Tipping Point, page 16
When they got to the hardware store she kept looking around, but didn’t see Gerry. They managed to get six eight-by-ten sheds for just under five grand, so Mac decided to get a couple that could be used as single-car garages.
The young woman working the checkout was a little surprised when Mac handed her cash, and she had to call the manager over to double-count the hundreds, just to be safe. It was the same manager she’d spoken with about Gerry, and so Mac got the same discount she had the last time.
When the discount was entered and the money was finally accepted, the manager asked if she could speak with her. She happily complied. They stepped away from the till, Mac holding the receipt for the sheds she’d have to drive around to the side of the store to pick up.
“I wanted to apologize to you. I didn’t fire Gerry when the first incident happened, because I thought it was possible it was a misunderstanding. I didn’t really believe it was, but I had to be sure. I’m glad you sent that message. It gave me a fully justifiable reason to let him go. I know his dad, and it was a relief to know I could give him a good reason for the termination. He hasn’t asked, so I assume he knows something about the situation already?”
“He does. A friend of mine let him know, and I’m sure another friend of mine, one with a badge, paid him a visit the same day. The kid doesn’t know me, but I do know people in the area. He’s actually caused problems since then, and either he’s been arrested, or they’re looking for him. If you see him you might want to let the police know. He could be angry with you, too, so you should be careful.”
“I will be. Thanks for letting me know. I hope you’ll be careful, too. Do you need these sheds delivered?”
“I’ve got a friend with a pick-up and trailer, in addition to mine. We’ll be fine, but thanks. For everything. I knew what the situation was when you didn’t let him go before. I spent a lot of years in the city, where a manager would never apologize to a customer under these circumstances. Too much risk of liability. I’m a small town woman, though. My name is Mac, by the way.”
“Carol Swenson. Pleased to meet you. I’m sure I’ll see you around town in the future.” Mac could see Neil coming up to her. Carol turned a bit to look at him.
“Mac! How are you?” It took her a second, but then she looked back and forth between both Macs and started to laugh.
“Is this the Mac you were telling Samantha about? I didn’t even make the connection for some reason. That must be pretty strange for you guys, being called the same thing.”
“Nah,” Mac said. “We’ve got it all worked out in code and hand signals.” Carol laughed again and Neil shook his head.
“She calls me Neil, among other things.”
“I’ll just bet. Well, you two have a nice evening. I’m so glad I got to meet your Mac, Mac.” Then she started laughing all over again as she walked back to her office.
“I guess I should expect a lot of that around town, huh?”
“That’s assuming anyone knows your name, honey, and we’re keeping that to a minimum at this point. Carol only knows about me and you because she’s married to Sam, and she’s not a gossip, though she does have a sense of humour.”
“What I find interesting is that you told your employee about me. How come?”
“Oh, I told her she should probably expect to have her boss coming in as an old married man one day soon.” Mac felt her jaw drop, only to have Neil chuck her under the chin and then kiss her as soon as her mouth was closed.
“Wait. What? What?” She was sputtering, so he helped her out with that problem too, by kissing her again, right in the middle of the store. She looked around, wild-eyed, but no one was paying them any attention, surprisingly. She figured Neil would be exactly the kind of man who would inspire gossip amongst the local ladies.
“Stop kissing me in public. I thought you didn’t want the little shit to find out about us.”
“I don’t, but I don’t know anyone that’s in here right now. I run a knife store, and not too many women come in there. It’s mostly women in here right now, in case you didn’t notice. It’s too late in the day for contractors, I think. Kind of surprising there aren’t more men in here, though. It’s one store where the men in this town don’t mind going shopping with their wives. Now don’t look at me like that. They live how they choose to live. I’m not the one following any stereotypes.”
Mac glared at him for another ten seconds, just in case. Finally they headed to their trucks to get the sheds loaded at the shipping dock.
Driving her truck, with him following behind her in his, Mac had a bit of time to ponder her situation. Old married man, indeed, she thought huffily, though the insane side of her was waltzing around in a dreamy haze of happiness. He’d already intimated his interest in that direction, so she wasn’t really surprised about that part of it, but the fact that he’d said something to his employee was rather dizzying.
Mac pulled to a stop beside the gate, motioning for him to stop, too.
“What is it?”
“Come with me for a minute. I need to get you set up.”
“You’re setting me up? For what? Target-practice? I think I’ll just stay in the truck, thank you. Much harder for you to hide the blood evidence on upholstery.”
“That’s not entirely off the menu just yet, but no. I’m talking about the gate. It’s ridiculous for you to not have gate access when you can just walk over from your property. Assuming you’re not afraid to give me access to your fingerprints, of course.”
“Well, you’re pretty friendly with the local constabulary, so I doubt hiding my prints from you would do much good.”
“Not really, no. And those aren’t my only cop friends, either, which is somewhat surprising considering my checkered past, and a list of former associates that were outright criminals.
“Come on, you. Ya might as well get this over with. It only hurts for an hour or two.”
“Very funny. Checkered past, huh? I’m intrigued.”
