8. Cielo

The warmth of the cabin was pervasive and settled deep into me as I curled up against the back of the couch. The work was still as difficult as ever, but I found I didn’t mind it as much as the days went on. Either my mind was getting better adjusted to the struggle, or my body was somehow acclimating to the effort. Either way, I was finding myself less exhausted at night.

The downside to that, however, was that I was also less likely to nod off early or spend most of my mental energy trying to fight off the onset of sleep. I tried my best at night to not pester Dominic too much, who seemed to enjoy his peace and quiet. I was of the belief that the more I kept myself occupied, the less likely I was to annoy him too much.

It didn’t help when he grew more comfortable with the passing of the days. To the point that he seemed to have forgotten all about the incident from the first night. The first time he had walked out of the bathroom with nothing more than a small towel around his waist, I had thought I might fall off my chair.

If Dominic hadn’t been preoccupied with the thermostat in the hallway, he might have very well spotted my attention on him. The light of the fire had spilled into the hall, bathing his tanned skin in a warm glow. I had watched as beads of water worked their way down his chest, catching in the hair and glistening like stars. Just about every line and curve of the man’s body was in full display as he frowned at the dial on the wall, and I wished I could have a chance to run my hands along it.

Thankfully, that incident had been the only time I had been caught off-guard.

The next morning, when Dominic had wandered about in only a pair of shorts, I had been much better prepared. It had been a less than arousing sight, especially when I spotted the front of his shorts bouncing around. It was all I needed in order to know that he was probably large in every sense of the word. I however, had appeared to hardly bat an eye, excusing myself to the bathroom to take a quick, but cold shower.

The sound of the shower was mingling with the crackle of the fire, and I knew I didn’t have long until Dominic emerged. There was a good chance the guy would come out with little on again, apparently having forgotten completely that I would have happily jumped him given the chance.

In the interest of trying to stave off the pervasive and persuasive thoughts, I went hunting for something to do. There wasn’t much to offer in the way of entertainment lying around the house. Even the few books that lay around weren’t something that was going to keep my attention. Instead, the best I could come up with was a pad of paper and a pencil.

It had been a while since the last time I’d drawn on actual paper, instead of doodling away on a tablet. I’d never quite let go of my childish style of drawing when I could get away with it. The style I’d had since I was a boy remained solely for drawings I kept locked away in a folder far from where anyone would snoop. Seeing as I was in the middle of nowhere without anyone else to see, however, I felt content to curl up on the couch and allow the pencil to do its thing.

As I expected, the drawing swept me away from the moment. By the time Dominic came thumping out of the shower, I was lost in the world of doodling away on the page. Various cartoon figures sprung to life, some basic, while others became more developed, their facial features a caricature of real emotion. They made me smile and I began to refine some of my favorites as the fire crackled merrily away before me.

“What’s that?”

Dominic’s voice pierced through the fog of concentration I was lost in, making me jump. The pad spilled out of my lap, clattering to the hardwood floor along with the pencil. I hadn’t been paying attention and hadn’t heard him come into the room. He was peering down at me from the side of the couch, eyebrows raised before bending to pick up the pad of paper with my doodles.

“Don’t,” I protested.

He flipped the page, eyeing the drawings and giving a light laugh. “These are cute. I didn’t know you could draw.”

“What did you think I was going to art school for?”

He shrugged. “You never said you were going to art school. All your stories have been about going to school and hanging around with your friends. I kind of figured they were art students and you might be too, but you never actually said. I had no idea you could draw.”

I squirmed. “They’re not… the right kind of drawings. These are just the ones I do for fun.”

He flipped another page. “If you ask me, these are the right kind of drawings then. If you enjoy them, then why not draw like that all the time?”

“Because they’re not… art,” I muttered.

“You’re talking to someone who thinks carving elves on a table counts as extra nonsense. Any kind of drawing or painting is art to me,” he said with a laugh.

“But those carvings are really nice, and you should do them more,” I protested.

He handed the pad back, smiling. “And you should draw like this more often, if it makes you happy.”

I looked down at the doodles thoughtfully. The time at the orchard had left apples on my brain, well, and Dominic. Without giving it too much thought, I had begun doodling apple people caught up in all manner of situations. One was trying desperately to escape a pie before the oven door closed, two others dueled with peelers. They were exactly the sort of drawings my friends would have discouraged me from doing, pushing me toward more refined and mature styles.

