Country Lovin': Chapter Nine

"Nadine!" Valene hurried up the path to the front of the house.

Nadine giggled and opened the screen door. She opened her arms and gathered her sister in them. "I've missed you too, Val." Nadine laughed again.

"Why are you here?" Valene asked.

Nadine raised an eye brow and placed her hands on her hips. "Why am I here? I'm here because I've missed you. I'm here because I needed a day away from life."

Valene smiled and hugged her sister again. "I'm sorry. That must've sounded so...rude." She laughed and they walked inside together.

Valene smiled at her younger sister. She noticed Nadine's short bob of dirty blonde hair. The hair stopped at her chin, full of beautiful luxurious waves. It was thick and soft. Nadine had large beautiful green eyes. Beautiful jade green eyes. Her skin was white, not pale, but white. She was tall and slender, like Valene, but Nadine seemed to hold grace that was unbeknown to her. Nadine was truly lovely.

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Kitty smiled at her two beautiful nieces. She noticed the similarites between the two. Valene was slightly taller than Nadine. Valene had the chocolate rich hair, in the area between thick and thin. She had the rustic blue eyes that reminded you of blue water before a storm. She had her mother's lips, Kitty noticed. A fuller bottom lip with a smaller upper lip. On someone else, she might've considered it ugly, but on Valene, it seemed to enhance her beauty.

Nadine, she was lovely. She had the thick, wavy dirty blonde hair. It was streaked with blonde, medium blonde, honey blonde, and dark blonde. It was a combustion of every blonde known to man. She had large jade green eyes. Ones that seemed like endless acres of green silk. Nadine's lips were both full. Not ugly full, but beautiful, sexy full. One thing that seemed to attract Kitty's attention was when she smiled. It seemed to light up her face.

Kitty loved both of her nieces very much and it pained her to know that she wouldn't make it much farther. She had known of her illness and it had pained her to see the look of hurt on Valene's face. It hurt to know that she wouldn't be able to see any of their children.

She smiled as Valene and Nadine sat on a couch directly across from her chair. They were very beautiful and it shocked her that the both of them weren't already attached and had children. But here they were, single. She slightly raised her eye brow. Valene on one hand, seemed to have a slight interest in Jessie, her little handy man. She might not want to admit it now, but she did enjoy his company, whether they fought about what day it was, she did enjoy him being around.

"How are you doing, Aunt Kitty?" Nadine asked. She put some stray hairs behind her ears and sat snuggly against her sister.

"Doing all right. I have my slight arthritis in my knuckles and beginning to get some more around the finger knuckles and joints. Have to have the house around seventy..seventy-five." Kitty replied as she rubbed the knuckles of her right hand.

"I'm glad you're doing all right. Derek says that he loves you and said he'll try to make it up this summer. He's got a new job and it's taking a lot of out of him. He wanted to come up, it's just...it's his job. It is the best one he's ever had and he doesn't want to lose it." Nadine replied.

"It's all right. I'll be glad to see him. To see that little brat." She laughed and began to rub the knuckles of her left hand. "Oh, what a little terror he was."

Valene laughed and in unison with Nadine, "Just like our father." The three laughed together before Nadine stood.

"Can I get you a drink, Aunt Kitty?"

Kitty just shook her head. "No thanks, dear."

Valene also stood and followed her sister into the kitchen. The light from the window was bright and lit up the kitchen superbly.

"How long were you here before I got here?" Valene asked.

"Maybe an hour. Where were you, anyway?" Nadine asked, curious. She grabbed a cup down from the cupboard and walked to the freezer to get ice.

"I was out." Valene replied. She looked at Nadine who dropped three ice cubes into her cup.

"Out...where?" Nadine was an insistant one.

"Out to lunch with a friend." Valene clasped her fingers and dropped them in front of her.

"It's a guy, isn't it!" Nadine's eyes lit up and she smiled.

"Oh please!" Valene exclaimed, then rolled her eyes. "How did you know?"

"Sisters always know. Plus, you can tell. You aren't a very good liar, Val. You never could lie well."

Valene laughed. "Well, I didn't have to, unlike some people. You're still the rebel child, you know that, don't you?"

"It was my job to be the rebel. The middle child is always the rebel. It's common fact." Nadine opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a gallon of milk, which was under half full.

"Milk and ice? You don't give up, do you?"

"Give up what?"

"You're always trying to make things different."

"I can't help it, Nadine. I try to be different."

"We all know you try to be different. We can tell."

Valene and Nadine walked back into the living room. Kitty had left, but could be heard in the bathroom.

"What's his name?" Nadine asked as she plopped herself onto the couch.

