Ariel had meant to leave the Reed home before dusk. She only had one working headlight and she couldn’t afford a ticket. She traveled the back roads, making it home without incident. She parked her vehicle in a nearby parking lot and walked the two blocks to her apartment complex, mace in hand.
Ariel let herself inside the community door, watching her feet. She didn’t want to trip over the homeless who often took shelter inside the small lobby. She stared at the little red button in front of her and took a deep breath. The owner of the building had visited Germany and thought conserving electricity by using timed lights was a fabulous idea. Since it worked so well there, the owner had decided to share it with their tenants. Ariel would have loved to have shared her own opinion with the owner, but they’d never asked.
Prepared to spring, Ariel hit the red power button. The lights would only stay on for about ten seconds.
Ariel made it to the first landing before the light switched off. Taking a deep breath, she hit the second button and lunged up the next set of stairs. She counted herself lucky to stop on this floor. The lights for the next set of steps didn’t work in cold weather.
The flashlight from her purse guided her to her door. Ariel unlocked the bolts, slipped inside and locked the locks behind her. She looked around her one-room studio apartment. Everything seemed to be in its place. Good, no robbery today.
Her brief stint as super of the building had left her with enemies. Because of the past robberies of her apartment, she’d kept her furnishings sparse. Why bring in new things just so they could just be stolen again?
Now that Ariel was inside, and everything appeared normal, she could relax. What should she do?
Ariel didn’t have to prepare supper, and she had no television. There were no clothes to put up, or chores to do. She decided it was prudent to take a bath and go to bed with a book.
Head back against the pillows, her mind roamed. What had happened today? Ariel had to admit she’d enjoyed herself at her new job. Cleaning the house had kept her body busy but playing with Joshua and bantering back and forth with Caleb had stimulated her mind as well.
In the beginning Mr. Reed…Caleb, had been cautious of her presence, especially when it came to the care of his son. Who could blame him?
But after the incident of burning their supper, he’d changed. He’d seemed relaxed, playful even.
Her mind on Caleb, she couldn’t get past how attractive he was. His thick flaxen hair, his muscular frame, his strong calloused hands. Ariel rubbed the side of her hand. She could almost feel the place where he’d touched her earlier in the day.
What was she doing? She shouldn’t be experiencing these feelings. Mr. Reed was her employer, for heaven’s sake.
Besides that, having a loving family wasn’t for her. How many times had she come close to belonging to a real family only to have those hopes and dreams dashed? If she wanted to, Ariel could have written a book on how many families had taken her into their home and thrown her back.
Some had taken her in for the money. One foster mother had spent a whole hour explaining she needed the thousand dollars a month the government provided to sustain her drug habit.
Other people had taken her in because they were on the foster care roster and it was their job. They made certain never to get to close to her. They’d been told she was ‘unadoptable’ from the beginning. If they got too close to her then it would only cause more pain for all parties involved when she had to leave.
No, she needed to just concentrate on doing her job not on the possibility of fitting into a family. It wasn’t meant to be and she didn’t have the heart to go through rejection again.
Laying her book aside and getting comfortable in bed, her eyelids closed upon her cheeks. Her last thought was of tomorrow. It was sure to be another interesting day.
****
The next couple of days passed much the same as the first, except all three meals were taken with both Josh and Caleb. And this time, she had been able to keep them from burning. They fell into a comfortable routine. But on Friday when Ariel arrived, the whole house seemed to be in an uproar.
As she walked through the door she heard Caleb yelling into the phone, “How can Ralph expect me to be done in two weeks? I’ll have to work during the family dinner to finish by then.”
The conversation went back and forth but Ariel didn’t hear another word past family dinner. If Caleb decided to retain her after her preliminary week, would she be responsible for cooking this family dinner? She was in a stupor until Joshua appeared at her side.
“I have the list. Dad said to go over it with you while he was on the phone.”
Ariel nodded. She listened as Joshua read down the list of grocery items. When he finished reading, he went on to the items needed for the family dinner.
“This year, we’re having the family dinner here.”
“Family dinner?”
“Yeah. Every year in January after Christmas is over the whole family gets together for a family dinner. This way no one has to feel bad if they couldn’t see each other for Christmas. Each family has a year to host. And this year it’s our turn. Mamaw and Papaw Reed will be here, a few aunts, uncles, cousins, and Mabel. She always invites herself.”
Ariel smiled. Mabel was just that way. Joshua went on to mention a few other people. By the time he was finished, Caleb was off the phone and tapping his foot.
“Come on, you two. It seems I’m in a bigger rush than I thought. We need to get to town, buy this stuff, and get home so I can work.”
