Mammoth Novel – Riley As I’m sweeping the floor, the door opens. “Sorry, dinner service doesn’t start for another hour yet,” I say without looking up. “That’s okay, it’s you I want to see,” I hear a woman’s voice say. I look up and see Serena. “Hey, how are you doing?” I ask, smiling and putting down the broom to greet her. “Good, tired and I feel like a milk-machine, but really good.” She smiles, and it’s then I notice that she isn’t alone. Carrying the baby seat is Mammoth. My eyes stay fixated on him, and I swallow nervously. “How did you know where I was?” I ask, trying to hide the nervousness from my voice. “I came here with Wes, remember? I wanted to come by and thank you for all your help with Viola.
I’m not sure I would have coped too well if I was on my own, or even if it was just Mammoth here.” She laughs. “Right, yes, of course, sorry, completely forgot,” I splutter. I can feel his eyes on me, and I’m trying my best to avoid looking his way. Serena unclips Viola from her baby seat and holds her out to me to hold. She is in an adorable pale lemon dress, with a little headband with a bow on her head. She does a little squirm and stretch that new-born babies do. “Hey, little lady, aren’t you just the cutest little thing,” I coo.
She starts to wiggle and brings her knees up, letting out a wail. “Oh, I’m sorry, she suffers with colic. Here, I can take her from you,” Serena offers. “It’s fine, sit and take a load off, I’ve got this,” I state. I move Viola upright and bounce and pat her back gently. She stops wiggling and her eyes are wide open, looking over my shoulder. I peck her head and smile. “You’ve clearly done this before.” Serena smiles and I immediately tense. “Uh, yeah, I’ve… um… babysat my nephew a few times,” I lie. Joey comes out of the kitchen.
“Well, what do we have here?” he asks, smiling at Viola. “Don’t make her cry with your ugly face, Joey,” I tease. “Charming,” he huffs. “Joey, owner and chef extraordinaire,” he introduces himself, shaking Serena and then Mammoth’s hand. “I’m Serena and this is Mammoth,” she introduces. Mammoth is still silent and hasn’t said a word, but I know his gaze is continuously on me, because I can feel it. “Ah, thee Mammoth,” Joey states, his eyes coming to mine. I roll my eyes at his less than subtle hint. Serena’s eyes go from Joey, to me, to Mammoth.
I make the mistake and look up, my gaze connecting with Mammoth’s. “Err, um, Serena, why don’t you bring little one through to the back, it’s beautiful out there with the lake and I will make you a nice cold drink,” Joey offers. I look at Joey and give him my best ‘I’m going to kill you’ look. “What a great idea, I would love that,” Serena says over-enthusiastically. She takes Viola from me and winks. “Good luck,” she whispers as she follows Joey-the-traitor.
Just wait until I get my hands on him later. “Well, you can go out with them if you want to? I’m just sweeping, ready for dinner service,” I say anxiously. I keep my back to him, sweeping and looking at the floor like it’s really interesting. I feel his hand over mine, stilling the broom. I suck in a shuddery breath and turn to face him. I’m not sure how a guy of his size is able to move so stealth-like, but somehow, he does it. “Look at me, Red,” he says, his voice low. I swallow and look up at him. “What do you want, Mammoth?” I ask. “A chance.
That’s all I want. We had one night, two years ago, and I still think about it every day,” he confesses. My heart is beating so fast it feels like it’s about to explode from my chest. I swallow, my throat suddenly feeling very dry. His large hand cups my face. “I am sorry, Red, for what you walked in on, for what you saw, but in my defence, we had one night, and you just upped and left without a word, then weeks later you just show up again,” he defends. I feel my temper rise a little––as my parents say, I’m not just a red-head, I have the red temper to go with it. I step back from him; his hand drops to his side