AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I really should’ve led with that. It’s supposed to rain later so unless you want to postpone?—”
“Nope, I’m up. I’m getting dressed. It’s warm enough, right?” Judging by the fact she’s wearing shorts, I’m confident of the answer.
“Almost eighty degrees.”
“Thank you, climate change. Give me ten minutes to eat.”
She shakes her head. “You want the same gift from me every year. Don’t you get bored of drawing me so many times?”
I grab her from behind by the waist. “Do you get bored of watching the sunset or staring at the stars?” Her hand runs over my arm as she turns her head to give me a blushing smile. “Aw, speechless, I love it.”
“Shut up. That was really sweet.”
All these years together, and she still looks at me like I’m the most important thing in the world. I’m the luckiest fucking man.
“Do you want my hair up or down?” she asks, and I consider it.
“Up, so I can see my handiwork.”
She rolls her eyes and lays a hand over the love bite on her neck, but her pleased expression gives her away. She loves this as much as I do. “Okay, go eat while I get ready.”
I’m raring to go when she joins me downstairs about twenty minutes later, her hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun. With my bag of supplies over my shoulder, we head outside. The late morning sun glints off our greenhouse. It didn’t take long for Calli to discover she has a green thumb and a love for horticulture. She spends almost as much time at that as I spend drawing.
Our little herd of goats bleat at us as we pass.
“Wait until your mom sees the new baby goats. She’s never going to want to leave,” Calli says.
“I’m more interested to see Dad fight our chickens again.”
Our laughter drifts through the forest. My parents visit often now. They adore Calli and after she moved in with me, we turned the cabin into a guest house for them. My sister also visits in the summer with her kids. Calli is their favorite aunt, especially since she took them to their first music festival.
I wonder sometimes if she realizes how much she changed my life, how different things would be if it weren’t for her. My family and I are closer than we’ve ever been. I’ve made new friends. We travel, not only to see our favorite bands play, but to art museums and national parks, and anywhere else our hearts desire. Mom and Dad are happy to come and care for the animals when we take a trip. Sometimes Silver or Lee do as well.
Those first months we knew each other may have been full of chaos and trauma, but the peace we’ve had ever since has made it all worth it. The secrets that lie under the bushes in the graveyard don’t haunt us anymore.
The forest closes around us as we follow the path back to the creek. As soon as we reach the spot, I can see her there again in my mind’s eye. All the memories of her in this place haven’t overwritten that first one and how the sight of her made me feel. I can still see her smiling at the rock she found, biting into a peach, dipping her hair into the creek, the water cascading over her breasts. Glowing as if she were sunlight itself.
Don’t you get tired of drawing me?
How could I when she is everything?
“Where do you want me this time?” she asks.
“Wherever you want to be. Pretend I’m not here.”
Her grin is mischievous. “Fair enough considering I wasn’t aware of your presence the first time.” She chooses an area covered in a thick bed of moss near the creek bank.
“Are you ever going to let me live that down?”
“Maybe when we’re old and senile.” She grabs the hem of her shirt and pulls it off, baring her breasts. My gaze is locked onto her as she kicks off her shoes then slides her shorts and underwear off.
“The moss is cold,” she chuckles, sitting down on it and reclining against a boulder. After getting comfortable, she calls. “How’s this?”
“Perfect. You’re perfect.”
She is, and I can’t believe I almost let her go because of my fear. We’ve had a slight scare or two since that first one, but my heart is still going strong, with no additional damage. There’s no reason to believe I won’t be bringing her out here in ten more years.
I sit at the base of a tree and pull out my sketchbook, one devoted completely to this, and flip through the other pages of Calliope. All nude drawings in different poses in this same spot, they show the subtle changes in her body over the years that have only made her more beautiful.
