Looking for Wildflowers

Chapter 7

"God-" Taylor heard Riley shout from the front porch. He had already taken the old one down and was currently trying to build the new one.

"Do you need anything?" Taylor cracked the door and asked, not wanting to get in his way.

"I need this s**t to f*****g work." He snapped. Once the words left his mouth, he took a deep breath. "No, no I don't need anything. Thank you, though." he kept his head low as he continued working. By the evening he had the base done, now it was just time to put the rest together.

"Why don't you take tomorrow off?" Taylor asked while they lay in bed that night, Riley covered in bruises and scrapes and Taylor smelling like coconut vanilla. While he had been outside working, she had been inside, keeping the place clean and tidy and of course, keeping food prepared.

"I need to at least get the porch and stairs done. But I still plan on adding a nice railing and maybe even a swing, if you want one." He was insistent that he get it done as quickly as possible, despite his muscles aching and body begging for some rest. One day here and there wasn't enough for him to fully recover from all the work he had been doing.

"How long will that take?"

"I'm not sure, it depends. I'm hoping to get the porch and stairs done tomorrow, then I can work on the railing and swing."

"How about after you finish up tomorrow, you take a few days off and rest?" She was starting to get worried about him. He seemed tired and more snappy lately, almost dragging himself around. Even though his body was tired, he kept pushing. He liked Taylor and wanted to make sure she knew that.

"Don't you want it done?" he asked, getting irritated that she kept asking him to rest.

"Well, yes, but I also want you in good condition."

"What difference does that make? My goal is to make this a nice place for you to live-"

"Us to live." Taylor corrected him.

"My goal is to make this a nice place for us to live and that won't happen if I'm laying in bed sleeping."

Taylor fell silent. She knew she was beating a dead horse and he would rest when he was ready.

"Well, alright then." she said finally, rolling over, signaling the conversation was over.

"Taylor," Riley said after a few moments of Taylor pretending to be asleep and Riley trying to pretend he didn't care. "I'm sorry I've getting so ill with you."

"That's why I want you to rest. I want you to be happy and healthy, and you can't be those things if you push your body too far."

"I know, I just- I just want to make you happy." he finally said, letting some vulnerability show.

"Riles, I'm only going to be happy if you're taking care of and happy yourself." Taylor rolled back over. "Why's this so important to you anyway?"

"Growing up, our house wasn't the greatest, but it worked well enough. My mom would always ask my dad to make repairs or update something and he'd just yell at her until she eventually gave up and walked away."

"Your dad seems like a piece of shit."

"When I saw the conditions you were living in, I wanted to ensure you had someone to help you. I was planning on leaving as soon as I was finished, but thankfully, you have decided to let me stay.

"Also, you're beautiful and I can't help but want to make you smile every time you turn around."

Taylor just lay there, thinking over what he just said.

"Do you want to talk more about your family?" She slowly asked.

"There's not much to say. As I said, I had siblings, but they never cared for me and I never cared about them either. My mom was sweet and loving, and one hell of a cook. But my dad, on the other hand, was always yelling at everyone. I think one time he actually hit my mom, but she won't admit it." he finished up. "Now tell me about yours."

"Well, mine was similar. My dad had power over the house and would often beat my mom, my younger sister, and me. I think he r***d my mom a few times too, but I can't prove it. I just know he tried with me before we left but got interrupted."

"I would have killed him." Riley said with a blank look on his face and pure hatred in his voice. "And if I ever see him, I will."

"My mom was real kind though, and patient. She struggled to do certain things like cooking and sewing, so I helped her out a lot. My younger sister was annoying as hell but I still loved her." Taylor's voice dropped at the mention of her sister.

"Sounds like we both have shitty childhoods." Riley's eyes were low and he sat completely still, unlike how he typically is.

"Yeah," Taylor wanted to lighten the mood. "But that doesn't mean we have to have a shitty adult life, too. We have this place and we have each other."

"I guess you're right." he sighed and looked over at her with tired eyes but a loving smile. "We should go to bed, it's getting late."

They both agreed and Riley held Taylor close until she fell asleep, and then he rolled over and dozed off himself.

Riley had better luck the following morning. He managed to get the porch and stairs finished by lunch. All that was left was the railing and a nice swing. He wanted to give Taylor an actual gift other than just repairing her house, and a nice porch swing sounded perfect. Taylor seemed like a porch swing type of girl.

He worked on the railing all the way until the sun began to set and it became too dark to work. He only had a little left to do, so he planned to get up early tomorrow.

As soon as he woke and finished, he began priming the porch, stairs, and what parts of the railing he had done, getting them ready to be stained when the time was right.

Once he got the porch completely stained and finished, he took Taylor's advice and decided to rest for a bit. Once he was good to go, then he'd build a nice screened-in back porch for her to be able to spend time outside without all the bugs. The swing came last, as he considered it a gift.

"You've practically rebuilt this place." Taylor joked as she brought them both some lemon water and a sandwich to eat while they sat on the porch and watched the rain.

"Somebody had to." He looked over at Taylor. "You deserve it."

"You keep saying that, but you don't know what I deserve."

"I know you don't deserve to live in an old shack that was falling apart and could have seriously harmed you at any point." Riley made his point clear.

"Maybe I do. Maybe I did something wrong and that's why my dad hates me and why I had to live in such a place to stay away from him. I mean, clearly, I must have done something." she leaned back into the old rocking chair, irritated with existing.

"Your father was an asshole who I will kill if he ever steps foot on this property." Riley's voice was strong and firm. "You haven't done anything to deserve any of that."

They both fell silent for a bit while they ate, the only sound being the rain against the rooftop.

"I don't see how you seem so calm and happy after all you've been through. I'm sure you've noticed, I struggle with anger and depression." Riley rolled his eyes.

"I'm not. I feel strong rage, depression, self-hatred, all of it. I just keep going because what choice do I have? Now I have you, which helps me feel better. Before you showed up, I was a mess." Riley laughed a bit at the last part.

"No, I'm serious. I barely showered, ate maybe once a day, and never did anything except write. When I would get sick of that, I'd lay in bed for days on end until I finally felt like writing again." Riley was surprised at how much Taylor was opening up to him, but he wasn't complaining.

"But now that I have you here, I have a reason to get up and get dressed and make food and clean and shower. I'm not saying you're the reason I'm alive because that'd be dramatic. I'm just saying having you around has helped me out a lot." Taylor finished and stood up. "Enough of that, I'm going to go lay down."

"Lay down? It's barely past lunch." Riley looked concerned as he stood up and followed her to the bedroom.

"I just feel like laying down." Taylor explained as she slipped her house shoes off.

"Do you want me to join you?" Riley was unsure what had happened, one minute she was irritated, then sad, and now whatever this is.

"You can if you want. I'd like the company but don't feel obligated." she snuggled deep under the covers despite it not being too cold with the fire still burning. Riley slowly walked over to his side and laid down next to her.

"Are you okay?" he finally asked, bringing her close.

"Yeah, I just get overwhelmed sometimes."

"That's okay, I do too."

"What do you do about it?" her voice was small and her eyes were full of tears.

"I've heard spending time with the ones you love helps."

"So this should help, right?"

Riley paused at what she was indicating. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess it should." he pulled her closer, kissing her ear.