“I should try. The car looks all right from here.”
“You should stay here,” Tanis said firmly. “Besides, that old oak came down. The one I’ve been asking you to fell for weeks, Aaron. The trunk and branches are blocking the gate. How it missed my car I don’t know.”
Meggie’s face fell as she took in the fallen tree. “Oh. It’s huge.”
“That tree has been there as long as I can remember.” Aaron walked over to it. The remains of the tree would take hours to remove—at least half a day and that was with everyone working on it. “I won’t have this cleared before dark, I’m afraid.”
“Oh,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry.”
“Maybe if I give you a hand?”
“Even with you and all the men, it’ll still take several hours. You’re welcome to help though, thank you.”
“Then Miss Knight will have to stay here. I’ll make up the spare room and make extra for dinner.” Tanis smiled, though it seemed more like a smirk.
Aaron couldn’t quite make out whether she was sincere or not. “We’ll need somewhere to sleep the farm hands as well.”
The look on Meggie’s face didn’t escape Aaron’s notice, despite his attention being divided between Tanis and the tree. “I can call you a taxi, Meggie.”
Tanis sighed. “I just told you, the main road is closed. And goodness knows what the back roads are like. Besides the phone line is down. I’ll go and make up the spare room. It’s no bother. The men can bunk down in the other barn.”
Aaron looked at her. “If the phones are down, how do you know all this?”
“Radio, I just said, but you weren’t listening. What say you, Miss Knight?”
“OK then, thank you.” Meggie’s voice wasn’t far above a whisper.
Tanis nodded and headed off to the farm house.
Aaron turned to Meggie in time to see her swallow hard. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Yeah.” Her voice wavered. Something was bothering her about staying.
“She hasn’t killed anyone with her cooking yet,” he said, trying unsuccessfully to make her smile. “I’ll find some saws, and we’ll get started on clearing this tree.”
“There’s no electricity,” Tanis called over her shoulder. “Power’s out.”
Aaron rolled his eyes at her and lowered his voice even more. “Petrol saws,” he said. “And she knows perfectly well that we have a generator which supplies the house in case of power cuts. Coming?”
She nodded. “I should call home at some point. The storm is bound to be on the news and they’ll only worry about me.”
“It’ll be on the news in Wales?”
“My family keeps close tabs on me. They tend to watch the online news on the BBC, which has local news for everywhere. And Iestyn has been known to storm chase on occasion. So no doubt he’ll look on TORRO—the tornado site.”
“Ah. Sure, you can ring them later. Right now we have work to do. The men will give us a hand when they get back.”
****
Despite the chill afternoon and petrol powered saws, cutting the tree and carting the wood and branches to the trailer was still hard work. Meggie shed her jacket and sweater, half wishing she could take off her shirt the way Aaron and the rest of the men had. She tossed a branch into the trailer and gave Aaron another appreciative glance.
His firm chest and tanned muscles rippled in the setting sunlight as he worked the saw and axe, breaking up and moving the wood. Sweat beaded his forehead and pooled along his abs. Who’d have thought that thick shirt would hide so toned a six-pack as his. Seeing men half naked was nothing new to her—she’d grown up on a farm with seven brothers after all, but there was something about this man that reduced her to a crumbling mass of hormones. He glanced up.
Her cheeks grew hot as she knew she’d been caught staring. Then they burned hotter as she tried not to squirm under his eagle eye. Then the memories kicked in and she did squirm. Looks like that only led to one thing.
He wiped his forearm over his face. “Penny for them.”
“I was wondering if you were cold.” OK, that sounded rubbish even to her.
His eyes twinkled. “Nope.” He shifted the last of the logs and grabbed his shirt. “We’re done. For tonight at least. I’ll show you where the bathroom is, and you can have the first shower.”
“Thank you. I have a change of clothes in my car. At least the storm didn’t take that.”
“Or the tractors. In fact we were luck—fortunate.” He corrected himself, looking at her. “Earlier today, I was wondering if God was still there. Even asked Him for a sign to prove He was. Although I think a tornado is a tad excessive.”
“Well,” she said pulling her bag from the boot of her car. “They do say a tornado is the finger of God. The F5’s at any rate. But I could have told you that God is still there.”
