SWNOVELS Chapter 11 Digging A Hole!
“What the name of that guy we met a few years ago?” Tyler asked as he was looking out the window.
“What guy?” Jackson asked,
“The Italian guy.” Jackson scrunched his face trying to recall ever meeting an Italian guy. “We met him in Ontario, The Peace Treaty”
“Oh yeah! They was two of em, which one?” Jackson asked
“The one that bury stuff all the time, he only spoke Italian” Tyler answered looking over at his brother,
“The lil guy? I like him, don’t member his name. I member he couldn’t has tequila though, don’t know why” Jackson replied,
“Somein bout buryin his wife’s shoes” Tyler said looking back out the window.
“Well that make sense, the fuck you wanna know?” Jackson asked,
“Neighbour diggin a whole in the yard, maybe her buryin somein.” Jackson went to look out the window.
“The fuck her doin?” Jackson asked,
“That Lil Kenzi Cakes? Her a tiny lil thin” Tyler commented,
“Yeah her itty bitty. Hey Adon!” Jackson called for Adonis in the kitchen.
“What?” He called back,
“Yur mate buryin somein in the yard, her diggin a big ol’ hole” Jackson called over his shoulder. “You translated for the lil guy?” Jackson asked looking back at his brother.
“Yeah!” Tyler nodded “What? Ladies love it”
“Ladies? You never did nuttin wit no ladies,” Jackson cracked up laughing
“I did stuff” Tyler shot back, stopping Jackson right there,
“Stuff stuff?” He asked arching his eyebrow
“Yeah stuff stuff” Tyler replied,
“Stuff stuff stuffety stuff?” Jackson asked,
“Not that stuff, jus stuff stuff” Tyler shook his head. Elijah stood at the far end of the living room, shaking his head as he listened to Tyler and Jackson converse.
“Wonder why the lil guy never came back?” Jackson asked, Tyler could only shrug, they had a lot of fun when he was down.
“Probably because you almost got him arrested and the lieutenant wouldn’t allow him to return.” Elijah interjected as he finished putting another box of stuff away.
“That suck! Had a great fuckin time” Jackson huffed.
Adonis watched her from the window, she had her headphones in dancing to whatever song was playing while she dug the hole in the yard. What’s she burying? Odin asked. Not sure! Must be something big, maybe it’s the boyfriend! Maybe we should help her then, it would be the neighbourly thing to do! Bout damn time! Shut up! Moving towards the door he had planned on waiting a day, but he had to see her. Still angered by what he heard he had to see how bad it was.
“The fuck you goin?” Jackson asked,
“To introduce myself to the neighbour, thank her for the basket, maybe help her bury the boyfriend. It would be the polite thing to do” Adonis replied as he walked out the door. Knowing full well they would be watching him, hell he could already feel their eyes on him and he hasn’t even left his property yet. He had to make sure he didn’t make an ass out of himself. Good luck with that! You asshole! Calling it like I see it! He could hear her singing, and he couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. She always seemed happy when he saw her dancing and singing. Her own world, with not a worry in it, her peace brought him peace. Moving closer, her scent pulled him to move towards her, calming him as it encompassed him like a warm blanket. If she were a siren she would have drowned him five times already with her song.
Too busy lost in her scent and the sound of her voice when he should have been paying more attention to her, he had gotten too close and received a shower in dirt. Hearing Odin howling in his head and cursing himself he almost missed the shovel when she swung it back. Quick reflexes he caught it mere inches from his head and held on. Feeling her trying to pull it from his grasp he tapped her other shoulder.
“Biscuit eaters!” Kenzi released a startled gasp spun to face him and fell backwards into the hole she dug. THUMP!
“Adonis! Do you need the shovel?” She asked, staring up at him wide eyed, pulling her headphones from her head.
“No Kenzi, I don’t need the shovel, I just didn’t want to get hit with it, are you ok?” He replied, holding back a laugh as he looked down at her sitting in the hole she had created, what was she burying that she needed to make the hole so deep?
“Oh! That makes sense, that would hurt,” she returned, “If you’re not garden-ing, then why are you coverded in dirt?” She added after she took in his appearance, confusion crossing her face.
“Well…. you threw it at me!” He answered. He could see her piecing together what happened and a sheepish grin crossed her face.
“Oops! Sorry” She said,
“It’s ok, not entirely your fault, I did walk behind you. Sorry for scaring you, let me help you out of there.” He offered, crouching down so she could put her arms around his neck. Wrapping his arm around her waist he lifted her from the hole. He was right, he could easily wrap his arm around her twice. She held tighter to him than necessary, but he enjoyed the feel of her pressed flush against his body. He could have just offered his hand to help her out, but he wanted her touch, her feel. Electricity flowed through him at the contact and choosing to focus on how good she felt in his arms, then the bruising he saw on her face and neck, was keeping his anger tabled for now. He was curious as to why she was all wet though.
