The Hiding Place
By Diana
“Trixie!” eight-year-old Bobby shouted, whining just a little. His footsteps were barely discernible on the forest path. “Where are you? I saw you come this way!”
Darn! Sixteen-year-old Trixie thought, plastering herself against the rough stable wall and peeking around the corner to see if Bobby was in sight yet. He's coming this way. What am I going to do?
“Trixie!” Bobby's voice was louder and closer. He was gaining on her fast.
The imp would check the stables for sure. Should she run to the lake or edge around the building and head back into the woods? Neither option appealed to her. Bobby could find a needle in a haystack as long as you didn't want him to.
Then she spotted Regan's ancient GMC pick-up parked next to the stables. This had to work. She was not getting stuck with Bobby today. It was Mart's Saturday to watch him. Creeping as quietly as possible to the truck, she looked around. No Bobby yet, so she hopped up on the chrome bumper and climbed in the back. Lying as flat as she could against the bed, she squeezed her eyes shut and willed herself to be completely silent.
“Triiiixiiieee.” Bobby's voice came from inside the stables.
She had barely managed to escape!
“She's not here, Bobby,” Jim said.
Her ears perked up just like Reddy's when he heard a wild animal in the preserve. Jim? Jim was home this weekend? How come she didn't know this?
“How long ya been here?” Bobby asked. “You might've missed her.”
“A while,” Jim said. “I rode Jupe earlier, and I just finished cleaning the tack.”
Their footsteps crunched in the gravel outside the stable. They came a little too close for comfort, and Trixie tried harder to disappear into the truck bed.
“Is it important that you find her? She's not in trouble or needed at home, is she?”
A stray piece of straw poked into Trixie's backside. She gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to scratch. Must. Not. Move.
“Na, I'm bored, and I wanted her to take me riding. Regan's been givin' me lessons.”
“Oh.” Jim paused. “Maybe she's in the house visiting Honey. Why don't you check there?”
“Okay. Thanks, Jim. If you see her, tell her I'm lookin' for her, will ya?”
Jim chuckled. “Don't worry about that, Bobby. I'll definitely tell her.”
Bobby ran down the driveway, the sound of her name being yelled soon coming from further and further away.
Relief surged through Trixie, and she almost let out the breath she was holding. Wait. Had Jim seen her? All she needed was for Jim to catch her acting even more ridiculous than she normally did.
The truck suddenly shifted, and her eyes flew open. Double darn. Jim had climbed into the truck next to her. All six feet, three inches, two hundred highly toned pounds of him.
“By the way,” he said, his mouth twitching at the corners, “Bobby's looking for you.”
“Thanks for pointing out the obvious.”
The twitching turned into a full-fledged grin as he settled down on the truck bed next to her. “I wouldn't want to ruin my Mr. Honorable image by lying to Bobby, would I?”
She rolled her eyes. “Heaven forbid.”
He folded his hands over his stomach. “Shirking your babysitting duties again?”
“No!” she hissed. “Mart's the one who's shirking. I've been watching Bobby so much lately, Moms said that Mart could do it this morning.”
Laughter rumbled from Jim's chest. “Wonder what Mart's doing right now, besides siccing Bobby on you?”
As if in answer to Jim's question, footsteps crunched in the gravel by the stable.
“Bobby!” Mart shouted. “Come here right now or I'll tell Moms you were looking at Brian's human sexuality textbook!”
Trixie stifled a snicker and held her hand up, periscope style, index finger pointing to the Manor House.
“Thanks!” Mart's footsteps could be heard running off before stopping and walking back. The upper half of his body appeared above the side of the truck bed. “Hiding from Bobby, I presume?”
Trixie's giggle finally erupted. “Guilty as charged. By the way, I thought he was on your watch today.”
Mart pretended to clutch his hair, which, of course, was impossible with his crew cut. “He was,” he said sourly. “I ignored him for a few minutes while I texted Di. It was the opportune moment for him to disappear.”
Mart looked at Jim. “I'll pretend not to notice for the moment that you also seem to be hiding from the small fry, because I don't have time to dwell on the mystery right now. But be forewarned, the subject will make a re-appearance.”
With that, he was off once again on his search for his younger brother.
“You know, this isn't bad,” Jim said after a few moments. “Clear blue sky, a breeze with just a bit of a bite to it, the scent of fall in the air, and good company. I could stay here awhile.”
She was “good company”. Well, it could be worse. She'd take what she could get.
“Then let's get comfortable,” she said, scooting closer to the tailgate and flinging her legs over it. Jim followed suit and soon, his were dangling over the edge next to hers.
Trixie giggled. “If anyone walks by and sees just our legs, they'll think it's very mysterious.”
Jim snorted. “Mart already does.”
Trixie turned her head to look at Jim, hoping against hope her face didn't reveal her true feelings.
“Why did you come home this weekend? Honey hadn't mentioned you were.”
“She didn't know.” Jim continued to stare up into the bright October sky. “It'd been awhile, and I missed everyone.”
