Back in the Saddle (Jessica Brodie Diaries #1)(10)

Yes...I certainly did. But she had a way of talking. Her southern drawl fascinated me. It was its own music, and I couldn’t help but listen to the slow flow of it.

Into my polite shrug, she went on. “This house was my sanctuary when that man of mine tried to assert his law. And he did, often enough. I caught him with other women, we had fights like any married couple, and there were times I wanted to slit my wrists just to get out of his house!”

Hel-lo. Didn’t see that coming...

She was chuckling to herself, probably reading my face if not my mind. “Not that I would, dear. No. But it was a time of no escape for women. You young women have so many options now. So much freedom. So many luxuries. This cottage, this pool house, was my sanctuary. It was the only place I could be myself. I wanted to rent it out to a free spirit that could make use of it like I always wanted to."

The twinkle in her eyes said I was the free spirit to which she was referring. I didn't bother to correct her. Some people's free spirit was everyone else's hot mess. Ami found that out the hard way.

“I want you to have people over." Gladis continued with a wave of her hand. "Decorate how you want to. Go skinny dipping. Have plenty of men over to share your bed. Do whatever you want to. Just treat it with respect. Treat it like your own, dear. That’s all I ask.”

Despite the fact that a woman my grandmother's age just told me to sleep around, I was touched. She was offering me a home. A life. A place to put down roots, if I wanted.

I smiled like a fool.

"I will have friends over, if I can find any, ha! And, you know, take care of it, obviously. Did you, um--" I winced with the word slip up. "Should I get some furniture? I was going to hit Ikea..."

She laughed, probably at my foot-in-the-mouth stuttering, and shrugged me off. "Do what you will, dear. Use mine, put it in storage, I leave it up to you. By the by, you don't have any food in that kitchen o' yours. Come to the Big House. We'll have dinner. Get acquainted."

“Oh. Awesome, yeah. That would be great. But I’d like to get some things. Would you mind giving me some directions to a corner store or something close?”

“Of course, of course.” She looked out over the grass, not moving an inch.

I had nowhere to be, so I just sat with her. Things seemed a little slower here. There was less bustle. Things were laid back and easy. The silence that fell was not awkward, as I thought it might be. It just...was. We sat. We gazed. I waited for her to get up, or talk, or move. She just looked ahead.

Chapter Three

I pulled into the parking lot of something called the Piggly Wiggly. As my car rolled toward the large, boxy store, I got a moment of indecision. I could literally park anywhere. Up close, further away, down the block--anywhere! I hadn't seen this much parking since I showed up to school on a holiday without knowing it.

Spoiled, I chose one near the door. Why not, right? I didn't need to walk if I didn't want to. Or fight for any spaces. Luxury!

Halfway to the entrance I realized I forgot my list. I stopped dead and tilted my head up, trying and to remember when I’d last had it… Wait, I should have it... Somewhere…

Lifting my bag away from my shoulder with one strap, I dove to the bottom, fishing out a small, crinkled list. As I rummaged, feeling like the bag was swallowing my arm, I heard a deep male baritone say, “Ma’am.”

One, not being familiar with that phrase, and two, wondering if someone was talking to me, which was very un-L.A., and hence, very strange for me, I gave a quick questioning glance in the speaker’s direction. I met a plaid chest. Obviously a little closer than I thought.

I still had my hand stuck at the bottom of my over-sized, over-filled handbag, walking lop-sided with no real perspective on where I was in relation to the door, when I looked up and met two deep blue eyes in the most breathtakingly, ruggedly handsome face I had ever seen. Watch out Marlboro man, you ain’t got nothin’ on this cowboy!

His blue eyes caught my focus and drew me, holding me prisoner in to a place where time did not exist. As I fell in, lost, I felt many things happen at once. My skin erupted in goose pimples as a shiver crawled down my back. My head went light, giving me the distinct feeling I was floating. Thank goodness, because my legs wobbled, not sure if I had control over my knees anymore. Topping it off, a suddenly warm, wet sensation pooled in my groin that craved sudden and fervid contact.

I think I muttered something. I really think I heard my voice, but I was too consumed with his eyes, and the burning taking over my body, to be sure. I think I kept walking, but when you lose the feeling in your legs, it's anybody's guess.

Suddenly, blue turned white as I lost the connection of his eyes. Light swirled around me, spinning, vertigo taking over. I hit the ground at a tumble, rolling to a stop, then flinching as a mess of dog food rolled on top of me, crushing me to the floor.

Why me?

I opened my eyes to two things. One was florescent rectangles hanging from a white ceiling. A small black orb dotted the white periodically; monitoring devices. I'd landed flat on my back on the floor. Perfect.

The next was concerned brown peepers, leaning over the mountain of mess I'd made. He ignored the rivulets of dried food trickling down the pile like a small stream, splashing around me like drops from a waterfall.

Seriously, why me?

“C’mon now, darlin. Up ya git," Brown Peepers said, digging my arms out of a ripped bag with the fervor of youth. He couldn't have been more than twenty.