“Why are you all wet?” He asked,
“Um….I might has fallded off the dock.” She replied, smiling a bit more sheepishly.
Back above ground and standing beside him. She brushed the dirt off her bottom. Wouldn’t it be neighbourly to offer to help with that?
“What are you doing?” He asked, pulling his eyes from her perfectly round backside, no he didn’t think that would be neighbourly at all, but it was tempting to just help. He also couldn’t help but notice the wolf cuffs around her wrists again, she seemed to like wearing them. She always seems to be wearing a set of cuffs around her wrists. Maybe she just likes them! Odin suggested.
“I’m digging a hole” She replied, pulling him from his thoughts, she looked up at him then looked at the hole in the ground.
“I see that. Why are you digging a hole?” He asked,
“Oh, I’m planting a tree” she answered,
“Cause the forest doesn’t have enough trees?” He inquired looking at the woods around them.
“No, it has lots, but those aren’t fruit trees. I’m planting a pear tree.” She said, smiling at him.
“Ahh! Why?” Now he was curious as to why she would be doing that.
“Cause I don’t has a pear tree. I has peaches, plums, apples, nectarines, cherries. And Harvey was selling them, and I has Maggie’s truck, and she won’t mind that I pickded one up.” She replied,
“Why do you need a pear tree?” He asked another question,
“Cause ness year is gonna be the season of the pears. I won’t ged any this year, but ness year I’ll ged lots.” She said her smile was captivating and never left her face.
“And what are you going to make with all these pears?” He asked,
“I don’t know. I don’t has any pears, that’s why I needded the tree. I could buy some I guess, but I like growing my own. That way when I say it’s garden fresh it’s not a lie. It comes from my garden.” She happily told him,
“Your garden huh?” He said. Seems his tiny dancer liked to keep busy. Maybe she gets into trouble when she’s not! Odin mused in his head.
“Yeah!” She nodded.
“Why do you have Maggie’s truck? What happened to your car” He asked, looking at the truck. Even furrowing her brows the smile never left her face.
“I don’t know! Maggie came in this morning mad boud sum-thing and told me we has to shudded down the bakery for a few days and I has to take her truck. Frank saw sum-thing wrong with my car and took it to his shop. She’ll be by later to um….um….ged hers.” She replied following his gaze to Maggie’s truck.
“She never told you what happened to it?” They keep her protected! With what we saw this morning, I can’t say I would tell her either!
“Uh uh!” She shook her head, “But knowing Frank, it has a flat tire and he disighded to do a full in-insp-inspec….look over on it. He keeps telling me to ged a new car, but I like my car. I know what all the buddons do, and I’d has to go into one of the cities.” She scrunched her nose up at the last part.
“You don’t like the cities!” He remembers the conversation they had, the day he met her.
“It’s not that I don’t like them, they feel cold and un….uninv…. and ez-zry-thing’s so big, I feel oudda place.” She said, giving up on the word she was trying to say.
“Or you’re just really tiny” Kenzi’s eyes widened and she tried to look offended, but the grin that spread across her face gave her away.
“Hey! At least I don’t has to duck when I pass uner a doorway. You mus bang your head a lot.” She teased, he couldn’t mask the grin on his face.
“Hey! At least I can reach things on the bottom shelf without the use of a step stool” He fired back, his grin getting bigger.
“That’s true! Do you ged a lot of nosebleeds?” She asked, looking up at him.
“Ouch! Do cops pull you over and ask where the booster seat is?” He shot back, she broke out laughing and nodded her head.
“Wait, what?” He looked at her in disbelief,
“Once….once….it happended once!” she choked out. “Highway patrol pullded me over, he th-th-ough-t a kid was driving and there was an emer…..a problem. He was a liddle shockded to see me behind the wheel and said sorry, but said sum-thing boud needing a booster seat.” She explained when she could control her laughter. “I ged pullded over a lot, but not cause I’m doing anything wrong. I was riding with Maggie once and a cop pullded her over. He was gonna give her a ticket for hasing a child in the front. Took one look at me, went red facded and walkded away waving Maggie off. We sat there for five minutes laughing, he nezer said a word.” He broke out laughing, he couldn’t help it.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh” He said trying to control himself,
“It’s ok, not ez-zry-one can be a tall tower” She smiled up at him.
