Page 64 of Hittin' the Right Note
“You’re lookin’ very contemplative today,” Luke said, breaking into his thoughts. It was only then he realized he hadn’t heard any strumming from him for a while, and now he felt like he’d been slacking.
“I’m sorry, what’d you say?”
Luke shook his head.
“I said you’re looking very contemplative today. Penny for your thoughts?”
Mikey didn’t want to reveal what he’d been thinking, so he said the first thing which came to mind.
“I was just thinking it was a lovely day outside. It seems a shame to be cooped up here. I mean, I’ve already been here a couple of days, and I haven’t even seen the rest of your property. I wanna see more of what makes Luke, Luke.”
Luke mulled it over.
“Okay, fine,” he said. “I hate to leave the writing behind, but riding around the place always helps me think,” he said. “And it also makes me get into the creative mood.”
“Communing with the ancestors?”
Luke just rolled his eyes at Mikey’s incessant sarcasm.
“Are you gonna sit there givin’ me shit, or are you gonna come outside?”
“Is Duke gonna come?” Mikey asked.
One of the most surprising things about Mikey’s time out here at the cabin was the extent to which he found himself falling a little in love with Luke’s dog, Duke. He still thought it was a bit weird Luke had given his dog a name that rhymed with his own but, as with so many other things where Luke Carter was concerned, he decided to just roll with it. Duke was a great dog, always up for a walk or just to lounge around the house.
An image sprang into Mikey’s mind–similar to the one he'd had when he first arrived–of himself and Luke cuddled up on the couch in front of the fireplace, Duke curled up on the floor infront of them. It was such a beautiful, comforting image Mikey almost thought it was real. It was the kind of future he’d almost given up imagining with anyone, man or woman, but being with Luke made it feel possible again.
“Mikey, are you there? You look like you’re a thousand miles away.”
Luke’s voice, tinged with just a bit of concern, brought him out of his daydream and back into the real world.
“Yeah,” he said. “I’m fine. I was just…thinking. Again.”
Instead of asking any further questions, Luke just started walking toward the door and, as he reached it, he gave Mikey a look over his shoulders that threatened to turn his knees to jelly. It was all he could do to keep from jumping his bones right then and there.
When they stepped outside Mikey took a deep breath. Being out here, in the middle of the country, was just the kind of relaxing he was hoping for when he’d come out here with Luke. Kissing in the barn had been great, and so had their sexy times inside, but something about the sound of the birds singing in the trees, something about just how clear and clean the air was, something even about the way the wind sounded as it rustled through the leaves, brought him a feeling of peace he didn’t think he’d ever felt since leaving West Virginia ten years earlier.
The feeling only got stronger once they saddled up the horses–Luke took Reba and Mikey took Loretta–and started a slow ride around the property. As he settled into the groove of riding again, Mikey found himself glad he’d taken a few lessons while he was with Mindy.
The rhythm of the horse’s gait, the clean fresh air, the aching beauty of rural West Virginia…it took his breath away.
Maybe I should think about moving back here.
Mikey opened his mouth–to say what, exactly, he didn’t really know–when a truck came barreling down the road towardthem. His mind abruptly flashed back to that day, a decade earlier, when a truck very much like this one had interrupted one of his makeout sessions with Luke, reminding him of how dangerous it was for them to do stuff like out in public where everyone could see them. His heart started racing in his chest, and he looked to Luke to see if he was feeling the same.
To his surprise, though, Luke had a big old smile on his face and, waving to Mikey to follow him, he urged Reba to a trot, heading toward the fence and waving his hand.
The truck came to a stop, and whoever was inside rolled down the window.
“Well, Luke Carter, it’s nice to see you out and about,” a woman who looked to be in her late fifties said. She was one of those women who Mikey’s mother would’ve called handsome rather than beautiful: her face had strong bones, and her gray-streaked brown hair was drawn back from her face in a tight bun. Something about the laughter dancing in her dark brown eyes, however, suggested she was someone who didn’t take life too seriously.
“Mikey, meet Shelly,” he said. “She’s one of my neighbors up that way.” He gestured with an arm up toward the hill behind them.
Mikey put on his most affable smile and urged Loretta up beside Reba. Now he was closer, he found himself liking her immediately. Something told him she really cared about Luke.
That makes two of us,he thought.
“What brings you out this way to Luke’s cabin?” Shelly asked. The question was friendly enough, but with just enough of an edge to her voice to make it clear to Mikey she had a reason for asking.
