Strawberry Wine (2 page)

Alli was greeted by one of the barn cats.

“Hi kitty.” She cooed, while scratching the cat behind the ears. The two of them settled into the loft.

* * * * *

Alli wasn’t sure how much time had passed when she was startled awake by a loud clattering sound. She could hear a pattering of goat feet, accompanied by a soft bleating from below.

“All right, ya little bastard. What did you do with my shirt?”

Alli wasn’t expecting a voice. Her grandparent’s neighbors, the Taylor’s, had invited her to use their barn whenever she wanted, but she still felt a little shy about being found dosing in the hay loft.

“Did you eat it? Is it true, what they say about goats eating everything?”

The goat gave a loud bleat, as if insulted by the accusation.

Alli stifled a chuckle, trying to remain undiscovered. She buried her face in the shirt she was lying on, and realized with sudden horror that it must be the shirt in question.

Well, nothing left to do but come clean.

Peeking over the edge of the hay loft, she could see the toes of a worn pair of work boots. He was standing directly below her. The goat bleated a greeting, causing him to look up and meet her gaze. He did a comical double take upon seeing her.

“Oh. I didn’t realize there was someone up there. Forgive my intrusion, I thought I left my shirt in here this morning...” He let his sentence peter off, and stepped back to get a better view of the loft. This also gave Alli a better view of him. Shirtless him.
Shirtless him with a gorgeous torso that is lacking all traces of a farmer’s tan, oh my gosh this guy has a beautiful chest to go with his beautiful face, say something you stupid girl, he’s going to think you’re a mute!

“Hi.” Was all she could manage, while her inner monologue was chanting,
keep looking at his eyes. His beautiful, piercing, grey eyes. you don’t even notice his shirtlessness. His eyes. His eyes are smiling at you. Crap. Did he say something? Are you supposed to respond now?

“Hi. I’m Jason. This is my folks’ place.” He said, raising his brows in an unasked question.

“Hi, Jason. I’m from next door. Your parents let me crash in here sometimes to practice being a homeless vagrant.”

He laughed. It was a deep, appealing sound. Infectious.

“How kind of them. Always giving back to the community.”

Alli smiled sheepishly, and held up his wrinkled shirt. “I’m also the resident shirt thief.” She smiled apologetically, and picked off a few stray pieces of hay before dropping it into his waiting hand.

“Ah, thanks. Does the shirt thief have a name?” He smiled up at her as he casually put on his shirt.

Alli’s insides melted.
Is he flirting with you?! No, of course not. He just wants to know the name of the crazy person squatting in his barn. Probably for future reference when he’s filling out a restraining order.

“Alli. Allison.” She stammered, cringing inwardly.
Real smooth, Alli.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Alli Allison. I knew a John Johnson back in school.”

“No, it’s just Alli. Short for Allison,” Off his grin, “...and you knew that, you were teasing.”

Jason smiled wider. “May I ask what a shirt stealing vagrant is doing in a hay loft on a hot day?”

“You mean, aside from stealing shirts, and loitering? Reading. Oh, and petting the cat.”

“Oh? What are vagrants reading these days?”

Alli glanced down at the tattered cover of her favorite romance novel.
Oh God. He’s going to think you’re an idiot! Please tell me you packed something respectable in the bag.
She grabbed the top book from her bag, and was relieved to see it was somewhat respectable. She tossed it down to him, and quickly shoved the romance back into the bag. Checking to make sure she had everything, she made her way to the ladder.

He caught the book easily. “Atlas Shrugged. One of my favorites.”

“Mine too!” Alli quickly made her way down the ladder. When she turned around she was startled to find him only inches from her. His closeness sent an immediate jolt through her body, and it took her a moment to realize he was running his fingers through her hair. Her heart lodged itself in her throat before she could say anything.

“Sorry, you had a bit of hay...” He said, making a point of dropping the straw bits to the ground.

