Drifting into Darkness (9 page)

My stomach took that moment to growl really loud, causing Mrs. Johnson to look at me.

“Well,” she laughed, “that was going to be my next question. But I can see that you are hungry.” She turned to the counter, picked up a silver tray full of sandwiches, and placed it on the island in the middle of the kitchen. “Lisa, can you please get the paper plates.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she said as she walked to a door to the right that opened into the pantry. She came out with a stack of paper plates and set them next to a big silver bowl of watermelon, grapes, cantaloupe, and honeydew that Mrs. Johnson had set down. Then she walked back into the pantry and came out with three different bags of chips too, setting them next to the bottles of water.

“Okay, girls, I made ham and turkey sandwiches with lettuce and tomato today,” she said and then looked at me. “Do you like ham or turkey? I put mayo on all the sandwiches, but if there is anything you don’t like, let me know. I can always make you something different.”

“No,” I said abruptly, “really, this is great. I’m not a picky eater at all.”

She smiled approvingly at me. “Okay, then go on and eat. You need all your energy to go back out into that heat.”

I needed to wash my hands before I touched any food. “Can you direct me to the restroom please?”

“Sure, hun, there’s a bathroom just right there,” she said, pointing to the door opposite the pantry.

“Thanks,” I smiled.

I walked into the half-bath and closed the door softly. There was no way I was going to touch my food with smelly corn goo on them. Just the thought caused me to make a face of disgust. I washed my hands quickly and then used the bathroom. I hadn’t peed all day, but I wasn’t surprised. Everything I drank came out of me in sweat.

I washed my hands quickly one more time and then walked back into the kitchen. All the food smelled so delicious that my stomach felt like it was eating itself. It actually smelled like a sub shop and then I noticed why as I walked to the island and grabbed a paper plate. Mrs. Johnson must bake her own bread. My mouth watered at the sight of the sandwiches with their perfectly cut slices. They looked white and fluffy.

I walked close to Lisa who was putting fruit on her plate, and asked in a whisper, “Does she make her own bread?”

Lisa nodded and I smiled.

Not wasting any time, I grabbed three halves, some fruit, and a handful of chips and set them on my plate. It looked like a lot of food, but I’d eat all of it. I wasn’t one of those scrappy eaters or the kind of girl that only ate salad. I was going to eat what I wanted to eat and I didn’t care who saw me eat it. I loved food and I was glad I had a high metabolism. I knew it probably wouldn’t always be that way, so I took advantage while I could.

“Are you girls going to eat on the patio?”

I turned to see Mrs. Johnson watching us. I had no idea where we were going to eat so I looked at Lisa.

“Yes, ma’am. We’ll eat out there, and then we’ll go for a swim if that’s okay.”

“Of course it’s okay. Just make sure to grab your towels.” She smiled at us and then turned to finish cleaning up the counters.

I followed Lisa as she opened the door to walk onto the patio, but she stopped before stepping out because the boys were making their way in.

We backed up to let Derek and Landon through the door, followed by a guy I hadn’t met and an older man who I was sure was Mr. Johnson. Looking him over, I could see where they got their height and coloring. He stood at least six-three with greying brown hair and blue eyes. I was by no means ogling Mr. Johnson, but I could tell the Johnson boys would grow up to be very good looking older men.

“There she is,” Mr. Johnson said to me with a smile, reaching his hand out to me. “I’m Robert. It’s good to finally meet you.”

“You too,” I smiled, as I held my plate in one hand and reached out with the other to shake his hand.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet you yesterday. I was stuck in the field,” he explained as he walked over to Mrs. Johnson, giving her a kiss on the cheek. The boys had already grabbed plates and were piling them high with food.

“I completely understand,” I said, waving off his explanation. “Lisa did a great job showing me around.”

“You girls go on and eat,” Mrs. Johnson instructed as she laid a hand on Mr. Johnson’s shoulder and looked over at the boys. “Make sure you clean up your messes. I’m not cleaning up that table out there again, you hear me.”

“Yes, ma’am. We’ll remember this time. I promise,” Derek beamed at his mom, causing the unnamed guy to laugh. He was tall, but not as tall as Derek, with buzzed blond hair and a lean build.

