''Kiss And Tell''. Private to Fish_Tales and Trudee. Readers welcome.

[trudee]

Jess Grimes.http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a284/mothermagic/317024_2268967917143_1036923150_2543451_423675227_n-1.jpg​

Grandmother Eugenie's cabin over looked one of the largest inland bodies of water in the country. The mountain range towering over the spread of water seemed to fall and rise forever and ever. The eye could be deceived into thinking there was nothing else left in the world only endless green and grey stone valleys and peaks, and the giant trapped expanse of water.

The sky, from as far back as Jess could remember, had always been a clear blue. Just pale, beautiful blue. The fact she'd never been on the mountain in early winter before had never entered Jess's mind when she'd first arrived. So while the sky was still blue now, it was also tempered with a weighty flossy grey wave of clouds. But it was still beautiful.

She'd been here two days. Two days where she'd hung around the small, but charming four roomed cabin her Grandmother had bought from some well invested insurance money after her second husband had died. Eugenie had always fancied herself as a little too retro for the city. She had been, until the day she had had her stroke two years ago, a walking reminder from the free love of the 60's with her large floppy sun hats, bigger than life sun glasses, and bracelets and bangles clinking as she moved around her small apartment in the city.
So the cabin was to be her dream achievement. And there she would retire, and paint...or maybe take up pottery. It depended on what mood struck her on any given day.

It never happened though. Eugenie was struck by a stroke that left her now reliant on full time care in a small nursing home,- in a small town that Jess had chosen for her. A town where from the nursing home's gardens, Eugenie could see the mountain on clear days in the distance . The sale of the apartment before the economy bombed was sufficient to cover her expenses. But if worse came to worse, Jess, being the executor of Eugenie's will, would sell the cabin too, to insure her maternal grandmothers comfort.

Jess hadn't come to dwell on her grandmothers health though. She'd come to escape the pecking and fussing of father..and the draining love of her brothers. All committed to vetoing her dates down through the years,.. her general ability to live alone without their ''advice''..and more recently, their loving, but over indulgent care.

Six months ago, on the week of her 25th birthday, she'd found a lump on her right breast. The biopsies and delays in results and the then further tests and subsequent removal of the lump, had almost driven her insane for weeks. While she'd been impatient, she'd not been afraid however.
Jess hadn't ''felt'' there was anything wrong with her body's health...but it had petrified the five men in her life.

Her father had wept. Afraid that he couldn't offer her the support her deceased mother might have, had she still been with them. And her brothers had taken it upon themselves to organize a rota whereby Jess was accompanied to all her doctor appointments, wanting to know as much about the possibilities of what ''the lump'' might do to their sister .

They loved her..their ''baby sister'' and she loved them. But six months on, and three months from the final good news results of a procedure that should have been resolved weeks before, she'd had enough. Enough of their constant check ups on her..enough of the forever ringing of her phone that started at 7 every morning..and enough of their deciding it wasn't the right time for her to resume dating. That had snapped it for her. She had a two inch scar beneath her right breast, but her brothers regarded it as some kind of handicap that needed to be coddled, spoken around but never about. They avoided mentioning ''the lump'' as if it might appear back, but yet it had become the main focus of their lives, while Jess had wanted to move past it.

When she packed her bags for a few days away, Jess had offended them. She hadn't meant to, but they were driving her nuts, and she'd told them as much. Four siblings and a very fretful giant of a father had watched her pull out of her drive two days before, as if she were going off to some far away war zone. And twice before she'd left the city limits they'd rang her to see if she was ok....so she'd turned her phone off, except for the one phone call on the two following mornings to assure her father she was alright.

She'd drifted off in her thoughts.

Sipping her coffee Jess realized her thoughts weren't of the clunked out generator in the back shed..The same contraption she'd spent an hour fiddling with trying to restore power to the cabin. There were plenty of lanterns in a cupboard, so lighting wasn't an issue...but she was nervous without her phone..and the charger depended on the power from the generator. Spilling out the remains of her coffee, she decided to hike down through the woods to town to find a repair man, rather than take her car. She needed the exercise, and having done it before on summers here, she knew she'd be in town within three to four hours.

