Karen D. Badger - Yesterday Once More (34 page)

Jordan set up a ladder on the floor of the loft and leaned it against a rafter adjacent to the break. Once the ladder was in place, she carried up a few pieces of two-by-six lumber and placed them across two rafters in order to create a scaffold for herself.

Jordan was nailing the last plank in place when Maggie appeared in the barn below.

“Hey there,” she called up to Jordan. “How’s it going?”

Jordan looked down and caught her breath.
Why is it I suddenly forget to breathe when she’s around?
“I’ve just built the work platform. I’m about to inspect the beam now.”

“Do you mind if I join you?” Maggie asked.

“Not at all. Come on up.” Jordan climbed down the ladder and waited for Maggie to join her in the loft. “You go ahead of me. I’ll hold the ladder,” Jordan offered.

“Okay,” Maggie said.

Jordan had to control her breathing as she watched Maggie’s bottom shift side to side with each step she took.
Lewis, you’ve got it bad!
Once Maggie was standing securely on the scaffolding, Jordan climbed the ladder and joined her. The platform was relatively narrow, so Jordan had to embrace Maggie as she shimmied past her in order to get close enough to inspect the break. As Jordan slipped by, she could have sworn Maggie intentionally brushed up against her breasts.
Focus, Jordan… focus! Falling off the platform would not be a good thing.

“Okay,” Jordan said. “Let’s see what the problem is here. Hmm... this is odd.”

“What is it?” Maggie moved in for a closer look.

“After what Jan said, I expected to see a ragged break. If this was caused by a defect in the beam, the break would most likely be splintered, jagged, and at an angle.” Jordan pointed to the end of the rafter still in place. “Look here. This beam has been cut with a saw. Look at how straight and clean this edge is.”

“That is odd,” Maggie said. “I wonder who did that... and why?”

Jordan’s eyes narrowed. “What I’d like to know is why Jan said there was no apparent reason for the break.”

Maggie frowned. “You don’t suspect Jan, do you?”

Jordan shrugged. “I don’t even know Jan, so I’m in no position to judge her. I just think it’s odd that she inspected the break and found nothing strange about it.”

“To tell you the truth, Jan is really good with the animals, but she doesn’t know which end of a hammer to use to drive a nail. I doubt she would have realized the significance of this clean cut. I’ll call the original contractor and ask him about it. Would you mind talking to him?”

“No,” Jordan replied. “Sounds like a good idea. In the meantime, I’ll repair this.”

Maggie smiled. “Okay. I’d appreciate it.”

“Consider it done.” Jordan smiled sweetly.

Maggie’s gaze lingered on Jordan for several seconds. Finally, she chuckled. “Forgive me for staring, Jordan, but I’ve never met such a competent woman, especially not one as attractive as you.”

Jordan blushed and did the only thing she could think of to diffuse the tension—she made light of the situation. “Well, thank ye, ma’am,” she said in a mock southern drawl. She tucked her thumbs into her belt. “Yer not such a bad looker yerself.”

Maggie laughed. “And you have a sense of humor as well. A very nice combination. Good luck with the repair. I’ve got to get ready for a meeting with the Shelburne Selectmen in about an hour. If you need anything, ask John.”

Jordan nodded at Maggie. “All right, then. I’ll just take a few measurements here. Do you need help with the ladder?”

“No, I’ll be fine. I should be back in a couple of hours. I’ll show you around the farm and get you settled into the bunkhouse when I get back. Is that okay?”

“That’s fine. Have a good meeting.”

Maggie smiled once more. “Thank you. I’ll be back soon.”

Jordan watched as Maggie climbed down the ladder into the loft and then exited the barn. It was only then that she released the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

When Maggie returned to the barn later that day, she saw Jordan standing in the hook of the winch as John raised her to the rafters and lowered her again. “Okay, this time we’ll hook onto a pallet of feed and see how that goes.”

Maggie leaned quietly against the doorway of the barn. Jordan hooked the winch to the straps supporting the feed pallet before climbing on top of the bags.