"Who's name?" Valene fumbled with her fingers, knowing full well who "he" was.

"His!" Nadine had the persistant tone in her voice.

"Oh." Valene smiled, feeling her cheeks grow hot and not knowing why. "Jessie."

"Jessie Taylor? Aunt Kitty's little helper? Does Aunt Kitty know?" Nadine was interested.

"We aren't...involved. He's just a friend who's willing to listen. It isn't going to become anything more, Nadine. Okay? So, don't make it anything more than it already is. Okay?"

Nadine had placed her cup on the table and raised both hands in the air. "Okay. It isn't anything. I didn't think it was anything."

Valene let out a sigh and shook her head. "Like hell."

Nadine smirked and ran a hand through her hair. "C'mon Val, please tell me about him!"

Valene shook her head and walked to the living room window. "I don't know. When I first came here, he was...an average stuck up man." Valene turned to look at Nadine. "You know, he was the average country boy who had the ego the size of Texas." Valene closed her eyes and then reopened them.

She took a deep breath and clasped her hands together. "But he took me to lunch and this woman came in and he told her off, that he was with me. She made me feel...so bad, but he stood up for me. I don't know why, but he did. Then I told him."

Nadine shook her head in confusion. "Told him what?"

"About me and Brad and everything. About Dad. About Mom. Everything. I didn't want him to feel sorry for me, so I told him."

Nadine raised her eye brows and stood. She walked over to Valene and laid a hand on her shoulder. "You told him about Mom? You didn't even tell Brad about Mom."

Valene nibbled her top lip then closed her eyes and sighed. "There's just something that makes him seem...so ready to listen. I don't know what it is. It just kinda came out when I told him. It seemed to make me feel better too." Valene leaned against the wall by the window and looked down at her little sister.

"You like him, don't you?"

"Of course she likes him. I can tell by the way her eyes light up and I know her heart flutters just at the sound of his name."

Both girls looked to see Aunt Kitty standing in the end of the hallway. She had a smirk on her face as she crossed the living room and sat down in her chair.

"Do I?" Valene said smugly.

"Yes. You do. Don't put up this denying thing, Valene. It isn't attractive. Now. I know that you are getting closer with him. I knew you didn't feel that...feeling, when you were with Laremy."

Nadine's interest peaked. "Laremy? Well, Valene, I see you've captured many mens' hearts." She crossed her arms in front of her and smiled.

"Oh..." Valene through up her hands. She grabbed her keys and her purse off the coffee table and stormed out the front door.

"What's her problem?" Nadine asked, looking at the front door as it slammed closed.

"I don't think she is understanding her feelings as of yet. She will. She's my big strong girl. She's made this far, she'll make it farther."

Nadine sighed and turned to look out the window to watch her sister drive off. Nadine knew her sister all right. She had never seen her sister full with such emotion. Not even over Brad and she had loved Brad, or had said she had. It was odd for someone like Valene to talk about their mother. She knew that Valene was very very close to their mother. If no one had known about her depression, she could've ended up killing herself.

Valene was like that. She didn't write things down; she talked to people, and the only one she could do that with, had been their mother. When she died, Valene had all of her problems and emotions built up with no one to release them on. They were affecting her emotionally. She finally went to see a pshyciatrist, who helped her out. Of course, she had begun smoking, which wasn't healthy, but if it helped her overcome what she had gone through, Nadine felt it was worth it.

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Valene pulled up in front of Yemahasse River. It was beautiful. It was a thousand feet across, and almost two hundred miles long. She climbed out of her car, tossing her sunglasses into the passenger seat. She was glad that she brought along shorts and tank tops and not jeans and t-shirts. The weather was too hot here.

She reached to the dash and pulled out a hair band and wrapped her hair into a ponytail. She closed the door and walked across the grass to sit on the bank of the river. She removed her socks and sneakers and placed her feet into the water. She needed time. She didn't have much of it. She had little over a week and a half.

The feelings inside her wasn't what she had come to expect when she met Jessie. She had just gotten dumped by a man who had only wanted her for sex and nothing else. Wasn't she supposed to be...feeling something else?

A loose strand of hair feel down by her chin and she brushed it away, annoyingly. Life was too unfair. Why did everything have to be confusing? She wrapped her arms around herself and sighed. The looked across the river at the thick brush which grew there. An old willow tree loomed tall into the sky, sheilding some of the sun. It somewhat helped in her attempt to not be hot.

The water from the river was cool and satisfing. Something that was hard to get in the city. Being here, in the country, with her aunt, she wished that she had never gone into the city. Especially, New York City. There was nothing wrong with it, but compared to the country, it was small. The country had life, opportunity. The people here, most of them, were nice and sweet. The men here grew very handsome and stubborn.

