Chapter 32
Brian
While I was being given the official town tour, I discovered just how right Jess had been when she said I caused a stir.
People here were quite curious about me.
As I was being shown around, I was led up and down every street in the downtown area and forced to consume goods from every store, including two cheese shops.
We’d spent the afternoon hiking a long trail to the town’s famous waterfall, and then the girls had led us to a tiny secret cavern behind the falls.
I was too big to fit, but I took photos of them posing.
Greta and Kit—especially serious Kit—seemed so much younger here. They were more carefree, running barefoot while collecting eggs and giving me a tour of the sugar shack where they boiled syrup every spring.
We laughed, spent most of the day outside, and ate ungodly amounts of delicious food. I could see why Jess loved it here. The entire town shone with joy and charm.
Back at the farmhouse, no one mentioned the little snuggle nap Jess and I had taken. Though when I woke up, I was subjected to questions from both her brothers.
Josh, who’d been a teenager when I visited twenty years ago, was now a broad, serious investment banker turned maple farmer.
Jasper, the baby of the family, had been a little boy when I met him.
Now, he was a tall, lanky fireman covered with tattoos, and he sported the kind of confidence that came with being under thirty and having visible abs.
While neither of them had explicitly asked about my intentions, I got the sense that we were two beers away from a full-blown interrogation.
I’d spent the day preparing for the eventuality. So when two little spitfires cornered me after dinner, I was thrown off-kilter.
When Kit and Greta asked me to help them get a few board games from the upstairs closet, I gladly followed them. Yet as I peered into the open closet, Kit shut the bedroom door behind her and crossed her arms over her chest.
“We need to talk to you,” she said.
Greta stood next to her, making sure to block my exit. “Have a seat.” She gestured to an old wooden rocking chair next to a large picture window.
I eased into the seat, careful to make sure it was sturdy before giving it all my weight. My heart hammered, because the serious expressions the girls wore were unfamiliar and a tad worrisome.
Five minutes ago, they had been competing with their cousins to see who could fit the most brownies in their mouths, cackling and full of glee. Greta, in fact, still had some chocolate smeared above her lip. Yet here we were, and by the way they scrutinized me, it was clear they meant business.
“Our mom is awesome,” Kit said.
“The best,” Greta echoed.
“And our dad sucks.”
“Kit.” Greta’s little brown eyes widened in shock.
“You know it’s true.” She huffed. “He doesn’t think of anyone but himself.”
Greta’s lips turned down, but she nodded in agreement.
I was tempted to get up and hug her. Kenneth was a motherfucker. Right here, as I sat waiting for their lecture, I vowed to find more ways to fuck up his life when I got back to Jersey.
“We made a deal that we would never let anyone hurt her.”
I surveyed the girls, who both looked so much like Jess. “I would never hurt your mom.”
Greta’s body relaxed like she was satisfied with my response, but Kit only narrowed her eyes.
“I told you to stay away from her. But now she’s all giggly and happy and talks about you all the time.” She sighed. “She hasn’t been herself since we came up here, but then you show up, and suddenly she’s smiling again.”
My heart swelled with pride and hope. My rash decision to come here had been out of the ordinary for me, but the moment I stepped out of my car and Jess smiled at me, I’d known it was right. I wanted to be here. Jess, Kit, and Greta were my people.
“We also agreed that we would not let her date anyone unless they were extremely super awesome and got our approval.”
“How does one earn your approval?” I asked in my most professional tone. “Is there a written application? Lo can prepare some paperwork.”
Kit smirked. “Just an interview.”
“An interview? Will I have time to prepare?”
“Sure. But we’re gonna be tough.”
“Bring it, kiddos, because I really like your mom.”
The girls looked at one another, and Greta giggled. Kit, to her credit, did not, but I swore her lips twitched.
“That’s a good start,” Greta said, giving me a thumbs-up.
Kit nodded. “But this isn’t over.”
I couldn’t help but grin. “Your mom is lucky to have you.”
After I was released from the first of what looked like it would be a series of interrogations, I headed downstairs and found that everyone had migrated outside.
Josh had built a massive outdoor fire, and Jenn’s boys were already roasting marshmallows.
Kit and Greta darted over, grinning and squealing, as if they hadn’t just been giving me the third degree upstairs.
As I strolled closer, dogs and shockingly domesticated goats ran around me.
“Didn’t you visit once, years ago?” Jenn asked as she poured a finger of maple whiskey into a glass.
I nodded. “Between my junior and senior years of college. Your parents were very kind to me.”
“My mom liked you,” she said, holding the glass out to me. “And she was a good judge of character.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I replied, my tone subdued, knowing how raw the wound still was for Jess.
The four of them reminisced a bit, talking about their parents and the hijinks they used to get up to on the farm, then catching up on town gossip. I listened quietly, content to let the warmth of the fire and the good company wash over me.
After Jess got her kids to bed, Jasper stood and stretched. “I’m out. Don’t wait up.”