“Alright tiny dancer, I think you dug your hole a little deep” He said, a pink blush spread across her crinkled nose, her smile getting bigger at the name he just called her. He had to turn his attention away and fought with himself to ignore the little giggle, it was getting harder and harder to keep control of himself. All he wanted to do was take her in his arms and keep her there. The internal struggle he had with himself when he picked her out of the hole was hard, he didn’t want to put her down. He could have easily slid his hand down her. The fight to control it tested him and if he wasn’t careful it was a test he would fail. She was human and he had to move slowly. This is what he kept telling himself over and over to stop from doing something that would interfere with the bond forming. The last thing he wanted was to move too quickly and have her fear him.
“I might has gedded a bit c-car-ried away,” She replied, looking back at the hole.
“A bit? Kenzi, you dug a hole three feet deep” Adonis stated looking back at her. The pink blush on her cheeks remained, as her eyes danced with mirth.
“Yeah, I did! It’s ok….I’ll jus fill half of it in, it’ll be fine” she replied waving her hand at it. “Can I assk you sum-thing?” She asked, looking up at him again.
“Sure!” He said,
“How do you know where I live?” She probably should have asked this before they started talking, but it was nice to talk to someone.
“I actually came over to thank you for the welcome basket, I bought the house next door” He replied, watching her carefully to gauge her reaction to what he just said.
“That’s funny, you buyded the house ness door, small world. Then I guess I should say welcome home.” Her eyes lit up and a burst of excitement bubbled up inside her when she heard that. Though she fought hard to contain it. She didn’t know why that excited her but it did.
“Thank you! Can I ask you something now?” He asked. Pleased with her reaction to him living next door to her he fought to control his own reaction to the excitement he felt coming off of her.
“Oh, um you has assess to the dock, there should be a path behind the house that goes down to it. It’s not jus my dock, it’s sharded between the four houses in this area. The two across the street has assess over there, I hope who-ez-zr buyded them does-dint has a boat though. That’s not what you wantded to ask me was it?” She bit her lip as she said the last part, the blush darkening as she looked up at him and realized that wasn’t what he was about to ask.
“No, but it’s a good thing you informed me of that, the real estate agent didn’t say anything about having dock access. I don’t own a boat and I can tell you right now the new owners across the street don’t own one either. What I wanted to ask was a two part question, how did you get all that in the basket, and when did you have time to bake it all?” He asked, trying to hide his laugh.
“I di-dint know what the new neigh….you would like so I did a sample of ez-zry-thing. One of them would has been right, and with the bakery not being open I finded myself with a lot of free time. How do you know they don’t has boats?” She asked curiously.
“Well, one of them is the one that picked me up the other day, and the other is the brother of the man I believe you met this morning.” Adonis replied,
“You know Jackson? And the uther one is your friend from the bakery, the one that was standing with you outsigh the diner?” She said,
“Yes, I know Jackson very well. He came back to the house talking about a sweet little baker he met in the woods. I couldn’t help but think how funny it would be if the sweet little baker he met was the same sweet little baker I met. Small world!” He said, a smile playing on his lips, she seemed quite pleased by this, and wasn’t even trying to hide it. Her excitement was starting to bubble over. People who actually spoke to her were going to be living near her and it was all very exciting.
“It really is a small world!” She stated. Her smile, big, bright and beautiful on her face.
“I don’t think you need to worry about welcome baskets for them though. I think they are more than enjoying this one. I’m gonna let you get back to planting your tree. You have a good day Kenzi thank you again for the basket, I’ll see you around” she nodded her head,
“You too, I’ll see you” He turned and started walking away. ….eeeep…. THUD! The sound of a small squeal followed by another thud, made him pause his steps and fight back his laugh.
“Kenzi!” He called over his shoulder trying to mask his laughter.
“Yeah!” She called back,
“Did you fall in the hole again?” He asked, though he already knew the answer. There was silence for a bit, before she spoke.
“No….would be a lie” She said, when she looked up and saw him standing there.
“Let’s get you outta there and your tree planted before you end up in it again.” He smiled down at her, though he would rescue her outta the hole a million times if it meant her body pressed against his each time.
“That would be a good idea” She smiled up at him, as once more he crouched down so she could wrap her arms around his neck. His arm snaked around her waist and he held her to him a little tighter this time. The struggle to put her down was hard, he didn’t want to, he wanted to keep her there, her scent floated all around him. She didn’t look interested in letting go at that precise moment either, if anything she held a bit tighter to him.
When Adonis caught a new scent in the air, one that only further enticed him to hold tighter. His tiny dancer even after three years was still pure as the driven snow. He knew he needed to put her down, if he didn’t she wouldn’t stay that way. She was a virgin for a reason, she wasn’t ready and he wouldn’t push, rush or force her into something she wasn’t ready to do. Fighting against his instinct and his urge, he gently placed her back on the ground.
