Over the Moon

“Here is some ice, pumpkin.” Dad hands me one of those blue ice bags with the white top while I rest on the swing. It’s one of those swings that hang from the veranda ceiling with smooth wooden slats, soft throw pillows, and a knitted blanket for those cool summer nights.

My knee started to ache during the twenty-minute drive from the park and I want to get ahead of any issues before we fly out tomorrow. “Thanks, Dad.” I place the bag on my right knee and a small hiss escapes my lips from the cold. “Derek will help you with the barbecue,” I say as I look around for my boyfriend. Spotted, on the phone as usual. Dad follows my gaze to where Derek is pacing a hole in the grass near the garden. Sometimes I wish Dad lived further out in the country so we couldn’t get cell reception.

“Let’s not bother him.” I notice a small crease present between his eyebrows. “Nate’s in the shed now,” he says as he squeezes my left shoulder briefly and goes into the house. I know that Dad doesn’t like how much Derek works, always moving fast in hopes of getting the next big exclusive.

My train of thought is interrupted when there is movement in my periphery. “Watch your step, Wolf,” Nate says as he navigates the shed’s doorway and the twelve-inch drop to the ground. I know the barbecue they are carrying, one on each end is one heavy beast. Damn, those men make it look easy.

Nate has always been strong, and he built a lot of his muscle tossing bales of hay for the Coopers next door as we were growing up. That was over fifteen years ago but he still could toss a bail to the loft with ease. I have no idea about Wolf, but if he can keep up with Nate, he is strong as well.

They set the grill down on the stone area just to the right of the steps coming down from the veranda, only a few feet below me. “I hope your dad is planning on leaving this out for the rest of the season. It would be quite the sight seeing him try to get it out here on his own,” Wolf says as he wipes his hands on his faded jeans and tucks them into his front pockets.

“Oh, I know, but it will stay out until the end of October now,” my brother says as he turns and takes two big steps to reach the top of the veranda right where I am resting and icing. Show off. I have to take each step, one by one. Why didn’t I get any of the tall genes? Why am I here with a grand total of five feet and six inches?

“You wanna live to eat them, boy?” my dad retorts as Nate chuckles. I close my eyes and smile, letting the feeling of home and the familiar wash over me. I sit in thought for a brief moment before the air seems to change around me. I open my eyes and Wolf is now across from me, leaning against the railing. His arms are folded over his chest and his ankles are crossed. God damn. His dark brown hair is shaved close on the sides but longer on the top. His white button-down shirt is snug against his pecs, the cuffs rolled up enough for me to see his corded forearms. Shit, that is my kryptonite. He is wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a pair of brown leather loafers. I wonder what he tosses. Bales of hay? He looks strong enough to toss me.

I look up at his face and I can’t quite place his expression. He is looking at me, all of me. I’m suddenly aware of what I am wearing, a navy-blue racer-back tank top and a pair of short cut-off jean shorts. My body flushes as his gaze slips from my throat, across my chest, the softness of my belly, hips, my too thick thighs, and then he stops. I hear a hitch in his breath when he sees the ice pack. “Are you hurt?”

Wolf continues to look at me as if trying to decide if I am telling the truth. The flush from earlier starts to heat my face so much that I am sure it’s obvious how much his stare affects me. It’s the same look he gave me at the park. The same look that made me squeeze my thighs together to fight off whatever was happening to me. I have never responded to a look like that, not even with Derek. I think I need some space.

“Well, rest time is over.” I push the bag off my knee and stand up, a little wobblier than expected. His hand darts out and grabs my elbow to help steady me. The touch of his hand sends tingles up my arm and spreads to the heat already across my chest. Now steady on my feet, I look him in the eye and say, “Thank you, I am alright now. If you will excuse me, it’s time to make up the salad.”

He reluctantly lets go of my arm when I start toward the back door. As I am focusing on walking as gracefully as possible, I hear him blow out a deep breath as if he has been holding it in for a while. Another tingle low in my stomach. Sigh. This is going to be a long afternoon.

“Stop worrying about me and just worry about not burning those steaks, brother!” He is normally a fun-loving guy but for some reason, he can’t take a joke about grilling. A look of determination sets on his face.

I toss out the butcher’s paper Dad left on the counter and tidy up the space, so I have somewhere to work. As I grab the cutting board the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, sensing a shift in the room around me, and there is a tugging feeling in my gut. Like a powerful magnetic force is pulling me toward it. Wolf doesn’t acknowledge me as he enters the kitchen and walks directly to the kitchen sink, but I angle myself just enough to watch him. His back muscles move beneath his shirt as he turns on the water and thoroughly washes his hands.

