The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope - By Rhonda Riley Page 0,64
to be more careful, okay? What if it’d been your daddy or momma at the back door instead of me? I’ll be back tomorrow to help you with this post.” Then he mounted and rode off.
I called after him, “Good luck! I hope the answer’s yes!”
He laughed and waved as he trotted off.
He did come back. Adam deferred to him in the corral repair. Cole was brusque and to the point while they worked. But as soon as they were done, Adam leaned on the fence, then asked about the white chicken-scared mare Cole and Addie had cured. Cole started slow, but warmed each time we laughed at his flapping imitation of Addie’s apron full of biddies and his chicken-holding duties.
I fried us some corn bread and sausage for lunch. While I washed up, Cole joined me at the sink. “I see what you mean. He is like her. He’s got the gift with horses. Darling follows him like a puppy. Just like with Addie. Spooky.” He gave me a friendly, quizzical glance, then grinned. “Maybe it’s you. Maybe a body has to be good with horses to hang around with you.”
“You have no idea.” I laughed.
Adam was deft at courtship of every kind, and within a short time had won Cole’s respect and friendship. Having been Addie was good preparation for befriending Cole. But there were other times, when our combined experience as women left us unprepared. Neither of us had been a man. I couldn’t offer Adam tutorials, as I had with Addie. A few weeks after Adam’s arrival, Joe and Daddy showed up to help rehinge and rehang one of the barn doors.
Adam and I were hanging up laundry when they pulled up in the driveway. They got out of the truck and walked up to the flapping laundry.
I was farther down the clothesline and couldn’t see them but I heard Joe snicker and Daddy make his funny huffing noise of disgust. I peeked over the lines of damp clothes just as Daddy turned away and started for the barn.
Joe leaned close to Adam. “Look, buddy, you may have it real bad for her, you may be so sweet on her you just gotta help in every way. But you just gotta let her take care of those things.” I dipped under a wet shirt to see what the fuss was. For a heartbeat, Adam stood there looking puzzled, and then he handed me a bundle of my damp, clean panties he’d been hanging up. Joe rolled his eyes at me and dope-slapped Adam as they left the clothesline to join Daddy, who squatted by the barn studying the derelict hinge.
I asked Adam about it later.
“There’s a lot of subtle stuff to this manhood,” he said and spread the fingers of one hand over his breastbone—Addie’s gesture. Suddenly, it seemed effeminate. I straightened his wrist and lifted his elbow a little.
He thumped himself on the chest. “Better?” he asked.
“Yep.”
“So no more hanging up panties for me—at least when anyone else is around,” he continued. “Some other lessons I’ve learned.” He held up his fingers, counting them off. “Limit questions to those about cars, engines, and sports. Do not look another man in the eye for more than a second when you pass on the street, one quick glance and a nod will do. Most men want you to stand beside them and look at something else with them, not face them when you’re talking. Don’t spend much time in the kitchen with the women. Arrange yourself before you leave the bathroom.” He glanced down at his new body. I laughed, remembering Addie’s puzzled survey of her crotch when I had told her about menstruation. I felt his strangeness viscerally, a stirring in my solar plexus.
After a couple of months we were ready to announce our engagement. We decided against him formally asking my daddy for my hand; Adam did not want to leave Momma out. But he did give Daddy a pouch of his favorite pipe tobacco after we finished dinner that Sunday. Momma and I joined Daddy and Adam on the porch after we finished the dishes. Daddy was lighting his pipe when Adam and I announced that we wanted their permission to marry. He dropped the match, stomped it, and took his pipe out of his mouth. They both stopped their rocking and stared at us. Adam had been successful in his courtship of them. They liked him, I was sure of that.