“Have a good cry and then go show those city folks what Cedarton churns out, Amanda!”
By the time the last cars pulled out of the field and up the drive, waving and honking, Amanda felt ready to drop.
She was shaking, gasping for air, and freezing. She turned, stumbled, and a big man with white-blonde hair caught her, picked her up as if she weighed nothing, and carried her across the yard and inside the house.
As she sobbed uncontrollably, he kept going to her father’s office and placed her on the leather sofa there. He knelt in front of her and a smaller man handed him tissues and a bottle of water.
“Amanda? My name is Roark. This is Ashok.”
Trying to wipe her face in embarrassment, she stumbled, “I-I’m sorry. N-not usually a crier so, so…”
“Right now, I want you to focus on your breathing. You’re in the middle of a panic attack. Something absolutely normal under the circumstances.” He nudged her and she bent, pressing her face to her knees. “Breathe. Slow and easy.”
Ashok wrapped a blanket around her and crouched beside the other man. “Do you see this?” He tapped the tip of his finger on a small design on the carpet between her boots. She nodded jerkily. “Focus there. Stare at it. Breathe deeply. Notice all. The color, the shape, the texture. Deep breath in. Exhale. Very good. Again, Amanda.”
It took several minutes but finally, the shaking slowed enough for her to sit up. She wiped her face and did what she could to pull herself together.
The smaller man had lovely dark hair and eyes. His skin was the color of coffee with a dash of cream.
The bigger man was built like her grandfather. Thicker, more muscular, with white-blonde hair and caramel eyes.
She smiled. “Hello.” She sniffed. “You’re my new team. What a terrible first impression of me. I’m usually calm in a crisis but there were so many people. No way to protect them all and I thought…”
Then she was crying again and wanted to scream.
Ashok said, “You worried. You pretended not to worry. You cry now, not then. You were calm in crisis.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry. It’s been an emotional day.”
Roark told her, “We know all about you, Amanda. We won’t judge your tears and you don’t need to apologize to us.” He took her hand. “How’s the chill?”
“Better.” She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. “Yes, I’m okay.” She squeezed his hand and reached to take Ashok’s as well. “It’s nice to meet you. I was excited to get my own team. It will be good not to be alone at meals and things. I was kind of worried about that.”
The men shared a look. “You want us to eat with you?”
“Of course. I want us to be friends. I’m used to having my family and everyone around me and n-now…it’ll just be me. I-I bought a house and made sure you have a big room with its’ own bathroom. I have another room on that side of the house that you can use for whatever you want. A gym, an office, whatever. Privacy is important and I want you to have it.” She knew she was rambling but couldn’t help it. “I went simple on décor because I didn’t know what you’d like. We c-can change whatever you want. I like to cook so we’ll figure out food preferences. I’ll be training every day…”
She rubbed her temple and Roark lifted her face with the side of his hand. “You’re my first assignment like this.” He smiled and there were dimples in his cheeks. “I like you.”
From behind the couch, Noel said, “That is a first.”
Looking over her shoulder, Amanda stared at a dozen people just inside the door. “This is Roark and this is Ashok. My team.” Turning back to the two men, she whispered, “It will be better with company.”
She hoped they’d be great friends.