Natural Attraction (27 page)

As we approach the area between the back of the house and the barn I decide to confirm what I already think is happening.

“Are you and your family building a chicken wire fence around your house to contain my dogs?”

“Yep,” he chirps, obviously chuffed with his works.  “As you can see, by running a fence from Trouble’s paddock across to the barn, I only need one fence to complete the square.” 

He points towards the front of the house.   “I’ve put a farm gate in down there in case we need to drive in with vehicles.  I’m putt
ing a small access gate here.  We can use this when we’re heading between the house and the driveway or the barn.

I figure you can put some dog beds under the pergola and they’ll feel right at home. 

All of the gates adjoining the yard will be lowered.  I’ll do this so they cannot squeeze underneath them.  I’ll also hook a hot-wire at the bottom of each fence to make sure they don’t dig.  

The new fence will be straight chicken wire but we will just attach the chicken wire to the exist
ing single strand fences on the other three sides.  Do you think we need anything else?”

Flabbergasted that he has already thought of everything needed to make his yard dog proof, I shake my head as I look around.

“How did you get so many people here at such short notice?” I ask.

“They all work for Walker Civil. 
Luke, Ryan and the other guys.  Walker Civil is a big company so this is only a small crew that he has pulled off-line for the day.  Dad wanted to help and we think with all the extra hands, we’ll have it all finished by tonight.”

Not seeing there would be a better time to ask, I decide to answer one of my main questions.  “Do you work for your Walker Civil too?”

I watch his eyes darken and he physically winces.  “Sort of.”

Realizing that I have hit a raw nerve I decide not to pinch it any more.  

Clearly this is something big about this that Jax is not ready to talk to me about so I decide to let it go. 

“Thank you.  You’re amazing.” I say gently as I lean in to press a small, soft kiss to his lips.

I watch his face soften again briefly before his eyes darken off again to a lustful smolder.  He drags me in for another mind numbing kiss.

“Thanks for stay
ing,” he says breaking the kiss to look into my eyes. 

I once again drown in his blue depths only to snap back to reality when I hear my stomach growl.  I realize that I am getting hungry. 

Jax smirks and looks at my stomach while lifting an eyebrow, “Time for breakfast.”

He turns us around again and we head back to the pergola to join everyone for breakfast.

*****

The rest of the day flies in a blur of industrious action.

Rebecca arrives shortly after we have all finished breakfast with little Caleb and her sixteen year old daughter, Melanie. 

Teagan
has delivered all the other children to their various schools on her way to work. 

I soon learn that Caleb normally divides his time between childcare two days a week, and Ro and Rebecca the other three.  Monday is not a child care day so today he
will spend the day with us while the men build the fence.

Melanie is home from school because of a pupil free day for her year level while they write end of year school reports.  School will finish for all students in the next week or two
as Christmas looms ominously on the horizon.

Agreeing to call her Mel, I instantaneously take a liking to Jax’s niece.  Having inherited the crystal blue eyes of her grandmother and uncle, she also has the signature long red blonde hair of the family that hang
s down to her shoulders in soft waves. 

Dressed fashionably in shortcut denim shorts and a bright pink singlet with matching thongs on her feet, I can see some of the younger men working for Walker Civil already eyeing her off.  I decide this is not good when she is only sixteen and
allocate myself the task of spending the day scowling at them.

From the moment of her arrival, it
also appears Mel has taken it on herself to be my chaperone for the day while Jax is busy supervising fencing works.  We spend much of the day getting to know each other while we alternate between helping the men to clip chicken wire to the existing fences and preparing food with Rebecca and Ro.

I also got the distinct feeling that both Ryan and Rebecca are happy for their daughter to spend as much time as possible with me.  This is to keep her distracted from the roving eyes of the workers as she flitters about the place, unaware of the interest she is gathering.  My constant scowls at the young men do not go unnoticed by Ryan in particular.

We chat about a lot including her inherited love of horses and how she and her brother Christopher often come and spend the day with Jax.  They both love riding with him out on the local trails for hours at a time. 

We also talk about her school and we even get chatting enough for her to tell me about her love interests at school.  This makes me feel that like I am making friends with someone in Jax’s family and I like the feeling it gives me.

It is as we are wandering along a side fence counting steps to ensure we are clipping off the chicken wire regularly that she knocks my equilibrium for a sixer.  She does this by saying, “I liked Jax’s wife but I think I like you better.”

Stunned, I feel myself draw in a huge gasp of air that doesn’t fill my lungs.  It feels like it burns a path down my air passage rather than providing life-giving air. 

I feel both horror and intrigue that Jax has a wife that I don’t know about.  Not wanting to alarm Mel too much, I slowly breathe in and out a couple of times before casually asking, “Jax has a wife?”

“Had a wife.
  Didn’t you know?”  I watch her eyes grow big and round as a look of horror crosses her own face.  I guess she realizes she has let the cat out of the bag and she might get in trouble for it.

“No I didn’t,” I whisper trying to preserve calm within myself.  This is difficult to do when all I want to do is run screaming to Jax and demand he tell me all about his
wife.

Mel’s mouth forms a big O as she silently says, “Ohhhhh.”

She starts looking around our immediate vicinity to see if anyone else has heard our conversation.  Coming to the conclusion that no one is within earshot, she decides to busy herself hurrying ahead of me to clip more clips on the fence.  Our conversation on the matter is clearly over.

