A Subtle Tenderness (2 page)

Heath lounge on a bench by the fire nursing a cool be
er.  He was content with a full day’s work and a good meal.  He cocked his head as he listened to the forest around him.   He could hear someone was coming up the mountain.  It was either a camper or lost hiker. It happened every now and then; the residents of this community either assisted them back to their campsite or the local sheriff. 

He
ath rarely had visitor and most of the people who knew him would come up his gravel drive.  He walked to the edge of his cleared back yard and listened as the person approached.  He could detect their steady trod up the mountain.  Heath moved into the trees to see who was making their way to his home. 

As the person came into view he could see it was a woman and he doubted she was a hiker or a camper by the style of her dress.  She had on a colorful top, a pink sweater tied around her mid-section, calf length
pants and shoes that wouldn’t make it a comfortable hike.  Not wanting the woman to be frightened by him, he moved out of the tree line into view.  The woman stopped when she saw him and called out to him as she began to walk faster. 

“I need your help.
   I had an accident, a large deer and its hurt and suffering.  You have to help me.”

He
ath went to meet her when she nearly fell walking up the steep incline. He assisted her to the bench that he had just vacated and allowed her to catch her breath.  Surprised that she had a flashlight in her hand, he took the time to study the woman while she rested.

“Are you hurt Miss?”  

“No” she said while taking in gulps of air, “just thirsty.”

Heath walked the short distance to his porch and retrieved a bottle of water from a cooler and insisted that she take a drink to steady herself.  He watched the woman drink the cool water gratefully and four things struck him at once.  Her scent was intoxicating.  She smelled of something sweet his mother used to bake and it
smelled familiar and comforting. 

She had the largest brown eyes he had ever seen, like warm pools of cocoa and they were surrounded by a most appealing face.  Her lips were full and lush, making him think of ripe fruit and he knew he was instantly attracted to her. She took a few moments to compose herself and then she spoke again.

“I had an accident back at the road.  I hit a deer.  It’s not dead.  It’s suffering.  I saw the smoke and I came looking for help.”   She looked at him with genuine sorrow and continued.  “It’s suffering.  You have to help, it’s hurt very badly.”

  Heath was surprised and more than warmed by her concern more for the animal than her car.  A characteristic of someone with a generous spirit was not often easy to find.  He squatted down to meet her at eye level. 

“Are you sure you’re not injured,” he asked. She nodded her ebony hair caught the light of the waning sun and gleamed.  Seeing a twig caught in the dark mass Heath moved to remove it and she froze as he pulled it from her dark mass and tossed it aside.  “You stay here and I’ll go see about the deer and your car.”

“I want to go.  I’m capable of walking back down.”  He looked at the determined set of her jaw and caught her eyes and held them.

“Are you sure you want to go?  I’ll have to end its suffering.” 

She nodded with conviction and
Heath saw the knowledge of what he would have to do dawn in her eyes. 

“We won’t be walking down.” He
ath said as he held out his hand and introduced himself, “my name is Heath by the way.”

“Ophelia”, she said and took his hand.  He
ath stood never once releasing her hand as she also stood. 

“Pleased to meet you Miss Ophelia, my truck is around the front.  You made it up the mountain
in good time.  It will be dark soon any later and we might have had to wait until tomorrow.” 

*******

She followed his lead and watched him cross his front yard to uncover his truck from some discarded brush and foliage.   It was an older truck and he opened the door for her and assisted her inside. 

“I’
ll be right back Miss Ophelia, make yourself comfortable.”

Ophelia watched the large man walk away from her and enter his cabin.  When she had first seen him
, Ophelia was more relieved than scared.  She had been right to seek out help.  As she sat and waited, Ophelia realized that she was alone with a stranger.  He looked very capable of doing, well…anything.  First off he was well over six foot tall, well-built and menacing.  Well, menacing was too harsh a description.  Ophelia just felt like he was seeing through her with his eyes. 

When he helped her up the rest of the way to his cabin she felt small and defenseless next to him.  He
ath was quietly studying her while she drank her water.  At first sight she thought his eyes were black but then the light hit them and they were the deepest color of blue that she had ever seen.  He reminded her of the mountain men that she read about in the hundreds of romance novels she edited. She was grateful he made her feel safe.  Heath seemed to be genuinely concerned for her safety.

Ophelia
watched him walk to the truck carrying a wicked looking knife and a rifle which he carefully loaded into the back of the truck.  Her heart beat faster as Ophelia realized her vulnerable situation.  Once he was in the car she took a moment to study him, careful not to be too obvious.  He had sandy brown hair, nice features, a few days’ worth of facial hair growth and a nice firm mouth.  Her eyes strayed to his hands as he drove; they were large and looked rough from hard labor. 

He
ath looked her way and Ophelia gave him a grateful smile.  He had a solid muscular frame and there didn’t appear to be an ounce of fat on him.  Heath smelled like the forest, earthy and male.  She liked it. What was she doing checking out the mountain man who may have just rescued her?  Ophelia looked out the window and noticed lamp posts on either side of the gravel drive that lead to the main road.  He pulled up in front of the deer and her car. 

“Stay here Miss Ophelia. 
I don’t care for you to witness this.” 

Ophelia
nodded understanding what Heath was about to do.  She watched him walk over to the deer and begin to talk in a low calming voice.  Heath came back to his truck and secured a tarp, and instead of using the rifle to put the deer down he bent low still talking to the animal and ended his suffering with one well-placed flick of his knife.  Ophelia looked away when she realized what Heath had just done.   Ophelia felt sick and tearful that the animal had to die but at least it wasn’t suffering any longer.   When Ophelia turned back to watch Heath, he had covered up the carcass and was surveying her vehicle.   Minutes later he called to her.

“Miss Ophelia, will you come here for a moment?”

