Sally: Autumn Storms (F&L Story #4)

Sally: Part 16

Part 16

Wilson’s shoulder blades itched and his ears burned. He felt their eyes through the back of his head, but his manly pride refused to scurry away like one of Sally’s rats. He worked his way through a pile of wood, splitting and stacking as he went. And the jeers just got louder. As he finished up the last of the firewood, the shouts and giggled abruptly stopped. He glanced out the corner of his eye and saw Sally, hands fisted at her waist, berating the behavior of four other, sheepish-looking women.

On the slight breeze, he heard her say, “I’ll not have you act this way in my house. If you want to cackle like a bunch of stupid hens, I’ll drag you down to the chicken coops. See how giddy you are when you’ve got chicken shit all over your shoes.”

Wilson turned around to hide his smile.

“…furthermore, Wilson is a good man, and he’s a good worker. How would you like it if your husbands were treated this way?”

That shocked him. She stuck him in the same category as the other’s husbands. Interesting.

He entered the tractor barn, picturing the car load of females that drove up to Sally’s house earlier. There had been a petite redhead with a silly grin on her face. A brunette whose eyes twinkled mischievously, a very pregnant pixie blonde who grumbled under her breath, and another blonde with legs that traveled nearly up to her armpits. All attractive in their own ways, he guessed, but none of them appealed to him.

None, but the wild-haired, sassy woman that faced them all down like a pissed-off mother hen. He couldn’t help himself. When she wasn’t pissing him off, she had this uncanny ability to make him smile. Sometimes, late at night, he stared into the darkness, trying to make his facial muscles form the happy expression, but it felt uncomfortable. Sally could do that without trying. She could make him smile and laugh, and no clumsy feeling bombarded him. With Sally, amusement came naturally.

Well, that’s what he got for falling Stetson over boot heels. He guessed that happiness transpired with love. Or maybe it was just Sally.

Going into the tool closet of the barn to store the ax away, his new cell phone buzzed from his back pocket. It startled the crap out of him, and he nearly dropped the ax on his foot. Tugging free the complicated device, he stared at it for a moment, trying to remember how to receive a call. After five rings, he figured it out and touched the cool screen to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Wil, you’re alive, after all!” Josh’s voice called loudly through the phone. Wilson flinched and moved it away from him. Since he had no idea how to turn down the volume, he just kept it a good three inches from his head.

“Hey, Josh. You checking up on me?”

“You can say that. Ms. Sanborn emailed me your new cell number, so I thought I’d call and see how you’re doing.” The sounds of a roaring crowd came through the apparatus.

“Where are you?” he asked his long-time friend.

“At Samantha’s gymnastics meet. It’s crazy in here. Hang on…” Some shuffling, some strange voices, some odd thumping…and Josh came back, talking in a normal voice without the background noise. “There. That’s better. So, Ms. Sanborn said in her email that you’ve finished your probation period. Are you a full time employee now?”

“Yeah,” Wilson said.

A beat passed. “You don’t sound too happy about that, but then again, you haven’t sounded too happy about a lot of things lately. If it’s not working out, don’t feel obligated to stay there just because of your parole requirements. There’s other jobs, Wil.”