*

Everything smelled of pine needles and ferns. There was a dampness in the air that seemed to ooze the damp woodsie smell that those little cardboard perfumed trees you bought for your car for that ''just new'' smell , never quite perfected.
It was a golden dark beneath the tall canopy of the mile high pine trees, and her feet crunched on the dried twigs and earthy dryness of years of fermented dead leaves. Sure there were birds singing..tweetering about somewhere over head, but they didn't invade the splendid silence of the surroundings. The light filtering down through the trees was a yellow-blue..not the bright light that speckled the woods in summer. This was the winter light from a sky that warned her it was full of rain.

She pulled up her hood, and fastened the chin strap, before taking a swig of water from her hiking flask strapped to her hip. Looking left to right as she drank, Jess became aware she'd completely misjudged her knowledge of the area and its weather. And somehow...Jess had gotten herself off the track she'd walked a bunch of times before, and was just realizing she was more than a little lost.
The incline told her that sure, she was still descending..but not enough. Somehow she seemed to have drifted to the side of her path, until she no longer recognized where she was. There was still daylight, ..but on checking the time, she could see there wasn't enough..it was quarter after three, and the mountains got dark so fast.

Taking a long breath, she turned around slowly to try find her bearings, and swallow down the threat of panic. She'd been walking almost her expected three hours, and the town or indeed any of the by roads were as of yet not even close. There wasn't a sound but for the natural sounds that fitted into the endless landscape of something so huge it was magnificent, but also very dangerous if not treated with respect.
She was wise enough not to just kick off heading where she thought she aught to head. Instead Jess tried to back track, ..and managed for about 45 minutes, until she lost sight of her fading foot prints. The sun was going down, and the remaining light wasn't helpful. Her phone was useless in such deep vegetation, so she keep it powered off to save the battery until she got somewhere higher up where she'd find a signal..

Higher up! She needed to get to higher ground before it was too dark. There were bears in the mountains, and she'd heard stories of the occasional wild cat venturing down from the higher peeks. If she got higher up, she might even recognize something that could get her back to Eugenie's cabin.

By the time she saw a flicker of light in the darkness, Jess was more than a little afraid. The air was cold, and her breath was fogged as she exhaled. While she wasn't cold, it was only the innate sense of controlling her panic that kept her body temperature comfortable. Walking on, she lost sight of the light and felt her stomach lurch.

Fuck!

Where was it?

She backed back, and tried to find it again in the pitch black of the closing night and felt physically sick. She sipped water again, and backed back some more.

There it was!

She hadn't been imagining it.

Rather than move on along the path and losing the light again, she moved towards it, crossing rougher ground. Her footing wasn't as sure, there was no light, so it was inevitable she'd stumbled over something..this time a tree stump, and heard the crunch of her knee on the plastic water bottle beneath it when she fell. Then the damp down one leg of her jeans as the water dribbled out of the damaged vessel. Brilliant.

Pulling herself up, the little light grew fractionally larger..more clearer as she got closer. There was a clearing, with a large building..a very large cabin. The moonlight only served to enhance the silhouette of the building in the distance and it's one light. It made Eugenie's place look tiny. But right now, if there was light, there was a good chance someone was home..and maybe a phone..or radio.

Cryptic stupid remembrances from her Dad's favorite movie ''Deliverance'' started to really annoy Jess. She didn't need to be thinking of Ned Beatty now!
Should she call out? She didn't want to frighten anyone by yelling, ..but she didn't want to just appear on someone's front porch either. Standing about 20 feet away from the first step up of the porch, Jess decided it politer to announce herself and called out..

''Hello!..Hello?."

Now she felt cold, and blew into her cupped hands. There were lots of windows ..gosh this place was impressive. And so isolated. Even more so than Eugenie's . Cautiously Jess pulled down her hood. It might be best to show herself a little more, rather than remain hidden in the giant fur trimmed hood.

''I was hoping I could use your phone? My generator.. has.......''