Ophelia got out of the truck and walked toward him careful not to look at the tarp or the blood pooled beneath it. 

“It’s wedged up against this tree pretty good,” he
said with a smile in his steady voice.  “I thought I might be able to fix it but it appears the buck and the tree may have busted your radiator.  Look at the liquid on the ground.”  There’s a tow company in town an hour’s drive from here. I can take you there tomorrow and have the car towed to their garage but the garage won’t be open until Monday.”  Heath looked at her somberly and continued.  “You can stay with me tonight.   I have plenty of room in my cabin.  Do you have someone you need to contact?”

“My parents, but I can call them tomorrow when we get to town,”
Ophelia said with resignation.  She knew there were few motels or road side inns this far up in the mountains and the few that Ophelia had seen she wouldn’t even think of staying a night in them.  Notch, Georgia was a secluded community.  Ophelia would gratefully take his offer of a room for the night. Glancing back at the tarp she looked at Heath and spoke quietly.  “Thank you for that.”  He nodded with understanding.

“I noticed you didn’t ask about a hotel or inn.”

“That’s because I know this area vaguely, well not this part of the mountain.  My Aunt lived outside of Notch, and I used to visit her often.  I was on my way to her home, I mean my home now.  She just recently passed”

“Notch, huh,” Heath said teasingly.  “I figured you for a city girl.”

“I might surprise you Heath,” Ophelia smiled up at him and continued.  “I know my way around these parts or at least I used to.” 

“Is there anything you will need from your car?” 

Ophelia grabbed her duffle bag, grateful she had a few changes of clothes in the bag and all of her daily and nightly essentials.  Heath secured her bag in the truck. She locked up her car careful to replace her mag light and watched as he wrapped the buck securely in the tarp.

“Miss Ophelia, I am
gonna need your help with this buck.”  He turned to Ophelia and gave her a direct gaze.  “You gonna be up to it.”  Ophelia understood he was asking her to help him get the buck in his truck. 

“Of course, I’m strong, I can help lift the buck,” she said defensively.

“I know you’re strong, Miss Ophelia. You survived an accident and hiked up part of a mountain in search of help for a dying animal. That’s not what I’m asking.  Are you going to pass out or get weak kneed when we try to move this carcass?”  Ophelia looked down into dark serious eyes as Heath secured the tarp around the buck. 

“No, I can help...I can do this.  I won’t faint,” she said with certainty, “but
I can’t promise anything about the weak knees.”  Ophelia watched him smile as he stood. 

“That’s good Miss Ophelia.  That will do just fine.  Now, you will only have to hold the ends of the tarp, I will do most of the lifting as we hoist him in the truck.
It will be the same when we get back to my cabin” 

Ophelia
nodded and watched him back the truck right up to the deer.  She watched his large capable hands and did as he instructed.  She watched in amazement as he nearly lifted the massive weight by himself and it was heavy.  Ophelia grunted and strained as they completed the task in seconds.  Mercy he was strong.  She watched him secure the buck and stood there looking at the blood that had pooled on the ground. 

“Miss Ophelia,
you ready?”  She nodded as Heath assisted her back into his truck.

Once inside the truck
, Heath reached over and opened his glove box and produced a package of baby wipes and offered her one.  Ophelia giggled as she took one and began to wipe her hands.  “I never figured you for a Huggies type of guy.”

“They come in handy from time to time and they smell nice.”

Ophelia turned toward him as he drove them back up the mountain toward his cabin.  This man looked rough around all the edges yet she was utterly at ease in his presence.  Heath didn’t talk much, didn’t move to turn on the radio.  He was a man secure in himself and that confidence surrounded him like armor.

“Are you hungry Miss Ophelia?”

“Yes, I am.  Ophelia, Miss Ophelia was my aunt.  Just call me Ophelia.”

“Well, Ophelia I made some rabbit stew earlier.” 

Ophelia knew that if any of her friends had heard this they would probably gag. She had eaten rabbit stew many times with her aunt and uncle and Ophelia loved deer steaks.  She was hungry.  The last meal she had eaten on the road hadn’t been very appetizing.

“That sounds fine.  I am so hungry I could eat a horse right now.”

“Horse was on the menu Wednesday, we’re fresh out,” Heath said teasingly.  They rode in companionable silence until he backed the truck up to a shed at the far end of his property, and then with strenuous effort they removed the carcass from the truck.   Heath carried her duffle as they walked to his cabin and he ushered her in.  Whatever Ophelia thought a log cabin should look like this was not it.  Heath set her duffle down on a cushioned settee near a front window and quickly showed her around. 

“Make yourself comfortable, we’re standing in the living room, bathroom to your left next to the bedroom,” he continued moving farther into the cabin as he spoke and turned on lamps.  “Fireplace, kitchen, make yourself at home, I’ll get you something to eat before I go and take care of the buck.” 

Ophelia followed him to his kitchen and watched as Heath washed his hands and prepared her a sandwich and a bowl of stew.  She sat at a mahogany bar as he served her and placed a glass of ice and a cold beer beside it.  The stew smelled delicious and Ophelia had no qualms about asking for seconds after her first bite.

“This is yummy,” she said with genuine appreciation.

“Enjoy. The pot is on the stove. Ophelia, help yourself to anything you like.  You are my guest so please make yourself comfortable. It may take me an hour or so to prepare the deer.”  With that said Heath walked outside. 

Ophelia savored the meal and washed her dishes.  She looked around the modern well lit kitchen
.  The ceiling was stained pine, there hardwood floors and wood cabinets.  Stainless steel appliances and sink, you would be hard pressed to find a more well designed kitchen in most modern cities.  The floor plan was open and it was much bigger than it appeared from the outside.   Detailed wood furniture was everywhere.