“Don’t be. It’s not that interesting. More irritating than anything else. For now I’ll just tell you that I don’t have a criminal record, though I probably should.” He followed her to the tree she was always stepping behind when she had to let him in. He smiled when she brushed some dead leaves from the top of a small biometric scanner.
“Man you’re good. Natural hollow, and those leaves look like they’ve been there forever. Wireless?”
“Nope. Too risky. Detectable with a signal scanner, and easily duplicated, completely nullifying the moderately decent security of a fingerprint.”
“Moderately decent?”
“Retinal scan is tens of thousands of times less likely to be copied or cracked. The units are too big to hide like this, though, and having it hidden is more valuable than having better security. You can’t crack it if you don’t know it’s there. The wire goes down behind the bark, mostly. Then it’s buried until it gets to the opener mechanism.”
“Well, that’s certainly one area where you kicked the snot out of my setup. So what do I do?”
“Hang on. I have to enter my prints and then open access for a new set of scans. We’ll do all ten. It can get picky if there’s dirt on a print, or you get a cut. People also lose their fingers, or even a hand, so they recommend doing the full set. Try not to lose your appendages, though. I’m developing an attachment to them.”
“I’m already attached to them, or they are to me, so I certainly don’t intend to. Nice to know you’re developing an attachment to them, though.” She smirked at him.
“Fine, I’m madly in love with your fingers. Happy? Now show off those beautiful digits to the scanner, so it can love them as much as I do.”
Just as the last one finished scanning, Neil turned to her.
“Mac?”
“Hmm,” she said absently as she shut down the scanning and returned it to its secured mode, covering it back up with the dead leaves.
“You’re already madly in love with the rest of me, too. It’s only a matter of time before you admit it to both of us.” She turned to face him. Before she could speak a single word, his body pinned hers against the tree, and his mouth made sure she didn’t.
15
REVELATIONS
With bark in her hair and a stuttering heart, Mac drove up the length of the driveway and then past their temporary home. She wanted to unload the sheds close to where they would likely need to be assembled. She parked and headed straight into the house to get herself cleaned up a bit. Adding sweat to the reek of sex certainly wouldn’t make it any less noticeable, so a shower was vital.
It wasn’t until she turned to close the bathroom door that she noticed Neil coming into the house.
“Gotta pee. You can shower with me after if you feel a need. I certainly do.” Then she slammed the door to drown out anything he might say. She had just closed the lid and flushed when he strolled right in.
“Hey! I don’t walk in on you when you’re takin’ a leak.”
“First, how would I know? Maybe you will once you’ve known me for a week. We don’t live in the same house, so you’re not always around when I use the facilities. Second, why would you think I’d care? For that matter, why do you care?” Before she could even answer, he covered her mouth with his hand.
“I don’t think you actually do care. You’re not the type to worry about peeing in front of a guy you’ve been having all kinds of sex with. The other kind of bathroom break is another story, and I’ll go so far as to say it’s for the best if people retain a certain amount of mystery in a relationship. Sharing has limits.” Mac almost smiled, but not quite.
“You don’t care about me walking in here, but you’re freaked out about something else right now, or I wouldn’t have been so rude as to barge in on you.”
“At least you admit that it is rude. Who says I’m freaked about anything?” He just stared at her, stone cold, and waited. Her stomach dropped.
“Shit. Fuck. Damn it! I am so totally an idiot for saying that. Sorry. I am not a dishonest or passive-aggressive woman. I’m so off-balance with you. You keep saying things that freak me out, and if I didn’t feel anything they wouldn’t bother me in the least. I’m fucking terrified of my own feelings, which is ridiculous. When did I become such a coward?”
“Coward, honey? I don’t think so. Just off-balance, like you said. We talked about this before. You haven’t had any time to think or absorb. I have. I’m being impatient and have no excuse for it. I shouldn’t be pushing you.
“We’re both feeling the intensity, and I don’t believe there’s a difference in how we feel. I just think I’ve had a bit more time to take a breath and accept it. I came in here to apologize, because I saw you freak out and I didn’t want you feeling that way any longer than necessary. I want you to be happy with me, not feel pressured.”
“I do feel happy. Even when I’m freaking out, it’s not because I’m really upset. It’s because I’m not. I’m freaking out because you’re making me happy, and that is so totally stupid on my part. My brain tells me I have to be smart and cautious.
“Then you say stuff to me that should scare the ever loving shit out of that side of me, and it barely squeaks a protest, but the other part of me wants to wander around like that dreamy high-schooler you mentioned. I don’t want to be the kind of woman who can go ga-ga over some guy, and gets all moony because he talks about marrying me.”
Neil grinned at her.
“But you are the type of woman who does, apparently, or this wouldn’t be coming up. Granted, it wasn’t that part of it that really freaked you out. It was me pushing you on your feelings, and I find it so hard to stop myself even now, because I have no problem admitting how I feel. Doesn’t scare me in the least. My only fear is that it will scare you, and I won’t do that. I meant what I said out there, but I need to stop poking at you. It’s not like you don’t already know.
“Come on. Into the shower. I’ll join you, since you offered already. I’m not about to turn down any opportunity you present that involves getting you naked.” She stripped off, turned on the water, and stepped in.
