Kentucky Magic

He had always thought it a myth, but as he drove up one more knob he acknowledged that the hills of Kentucky really were blue! Of course it was as beautiful as he’d been promised, and the pictures didn’t do it any kind of justice, even though they had been pivotal in his decision to buy this property. He pushed the last niggling doubt to the back of his mind and checked the odometer on his brand new deluxe edition truck.

EdwardJohnson had always been a city-dweller, but his doctor had been warning him for ten years that he had to get out of the rat race or he’d be dead long before the finish. He was nearly fifty, and even though he had a little grey in his still thick, brown hair, his face and physically fit body allowed him to pass for at least ten years younger. No longer on the fast-track he had chosen to move out of the city and relax.

Something caught his attention up ahead and slowed the truck until it rolled to a stop. On the opposite of the road, but walking in the same direction as he was headed, was a young child. Dressed in overalls, bright red T-shirt and sneakers, the boy, guessing by the fairly short haircut, was carrying a fishing pole.

“Need a ride, son?” Edward offered, deciding now was as good a time as any to begin the neighborly way.

The child turned towards him slowly and immediately he realized his mistake. The most beautiful blue eyes, with the longest brown eyelashes, stared at him for a moment, with disgust being the foremost expression on her face.

“I told Kat she was cutting it too short, but she never listens to me!” The child spoke softly, Edward still heard her. Before he could apologize, the girl was walking around his truck. Quickly he leaned over to open the door and push it open.

“Do you need help getting in?” he offered as the bright red head appeared.

“If you hold my pole, I can climb up.”

Without saying a word, Edward accepted the pole, and then watched as the nimble girl climbed easily into his truck. Passing the pole back after she’d closed the door, Edward put the truck in gear and eased it forward once again.

“You’ll have to meet Kat or she’ll have my hide,” the little girl’s voice surprised when she spoke a few seconds later. “I’m not supposed to ride with strangers.”

Edward grimaced under the girl’s direct glance. “I’m EdwardJohnson. I am moving into this area.”

“Cool! You must be the guy everyone is talking about.” The girl grinned at him, clearly indicating she no longer considered him a stranger. “That property used to belong to us, but my great-grandfather lost it.”

“I see. Uhm, mind if I ask how old you are?” Edward was beginning to suspect the child was older than her small size might indicate.

“I’m short. All Sullivan women are short, except Kat. I’m thirteen but my body doesn’t know it yet. Oh, by the way, my name is Trina, short for Katrina.”

“No school today?” Edward asked politely, wondering if he should have stopped after all. Giving a ride to a small child was one thing, but if he had a precocious teen on his hands—

“Christmas break, silly! I go to JohnsonCentralHigh School and we got a few extra days. Tommy says we got time off for good behavior!”

Edward watched as the young girl laughed. “Who is Tommy?”

“A friend of mine. We’ve been in school together since as long as I can remember. I was getting picked on because of my size and Tommy came over and no one has dared to do so again. Oh, there’s our place,” Trina pointed to the white house on the corner where the road curved to start back into the higher hills.

Edward turned into the gravel drive which leads to the house. It was a small house, and looked like it needed some repairs, but all of the other things scattered about told a different story. There were several outdoor style wreaths hanging up, along with a ceramic white goose, and baby, who were dressed for the season. The mother was dressed as Mrs.Claus and the baby goose had on stuffed reindeer antlers.

“Looks like you are ready for Christmas?” Edward said with a grin. He saw the flush stain Trina’s cheeks.

“Kat loves to decorate for the holidays. Well, I’d better get going. It looks like she isn’t home so you will escape Katherine the Great’s personal form of the Spanish Inquisition.” Trina opened the door and slid out. Reaching back for the fishing rod, she smiled at Edward. He had no doubt that this young lady was going to be a heart breaker. “Hey, would you like to come for dinner one night? We’d love to have you come down the mountain top.”

“Is that what they call the property I’ve purchased? You make me sound like Moses. I’m not that old,” Edward protested with a smile.

“I didn’t mean to insult you. And if Kat were here, she’d be inviting you. I don’t imagine you have a phone number yet.”

Reaching into his shirt pocket, Edward pulled a business card and leaned across the seat to hand it to Trina. “I do actually. All of the information is on the card.”