I watch her working for a minute as I consider what I should do with this information.  Obviously
everyone
knew about Jax’s wife and decided not to say anything to me. 

Before I go worrying too much, I need to find out more about her.  I need to find out how her relationship with Jax ended.  I assume that it is safe to say that she is an ex-wife because Mel said ‘had’.

I start to wonder if she aligns with all the references to three years ago.  Did she leave him three years ago and destroy him?  He has told me that he loved someone once.  And that he lost her.  I had just assumed he was talking about a girlfriend and not a wife.

Surely having a wife would leave some evidence in his home?  How had he managed to remove her from his home and his life?  Had she hurt him so badly he had had every trace of her removed from their home? 

It explains why everyone seems so happy to see Jax taking an interest in me.  If he was hurt so badly, I’m sure they have all felt his pain.

I decide to let Mel off the hook and move closer to her saying, “Don’t worry Mel, I won’t tell anyone you told me.  Jax will tell me when he is ready.”

I watch her flash a worried look at me and then smile.  “Thank you.  And I am sorry I sprung that on you.  I had no idea you didn’t know.  I just assumed you did, especially after having lunch at Nan’s yesterday with the entire family.”

“I can understand that Mel.” I speak softly and she looks relieved that I am not going to say anything.  I then decide we need to change the subject.

“Now let’s get back to our other conversation on this boy Jett you are keen on.  Do you guys have an end of year get together or something with the school?  It would be a perfect opportunity to ask him out on date!”

I watch her face light up as she realizes I am not only letting her off the hook about the mysterious ex-wife, I am also more than willing to help her conspire to chase her chosen man.

*****

True to his word, Jax and his horde of workers finish the entire fence in a single day.  Having started digging the holes at first light, it is now nearing four in the afternoon.  Many of the men have now gone home. 

I am shocked to think of the monetary value of the labor hours that have been put into a fence for my dogs.  I am also relieved the job is done and I no longer have to worry about my girls being safe.

Ro and Rebecca have been cooking up a storm all day and each man
is being sent home with a bag full of muffins, biscuits and quiches to have for dinner.  It was lovely to see the grins on each of their faces as they accepted the offerings as they left for the day.

The boys are out under the pergola drinking cold beers and saying their good byes to one another as Rebecca, Ro and I finished tidying the kitchen.

Feeling overwhelmed by all the people who have thrown in to help me and my dogs today, I finally grow the courage to step up and give both of these wonderful women a grateful and heartwarming hug.

“Thank you so much for today.” I hope I am expressing my gratitude strongly enough.  It seems strange for me to be hugging two women who I have only just met, but it seems like the right thing to do.

They both smile at me and Rebecca is the first to thank me verbally. 

“You are more than welcome.  It is such a treat to see Jax so animated again.  You have no idea how happy this makes us all.”

Ro nods her agreement and gives me another hug.  “I think she will soon though Bec.”

She looks into my eyes and seems to be studying my soul by the way her blue eyes pierced deep into the depths of mine.  Not too sure what she means, and not knowing how to reply, I just hug her again.  She holds me in the hug tightly for a long time.  She then finally lets me go, only to grab her handbag and phone off a bench before exiting to the pergola.

“I’ll expect to see you for lunch on Sunday of course,” she announces as I see David nodding in her direction.  He breaks away from his sons to move to Ro’s side as they head for their car and their home.

Rebecca takes that as her cue to exit so she heads off to find Mel and Caleb who are amusing themselves in the lounge-room.

Shortly after that, and following a round of back slapping thankyous from Jax, everyone else is on their way home.

I am finally standing in his kitchen with Jax all to myself. 

Having spent the last few hours worrying over Mel’s wife slip, I can’t wait a second longer.

Feeling there could be any number of reasons Jax has chosen not to tell me about his wife, I hesitate briefly as I decide how to broach the subject.

Not convinced he is going to be all too happy to talk about it, I decide to place the kitchen bench between us.   I do this because it makes me feel like I have a safety net.  It gives me a barrier that I can use to give myself a head start if I decide I need to get out of there because the conversation has gone pear-shaped.

Waiting for a moment when I have his full attention, I look direct into his eyes as I announce, “You had a wife?”

I watch the shock register in his eyes as he realizes what I have just said.  He flinches, blinks and then to my utter horror he flicks a switch and he roars, “Who told you!”

Taken aback at his outburst and none too sure how to answer his question without dropping Mel in the proverbial shit heap, I straighten my back and narrow my eyes at him saying, “That is irrelevant.  Why are you angry?”

“Because it’s not anyone else’s fucking story to tell.  I wanted to tell you when I was ready.  Not when one of the other loose tongued assholes in my family forced me to.  I knew I should have kept you away from them but they kept fucking reeling you in.  Today, while my guard was down, I suppose they thought they would open their big flappers.”

Well that was not exactly the reaction I was expecting.  He is shooting at the messenger and ignoring the subject.

“Tell. Me. Who. Told. You.  I’m gunna kick their fucking arse till it bleeds,” he grinds out through gritted teeth.  His eyes flash dark blue with fury. They look like they are going to burn fire into my soul.

Jesus, he’s scary.

Ideas flow through my head on how I am going to deal with this but in the end I decide to go with my old faithful response of being honest.  

“No one
told
me.  Mel let it slip in a separate conversation.”

I watch his face carefully, wondering if I have made a bad mistake putting the bench between us.  I am now thinking I might need to start planning on how to get around it in time if he either goes for the door or the phone to ream Mel a new one.