Her face was flushed, and she prayed he assumed it was from the heat of the day rather than his closeness. Stepping back, he gestured to take her bag for her.

“Thanks.” She managed.
Please don’t tell me you’re blushing. You are officially the most socially inept person to have ever lived. Stop standing there like an imbecile. Do something!

Fumbling the cap off her water bottle, Alli took a big gulp, pleased that she managed to do so without choking or drooling.

Jason watched rapt, as her tongue caught a stray water droplet on her bottom lip.

“May I?” He asked, gesturing toward the water bottle.

She nodded mutely, and handed him the bottle. It sent a shiver through her body when his lips touched the bottle where hers had just been. He drank deeply. Greedily. She watched in fascination as his throat moved with each swallow. She let her eyes make their way down the length of him, appreciating the view afforded by his open shirt. Mortified, she realized he was watching her.

“Well, I guess I should be on my way. I’ve got a dozen more barns to loiter in before nightfall, and shirts don’t steal themselves.”

He put the bag strap into her outstretched palm. The full weight of the bag proved too much for her to hold so far from her body, and the bag dropped to the ground with a thud, spilling its contents onto the barn floor.

By reflex, Jason bent to pick up the books. Alli snatched the romance novel out from under his hand, but not before he got a look at the cover.

“Of course I dropped my bag, and of course you saw my trashy novel, because I haven’t managed to mortify myself enough this afternoon.”

Jason laughed. “You’re a funny girl, Alli. I hope I see you again.”

“Oh, I’m sure you will. Probably when I’m out buying toilet paper, or some other embarrassing necessity. I have all summer to top this little meeting.”

His brow furrowed. “You don’t live here full time?”

“No. I just come visit my grandparents for the summer. You know, free rent and all.”

“Well, that’s a shame. I’m newly permanent here, and it would have been nice to have a friend. Maybe I can buy you a drink sometime, as a thank you for the water?”

A drink?! Of course he would want to get a drink. He’s an adult. You are a child. Still, better admit you’re underage now, and spare yourself the embarrassment of getting carded at a bar.

“That sounds wonderful, Jason, but I’m underage.”

His brows shot up. “Oh, right! Sorry. Underage. Of course.” He frowned again. “Uh, how underage are we talking? Just drinking underage, or I should be arrested for asking you out, underage?”

Lie to him! If you tell him you are sixteen he will avoid you like the plague. You just want to talk to him. And look at him. You admitted you are too young to drink, what harm could it do?

“I’m nineteen. Well,
almost
nineteen.”

His shoulders relaxed a notch. “Oh, thank God. For a minute there I thought you were going to think I was a pedophile. I honestly thought you were older. Not that you
look
old or anything, you just have a wit about you. I guess I find you easy to talk to is all...

“Okay, I’m done making an ass out of myself for the day. It was lovely meeting you, Alli. I’d love to buy you a legal, non-alcoholic beverage of your choice some time.”

She laughed. “I’d like that too.”

Jason watched Alli depart and shook his head as if to clear it. He felt like a complete ass. First practically fondling the girl’s hair and then draining her water bottle. He decided to cut himself some slack. She was rather distracting, and he couldn’t fault himself for getting caught up in watching her descend the hay loft ladder.

The muffled quality of her voice had caused him to look up from the book she had tossed him. Her legs were just finding their way over the edge of the hay loft. They were long and slender, and seemed to go on forever. They ended at the round, firm butt of an avid horseback rider, a slight flair of hips, and a tight little waist. All in all, very nice.

Noticing a few bits of hay stuck in her hair, he hadn’t been able to resist the opportunity to feel if it was as soft as it looked. He had gently pulled the hay from her light blond locks. His touch was feather soft, and she had seemed startled by his closeness when she turned away from the ladder. The surprise in her eyes had brought him back to himself.

What the hell was he doing? Since when was he the type to groom strange women he found in his barn?