Trina scanned the card before she looked back up at him. “Wow! You are like super-efficient. I guess that sort of explains all the trucks and workers coming and going from the mountain the last couple of weeks. There’s been lots of talk in town about what all is being done to modernize the place.”

  “Yes, the last work was scheduled to be completed yesterday. Give me a little time to settle in and I’ll invite you and your mother to join me for dinner.”

“Oh, but—” Trina stopped as she heard the phone ringing. “I have to go grab that. Thanks for the ride, Mr.Johnson.”

“Call me Edward,Trina. Bye!”

With a final wave at the door, Trina disappeared into the house. Backing the truck back down the drive, Edward turned at the corner and continued up the smaller, private road which meandered for a mile until it opened up in the open space where the house had been built. Driving to the front door, which were new and each had a large oval glass in the middle and the glass was beveled and leaded.

The history of the house was quite old, dating back to beginning of Paintsville itself. His research into the area had revealed that it had started out early in the nineteenth century as Paint Creek Station. The name of the creek and town refer to Indian drawings found on trees in the area. The town was laid on it 1826, and established in 1834. As the population grew, the post office, known as Paint Creek, was called Paintsville by 1843. The realtor had told him that the population of Paintsville in 1990 was 4,354, and he couldn't find any newer reports on the size on the Internet.

He guessed that pretty much described him—he was a man who researched everything so he could make an informed decision. It had always kept him at the top of his classes and when he added commitment and dedication, it had helped him became successful enough to buy this land, retire and live off investments.

The house was composed of stone and wood, and blended in perfectly with the surrounding mountain. He was anxious to get in the house and see the view, which was its true selling point. Jumping out of the truck, he walked over and unlocked his front door. It struck as kind of funny, but he almost wished he were married so he could be sharing this someone he loved and loved him. Shaking off the strange feelings, he entered the house.

The inside was amazing, after the all the work he’d had done the last few weeks. It was modernized, discreetly, so as to keep with the ambience of the house. Since he’d seen plenty of pictures and the plans of the house, he knew exactly where to go to find the family room, which was off the kitchen, and where there was a long, tall bank of windows overlooking the lake and hills in the distance. He slid open one of the glass doors and walked out onto the wide deck. This was without a doubt one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen.

THUMP!

Edward turned immediately. The sound had come from inside the house. Damn! Surely an animal hadn't gotten in? Walking back into the family room, he quietly waited to hear any sounds the intruder might make.

SCRATCH! SCRAPE!

Quickly he crossed the room and went down the short hall. Taking the stairs up to the second floor, he had four doors to choose for a possible location of the intruder. Edward paused as he considered four closed doors. That meant that the robber had closed the door behind himself upon entering his chosen room, or an animal had snuck in through an open window. Checking the two smaller rooms first, he skipped the door which led to a walk-in linen closet. Opening the master-bedroom door, he looked around. A flash caught his eye and he saw something, or someone, on the bedroom’s porch and climbing down to the larger deck.

“Damn it all!” Edward cursed loudly and turned to run back downstairs to catch the culprit. As he reached the family room he saw that he’d left the glass door open, allowing the intruder to re-enter the house. Looking around, the doorbell ringing distracted him. With clenched fists, he walked over to the front door. Flinging the right one open, he felt like the air was knocked out of his chest.

Standing in front of him was a fully grown version of the teenager he’d just given a lift to in his truck. Knowing it wasn’t possible, he shook his head. But the woman didn’t disappear. Instead she smiled and pushed a decorated basket towards him.

“Welcome to Paintsville, and my name is KatherineSullivan.”

Edward blinked under the power of that smile. She wasn’t beautiful in the traditional sense, but her smile, full lips, and those wide, deep-blue eyes added up to a quirky attractiveness. Her hair was auburn and cut short, impish. As he accepted the basket, Edward got to see her body. Unfortunately, it was nicely disguised by a loose pair jeans overalls and a flannel shirt covering her top half.

“Uhm, thank you, Ms.Sullivan, EdwardJohnson.”

Katherine nodded her head. “Yes I know. You have been the talk of the town for the last few months.”

Edward stepped back, gesturing for Katherine to enter his house. Katherine shook her head negatively, still smiling. “I can’t stay. My niece should be getting home soon. I like to home when she comes in.”

