Family Forever
Chapter Two
At a few minutes to eight, Dylan glimpsed Marissa walking up the driveway through the front room bay window. He should have known she’d end up walking. He wanted to kick himself. Why hadn’t he offered to pick her up? At least it wasn’t that far a walk, but the spring air was damp and chilly.
He shot a quick glance around the living room. His brothers had done a pretty good job tidying up the room. Stepping into the kitchen, he barked out a couple of orders to Braden and Nate, telling them to hurry with the dishes and clean the junk off the countertops.
Nate’s head snapped in his direction. “Why do we have to do this when you paid to have Marissa come over and do it?”
Dylan sighed. “We’ve been through this for the past two hours. She’s coming here to spring clean. She’s not your private maid service. She’s here to polish the furniture and scrub floors. You guys need to learn to pick up after yourselves. And what happened to Aric? Where is he? He’s supposed to be helping.”
Braden laughed. “Yeah, right, Aric, helping? He never does anything. He’s probably upstairs hiding out in his room playing video games while we’re slaving away down here.”
Dylan looked up as if he could see into heaven. Just one day with no arguing or fighting, that’s all I’m asking. Just one.
He turned his attention to Luke, who sat at the table coloring.
“Hey, buddy, you’re going to have to finish your masterpiece in your bedroom. Marissa will be here any minute, and I don’t want you in her way.”
Without a word, Luke gathered up his crayons and stuffed them into the box. Unlike his brothers, he didn’t say much. So little, in fact, it worried him. Quiet wasn’t normal for a Jacobs boy.
A faint knock sounded on the front door.
Dylan pulled it open. “Hi, Marissa, come on in.”
Except for Aric, the rest of his brothers had gathered in the living room. Braden and Nate each bid her ‘Good morning’, but Luke just stared at her with his big brown eyes, one hand gripped his box of crayons and the other held the picture he’d been coloring. The kid was so shy and timid.
Marissa’s soft gaze zoned in on Luke, and she stepped toward him. “Can I see your picture?”
He set the box on the floor and used both hands to hold his picture up for her to see. She smiled warmly at him. “That’s a beautiful horse, and just look how well you colored him, stayed in the lines and everything.”
His baby brother beamed at her compliment, but still said not a word. When she bent over to take a closer look, he snatched his box of crayons from the floor, spun on his heel, and took off.
Her concerned gaze met Dylan’s. “What…”
“He’s very bashful.”
Marissa nodded and swung her gaze around the room. “Well, it looks pretty clean in here. What exactly do you want me to do?”
“Yeah, it’s clean because the general there has been on us for the past two hours to clean before you got here.” Braden’s sharp look bore into him.
Heat rose in his cheeks. Why his teenage brother’s comment embarrassed him, he didn’t know. Dylan ignored him and focused his attention on Marissa. “The furniture hasn’t been polished in a while, the bathrooms could use a good cleaning, and all the floors could use a good vacuuming and scrubbing.” Recognizing the fact the house was pretty big, and he’d just asked her to clean two and one-half bathrooms used by five males, six occasionally when Cole was home from college, he added, “Just get as far as you can with the time I bought and we’ll be good.”
She smiled. “For what you paid, I’ll make sure to get it all done.”
“Great. I have to make a run to the county co-op, and then town. I shouldn’t be gone but for a couple of hours. You probably won’t see Aric, it’s likely he’ll stay in his room to play video games, Luke will hide out in his room as well,” he nodded toward Braden and Nate, “and these two can show you where the cleaning supplies are and help you if you need anything.”
The boys opened their mouths but shut them upon receiving his silencing glare. He’d heard enough whining already for one morning.
Dylan climbed into his truck and cranked the engine. The quiet ten-minute drive to the feed mill was just what he needed this morning. He loved his brothers, but they had nearly driven him nuts this week with their bickering among each other, not to mention all the running he had to do to get them where they needed to be. Why was it that all their events were scheduled on the same days and at the same time? Aric and Nate with baseball practice and games, and Braden and Luke with band practice, piano lessons, and Boy Scouts.
He pulled into the co-op parking lot and cut the engine. How was it that a ten-minute drive went so fast, and oddly, he really didn’t remember driving there? Knowing he needed to get it together, he stood by his truck for a minute and sucked in a few slow, cleansing breaths of the damp spring air.
