Twenty-Five
Ameila
N oah met the on-duty deputies to look around my house, take my fingerprints, and ask me who else would have had access to touch the window. Once they left, I plopped down on the couch because I couldn’t bring myself to do anything else.
So, here I sit with the animals as close as they can get because they can feel how upset I am. My leg bounces, and my brain goes a mile a minute trying to process what’s going on.
There’s no way someone would want to break into my house, right? This is Griffin’s Den. I know everyone in town.
Knowing I can’t sit here in silence anymore, I turn on the television and open YouTube to watch my favorite gaming channel. The list of things I have to do this evening continues to grow, but I can’t bring myself to move from the couch.
I don’t know how much time has passed, but I decide I can’t let this fear keep me from my work or from being comfortable in my home.
It takes everything in me to not text Pam and ask her if I can come over with the animals. My phone keeps vibrating, and I can see it’s the group chat I have with the girls, but I don’t have the energy to answer, so I send off a quick message.
Me: I cannot thank you all enough for coming and helping.
I promise I’m okay, but I’m so drained and have a feeling tomorrow is going to be even more of a shit show. I promise I’ll text in the morning
Pam: you don’t have to thank us. We just want to make sure you’re okay
Luna: Agreed.
Oh, Ann is making you a mound of food, so be prepared tomorrow
Abby: Whenever you need us, we are there.
I vote for a girls’ night at one of our places soon
Me: You guys are the best. While Ann doesn’t have to make anything, I’m not going to turn down her food.
Also, let me get through a couple of days to get everything at the farm back on track, and then we can plan a girls’ night, and it can be at my place
Regardless of what happened today, my heart warms, and I smile at my phone.
For the first time in a long time, outside of Pam and Sam, I have friends who have my back. My phone dings again, and I think it’s the girls, but my chest tightens when I see Luke’s name pop up with a message saying he’s on the way.
I don’t know what to do. He did everything right today. At no point did he go over the top and try to take over, but he stepped in exactly when I needed him to. Is this going to end up being too much for him? Is he going to want to stick around while I try to figure all this out?
I’m going to be so busy getting the farm back in order, I don’t know how much time I’ll have outside of that. It’s one thing to deal with today, but to deal with it until this whole thing is figured out . . . I mean, he just moved here. He might meet someone while I try to figure this out.
Why am I even this upset about it? We just met . . .
I shake my head. I can’t think about things outside of my control. So instead I lean over Penny and grab my laptop out of my bag to document everything from today in the logs for the farm.
I’m halfway through my data entries when I hear a knock on the door. Even though I’m confused about my feelings at the moment, knowing that Luke is here brings a smile to my face. I stand up and stretch before walking to the door to let him in.
I’m bombarded by feelings the moment I open the door but push them away to deal with later.
I’m a mess. Maybe I need to call my therapist to move my appointment up.
As I step out of the way to let him in, relief floods my system knowing I don’t have to stay alone because while I’m an adult and can stay on my own, I really don’t want to.
Lust quickly follows, though, because damn, this man is hot no matter what he’s wearing. Sadness is last to join the party because I don’t know if I’ll be able to devote the time to a relationship while I get the farm back to normal.
“Hey, sweetness,” he says with a smirk as Penny dances around his feet.
“Hey,” I sigh.
“What are you doing? Did you eat?” he asks as he walks down the hall and drops his bag just outside the door to my bedroom.
Walking back to the couch to sit down, I say, “I was just adding the data from the water tests we’ve done over the last week into the program we use and pulling a graph from that to send to Kristen. I want to do a deep dive and make sure we have a couple of different plans in place if something like this happens again. Also, no, I haven’t eaten yet, but I’m not super hungry. So I’m good.”
“Well, I am, so I ordered pizza on the way, and you’re more than welcome to have some. It should be here any minute,” he says, walking back toward me.
His eyes scan me, and I’m suddenly very aware that I’m wearing sweatpants that are too big for me and a large shirt that has seen better days, with my hair piled high on my head and my glasses on. I’m comfortable, and I didn’t think about what I was going to wear when I got home because I just wanted to get out of my clothes and be . . . well, comfortable.
However, we’re not really at the stage where I can let my troll out . . .
But I deserve to be comfortable after the day I had, dammit.
I crane my neck as he steps into my space on the couch, and all I see is desire burning in his eyes.