“Was she fishing?” Edward asked, pretty sure he already knew the answer. Not that it would have made a difference if she had been Trina’s mother instead of her aunt. Of course, a husband in the picture would have caused a problem…he paused. Katherine could still be married, even if the cute sprite he’d met earlier was not her child. Hell! Maybe she had a houseful of children!

“Uhm, yes she was.”

Edward saw the concern in her face and rushed to reassure her with his reply. “I gave her a lift home. And if you still feel the need to give her the ‘don’t accept rides from strangers’ speech, and then you should know that she was suitably wary.”

“I’m guessing she was alone or you probably wouldn't have stopped.”

“Hey! I take exception with that.” Edward protested, more because of the thoughts in his head than what her words implied.

“Please, I didn’t mean to imply that you were preying on her. It’s just that if she hadn't been alone, Tommy would have been with her and no way in hell would he have let her get into a stranger’s vehicle.”

Edward grinned, nodding his head. “Trina did mention him. He sounds to me like a knight in shining armor.”

Katherine nodded. “I believe that’s how she sees him as well. Hopefully things will stay on the soulful level until she’s thirty. Well, I need to get going. It was nice meeting you.”

Edward barely had time to say the same and she was gone. That’s when he realized that she hadn't arrived in a car. He’d been watching her walk away, enjoying the slight sway of hips beneath the overalls, when the truck blocked his view for a moment. He moved his eyes to the far side to the truck, but she never appeared. Suddenly he looked down at his hands to make sure he wasn’t imagining things. No, the basket was there…proof that the woman had indeed been on his doorstop moments earlier.

Finally he shrugged, thinking that there had to be a path which she took down to her house. Slowly he began carrying in all of his luggage and the belongings he’d brought with him from Lexington. He’d only been in JohnsonCounty a few hours and he already knew two people—not too bad for a city-guy!

Chapter 2

“Trina!” KatherineSullivan yelled her niece’s name the second she walked through the back door of the small house they shared. She wasn’t very happy about two things and only one of them could she do anything about. Looking down, she saw the mud on her sneakers and kicked them off. “Trina? Where are you?”

“I’m in the living room, Kat, on the phone!”

Katherine had little doubt as to who her niece was talking to at the moment. Walking in the living room, she saw Trina was lying on the floor, with her bare feet propped on the sofa cushions. It was obvious from the cotton between the young girl’s toes that the bright red toenail polish was new.

“We need to talk, Trina. Say goodbye to Tommy.” Katherine announced her intentions and obviously expected them to be adhered to because she kept on walking down the hall to her bedroom.

Within her bedroom, the soft lavender and green shades helped her relax and regain some balance to her inner spirits. Ever since EdwardJohnson had flung open his front door she’d been having trouble breathing. She hadn't felt this kind of attraction since high school, and that had been thirty-odd years ago. Everything about him shouted that he was out of her league. Removing her flannel shirt, she acknowledged that while it would have been normal to be out of breath and accept that she’d almost been caught burglarizing his new home, but instead she was upset because she found the new neighbor a hunk.

“The new guy is such a hunk, Kat! Even for an old guy!”

Katherine spun around to face Trina. It had caught her off guard for her niece to speak her thoughts out loud. Except the old part. At almost forty-three, he had looked perfect for her. Good Lord! She meant to her, not for her. Was she losing her mind now?

“Yoo hoo, Kat! You wanted to talk, remember?” Trina reminded her aunt as she flopped across the bed. “Tommy was so mad when I told him I met the new neighbor.” She giggled as she sat up to hug her knees to her chest. “Of course I neglected to mention how old he is. A little jealousy might do TommyMcKenzie some good. Now, what did you want to talk about?”

Katherine shook her head at the beautiful girl growing up so fast. “I was going to give you the ‘stranger’ speech, but now I think I have something bigger to worry about.”

Trina shook her head. “No you don’t, Kat. I’m going to marry TommyMcKenzie one day, but we’re not doing it with shotguns in the picture. College first, then I get my master’s—”

“Followed by your PhD.” Kat interrupted the girl’s oft repeated speech.

Trina grinned. “Yes. After that, you get to plan a huge wedding using all the money Tommy is going to make.”

“Being generous with my expectations, sweetie, that is approximately fifteen years from now and I’ll be—”

“Happily married to the hunk on the hill.”