After Calvin was gone, John turned to Shannon. “It’s wearing on all of us. He’s too old to be sitting out here for hours on end in the cold. It’ll kill him eventually.”
Shannon pursed her lips and bobbed her head in agreement.
“What we need,” John said, “is a dog so the rest of us can get some sleep at night.”
The wind had kicked up, bringing with it the beginnings of a biting cold. Shannon had her arms wrapped across her chest and moved a little closer to John. He noticed, but continued scanning the countryside as if scoping some threat that, at the present time, wasn’t there. Shannon was standing with her left hip nearly touching John’s right thigh when she pivoted to his front, wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers grabbing John’s hair, and drew his face down to meet hers.
For a split second, John thought to pull back, but in the wake of everything he’d been through over the last couple of months, he was unable to muster a single gentlemanly objection. He had not been with a woman since the solar flare. All this survival, animalistic living had added testosterone to his body, he was sure of that. So, as Shannon stood on her tiptoes and dragged their lips closer, he surrendered. Before their lips met, John could smell her scent, and it smelled good. He was surprised since there was no fragrance from soap, lotion or perfume. It was Shannon’s pure smell as a woman, raw and unadulterated.
Then their lips came together, and it was all wrong. John had kissed women he never saw again, and always he had made it work. This was different. He felt Shannon pull at him hard, then slow as their mouths came together in an awkward coupling of two things not meant for each other. The kiss was a failed romantic interlude. A disaster recognized immediately by both parties involved. This thankfully alleviated any sort of clumsy overstep by one or the other.
Shannon pulled away sharply. “I’m sorry—I thought maybe—”
John cut her off with a shake of his head. “Not your fault, and now we know,” he breathed softly, stepping back while keeping his hands on her shoulders. He stared at her for a long moment, then dropped his hands as she wiped her mouth, not making eye contact.
Things are different now, John thought. Relationships would not be as transient as they’d been in the old days. Things would mean much more now, and John had to adjust his approach with women. Sure, he would have liked to be intimate with Shannon. She was good looking, kind, and pretty much the only female around town at this point, but he knew it would turn nasty or at the very least uncomfortable. He was thankful they hadn’t taken it any further. There was enough discomfort in the world without skulking around having to avoid a spurned woman.
“I should get back to the house. Essie needs to finish her studies,” Shannon said, taking a step back.
John smiled. “Listen, no one needs to know about this, for both our sakes,” he suggested.
“Thank you, John,” Shannon said, her voice conveying her agreement.
“You know something?” John observed.
Shannon cocked her head in question.
“That felt like I was kissing my sister.”
Shannon’s shoulders slumped as if John had intended to insult her.
“No, no, that’s not a bad thing. It’s just we weren’t meant to be…well, hooked up like that, but I like you, and I think you like me, so I guess we have more of a brother-sister relationship now. All this doesn’t have to turn into something weird is all I’m saying.”
A look of relief spread across Shannon’s face that quickly transformed into a warm smile. John smiled as well until the woman launched herself back at him. She grabbed his face and planted a closed-mouth kiss directly on his mouth before letting go and stepping back. This time it didn’t feel weird.
“You’re a good man, John. I’m glad you’re part of this little thing we have going on out here in the hills.”
With that, she turned and walked back toward the ranch house.
“What the fuck?” John murmured under his breath. He knew the world had changed, but had he changed so much that a woman he would have considered beautiful even before the event came on to him and he didn’t close the deal? Not only that, but now they had a brother-sister relationship. He slowly lowered his chin and shook his head as he chuckled softly to himself.
The following morning, Shannon sat at the OP while the four men sat at the kitchen table with Essie. They’d eaten, and Essie was attempting to drag a small brush through a half-naked Barbie doll’s hair.
“We need to round up a couple of horses for this trip, but only John and you”—Barry nodded to Calvin—“know how to handle those things.”
Calvin dipped his chin in acknowledgment and looked at John for confirmation.
“I can get by if the horse has been trained. I ain’t breaking no wild mustang, if you know what I mean.”
Calvin thought about the situation for a moment before speaking. “There are horses out here, should be plenty. Some were probably left in pens and have starved to death by now, but there were a lot of horses pastured, and those will be the ones that survived as long as they have water. John and I can go and bring back at least four, and with any luck, we’ll find some tack for you fellas.”
Jared hesitated before asking the question, but had long since learned nowadays were not the days to not ask a question. Before the event, Jared could have just figured out what tack meant as he went about his day. Now he might very well get killed not knowing what someone was talking about.
“What’s tack?” Jared asked.
“Yeah, what’s that?” Barry dittoed.
“Gear, saddles, bridles anything else you strap to the animal. You all will at least need bridles and saddles; ain’t