And her voice faded away, and she felt about as stupid as she could possibly ever had. She'd been coming up here long enough to know not to get distracted when out on the trails, because it meant risking getting lost. She should have known also that the mountain read very differently in summer and winter, and she had no experience of the area at this time of year.
Turning to look around her, Jess paused when she seen how dark it was behind her back in the trees. She didn't care if there was no one around. There was no way she was going back into the woods now. She'd stay on the porch if need be, but no way was she heading back into the woods at night. Maybe in the morning she'd find a way into the cabin. And she turned back to look at it.
It wasn't unwelcoming, but there was no way she was about to try open a window or door. Something about it's size even made her hesitant about moving closer.

Only then, as often happened on the mountain even in summer, it started to rain. Huge great gulping drops of rain, and Jess flipped her hood back up and ran towards the steps for shelter, and cried out again as the first clap of thunder matched the first tap of her booted foot on the first step.

''Hello! Is anyone here!!''

 

[Fish_Tales]

“Out of the way, mate,” said Jacob Doran to the inquisitive kelpie. She was only six months old and hadn’t yet learnt to stay clear of potential dangers. It was a skill Doran was particularly adept at and he wanted to pass it on to his dog.

He pushed the dog aside with his foot and then brought the axe down in one fluid motion, splitting the log. It was getting dark and there was a chill in the air after a relatively warm day. Just a few more logs to split and then Doran could stack them and go inside.

The clouds were gathering in the distance although the sky was still clear at the moment. In the mountains the weather could change in a matter of minutes. Although the lifestyle was completely different, it reminded him of home, the coast. The weather was changeable there too, but the life was just as relaxed.

This is home now.

Doran shook the thoughts of home from his head and brought the axe down on another log.

“What do you reckon, Cass, enough?”

The browny-red dog looked at him with her intelligent eyes and ran for the door, knowing that dinner and warmth beckoned. Doran smiled at her laying across the entry, waiting for him and stacked the cut wood on the verandah by the back door. It was a big house and it needed a lot of heating in the cooler months, but he didn’t mind. It was all worth it in summer when every room was cool and most of the windows had glorious views of the mountains and the lake. The house had nearly everything.

Except visitors.

Doran nodded to himself.

Yep, I can do without them.

He finished stacking the wood and then walked up on to the porch and looked out through the trees and across the mountains. He had neighbours, but they were a few kilometres away and none of the tracks led to his place. He leaned his hip against the rail and took a cigarette he'd rolled earlier out of his top pocket. Doran was a fit man, fitter than most athletes. His job had required that. Since living here though, he had allowed himself one cigarette a day. He didn’t know why he’d started that. He hated the smell of smoke inside or on someone else, but the smell and taste of fresh tobacco and that first puff had become a habit.

So what. I never smoke inside and there’s no one else to smell me.

Cass sat patiently behind him. Their routine was fairly strict, so she knew that Doran’s lighting up the cigarette signalled that dinner and warmth were now very close.

Doran took his first drag and inhaled deeply. He waited a few seconds and then blew the smoke out of his nose, the blue tendrils of smoke floating away in the still air of the porch.

He’d been here for eighteen months and it had been better than anything he expected. The previous winter had been cold, but he had been able to cope with it well enough. He had become proficient at fishing, raising chickens and growing a number of vegetables. He didn’t need to develop hunting skills. He was an expert in that.

And shooting.

Doran still made sure to visit town on a regular, if infrequent, basis. The odd haircut, collect some mail, maybe a meal at the diner. His time working had taught him that you need to let people see a little before they become too curious. Once people are curious, they want to see more and that can lead to seeing too much.

Way too much.

He took another drag on his cigarette.

This move had worked. He didn’t know how long he could stay here, but with every passing month, he felt that it might be permanent. He didn’t want to tempt fate by thinking about it too much, but he’d been left alone respectfully by the locals except for the odd dance or festive and seasonal occasion. The locals weren’t the problem.

They were the problem.

And they hadn’t found him.

Yet.

Doran finished his cigarette. He dropped the butt into the empty beer can he left outside for that purpose. It was the same can he’d first used eighteen months ago. It was time for a shower and then dinner. He turned and picked up a couple of lengths of wood and went inside, closely followed by Cass.

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

He felt better now. He felt clean and warm. The lower part of the house was warmed by the fire and the smell of the venison from the oven was making his mouth water. He went to the bench and collected a glass. Then he went to the fridge, drew out three ice cubes and dropped them into the glass.