“It really is a hell of a shower you’ve got here. I could learn to covet this thing.”
“Believe it or not, this was important to me because I hate wasting time. I want to get clean as quickly as possible. People always have dribbles for showers to save water, but then you have to be in there for twenty minutes instead of five, using at least as much water, if not more.”
“Mm. Well, there are two of us using it now, so I think it would be safe to go with ten minutes or so, don’t you?
They used up far more than the allotted time, but Mac was practically purring when she stepped out. He toweled her off, but when she started to return the favour he touched her wrist to stop her.
“No. I can’t take it. Lately I have the self-control of a drunken rabbit. It’s humbling to admit, but there ya have it. It might be a good idea if you keep your distance until we finish for the night.” Mac smiled knowingly.
“That’s gonna work, is it?”
“No harm tryin’ anyway, but if you’re within reach I can’t make any promises. Course, if you’re not within reach I’ll probably be looking to get you within reach. Oh well. You’re a gorgeous woman. There’s probably no help for me.”
Mac snorted with laughter.
“Oh please. Gorgeous my ass. We need to get dressed so we can get some work done. Get a move on ya lazy git.”
“Yes ma’am. Though I must protest the lazy part. You can’t call someone lazy when they’re banging you so often and so thoroughly. I mean, that’s a hell of a workout.”
“Just so long as you don’t turn it into an exercise video. I might have a few choice words to say about being part of your floor work.”
Mac traipsed into her bedroom, dressed, and fixed up the food and water dishes for the ferrets. Only one waste pad needed changing. She took the biodegradable bag from the garbage can outside with her. It was getting pretty aromatic, so she needed to set up the composting area for the animal waste.
Mac grabbed the shovel she used for digging in places that weren’t part of the garden area. Neil stepped out of the house then, so she told him where she was going. He said he’d go back and help ‘the kids’ with whatever remained to be done on the second goat pen.
She chose an area somewhat in the corner of her property, but still out of sight from the road, and from the neighbouring land should someone decide to visit their property boundaries. She’d picked the spot because of a fallen tree that would be behind the bins, helping to conceal them. If they stepped far enough onto her property to see what would soon be a compost bin, the sensors would soon be in place to register the intrusion.
Mac intended for the bins to be fairly well camouflaged anyway. People might know that someone owned the property, of course, but she hoped to avoid them knowing anyone was actively working the land. She’d probably made lots of noise when she’d prepped the areas for the concrete pads, but that had been a long time ago.
When she got the chance to go over the land registry maps with Neil she could find out if he remembered hearing anything around the time she’d been doing the work. Hopefully he would also be able to tell her if the other owners had developed their land. Not everyone did. Sometimes it was just an investment.
Mac dug a wide trench for the compost boxes she intended to bury here. With the number of animals they had now, they’d need quite a few bins. By next spring they should have some good compost for the garden, but for safety sake it needed to brew for months to remove the risk of salmonella.
Mac went back to the house and built the first composting box. She wouldn’t be building the rest today, so she left with it as soon as it was complete. All in all she had her composting area at least partially set up within the hour. She dropped in the small bag of ferret waste, scattered soil on top, and closed the lid with a sigh. Now to deal with the rest of the animals that would be filling up the bin.
The second goat pen was complete. It was a lot further from the house than the one they were leaving the does in, which was a damn good thing. If the bucks had that much of an aroma now, she wasn’t looking forward to the smell when they were in rut.
“You just need two sheds put up for now, right?” Mac nodded at Neil.
“Right, but humour me and at least pretend to look at the directions first, would ya?” Neil laughed, and started fishing for the page that had wafted further into the box when he pulled out a few pieces.
Mac shook her head. They’d done everything bass-ackwards when it came to the animals, because there had been such a rush to get them and bring them home. At least when they built the third and fourth pens they’d be able to do things in order. Everything would be completely in place when they moved any goats into them.
By the time the sheds were assembled, Mac was in a foul mood. She was sure she could have built them from scratch, including cutting down the trees and using the sawmill to turn them into boards, faster than the sheds had gone up. If she’d had to do the job by herself, it would have taken her a month of Sundays.
It was a good thing Neil actually had read his directions, because the design was as counter-intuitive as she had ever seen. Although the panels were deeply corrugated, they still flopped around a fair bit just from their size. Any stability they attained came with the later installation of cross-braces and attachment to the other panels. They hadn’t poured a concrete pad or anything. The goats were far too nosy for them to even attempt it.
They could move the building onto a pad later, once they had a place to shift the goats to, getting them out of the way. At least this way it gave the goats an opportunity to eat up all the grass. Maybe she’d also let them graze away the grass in the new pens before putting in the pads and sheds. Waste not, want not, she figured.
It wasn’t until they were done for the night that a breeze finally kicked up, of course. Everyone was hot and tired, so the four younger adults started talking about going for a swim. Mac and Neil declined to join them, so they went off on their own to grab stuff like swimwear and towels. Billy and Neil had both grabbed overnight bags this time, so Billy had a change of clothes for after his swim.
