Page 8 of Roads Behind Us
But I was right that something was different about him. It wasn’t only his reliance on crutches curving his shoulders inward a little.
“But your future customers didn’t grow up here, and you want them to be able to see so they don’t trip over a rock or crash their cars into a tree and break their necks. I’m surprised Brand hasn’t suggested a lighting plan.”
“Maybe he did. He could have.” Bax looked down at the cast on his leg. “I’ve been a little distracted, I guess.”
“Yeah, I heard. Got yourself beat up by a bull?”
He nodded. “Sorry I can’t help with the cabins.”
“It’s cool. I don’t really need your help.”
He didn’t like that. His eyebrow jumped the tiniest bit, which made me realize that maybe I’d been a little harsh. It was habit. When I met a man in a work situation, my instinct was to prove my dominance and worth. And that goes double for Mr. Smart Mouth Lee.
“Right. Well, I guess you’ll probably wanna get settled in. Brand set up a cabin for you, and my sister stopped by with some grocery staples earlier. If you need anything else, please feel free to come up to the house anytime. There’s people comin’ and goin’ at all hours.”
“Where is it?”
Both eyebrows rose this time. “The house?”
I rolled my eyes. “The cabin?”
“Oh, right.” He chuckled. “Uh, it’s… Well, if you turn around and drive half a mile back down the lane, it’s the second right you come to… Ah shit, but it’s not lit, like you said. You might not see it. I’ll drive you.”
He looked at his cast again.
“I mean, you can drive. I’ll ride with you. Show you where to go, but you’ll have to drive me back.” He sighed. “Fuck. That’s sounds like too much work. I’m sorry. I’m sure you’re tired from your drive.”
“It’s fine,” I said, watching exhaustion take over his features, like candlelight being snuffed out in a pitch-black room. “C’mon, let’s go and then I’ll get you back here. Tomorrow, we’re gettin’ some damn road reflectors.”
Bax was not graceful with the crutches. He almost fell off his porch when he lost his balance. I imagined him landing on his ass and snickered to myself, but then I felt bad about laughing. Memories of my dad after his back surgeries came back to me. He couldn’t do anything for himself for a long time. I’d had to help him with everything. And the pain? God, I couldn’t even imagine. I was sure Bax was in pain now, but he tried not to show it.
He had to sit turned toward me a little in my truck because the cast was completely unbendable. For him to fit, I had to adjust the bench seat as far back as it would go. Even sitting forward at the edge of the seat, I could barely reach the pedals, but Bax’s leg still looked like a long, denim log stuck through my floorboard. And he wouldn’t let me help him, not even to shut his door, but soon enough, we were bumping along back down the gravel lane.
“Where’s your daughter?” I asked.
“Athena’s asleep. She’s got school tomorrow. I don’t usually stay up this late either, but lately…” He looked at me, stopping himself from saying whatever he’d been about to admit. “Anyway, I watch a lot of late-night TV these days. Turn here.”
He motioned out his window to a barely recognizable dirt road to the right. He hadn’t been lying when he said I would’ve missed it without his help. The road looked more like a hiking path, until I realized that the trees and brush hanging over the dirt just needed to be weed whacked a bit. I added it to my mental to-do list.
We drove almost another half mile, and when he pointed to a cabin coming into view off to the right side of my truck, with cozy golden light spilling out its windows, I pulled in twenty feet from the front door and parked.
I couldn’t see any other structures nearby because the night was lightless besides the twinkling of a few stars, but I knew from the blueprints I’d studied that the frames of the other cabins were near. Not too close so guests would have privacy, but not too far so they wouldn’t be completely secluded in the forest, although, each cabin’s location had been chosen for its proximity to a lake on the property and to offer the illusion of seclusion and stunning views of the mountains.
Breathing deeply as I got out of the truck, I let the perfume of the pine trees ground me. I heard a stream or river running close by. It reminded me of when I was a little girl and my dad would go hunting and come home with a deer, and then my mama cooked the steaks over a fire behind our house while I played in the creek back there, trying to catch minnows with my bare hands and waiting for supper.
Bax watched me over the roof of my truck. It was as if I could feel the direct stare of his eyes on the back of my head. For some reason I couldn’t name, I felt self-conscious around him. It wasn’t a feeling I was accustomed to. I didn’t usually give a shit what people thought of me, as long as they knew I was confident and competent, so why would I care now? Besides, Bax had to know that about me already or else he wouldn’t have agreed to let me stay on his property and finish the builds. Or maybe he hadn’t agreed. Maybe my boss put his foot down and insisted, and Bax hadn’t really had a say in the matter.
“It’s nice out here,” I said. “Quiet.”
“Yeah.”
He dragged my backpack from the front seat, slung it over his shoulder, and then took off with his crutches toward the cabin. I grabbed my suitcase from the bed of my truck, and when we were standing on the little ground-level log porch, he turned back to me.
“There’s a fire pit out back. You can see it from the slider in the kitchen. Brand left a load of firewood out there for you. It’s relaxin’ at night, sittin’ out here with a drink.”
“I don’t drink.”
“Oh, well, then… tea?”
