“Josh? What…” I motion for him
to enter the large room, stepping back to allow him to pass and follow him in
after closing the massive door.
“I’m sorry to bother you at such a
late hour but I really…” He takes a
deep breath and runs his hand through his hair.
I step up in front of him and
smile warmly, “Why don’t we sit, you can collect your thoughts and then we’ll
talk, hmmm?”
He smiles tentatively at me and
takes a seat on the couch in front of the fireplace. He stares blankly into it for several minutes.
I glance at the fire to make sure
that it truly was out, back at his face, then lean back and patiently wait for
him to start.
Quietly he turns to face me,
offering another small smile and clears his throat, “Guess you’re wondering why
I’m here huh?”
“Well…not that I don’t mind late
night visits from…” I stop, realizing where I am. “Yeah, the thought did cross
my mind.”
He sits there for a minute longer,
moving his line of vision from past my head to his hands, which he was
nervously wringing in his lap. “Well,
I…I’m not sure how to go about this…”
He stands and moves quickly to the door, “This was a bad idea.”
I jump up and grab his arm, “It
might not be…why don’t you give me a chance?”
He lifts his eyes from the floor
and slowly meets my gaze. “I’m not…”
I place a finger over his lips to
stop him then lean in, brushing a light kiss across his soft lips. “You’re not what?”
He stammers for a few minutes then
blushes.
“You know…I wasn’t sure at first
but as soon as I saw Penelope, well lets just say, she proved it. Does your mother know?”
“Yes, she’s being very supportive
but I think she’s a little disappointed that she’ll never have any
grandchildren.”
“Well, you could always marry a
lovely lady, have a baby, then send her off on some fancy trip or
something. Isn’t that what most rich
folks do anyway? Seems to be the trend
in America anyway. For some reason the
ladies can’t handle the heat of the plantations so they get sent to the big
cities to live while the men run the plantations.”
Josh chuckles softly, “Only
problem is the ‘getting her pregnant’.
If you know what I’m saying?”
I chuckle and nod, “Yeah, I guess
that could be a problem. Well, there’s
always adoption. I know there has to be
at least one or two kids in this country that you could…Why are we talking
about something so sad?” I lean in to
kiss him again. “Mmmm, that’s much
better.”
“Mmmm, can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“How did you know? I mean…”
“I didn’t, not for sure. It kinda struck me as odd that you didn’t
really like Penelope, she wasn’t that ugly.”
“I guess, she’s just…well, she’s
not my type.” He looks up and meets my
gaze, “You on the other hand…” He leans
in and brushes his lips against mine for a fleeting moment then pulls back. “You, definitely.”
I reach up and place a hand on his
shoulder, “Yeah?”
“Mmmhmmm.”
“That’s good, cuz you are
definitely my type.” He places his head
on my shoulder and we sit together for a while. “So,” I start after awhile.
“What do we do now? How do we…”
“We’ll have to keep whatever we
have behind closed doors. The servants,
they won’t say anything because they all know about me, but…I can’t afford for
others to find out. If it were only
me…I wouldn’t care who found out but…I can’t do that to everyone here…they’re
just as much a part of this place as I am, maybe more so. Most of them would have no place else to go
if the Hacienda went under.”
“Then we do whatever we have to do
to keep that from happening.” I run a
hand over his shoulder, “We should really get some sleep. I don’t know about you but…”
He sits up, stands and begins to
head for the door, “I’m sorry, I should have…”
“Relax Josh,” I reach out and stop
him again. “Will you stop trying to
leave? I just thought maybe we could…” I gesture towards the bed, “Maybe lay down
and sleep. You don’t have to leave,
unless you’d rather.”
“No…” He states then blushes, “I
think I’d like that.”
I climb into the huge bed then
smile at him, “You don’t normally sleep in all those clothes do you?”
Again he blushes, “No.” He strips down and climbs into the bed,
uncertain what to do next.
I slide over next to him, “You can
relax Josh.” I kiss his cheek, then lay
down next to him, placing a hand over his own which is laying across his
chest. “Good night Josh.”
“Night Chris.”
*~*~*~*
I stroll out the large doors that
had been installed where the original door had been and watched as he walked
around the pool.
“Why you standing here?” Senora Chasez asks as she comes up behind
me. “You know you want to be out there
with him.”
I just smile at her and continue
to watch him. When he reached the
opposite side of the pool and looked out over the Hacienda a smile crossed his
face that rivaled the bright afternoon sun.
I watch Senora Chasez as she catches his reaction, when she sees the
smile she glances at me questioningly.
“I put something special down
there for him. Would you like to see
it?”
We walk down the deck of the pool
to where Josh was standing.
“How’d you do that without…It’s beautiful.”
“So you like it then?”
“I love it Chris. It’s amazing.” He pulls me in, kissing me then pulling back and smiling. “Thank you.”
I reach up and wipe the tear from
his cheek, “Why the tears Josh?”
“I can’t believe you managed to do
that, without me even having the least bit of a clue.”
“It wasn’t that difficult. You’ve spent the majority of your time these
last few months down at the stables or out in the fields. I just wasn’t sure you’d like it.”
“I love it Christopher.” He turns and looks out at the statues, one
on either side of the path that leads towards the stables. “How did I not notice them?”
“Nick and Lance along with a
little help just moved them into place.”
We make our way back inside just
as one of the stable hands come running up the steps. “Senor, Senor…you must come quick. Angel…she…she is…” He
trails off out of breath.
Josh turns and races to the barn where he’d been keeping Angel lately. Senora Chasez and I close on his heels. We slow to a walk once inside the barn and slowly approach the stall Josh is standing in front of. We watch together as the foal stands for his first time and attempts his first step.