5 hours later…
Steve flopped down onto the couch next to an exhausted Julie.
"I had no idea cows packed that much punch." Steve rubbed his ribcage where a few cows had gotten lucky and landed flying hooves.
"Yeah, you think they're docile until they get a taste of freedom and you try to take it back. They fight like hell to keep it." Julie's voice held a tinge of laughter but she eyed Steve's hand rubbing his ribs.
"Let me get you some ice." She started to get up but Steve stopped her with a gentle hand on her forearm.
"Don't worry about it. I'll be fine in no time." Steve knew she'd seen him take a fairly nasty kick as the last bovine had been herded back into the enclosure and knew his healing factor was already kicking in. Not really wanting to answer the questions that were inevitable if she noticed it wasn't as bad as it should be, he opted to let her think his machismo was doing the talking rather than his sense of self preservation.
Julie cocked an eyebrow. "Alright Superman. Well, it's too late to be heading out anywhere. We've got a spare room and it's the least we can do after you being such a big help today." She smiled in appreciation.
Steve started to protest when a short, dark complected woman with short, graying hair bustled into the room with a tray full of snack food and tall glasses of cool water.
"Oh you have to stay! Jules and I would've been hours still out there if you hadn't been there to help us." Julie's mother said in a tone that brooked no argument.
"Thank you for the offer ma'am. I do appreciate it." Steve wisely swallowed any other protests and helped himself to a large bag of chips and a glass of water.
"It's Diana, please. No more ma'am's round here." Diana's eyes twinkled as he blushed slightly.
"So Steve, Jules was telling me you're on your way to South Dakota? Well they may have a monopoly on Mount Rushmore, but here in Kansas, we have plenty of sights all around the area. Why we have caves that outlaws like Jesse James stayed in and a large lake right nearby! You might think about staying around here for a few days. Jules can show you all the sights." Diana's gaze was sharp as she watched her daughter flush underneath her tanned olive skin and she grinned as Julie began to sputter.
"Mom! I'm sure Steve has an itinerary he needs to stick to and besides, Kansas is boring!" Julie shot a glare at her mother, saying with no words that she knew exactly what her mother was up to, trying to set her up.
"Actually, I'm just kind of winging it. I've got 3 weeks of leave and I've been just driving wherever the road takes me. I actually didn't mean to end up in Kansas but I liked the open plains too much to go north when I'd planned to." Steve replied, oblivious to the undertone between mother and daughter, plowing through the bag of chips he was snacking on.
"Well, if you stick around, our spare room is yours for the duration of your stay. " Diana flashed a genuine smile at Steve.
"I'm heading to bed, Julie. I've got to be at the hospital at 0700 for my shift tomorrow. Don't stay up too late."
Crossing the room, Diana bent pressed a kiss to her daughter's head.
"Night Mom. We'll try and keep the shenanigans to a minimum."
Winking at her mother, Julie glanced back to Steve.
"So, why don't we get your stuff and get you settled into the back room?"
Julie was already heading for the front screen door of the modest ranch house as Steve shoved off the couch and stretched.
Walking off the porch and down the stone lined path to the gravel driveway, he followed the smaller figure out in the twilight towards his bike that he'd parked next to her pick up under an awning.
Julie stood next to the bike, looking at it with equal parts wistfulness and fear.
The leather of the motorcycle's saddle bags gleamed dully in the last glow of the setting sun.
"Anything I can help you carry in?" Her voice carried on the breeze and she turned, all smiles and purposeful, ready to help haul whatever accouterments Steve had packed away.
"No, but thank you for the offer." Steve smiled and opened the bags, pulling out a small duffel bag that had been wedged into the left saddle bag and reaching for the clasp of the other.
Hearing a small gasp of shock as he lifted the flap on the right saddle bag, he realized that he'd forgotten his shield was in that bag.
"I knew that name sounded familiar. Steve Rogers." Julie ran her fingertips over the edge of the red rim.
Steve braced himself.
There hadn't been very many people who recognized him before the Battle of New York but he'd soon discovered, trying to get back to his apartment in Brooklyn in the aftermath, that that had changed. After getting stopped several times by a group of people wanting to thank him, or ask or autographs, or yell at him for the destruction still left in the streets, he'd taken to hiding his face when in public places, but on this journey, he hadn't bothered after the first day. It seemed the middle of the country didn't have his features etched into their memories.
This had been a blessing on his journey, as he'd been allowed to just be Steve, a guy touring the country, instead of Captain America and all the associated baggage that came with.
"Captain America." Julie's voice was soft as she raised her brown eyes to meet the blues ones gazing back under a brow wrinkled in consternation.
