Thomas struggled to hold his face as seriously as he could, but it broke after just a moment of seeing her wide horrified expression.
"Oh come on I'm not big of a brute. I was just about to stop," he laughed as he clicked his tongue and pulled the reins back signally Maddox to halt. Thomas swung himself off of the wagon and grabbed the shirt of the back pulling it over his head. His shirt was still extremely damp but it would dry quickly in the sun.
It was endlessly amusing how easy it was to embarrass her. His guess was she had never seen a man without his shirt on. He had deliberately brushed his arm against hers just to see her reaction. Every time she flinched and tried to scoot away. The cutest part was how hard she was trying to act casual about it.
She was pulling one of her stockings when he sat next to her on the wagon bench. He was not surreptitious about watching her. Her skirts, although there were less of them now, were still plastered to her legs. He watched her pull the stocking over her delicate heel and up her calf hiding it under her dress. She noticed, he could tell, but that didn't stop him from staring. It was too amusing to make her uncomfortable, and he was mesmerized by it, though he didn't want to admit that part to himself. It was unsettling how much he enjoyed being with her. He was always very content with his own company and his friendships with the other community members were all that he needed. At least, until Jeremiah died. He didn't realize how much he had depended on his friend's company until it was gone. That thought made him sigh with longing for his friend. It was difficult to admit how hard his death was on Thomas. Truth was, his whole world had been shattered.
He fiddled with Maddox's reigns and clicked him forward. He wanted to stair at her endlessly but he had a touch of sympathy for her squirming. He still watched her out of the corner of his eye. She pulled up the second stocking and then fastened her boots, lacing them up with expert skill.
He didn't drive the wagon in front of the brother's houses. He thought he would save her from the embarrassment. From a distance they probably looked presentable but up close a person could tell they had been rolling in the river. While she looked fantastic in his opinion, the dirt streaking down her face was probably not the look she wanted everyone to see. Secretly, he wanted to be the only one privy to this special disheveled look of hers.
He drove them to the next field over, which was the Castro's farm. He had a good idea where they wanted their gates but needed to double check.
"If you would like," he said. "I can drop you by this gate and you can start to unload the wagon. I will run over to the house and ask Phillip where he wants all of them."
"That would be fantastic!" she said with relief.
"You can talk to Kathryn after we are done. I think you will be dry by then."
"That is incredibly considerate of you, thank you."
"No, problem," he said with a shrug.
Thomas tethered Maddox to the fence post far off from the main house.
"I will be back as soon as I can, don't feel like you have to unload everything. You can just rest if you would like."
"Okay, thank you," Sophie said.
Thomas ran off towards the house, the tobacco leaves whipping his shoulders as he ran. It didn't take him long to get the house, Philip was working in the fields close to the house and his new wife was close by.
"Thomas!" Phillip called as he approached. "Where did you run in from?"
"Your far field where I left the cart. I wanted to be clear where you wanted your hinges installed."
"You left the cart? Whatever for?"
Thomas didn't think about having to answer that question. "I uh," he spoke conspiratorially to Philip. "I have Sophie Collins with me." Philip raised a puzzled eye at him. "It's a long story, we will stop by to visit when the job is done but Sophie isn't," He searched for the right word. "She isn't fit to be in public at the moment."
"But she is fit to be with you?" Philip chortled.
"I'm not the public you know that," Thomas clapped Philip on the shoulder. Philip told exactly where he wanted his hinges installed and with promises of bringing Sophie by when they were done Thomas ran back to join her. He found her sprawled out on the ground soaking in the sun. Her skirt was spread around her no doubtable to dry more effectively. Her eyes were closed and he wondered if she was sleeping. Her hair was starting to dry and frizz out around her face.
"So, are you going to keep staring at me or are we going to get to work?" she said, her eyes still closed.
"Just waiting for you sunshine," he joked.
"I already unloaded it's your turn." She still kept her eyes closed.
"Well, you are correct, I will stop doddling." She smiled when he said that but still kept her eyes closed.
Thomas went about attaching the hinges and tightening them down. Sophie joined him shortly after that. Her eyes looked a little sleepy but she was still smiling and happy. They worked together, their hands brushing occasionally as they held the heavy iron contraptions. They moved down the fence line working efficiently as they went. Sophie was nearly completely dry as was Thomas. Once they were finally working on the last gate they could see the farm house. Sophie thought she could even see Kathryn sitting outside of it. She couldn't wait to run over and hug her. There was a period where they worked in silence but it was broken when Sophie suddenly started to laugh.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"This is just not at all anything that I ever pictured myself doing. I mean, I knew things would be different here," she said with a shrug. "But this was never ever a remote possibility in my mind."
"You didn't picture yourself a blacksmith?"
She smiled at the word. "Am I a blacksmith now?"
"Well not just yet, in training I suppose."
She considered that a minute. "Sophie Collings blacksmith," she said.
"Are you disappointed this is where your life has led you?"
"No," she said, reflecting. "I think I'm quite happy right now."
"Well that is a shock to me. You mean all I needed to do with those old bitties back home in England was dunk them in the river and make them work?"
"I don't know. If there were anything like my mother's friends it might not be received as well, but I would love to see that. Especially the dunking them in the river part."
They both laughed picturing it in their minds.
"Francesca, my tutor. I would love to see her dunked in the river," Sophie burst out laughing, picturing her drenched in the river shouting at Sophie like she did when she was young.
"So what did you picture your life would be like when you boarded that ship?" Thomas asked.
"Married to a beastly horrible man," she said without thought.
"Oh really? You had such a high opinion of us. And what now? After just a few days here what do you think?"
"I think that I missed out on a really incredible man. I think Jeremiah really was remarkable. Which makes me realize that you settlers are not all wild beasts and brutes."
"Some are anyway," Thomas admitted. "But not all of us."
"So what are you?" Sophie asked.
"Oh I'm a savage brute to be sure, I think you already know that."
Sophie giggled.
"You may be filthy all the time. That's just being a hard worker and that is respectable. I don't think you're a brute. I would have also counted myself lucky if you were the name on the log matched with mine when I got off the ship," she said it so casually.
Thomas dropped the iron in his hand and stared at her dumbfounded.