After picking up his order, he shot the breeze with Carl, the assistant manager, and Betty, the checkout clerk.
“That brother of yours is quite the ballplayer, and he’s only a sophomore. I wouldn’t be surprised if he broke some of your school records by the time he’s done. Your brother, Cole, came close, but he didn’t apply himself like you did, and Aric does,” Carl stated matter-of-factly.
Carl was right. Aric was an excellent ballplayer. Sports were the only thing Aric took as seriously as video games.
The man liked to talk with him about high school sports because his kids were athletic as well. Like Dylan and his brothers, their ages spanned from the mid-twenties down to kindergarten, but Carl had a couple of girls mixed in.
Betty leaned over the counter, touched his arm, and flashed him the sympathetic look he often received from people since his parents died.
“So dear, how you doing? You doing okay? How about I send Gayle over with a couple of pies for you boys?”
Betty’s pies were delicious. In fact, her cherry pie had won the blue ribbon at the county fair every year since he could remember. The only problem with getting some of the woman’s pies was that her daughter delivered them. And unlike her mother, she was annoying by nature and tended to hang around for longer than she needed to. But, in any case, Betty’s blatant effort to hook him and her daughter up was a small price to pay for getting those pies in his hands.
Dylan smiled and nodded. “Ma’am, I’d be a fool to turn down your wonderful, scrumptious pies. They’re the best in the county, probably the state. Have you ever entered them in the state fair?”
Her cheeks turned pink. “Oh, you’re a charmer. I’ll whip up a couple after work and send Gayle over with them.”
After leaving the co-op, he headed to town, needing to stop at the grocery store. Even if he stopped at the store every day, he’d probably still run out of milk, cereal, and bread at home. It was amazing how much those boys ate and drank, especially Aric and Braden.
Within two hours, he was home. He pulled a couple of grocery bags from the cab of his truck, and when he turned to step away from his vehicle, he nearly bumped into Marissa.
“Need some help?” Her voice was so soft he hardly heard her. Her straight blonde hair was now pulled into a ponytail and her shirtsleeves were rolled up past her elbows, displaying her skinny, pale arms. How many bags could those spindly arms possibly carry?
He handed her the two bags he held and then reached into the truck to grab a couple more. Before he’d even spun back around, he heard her direct someone to help him. Braden nearly flew through the doorway connecting the kitchen to the garage. Hmm. He would have had to ask them more than once for help, yet they jumped at her meek direction. After handing his brother a couple bags, he grabbed the rest from the backseat and headed into the kitchen, just in time to catch his teenage brother eyeing the neighbor girl’s backside as she bent over to pick up the dustpan. That explains it. He has a little crush and is trying to impress her.
Dylan couldn’t really blame the kid; she was a cute girl in a wholesome kind of way, but he doubted a senior in high school would give the time of day to an eighth grader. Selfishly deciding not to clue his brother in on the reality, he’d use this to his advantage and get some work out of him while Marissa was still there.
After he and Braden stowed the groceries, he sent him to strip the beds while he emptied the clothes from the washer into the dryer. His brother returned with a hefty load of sheets in his arms, stuffed one half of them into the washer, and threw the other half in a clothes basket.
“When the dryer goes off, fold those clothes, then transfer the sheets from the washer to the dryer, and start the next load of sheets,” Dylan specifically instructed, knowing if he didn’t, it would all be waiting for him when he returned from the barn. And knowing the boy would want to impress Marissa, the tasks would get completed.
“Okay.”
Marissa was polishing the kitchen cupboards when he walked back through the kitchen. He paused at the stairs and yelled for Aric.
No response.
“Don’t make me have to come up there and get you. You know Will had to leave for a while, so we have to help Thomas and Juan with re-sectioning the calf pens. And check on Luke on your way down.”
“He was just down here practicing on the piano,” Marissa said.
Dylan turned to face her. “Luke was playing the piano?”
She nodded. “Yeah, practiced for about an hour.”
How very odd for Luke, not the piano part because he loved playing the piano and always practiced without argument, but to come downstairs with an outsider in the house was quite unusual for the shy boy.