“You think so?” I asked.

Dominic patted my shoulder. “I know so. If I could afford it, I’d have you draw me up a few new labels, give the brand a new feel.”

“You don’t have to pay me for it, it could be part of my payment for being here.”

“I may not know a whole lot about the world, but I know that’s a bad deal. No, you deserve to have your piece of the pie. Before you get out of here though, leave your number. Because I really would love to have some of your drawings on the apples I ship out.”

It was said so matter of factly, that I couldn’t help but believe him. Dominic was quick to correct and slow to compliment, but he meant both with all of his being. If he really did think there was value to my art, then maybe there was something to it.

“Sure,” I whispered, running my finger over the paper thoughtfully as he went to grab something from the kitchen.

“Yeah.”

* * *

I took a deep breath of the crisp autumn air, letting it out in a low, steady stream. The smell of the leaves mingled with the crisp smell of apples. Nearby, I could hear Dominic muttering to himself, though his voice was too low to be understood. I smiled as I caught the shape him moving through the trees nearby, fighting with something. It seemed like he was always busy fixing something up now that he had me well trained in the art of picking apples.

Watching Dominic work was just one of the pleasures I had discovered in my time at the orchard. Once I’d thought that being out in the middle of nowhere would offer me nothing more than mind-numbing boredom and no real escape. Instead, I’d discovered the thrill of stumbling across a family of rabbits at the edge of the orchard. On one of my lunch breaks, I’d gone for a walk and discovered a creek still alive with the last frogs of the season. I had delighted at their song as they hopped through the water, searching for a meal before winter finally settled in.

The nights were absolutely breathtaking, and I was looking forward to seeing the Northern Lights more than ever. Without the lights of any nearby cities, the sky was awash with stars twinkling along the dark blanket of night. I had stood in the middle of the orchard, wrapped in Dominic’s jacket and marveling up at the sky. It wasn’t until the man himself had come out to personally retrieve me that I’d allowed myself to be drawn back into the house.

I found myself returning to the pad of paper again and again. The family of rabbits, the frog laden creek, and of course apples, all spilled out on the pages. Dominic never touched the pad, except to peer at my latest drawing and exclaim over it. To my surprise and delight, each new addition seemed to elicit true pleasure from him, who had even asked to keep the pad after I had left.

It was such an odd feeling for me, to be content in the middle of nowhere, and to have someone appreciate my natural style of art. It felt good to be drawing as I always had, liberating in a way that was beyond the elation of being free in New York for the first time. Being out in the middle of nowhere with Dominic was its own liberating feeling. Out in the woods, I could be myself, never worrying if I was living up to a standard, or possibly falling short of someone’s expectations. He expected me to work hard, but never placed any burdens upon the way I should act or behave, simply accepting me how I came.

As if drawn by my thoughts, Dominic came around the bend of the row of trees, tool box at his side. From the looks of it, he was fussing with the electrical box next to the tool shed again. It ran from the power lines nearby, and over to the house, serving as a juncture for the power to run. He probably could have called someone else to look at it, but he was determined to do it himself, even if it meant cursing at it for a couple of hours.

I was drawn to him, there was no denying that. It wasn’t just his good looks, which were admittedly a draw of their own. He was like the land itself, sturdy and steady, full of secrets just waiting to be dug up. I could almost see myself staying, learning what else there was to know about him, the area, and enjoying the newfound freedom I’d discovered.

Sliding down from the ladder, I made my way over to the shed. A thud from inside confirmed my suspicions about what Dominic was messing with. I poked my head into the dim interior, smiling as I watched him, small flashlight clenched between his teeth, fiddling with the power box.

“You ever get shocked doing that?”

“Got knocked on my ass a couple of times, yeah.”

“And you never thought, hey, maybe I should get someone else to do this?”

“Getting knocked on your ass is a good way to learn where to not touch. I don’t touch those things anymore.”

I snorted, amused by his logic as much as the sound of him trying to talk around the flashlight in his mouth.

“So, I have a question for you.”

He grunted. “Is this one of your random questions that are going to make me stare at you like you’re crazy?”

“You informed me that I’m only allowed five of those a day, so I’m saving them up for later.”

“Oh and I can’t wait.”

I grinned. “So, what’s with people in town?”

