Bluegrass Hero by Allie Pleiter

Author:Allie Pleiter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Published: 2008-03-25T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

“Close your eyes.” A tiny curl of enjoyment let loose in Emily’s stomach. She’d never tried to explain the power of scent before—at least not to someone who didn’t get it already. Certainly never to someone as clearly resistant as Gil Sorrent.

“You’re not gonna put anything on me, are you?” He gave her a look as if to suggest that contact with hand cream might melt the skin off his bones.

“I’m not going to do anything of the sort. But if you close your eyes, you’ll find it easier to concentrate on your sense of smell.”

He stared at her, then closed his eyes, only to pop them warily back open a second later. His glare was half caution, half annoyance.

“It won’t hurt,” she teased.

“That’s not what I’m afraid of,” he muttered as he closed his eyes and flexed his fingers against his knees.

Best to start with something familiar. Emily picked up his leather coat, which he’d parked on the floor by the table. It was thick and soft, and her fingers touched the inside collar when she picked it up—it was still warm from his neck. “This is your coat. All leather has a smell, and lots of times it’s distinct to each thing. Can you smell it?” She held the coat up to his face and watched his brows wrinkle up as he inhaled. “It’s probably familiar, so you might have to work at it a bit at first.” He was trying. Feeling a bit foolish, maybe, but trying. “What does it smell like to you?”

Gil opened one eye. “It smells like a coat.”

“But what does your coat smell like? Horses? Saddle soap? Hay?”

Gil closed his eyes and made a big show out of sniffing his coat. It made her laugh. “Hate to break it to you, but all I smell is my coat.”

Maybe familiar wasn’t the way to go. “Let’s try something else.” She selected the Peace Soap and held it toward him. “See if you can name anything you smell. The sense of smell is fully developed in us from birth, and is one of the last to leave us in death. Babies can smell their mothers just hours after they’re born, you know.”

“Anyone who’s ever spent time near a barn won’t argue with you about the power of smell.”

“I’m not talking about powerful smells, I’m talking about the power of scent. They’re different things.” Emily waved the soap near his face. “Aromas have been known to shift emotions, evoke memories and even bring about chemical changes in your body. Like how you get hungry when you smell ham cooking.”

“That’s it, cooking,” Gil ventured. “It’s kind of a baking smell.”

“See? You can smell things. That’s vanilla. Very calming, mostly because we associate it with home. What else?” She watched his eyes shift and search beneath closed lids. He had long, thick lashes.

“There’s more in there?” Ever the skeptic.

“Yep. See if you can find it.”

He shifted slightly toward her on the stool. She noticed his corduroy shirt had a button missing up by the collar.

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