She smiled softly. "Don't worry. I won't say anything. I don't think many people out here paid too much attention to what happened in D.C. a few months ago. As my mother would say, 'that's East Coast business.' "
"Do you want to leave that out here or bring it in the house? Mom won't say anything. She's a big believer in privacy and, as hard as that is here in a small town, she keeps what she can to herself. "
"Uh, I'll take it with me. Seems silly I'm sure but I don't feel whole without it." Steve felt his cheeks grow warm as he reached into the wide bag and pulled it out, automatically settling in on his forearm.
Julie gave a short laugh.
"No, it doesn't seem silly. I'm the same with my ring." She held up her right hand and showed him an obsidian ring on her middle finger.
"If I take it off to shower or whatever reason, I can't rest easy until it is back on. And speaking of showers, you and I both need one. We're filthy!" She smiled up at Steve reassuringly.
"Let's go partner." Linking her left arm through his right, she started towing him back towards the house.
Steve's brain had short circuited right around '… showers, you and I both need one.' He allowed himself to be tugged back into the ranch house. Surely she didn't mean… He knew values were different now than in his time but not that radically different… right?
Julie showed him the back bed room he'd be staying in and turned to point to the bathroom.
"Bathroom's in there. You might want to jump in quick. I tend to use up all the hot water when I get in." She turned and stopped short at the look of tongue-tied confusion on Steve's face. Recognition dawned.
"Oh- OH! No! I'm going to shower in my bathroom across the way! Not – no, I'm- yeah, just… no." She sputtered as she realized he'd thought she meant… She flushed crimson and hastily backed out of the room.
Steve suppressed a laugh as he realized she was just as embarrassed by his assumption as he had been making the assumption in the first place.
He tossed the duffel bag on the bed and set his shield on the floor, reclining on the wall next to the bed where it would be easy for him to reach if needed. Not that he thought he'd need it but still, old habits die hard.
Hearing the water begin to flow through the pipes, Steve decided to take Julie's comment about hogging all of the hot water at face value and quickly stripped himself of the dirt-grimed clothes he had on and booked it into the bathroom.
The next morning, Steve awoke to the smell of coffee and bacon wafting through the crack beneath his door. Using the necessary facilities first, he pulled a pair of cut-off sweats on and a plain white t-shirt before heading out to see what else was for breakfast.
Making his way through the living room to the kitchen, he saw Julie standing at the stove, softly humming to herself as she flipped pancakes on a skillet with a movement that reminded him, with a sharp pang, of his mother.
Julie heard him step on the creaky board that led from living room to the dining room and glanced over her shoulder, smiling.
"Morning Steve, I hope you're hungry. I'm making the works this morning." She gestured to the other pans on the stove. One held bacon that she was turning over in between pancake flips and another held what looked to be scrambled eggs, slowly cooking on a back burner.
"There's coffee freshly brewed. Milk and cream are in the fridge. We don't have sugar unfortunately since Mom's doctor told her to cut back or she'd end up with diabetes. So we have Splenda instead. It's really not that bad but for some people, it is real sugar or bust."
Julie grinned as she turned back to the cooking dance she was performing.
Steve came around to her right, by the coffee pot, and glanced around not seeing mugs.
"Cups?"
"Oh! I'm sorry, that was thoughtless of me!" Julie leaned over in front of Steve, her body brushing his as she reached up and opened the cabinet to Steve's upper right. "Here you go."
She plucked a mug with the emblem of the Marines on it from the shelf and handed it to Steve with her right hand as she flipped two more pancakes with her left.
"I could've gotten that myself, Jules. I mean- Julie." Steve stammered as he realized she might not be happy with his use of her mother's nickname for her.
Smiling to dispel his discomfort, she slid the last of the pancakes onto a steaming plate that stood next to the stove. "Jules is just fine Steve. I'm Julie to acquaintances and Jules to friends. I'd say after our escapades with the cows yesterday, we'd qualify as friends. Wouldn't you?"
This last was said with a slight hesitation, as if she wasn't sure he wanted to be friends with her.
Letting out a breath, Steve chuckled. "Yeah, I'd say we're friends."
"Good, then as your friend I can tell you that while you are indeed capable of getting that mug from the cabinet, you are most certainly not capable of picking the right mug. My mother and I are very possessive of our favorite mugs."
Winking, she turned the burners off on the bacon and eggs and reached for another higher cabinet that held the plates. Her white tank top rode up and exposed an inch or two of tanned skin between shirt and shorts that Steve had deemed not long enough to leave anything to his imagination as they ended just below her ass cheeks. He had to swallow hard and will himself to not… give anything away.
