The next morning, he awoke as the sun came up, filling the barn with light. He looked over at Isabella, still sleeping next to him. He lay still, so as not to wake her, content with watching her sleep. She woke slowly, blinking over at him, and he smiled.
"Morning, love." He rubbed her arm as he spoke.
"Good morning," she smiled. She stretched her body, looking down as she did. She looked over at him. "It would appear that I have no clothes."
He grinned, "yeah you threw them out of the loft last night."
"Well, why did you let me do that?"
He laughed, "well, because you were naked and I was preoccupied with that."
She giggled with him. "Oh, right. Well, I guess I can't fault you then."
"Nope," he shook his head.
She wrapped the blanket around herself. "We should get back inside; Cappy's probably pacing in front of the door. Hey!" She gasped as he yanked the blanket away from her, going down the loft ladder as fast as he could. "Baby, stop!" She hurried down the ladder after him, reaching the bottom as he stopped and turned to look at her.
"Uh, your clothes aren't here baby," he tried to hide the smile spreading over his face.
"What?" Her eyes widened as she looked around. "How could they not be here?"
He snickered as he pointed at the floor, showing her raccoon track leading out the door.
"Those filthy rodents!" she gasped angrily.
"Actually honey, they're very clean. She turned to glare at him and saw that he was slowly backing out of the barn, still holding the blanket.
"Baby!" she cried. "I need that!"
He grinned evilly from the bright sunlight outside the barn. "Then come and get it."
"No!" She stared out at him, "I can't go out there like this!"
He kept backing further away from the barn, an evil grin on his face.
Her face flushed deeper, "baby, stop. Please? Come on!"
He held the blanket out to her, watching her subtle steps into the light. As she got closer, he yanked it away and held it high over her head.
"James, this is NOT funny!" she whined angrily as she stomped her foot.
He shook his head, "oh, but it is, honey." His resolve faltered a little as he saw her lower lip tremble, but held out. "Oh baby, don't pout." He turned and walked toward the house.
"James!!!" she called at his retreating back. She watched as he picked up speed. "Stop this, now!!!"
"CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
She took a deep breath and pushed open the door. She ran at him thinking she may be able to catch him with his bad leg. She could see the house getting closer and ran faster. She saw him run up the steps, stumbling, but staying on his feet. He got to the door and rushed inside, closing the door behind him. She was only seconds behind him, but when she reached the porch, she gasped, coming to a halt. Much to her dismay, she found herself face to face with Mrs. Sawyer and the ladies group from town. She bit her lip, looking down at her body and then back up at them. She heard the door open and felt James move up behind her. She took a deep breath and pushed him back.
"I can handle it, honey," she assured. ""Mrs. Sawyer, ladies, what a pleasant surprise, how can I help you?" She addressed the women as if nothing is wrong as they stared back at her with wide eyes. "Well, you must have had a purpose in coming here."
From behind her, she heard a snarl. "Are you going to answer her or just stand there looking stupid?"
"Baby, hush" she soothed. "I'm sure that Mrs. Sawyer and the other women just came out so they could go back into town to spread rumors about crazy Patty Murphy's crazy daughter. Well, it looks like I've given you a doozy. But know this when you tell it," she stated calmly as she took a step toward the women, causing them to back away in shock. "I'm not crazy. I'm a normal young woman with normal desires and needs, and a gorgeous fiancé with which to share them. So you can just run along back to town and tell people whatever you want. I don't care anymore."
With that, she opened the door and walked inside. James smirked at the women and followed her in, smiling from ear to ear. He found her leaning against the wall inside the door, breathing hard.
He grabbed her shoulders, "Baby, you were great!"
He saw the tears leaking down her face as she looked up him.
"I can't believe I did that."
"Oh, honey, don't cry." He pulled her close to him, hugging her tight.
She shook her head, "she's going to tell everyone." She freed herself from his arms, sliding down the wall to the floor.
"Honey, I'm sorry. That was my fault."
She looked up at him as he squatted in front of her. "No, it wasn't. They were just being nosy. That woman hasn't been on this property in years," she shook her head. "She would have just found some other rumor to spread. I'm not mad at you, baby."
"I damn sure should have heard and or seen that wagon come up," he sighed.
