Ten Days in the Country Ch. 01

The woman tilted her head with a coy smile.

David held the axe out to her, his green eyes squinting over a wide smile.

"I don't know about this," Nicola said warily as she finally grasped the handle.

David let go and the axe head immediately thudded to the ground like an anchor.

"Woah-god!" Nicola gasped. Doubled over the handle she started to chuckle, "Oh-kay! What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

"Alright. Now you just need to lift it up."

Nicola lifted the heavy axe from the ground and walked unsteadily with it to the base of the tree. She stared at the defiantly solid tree and then looked back anxiously at David, "You've gotta be kidding me."

"Well," he said opening his palms to her, "May I, then?"

"Yes! For god's sake! Help me!" she gasped in mock panic.

David moved behind her then wrapped his arms around until he was holding the handle of the axe as well, his hands just below hers. His body curved to her shape. She smelled sweet and fresh, and he could feel her warmth.

Nicola was also very aware of the body moving close behind her. His bare chest brushed the back of her shirt. She may have seemed relaxed but inside she sensed some unexpected pangs welling within her. David leaned over her shoulder. She didn't turn her head, just shifted her eyes to look at the sharp angled features of his face coming into view.

"Okay, we swing back slowly, the head is kept high," he guided her. Their arms moved back as they swung the axe over their shoulders.

"Look at the spot you're going to chop, don't look at the axe head," he paused as he felt her hold her breath, "And now swing fast."

The two of them grunted as the axe swished awkwardly through the air and struck the trunk of the tree. Little bits of wood flew about.

"Ow!" Nicola cried out, the handle rattling her from her hands to her teeth.

"Good!" David said, "And again!"

Before she could protest, the two swung back the handle again. After taking another pathetic swipe at the tree they started to laugh.

"Alright again!" he said choking back the laughter.

"OW! No! Wait! Wait! Wait!" Nicola screamed, her mouth a wide-open goofy smile.

Once more they tried to swing the axe back but the two stumbled, their legs tying up together. The handle pulled them off balance.

"Whoa!" they both called out in unison as they stumbled backwards.

The axe dropped to the ground and so did they, David landing on the earth first before Nicola fell across him.

Their laughter reached high up into the trees hanging over them and rolled down across the hillside. They continued to chuckle as they lay on the ground together. Nicola finally composed herself when she realized she was lying sideways between his legs, his arm around her, her head pressed up against his bare chest. When she became silent, David also took notice of the tender form pressed up against his body. Nicola quickly pushed off of him, her hands on his chest, and stood up.

She helped him up before brushing her back with her hands. David slapped the dirt off the butt of his denims. Nicola could see his bare back was also covered in dirt and leaves but caught herself as she reached out to brush it off for him. She cleared her throat, the only sound breaching the awkward silence between them.

"So a lumberjack I'm not," she was finally able to joke. She looked herself over and said, "I'm going to need another shower!"

David froze.

Nicola blew out another long breath of air, "I could use a drink of water. Want to come in?"

"Yeah, sure," he answered.

***********

Nicola and David sat at the kitchen counter and talked as they drank their glasses of water. He had put on a shirt and that in itself seemed to bring them both at ease. The discussed their university experiences. She was always into media and in fact, right after her studies had landed a job on television hosting for a kids station in the city. She parlayed that into a few news reporting gigs and now was hosting an early morning news show for a local station in the city. It was probably why she was so comfortable meeting new people. She was confident and spirited when she talked, always quick on her toes.

David was from a small town and went to a university in another small town. During the summer breaks he worked in Dorrits. He rarely saw his family anymore. He was closer to the people in school and in Dorrits. He was an engineering student and his plan was to design development projects and works for the more isolated areas of the province.

"You're a real outdoors type of person," Nicola noted, "That's really great, being out here. It's beautiful."

David shrugged, "Yeah, I guess."

"Me, I'm just pathetic when it comes to nature," she said flatly, "I couldn't grow a weed to save my life."

"You know how to chop a tree," he offered.

She shook her head and sighed, "You can take the city out of the girl but you can't put the country into her, or something like that. I'm not going to be a woodsman, that's for certain."

David nudged her with his shoulder and grinned, "Don't think plaid shirts would look good on you anyway."

They laughed softly.

Nicola mused to herself for a moment, running her fingers along the rim of her glass, then she said, "Now that Eric, I bet he's a real man of nature."

She didn't know why she felt compelled to bring his name up. Still, as she raised her glass to her lips, she found herself looking over the rim at David, anticipating some sort of remark about the big man.

