But at this point, she had realized how to get exactly what she wanted from people, and that’s when she went after Arlen. She saw him as the target of a lifetime and had learned from her mistakes with Murray. She had to worm her way into his life, make it so he couldn’t live without her. She had to somehow convince him that she was the single most important person in his life, and I would bet that all stemmed from Arlen’s relationship with his kids.
Lorelei
With the guys working inside on finishing up the kitchen, I really didn’t have anything else to do right now. I had finished my afghan last night by the fire and then slept under it last night. But I was running low on firewood, so I needed to take care of that before I did anything else with the house. With the cold weather creeping further into the house, I had decided to sleep in my living room in front of the fire. It was better than freezing under layers of blankets.
As I trudged out to the trees behind my house, dragging my axe behind me, I thought about the idea Andrew had for my breakfast nook. It sounded absolutely perfect. In fact, it was so perfect that I talked to Eric this morning about making those changes. It wouldn’t be easy. With winter coming, and me living in the house, it was going to be a project that would be a tad difficult, but he promised to look into all the aspects of it as soon as they finished the current project they were working on in the kitchen.
When I reached the stump for cutting wood, I got to work chopping up wood. Bracing my hands around the handle of the axe like my father had taught me, I raised the axe above my head and took my first swing. I was a little rusty, but after a few swings, I was on a roll, splitting logs like it was second nature. I started sweating, and had to remove a layer so I could move more swiftly, without sweating my ass off.
I was just about to start up again when I saw someone walking toward me. No, scratch that, hobbling toward me. I picked up the axe and swung over and over again as Andrew trudged toward me. With the last log I split, I wiped at my forehead and stared at the pile I had created with pride.
Andrew, however, did not look proud. He looked a little terrified. “So, afghans at night and splitting logs during the day…” He said it like he was trying to figure it out, not as a statement or a question.
“Well, I have to heat the house.”
“They have people that do this sort of thing.”
“Why pay someone to do it when I can do it myself?”
He frowned, shaking his head slightly. “Fixing cars, crocheting afghans, splitting logs…” he mumbled. “I just don’t get it.”
“What don’t you get?”
“I mean, none of it makes sense.”
My breath was huffing out in white puffs as my heart stopped racing from my exertion. “What doesn’t make sense?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. I’m just trying to figure you out.”
“I didn’t realize you had to.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment, but he looked conflicted, almost scared, like I was going to pick up the axe and murder him. I didn’t want to murder him. I needed him on my side.
“Do you think you could give me a hand bringing the logs inside? Or is your foot too injured?”
His eyes shot up to mine and he looked at me like I had just insulted his manhood. Maybe I should be playing this up as more the little woman that needed help. I wasn’t used to that though. I was used to doing things for myself. I had done it for so long, and around Arlen, I had to literally be smarter than him about everything. But Andrew…I had a feeling that wouldn’t get me anywhere with him.
So, I pretended to be the little woman that didn’t know any better. I stacked two logs in my arms and started trudging across the lawn to the house.
“What are you doing?” he called out.
I turned and quirked my head at him. “I’m taking the wood inside.”
He sighed, shaking his head. “You can’t carry this whole stack inside. You’ll wear yourself out. Do you have any equipment in that barn?” he nodded toward the slightly crumbling structure.
“Um…”
He sighed and moved that way. “Let’s go check it out. You’re going to be doing this all winter. There’s no point in doing it the hard way.”
I smirked as I followed him. I knew there was a snowmobile in there, though I hadn’t seen yet if it was working. Plus, there was a small tractor and a wagon. I could easily stack the wood on the wagon and haul it over to the house.
“You seem to know your way around a farm,” I said as we walked across the yard.
“I grew up on a farm. Before my dad started leasing out the land, we had to work it with him.”
“He doesn’t farm anymore?”
“No, he and Ma moved to North Carolina. He was tired and my Ma wanted someplace warmer to live. They’ve been there for a while now.”
“So, no one runs the farm?”
He shook his head. “My brother