“I'm sure your family misses you, too. In fact, I know Honey does.”
Jim's voice lowered. “It wasn't just my family I missed.”
Trixie's heart beat against her chest like Jupiter's hooves against the ground when Jim ran him down a familiar path, and she firmly told it to settle down.
“Oh, I know. The rest of the Bob-Whites miss you, too. It's not the same with you and Brian gone. And then next year, Mart and Dan will be gone, too. Not that it'll be so bad with Mart gone; at least I won't be teased every second of the day.”
She did a mental head thunk. Why was she babbling? She'd never had trouble talking to Jim before. He must think she was an idiot!
“The truth is that while I do miss my family and everyone else, I miss you the most.” He turned to face her. The sun highlighted his red hair, turning it to fire, and he wore an air of vulnerability his strong, supple body did nothing to overcome. “You're the reason I came home this weekend.”
Trixie's face warmed, the hated blush creeping up her cheeks. “Me?” she squeaked. Forcing her voice down to its normal level, she asked softly, “I'm why you came home?”
One of the horses inside the stable whinnied and another one whinnied back.
When Jim finally spoke, his voice came in a rush of words.
“I missed you last year, too, horribly, but I was able to bury it in my studies and the challenge of being a college freshman. It's been hell this year, though, now that you're sixteen and old enough to date. I've imagined the worst. I know that Nick Roberts has always had a thing for you, and now Tad's moved back, and he's not such a goon anymore, and then there's that Colton guy Dan told me about who was waxing poetic in gym class about your body until Dan threatened to punch him in the nose. . .”
Speech temporarily abandoned Trixie. She had never, ever heard Jim babble before. She was the babbler, witnessed most recently just a few minutes ago. But even more shocking than Jim babbling was that there was some guy named Colton talking about her and-apparently- saying good things. “Wait a minute. Someone was waxing poetic about my body?”
“Of course he was,” Jim said in a near shout. Trixie had never heard Jim sound this vehement before. “Why wouldn't he? Your body is perfect. I've been eaten alive this semester, knowing there are all these guys out there want to be with you as much as I do.”
“But, but. . .”
He drew a huge breath, let it out, and rose up on his elbow, allowing her to see his handsome face more fully. She thought she just might see love written all over it, but she couldn't be sure.
“Anyway, what I've been trying not-so-eloquently to say is that I couldn't let another week go by without telling you how I feel.”
Jim took her hand in his. His hand completely swallowed hers, and the callouses he'd earned riding and playing sports were rough against her skin.
Her breath caught, and she could hardly push any words out. She lowered her eyelashes to avoid his gaze but then forced herself to boldly look him head on.
“How do you feel?” she finally asked. It was time to find out, time to end this odd limbo between them one way or another. Just because he didn't want other guys interested in her didn't mean he wanted to start a relationship with her himself.
He squeezed her hand tighter. “I love you, Trixie. I always have, but I didn't think the time was right until now.”
“Now that other boys might want to date me?”
He had the grace to turn brilliant red and drop his eyes from hers. But just for a second. He looked right back up at her, his face clear and determined.
“That's part of it. It kills my soul to think one of them might step in and ask you out while I'm sitting there at college twiddling my thumbs, feeling like the world's biggest loser because I waited too long.”
He reached out and tugged on the same curl he always did, the one she'd always hated—except-when Jim tugged on it.
“I've loved you since you stared down the barrel of my shotgun when you were thirteen. Just please tell me you feel the same way.”
“How could you not know?” She kicked the tailgate with the heel of her Sketchers. Truth be told, she was tempted to kick Jim as well. How could one guy be so blind? “I accepted your bracelet all those years ago, and I still wear it to this day. I didn't exactly hide my jealousy over Dot Murray and Laura Ramsey. Everybody knew. Every time the BWGs went to a dance together, I danced almost every dance with you. And when you went away to college, I worried every single day that you'd start dating some beautiful girl.”
Jim dropped her hand and flopped back onto the bed of the truck, his mouth hanging open.
“And I'll have you know, Nick and Tad have asked me out, and I turned them both down, because I was waiting for you.”
“So, Trixie, does that mean. . ?”
She smiled and felt the anger and self-righteousness drain out of her. “Of course I love you, you idiot. How could I not love you?”
He enveloped her hand again in his.
“I've waited so long to hear those words, Trixie. Well, maybe not the idiot part, but the rest of it. I've waited so long for this, too.”
He rose up once more on his elbow and moved his head closer to hers.
“Hey, kids, what are you up to? Here to go riding?” Somehow, Regan had sneaked up on them without them noticing. Trixie had never known him to be so darned quiet before.
Jim stretched back out on the truck bed and sighed. “I rode Jupe about an hour ago.”
“Just checking.” Regan walked away into the stable, chuckling just a little too evilly to suit Trixie.
It was all right, though. Holding Jim's hand was enough for now. She'd enjoy the anticipation of kissing him just a little while longer.