The Wallflower Mate

26

A couple of days passed since Ryker and her little rendezvous in the greenhouse. Every time Mary thought about what happened, she would blush in silence. To be honest, it was a little amusing. She never thought she would be in that kind of intimate situation. Thinking back to how he touched her and made her come alive, she never felt such a rush of self-confidence and love. It shook and frightened her all at once.

For the hundredth time since the start of Mary’s first day off from the restaurant, she blushed again. She was scrubbing the floors with some old rags and a bucket filled with floor cleaner, but her mind was completely elsewhere. Slow scrubbing, careless movement with a weird smile on her face. She sat on the hardwood floors of her kitchen with a little dazed look.

It took a while before Mary heard the knocking on her front door. They were loud and impatient. Quickly, she dropped what she was doing and stood up to open the door. Alexei stood on the other side with a basket filled with all kinds of goods. She saw some home baked bread, a jar of pickles and a carton of eggs.

The early morning sunlight shined on Alexei’s horrid, scarred face. The scowl he wore on his face was intimidating and filled with irritation. He wore a worn white t-shirt that had old grease stains all over it and light, stained, denim blue jeans. The ripped jeans didn’t look like he did it on purpose because of the style, but because he had worked on his knees in the fields long enough for it to rip. Alexei shook his head and his black hair slightly fell over his right face to cover some of his scar.

For a minute, there was an awkward silence between them. Mary was a little shocked to see him here. Alexei said nothing. Instead, the rude male pushed the basket right into her arms. Afraid that the goods would fall on the small stepped porch, she grabbed onto it instantly.

“Good morning,” she finally said.

“Ma asked me to drop these off for you,” he muttered.

Mary looked down at the basket once again. The bread had a golden brown crust to it. The pickles in the jars looked deliciously pickled and she knows for a fact that the eggs in the carton was from their chickens on the farm. This was really sweet of them.

“She didn’t have to—”

“Ma doesn’t like to owe favors.”

Mary couldn’t stop the frown from appearing on her face.

“I wasn’t asking for anything in return.” Mary could feel her frustration rising.

“It doesn’t matter. She asked me to bring this to you.” Alexei brushed her response off like nothing.

“Well, wait here a minute. I baked some cookies earlier. How about I pack some for you to bring back to share?” Mary halfway turned but stopped when Alexei refused.

“We’re fine,” he said gruffly.

“I said wait,” Mary nearly growled her reply.

Alexei stopped retreating. His eyes trained on her. Mary didn’t mean to snap angrily. She just didn’t like how Alexei was treating her.

“Come inside,” she ordered.

Without looking behind, she walked inside with the basket still in her hands. Placing the basket onto the small kitchen counter. She started packing the cookies she baked this morning into a Ziploc bag. Surprisingly, Alexei followed her inside. Standing in the middle of her cabin with his hands stuffed in his pocket. With his towering figure, he looked like a Giant enclosed in a small space. Even her furniture looked small to his size.

“I’m sorry if I came off rude,” Alexei said, breaking the silence between them.

Mary looked at him. She knew he meant no harm. Alexei uses harsh words to stop people from looking at him for too long. She zipped the bag up before walking and handing him the bag of cookies.