David thought for a moment then said, "Eric's been pretty much living in the same area all his life. He really knows his way around and can get by on his own."

Nicola flattened her lower lip and nodded aside.

"I mean, he's a real survivor," he continued, "It seems kind of a dumb thing to say but he really is sort of part of nature. There's nothing he can't do out here. I don't know half of what he does. I know I couldn't live out here on my own, especially during the winter months."

Nicola put down her glass and looked at David intently. He suddenly felt he probably sounded like some sort of hero-worshipping goof. He looked down at his feet.

As if she had picked up on his embarrassment, Nicola said, "But unlike you he's really rough around the edges. A rough and tumble sort of guy." She snickered and thumped her chest mockingly.

"Yeah," he replied. Then he lowered his glass and looked at her, "But you know, Nicola, Eric's not a bad person. In fact, he can be surprisingly...well, considerate."

The thought snapped at Nicola and she turned to the sink shaking her head, unconvinced.

"No, you're right, too," David added, "He can be, as you said, rough sometimes. But I don't want you to think that the way you saw him when you first arrived is the way he always is. He was just with the guys, you know, and he hasn't had steady work for awhile. If you had met him on his own the first time, I guarantee Eric would have been better, completely different."

Nicola leaned on the counter, her hand on her hip. She had her tongue pressed against the side of her cheek as she continued to shake her head, looking out the window above the sink. "I don't know, David," she said, "If we were in the city I could have called the cops on him for harassment."

David's suddenly felt defensive, "You can't apply those sensibilities to this town and that really goes for Eric. He just doesn't play by those rules. No one does out here. But Eric does have rules of his own and they're fair."

Nicola thought carefully about what he was saying. She had quickly grown to appreciate what David had to say and she was leaning towards giving Eric the benefit of the doubt simply because he was asking her to.

"I'm not saying what he did was right. Sometimes his intentions come out all screwed up. I am saying that most of the time he's a regular easy-going person," he paused then added, "He's a decent guy Nicola."

"And I wouldn't want him as an enemy right?" she quipped.

"Eric doesn't have enemies," David said bluntly, "He's not the type of guy who needs to hold grudges."

That remark stung her.

"You'd know that if you talked with him, Nicola."

David swallowed the rest of his water as she watched him silently. His mind was swirling with thoughts now. He felt protective of Eric for some reason but he didn't want to rub Nicola the wrong way. He really hoped she understood not only Eric, but himself as well.

He glanced out the window across the living room floor and said, "Well, I guess I'm still not going to get that tree down today."

Nicola snapped out of her distant contemplation and stretched a slight smile across her lips. He could tell she was thinking hard about what he had just said.

He grinned, "I guess I'm not much of a woodsman either."

The two went outside. Nicola helped David with his tools and then she got into her jeep to go into town. He said he would offer her a lift in his truck but he had other errands to run and didn't know when he could bring her back.

She followed his truck down the hillside road. After a few minutes they came to the main road and they drove off in different directions.

Nicola continued to mull over his words about Eric in her head. She thought it would be difficult for her to let go over such overt chauvinism, such utterly degrading behaviour, a first class jerk. Then again, she had to admit that she did carry some preconceived notions about the townspeople before she arrived there. It was frustrating because she prided herself on always trying to have an open attitude about people. Her job in the city demanded it. It amazed her how quickly she had abandoned that ideal when she had pulled into Dorrits.

In a lot of ways Eric seemed similar to the player-types in the city. He was an Alpha Dog. Yet there was definitely something unique about him as well.

What really got to her though was how, in some odd way, he reminded her of Matt. The confidence and the swagger were similar and he knew how to push her buttons. That made her feel more than a little uneasy.

She drove into town and stopped at an intersection. Looking out the driver's window she saw through her sunglasses Eric by himself working on the engine of a beat up blue jeep along the curb just a few feet away from her. She didn't turn away when he looked up.

Eric stood straight up before her, wiping his hands with a cloth. Then he nodded and smiled at her, an impossibly gentle and warm smile. It was also impossible not to notice his sort of weary, almost sad grey-blue eyes.

She tried but couldn't muster any sort of reaction. Pressing on the pedal, she simply drove away not acknowledging his greeting. As she slowly pulled away she checked the rear-view mirror. He just watched her leave for a moment before he turned back to the engine.

Now who's being a jerk? she thought to herself.

************

David or Eric? To be continued...