He frowned at me. “You’re going to have to be a little more specific.”

“Well, it’s just that, I would have thought people would be a little happier about people coming to their town. I mean, I saw that baker, Edward, he seems really happy about all the attention. But I heard someone else refer to it as being ‘invaded’ when we were in town yesterday.”

Dominic’s brow furrowed. “Not everyone is going to be happy about a bunch of out of towners coming in. Sometimes the people that come into town aren’t all that great. Anytime we get a large group of people like that, trouble tends to happen. It’s gotten to the point now where some people in town just expect nothing but trouble when strangers come to town.”

That was what worried me. The distrust and dislike of strangers was perhaps the only thing that kept me from being too tempted to settle in the town for good. Even in my temptation, I was stalled by the thought of being treated as a source of trouble. I might have spent my childhood feeling isolated and ignored, but I didn’t want to change it into being haunted by other’s dislike of me.

“Is everyone in New York happy to see everyone they meet?”

I frowned. “That’s not a fair question, it’s different. Just walking to the corner store, I see more people than I would if I walked through the main streets of Hilsbury.”

Dominic nodded. “My point is, everyone likes to live in their own little world, one they understand. In the big city, I’m sure they do it by just avoiding talking to too many people, and keeping to their own business. People aren’t any different here, it’s just… there’s less people to deal with. When people start coming from outside, it feels like an intrusion.”

“I guess I get that, but it just feels… close-minded and insular.”

“Sure, the people here aren’t gonna accept strangers as quickly as people from New York would, we don’t deal with strangers all the time like you would there. But it works in a good way, too.”

“Being closed off from the world is a good thing?”

He sighed, closing the power box. “No one was really sure if it was a good idea for me to take over this place, thought I might be too young to take on a business by myself. People around here are slow to accept new things like that, but no one tried to stop me. They gave me all sorts of warnings and some even tried to talk me out of it, but no one got in the way.”

“Not getting in the way of your dreams isn’t really something to commend.”

Dominic shook his head. “I don’t just mean they didn’t get in the way. Sure, some people didn’t think it was a good idea, but they were just trying to advise me because they wanted the best for me. They proved it a couple of years after I had this place and was turning a profit. Another company, big one, bought up a patch of land and brought in trees ready to go and everything. They put a lot of work into it and were quick to start pumping out their own products around here.”

I frowned. “There isn’t any company like that around here. I checked the area out before I came.”

“Exactly. With how much they were producing, they could have sent me under. But the people in town refused to buy anything from them and spread word to the other towns in the county. The people in charge also made it hard for the company to get more land. After a while, the company just gave up, picked up and moved away. They weren’t turning a profit. So yeah, the people here might not like strangers, but when you’re part of the town, they’re going to help you. People didn’t think it was a good idea for me to take on a business by myself, but they’d be damned before they let some outsider, bigwig company come in here and ruin what I’d built.”

I grew quiet, conflicted over the story. On one hand, I was impressed by the locals’ willingness to buckle down and help one of their own. It reminded me of the warm greetings they’d toss to Dominic whenever they saw us, seeming earnestly pleased to see him. On the other hand, I knew the locals’ willingness to not accept something outside and different was probably the reason he refused to truly be himself. Wasn’t it important to be able to be yourself with your family, even if it meant pushing the boundaries?

“Isn’t that something you should ask yourself?” he asked quietly.

I blinked, not realizing I’d voiced the question aloud. Before I could summon up an answer, Dominic was walking away, toward the house. My initial impulse to deny his insinuation died as I remembered the first time my friends had found a collection of my drawings.

They hadn’t known at the time that the pad of drawing paper they’d found had belonged to me. Russ had scooped it up and immediately snorted at the cartoonish style, with Erin quick behind him to call it pedestrian and lacking in any real style or meaning. Izzy hadn’t said much of anything, but I had wanted to shrink into myself at the disdainful curl of her lip as Russ flipped through the pages.

I’d never owned up to the drawings, allowing it to linger on the desk where Russ tossed it after he was done. After that, I’d been careful to allow them to see only drawings I felt they would approve of, or at least offer constructive criticism of. Dominic didn’t know about that particular memory, but somehow, he’d ferreted out the hidden weakness of my happiness with my friends.

And it begged the question, if my friends’ expectations shaped how I behaved, was it really any different than how Dominic chose to behave according to the town’s expectations?