Who Is My Husband
Scene 44

And they were off. Well, all the men were off. Kailee immediately dropped the sack and didn’t participate. Instead, she had her hand covering over her mouth as she tried to contain her laughter. Watching the men hopping in their sacks was hilarious. Grum with his serious expression as he tried to out hop everyone else was priceless. He even had sweat beads of determination dripping off of him. But when Grum and Lance collided with one another landing face-first on the ground she couldn’t take it. Her side was hurting from the laughter. She was almost too busy laughing that she missed the race.

She wiped the tears from her eyes as she watched Ty cross the finish line first. She giggled as she walked up to Lance and Grum.

“I see. I didn’t realize that part of the game was eating grass like livestock.” Kailee bit her bottom l*p as she smiled.

“Alright kitten rub it in.” Grum said as he hoisted himself up. Kailee reached her hand out and helped Lance to his feet.

“This oaf got in my way otherwise I would have been the clear winner here.” Lance gave Kailee a crooked smile.

“I don’t care. This was the best part of my day watching you guys racing.” Kailee giggled again as Will, Ty and Phill walked up to them.

“What happened to you two?” Phill asked with a grin.

“Let me guess… you let us win?” Will chuckled winking at Grum who growled lowly in protest.

“The little lady here never even left the finish line.” Ty chuckled looking at Kailee.

“You were all too funny looking. Well looks like you are escorting me on the wagon ride, Ty.” Kailee looked into the man’s green eyes that were staring back at her. For a brief moment, she had a weird sense of déjà vu. As if she had met this man once before. She brushed it off and look over at Lance. “Does this mean I’ll get to throw fruit at you guys then?”

“Do you think your aim is good enough?” Grum asked in a condescending tone.

“Why don’t you find out.” Kailee grinned as she watched a smile spread over his face.

“Challenge accepted my lady.” Grum chuckled and folded his arms over his chest.

“So, is there any real object to this?” Kailee asked unsure of the rules.

“It is mainly for fun. The lighting of the torches is a symbol for the celebrations. It was a way to light up the area to show that those villages still stood. And the throwing of fruit is supposed to symbolize attacking the enemies. But for our sake we can make a game out of it.” Will curled his lips upwards and then grinned widely. “How about see if you can prevent us from jumping on the wagon?”

“You do realize I’ll be on this wagon too, right?” Ty said with a chuckle. “You don’t stand a chance.”

“Oh, it is definitely on now.” Lance said as he cracked his neck to the side.

Kailee giggled. “You better be as good as you say you are mister. You are painting a target on our backs.” She watched Ty grin at her widely.

“I guess we will find out, won’t we?” Ty said and winked at Kailee.

Okay, she knew she had seen this guy before. His grin and smile were familiar to her. But she couldn’t quite place him.

Lance placed his hand on Kailee’s shoulder and leaned down close to her ear. “You won’t be able to see me, but I will have my eye on you at all times. Just in case anything happens.” His voice was a hushed whisper.

She turned her head to the side and nodded up to him with a smile.

“I guess this is my chance for retaliation against you for pushing me in the pond.” She grinned and listened to his chuckle.

“We shall see.” He then looked up at Ty and slowly led Kailee to his side. “Take her to the wagon. And make sure she stays on it.” He said this mainly to Kailee who rolled her eyes.

“We will be seeing you kitten.” Grum said fully planning on following the wagon closely the whole time. He had made a promise to keep her in his sight at all times.

Ty held his arm out to Kailee. “Shall we?”

She looked at him and slowly placed her hand on his arm. She was actually half shocked that she didn’t feel anything from him. No weird tingles, no scent… nothing. Who was this guy and why did she feel like she knew him somehow?

—

The wagon rolled along slowly. There were children chatting excitedly as they held their buckets of fruit protectively. The sun was emitted an orange hue as it slowly faded from the sky. She looked over at Ty who seemed to be on full alert waiting for the guys to attack. It was here that she finally placed him. Him and Phill.

