The Quiet Room
by Bridgid
Her gaze was fixated on the gossamer curtain as it danced with the fullness of a warm breeze. It billowed and fluttered funneling the fresh air directly toward her face but the bright light of the sun stabbed into her eyes. It took a few moments to get her bearings. How long had she been asleep? It seemed as if were late morning but she could be mistaken.
Sometimes it took a full day to recover from one of these events. A big seizure made her mind convince every muscle in her body that it had been expended, used to its fullest capacity. Every single cell in her protested as she struggled to get up and her feet hit the floor with a thud that sounded like a side of beef falling from a butchers hook. Her forearms and elbows ached, her hands were numb, her neck felt welded to her shoulders and the headache was indescribable.
Someone had been with her recently. There was a fresh glass of ice water on the nightstand and the cubes had barely begun to melt. Her next task was to get it to her mouth. Hoping, praying that her grasp was true and the glass wouldn't go crashing to the floor, she raised it to her mouth. The first sip flowed over her roughened tongue with little relief so she took another then another. Finally she gulped the entire glass down until the ice log jammed against her nose and there was no more liquid. Her hand was shaking when she slammed the glass down and she was gasping for air.
"Mara, you're up."
With one hand braced against the bed she shuffled and turned toward the voice that echoed around in her skull. Max rushed over to her and helped her to sit down on the bed.
"How long?" she asked in a dust laden voice.
"Near eighteen hours. You had me worried but Hector said that this happens once in a while. How do you feel?" He sat and curled a supportive arm around her.
"Like shit but I'll be apples. I just need to get up and outside in the air. Can you help me?"
"That's part of the reason I came back to Australia, love."
Obviously she didn't ask him for that kind of help but he took advantage of the moment. It gave him a chance to say his piece at a time when he knew she'd have to absorb it without firing back.
"Great, start by taking me to the loo and then you can give me the rest of your list."
He kissed her brow with a smile. "I see, you're almost back with us. C'mon then. We'll get you sorted."
It was near a half hour later when they stepped out onto the front porch. He steered her toward a rocking chair but she drove them both toward the steps.
"I need to walk a little, at least to the top of the knoll."
With a nod he looped his arm with hers and they walked slowly out into the vineyard. From the edge of the second alley they could see Hector working on the tractor. He was just beyond earshot but they could tell he was swearing at the big mechanical beast.
"Reckon that's a daily ritual." Mara managed her first smile.
"I've figured it’s more economical to purchase a new one then to continuously repair that one. Hector said that one has a soul and if we replace it, it will come back to haunt us."
"Hector is weird."
"He may be but he seems to have an affinity with some of the vines. The acreage near his land seems to be thriving. I believe they're a different variety of grape."
"I know. I don't want to not trust him. My father trusted him but sometimes I wonder if he's stifling the estates vines so his own thrive." Mara raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sun as she looked at the man who angrily conversed with the tractor. "Max. I don't know anything about this business. I grew up here but never took enough interest to learn anything more than the basics. All I ever cared about were the horses." She turned her head back to him and dropped her hand. "So what now, what happens?"
"Solvency." he answered succinctly. "Hector and I have come to terms for now. I've gone through the books and I can see some places where you'll need to trim if you want to break even, Mara." He was every bit prepared to tell her that she should eliminate the stable and Jack but after hearing her last statement he had a second thought. He owned the estate but he didn't want her to feel as if he were changing her home.
"Le Griffon is yours now. You make those decisions."
"Le Griffon is ours. We make the decisions."
"Whatever you say, boss." Smile number two of the day rose on her face and she rose up on her toes to kiss his mouth. "You must really love me to dump all your dosh in this place."
"You certainly have a thick skull." He tapped her head lightly with his knuckles. "Speaking of it, I think we should arrange a visit with a specialist for you. Hector tells me that once you got the diagnosis, you've never followed up to see if there was anything further that could be done."
"There's no cure for epilepsy, Max."
"I don't claim to be a physician but I'd like to know if we can prevent if not stop these seizures from happening to you."