“What do you need to me do?” I look up at his face and see that I have been caught staring. I didn’t even realize he turned around. I turn back to the counter and start fiddling with the cutting board as my face starts to blush. What was I doing again? A knife! I need a knife. Where are the damn knives?

I can’t seem to look at him again, so with my head lowered I say, “Potato salad.” Why am I acting like this? Who is this guy? I don’t need to be looking to know that he has moved from behind me to stand directly on my left side. I didn’t need to see it because the tug in my stomach pulled as he moved.

“So, what do you need first?” he asks. I take a deep breath and remind myself of who I am. I don’t do meek and mild. Snap out of it, Aubrey! I look up at him and I am caught in those eyes again. We are close enough now I can see they are golden with brown splashed through them.

“Can you grab the potatoes and eggs from the fridge?” I ask. I grab an onion from the basket on the counter and pull a knife from the block I obviously missed earlier.

When Wolf passes me the bowl that I placed in the fridge earlier this morning, I take it from him and slide over the cutting board and onion. “Would you mind cutting up the onions?” I ask.

He pulls a knife from the block. “I can do that.” We work side by side as we cube and dice the ingredients into my mom’s yellow ceramic bowl. We call it the potato salad bowl because Mom used to say it made the color from the yolk pop. Wolf breaks the silence first, “So, funny story. I thought that Nate had a brother.”

“Nate always said your name. I never heard him say ‘sister’ and I guess I assumed since your name is Aubrey that you were his brother,” he says without a hint of embarrassment.

His arm brushes mine while he tosses the last of the onion in the bowl and it sends a tingling sensation across my body causing goosebumps up my back. We both pause for a moment before he breaks the silence again. “So, since I clearly haven’t been listening to a word your brother says,” he chuckles. “Tell me about yourself. What do you do?”

“Straight out of college, just over three years. He came to Dalhousie for a seminar and met with the upcoming graduates. I guess I made an impression since I was able to snag one of the paid internships,” I say. “Can you pass me the salad dressing from the fridge?” I ask as I start mixing. He passes me the jar, then places the cutting board in the sink and washes his hands again.

I sprinkle the top with paprika and the salad is done. I cover it with cellophane and place it in the fridge. As I wash my hands Wolf walks over to me by the sink and motions to pass me the towel. He doesn’t let go right away, bringing my attention to his face, eyebrows raised waiting for me to speak.

“The job is good. I really like what I do, but even though it’s a paid internship, it isn’t enough to pay half of my bills. Thank God for Derek.” I don’t know why I am telling him this. “If it wasn’t for him, I would have had to come back home to work at Mable’s Diner to pay off my student loans. I wish I could just stand on my own two feet.” I feel like I just confessed a deep dark secret. Wolf is looking at me, his nostrils flared, still holding one end of the towel while I hold the other. Why does he look pissed?

“There you are, babe,” Derek says from the doorway. Wolf and I drop our ends of the towel at the same time, causing it to fall to the floor. I bend down to pick it up and as I stand, I hear the screen door that leads to the driveway slam shut. The magnetic pull is lost, it’s just me and Derek in the kitchen now.

“Steaks up!” Dad yells into the house. Derek releases me and I grab the salad and a beer for Dad. We gather around at the harvest table on the back veranda. Nate is cleaning the grill and Wolf’s on his phone on the right side of the backyard. When Derek is on the phone for work, it pisses me off. He puts in way more effort for his job than he does into our relationship. I guess I should be grateful, he came to the run with me this year. Something he promised he would do.

Yet, as I watch Wolf, I see a man that would work hard to make a living and work hard for his woman. His woman, Jesus, Aubrey. He is leaning against the shed and seems relaxed as he is listening intently to the person on the other end. All of a sudden, his relaxed manner vanishes, he pushes off from the shed and begins to pace back and forth. I can’t hear what he is saying but if the stern look and harsh tone are any indication, he is angry. No, wait, furious! He ends that call and makes another. After a few minutes of me trying to focus on filling my plate and not him, he hangs up the phone and places it in his back pocket. His right hand runs through his hair giving it that freshly fucked look. Tingles, right on cue.

I wasn’t the only one watching. Nate goes over to Wolf who is still looking thoroughly irritated. Words pass between them, and they start walking toward the house. They reach the top of the stairs and Nate sits down next to Dad.

“Thank you for inviting me, Jim. Unfortunately, some things came up and I won’t be able to stay for lunch.” He faces me and Derek, opposite Dad and Nate. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Aubrey.” He pauses, keeping eye contact a little longer than most people. Then almost as an afterthought: “And you, Derek.”