It had to be three cubes. Too many made his scotch cold and watery, too few and they melted. To many, the routine would have seemed pedantic. Pedantry had served him well. It had made him the best at his job and it had kept him alive. Now, it kept him hidden....

....and alive.

Doran took the glass to the chair in front of the fire and sat down. He reached down beside him and picked up a bottle of Lagavulin. He poured a generous shot into the glass, savouring the soft smoky smell already warming his body.

“Cigarettes and scotch,” he said to Cass, “I’m becoming a degenerate.” She was sitting in front of the fire, dozing, but her ears pricked up when she heard his voice. He smiled at her and took a sip of the scotch, the little shots of warmth moving through his body slowly.

Better not doze or the venison will get burnt….

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

He must have been out for only five minutes or so and luckily the scotch was still in his hand, the ice now melted. Cass was against his leg and looking towards the door. Cass didn’t bark. He’d taught her that. If he had remained asleep she would bark, but if he was awake, alerting him was her role.

Something there. Probably a bear or a mountain lion.

He downed the rest of his drink and got up and moved to the window. His eyes took a while to adjust to the dim light outside. He could see a shape moving in the trees in front of the house. Cass stood next to him, vigilant, but quiet.

Doran watched the person stumble around outside. It would have to be a local. There was no other reason for anyone else to be out here at this time. It was probably a local kid who’d strayed off the track, though that was rare. It certainly wasn’t a professional or someone out to get him. They were making too much noise and making no effort to hide themselves. The person called out.

''Hello!..Hello?..... ''I was hoping I could use your phone? My generator.. has.......''

“Shit. It's a woman,” he whispered to himself.

He looked down at the dog and smiled.

“No offence, girl.”

He raised his eyes back to the window. A woman. She probably was lost then and wasn’t a local.

Maybe if I just stand still and do nothing, she’ll go away.

As he was thinking about what to do, he heard the rain start to fall on the roof. There was a loud clap of thunder and then it took only a few seconds for it to become a heavy downpour and then the woman started to run towards his front porch.

Shit.

He heard her feet on the porch.

''Hello! Is anyone here!!''

Damn.

He walked towards the front door, stopping at a small side table and pulling a gun out of the drawer. He smiled at the dog as he stuffed the gun down the back of his jeans.

“Looks like we’ve got company for dinner, Cass, but we need to make sure they’re welcome.”

The dog stood next to him and Doran opened the door.

"Hello. Can I help you?"

 

[trudee]

For as long as she can remember, Jess had always loved the rumble of thunder and the lash of heavy rain. She loved watching the sky light up with the cracking zigzag of lightening and the balmy stillness in the air before the weather grew more animated.

But all from the comfort of her bed.
Laying back looking out the floor to ceiling windows that also over looked the outskirts of the city below her elevated street, with the security of street lights and neighbors.

In the middle of the mountains way off all known tracks, and with nothing familiar around her, the storm wasn't the animated pleasure it was beneath her triply ply cotton sheets.

The door was solid as she knocked and called out. If there was a light inside the huge cabin, it gave no glow behind the window because of the glare of the over head light at the front door. She shivered as another boom of thunder vibrated around her over head; echoing against and around the peaks further up and away. The sound was spectacular, and brought with it the true definition of a torrent of rain.

Pulling her hood up again against the decreasing temperature, Jess looked behind her and up, the sky filling in with the black gray rain.

"Hello. Can I help you?"

The voice startled her, and Jess stepped back as she turned. Her hood dipped forward beneath the sudden movement half concealing her face, so she pushed it back a little bit, a stray strand of long dark hair curling across her features.

He was tall - but most guys were tall to Jess's 5foot 3 - tall filling the full height of the stout doorway and half hidden in the inner shadows of the house. It was all she really noticed about him as Jess noticed the dog.
Her smile faltered a little bit, as she watched the dog sitting quietly enough watching her. While she wasn't afraid of dogs...she had learned to be careful around them.

" Hi..I'm Jess Grimes, and I'm real sorry for imposing...''

her eyes never left the dog, - she gauging whether she should move closer again out of politeness , or remain where she was not quite sheltered, not quiet out in the rain.