“Okay, take it up.”

Jordan held on to the rope just above the winch as John slowly raised her and the pallet to the level of the hayloft. “Looks good from here,” she announced. “Take it down.”

John slowly lowered the pallet to the floor of the barn. When it was stable, Jordan jumped off and turned to John. “Good as new,” she said. “You should be able to unload the feed safely now.”

“Thank you, Jordan. Maggie will be happy to know the rafter is fixed.”

“Yes, I’m very happy,” Maggie said from her position by the door.

“Maggie—you’re back,” Jordan exclaimed. “How long have you been standing there?”

Maggie walked up and linked her arm with Jordan’s. “Long enough to watch your acrobatics. Do you always test out your own work like that?”

Maggie led Jordan out of the barn and across the yard.

“I do have a habit of using myself as a test subject. I figure if I put myself at risk, I’ll do a better job.”

“I like that level of personal commitment,” Maggie said. “I think you and I are going to get along just fine.”

“Here’s the bunkhouse,” Maggie said as they mounted the steps to the cabin. Maggie pushed the door open and stepped aside so Jordan could enter first.

“Wow, this is really nice,” Jordan said. She looked around the well-furnished bunkhouse. It was built in an L-shape off one side of the farmhouse and extended behind the main house.
This bunkhouse must have been torn down before my parents bought the farm.
“Does anyone else live here?”

“No, you’re the only one right now, so you get your pick of beds.”

“I take it John and Jan don’t live on the farm.”

Maggie smiled. “John, no. He lives about a mile down the road. Jan? She does live here— just not in the bunkhouse.”

Jordan turned red with embarrassment. “Oh... I... ah... well, that’s really none of my business.”

“No, I don’t mind. In fact you should probably know that my lifestyle is a bit unconventional. You see, Jan is my... well, let’s just say she’s my significant other. Is that going to be a problem for you?”

The only problem I have is that it’s not me that you’re significant with.

Jordan said, “No. Why should it? What you do in the privacy of your own home is your business. I do have one question for you though.”

“And that is?”

“Considering Jan’s status in your household, am I to take instructions from her as well as you?”

Maggie grinned. “Absolutely not. Like I said, Jan is good with the animals, but not very proficient in other things. No, if there’s something to be done around here, I’ll be the one to direct it.”

“That’s a relief,” Jordan replied.

Maggie cocked her head to the side. “How so?”

“Because judging by her reaction in the barn earlier today, I don’t think she likes me very much.”

Maggie chuckled. “Don’t let her bother you. She tends to be a bit territorial, but she’s all bark and no bite.”

I’m not so sure about that.

“Take your pick of the bedrooms and make yourself comfortable. Look around, settle in, and let me know if you need anything, okay?”

Jordan shoved her fingertips into her back pockets. “I don’t think I’ll be needing anything right now... oh wait. Maybe some paper and a pen? I like to keep a journal, and I don’t have anything with me right now to record today’s entries.”

“Not a problem. I’ll go fetch it for you right now. I assume your diary is in your luggage?”

Jordan was caught off-guard by Maggie’s question.
Shit! I don’t have any luggage. Hell, I don’t have any clothes with me at all, except what I have on my back.

“Er... yes. My diary is in my luggage. Now that I have a job, I’ll send for it. With any luck, it’ll be here in a couple of days.”

Maggie crossed her arms and cocked her head to one side in a gesture so endearing that Jordan was barely able to control the urge to kiss her. “I guess you’ll need something to sleep in, as well?”

Jordan turned red and looked at the floor. “Well, I thought about washing my things out in the sink tonight and just sleeping in the nude.”

“You’ll do nothing of the kind. Come with me. I have several old T-shirts here that my dad left behind when they moved to Florida. Come pick out what you’d like to wear. He wasn’t a very big man. There may even be some jeans and shirts of his that you can wear until your luggage arrives. As for the personal items, you’re a few inches taller than I am, but it looks like we wear pretty much the same size jeans, so I’m sure I have some underclothes you can wear.”