Aric bounded into the kitchen. “Oh, hey, Marissa.”
“Hi, Aric.”
Just as Dylan had suspected, the whole time he was gone Aric remained in his room, and was first seeing Marissa now. Well, at least now he’d be torn from his video games for a while.
“I’ll change and be out there in a minute,” Dylan informed his brother.
He shot off to the master bedroom, peeled out of his clothes and slid into his barn clothes, then headed out after Aric.
They returned to the house a couple of hours later to find Braden, Nate, Luke, and Marissa sitting at the kitchen table feasting on sandwiches and chips.
Marissa’s big blue gaze landed on him. “Would you like a sandwich? I can make one for you.”
“I’ll take one,” Aric interjected.
“She’s not here to make your sandwiches. You’re perfectly capable of making your own,” Dylan snapped.
Marissa’s gaze shifted to the tabletop, and why wouldn’t it, the way he just jumped all over his brother over a sandwich. But what she didn’t know was that his brother’s sheer laziness had worn on him over time, and he’d been working to break Aric of it. There was no room for being lazy, especially when living on a farm.
He and Aric pulled up chairs and made their own lunches. Dylan looked at his baby brother who sat quietly on his chair. “What kind are you eating there, buddy?”
“Bologna. Marissa made it for me,” he said with a smile.
“Well, that was nice of her, wasn’t it?”
He nodded and took another bite.
After lunch, the boys tended to their business. Marissa offered to help Braden with finishing the laundry and making the beds. Maybe the kid made a good impression after all.
Dylan hopped in the shower to rid himself of the barn smell and then go to the den where he’d do some bookwork, likely for most of the afternoon. After a quick rinse, he stepped out of the master bathroom and into his bedroom, wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.
Marissa looked up from the bed she was making with Braden, gasped, and turned whiter than the sheets she was tucking under his mattress. He hadn’t expected to find anyone in his room, and judging from the surprised look in her eyes, she hadn’t expected him to walk out of the bathroom wearing just a towel.
Her gaze flew away from him. “Sorry,” she muttered before rushing out of the room so fast the breeze in her wake chilled him. He nearly laughed out loud.
* * * *
Marissa
Marissa didn’t stop until she reached the half bath off the kitchen. She splashed her fiery face with cool water. She’d never seen anything as glorious as Dylan Jacobs standing there nearly naked. Beads of water dripped off the ends of his thick, wavy, dark hair onto his wide shoulders and broad chest. Her fingertips tingled at the thought of tracing those trickling paths as they skimmed down his torso. She closed her eyes and replayed the vision of scanning his lightly hair-dusted chest, following the thinning line of hair over his chiseled abs until it disappeared beneath the towel. The thought of what lay under that towel sent her mind into a tailspin. Sweat dampened her palms again, despite the cold water.
Good Lord, how am I ever going to face him again? She must have looked like a complete fool, the way she rushed out of the bedroom, nearly tripping over her own feet. It’s not like she’d never seen a man’s chest before, but holy cow, his was something. And his tantalizing scent was to die for. It was just soap, but that clean, fresh scent on him was arousing, to say the least. Needing to regroup, she sat on the toilet seat and took another minute to calm her tense nerves before exiting the bathroom. With any luck, she wouldn’t see him for the rest of the day. For now, at least, she could hide upstairs and clean the boys’ bathroom.
After she finished with their bathroom, it left her with no choice but to go back downstairs. Dylan had told her earlier that the boys were responsible for cleaning their own rooms, though she strayed and helped Braden make all the beds. When he looked at her with his big, sad puppy eyes, she couldn’t help but lend him a hand. He had her number already. She was a sucker. She had even helped him fold the clothes his brother told him to take care of earlier in the day.
A knock sounded on the front door. She paused from wiping down the mirror in the bathroom off the kitchen. The knock sounded again before she heard what she assumed to be Dylan’s footsteps leaving the den, and walking through the living room. More footsteps sounded on the steps opening into the living room. Sure, Aric was still busy with his video games, it was probably Braden or Nate coming to see who it was, maybe even Luke.