''I live ..well I'm staying further up the mountain in my Grandmothers place..''

and only then did she look at owner of both the cabin and the dog and Jess smiled a slight smile , continuing.

''My generator died earlier, and I took off hiking down into town to get help, but ...well I've screwed that up nicely''

Taking one step slowly closer, Jess watched the dog also. There was something about the animal that said this was not just a companionable pet.

''I was hoping I could use your phone..or radio . My radio is dead because of the generator, and my cell has no signal.''

She shut her eyes as one crack of lightening behind her light up the entire sky and Jess stiffened at the sound of the intense power behind it. She didn't scare easily, but she was past uncomfortable and fast approaching nervous. Her back was cold, she shivered, and tugged the throat of her coat together around her neck.

''If you could help , I'll just call down to the sheriffs office and someone would call up here to collect me.''

 

[Fish_Tales]

The girl jumped, as if she was startled that he’d actually opened the door and that her knocking hadn’t fallen on deaf ears or an empty house. She had a hood on and some dark hair trailed out from under it. She seemed nervous and kept looking down.

He smiled to himself, but was careful to maintain his neutral look.

Cass. She’s worried about Cass.

She didn’t look familiar so she wasn’t from town. Doran would have remembered her. He could see the rain pouring down in the dim light so he didn’t blame her for knocking on the door.

Just a shame it’s my door....

She started speaking.

"Hi..I'm Jess Grimes, and I'm real sorry for imposing,” she said. 'I live ..well I'm staying further up the mountain in my Grandmothers place. My generator died earlier, and I took off hiking down into town to get help, but ...well I've screwed that up nicely.''

She can talk too, he thought, wondering how the hell he was meant to get a word in.

Lightning followed by a loud crack of thunder stopped her talking.

Thank God.

She had a small smile on her face. She was attractive, in a girl next door way. He knew of Eugenie, but he'd never seen this girl.

Now don’t be thinking of attractive, Doran. That always leads to trouble.

He nodded to her.

“That’s ok,” he said, glad to have a chance. “You can slow down.”

He smiled at her, trying to make her feel welcome, but he wasn’t used to company much anymore. Well, at least not company that talked so much.

''If you could help , I'll just call down to the sheriffs office and someone would call up here to collect me.''

He nodded again.

“Come in. I was just about to have dinner,” he said. “You’re welcome to join me if you haven't eaten yet. We won’t bother the sherrif. I’ll drive you home after that.”

He stepped aside.

She would be the first person to eat in this house with him. Eighteen months.

First time for everything.

“By the way,” he said. “The name’s Doran. Jacob Doran.”

 

[trudee]

Her shoulders relaxed beneath the warm padding of her thigh length jacket, and Jess nodded and let the hood slip completely from her head as she stepped over the threshold of ''Jacob Doran's'' house.

......“You’re welcome to join me if you haven't eaten yet. We won’t bother the sherrif. I’ll drive you home after that.”

And her stomach gave a tight little reminding squeeze that it had been hours since she'd eaten last, and Jess's embarrassment at the error of her judgement was intense. As was her awareness that she, because of her foolish mistake, must look very stupid to someone used to being in the mountains, with a better understanding of them than she.

''Thank you. That's very kind of you.''

Inside it was quite shaded, with only a dim lamp glowing over close to the blazing fireplace. She tried not to look around out of politeness, so she returned to being watchful of the dog. Her job had led her to many encounters with dogs..and some of them given the individual circumstances, where not good. Jess gave a little smile at the animal, and unzipped her jacket.

''She's lovely''..

It was a breed she wasn't familiar with, so when she turned her palm up and offered her hand carefully towards the dog, Jess did so cautiously. And she smiled a little more as the dog, obediently loyal, remained sitting looking at her while taking her scent, but moving no closer to Jess. It gave her some comfort that the dog was obviously very content under her owners control, and she backed back as she slipped out of her jacket entirely.

The house was beautifully warm, and Jess didn't go further without invitation. She draped her coat over her forearm, aware that she was very much reliant on a complete stranger, in his home, with no one knowing where she was. Her father, and her brothers would absolutely ball her out for leaving herself so vulnerable. In fact, if it had been another woman, Jess would have been less than impressed with how she'd handled things.