Ariel didn’t argue. She followed Caleb to the garage. He held open the passenger side door to a Chevy Tahoe for her.
They arrived in town thirty minutes later and Caleb drove to the grocery store. Once there, they all piled out.
Caleb gave her a buggy and grabbed one for himself.
They followed along behind him like two obedient puppy dogs. Ariel and Joshua shared a private joke and burst out laughing.
Caleb rounded on them, his eyebrows rose in annoyance. “What are you two doing? We have way too much to do for you guys to sit around and laugh.”
Even though Caleb looked upset he was unable to keep the smile out of his own voice.
This caused Joshua and Ariel to giggle even more. Caleb attempted a serious expression, small lines of concern framing his eyes. “Guys, I need your help.”
“We were guarding the buggy. Do you trust us to pick out stuff?” asked Joshua with wide, innocent blue eyes.
Caleb growled and ruffled Joshua’s hair. He tore his list in two, and handed it to Ariel.
He looked at Ariel and asked, “You don’t mind do you?”
“No, of course not. Anything I can do to help.”
“You know I wouldn’t ask if I…”
“Didn’t need help? Mr. Reed, I’m your employee. This is what I’m here for.”
Caleb looked a little awkward, “Yeah. Right. My employee.”
He didn’t say anything else, but sent them on their way.
With all three working, it took three hours to get all the food purchased, loaded into the vehicle and get it home.
Caleb brushed past her as he brought the bags into the kitchen. The floor, the table, the island, and every available empty space was littered with groceries. Each time Caleb would place them on a surface, he would glance in her direction and grimace. Ariel watched as Caleb dropped the last one.
“I’m sorry, Ariel. But I have to leave this with you.”
“Why be sorry?”
“Well, I know it’s a lot to put up. If you want to leave some of it, I can always do it later.” He was already heading downstairs before Ariel could answer him. Turning her back to him, she stared at the task in front of her. One thing at a time and maybe she’d be done by next year. What else did she have to do, right?
Before she had a chance to pick up the first item, Joshua walked into the room. “Ariel?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you want help?”
“Yes, please,” she smiled.
“Do you like music?”
“I love music.”
Joshua bobbed and weaved through the obstacle course of plastic bags until he reached the cabinets. Underneath one of the cabinets was a radio. Joshua reached his little hands forward and turned it on. “Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison was playing. He looked at Ariel with glee and said, “Let’s get to work.”
As the music flowed through the room, the two of them worked together to put up the groceries and other items. When the floor was clear, “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” by Aretha Franklin came over the airwaves. Ariel and Joshua put their hands to their lips as if they held microphones and sang.
They finished singing and began to giggle. Next a slow song played. Joshua placed his hand on her waist and his other hand in hers and twirled her around the room. She stooped down, and he twirled her in a circle as Bryan Addams belted out the words, “When you really love a woman, you got to hold her, you got to know how she feels inside…”
Caleb stood at the top of the basement stairs watching them. Joshua twirled and released her and she landed right in Caleb’s arms. He embraced her. As the music flowed from the radio, he sang along. His rich, timbered voice mimicked the song artist. Ariel was transfixed.
His touch was light as they moved around the room. Her shirt had ridden up on one side, and Caleb’s hand found the opening. As his fingers settled there, they made little circular motions against her bare skin. The impact of this gentle manipulation caused her heart to palpitate. She needed to think about something else, anything else.
Ariel concentrated on his face. That was a mistake. Instead of calming her already racing pulse, it had the opposite reaction, sending her heart into overdrive.
His blue eyes were shining with merriment, their corners twitching as he watched Joshua dance around them with an imaginary partner.
As the song came to a close, their heads moved closer together, their lips but an inch apart. Her lips were dry and Ariel realized how much she wanted to kiss Caleb. As he leaned in closer, the breath from his mouth reached her lips and caused the faintest tickle, she licked her lips in anticipation of his touch.
Then the phone rang. Caleb jumped back from her as if he had been shot. Jerking the phone from its cradle, he appeared calm when he answered, “Hello?”
Ariel couldn’t take her eyes off of him. What had just happened? Whatever it was, it had left her trembling. Her gaze averted, she could still feel the heat of his stare. Was he just as confused as she?
Before she had time to think about it, Joshua tugged on her arm until she looked down at him. “Can you play the piano?”
Staring longingly at Caleb, wishing the phone could have waited another minute to ring, she answered, “A little.”
“Come on, let’s go.”
As she left the room, she glanced over her shoulder at Caleb. She wished she could read his mind. Was he glad the phone had rung? Was he glad they’d been interrupted? Would they ever come close to kissing again?