Texas Big Man

Was she writing her fantasies? Her dreams? Was it a journal or fiction? Did she fill more pages today thinking about me? I haven’t seen her at all yet today. She slept late this morning.

Is she okay after last night? The second I saw that man go after her, I saw red. If I hadn’t decided to drive after her…thinking through the possibilities makes me sick. But as I step out of the shower in my towel, I realize that we might have bigger problems.

The temperature has dropped a few degrees, and the wind is already picking up. One of the good things about Texas being so flat is that you can see weather from miles away, and that is one a hell of a storm I sense coming toward us.

I toss on my clothes quickly, not knowing how long we have before the storm hits. “Mel!” I call, jogging up the stairs to the house. She’s sitting at the kitchen table, and looks stunned when I burst in, like she had forgotten that I even existed. Her clothes are soft and comfy, and I resist the distraction though every part of my mind is aware of how sexy she is just sitting there. “There’s a storm coming,” I say. “Shoes on, we need to make sure everything’s ready.”

Frankly, there isn’t much that we can do, but I want to check on the horses, make sure any loose tools and supplies are tied down, and pull the cars away from the house and tall trees in case the worst happens.

Melena joins me, and we work quickly, sealing the barn and making sure all the windows are closed. We place strips of tape in crisscrosses over the old panes of glass, just in case the wind really picks up. The sky is dark with heavy clouds by the time that we are finished, the wind whipping at my clothes and Melena’s hair. I shut the door behind both of us against the wind. “Sorry for the short notice,” I say. “Storms can come up pretty quick out here.”

She smiles. “It was good to get moving. I’d been sitting too long anyway.”

The inside of the house is dim because of the storm, but it’s even darker now because all the shutters are bolted closed to protect the windows. Already we can hear the air slipping past, growing faster by the second. “First storm of the season,” I say, flipping on the light. “Probably won’t be the last.”

“Do you think we’ll get a lot of them?”

I shrug. “Depends on the year, and how bad the hurricanes are down on the coast. But it’s just a storm. We’ll be fine.” I walk over to the fridge and pull out the box of pie from last night and put it on a plate, fully aware that Melena is watching me. “I haven’t tried it yet.”

Her eyes are glued to me as I sit down at the table across from her and take a bite. A burst of rich cherry flavor pulls a groan from my mouth. Fuck, that’s really good. I had no idea that diner made pie like this. If I had, I would have made a point of stopping by more often. “Holy shit,” I say. “That’s amazing.”

Melena’s eyes sparkle. “Right? So good. We’re going to need to get pie from there on a regular basis.”

“At least once a week,” I say.

She smirks. “If we think that a pie will last that long between the two of us, sure.”

I chuckle. “Maybe twice a week then.”

“Or twice a week and we get a pie for each of us both times. We’re burning more than enough calories to deserve as much pie as we like.”

Suddenly my focus is entirely on her as I take the next bite of pie. It’s fucking delicious. I can think of a few more ways to burn calories if that’s what she wants, but she has to ask first.

The cherries in my mouth make me wonder…how did she lose hers? The thought of anyone else touching the woman in front of me makes jealousy flare under my skin and a protective streak I wasn’t expecting roar to life. It’s like when she was afraid of Bean, but ten times more. I hope that whoever it was was gentle and gave her the best experience possible, because if they didn’t and I ever find out who it was? Me and that man were going to have words.

The pie is gone far too soon. “Feel like going back tomorrow?” I ask as I put the dish into the sink.

Melena shuts her laptop. “Yes, absolutely. I literally want to try every flavor of pie that they have. But I think it will be hard to beat the cherry.”

Outside there’s a huge gust of wind. It rattles the walls of the house, and darkness consumes the room with a pop! Melena gasps, and I look around. Fuck. The power is out.