Then, watching her drinking, he had suddenly become parched. Her full lips were nothing short of mesmerizing, and for the first time in a long while he had acknowledged his body’s baser urges. He wanted her. He wanted this beautiful creature he had stumbled upon in his barn, and judging from the way she was studying his torso through his open shirt as if she would be tested on the knowledge, he was pretty confident that she wanted him too.

Alli was bored. She had exhausted her arsenal of reasons not to go panting after the shirtless cowboy next door, and she was becoming stir-crazy. If she didn’t find some way to occupy her time, she was going to end up embarrassing herself looking for an excuse -
any
excuse - to go over there.

“Gran?” She called out, a whine in her voice.

She found her grandmother clipping coupons at the breakfast table, her bifocals perched on the end of her nose. She acknowledged Alli without looking up from her task. Bernard was lying at Gran’s feet. He thumped his stubby tail at Alli in greeting.

“Yes, dear?”

“Is it okay if I take the car into town? We’re out of... some stuff.” She ended weakly.

“That’s fine, dear, just be gentle with the clutch.”

Alli grabbed the keys off the hook in the kitchen and dashed for the door. She drew up short when she heard her grandmother call her back. “Alli, sweetheart. Since you’re going into town, could you stop by the drug store and pick up two birthday cards for your cousins?”

“Sure.” Alli was grateful for an actual task to complete.

Gran had abandoned her coupon station and started rummaging through an old roll top desk in the corner of the dining room. Her voice was muffled as she shuffled papers from one stack to another.

“I have some scratchers in here for them...”

Gran thought there was no better gift on this earth than lottery scratchers. They had it all - suspense, excitement, a possible big pay off, and they didn’t cost anything extra for shipping.

“Ha! Here they are.” She triumphantly held up a handful of scratchers. “Divide them up evenly, dear. You know how the boys can be. Oh, and here’s some money for the cards.” Gran handed her an untidy wad of small bills. With a sudden jolt of memory Gran hustled back to her pile of clippings and pulled out a coupon for prune juice. “One last thing, dear. Would you pick up some prune juice? Your grandfather’s costive again-”

Alli cut her off. “Sure Gran. Prune juice for Papa. Anything else?” Alli sent up a silent prayer that her grandmother didn’t suddenly need adult diapers or fungal cream. “That should do ‘er.” Came Gran’s sweet reply.

Alli stuffed the scratchers and bills into her back pockets and with a quick peck on her grandmother’s cheek, she was gone.

Considering Alli’s luck with these kinds of things, she wasn’t the least bit surprised to find herself seated at the little cafe inside the drug store, scribbling birthday wishes to her cousins, with a jug of prune juice at her feet when Jason happened by.

He almost didn’t notice her, but the breeze from his passing blew a few scratchers off the table. He immediately bent to retrieve them. “So sorry, please excuse me - Oh, hey!” His face lit up with recognition. “If it isn’t the shirt thief.”

Alli cringed inwardly and prayed the heat she was feeling scalding her cheeks wasn’t accompanied by a scarlet blush.

She tried to play it cool. “Hi, Jason, was it? How are you?”

“Better, now that I’ve run into you, Alli Allison.” He taped the scratchers against the table top to make them uniform, then handed them back to her. “Another vice of yours?” He asked playfully.

She laughed. “It’s Wilson, and yes. Gambling my paycheck away is the only way I’ve found to keep myself from the drink.” Alli cringed again, this time visibly. “That sounded funnier in my head.”

Jason laughed at her tortured expression. Noticing one of the birthday cards, his eyebrows shot up in interest. “
¿Habla Espanol?
”

Alli was thoroughly confused for a moment, then remembered the card she was writing. “Oh, this. No. I don’t speak Spanish, and neither does my cousin, but the birthday card selection here leaves much to be desired. It was either this, or a bat mitzvah card.”

“Hmmm. That could only be topped by a
Spanish
bat mitzvah card. Or a sympathy card for the loss of a pet! Did you check?”