He slid his shirt on, covering the now visible goose bumps on his arms. “It just doesn’t seem like it.”
She tilted her head. “He is and still loves you. It’s a bit like Da, I guess. I can’t see him, because he’s miles away in Wales, but I know he’s there. I can pick up the phone and speak to him any time I like.”
“Can’t exactly ring heaven now, can we?”
“Sure we can. It’s called prayer.” She started singing. “
Telephone to glory, oh, what joy divine! I can feel the current moving on the line, built by God the Father for His loved and own, we may talk to Jesus through this royal telephone
.”
“Wow. I haven’t heard that in years. We used to sing it in Sunday School.”
“Dadcu Gwyther taught me. He was a lay preacher.”
“What’s a Dad key?”
“It’s Welsh for Grandad. It’s slightly different in each part of Wales, but more or less the same. Mamgu, or Grandma, never knew quite how many people to expect for Sunday lunch.”
“That’s not your Dad’s dad, I assume.”
She shook her head. “No. Dadcu Bryn was a farmer like Da.”
“Do you speak Welsh?”
“Fluently. Which is just as well, as Welsh
is
the language of heaven.”
Aaron laughed as they headed to the farmhouse. “But I don’t speak Welsh. Actually, since not many of us do, we’re all stuffed.”
Her laugh blended with his. “I honestly believe when we get to heaven, it won’t matter. We’ll speak in our language, someone will reply in theirs, yet we’ll all understand one another.” She grinned. “Take Sunday. We sang ‘
the splendor of the King’
in five different languages at once. Once for each verse. It was amazing.”
“How did you all manage that?”
“It was up on the screen spelled out phonetically so it was easy. We sang in Mandarin, Russian, French, Spanish, and English. Though I guess technically it was six, because there were a couple of people at the front using sign language all the way through, as well.”
“Wow. I would have loved to have heard that.”
“It was incredible. And because we knew the song, we knew what we were singing. See, praising God is the same no matter what language you do it in. Maybe you should come on Sunday. We won’t sing that one again, but we might sing something else you know.”
“I’ll think about it.” He opened the door to the farm house. “After you.”
“Thank you.” She took a deep breath and went inside, expecting the same sense of dread and evil as came over her the previous day. But this time there was nothing. A fire blazed in the hearth and the scent of chicken and jacket potatoes filled the air.
Tanis looked up from the table and smiled. The smile never reached her eyes. “Dinner won’t be long.”
Aaron nodded. “Thank you. We’ll go and shower and be back down in a few.”
“Together? I know there is a drought on, but even so…” The smirk on Tanis’s face grew.
Meggie shifted awkwardly, heat rising in her face.
“Maybe next time,” Aaron said lightly. “I haven’t even asked her out yet.” His hand pressed firmly against the small of her back, encouraging her to move. “This way.” Once in the hall, he hung up his jacket and then took hers. “I’m sorry about that. She has her mind in the gutter most of the time, it seems.”
“It’s fine.” She followed him upstairs. “Doesn’t your AGA heat the house as well? The one Mam has at home does.”
“It does, but it can be a little temperamental at times. Why?”
“It’s just…This is going to sound silly, but the house just feels odd.”
“What kind of odd?” His voice took on a defensive tone.
Meggie backtracked, not wanting to upset him as she was a guest in his house for the next several hours. “It’s nothing, probably just me.”
He held her gaze. “No, don’t change the subject.”
Tanis appeared behind them. “Is everything all right?”
“Everything’s fine.” Meggie forced a smile.
Aaron pulled towels from the airing cupboard and held them out to her. “Here you go. There’s shower gel and shampoo and stuff in the bathroom.”
“Thank you. I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Sure. I’ll be in the kitchen.”
She stood under the hot water, letting it rinse the soap from her aching body. She still couldn’t believe that storm. The way the funnel had touched here and there and yet left the house untouched. As she turned off the water and reached for the towel, her phone rang. She wrapped the towel around her, stepped from the shower, and answered on the fourth ring. “Hello.”
“Megs? Are you all right?” Her brother’s voice was filled with more concern than usual. “They’re saying a tornado hit Headley Cross. There’s video footage on the news and everything.”