''You have a beautiful home''.

Her voice was quiet, and as the seconds ticked she grew a little more relaxed. He didn't strike her as some nut living up in the mountains who got off on entrapping females in his luxurious log cabin, for them never to be seen again. She looked away from him as she thought of the background checks her brothers would be doing now if they'd got Jacob's name....and all under the supervision of her father. They would quote statistics at her, about lone women heading off alone, never to be found again.
They would scold her, and remind her that even in the most extreme of circumstances, a woman should never have allowed herself fall into the position Jess was in. Their first question would be what the hell she was doing hiking into town, instead of driving down the mountain road to town anyway? She was asking herself that question now all afternoon...and hating that her inner self dared to condemn her decision to walk down to town.
It was one of the draw backs of being in a family of ............

''Could I have a glass of water?.''

She looked down at the damp fabric covering one thigh down to her knee, and the burst plastic water bottle fastened to her hip that she'd fallen on. The jeans would dry in the warm air shortly, but the bottle was spoiled. Jess unclipped it, trying not to let any remaining water dribble onto the wood floor, and she of asked Jacob also..

''..and I ...well, could I toss this in the trash?''

And Jess sighed, shrugging her shoulders.

'' I really messed up.''

 

[Fish_Tales]

''Thank you. That's very kind of you,” said Jess as she stepped into his house. ''She's lovely….''

The dog.

Doran could tell she was worried about Cassie, her furtive glances giving her away. It could have been the fact that she was a kelpie and they weren’t common around here. He needed something that was his, that reminded him of home and how he used to be. For a man who based his life on staying in the background, the dog was the single distinctive thing he owned, but he’d needed it to remind him of who he was.

Not Jacob Doran.

He was surprised at how easily he’d invited her in. Maybe he was craving company, the chance to share some words, some thoughts? He didn’t think so. Helping was just part of his DNA. It had been part of his job.

But it had also got him in trouble.

Big trouble.

There was no point thinking about it now. The woman was obviously nervous and needed help and that was all there was to it. Doran was good at reading people.

His life depended on it.

“Don’t mind Cassie,” he said. “She doesn’t normally eat visitors straight away. She likes to get to know them first.”

He smiled down at the dog and then looked back to Jess.

She’d taken her jacket off and was looking around.

''You have a beautiful home,” she said softly.

Small talk. Doran had been good at it once. He had to be, to get close to people, complete strangers. Listening to people meant they spoke more, gave more away, but you had to know how to get them talking.

What made them tick.

What made them, them.

Once you were close to someone and knew what they knew then you could….

He shook his head slightly.

“Thank you,” he said, looking down at the dog again. “Cass and I think so.”

She stood there, as if thinking. Of course he knew she would be nervous, alone in the woods in the stormy darkness with a stubble-faced man who didn’t usually brush his hair and his unusual dog standing by his side. People had seen too many horror movies, read too many books. Doran knew it was really the cities you had to be afraid of. There were more people there, and the more people there were, well, the more chance there was of running into someone who was a sandwich short of a picnic. You’d have to be stiff to run into someone like that in the woods. It could happen, but tonight was Jess Grimes’ lucky day, or night. She’d walked into Doran’s house. She was safer than she’d ever realise....

Sharks didn’t look like Doran. Sharks dressed nicely. Sharks spoke nicely. And when they bit, they only bit once.

One bite was all a good shark needed....

His mind kept wandering, but she brought him back.

''Could I have a glass of water?” she asked. ''....and I ...well, could I toss this in the trash?''

He looked back to her.

“Sorry,” he said, “I don’t get company often and I guess I’m a little vague.” He looked at the broken bottle in her hand and held out his hand towards her to take it. “Yes, it won’t be doing you much good. Give it to me and I’ll toss it out.”

''I really messed up,” she said, shrugging her shoulders, sorry for imposing on him.

He smiled at her.

“No,” he said with a wink, “messing up would be walking up to a house with no one in it and no venison in the oven. Now, follow me and we’ll see what we can do.”

He turned and started to walk towards the centre of the house, in the direction of the kitchen.

“If you want to get out of those wet jeans,” he said, “I have sweatpants you could wear while they dry.”

