Broken Rider(13)
Erin shook her head and headed back inside for some more cleaning. There were still a few hours of daylight remaining and she had a lot of work to do. She started in the kitchen, and after confirming that all the appliances were still in operational shape, began cleaning off the counters and cabinets. Dust flew everywhere causing Erin to cough and head outside for deep breathes of fresh air, before returning and getting on with the rest of the work. Finally, hours after the sun had finally set, Erin cleared off the couch and crashed down upon it. Within minutes, she was fast asleep.
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The early morning sunshine broke through the shades in the living room and slowly Erin shook herself awake. The cabin was cold and Erin wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and fall back asleep, but she knew she had a long day of chores in front of and didn’t want to set a bad precedent on her first full day as owner of the cabin. So she willed herself off the couch and headed to the bathroom to splash cold water against her face. When she opened the door a squirrel sitting atop the sink with a quizzical look on his face greeted her. Erin screamed and ran outside, noticing at the last second a dark lump lying at the foot of the stairs. Erin screamed again.
“What’s all the fuss about?” The lump asked. Erin looked down and realized it was Jack lying at the foot of the stairs. He looked up at her with a blank expression on his face.
“Jack? What are you doing here?”
Jack sat up and yawned. “I was sleeping. What happened in the house?”
“I saw a squirrel on the sink in the bathroom. It scared the heck out of me.”
Jack chuckled and Erin’s heart melted. The sound that came from him was warm and gentle, and she craved to hear it again. “That’s Randy, don’t mind him, he doesn’t bite.”
“You have a pet squirrel named Randy?”
“He’s not my pet, no. And to be quite honest I don’t know if his name is Randy, neither. He’s never corrected me on it, so I just assumed he was cool with it.”
“Real funny Jack. It might be normal out here in the wild to find rodents chilling on your bathroom sink when you wake up, but where I come from its cause for alarm.” Erin folded her arms across her chest and watched as he rose to his feet and raised his arms above his head in a cat-like stretch. His stomach became exposed and revealed a thick swath of hair covering his thick abdomen. Erin’s cheeks flushed and she looked away in embarrassment. So far, since she’d awoken less than three minutes ago, Jack Riggans had managed to get her to blush twice.
“I understand, and my apologies for joshing around with you like that. Randy has been coming around the place for close to a year now. When I first saw him outside he was still a baby and from what I could gather, lost from his mother. So I left a little food out one night, and when I awoke the next day he was sitting on the porch. He’s been coming around ever since. I’m not quite sure how he finds his way into the house, but he does. Would you like me to set a trap and catch him?”
“A trap? No, of course not! Erin couldn’t believe how seamlessly he transitioned from telling a tender story about a baby squirrel to offering to kill it for her “I’m just shocked is all. Does he come in to steal food?”
Jack shook his head. “Not as far as I can tell. I think he just likes to be around people is all. He’s never even left droppings in the house, either. He’s got a good set of manners, for a squirrel anyway. Heck, even compared to most people I know. Randy is quite the gentleman indeed”
Erin sighed and shook her head. First she had to deal with a heartbroken stud hanging around the property and now she had a chivalrous squirrel named Randy to deal with too. On the bright side, she at least had some company.
“With all that said, make sure to keep all your food items in sealed containers. I assume you don’t want Randy’s cousins showing up on your doorstep, right?”
Erin shook her head. Randy the squirrel was one too many houseguests as it was. “Speaking of doorsteps, do you usually sleep out here on the porch?”
Jack began rolling up his bedroll. “No, not usually. I decided to come sleep outside the cabin last night in case you freaked out or something. Sounds like outside of your meeting with Randy everything went well enough?”
“Yes, everything was fine, thank you.” Erin couldn’t believe how sweet and caring Jack was underneath the rough looking exterior. She smiled and reminded herself to thank Christine for suggesting having her cousin stick around. Jack Riggans was turning out to be far more complicated than she’d initially expected.