What's worse than a person who turns things around on you? Mara drew a breath and prepared herself. "You know, Max. The first time I saw you, you were dead, not breathing. How do I know that's not going to happen again? You looked so horrible I didn't recognize who you were for days. Should we make arrangements for you to see a physician too? God knows I don't want to lose you again."
"We've had some moments haven't we, love?" He took her hand and began to walk toward the porch thinking this conversation could go on for a while. Max continued to talk as they walked. "I never really questioned my existence. I came here and was given the gift of memories of my childhood and Uncle Henry. Maybe some kind of miracle brought me here but is that much different than how anyone's life begins in the long run? We don't know how much time we have to exist so why waste time questioning it. Just live."
"I never looked at it like that but you do have some valid points. Speaking of children ...."
"I'd like six." he interrupted her. "I remember being alone as a child in regards to the company of others my own age and I don't want to subject our children to that. I want them to have siblings and friends. I want to show them how to enjoy the finer things in life and before you ask, they don't always include material goods and money. It just took me a lot longer than it should have to figure it all out. I had to be struck over the head twice." The laugh that followed carried overtones of one his uncle Henry had displayed so many times when he'd reckoned he'd taught Max about the benefits of simple pleasures.
"Can we afford six sprogs?" Her expression was hard to read. It was like spumoni ice cream, filled with everything but ultimately good.
He sat her down on the wicker love seat and eased himself next to her. "Can we afford not to fill this house with a big family? Let's make it a home, love. Let's make it the Skinner family home. We'll have Max junior and Mara junior then maybe the next one will be named after your father, Martin, then Henry , maybe Jack or Jacqueline and then Hector." he recoiled a little bit with a shiver. "Maybe not Hector."
"Maybe not." she agreed. "Are you sure this is what you want? Max, I love you and I have no doubt but I feel more of a sense of obligation from you than I do love. I guess I had to say it. It's fine with me, I understand."
"Ah." He raised his chin and his eyebrows shot up. "I've not been the hopeless romantic. Let me get something straight with you Miss Mara MacKenzie." He turned so he could face her and he took her hands in his. "I'm not always the most affectionate person. I've been hedonistic, ruthless; you could insert any number of words here. I have a difficult time showing any feelings unless they involve a bowl full of arrogance, a dash of spite, a smattering of sarcasm and a big dose of gloat over my accomplishments and self worth." He raised a hand and placed it at the center of his chest. "Oh God, admitting that gave me a chest pain."
"Max! Oh no, not again! Are you okay?"
The smile that spread across his face was edged with cockiness and he laughed again. "Of course I'm alright, love. I've worked rather hard at being a cold hearted wanker and now I've got to work hard at purging it. Cut me a bit of slack and I'll show you how versatile I can be."
"You should get an Academy Award like that bloke down the road, that's what."
"I'll add it to my list. By the way are you feeling well enough to go back to bed?"
"It's three in the afternoon, fuck sake!"
"Exactly. Back to bed for fucks sake. Let me rephrase in my new romantic persona." Placing his hands on her cheeks he touched lightly with the tips of his fingers as he slid them back to cradle her head. Max closed his eyes and with parted lips he kissed her mouth until she was breathless. In mere moments there were upstairs in her room, their room where he handled her gently.
"Is this okay?" he asked as he toyed with the buttons of her blouse.
"I'm not that fragile."
Maybe he had a right to his arrogance. Max Skinner was nothing short of magnificent, physically and otherwise. Fit and handsome, a woman could lose her heart in his eyes and when Mara lifted his glasses from his face to gazed into the blue green windows to his soul she could see his pulse. It matched the beat of her heart with precision.
"You could have your choice but you chose me, a poor dirt farmer from a bleedin’ country slow to evolve ..."
"You could have had your choice but you selected me. It's another thing I don't want to question. Now, love. Do you want to get into another deep discussion or would you care to assist me with a rather significant problem. If the sight of your magnificent breasts were not enough, I do love you. Bloody hell Mara could you just shut your mouth and stop thinking long enough to feel it?"
Not another word crossed her lips. The tumbled together onto the big squeaky bed and gave every spring the ultimate test for metal fatigue. Damn if they didn't have to add the purchase of a new bedroom suit to the next batch of purchase orders.