Here I Am, Here You Are: Six.

Six

That night, Harper drifted off into a peaceful slumber in the comfort of her childhood bedroom. She was lulled to sleep by the sounds of her parents muffled pillow talk and the hum of a ceiling fan. It was a surprise to her that instead of collapsing in her dreams with red, swollen, tear-filled eyes she peacefully, almost too comfortably, snuggled in her bed and within minutes she was dreaming land.
It was a beach she dreamed of. White sand, waves crashing, the sky so clear, so blue. And a man was there. It wasn’t Sandy, to her shock. This was a man she’d never seen before, too handsome for her, she thought. He wasn’t very tall and he had the stocky build of leftover muscles from days of college wrestling. The man was walking toward her, a big grin on his face, his hand reaching for hers. Harper jumped out of her rem sleep, her heart pounding.
The next thing Harper knew she heard the ungodly sound of a rooster shouting his morning wake up call. It was a sound Harper hand’t heard in quite some time. Even before she married Sandy she lived downtown in a tiny two bedroom apartment with her best girlfriend Marie for just over a year.
Harper gathered her thoughts, caught her breath, and decided it was good a time as any to get up for the day. The peculiar beach dream lingered in her mind as she brushed her teeth, took a shower, and dressed. Who was that handsome man and why did he make her heart feel warm and cozy? It was then Harper realized she was dressing as if she was going to meet the mystery man. She looked at herself in the mirror and wondered if she had gone off the deep end.

With that, Harper changed her clothes for a more casual look. Still adorable in her jeans and fitted Dr. Pepper t-shirt, her hair in a simple pony tail, and her favorite red flip-flops, Harper bounded for the kitchen where she knew her momma was making a big breakfast. She entered the kitchen and saw a piece of Americana, her momma frying bacon, flipping pancakes, scrambling eggs, all at the same time and her daddy reading the newspaper, drinking his coffee, and eating a buttered slice of toast.
“There’s my girl,” her daddy said affectionately. “You sleep okay, darling?”

“Morning, daddy.” Harper gave her dad a kiss on the cheek and a hug. “I slept… really good actually.”
“I made sure to put the temp down so you weren’t too hot.” Her momma said as she placed the platters of food on the table.

“Oh, honey, be sure to try this maple syrup, this is the good stuff. I bought it from a little shop in Vermont. They ship it out to us.”
Her daddy poured a mug of coffee for her. “You still take some coffee with your cream and sugar?” He asked.
“Momma, daddy, y’all don’t have to make such a fuss over me like this.” Harper gave the obligatory speech when inside she loved the attention and comfort her doting parents were giving her.

Over breakfast, they chatted about every day things, then momma cleaned up, while dad and daughter chatted some more. The family fell effortlessly into their routine without skipping a beat with daddy going off to work and momma off to her volunteer work at church followed by crafts at home.
With her parents gone, Harper looked around, realizing she had nothing to do. She stared out the kitchen window, the sun light was a glorious lemon yellow, the sky was as blue as in her dream, and the clouds were perfect billows of white puffed corn. She grabbed her camera and took off on foot.

Normally she wasn’t a nature photographer but within minutes she had seen the most elegant humming bird at the feeder. She snapped photo after photo of the tiny fluttering creature. And then she saw a butterfly. She chased it and chased it until it landed on a large sunflower. She snapped the photo in a flash and hoped for the best when she developed them.
Harper’s daddy had a gorgeous little plot of land that he maintained like an English countryside garden. It was so stunning that people from all over the state would come visit it just to walk around and bask in it’s serene beauty. Her daddy was even featured in a couple of gardening magazines. All of this rolled around Harper’s mind like a marble on an uneven floor. It astounded her that she had forgotten just how breathtaking his simple three acres were. She took photo after photo and the light was perfect until a single gray cloud moved in over head.
Harper looked up and a drop of rain fell on her face. As Alabama rain does, it came down heavy and quick. Harper was soaked in mere seconds. She ran under the nearest tree looking for cover.
In the distance she heard: “Hey, girl! You crazy goin’ under a tree in a thunderstorm!”

Harper looked around for the man’s voice until her eyes landed on him. He was standing in a barn door, jeans, cowboy boots, Hanes t-shirt, and a ten gallon on his head. Not very tall, a stocky build of left over college wrestling muscles, a clean, handsome face, and ice blue eyes. She almost passed out. Was this some sort of supernatural event? Was he some sort of dream ghost?
“Don’t just stand there! Come on! You don’t see that lightning?!”

Harper couldn’t move. She was both frightened, embarrassed, and so attracted to him. And then he ran toward her. As he got closer her reached out his rough, hard labored hand and took her soft, cold hand in his. The mystery man led her to the barn where he wrapped her in his John Deer coat.
“Who are you?” Harper asked. She didn’t mean to sound blunt but at this point she was pretty creeped out.
“You don’t remember me?” He said with a laugh. “Geez Louise, Harper, it ain’t been that long.”
“You’re working for my daddy?”
“Yeah, for about a year now.” He said. The awkward pause hit them both. He looked at her. She looked away. And then, ever the gentleman, he pulled up a wooden crate for her to sit on. Harper hesitated but he motioned for her to sit and she politely obliged.
He smiled at her. A smile of warmth, a touch of youthful shyness.

“You don’t remember, do you?” He said.
Harper snapped back: “I do. I do.”

“What’s my name?”

Harper remained still. She raised an eyebrow, not one for fun and games.

“Kit,” He said, “Kit Evans.”

Harper lit up like a Christmas tree. “Kit kat!?” She shouted. “My goodness. You’re all grown up.”

“As are you I see.” He said. “You’re still every bit as pretty as I remember.”

Harper blushed. What was this guy doing being all handsome and flirty and rescuing her from the dangers of cloud to ground lightning?

“Kit, I’m married.” Harper said. Her heart sunk as the awful words spilled from her mouth. In an instant she felt like a dirty rotten adulterer. She had to have a mighty quick pep-talk with herself and remind herself that it was Sandy who had committed the sin and Sandy who had walked out.
“Oh, gosh, Harper.” Kit struggled. “I didn’t mean to imply nothing. I work for your daddy and I was just… “ Kit’s voice trailed off.

Harper yearned for him to continue on with his kind words about her but she knew it was wrong.
“I think I should be going.” Harper said.
Kit smiled at her. It was awkward, bashful. “Yeah, the rain is letting up. I better get back to work.”
The sun peeked through the clouds and shone on their young faces. Harper smiled at Kit and he smiled back. She walked out of the barn and he watched her.
“Harper!” Kit shouted.
Harper snapped back around to look at him. Was he really the man from the beach in her dream?
“I’m glad you’re still taking pictures. You were always good at it.” Kit said.
“Thank you.” Harper said. She nervously bit her bottom lip and brushed a lock of her wet hair behind her ear. Kit watched her walk away, a tiny flutter in his chest.