My note to you ... thank you for checking out my stories, I appreciate it and hope you enjoy reading. This is the second in this series and I'm looking forward to sharing the rest with you.
This story is copyright (c) 2017 by MirrorsImage.
I hope you enjoy it. ~ MI
Farmhouse Series - Ch. 2 - Fireplace
It's more than just tempting to stay in the car with the heater on and see if they can wait out the rain. But no ... she's turning to get on her knees and reach into the back seat. Coming back with one of the plastic bags of supplies and her purse, she smiles at him.
"Ok ... the key I have is to the side door. Do you want to wait while I go open it?"
He has to assume the door she's talking about is the one roughly 25 steps from the car. There's no way to park closer. Shaking his head and smiling wryly, he leans forward to look out the windshield. Except for a few places where there seemed to be instant waterfalls from stone walls on the side of the road, the ride up hadn't been all that bad, just slow because of visibility. But now, the house is barely visible even with the headlights on, the rain seeming to come down in sheets.
Coming up the last half mile of dirt road to the farm house was actually the worst part, simply because he didn't know where they were going. The drive opened up into a larger area, the rain barely letting him see the buildings around them. She had directed him to park over near a fence and here they sat. It definitely had taken longer than planned to get up here and if it weren't for the headlamps, they'd be sitting there in the dark, listening to the deluge of rain around them. He's a little reluctant to leave the warmth of the car to head into a cold, dark house ... and watches her by the light of the dash as she sits back down in the seat, rummaging through her purse and comes up with a small flashlight. Frowning, he turns to look back at the structure, not relishing the idea of getting out.
"It's pouring out. We're going to get soaked."
"Yes, it is. Yes, we are." Facing him, she grins wickedly. "Wanna stay in the car and fool around?"
Turning, he finds her smiling at him. He shouldn't be surprised that she's looking forward to this ... happy, even in this weather and the prospect of no power in the house. It's a little bit infectious; he laughs slightly and shakes his head in amusement as he looks back out the windshield. He has no doubt that she has an idea what she's about to do and will make the best of the situation for them both and turns back to her, only to have her shift towards him and kiss his cheek.
"There's a generator up here somewhere, it was installed last summer. But I don't know where it is and I don't want to run around in the rain to find it. I can keep us warm tonight. Trust me?"
Yeah. He actually does, otherwise he would have insisted on finding a hotel back in that small town when they were told the power was out up here. "Yes. For whatever reason, yes. Ok Beth, what do we do?"
He wants a basic game plan, she understands that. "Prioritize. Get in the house. Light some lamps and get warm. There should be robes and towels, plus some basic dry goods inside, I've food and water in the bag. The cooler has ice packs that will keep the perishables until tomorrow morning, so we can grab that and the suitcases then, unless there's something you can't live without. Ok?"
She watches as he nods and draws in a breath before shutting off the car. "Ok, ready?"
Adjusting her grip on the bags, she nods and grabs her own door handle, turns on the flashlight and bolts from the car. Pulling the key from the ignition, he gets out quickly and gasps at what feels like freezing rain now ... to find she had slowed down and was standing at the end of the walk, waiting for him and shining the light in his path.
"Move!"
His growl and hand on her lower back propels her forward; the two of them run up the flagstone path to the door where the key fits immediately and they're now inside with the door between them and the rain.
It's just as cold though. It's against his nature to not take over, but he holds still seeing her moving with the flashlight. The bags are placed on the table, a switch is illuminated on the wall by the flashlight, and he can see her try it ... but as they both knew it wouldn't work. It's cold, he brings his hands up to his mouth, blowing on his fingers as he watches her put the flashlight on the counter and pull something down from a shelf and place them on the table. Two oil lamps ... he feels at a bit of a disadvantage, not knowing where things are and relying on her memory for this. There is the sound of opening a couple of drawers, the striking of a match. A flame flickers slightly as it catches to the wicks it touches and she quickly puts out the match while placing the hurricane glasses back on the lamps and adjusting the wick for more light. There's a little comfort in the room being lit, the illusion of a little bit of warmth taking over. The liquid sound of rain, running off the porch roof reminds her of the state they are in and in looking up at her companion in the kitchen she tries not to giggle, knowing that she is as drenched as he looks. He's not paying attention, running his hand over his head ... muttering something under his breath about it being impossible to become this soaked running a few feet from a car to a house. The annoyed look he gives her is the last straw, causing her to snicker and she cups her hands over her mouth in a weak attempt to muffle the giggling.
