“Do you mind if we don’t go over this?” Setting another pail of milk to the side, she told him, “I’m trying to get several chores finished for Silas.” Ginny slid the gate open, releasing the goat. Then, picking up the pails of milk, he realized she was leaving him behind when she started walking away.
“Let me carry them for you,” he offered, reaching out to take one of the pails from her.
Ginny swung the bucket away from him. “I can carry them myself.” Her lashes fluttered as if she was trying to find patience before lifting her eyes to his.
“What do you want, Gavin? I accepted your apology. We’re good. You don’t have to pretend to be nice, so I won’t ask you to leave. Is that what you want to hear?”
Staring down at the spilt milk on the ground, Reaper felt as if he was scrambling in the dark to illuminate the reason he had been so cruel to her yesterday without giving her hope there could be something between them.
“Getting to stay here wasn’t what I was after ….” The thought hadn’t crossed his mind that she would want him to leave. It for fucking sure should have after the way he had spoken to her.
Setting the pails down, Ginny opened the door to an outbuilding. Reaching inside, she turned a light on before picking the pails up and carrying them inside. “I know what you were after.” Opening a refrigerator, Ginny set the pails inside before turning back to him. “You lost your temper because I was coming on too strong. I can’t blame you because you’ve been telling me you don’t return my feelings. Sadly, I became the very thing I’ve been running from myself.”
He gritted his teeth at her blaming herself. “Stop it, Ginny.”
“I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to back off and give you space.”
Why was it that, when she was giving him exactly what he wanted, Reaper felt as if his heart had just imploded, sucking all the oxygen out of the building.
Striving to maintain his equilibrium, he placed a hand on wooden table, sending the bottles on top rattling.
“Sit down, Gavin. There’s a stool right behind you.”
Drawing a deep breath became impossible.
With a firm hand on his shoulder, Ginny pressed him down. “Wow. Me backing off is that big of a relief?” Her attempt at humor didn’t help.
Unconsciously, he started tearing at his shirt, feeling as if it were strangling him.
Grabbing his hands, Ginny moved between his thighs. Releasing his hands, she then hugged him tightly. Side to side rocking movements had him gripping the stool as he tried to concentrate to get his lungs to work.
“While we’re here, we should go through the freezers and pick out what to have for dinner tonight. How does steak sound? Silas can light the firepit, and we can grill them. Or I can put a roast in the oven. Which one sounds better?”
“Steaks,” he gasped out.
“What would you like for sides? I can make baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, or sweet potatoes. Which one?”
“Baked,” he was able to wheeze his answer out.
“How about dessert?” she asked, pulling his hair back from his face to tuck behind his ears. “We could have ice cream. I saw several flavors in the upright freezer over there.”
Looking to where she was pointing, he saw a white freezer standing against the wall, next to a chest that was just as big. “Fried pie.”
Her hand went to his shoulder to stroke down his arm. “Cherry, peach, or apple? Silas keeps his preserves in here so any of the boys can grab a jar to take to their house whenever they want one. There might be some blackberry on the shelf or blueberry. I can’t tell from here, can you?”
He looked to the shelf that she was nodding at. Narrowing his eyes, he made out the scribble on the masking tape that Silas had used for a label. “They’re blackberry.”
“Which do you want?”
Breathing in a deep breath, he answered, “Apple.”
“I was hoping you would pick that one. Apple is my favorite.”
Taking another deep breath, he lifted his hand to wipe the beaded sweat away from his forehead.
“You’ll have to help me carry everything.” Releasing him, she went to the chest freezer and opened the door to lean over the side. “Want to come help me pick out the steaks?” she urged. “Silas likes rib eyes. I’m going for the sirloin. How about you?”
Getting off the stool, he shakily walked to the freezer, breathing in the cold air as it evaporated the clammy feeling from his skin.
There was a variety of different choices that he could choose from.
“Any T-Bones?”
“Let me see. Those are Isaac’s favorite. He usually hides a couple under the hamburger … or he used to. Let me see.” Moving plastic bags that had been sealed and neatly labeled, Ginny raised one with a triumphant grin. “Found one. Do you mind holding the steaks while I get the potatoes and the preserves?” Ginny went to a basket that was laying on the ground, leaving the freezer door open.
Reaper basked in the cold air, pretending an interest in the array of meat inside while Ginny shoved potatoes in her jacket pocket. Taking a jar of apple preserves off the shelf, she turned back to him.
“You find anything else?”
“No, I’m just amazed at how much is in this freezer. Are the others just as full?” He nodded toward the two other freezers against the other wall.
“Yes. They’re definitely meat and potatoes men.”
“The grocery stores in town don’t have this selection.”
“They butcher two cows a year. There’s a farmer just over the border in West Virginia who sells Silas his pork products. That’s what’s in one of the other freezers, as well as chicken, which he buys from the same hog farmer.”
“What’s in the other freezer?”
“Junk food. Frozen pizzas, pot pies, fries, corn dogs—whatever is on sale. Silas hits the sales and buys them in bulk.”
“The Last Riders have one for the whole club. We should invest in another one. The freezer would pay for itself in six months with the way the brothers eat.”
“Just make sure you have a backup power supply. We have a separate generator for this building. You could lose everything in the freezers if the power goes off,” she said, coming out of the building.
Closing the door behind them, they began walking toward Silas’ house.
“Must be a pain having to lug everything from his house to store them in the outbuilding, even if it makes it more convenient for your brothers.”
“It would be if it were the only way there,” she agreed. “Fortunately, there’s a back way there. After we set the steaks out, we can take a walk, and I could show you.”
As they walked, he realized he no longer saw the Australian shepherd. “Where did the dog go?”
“Moses probably took him when we were inside. He was feeding the cows when you came and was going to take the goats to the north side of the mountain when he came back. I see they’re gone, so he must have.”
“Do you think he heard?” he asked thickly. His hands started to burn from holding the ice-cold meat.
“Heard what?” Ginny didn’t take her eyes off the path.
“My lame apology,” he said thickly.