Sky Cowboy (5 page)

Before Oscar was diagnosed, and started the therapies, he was very clingy and would only show affection to
Jeremy, Jackson and their father, Scott.  When I would mind him, he would be standoffish for a little while, until I figured out that coaxing him with Thomas stuff would do the trick.  Otherwise, I’d have to wait until he made the first move, and depending on his mood, some days, he’d have nothing to do with me at all. 

Now
,  Well, now he’s a completely different kid.  He adores me as much as I adore him, and he has no problems showing me affection.

I arrive at Jeremy’s just before six.  “Ava. A-V-A. Ava.  Want to watch Thomas with Oscar?”  Oscar shouts when he opens the door after I knocked.

“Sure, buddy, I’d love to.  You go get the DVD set up and I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Oscar loves Thomas.  Thomas is a train.”

“I know, sweetie.”  He runs off before I can finish, just as Jeremy comes into the room looking delicious.  He’s wearing jeans, a Wrangler button up shirt and he’s got a tan suede jacket over the top.  His high top RM Williams boots are freshly polished and one look at him steals my breath.

“Hey.” I mentally curse myself as my voice sounds breathy.

“Hey, Ava.  Thanks so much for doing this.  There’s a Farmer’s Council meeting and I can’t miss it.”

“No worries at all.”

“I better head off.  I’ll see you when I get back.”

“Have a good night.” I reply, waving him off.  He leaves and I go in search of Oscar.

“Hey buddy, did you get the DVD set up?”

“Oscar did it! Oscar is clever.”

I laugh, and add, “You sure are.”

He snuggles up beside me on the couch as we watch a Thomas
and Friends DVD.   No doubt, it is one he has seen countless times because he knows most of it by heart.  As it is ending, I sing along with him as the theme song plays.  This earns me a mammoth smile.  One that lights up his entire gorgeous face.

“Oscar doesn’t have a mummy.  Oscar wishes Ava was his mummy.” Oscar says suddenly.  He doesn’t look sad.  He doesn’t look…anything.  It’s like he’s simply making an observation – like,
the sun is out today
.

My heart cracks and I feel tears prick my eyes.  I don’t know what to say, so I don’t say anything.  Instead, I squeeze him tight and kiss the top of his head as I concentrate on beating back the tears that are trying to escape.

“Want to watch another one?”  He asks, completely unaffected by his revelation.

“Sure, sweetie,” I reply, sounding choked up.  “Oh! I almost forgot.  I have a surprise for you from my dad.”

“Did Ava’s dad buy Oscar
Thomas
?” He jerks up from my side and looks at me expectantly.  Excitedly.

“You’ll have to come see,” I say in a sing-song voice.

I take his hand and lead him out the kitchen where I dumped my handbag on the bench.

“Here it is,” I say, handing the toy.

“
Thomas!
” He shrieks.  “T-H-O-M-A-S.”

“Look, if you press this part, it will scoot along the ground all by itself.”

“Wow,” Oscar whispers, reverently, as he watches the train glide across the floor.

“Take it down the hallway, sweetie.  It’ll go further.”

He doesn’t answer; he’s already running towards the hall.

After I
’ve given Oscar his tea, his bath and read him two bedtime stories, he falls asleep in my lap.  As carefully as I can, I lift him up and turn him around, laying him back down on his bed.  I tuck him in and kiss his forehead softly.  “Love you, buddy,” I whisper.

I make my way out to the lounge and decide to watch a movie.  Of course Jeremy, being all countrified Cowboy, doesn’t own any romantic comedies, so I settle for
The Pacifier
, because Vin Diesel is hot as hell
and
funny.  I curl up on the couch with a blanket and begin watching.  The next thing I know is I’m being woken by my ringing phone. 

“Hello,” I say, my voice husky from sleep.

“Ava, it’s Jeremy.  Sorry, did I wake you?”

“It’s fine. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, everything is fine.  I was just wondering if you’d mind staying the night.  I’ll be home first thing, it’s just the Farmer’s Council meeting is running a bit late and we wanted to go out for a few drinks after to celebrate a new grant we secured.”

“That’s cool.  I can stay.  Congrats on the grant.”

“Okay. I better go, they’re waiting on me. I just wanted to call you first.”

“Go have fun celebrating.”  I smile into the phone, even though he can’t see me.  It’s good news for the Farmer’s Council to secure funding through grants.  It provides them with funds to complete different projects around the Pine Creek area.

“Thanks, honey.”

I almost sigh into the phone.  I love when he calls me honey.