Lisa tapped me on the arm and I turned to look at her. “Come on, let’s go sit and eat,” she said as she walked toward the door. “The hour will go by quicker than ya know.”

I nodded and followed her out to the black iron table with the six chairs. Lisa picked a seat and I pulled out the seat next to her. “Mr. Johnson seems nice.”

“Yeah. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are the nicest parents I’ve ever met,” she said with a mouthful of her sandwich. “But don’t let my parents know I said that,” she laughed.

I picked up half of a ham sandwich and devoured it in four bites. “How long have you worked out here on the farm?” I asked, popping a grape in my mouth. I heard the door open to the house and the boys walked out, talking amongst themselves, but I kept my focus on Lisa.

“I started when I was fifteen,” she answered after she chowed down the rest of her sandwich.

“Started what?” The unnamed guy asked Lisa as he pulled out the seat next to me. “Hi, I’m Joe,” he smiled at me. His eyes wandered down my chest and lingered for a moment longer than was appropriate, and then he looked back at me. “Nice shirt.”

I gave him a small smile and said, “I’m Sadie,” and I continued to eat my food. Way to be subtle there, buddy.

“How’s your day going so far, Sadie?” Derek asked.

I looked up at him as I finished off the rest of my sandwich. “It’s going good. It’s hotter than hell, but I was warned about that,” I replied with a smile.

“Yeah and I’m ready to jump in the pool,” Lisa mumbled with a mouthful of food.

She pushed out her chair and grabbed her water bottle, taking a few gulps before setting it back down. “You ready to get your suit on?” she asked, looking at me.

I’d eaten almost all of my food and I could probably eat all of it, plus more, but I was ready to jump in the pool. I also needed to grab a bottle of water since I forgot to grab one on the way out. “Yeah.”

“Okay, come on.”

She walked into the house and I followed behind her. I could see Mr. Johnson and Mrs. Johnson sitting in the dining room through a doorway off the kitchen. “You take this bathroom,” she said, pointing to the one I used earlier. “I’ll go to the one in the hall and I’ll meet you on the patio.”

“Okay,” I said as I opened the door to the bathroom. I was excited about jumping in the pool. It has been so long since I’d actually been in one.

I peeled off my sweaty clothes, grabbed my light blue bikini out of my purse and quickly put it on. I couldn’t remember the last time I wore it. Probably a couple of years because the bottoms were a little snug and the top didn’t cover my boobs as much as I remembered. Over the past year I had put on some weight, some would call it the dreaded freshman fifteen. All the weight you gain from eating too many bags of Ramen noodles or junk food because you didn’t have enough to buy anything else on a student’s budget. But that wasn’t the case for me. My weight gain was from stress and worry in my relationship. Maybe working on the farm would help me lose a couple of pounds. Lisa was skinny and had toned muscles and I was guessing it was from all the work she did on the farm.

Stuffing my clothes into my purse, I walked out of the bathroom and grabbed a bottle of water on the way to the patio. I chugged half the water before I opened the door to go out.

Feeling a little self-conscious, I pulled at my bathing suit as I made my way to Lisa. It had been a long time since I’d let this much skin hang out in front of other people. Lisa was standing at the screen door waiting on me in a bright pink bikini. Our bathing suits almost looked the same, except that mine was a string top and hers twisted in the middle.

“There you are,” she said excitedly. “I’ve got your towel. We’ve got about twenty minutes left so let’s go.”

She quickly walked out and I followed behind her, noticing that the guys were already in the pool.
How in the world did they get in the pool so fast?
I knew I didn’t take that long to get my bathing suit on.

Lisa must have noticed my surprised expression because she laughed. “We were using the only two bathrooms downstairs, so they changed on the side of the house.”

“Oh,” was all I could say because three good-looking guys with no shirts on hypnotized me. Derek and Joe were doing what boys do best, wrestling, while Landon rested with his back against the side and his arms up, holding onto the side. All three of them were built the same way, but Landon was the only one I was focused on.

The way he was holding on to the side of the pool with his eyes closed, letting his body float up in the water caused his ab muscles to ripple under the water. I mean, holy geez, he was beautiful. I could probably just stand there and stare at him for the next twenty minutes, until we had to leave, but that would give off a creeper vibe. Plus I had sworn off men. I had to keep reminding myself, but there was that part of me that kept saying, ‘you’re young and only live once’. There was definitely a battle of wills going on inside my head.

