Early Times

By Marie S

They’d both done a lot of thinking on the way home. There hadn’t been a whole lot of conversation, but that wasn’t one of Egan’s strong points to begin with. So much had happened that day with Ashley’s sudden labor and the wonder of Katie Marie’s arrival.

The sheer responsibility of marriage, commitment, and parenthood had been a bit overwhelming. Though they hadn’t talked about it Egan and Jessica were neither prepared nor ready for the roles they saw worth emulating in Bud and Marie nor Ashley and Lachlan.

Egan pulled his truck to the front of Ashley and Lachlan’s house. Jessica put her hand on the door to leave. She’d be alone in the house all night.

“Wait a tic, love.” Egan put his hand on her arm. She looked back at him with those large blue eyes. Jessica looked so bloody young and innocent. Egan remembered yesterday and just how innocent she’d been.

“Why don’t you get a few things and spend the night with me? I don’t want you here alone all night.”

Jessica didn’t like the idea of being out here all alone either. The farm was very isolated. She didn’t want Egan to feel obligated to ask her over for the night if that wasn’t what he wanted.

“Are you sure, Egan? I’ll be fine here myself.” Her voice didn’t sound very convinced.

Egan took her hand in his. Didn’t he just ask? “I’d like you to spend the night with me, Jessica.” He saw her blush even in the dim light. Jessica was a confident young woman. Obviously this was not where her confidence lay.

“Okay.” She smiled at him. “I’ll be quick.” She slipped out of the cab and hurried over to the door. She fumbled in her pocket for the front door key and realized that Egan was by her elbow. Jessica smiled at him again.

Bloody hell. It wasn’t like they’d just met. Yet they were acting almost like strangers. Egan pulled her into his arms and kissed her. He felt her melt into his arms and the kiss intensified. They kissed until they broke away breathless. The key clanked across the wooden porch.

“Whoops.” Jessica giggled. She glanced down before looking back into Egan’s eyes. It was easy to get lost in those eyes. “Did you see where it fell?”

He grinned. “I wasn’t looking at the key, love. I’m still not.” Their lips found each others again. Egan picked her up and she wrapped her legs around him. They continued to kiss. It became quite passionate. Egan felt the key under his boot as he stepped forward with her and pressed her against the door.

“I found the key.” He smiled into their kiss. Shortly after they were in Jessica’s bedroom and then making love on Jessica’s bed.

Later they bounced across the rutted lane on the way toward Egan’s cabin. He had his arm wrapped around her as he held her close. He kissed her hair while not taking his eyes off the road.

“We need to check on Wonder and his Mum. Make sure she gets fresh food and water.”

“I’ll help, Egan.” She yawned. “We need to feed Dog too.”

He smiled. “You can go right to bed, love. You’re tired. It was a long day.”

She shook her head and sat up straighter. “No, I’m okay. We can get it done faster together and then get to sleep. You’re tired too.”

“You’re more than okay, Jessica.” He pulled up at the stable and they proceeded to feed the horses and Dog before collapsing in exhaustion together on Egan’s bed.