“You and Phill have been working for my uncle for a long time now, haven’t you?” Kailee asked quietly. She watched his green eyes briefly flicker over at her before he returned them to searching over the scenery. He slowly nodded his head.

“Mmhmm. We have.” Ty said in a soft tone.

“A few years ago, my uncle locked me out of the manor and in the fenced-in portion of the garden. It was incredibly hot that day.” She watched as his body stiffened slightly and she smiled. “A cute young guy slipped me a cup of water through the fenced bars but was caught doing so by my uncle. I always wondered how much trouble he got into for that.”

Ty chuckled. “You thought I was cute, huh?” He looked at her and grinned.

Kailee gave him a serious look. “Did you get in a lot of trouble that day?”

“Phill and I both did. We had both slipped you in water but you only caught me doing so. Your uncle however caught us both.” He chuckled and grabbed an apple in his hands tossing it up in the air and catching it. “I can’t believe you remember that.”

“It was the first act of kindness I had received since my parents died.” Kailee gave him a small smile. “At least I’m not there anymore.”

“Believe it or not but your uncle has been acting worst lately. He has become crueler. So maybe it did upset him letting you go?” Ty looked over at her and she stared blankly at the moving scenery.

Sure, he was disappointed. Disappointed that he wasn’t able to kill her when she turned twenty. She couldn’t say that though. Instead, she tilted her head to Ty and gave him a small smile. “That man only has hate for my existence.”

Ty didn’t say anything and instead looked ahead quietly for a moment. “Despite everything, it looks like you turned out happy.”

She smiled and nodded. “I am happy. And I love my new family.”

Ty took his hand and rubbed it over the back of his neck. He looked at Kailee through the corner of his eyes. “You know back then I had a crush on you. I dreamed of being your white knight to rescue you from the evil lord.”

Kailee looked at him a bit shocked before a small smile spread over her lips. “That just might be everyone’s problem. Including my own at first. Maybe I thought I needed someone to rescue me. When really it is my job to rescue myself and everyone else. Maybe I was meant to be the hero all along.”

Ty gave her a confused look with a silly smile. “You are supposed to be the hero? Who are you supposed to be rescuing?”

She then grew quiet and the smile on her face vanished. Who was she supposed to rescue? She thinks it is supposed to be the world. And possibly exchanging her life in the process.

She scrunched up her nose and shrug. “I don’t know. Just saying.” She said letting out a soft giggle.

Ty studied and then turn to look at her fully. He shifted his body a bit closer and leaned on his hand. “No, I don’t think you are. I think you have secrets.” His green eyes met against her brown ones as he captured her gaze against his own.

“Well if I do then they are my own secrets to keep.” Kailee then scooted a bit away from him as she adjusted her legs underneath her. Ty was weird to her. Something about him frustrated her. He reminded her of Trey but he wasn’t Trey. She couldn’t smell Trey and his touch didn’t make her body react. But she felt like she knew him more. It seemed like it was more than the garden event. In either case, she felt a sense of frustration about him.

Ty smirked at her. “Am I making you uncomfortable?”

“I’m sorry. You seem like you are a nice person. But something about you frustrates me and I’m not sure why.” Kailee answered honestly as she searched for maybe a hidden reaction. Instead, he just continued to grin at her.

“I’m frustrating you?” He chuckled as he continued to grin at her. “So much for thinking you secretly love me for bringing you water.”

“I feel like I know you more and I can’t put it together. And that frustrates me. So it isn’t so much you but the fact that I feel like I am missing something.” Kailee watched his eyes study her face before he lifted his shoulders up in a small shrug.

“Maybe you are.” Ty said with a chuckle.

Kailee smiled shaking her head. She caught movement from the corner of her eye. She had seen someone run through the shadows.

“I think someone is trying for the wagon.” Kailee whispered out as she reached for her fruit.

Ty looked out and peered in the dimming light. “They’ve been out there the whole time following us.” He grinned and winked at Kailee. “But they haven’t felt brave enough to make a move yet.”