He stopped and looked back at her. She really was very attractive and young. Well, at least young for him. She looked like she’d lived though. She looked intelligent and she looked like she knew about pain. He didn’t know why he thought that, but he did.

He just knew.

It's what had kept him alive.

Reading people.

Knowing things.

“I’m afraid they won’t be very stylish, but they’ll be warm and dry while you eat dinner.”

He showed her through into the large area that contained a kitchen, dining table, a lounge area and the warm fire. He flicked on an extra few downlights to more brightly light the room as he thought it would make her feel more comfortable.

He nodded towards a door on the other side of the room.

“That’s my gym room, but in there you’ll find clean towels, shirts and sweatpants. Feel free to use what you want. There’s a small bathroom if you go through the small door in there. I’ll fix up dinner while you get ready.” He paused. “Red wine ok?”


There. He’d done it. She was staying for dinner. That was all. Dinner. Some wine. Find out where she lived and what she was doing. Then home.

I’ll have done my good deed then and got this urge out of my system.

The need to help people was like an itch that he had to scratch.

Scratch it and move on.

 

[trudee]

She didn't like refusing his polite offer of a change of pants. The jeans would have dried eventually, but...Well he'd been good enough to offer. So Jess just followed him through, impressed with how lovely the vast wooden expanse of his home was, and she nodded as he pointed out the direction of where she could go.

Her father would have gone nuts that she was in a strange mans house, and her brothers would have had her hauled out on her ass for even allowing him see that the jeans were wet.
It made her smile. They truly still didn't think she could look after herself. Jess was willing to take the bet that if she were forty, they'd still be hovering over her, with their well meaning insinuations that she needed their views on all aspects of her life.

Looking back before going through the door, she watched Jacob Doran for a moment. He was a good looking man in that kind of rugged way, where his hair was too long to be trendy, the stubble on his jaw was just a day or twos growth because he'd not shaved, not because of some designer razor, and his general apparel spoke of comfort and functionality rather than fashion. Yet there was something attractive about him. He fitted into the rustic facade of his home.

The small gym was fitted out with everything that spoke of a man looking after himself..keeping his body in shape. There was nothing inexpensive about the brand names of the equipment, and looking down at the running mat on the treadmill and the rubber hand grips on the weights, she could see the wear and tear on everything.
She found then what she needed, and found the door into the bathroom, and after she closed it behind her, Jess locked it.

The key clicked in the chamber of the solid door, and she turned to look around. She was she knew, in the home of a strange man, with a change of clothing. Trusting someone she knew nothing about. She was, she knew, doing the exact opposite to what she'd advise any woman in her situation. Ask for help, ask them to make the call for you. But don't go inside.

The bathroom was spotless, small, but with modern fittings blending with the old world feel of the wooden walls. She got out of her boots, then the jeans and quickly redressed. The sweatpants were way too long, so she rolled them up to the top of her hiking boots, and tugged the draw string tightly around her waist.

While in the privacy of the bathroom, Jess tried her phone. It turned on, but the battery chirped its warning instantly and she could see there was one bar of signal. If she rang her father, she ran the risk of the phone dying before he replied, hence worrying him more. So she text as quickly as possible, trying to beat the limited battery..

Generator down, no power, so no cell. Neighbor Jacob Doran helping. All good, don't worry Dad. xx

Clicking send, the little wigit on the top corner of her screen started loading and she watched and watched..

''Send..send..ohhh Send''.

But the battery died, and Jess didn't know if the message was gone. It frustrated her. Her dad right now would be twitching, ..trying not to..but twitching because he'd not heard from her. Her brothers would be threatening to ring the local sheriff urging him to go up to Euginies to check on their sister. Threatening, but until Dad gave the go ahead, they'd not budge. She hoped the text got through.

Returning with her jeans folded tidily over her arm, and her face rinsed off, Jess headed directly to the open fire. She simply left the damp side of the jeans folded on an armrest of one of the huge oversized armchairs close to the heat, and then tugged her top down, feeling a little self conscious of her eclectic dress.

''Thank you for helping''..

She went towards him, and smiled, and looked at what he was doing. The aroma of the meat cooking was rich and inspired her belly instantly to growl with a pang of hunger and Jess dutifully looked away embarrassed.

