Strangers To Love Ch. 02

(Dear Reader, This is part 2 of 10...Please feel free to comment on each chapter, and please, don't use the anonymous option - I can't thank you if I don't know who you are! Please, enjoy...)

~~~~~~~~~~

She woke up still sitting in the saddle, James was behind her with one arm around her waist and and the reins in his other hand. She stayed still, unwilling to to relinquish the warmth of his body at her back. They were almost back to the farm. It was still dark, but the eastern sky was lightening with the dawn.

She recognized this stretch of road leading to the farm. The trees were dense through here, but only for about 30 feet on either side of the road. The fields on either side were grassy with horses and cattle grazing. Actual farming had stopped 2 years ago with Grandfather's illness. The fields were lying mostly fallow except for about 40 acres planted with wheat and maintained by a neighboring farmer. Grandfather had a rather large herd of cattle and the dairy cows helped keep money coming into the house. A few chickens and pigs were kept for food and Leanna's vegetable and herb garden was quite extensive and productive. The woods provided small game and even a deer or two when needed. Grandfather had taught her how to shoot and hunt, even though she was a girl. The ladies in town thought it was terrible that she was so 'wild', but for Leanna, it was a matter of survival.

The road leading to the house was near, so Leanna stopped her musings and let James know that she was awake. She sat up straight and tried to move his arm from around her waist.

'Not yet, this horse can be a bit cantankerous and I have no desire to see you fall. We're almost there, right?' He had been holding her and it had been a matter of will power to keep his arm at her waist. The swell of her breast grazed his bicep with the movement of the horse. He considered it fortunate that he had the back edge of the saddle between them, other wise she would feel his own swelling response to her nearness.

'Yes, this is the drive. The house is just over that rise.' She indicated a low hill. When they reached the top, he was given a beautiful view of a ranch style home with a large barn and 4 other outbuildings - one was long and low and he could hear the cows being herded in for morning milking. A male voice could be heard talking to the cows as they moved into the building.

'Who's here?'

'Billy Preston - he's the hired hand - only 14 but strong as a bull and not too bright. His Ma thought he'd do better working than in school and I'm afraid I agree. I've known him since he was 4 and he thinks I'm like a sister. He's an only child and he's a bit touched.' Leanna tapped her temple with her finger. 'He talks a bit funny, but please don't tease him. He got enough of that in school. He feels safe here and he works hard.'

'I promise to treat him well. Doesn't anyone worry about you being alone out here with a boy like that? I mean, even boys who are slow of thought still have thoughts....'

'Oh, no. When you meet him you'll understand. The Doc said that something went wrong before he was born. In his head he's like a six year old - playful and funny and wants to please everyone. He'll tell you he's a 'good boy' and he really is. You'll see.'

James just nodded and decided to reserve judgment until he met the boy. He was feeling a bit protective of Leanna and wasn't sure if it was her helplessness in the woods or something more base. He thought of himself as honorable and a gentleman, despite his recent troubles, so he truly hoped that the pull in his lower stomach was just hunger for food. But if it was for Leanna, he was glad that he had insisted on staying in the barn. Distance would be necessary for her reputation as well as his desire to remain a gentleman and avoid any attachments. He already found her attractive and his own response to her was a matter of physical fact, but that didn't mean that he was beyond controlling himself.

He brought the horse to a stop in front of the house. It was a sprawling affair with a wide wrap around porch. There were a half dozen rockers, a few low tables, and a trellis with a profusion of climbing roses. The vegetable garden was visible along the left side of the house and appeared to James to be well-tended. The whole place looked very well cared for and prosperous. He was surprised that it hadn't already sold.

Maybe the old man had been asking too much. On closer inspection, in the light of the dawn, he did see some deterioration in the out buildings - roofs that needed repair, a gate that hung awkwardly. The house appeared recently painted, but the porch steps were sagging and needed replacement. It seemed that some work had been done, but it was more cosmetic than functional. He guessed that Leanna had tried to do what she could, but that some things just required more skill than she possessed. Still, he was impressed that she even tried. Most women he knew would have left the farm in the hands of someone else and took what they could get. He was beginning to think that Leanna was made of stronger stuff. And he found that very appealing.

Just then a man - no the boy, Billy - came running towards them. 'Hi, 'Anna, hi, hi, hi! Where ya bin, 'Anna? I din't git any oatmeal and ya weren't here 'nd da cows are in 'nd who's he?' Billy's run on questions baffled James, but Leanna just listened until Billy had finished.

Leanna hugged him and he gave her a sloppy, childish kiss on her cheek and squinted at her with obviously bad eyesight, smiling brightly out of a round and cherubic face and fairly bouncing in place. James was taken aback by Billy's appearance. Now he understood Leanna's assessment of his child-like mentality.

Billy had a condition that had only been named within the last 30 years or so after the British physician who defined it. He had Downs Syndrome. No one really understood how it happened and usually children born like this died in infancy or were sometimes left to die 'for their own good'. A few were sent to mental institutions if they lived long enough. That existence was one that James could not begin to fathom and put from his mind as to disturbing. This boys' mother had to be a very strong woman! Keeping a child thus afflicted was so against societal norms that she would be shunned by other mothers who didn't want their child exposed to this abnormality for fear that it might affect them too.

'Hi Billy. Would you believe that I got lost again? This is James and he found me and brought me home. Can you shake his hand?'

Billy came over to James and with a very serious expression, grabbed James' hand and deliberately shook it up and down. Then, breaking into a grin, he dropped his hand and gave James a bear hug. Now, Billy was nearly a head shorter than James but probably weighed nearly the same - he was solid and strong - and he drove the breath right out of James with the force of his hug. When James was able to break the embrace, he laughed and looked at Leanna. She was smiling broadly, obviously happy that he understood Billy's ways and was willing to accept him. But James saw something more, also. Leanna was nearly asleep on her feet.

'Billy. If you can care for the cows this morning, I will personally make you the best oatmeal you've ever had! But Leanna needs to get some sleep. How about we let her go to bed and you and I will get the chores done. And when we are all done with that, you can show me a place in the barn where I can bed down. Think you can help me with all that?'

Billy grinned at James, his new best friend, and then looked at Leanna. 'Yeah, you go to bed - me 'nd James will take care of everything 'nd he'll make me oatmeal, 'nd I'll show 'im where to sleep. Go!' And Billy made a shooing motion at her. Leanna grinned at him and turned to go up the stairs. Looking back at them, she smiled at James. 'Thank you.'

James looked at her, his own fatigue smothered, he smiled and said, 'Get some sleep, we'll be fine and we'll take care of everything.' With that, he and Billy turned towards the dairy barn, leading his horse to the enclosure to unsaddle him and get him some oats and water.

Leanna watched them for a moment and then went into the house. She didn't see the look on James' face when he turned back. He got a nice view of her bottom swaying seductively beneath her dress and despite the weariness in his bones, he knew that resisting her would be the hardest thing he had ever attempted. He shook his head and tried to concentrate on Billy's chatter and the job at hand.