A truck flew by on the road, catching her eye, she watched it drive by. Her eye brows raised when she heard the sound of breaks. The truck was backing up on the road and she had to smile when she saw that it was Jessie. He pulled to the side of the road and climbed out.

"Whatcha doing here?" He called out.

"Trying to get some peace and quiet." She called back, hoping that he'd get the hint. She rolled her eyes when she saw that he had not. "Why are you here and not leaving?" She asked as he strolled across the grass.

"Well, it's not every day that I see a woman wid her feet in Yemahasse River." He removed his Stetson to wipe his forehead with his arm. He replaced his hat and stared down at her. "Why do ya need to get away? Is it something with your Aunt?"

Valene laid back against the grass, pressing her palms over her eyes. "My sister arrived when I got back home. I told them that I told you about everything and they have this crazy notion that..." She caught herself before she blurted what she didn't want to, out.

"That...what?" His interested sparked.

"Nothing." She retorted.

"Oh." He sat down beside her. He began to remove his boots and socks.

"What are you doing? What was the 'oh' for?" He placed his bare feet into the water and smirked in her direction.

"Maybe I want some peace and quiet too." He laid back, placing his arms behind his head. Using one of his hands, he tilted his hat over his eyes to help block the sun.

"Well get it somewhere else. I was here first."

He laughed. "Well, darlin', I don't personally see yar name anywhere 'round here, do ya? Nah, well then, I can be here too."

She closed her eyes then sat up and walked out of the water. "What is it with everyone? Is it a friggen crime that I have some time to myself?" She threw her hands up in frustration and grabbed her socks and sneakers, and without putting them back on, began to walk back up to her car.

Frustration was only one of the billions of emotions running through Valene's bloodstream. As she reached her car, she through her shoes into the back of her car and wasn't given the opportunity to climb into her car. She was turned around and had Jessie's face cramed into her breathing space. "Jessie...what are you doing?"

He held tight onto her arms and stared hard at her. "What the hell is your problem, Val?" He demanded harshly.

"What the hell is my problem? Everyone seems to think I have a problem! It's everyone who has a problem! Okay? I can't get one ounce of friggen privacy! Now, if you don't mind--"

He gave her a shake and continued to stare hard at her. "I do mind, Valene. What is it anyway? Earlier, ya can go and tell me your darkest secrets...and today, ya can't talk to me even civil? Damn woman, your moods change with the wind, I think."

She shook herself free. She stared at him in silence, then slammed her car door and pushed her way past him. Damn him! Damm him! Her mind cursed. She crossed the grass and placed her hands on her hips. She swung around, almost colliding with him, not knowing he had followed so close. "Well it's hard when you have people trying to tell you that you can't make up your own mind. I have my aunt to tells me that she's..." She trailed off, remembering her promise not to tell anyone, forgetting that she had already told him. She bit her bottom lips and turned around.

"What? Your aunt's what?" Jessie placed his hands on his hips and stared at her.

"Nothing. Damn it Jessie, can't a woman have some secrets to herself?"

"Not if you keep blurting half of it out."

She sank down to the ground and let out a deep breath. "Only if you'd understand."

"Well, I might, if you gave me half a chance." He squated down in front of her, hoping that she'd open up to him, like she had earlier.

"You promise you won't get mad?" She looked up to him, her voice but a child's.

He raised his eye brows. "Please? Whatever I tell you, don't say a word to anyone else."

He nodded and sat back on the grass. "Okay, continue."

She sighed and closed her eyes. "My aunt is sick."

Jessie wrinkled his brow. "How sick?"

"Very sick. You know why she hired you to bring in her wood for her? Her heart is weak and she can't lift heavy things. If she does, she could kill herself."

She rubbed her forehead and sighed. "That was why you found me in the bar earlier."

He sighed and turned his head. "Yeah, you told me that...at the bar." His gaze was stuck on the river, flowing calmly and smoothly.

She nodded and continued. "The other thing is that Aunt Kitty and my sister, Nadine, they feel that I have this...this thing for you. They say..well, I just don't know it yet." She laughed and stood, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her down.

"Kitty said that?"

"Yes. She did. I don't know here she got that idea, but I don't feel that way about you."

Instead of responding by words, Jessie responded by kissing her on the lips.

Valene was so surprised, she didn't have time to push him away. For her body was still in shock. His lips were soft, gentle, and sweet. She felt his hand on her cheek, warm, callused from work. When he pulled back, a smirk spread across his face.

"Country Lovin': Chapter Ten"