''If you have a charger, would you mind if I used it, when you're ready''?

And she nodded towards the table, placing the phone down on the counter top..

''....but can I help first? Dishes, cutlery?''

 

[Fish_Tales]

Doran watched as Jess took herself off to get ready for dinner. Cass was fidgety. She wasn’t used to visitors and he patted her head to soothe her.

“That’s ok, girl,” he said. “A little company now and then doesn’t hurt.”

Just a little. Not too much....

He busied himself getting dinner ready to serve. He had some vegetable roasting with the venison. Potatoes, carrots, pumpkin and beetroot. Another reminder of home. His family used to have beetroot on everything. It was only after he’d started travelling overseas that he found only Australians had beetroot on hamburgers. He chuckled, recalling his shock at the first time he had a burger without beetroot.

He sliced some of the venison from the forequarter he’d roasted and divided it on to the plates with an assortment of the vegetables. There was a large pile on both plates.

I hope she’s hungry!

He went to the small wine rack he had on the counter and selected a wine, a cabernet sauvignon from Coonawarra. It was another nod to the comforts of home and it would go well with the venison and vegetables.

Cassie was now standing dutifully at the door of the gym room, waiting for Jess’ return. Doran shook his head. Once a kelpie, always a kelpie. They had to make sure everything was in order and that everything was accounted for, be it sheep, cows or humans.

He heard the door open and he looked up at Jess coming out of the room with a pair of his trackpants on. Even with the less than flattering attire, she was obviously attractive. He smiled at her. He was a good reader of people. He had to be. His job depended on it.

Or it had.

Once.

Now his life depended on it.

She wasn’t a threat or a danger, he could tell that. In fact, there was nothing disingenuous or shady about her at all. She was a young woman who’d been lost in the woods. Nothing more , nothing less. Doran had resolved a while ago to not lose his compassion just because of his circumstances. He didn’t get involved too much and he generally kept to himself. However, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t help someone when they needed it. It was a part of him, a part of him he couldn’t erase.

Ever.

Even if they….

''Thank you for helping,” she said, as she moved over to the chair by the fire and laid out her jeans on the armrest to dry.

He nodded, glad to have his thoughts returned to the food and wine and his unexpected guest. “Not a problem.”

He watched as Cass sniffed around Jess. She could smell Doran on the clothes, but she could see that it wasn’t him. She turned to him, the look on her face asking, why is this strange woman wearing your clothes? If he didn’t know better, he would have sworn the dog was jealous. He pointed his chin towards the fire and she obediently walked over to her rug that lay in the warmth beside it. All the while her eyes were on Jess, and she dropped down with a sigh.

Silly dog. She is jealous.

Doran was looking for a bottle opener for the wine when Jess spoke.

''If you have a charger, would you mind if I used it, when you're ready?” she said as she walked towards him and placed the phone on the counter. “But can I help first? Dishes, cutlery?”

He stiffened.

Charger.

That mean she had a phone. If she knew her phone was low on charge or flat, it meant she’d probably tried to call someone or send a message.

Doran continued opening the wine, acting relaxed, but glancing at the phone on the bench. He didn’t like phones, or at least phones that weren’t his. They could be used to locate you, even if you didn’t want to be located. Calls traced. Signals triangulated….

“Um, sorry. I’ll have to check if I have one,” he said with a small smile. “I’m not really a technology savvy person….I’ve already served the food onto the plates, but you can sure help me with the cutlery. The drawer there, next to the sink,” he said, trying sound calm.

He then picked up the bottle of wine and set it and the food on the dining table by the fire and waited for Jess to organise the cutlery.

“I hope you like cabernet sauvignon,” he said over his shoulder, “it’s from Australia. Like me and Cassie. So I guess tonight’s dinner is ‘fair dinkum’.”

He stood, waiting for her.

She’s got a phone and she might have used it.

He looked at Cassie laying by the fire on her belly, her head on her paws, watching and ready for action. They would eat and then he’d take Jess home and have a quick look at her generator to see what he would do. He would do the right thing, but do it quickly.

Short and sweet, Cass, he thought, looking at the dog. It’s what’s kept me alive this long.

Short and sweet.