The jittery laugh of a woman carried into the kitchen where Marissa stood, peeking through the doorway to the living room, hoping to catch a glimpse of who was at the door. Luke stood at the bottom of the steps. His gaze fixed in the direction of the voices, a toy tractor gripped in his hands.
“I’ll just set these in the kitchen for you,” the woman said.
Marissa quickly scooted away from the doorway, around the table, and busied herself by the sink, filling a bucket with water.
Both the voices and footsteps grew louder. She spun to face everyone when they entered the kitchen. A thin woman with jet-black hair set two pies on the table.
The woman’s curious, disapproving gaze raked over her before she swung her gaze to Dylan. “You hired a housekeeper?” Her tone was condescending.
Being the daughter of the town drunk, Marissa was used to that tone, but it still stung.
“I’ve told you before, I’d be happy to help you out,” the woman added.
Dylan’s sympathetic gaze met hers only for the briefest moment before returning to the woman. “She’s not the housekeeper.”
He looked like he was going to say more, but stopped.
The woman’s lips drew into a thin line, and her gaze zoned in on her again. Marissa squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. Who was this woman to judge her?
Nate stepped forward and pointed at her as he looked at the lady. “Gayle, that’s Marissa. She lives on the next farm over.”
Ahh, Gayle is her name, and who exactly is she?
The unpleasant woman kept her piercing gaze on her as she reached over and touched Dylan’s arm as if marking her territory. Dylan pulled away so fast she would have sworn the woman’s touch was like a branding iron. Marissa nearly laughed. Serves her right.
Gayle leaned toward Luke who stood two brothers away from Dylan. “Would you like a piece of cherry pie, Luke?”
Before his name was fully out of her mouth, the poor little boy dropped his toy tractor, darted away from her, and hid behind Marissa as he gripped her leg. Marissa reached down and placed her hand on his shoulder, hoping to curb his fear. His grip loosened. The amused gazes on all the Jacobs brothers’ faces were unmistakable. She assumed their amusement came from their little brother sticking it to the supercilious woman, but then something changed in Dylan’s gaze as it shifted between his baby brother and her. It softened.
Dylan looked at Gayle. “The boys shouldn’t have pie now. It’s too close to dinner. But please be sure to thank your mother for us. We enjoy her desserts immensely.”
The woman lingered for a moment before heading to the door.
“We really can’t have any now?” Nate asked.
“I think you can wait until after dinner,” Dylan reiterated.
Disappointment washed over both Nate’s and Braden’s faces.
“Hey guys, why don’t we go outside and toss the baseball around for a while, and get out of Marissa’s way so she can finish up,” Dylan suggested.
The boys scattered, she assumed to go get their gloves.
He glanced at his watch. “I’ll take you home at five o’clock.”
She swung her gaze around the room. “I don’t think I’ll be done by then.”
The corners of his mouth lifted into the most handsome smile she’d ever seen, and as for his dimples, her fingers itched to touch them.
“That’s okay. You got far more done than I expected.”
What exactly did he mean by that? Did he think she was incapable?
“That didn’t come out right,” he quickly added. “What I meant was, it’s a big house, and there was a lot to do. Eight hours just wasn’t enough.”
“I can come back and finish tomorrow. I am almost finished with what you wanted done.”
“It’s okay, Marissa, you fulfilled your obligation.”
Good Lord, she loved hearing the sound of her name rolling off his tongue in his deep, distinctive tone. She perched her hands on her hips. “I want to finish. You paid far more than you should have for eight hours. Please let me finish tomorrow?”
Did she really just beg this man to let her clean his house? Was her life really that pathetic and lonely at home? It was. Though her dad was there, he wasn’t really there. Home to him was just a place to pass out and regroup for his next round of drinking. But this home, the Jacobs house, was so full of life, so many of them, there could be no loneliness here.
“Okay, I’ll pick you up around noon.”
“Noon?” That seemed kind of late to get started.
“Well, first we have church, then the boys have Sunday school, and then we typically visit our grandfather at the assisted living center, which gets us home about noon.”
Church, Sunday school, and old folk’s home. This guy is a saint. Though this wasn’t really a surprise to her, she had heard plenty of good things about Dylan Jacobs, but now that she was seeing and hearing of it firsthand, it seemed more true and real.
Continue to the next chapter of Family Forever