Crickets and treefrogs began chirping quietly as they welcomed the dimming light. Fireflies slowly began to show their little lights making their presence known. It was very peaceful sounding and created a relaxing vibe.

Several men suddenly charged towards the wagon.

“Game on.” Ty hopped to his feet as he began a barrage of fruit towards the incomers.

Kailee giggled and grabbed her own basket while some of the children rushed over to also have their turn throwing fruit. The fruit was fairly soft. It was supposed to be rotten fruit that would be thrown out anyways. However, one of the apples Kailee threw happened to be fairly ripe. She heard the sound as it collided with a familiar face.

“OoOoFff.” Grum grunted out. “That one was ripe. That’s cheating.”

Kailee giggled with an apologetic smile. “Sorry.” She then turned to Ty. “Umm so there is no way of winning this is there? I mean even if they get hit they can keep coming.”

Ty chuckled. “Yeah, but I think we are the real winners. Even if they reach the wagon, we at least got to belt them with mostly rotten fruit. Can you imagine what they are going to look like?”

Ty threw several bombs of fruit connecting with the four different men. He went to throw another when the wagon hit an unexpected bump jolting him forwards. Kailee quickly grabbed onto him pulling him backwards to stop him from falling off the wagon. And a moment later she was in a very awkward situation.

She fell into the hay beside her as Ty’s body toppled on top of her. His front was against her front and their faces were only inches apart. She could feel his warm body on top of hers, his hot breath fanning over her skin as his green eyes stayed locked onto hers.

She cleared her throat a bit uncomfortably. “Like I said, I think I am the one supposed to do the rescuing.”

Ty’s eyes lit up in amusement as a small rumbling laugh sounded from his chest. He hoisted himself up more letting his eyes linger on her face a bit longer before he stood up. He reached his hand out and pulled her back to her feet.

“Thank you for the assistance. Looks like you got to be my hero.” Ty winked at her before he turned back to reach for his basket. At the same time, Lance leapt onto the wagon.

“Game over Ty.” Lance said with a chuckle.

Ty looked at Lance and then back at Kailee. Both of their eyes started watering before they busted out laughing. Lance was dripping from head to toe with pieces and juices of rotten fruit. Grum hopped up onto the rolling wagon too, looking much the same as Lance except for the red mark on his forehead.

Through her giggles she gave Grum apologetic eyes. “Sorry about that Grum.” She muttered through her laughter.

“You seem real torn up about it.” Grum smirked at her as her rubbed his forehead.

“Well you two are disgusting. I’m not riding back in the carriage with you. Gross.” Kailee said turning her nose up to the men with a smile on her face. The wagon came to a halt as it circled back to the village. Will and Phill walked up to the side dripping in rotten fruit as they leaned on the side of the wagon.

“Next year I’m throwing the fruit.” Will said as he wiped rotten chunks off of his shoulder.

“I think Kailee needs a hug.” Lance said with a crooked smile.

“Actually, Ty said he has been dying for a hug today. So have at him.” Kailee moved backwards putting Ty between her and the other men.

“Oh we wouldn’t dream of leaving Ty out of some male bonding time.” Will chuckled hopping up on the wagon.

Ty chuckled lowly. “You really feel like trying me?”

Grum reached up and wiped an oozing piece of rancid fruit off of his shoulder. “Yeah… I think I do.”

The light from the torches flickered in the dusk as dust swirled on the road from the wind. A sound carried on the air that sounded like a screaming wail. The cry was high pitched as it pieced their ears.

Grum marched up to Kailee’s side and stood next to her protectively. Their eyes searched in the dark for the cause of the sound, but nothing was there.

“What the hell?” Grum growled when a woman walked out from the woods. She stood staring towards the phantom’s estate. Tears streamed down her face as she began to wail again. This time she said something that stopped Kailee from breathing.

“The anniversary of lady Meera’s death is upon us.”