CHAPTER THIRTY

We arrived at grandma's farmhouse at around 2:00 pm, the sun warm blaring down and our skin had become a little darker. John climbed down first and helped me down, I reached over and lightly shook Lisa, "time to wake sleepy head", I called softly, she opened her eyes and stretched, "already", she yawned. We grab our bags from the cart and place them on the ground before John and I put the horses in the stable, and the cart at the side of the stables, and walk over to Lisa, standing grogerly by the bags. I go to pick up my bag before John beats me to it, "you, my lady, are in charge of knocking on the door", he says sounding fancy, making me blush. We walk to the door together and I knock, we hear a little shuffling before the door opens to reveal grandma and delicious aromas, coming from the kitchen, "welcome, welcome", she greets warmly, her eyes moving between us before finally landing on John, who was standing behind me, the corner of her mouth tilts up higher, "you must be John", she states happily, extending her hand, I moved to the side for them, "its lovely to meet you Mrs.." john greets placing the bags down briefly, "Woods", grandma answers, as they shake hands, "but you can just call me grandma", she prompts, taking a glance my way, my cheeks begin reddening once again. Grandma ushes us all inside and guides us to our respective bedrooms before leaving us to settle in and heading back to the kitchen. While in my room I change into some dinner wear and lay on the bed to ease my stiff muscles and sore back, I close my eyes and take some breaths, "maybe I overdid it today", I say out loud before hearing a quiet knock on the door, "come in", I call, not bothering to open my eyes. I hear the door open and slightly heavier than expected footsteps come towards me, "Lisa why are you walking like that", I say, amused, I hear a deep alluring giggle, "maybe because I am not Lisa", John says and my eyes snap open as I sit up, he is standing a foot away with his hand clasped behind his back, staring down at me with an amused smirk. I decide to stand on the bed so we are at eye level and jump to him, his reflexes sharp as he catches me, "you almost caught me off guard there", he says, his smile bigger. I say nothing and just snuggle into him like a child, he sits down on the bed, "you know its not proper, to be like this" he says, amused, he begins running his fingers in my hair, making me feel lighter the air, like I am floating. Another knock sounded on the door and I scrambled off John and ushered him quickly to the other side of the bed, where he hid, "come in", I said as I quickly straightened my hair, the door opens Lisa walks in, and I instantly breath out a breath I did not know I was holding, Lisa looks at me and turns to close the door, "why are you so flustered", she said in a suggestive tone, causing my scheeks to blush with embarassment, Lisa tilted her head to the side, "you don't need to keep hiding there you know", Lisa states in amused tone. I turn slightly to see John slowly standing up, blushing just as much and looking guilt stricken, "Hey Lisa", he says guiltily while scratching his head, Lisa gives him a raised eyebrow, finding this situation completely amusing. I try to ease the situation, "it is not what it looks like, I just knew it would not seem proper if grandma were to walk in and see him here", I explain, Lisa clears her throat, somewhat unconvinced, "just meet me downstairs in five to help Grandma in the kitchen", she says before walking out the door, John and I look at each other before giggling at the silliness of the situation, "help me look less guilty", I ask, he nods and walks around the bed to me. John fixed my hair and straightened my clothes out and I did the same for him, I did a little turn "Do I look okay", I asked, John closed the distance, leaning down, making my heart race, "you look beautiful, you always do", he says, his words made me feel a little shy and I lowed my head down, he lifts my head with two fingers, until we were eye to eye and smirks softly before grabbing my hand and leading me out the door towards the kitchen. As we got to the kitchen we heard Grandma and Lisa talking, "So he was being unfaithful before she died", I heard Grandma say, "Yes, both John and I saw it", Lisa replied, I looked up at John, I felt a sense of shame watch over me and I look towards the ground. John opened the door to the kitchen just as grandma was saying, "I have half a mind to teach that man proper manners", "what would that change", I say sadly, walking in, "what's done is done", I continue, "not like that drunkerd would listen anyway", I finish putting on an apron, Grandma turns to face John and I, a stern look on her face, "drunkerd", she questions, looking between Lisa and I, we nod simultaniously, "started when mum got sick", I say, "he completely lost his way", Lisa adds, grandma breathes out a helpless sigh, "you girls are welcome to live with me at anytime", Grandma offers, "just pack your bag and come, my door is always open for you", Grandma has always had a kind soul and that was lived through mum, "thank you grandma", I say, "so what are we cooking", John comes in with a change of subject, we all turn to look his way as he too puts on an apron, "secret recipe goat with vegatables from my crops", grandma says with a soft smile, "anything I can help with", John asks, "john is great in the kitchen, grandma", Lisa pipes up, "how about you keep an eye on the goat meat", Grandma suggests pointing towards the fire, John nods and assumes his position. It did not take long before dinner was served up and on the table, we all took turns washing our hands and sat at the table. As we were serving ourselves, Grandma began to bombard John with questions like Where are you from and Are you married before finishing up with, "Do you harbour marital intention for my granddaughter", she said, pointing at me but not taking her eyes away from John, I paused what I was doing, all these questions and John has not been given the time to answer any of them yet, my face must be like a tomato right now.