive about the fate of the ranch now, though she still had no idea about anything. She knew that Kayla and Jillian would be fine with Josh no matter what happened, though the prospect of the arrival of the strange man that he'd spoken to left her a little unsettled somehow.

She discarded the feeling finally after telling herself that Josh had known the man for a long time and the apparent roughness of the first part of the call was easily attributed to just the joking that came from the old friendship of a comrade-at-arms. If Joshua said that he was alright, then that would be good enough for her if he came out to look around and offer suggestions, though she couldn't understand how much knowledge the man might have, since Josh said that twenty years was enough time to retire on for that occupation if one was careful.

She began to think of her own life. She'd been happy for many years with Sam. He was all that she'd ever needed, all that she'd ever wanted. But now he was gone, and she was alone in her bed. She felt a tear form in her eye. She was thankful for the years that they'd had, but had lately begun to long for her own fulfillment again. She'd gladly give anything to have her Sam back, anything that she had to give for just a night in those arms and being loved by him again.

She wondered what she was expected to do now. Was she supposed to just grow old and die feeling this alone? How was it supposed to go for her, she wondered. She didn't feel old and dried up, but she felt an inkling of the danger of it, for some unknown reason. Rose thought about some of the women that she knew who were around her own age. Some of them had found other men after something like this, some hadn't.

The tear rolled down her cheek as she squeezed her closed eyes shut in a moment of mental pain when it came to her that her body wasn't ready to be ignored and forgotten yet, just as her mind needed to be appreciated as well. The trouble was, there wasn't anyone, and even if there was, she'd feel guilty about the thought of it.

And even if she could get herself past all of the things and issues that she knew would raise their heads, ...

Rose Marriott didn't think that she had the will or the drive, or whatever word she might use when she really meant the courage to try again.

Her hand began to drift over her thigh until it found her dampness, and she began to trace her own outline there, partly remembering, wholeheartedly longing.

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Kayla was surprised. Really pleased, but also very surprised. She and Joshua had begun after Rose had gone and they'd burned their way through a couple of more condoms. After a lot of talk and laughter, they'd ended up with her lying on his front.

When his manhood had shown its interest once more, she'd surprised them both by changing her position so that she held it against her snugly and just moved and thrusted against him slowly until they'd both come. It hadn't happened at anywhere near the same time, but it had happened nonetheless.

The second climax had been the cause of her amazement, since Josh had wet his finger in his semen and helped her along by inserting it into her ass at an opportune moment.

She grinned at him afterward since he was chuckling.

"What?"

"I dunno," he said, "that was another first for me. I've never heard my name as a very long one-syllable sound like that before."

"Well, I don't know your middle name, do I? If I did, I might have been able to string them all together," she said, "So what is it?"

"What is what?" he asked cautiously.

"Your middle name, "she said, "I need to know it now. What is it?"

"Listen," he said, "I don't know your middle name either and-"

"Harriet"

"What?"

"You heard me," she said, "My middle name is Harriet."

"You're joking," Josh said.

"No, I'm not," Kayla replied, "Now what's your middle name, Josh? I've freaking proposed to you, and you accepted. I think that I'm entitled to at least know the middle name of the man I'm going to marry. Now, you either tell it to me, or I'll give you another first while you're asleep tonight. You've got the same hole that I do there, and I might just want to see what it is you call out if you won't tell me your middle name."

He thought it over and developed a bit of a worried look, but finally, he just looked ashamed and said it.

"Earle. My second name is Earle."

Kayla did her best, but ended up in a convulsed ball of laughter a minute later anyway.

"Thank you," she said, "I know that took a lot out of you and I'm very sorry that I laughed. I actually feel bad for doing that, but I just couldn't help it. I might have had a chance to hold it together if you hadn't made such a big deal over it."

"I didn't make a big deal out of it," he said.

"Yeah," she chuckled, "you're right. I guess I was just prepared for you to make a big deal out of it. I really didn't expect you to just give in that easily. It just shows me how --"

"How wonderful I am?" he asked.

"Uh, no," she said, "How easily manipulated you are," she laughed, "Harriet isn't my middle name at all."

Josh grinned, but said nothing. He figured that he'd have to find out what her middle name was sometime, and he could always get by with 'Earle', since it was his second name, after all.

He'd just never tell her that his third name was Stanley.