Jordan was taken aback by Maggie’s generosity. “You don’t have to do that, Maggie.”

“No, I don’t, but I want to. Come with me.” 

Jordan allowed her to lead the way from the bunkhouse into the kitchen of the farmhouse.

As they stepped into the kitchen, Maggie turned to Jordan and smiled. “Dinnertime is normally a community affair around here, and everyone pitches in. However, I must warn you, if you can’t cook, you usually end up doing the dishes.”

Jordan grinned. “Well, I guess I’ll be sporting dish-pan hands, ‘cause I burn water.”

Maggie chuckled. “Luckily for you, I can cook. In fact, I usually end up doing most of the cooking around here.”

Jordan followed Maggie from room to room as she pointed out areas of the house that were all too familiar. Eighty-seven years had made surprisingly little difference. After the tour of the living areas was complete, Maggie led Jordan down the hall to the bedrooms. “That’s my room,” she said, pointing out the first door they passed on the left. “The bathroom is right across the hall, and down here at the end is a suite of rooms that my parents used when they lived here.”

Jordan wanted so much to tell Maggie that she knew exactly which room was hers, that she had found the diaries embedded in the walls. Jordan had occupied the very same room eighty-seven years later. Jordan also noted that the suite of rooms had sometime along the way been converted to two separate bedrooms—one that Kale currently occupied and a spare room that Jordan used as an office.

Maggie pushed the door open to her parents’ suite. “Okay, let’s see.” She opened a dresser drawer and pulled out a few T-shirts. “Here, these should fit you. Also,” Maggie pulled open another drawer, “here are some blue jeans that Dad sometimes wore. Like I said, he wasn’t a large man. He was maybe three or four inches taller than you are, but he was pretty slim. If the cuffs are too long, just roll them up.”

Maggie handed the pile of clothes to Jordan. Then she led Jordan back into the hall to her own bedroom. She pushed the door open and, instantly, the scent of patchouli reached Jordan’s nostrils. Jordan inhaled deeply as she stepped into the room. “Hmm,” she said.

“It’s patchouli. Do you like it?”

Jordan looked into Maggie’s eyes. She could have sworn she felt something pass between them. “It’s my favorite scent,” she replied.

Maggie smiled. “It’s my favorite as well.”

Maggie’s gaze held Jordan’s for a tad longer than would be considered conventional. After a moment, she inhaled deeply and seemed to regain her sense of awareness.

“Underclothes,” she said as she pulled open a dresser drawer and pulled out a few pairs of panties, some socks, and a couple of bras. “I’m a 34C. Will that work for you?”

In more ways than one, sweetheart.

“Perfect,” Jordan replied as she accepted the clothing. “I don’t know how to thank you enough.”

“No thanks necessary. After all, if you hadn’t come along when you did, I probably wouldn’t be here. That winch hit the floor exactly where I was standing. It surely would have killed me. I should be thanking you.”

Jordan grinned and shook her head. “Like you said, no thanks necessary.”

Again, a silence fell as they stared at one another for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Jordan broke the reverie. “I guess I should be getting settled in.”

Maggie snapped out of her trance. “Of course, of course. Oh, let me get you some paper and a pen before you go.”

Maggie retrieved a small journal from the bedside table and handed it to Jordan.

“Here. This is a spare journal, one I haven’t used yet. I keep diaries myself, you know. I realize how important it is to organize your thoughts at the end of the day.”

Jordan grinned as she accepted the book and pen. “Thank you. You know, something told me you were the diary type.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really,” Jordan replied. She added the diary to the growing heap of things tucked under her arm. She looked at Maggie. “So, if you were writing today’s entry right now, what would it say?”

Maggie looked up at the ceiling and squinted her eyes. She raised one hand for emphasis as she spoke. “It would say ‘September 23, 2018. This is the day I almost died. Luckily, my beautiful blue-eyed guardian angel came to my rescue.’”