Page 16

A Hammer and a Tarot Card

She heard another bang, and then the low, eerie hum of a deep whisper.

With measured movements, she leaned to the left, bent over, and slipped her shotgun out from beneath the bed.

As quietly as possible, she slid open her nightstand drawer and loaded the weapon with additional bullets as driblets of sweat crawled down her face.

Her stomach morphing into a demanding, pulsing knot, she got to her feet.

She grabbed her robe from the hook of her closet door and put it on before making her way to the window. Pushing aside the curtain, she was bathed in blue lunar light. Nothing unusual outside. Just rows of cabbage and carrots, and trees budding with flowers and merging fruit.

Making her way across the hall, she slowly turned Aunt Huni’s bedroom doorknob.

It creaked, and she winced. If someone was trying to get into the house, she didn’t want to alert them.

A deep breath, and she pushed the door open.

Huni was lying in her bed, fast asleep, her little pink satin bonnet secure upon her head, and her long white nightgown wrapped around her small body as she slept in a curled position on top of her sheets.

Normally, Poet would coax her body beneath the covers, tuck her in and give her a kiss on the cheek, but this was not the time.

She slowly closed the door, satisfied that Huni wasn’t the culprit causing all the ruckus, and that she was safe and sound.

Slowly, she crept down the steps that screeched under her feet, one after the other.

Once she made it to the bottom, she headed down the first floor hallway towards the back of the house.

It was much darker down here. The blackest of shadows flowed above her head, and the lingering aroma of the Sinigang soup Huni had prepared for their supper still perfumed the air.

Once she reached the kitchen, the dripping noise of the kitchen faucet seemed amplified.

BOOM! There it was again…

She clutched her gun, raising it in her arms. As she neared the kitchen window, the outside noises continued.

She pushed the curtain to the right and caught sight of a tall, hooded man swinging a hammer. Holding her gun steady, she was acutely aware of the muscles on her forearm hardening beneath her robe. The man moved like a machine—a big, scary, dark machine—and then, he stopped on a dime…

In mid-swing, he suddenly looked up, and their eyes met.

A pair of piercing blue eyes that shined like devil’s ice.

She screamed, her adrenaline pulsing through every cell of her body.

Racing to the side door, she flung it open and aimed her weapon at the bastard.

The smell of metal and iron hit her nose.

“GET OUTTA HERE BEFORE I BLOW YOUR GOTDAMN HEAD OFF!”

“You’re gonna shoot the guy makin’ your greenhouse, honey? That’s not polite.” A deep, rich voice poured from the figure. And then, he laughed. A deep, hearty, gruff, sexy laugh. One that was all too familiar.

“Kage?”

“Who else would it be?” He tossed the hammer down and slipped the hood from his face.

“You think some random stranger with hidden diabolical horticultural intentions is gonna sneak onto your land and do yardwork? Ahhhh, yes! It’s meeeee!

The mighty, evil farmer, buildin’ a greenhouse against your will!

Stop me if you daaaare!” he stated in a faux pirate accent. The damn fool.

She sighed with relief and leaned against her doorframe, closing her eyes as her heart finally began to relax.

“Kage, why in the hell are you here at this time of night?” she managed to ask between fast, choppy breaths.

“This was the only time I had free to start. I’m just layin’ out the framework.”

“Why didn’t you call first, or at least knock on the door once you got here? You scared me half to death!”

She hit the back porch light, illuminating the scene.

He winced, like some vampire exposed to the first rays of the sun.

Much to her surprise, he was telling the truth.

She saw the wooden boards scattered all over the ground now, some of them hammered into place.

How in the hell was he even able to see out here?

“I didn’t want to disturb you. I figured you and your aunt were asleep.”

“‘ Was ’ being the operative word. So, you thought that all the bangin’, knockin’ and rockin’ out here wouldn’t wake us?”

“I didn’t plan to be here long, and I was as quiet as possible.”

“Are you serious right now?” She laughed in disbelief.

“It’s two in the damn mornin’, Kage. This isn’t proper behavior.

I live here with my aunt. It’s up to me and this here gun to keep us safe.

There’s a crazy lady that lives down the road who likes to harass me, my boss at work has been ridin’ my ass like my name is Uber, my best friend from college lost three of her bunnies and kept me on the phone all night cryin’ about it!