The slight bending of his head, the look he gives her sternly across the table simply sends her into peals of laughter ... which after two attempts, and a few hiccups ... she manages to somewhat control. He nods, knowing her sense of humor and comes around the table as she makes an effort to attempt to assume a contrite look. Though he probably should be annoyed, he's doing a better job at keeping his amusement hidden, enjoying how she finds humor in things ... and trying to simply ignore the fact that they are dripping by pulling her to him to wrap her up in his arms for a hug.
"Ok my dear. We're inside and have light."
"Dry and heat next."
He nods at her words, telling her that is a good idea and lets her go. She peels off her sweater and squeezes it out over the sink before hanging it on the back of a chair. Taking up a lamp she motions for him to take the other and heads for an opening in the back of the kitchen ... glancing behind her to make sure he's following as she heads to another section of the farmhouse. The small hall moves into a large living area in the front of the house, the old windows showing nothing but the darkness outside. Faint outlines of tables, sofa and chairs are in the shadows of the lamp and the large opening of a fireplace along the main wall. Her light dims as she opens a door, entering a smaller room. Following, he can see a bathroom in which she's placed the lamp on a counter and is opening a linen closet.
"Here." She's and pulling out towels, placing them on a small table and smiling as she kneels before him and helps remove his shoes. Rising with them in her hand, she grins ... "Strip down and start drying, I've got to get a fire started. I'll be right back..." and slips past him before he can say anything into the darkness of the larger room.
Within a few minutes, he's stripped and wrapped a generous sized towel around his waist. Following her example in the kitchen by attempting to wring out his clothing in the tub before hanging them on the curved rod for the shower curtain, then begins to rub a towel over his face and head to dry himself. Trying the faucet, there is a clanging sound, but no water ... then he stops for a moment, thinking he's heard a bang other than the pipes and is about to call out when she knocks softly on the door asking if he's decent.
"Not exactly a question that I thought I'd hear you say over the next few days, however ... yes. You may enter ..."
She peeks around the door, grinning at his teasing as she comes in and takes up a towel to rub down his back vigorously. He stiffens slightly, muscles then relaxing against the pressure and smiles at her over his shoulder. "Tried the faucet, no water."
"Makes sense. Problems of modernization ... well water. No electricity, no pump. I'll see if the hand pump works in the side room."
Rustic, she had said. More rustic than he had thought. Turning to look at her, he frowns at her wet dress. "You better get out of those wet clothes too."
"Ah-huh." She drops down to her knees and begins rubbing his legs dry, looking up from where she's kneeling at his feet as he chuckles. He smiles down at her, the towel he had been using draped loosely around his neck and bends to guide her up, frowning slightly as he sees water drip from her bangs and he runs his hands over her cold skin.
"Is it my imagination, or are you wetter than I thought you were?"
"Wetter." Grinning cheekily, she reaches up and squeezes water out of her braid. "I shot out and brought in an armload of wood from the shed to hold us for the night."
As obedient as she can be at times, she's even more so strong willed ... which is one of the main things that had attracted him to her. Tempted to scold her for not asking help, he simply shakes his head. "There's very little left to the imagination with your dress soaked like that. You need to change too."
"I've a fire started in the living room and there are some robes warming over the back of chairs. So ... go warm up in the living room, I'll be right there."
Shaking his head, his hands on her upper arms and smiling down at her in the faint light. "I have you for five days and you want me to leave?"
Grinning in return, she reaches up and under her wet hair to undo the tie at the back of her neck, putting the soaked material apart. "You have me for five days, at your side... "The top of the dress slipping down ..., "when you want me" ... she turns her bare back to him as she drops the front of the dress ... "as you desire me"
Sliding the zipper down the side of the skirt, the dress slips down her legs to falling to a wet mass around her feet to present her bare form to him in the dim light. The fact that is all she has to remove reminds him of just a few hours ago in the car and steps forward as she reaches for one of the oversized towels and wraps his arms around her to pull her back to him. Standing naked in his arms, she leans back as he kisses her cheek ... pressing her body back against him ... skin still damp and very cold as his hands slide over her arms. "However, I don't think you want me as your nursemaid, as much as I would enjoy tending to you my dear ... if you don't get dry and warm, that is what I will be doing."