“I love seeing you like this, comfortable in your space,” he says as he bends over and takes my lips in a firm kiss.
As soon as I lean into the kiss, there’s a knock at the door.
He pulls away and places a kiss on my forehead as I start to stand. “I’ll grab it, no need to get up.”
I stand anyway. “I have to let Penny out, so I have to get up.”
I turn to walk down the hall in the opposite direction, and he smacks my ass. I yelp and look at him over my shoulder.
“I can’t help it, your ass is smackable.” He shrugs with a smirk.
With a matching smirk and an eye roll, I call Penny and let her out, thankful she doesn’t mess around. I return to my spot on the couch and grab my lap desk, settling in to finish the data entry.
Looking at the numbers on the spreadsheet, I start to panic. The only reason I can come up with that we missed this is that it was never the same tank two days in a row. The couch dips, and I’m surrounded by the scent of sandalwood with a hint of smoke . . . and pizza? I turn to look at him and see two plates in his hands.
“I told you I wasn’t hungry,” I say.
“I know, but you need to eat, even if it’s a couple of bites. If you really don’t want to, I’ll eat your piece, but I really think you should because we haven’t eaten since breakfast.” He nudges one of the plates toward me, and like he knows my body better than me, my stomach rumbles, making him smile.
I roll my eyes as I take the plate and set it on the arm of the couch. After quickly finishing the graph I need, I send it off to Kristen.
Grabbing my slice, I take a bite and close my eyes because I love pizza almost as much as I love tacos. “I guess I am hungry.” Turning to look at him, I ask, “How did you know to get pepperoni, bacon, and spinach?”
“Sam may have told me it was your favorite, and I’ll eat anything but anchovies, so it was an easy choice.” He shrugs like it’s not a big deal that he got my favorite pizza knowing I was having such a bad day. “Did you finish the data entry that you needed? Did anything stand out?” he asks and takes a bite.
“Yeah, and I sent it to Kristen, but it just doesn’t make sense. Other than a random spike every couple of days and never in the same tank. But we’ll figure it out.”
Which is the most frustrating part of the whole thing. I can’t figure out what’s causing the random spikes.
“I know you will. You’re one of the smartest people I know,” he says with more confidence than I feel.
I laugh. “I’m a sure deal, Luke. You don’t have to sweet talk me.”
He stops and turns to face me. “I’m not just saying that to sleep with you. You, Amelia, are so smart and beautiful that you don’t even realize it. You moved across the country to start a business that, within five years, has become so successful and brought together an already small town. You should be proud of what you’ve done and what you’ll do in the future. Does this suck right now? Yes, it does, but I promise you will figure it out, and you have an army of people behind you that will also help you.”
I just stare at him while he holds my eye contact for a beat longer and then goes back to eating his pizza.
I don’t know how to process this. I’ve never had someone I was interested in support me like this. Leo just told me my ideas were stupid and that I would never be successful without him, but Luke is right.
I’m doing the damn thing. While aquaponics isn’t a new way to farm, usually you only see large companies with unlimited funds doing it on a scale that is similar to mine. My farm is unique because I started programs to help educate and provide fresh local produce to restaurants and grocery stores in our area.
I’m so lost in thought that I eat the whole piece of pizza without even realizing it.
“Are you done, or do you want another piece?” he asks.
“I think I’m done. I’m exhausted,” I say through a yawn as the day’s events catch up with me.
“Alright, I’ll put these into the dishwasher and meet you in bed,” he says as he grabs my plate.
“I could put those in the dishwasher since you got the pizza,” I reply, realizing that I’m a shitty host.
“Nope. I’m doing it, and I’ll meet you in bed.” He kisses my forehead as he gets up to take care of the dishes.
As I watch him walk away, I’m not sure how to process my feelings.
I shake my head, reminding myself I need to stop comparing him to other people I’ve dated or put pressure on myself to figure it all out today.
I head to my ensuite bathroom to brush my teeth because that’s all I have the energy for. When I hear him call Penny to go outside, I smile and move Ginny from my pillow to Penny’s bed and crawl under the covers.
My mind races with the different things I need to take care of, but I’m so tired that I start to fall asleep faster than usual, and the last thing I remember is feeling the bed dip and Luke pull me close to him and kiss my neck.