I’m already sleep deprived! I’ve got to head out to Oklahoma in a few days for an overnight conference that I’m not the least bit prepared for, even though I’m one of the keynote speakers, and I suspect that I may have a hemorrhoid, so if you don’t mind, PLEASE CALL BEFORE COMIN’ OVER AND DOIN’ SOMETHING LIKE THIS!

You about caused me to have a heart attack, and you coulda ended up in ICU! ”

She slammed the door, surprised by how quickly she’d gone from fear to anger.

She stood there for a few moments, her back to the entry, then dragged herself and her gun across the floor.

Before she cleared the kitchen, there was a soft, polite knock on the door.

She paused. Her shoulders slumped. Closing her eyes, she pivoted back toward the rear entrance.

“What is it?” She opened the door, then looked up. High up. Staring into those ice blue eyes that stole her breath away.

His hood remained down, and the back porchlight he stood under had him glowing.

What was once one with the shadows was now alive, shining bright.

Long strands of blond hair partially covered one of his eyes, and his lush brown brows furrowed as he stared at her, climbing into her very soul, searching desperately for her heart.

His strong nose wiggled, then his nostrils flared.

A wave of panic flooded her. His full, trimmed beard, threaded with silver, brushed against her ear as he hunched low, and close to her face.

She stepped back, finding herself pressed into the door siding. No room for escape.

“You’re right. I don’t always think of the way my actions may affect others. I offer you a sincere apology.”

She was startled by his words, expecting him to be rude, or say something callous.

“Well… thank you for your apology.”

“This isn’t an excuse, it’s an explanation. See, I figured out that my love language is to build things for folks. To hunt for others. To make things. I know that you’re stressed out and tired.”

“How could you—”

“When I saw you last, you had dark circles under your eyes. You didn’t look that way when we first met.

That let me know you hadn’t been sleepin’ well.

You were still beautiful; I just noticed the difference is all.

When I went to your job and paid for your lunches in advance at that there fancy cafeteria in the museum, I wanted to lessen your load.

I doubt that you wanted me to bring you a dead possum, so buyin’ the food had to suffice. ”

“…That was you? They said someone paid for ’em…” She could barely speak. And he was so close… smelling like freshly toiled soil and lust.

He nodded. “Yeah, it was me. When I was in your house gettin’ that tea the other day, I saw the stack of hospital records on the table—your aunt Huni.

She’s going through a lot, and you’re tryna keep her safe and happy.

I saw your computer, too, all those desktop files wit’ a bunch of work to do.

You’re very organized. Me, not so much.” He smiled kindly, and she smiled back at him.

“I suppose that’s one of the reasons why I like you…

” His smile faded. A deep inhale, then exhale escaped from his lips.

“You’ve made it clear that you don’t have the same interest in me as I have in you.

“But I believe that’s just because you feel overwhelmed and don’t believe you can afford to take a chance on a man right now—someone who might let you down, and make things worse. You see me as mean, secretive, maybe even a little strange.”

She swallowed. Shelled within an egg of silence. Then, she broke the yolk.

“What do you think my love language is, Kage?”

“Hmmm, I’d say that your love language is educating folks, caring for the dead—the ones covered in fur that is—and payin’ it forward.

Whatever someone pours into you, you turn it around and give it back to them and others, three times over.

See, I’m the one who can bring home the bacon, and you make a feast with it.

A big, hungry wolf like me showin’ up like this…

I wanted to help you, but I wanted to be around you, too.

Even if it was just outside. I’m both sides of the moon, I suppose you could say.

You’re so damn pretty… I could just eat you up. ”

His words burned through her.

“…You don’t know me, and how’d you learn all of this love language stuff?”

“I’ve been readin’. My cousin Lennox gave me some books the other day.

He’s a gym rat, but a book worm, too. I have another cousin, Roman, who was talkin’ about it, too.

He’s in finance. We’ve been spending a lot more time together lately.

Funny the things you can find out about yourself, even at my age. ”

She smiled in understanding. “You told me you were an only child, like me, so I ’spose it’s nice you have cousins. I don’t have nobody but Huni. Make sure you treasure that, Kage.” She crossed her arms.