Free WISHBONE by Brooklyn Hudson Page A

the job.
    Rachael?
    He had not heard a peep out of her all day. As satisfying as it was to know she was spending time alone and that his plan to relocate them to the country had, at least in part, restored her self-confidence, he suddenly found himself missing her…missing her needing him.
    Don’t be an imbecile!
    This is what you wanted…for life to be back to normal.  
    Julien slid his chair back. He would close the office for the night and see what Rachael was up to in the house.
    Ready to leave, he grabbed his cigarettes and found Rachel peering over the edge of the loft.
    Clasping his hand over his heart he exclaimed, “You scared the shit out of me!”
    Rachael smirked, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
    “Well you did. I didn’t hear you were coming. Say something when you walk in.” 
    She quickly changed the subject. “So this is the man cave?” She came up over the ledge.
    Julien hurried to take her hand. “Be careful. Look at how high we are.” He steadied her at the top. Rachael looked down over the edge fearlessly and Julien offered his dive bomb whistle for effect.
    “Wow, Jules, it’s incredible.” She walked around admiring Randall’s work.
    Julien walked up beside her. “He did an amazing job,” he agreed. “It’s perfect, no?”
    “More than perfect. Wow.” She caressed a shellacked beam feeling the smooth wood and scanning the room thoroughly. She moved to the loading open loading doors.
    “Be careful!” Julien rushed to grab her arm.
    “What? I’m fine.” She stepped to the very edge, only one hand holding the frame. She looked back at Julien standing a foot behind her. “Julien Grenier, are you afraid of heights?”
    “No, but I’m not impetuous…like you.” He scooted her a few steps backward. 
    “Ah , impetuous …good one.” She winked then walked away to peruse the length of the room.
    She spun around and grinned at him. “You’re lucky I didn’t see this space first,” she said as she flipped on the stereo perched on one of the newly built shelves. Sam Cooke’s melodic voice filled the enormous barn with Cupid .
    “Ah, but you have already chosen your woman cave.” He met her halfway across the room and took her hand, giving her a slow turn then taking her into his arms to dance slowly. “With the sink, remember?”
    She pressed up against him, following his lead and taking on the rhythm of the song.
    Her eyes closed, her cheek resting against his shoulder, she spoke softly, continuing their conversation, “…and it’s all set up…the mudroom…my studio. I want to show you.”
    They continued to dance for a few moments until the song ended and he gave her one final twirl before closing down the office for the night.
    “Let’s go,” he suggested while leading her to the ladder where he stepped over the edge first, Rachael following his lead.
    Before Julien could shut the barn lights, the ducks appeared from beside the pond, scampering noisily in their direction. Standing in a row, they begged for their meal. Julien went back in for their feed.
    “I guess I better get in the habit of this,” he said as he filled the coffee can resting in one of the feed barrels outside the coop door. The ducks frantically gobbled as he emptied the food along the ground.
    Rachael bent down, petting one of the large white birds. “They’re so beautiful.” A curious duckling, no longer a tiny tuft of yellow, but merely a half-sized twin of its parents, came to her side then darted away before she could touch it.
    “Now they’ve made me hungry. Did you make anything?” he inquired, realizing they had not arranged for their first meal in the new home. “We didn’t think about that, did we? I guess ordering Chinese is out of the question up here.”
    “We have some canned stuff I unpacked from the city. Soda, soup, coffee…oh, and the eggs.”
    “Eggs?”  He asked as he closed the barn doors. He put his arm around her and they walked in the direction of