I was jolted out of my daze by a splash of cold water hitting my legs. “Hey, ya comin’ in or what?” Lisa laughed as she swam away from me.

“All right, all right.” I jumped in, not testing the temperature first and was shocked at how cold it still was. Joe swam up next to me and a smile spread across his face as he checked me out. I knew then that my nipples were hard, because I could feel them scratch against my top. Embarrassed, I submerged myself in the water, swam to the deep end, and held on to the side of the pool, opposite Landon.

“So, Sadie, are you coming out to the bonfire Friday night?” Joe asked as he swam closer to me. I could tell by the way he was looking me over, he was hoping I’d make an appearance.

“Um, I don’t know yet,” I replied, noticing Landon’s eyes on me.

“Oh yeah, ya definitely need to come to the party,” Lisa said enthusiastically, wrapped up in Derek’s arms. “But ya really need to come to the track and watch the races first.”

I pursed my lips and shook my head. “Nah, I told you that wasn’t my thing.”

“Not your thing?” Landon asked, finally speaking. “What does that even mean?”

“It means,” I said more dramatically than I should have, “that it’s not my thing. I’m not a guy. I don’t see the point in spending money on making your car go faster. It’s a waste in my opinion.” All movement in the pool ceased and everyone, except for Lisa, looked at me as if I’d said the most ridiculous thing they’d ever heard. “Now, if there are going to be a bunch of hot guys, then yeah, I’m all in,” I smiled at Lisa, who was beaming at me nodding while Derek just shook his head.

“Oh, shit, no she didn’t. Did she just imply…” Joe started, but was cut off by Derek dunking him under the water.

“Have you ever even seen a race before?” Landon asked with an even tone.

“No. I told you, it’s never been something I’ve been interested in.”

He let go of the side of the pool and looked at me with a smirk. “Maybe that’s because nobody’s showed you how interesting it could be.”

I stopped breathing for a moment while those words sunk in. Was he implying that he wanted to show me how interesting it could be? The look on his face would imply that he did. Which wouldn’t make any sense. This guy had the male version of PMS. One minute he’s being rude and snappy and the next minute he’s flirty with me.

I didn’t want to scrutinize his comment, so I did the only thing I could do. I ignored it.

“Do you think we should head back now?” I asked Lisa.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I’d hate for ya to go over your lunch on the first day.”

With our lunch officially over, we got out of the pool and dried off. Lisa and I made our way to the house to change back into our clothes, while the boys went to the side of the house again. I brushed my hair out, put it back up into a messy bun on the top of my head, and then cringed my nose at the thought of putting my clothes back on. If I was going to be swimming on my lunches every day, then I definitely had to bring an extra change of clothes. Putting on dirty smelly clothes after a nice swim in a cold pool was not my idea of a good time.

~*~

After thanking Mrs. Johnson for lunch, Lisa and I rode the four-wheeler back to the office and clocked in. Nan tried starting up a conversation with me, asking about my parents and what they did for a living, but Lisa politely cut her off after ten minutes. We were already running behind and Nan didn’t seem to notice that we were inching our way out of the office. “If you don’t stop her, she’ll go on forever,” Lisa stated as we walked outside.

“I completely understand,” I nodded. “So where to now?”

“Now, ya go to the stables and I bag more beans.”

I took a deep breath and then slowly let it out. The smell permeating the farm wasn’t as bad as the day before or I was just getting used to it. “Right, I forgot about the horse shit,” I laughed.

She smiled and we walked down the steps to the four-wheeler. “Do you remember how to get there?”

She took me all over on that tour yesterday, but I was pretty sure I could find it again. “Yeah, it’s down that trail,” I pointed to the trail on the right, “to the right, or was it the left.”

“Yeah, just follow the trail and you’ll see it veer off to the right,” she said as she started walking away. “Landon knows you’re comin’. So just wait for him to show up. He’ll tell ya what ya need to do.”

Yeah, that’s all I wanted to do. Pick up horseshit while chatting it up with a hot person. Well, maybe not chatting; he didn’t even seem to like me so I was sure there would be no chatting going on. “Okay, I’ll see you in a little bit.”