“Now, let’s get that tree in the ground” He said, though she was on the ground he never removed his hand from her.
“Ok!” She smiled looking up at him. Pulling himself away from her, he picked up the shovel and started filling in some of the hole while she went to get the tree and a few stakes to help the tree stay straight while it rooted. With the tree planted and staked she grabbed the extra bags of dirt she got and added more around the tree.
They were laughing and talking some more when Maggie pulled up in Kenzi’s car. She watched them for a bit, converse and joke back and forth about something. Maggie honestly couldn’t say the last time she saw Kenzi look that genuinely happy. Something about that man brought it out in her. She watched him look at her, she could tell from where she sat that he absolutely adored her, and she didn’t think he ever looked that genuinely happy either. The smiles on their faces were relaxed and easy and the conversation seemed to flow between the two of them.
“Well aren’t you two a mess,” She announced her presence as she got out of the vehicle.
“Hi Maggie! I gedded a pear tree” Kenzi called to her cheerfully.
“I better get going Kenzi, I’ll see you around” Adonis said as he looked down at her.
“I’ll see you around Adonis, thank you for the help with the tree.” She replied,
“Anytime! I mean it, you need help with anything come get me” He said,
“I promise” she looked into his emerald eyes and nodded.
“I see you Mr. Bradshaw” Maggie whispered as he walked by her. It was barely audible but he seemed to have heard it just fine. This confirmed one of her suspicions about him.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about Mrs. Wendall” He replied quietly, trying to conceal his wolfish grin.
“Mm hmm! Sure you don’t!” She gave him a knowing smile,
“Have yourself a good day Mrs. Wendall” He continued walking away,
“You as well Mr. Bradshaw” She called after him.
“Do you want some coffee Maggie?” Kenzi asked as she finished cleaning everything up.
“Yes honey child I do. And there better be baked goods left over” She replied.
“I went berry picking this morning, and I made a black raspberry vanilla whip cake” Kenzi said as they headed towards her house,
“That sounds delicious,” Maggie said.
“I hope so, I nezer made it before,” Kenzi replied, her smile getting bigger on her face. Adonis watched the two women head towards the house. Maggie would say something to make Kenzi laugh, and it would carry on the wind, the sound reaching his ears. He looked over one more time and caught Kenzi looking in his direction. Instead of looking away she smiled brighter offering him a small wave. Giving her a smile and wave in return he headed into his house.
“Mm hmm” Maggie said,
“What?” Kenzi looked at her,
“You like him!” She stated matter of factly,
“He’s nice!” Kenzi replied,
“My sweet innocent girl. No, you like him!” Maggie restated emphasizing the word.
“I can’t Maggie, I has a boyfriend” Kenzi looked at her. She did feel slightly ashamed that she liked him, when she had a boyfriend. She shouldn’t and she knew she shouldn’t, but she couldn’t help it. There was something about him that she was drawn to and she didn’t want to fight it. She wasn’t sure she could if she tried. The more time she spent with him, the more the feelings grew, he spoke to her, not at her. He listened to the things she said and asked her questions to get to know her, he also never shied away from any question she asked him. Though in the back of her mind she knew he was just trying to be nice to her, nothing would come of it. Looking once more at the house he disappeared into, she bit her lip, before she turned her attention back to Maggie. She was ashamed, but thinking now was it because she liked Adonis, or because she had a boyfriend?
“Oh I know!” was all Maggie could say, she disapproved of her dating Adam. They all knew his history, they knew of the assault charges, but unfortunately there was not much they could do, he never took her anywhere. Kenzi would just show up randomly with new bruises covering her arms or stomach, convinced that it was her fault, saying it was just an accident and he didn’t mean to, she just made him angry. Though this was the first time he’s ever marked her face. The others damn near lost it when Maggie told them about the bruises and the gash. Frank wanted to hunt the son of a bitch down and beat him to death, took Barb twenty minutes to talk him out of it. But after what she witnessed in the diner and what she just saw now, they might not need to do anything. The tower of a man who appeared to live next door had taken a liking to her. Glancing at the house next door she couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if he learned of the truth behind those bruises. Joe said the two brothers have come into the bar a few times, and seem to enjoy themselves. Kept to themselves for the most part, but they two were protective of her, and she only met the older brother. If the older brother met Kenzi this morning he would have seen the bruises, she wondered what his thoughts were on that. Frank might be all bluster, but she had a feeling these boys really knew how to make someone hurt, the asshole in the dumpster might have just been the starting point for them. Looks like her little honey child got herself some guard dogs.