“Where are you going?” Josh asked with a frown.
Jasper shot him a wink. “Bachelorette party at Timberline.” With a wave, he jogged to his Mustang.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Josh yelled after him.
Jasper barked out a laugh without turning back. “I always do.”
“It’s like he’s still sixteen,” Jenn said.
Josh stood and added wood to the fire. “Someday he’ll calm down.”
Jess perched on the arm of my Adirondack chair, her movements languid, like the whiskey was loosening her up.
While Josh poked at the fire and Jenn had her face buried in her phone—probably texting her wife, who’d taken the kids home—Jess leaned against my shoulder. “I still can’t believe it,” she murmured. “That you came all the way here.”
“It’s not far.”
She frowned down at me. “But what about work?”
“The guys got me covered, and Lo moved all my meetings. Trust me, they practically kicked me out the door. I’ve been such a bastard since you left.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” I roughed a hand down my face. “I was a bear without you.”
She broke into a slow smile. She looked so beautiful illuminated by the firelight. I wanted to pull her into my lap and kiss her senseless. But the presence of her siblings and the various farm animals kept me in check.
“Do you want to take a walk?” she asked softly.
My chest tightened. It was as if she’d read my mind. “Sure.”
She took my whiskey glass and set it down on the small table beside my chair. Then she grasped my hand, encouraging me to stand. With a quick farewell to her siblings, she guided me away.
But she didn’t lead me back toward the farmhouse.
“Where are we going?”
“My secret spot,” she said with a devilish grin.
We were quiet as we strolled hand in hand down the dirt road that led to barns, paddocks, and what looked to me—a man who knew nothing about farms—like storage sheds.
“This place is magical,” I eventually said.
“Yes,” she sighed. “This is the best time of the year. The animals all have babies, and everything is in bloom. Early fall is incredible too. Those couple of weeks when the leaves change, before they’ve fallen, offer some of the most beautiful views I’ve ever seen.
But then Halloween hits, and from there, it’s nonstop snow and darkness until May. ”
We fell into silence again, and shortly after the house was completely out of sight, Jess stopped and turned to me.
“Why did you come here?” She nibbled her bottom lip, her dark eyes depthless in the moonlight. “Does it mean what I think it means?”
“It means whatever you want it to mean. I’m selfish. I needed to see you. But say the word and I’ll be back on the road. I will never pressure or push you.” My hands suddenly felt slick. I only hoped she didn’t notice. “I just want to be around you.”
“I’m moving.” Her tone was sad, defeated.
“I know.” I kicked at the ground, head lowered. “Lo has already sent me the paperwork I’d need to apply to the Vermont bar.”
She tilted her head back and let out a laugh. “Of course she did.”
“I just want to be with you.” I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “The rest is logistics.”
“But logistics matter,” she insisted.
I brought her hand to my chest and pressed it to my heart. “Not as much as you and the girls do.”
Blinking rapidly, she stood on her tiptoes. For a moment, she studied my face. Then, in one quick move, she pulled me down into a searing kiss.
Our mouths tangled in desperation as I grasped her hips and she clawed at my chest. This wasn’t a sweet kiss.
It was pure lust, driven by the deprivation we’d sentenced ourselves to for the last few weeks.
We were explosive together, and as I ground against her, keeping her locked to my body, it was more apparent than ever.
When we were out of breath, she pulled away and tugged me toward the tree line. “Follow me.”
I jogged along, sticking close as she darted behind a small barn at the edge of the wood.
“Where are you taking me?”
“The only place we can truly have privacy in this damn town,” she replied over her shoulder.
As we approached another small, darkened building, she pulled a tiny flashlight out of the back pocket of her jean shorts and opened the door.
“This is my secret spot,” she said, leading me inside.
It was mostly empty and had been swept clean, though there were a few boxes and some equipment stacked in the back.
“My mom briefly went through a pottery phase,” she explained. “She used to come out here and make misshapen coffee mugs just to get away from us.”
She shone the flashlight around the space.
“It’s too small for livestock and not quite big enough to fit the large tractor. But it’s sturdy and well-maintained.”
The ceiling was lined with decorative trusses, and several large windows on one wall were all that separated us from the maple forest.
“It’s kind of beautiful,” I said.
“My grandfather built it. I’m in love with the architecture. I always dreamed of converting it into a little house. Like a barndominium-type of thing.”
Lips pressed together, I nodded. “I could see that.”
“Come on, we’re going up to the hayloft.” She waggled her brows.
I bit back a grimace at the thought of literally rolling in the hay. I was a city boy, and never in my life had it been more apparent than now.
“There’s no hay,” she said, clearly reading my mind. “That would be scratchy and terrible. Come on.”
I followed her up the narrow staircase to the open loft, and at the top, I peered down at the barn below, noting the beach chairs and a couple of lanterns, then turned back to scan this space. “Are those sleeping bags?”
She smiled at me. “Yup. I thought maybe I’d bring you up here. Seduce you, farm-girl style.”