“No problem.”  I press end and lie back down.  Then I decide to get back up and change into one of Jeremy’s shirts – sleeping in jeans is doable.  Sleeping on a couch is also doable.  But
sleeping on a couch while wearing jeans is
uncomfortable
.  Plus, I’m sure Jeremy won’t mind lending me a shirt, and because I’m an early riser, I’ll be changed long before he arrives in the morning.  Chances are he’ll never know I borrowed one from him.

I locate a bunch of cleans clothes in a laundry basket, and pick out the first soft flannelette shirt I come across.  I slide it over my head and then pull
it up to inhale it.  Despite being recently laundered, I can still smell Jeremy’s aftershave on it.  I breathe in deeply and then lower the shirt. 
I need to get a grip!

I wake early the next morning.  As I said before, I’m an early riser.  It doesn’t matter what time I go to bed the night before, or how much I have to drink, two things are certain: One, I’ll wake early and two, I won’t have a hangover.
  The clock shows that it’s only half past five, so I decide to make Oscar and myself pancakes for breakfast.  Chances are Jeremy got wasted at the Cow and Calf last night, so he’ll probably sleep late and he won’t be in the mood for food anyways.

I set about making the pancake batter
and just as I’m about to pour the first dollop of the creamy goodness in the pan, the front door quietly opens and in walks a worse-for-wear looking Jeremy.  I feel my eyes widen as he takes me in.  His expression mirrors my own, except he looks
guilty
, I think, and did I mention worse-for-wear?

“Hey,” I murmur cautiously.

“Uh, hey. I wasn’t expecting you to be awake,” he says as he walks toward me.  He stops on the other side of the counter and I take him in.  His hair is disheveled.  As are his clothes.  His wrangler shirt is wrinkled and the buttons are done up haphazardly.  I think some of them are actually missing.  My brows knit together as my eyes travel up his chest to his neck, where a ginormous, dark, purple hickey sits proudly.  I swallow. 
Hard
.  Something catches my eye and I move them slightly to the left.  To the lipstick stains on his collar.  My heart thuds heavily and I don’t know what to say.  Luckily, Jeremy is the one to break the silence.

“I was hoping to have a shower before you woke,” he admits cautiously.

I take a deep breath through my nose in an attempt to calm the fuck down.  This doesn’t help because the smell of cheap perfume radiates off him. 
Great.

I don’t reply.  I still don’t know what to say.  I mean, he has every right to do what h
e wants, when he wants, with whoever he wants.  But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t
hurt.
  And hurt like a mother bitch is exactly what it does.  The silence between us is deafening.  I think I’m in shock.  I’m pretty sure my mouth is hanging open and my eyes are still wide.  It’s possible my eyebrows are touching my hairline. 
Very attractive!
  It’s also possible that the blood has drained from my face and I now look a deathly shade of pale. 
Even more attractive!

“I’m sorry, Ava.”  His whispered words touch somewhere deep inside me and I quickly decide to lock them away so I can call upon them later.  Most likely when I’m bawling my eyes out on the back of my horse.  It’s those words though, and the way he says them, that snaps me out of my shocked state. 

“Uh,” I start, but my mouth has dried and my voice it croaky.  I quickly swallow some saliva to moisten my throat and then I start again.  “
I
should be the one saying sorry – I’m standing here in your kitchen wearing your shirt without permission.”  I add a stupid little laugh at the end. 
God only knows why.
 

I watch as he takes in what I’ve said.  His gaze immediately travels slowly down my body and I watch as his eyes turn heated in front of me.  I feel my knees tremble and I sink my teeth into my bottom lip. 

“So, I’m uh…I take it the celebrations went well last night,” I stutter.

“Huh?”  Jeremy’s eyes dart from my breast
s to my face and I resist the urge to giggle like a schoolgirl. 

“The funding grant celebrations?  It went well?”

“Oh, yeah that.  It’s great news for the Farmer’s Council.”

“Hopefully they’ll put the money to good use,” I remark.

He nods, “They’ve got some great ideas but we’ll have to consult with all the farmers in the area to ascertain what they think the money would be best spent on.  Then we will ask them to put forward proposals based on their ideas.  Then it goes to vote.  So, essentially the farming community as a whole decides how the grant is used,” Jeremy explains.

“That’s fair.”

“Yep.  I better have a shower and let you get back to the pancakes.  Oscar will be awake soon.”  Jeremy says as he makes his way toward the hallway leading to the bathroom.

“These will be ready by the time you’re finished,” I tell him before pouring a dollop of batter into the pan.

“Good.  Oh, and Ava?” 

“Yeah?”

“Don’t ever apologise for being in my kitchen first thing in the morning, cooking, and wearin’ my shirt.  I like it.”  He winks and then continues down the hall.

Holy moly
shitballs.
  Who knew a wink could be so damn sexy?  And why is he flirting with me after he’s clearly spent the night with another woman?