“Hello to you to, Ies. You drew the short straw today, I see.”
“Be serious for a minute, Meaghan Rhiannon. The news says an F3 tornado struck Headley Cross this afternoon. You live there and you haven’t rung to say you’re OK.”
“Oh ohh, my full name now, is it? Well, Iestyn Gwyther, two can play at that game, look you.”
“We were worried. There were pictures and video on the news and all over the Internet, and when you didn’t call, we were afraid you’d been caught up in it and had a house dropped on you or something.”
“I left my ruby slippers back at Da’s farm, so it’d be too bad if I had been whisked away. But, I do have mobile phone footage, which I took it especially for you as the funnel was forming.” She rubbed her hair with a smaller towel. “I’m fine. Aaron and I reached shelter in time. The roads to town are blocked, so I’m overnighting at his place.”
“Aaron? A man, Aaron?”
“Yes, Aaron. He’s a bloke, one of the local farmers.”
“Is he a Christian? Is it safe?”
She rolled her eyes. Sometimes the overprotective streak was a little much. Would she be staying here if she didn’t trust Aaron? “The church is using his farm for the bonfire next weekend. His stepmother lives here, as well, so we’re not alone. It’s just until the roads are clear, which should be by morning. I’ll ring when I get home. I should go now and get dressed.”
“You are undressed in a stranger’s house?” His tone was, by now, downright disapproving.
“Well, if you’re going to ring when I’m showering, Iestyn, what do you expect?” she teased him and then laughed. “And he’s not a stranger. He’s a friend and a gentleman. Thank you for the concern. Give the others my love. I’ll send the footage when I can. Speak soon.”
“You too.” He paused. “Megs…be careful. I have a bad feeling.”
“You and your feelings. Ies, if you’re really that worried, then pray. I would…” She hesitated, not wanting to burden him with her concerns. “I’d like it if you did. Listen, I have to go now before I freeze to death. Love you. Bye.” She hung up and shook her head. Some things would never change and seven over protective brothers were one of them.
8
“He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let Him deliver him, since he delights in Him.” Psalm 22:8
Even though Aaron sat by the fire, the room seemed to brighten as Meggie came into the kitchen. Her damp hair was piled on her head in a loose bun. Her blue sweater showed off her ample figure and slender waist, while the full length skirt seemed to add an inch or two to her petite height. Unless she was wearing heels, which Aaron doubted.
“Feel better?” he asked, getting to his feet. He ignored the look of disgust Tanis shot him. His father had taught him that a gentleman always stood when a lady entered the room. And Meggie was all lady.
“Yes, thank you.” She ran her gaze over him. “You changed, too.”
“Yeah. I made use of the other bathroom. Did you want to ring home? The phone line’s working again now.”
“Iestyn actually rang my mobile as I got out of the shower.” She grinned. “Anyway, he said the tornado made the news in the valley and they were all worried because I hadn’t rung them.” She sat and held her hands towards the fire to warm them.
He sat opposite her, his heart pounding at the way she sat in Nancy’s chair. No one had sat in it since she’d died, well no one who mattered. Tanis regularly did, purely to annoy him. Yet he hadn’t been able to get rid of the chair because it was the one link he had left to his wife. Tanis had helped him box up Nancy’s things soon after the funeral, and then she’d taken them away. Aside from the chair and a couple of photos, he had nothing tangible left.
As Tanis came back into the room, the temperature seemed to drop twenty degrees, despite the blazing fire. Was he imagining things because of what Meggie had said? Was this what she’d meant about the house being odd and the heating not working?
Meggie pulled the chair a little closer to the fire. If she felt it too, then it wasn’t just his imagination. He tried to remember if the farm house had always been cold. There was a time before his mother died, when sunlight shone from every room and the house smelled of furniture polish and lily of the valley.
He reached over and touched Meggie’s hand. “You’re cold.”
“A little.”
He held her gaze. It seemed brighter where she sat, as if she were keeping the growing darkness at bay singlehandedly.
“Are you going to eat over there?” The icy voice of his stepmother cut into his thoughts.
“Yes. It’s warmer.”
She nodded and brought over two steaming plates. “Here you are.”
Meggie accepted the offering. “Thank you. It smells wonderful.”