Stretching on her tip toes, Jules still couldn't reach plates. Steve steeled himself against desire and, coming up behind her, plucked two plates from the upper shelf. He could feel the heat of her radiate outwards and, unexpectedly, he wished he could wrap his arms around her and absorb it all.
Turning, Julie started to say something but then accepted the plates he handed her without comment.
"Why do you keep your plates on the top shelf? Both you and your mother aren't tall enough to get those safely without help." Steve's tone was merely curious and held no judgement.
Julie sighed softly. "My dad was 6'6". Until he died 2 years ago, he did all the cooking for my mom and me. We – we just haven't had the heart to rearrange the kitchen yet."
Steve blanched. He'd wondered about the absence of a Mr. Post but since neither Julie nor her mother had brought him up, he'd avoided the topic. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean –"
"It's okay Steve. I think it's more that if we rearrange the kitchen then he's really gone, you know?" Julie smiled somewhat sadly but then more mischievously as she said, "You know, if you weren't here, I would've climbed up on the counter to get them down. I didn't today because I figured I'd use the step stool instead." She glanced at the folded up stool, leaning against the wall. "Thanks for grabbing these for me. Can you get me two more?"
Julie sidled out from under his upstretched arm and began to transfer the eggs to one plate and the bacon to the other.
Setting all the food out on the dining room table, family style, she came back to the kitchen and rummaged in a drawer coming up with 2 sets of silverware for them both.
Pouring orange juice into two glasses, Julie set them on the table and finally turned back to where Steve was standing in the kitchen, sipping his coffee.
"Breakfast is served, sir." She stood at attention and gave a mock salute.
Steve sputtered, almost spewing his mouthful of coffee. An image of Julie in a uniform (of any kind) had popped into his head. I'd like to see that.
As they ate their breakfast, Steve watched Julie between bites. They chatted about the weather and Julie gave him recommendations on the immediate area should he decide to stay for awhile. He couldn't shake the feeling he'd had when he first met her eyes the previous day. Something deep in his gut said this woman was important to him. He'd had the same feeling the first day he'd seen Peggy and it wasn't the only time that his gut was proven right. Steve wouldn't leave until he knew why his gut was telling him that he and Julie had been meant to meet.
When Julie suggested a horseback ride down into some canyons, Steve took her up on the offer, thinking that spending more one on one time with her would help.
Julie suggested jeans and a t-shirt. She'd asked about his footwear and inspected his "work" boots to see if they'd suffice for riding or not.
"Well they've got a good heel on them. That helps keep you in the saddle in case the horse tries to bolt on you." She'd winked as she said it, knowing full well that neither of her horses would try to run on him.
When Steve reemerged from his room, dressed appropriately, he found Julie in the mudroom, pulling her boots on. They weren't flashy like some boots he'd seen in New York. No, these were work boots. As she pulled the last one on, she stood and walked out ahead of him towards the barn where the horses had been deposited last night.
Steve couldn't help but notice as she walked briskly in front of him that she had worn a very tight pair of jeans that hugged her ass and made Steve wish he could dip his hand in and get to know the terrain.
Leading first one then the other horse out, Julie had both horses saddled before Steve could figure out what went where.
Handing Steve a battered cowboy hat that matched the one she herself wore, she led one of the horses over to the mounting block and instructed Steve on how to mount, how to hold the reins and how to place his feet.
"You're riding Dynamite today and don't let his name fool you. He's very docile nowadays. 15 years ago, he earned his name but he's mellowed over the years. Just lightly move the reins to lay on his neck in the direction you want to go and he'll do the rest." As she made sure Steve settled comfortably astride the big bay, Julie watched as his muscles rippled under his shirt as he moved. The strength in those arms and legs had her wishing he wasn't Steve Rogers, Captain America and was just Steve, someone she could talk into having a good roll in the hay before he left town. Unfortunately, she had paid attention in school and knew that the values instilled in someone born in Steve's era meant that option was off the table. Too bad.
Julie mounted her own horse, Bean, and they headed out to the pasture gate with her in the lead.
As they approached the old wooden gate, Julie bent out of the saddle to undo the lock. Walking Bean through, she held the gate open and waited for Steve to pass her before letting the gate go, drifting back to its closed position.
Steve looked back over his shoulder at Julie and had to bite his tongue from saying anything out loud. A vine from the ground had risen up and was locking the gate as it swung shut. Julie was staring at it intently. As the vine shrunk back and returned to its original position on the ground, Steve saw tiny roots sprout and anchor the vine more firmly to the ground. If he hadn't seen what he knew he'd just seen, he never would've believed it was possible.
Julie was wearing a small smile as she lifted her head and met Steve's shocked blue eyes. Gulping down the nerves that had suddenly appeared, she realized this nice leisurely ride was going to be anything but. Fuck.