Chapter 42
Chapter Forty-Two
Eva
I’ve already come this far. I am not leaving until he tells me it’s really over. If last night was any indication, it is far from over. If he won’t fight for us, it’s a good thing I’m fueled and driven with every intention of not only fighting for both of us, but winning.
Jolene laughs across the counter with one of the locals.
No doubt a regular on her shift. She takes their order and then hangs it up in the window for the kitchen.
Turning, she meets my eye with a sympathetic smile before grabbing the nearby coffee pot and making her way over to the booth I’ve been sulking away in.
“Need a warm up?” she asks, though she doesn’t wait for a response and goes ahead and fills my cup.
Setting the pot on the table, she sits down in the seat across from me and waits for me to look up.
“He can really be a stubborn ass,” Jolene says when I finally glance her way.
“Even with all that baggage, I would have thought he’d have somewhat given in by now. ”
Remembering our exchange in the dark alley, I blush as I look away over the street not wanting to give myself away. Oh, he gave in, for a brief second to let me know there just might be a chance after all. But is that a chance he is willing to take? That something that still needs to be settled.
“I think seeing you and Becky in one place last night was a little more than he could handle, that’s all,” she tries to assure me, but I just shake my head.
“What exactly happened to him, Jolene?” I ask. “I mean, if I’m going to fight for us, I need to know. I need to be able to understand what I am up against.”
She looks at me, and for a second I swear she just might tell me. Shaking her head, she looks away. “He needs to be the one to tell you that.”
“And what if he never does? What if all of this is for nothing? I never said Goodbye. He did. He left without a word and sent me a damn note. Who does that?”
“A man who is running from a past you don’t understand.”
“Exactly! So, help me,” I plead.
“Noah was engaged before. Did you know that?” Jolene asks.
Shocked, I lean back in my seat and whisper, “No, I didn’t know that.”
“We all make choices everyday, but that’s the ultimate choice in life, right? Deciding who you’re going to spend the rest of your life with. Til death do you part. That sort of thing.”
I nod, as she rises from the booth and walks a few feet back around the counter across the room to set the coffee pot back on its warmer. She grabs a plate of food from the open window and delivers it to the person a few seats down. Walking back over, she takes a seat again in front of me.
“He’s a very private man, I’m not surprised he never told you.
When daddy died, Noah took over the family farm.
Going to school, working, and helping momma was no easy task, but he never complained.
When he got a scholarship to college, he was so excited to make something of himself instead of staying in the family business of trying to sell enough tobacco to pay the bills every year, and hoping for a good crop so you can actually afford more. ”
Jolene shrugs, then frowns remembering their past.
“There was one catch to his dreams,” she says.
“Becky. Oh boy, did she control him worse than he would ever care to admit. And little Miss Becky was not too excited about Noah’s scholarship.
You see, she liked having the attention all on herself.
She couldn’t have her boyfriend off two states away.
Putting a call into daddy, she connived a plan to keep him here. ”
The more Jolene talks, a picture of the man I thought I knew begins to make sense. It’s as if I am finally beginning to scratch the service of what I had been fighting against for months.
“So, he didn’t go?”
“He did at first,” Jolene admits. “Driving back and forth. Checking in on momma and me. Trying to keep up with studies. With baseball. With Becky.” Jolene shakes her head and pauses for a moment before continuing.
“But all that wears on you, ya know? Eventually, Becky’s plan won, and Noah gave up his scholarship to work for her daddy’s company.
You see, Becky comes from money. There isn’t a person in this town that doesn’t know the last name, Brown. ”
Jolene stands and makes her way to the front counter to help a customer cash out.
I sit with the information she just gave me and try to wrap my brain around it all, but something is still not adding up.
So, he left his scholarship. They were engaged.
He went to work for her father. That must be the nine-to-five he told me about.
But then what happened between the two of them?
When she returns, it doesn’t take her long to know what I am thinking. “There is more to this story, Eva. Trust me, I know you need to hear it. I just can’t be the one to tell you.”
Just as I’m about to argue, a lady approaches my table.
Jolene embraces her in a big hug. After hellos are exchanged, Jolene turns her attention to me.
“Mary, this is Eva Monroe,” she says as she introduces us.
“Eva, this is Mary Thacker. She’s actually the publisher of the town newspaper.
This must be kismet if you ask me, Mary, because Eva here is a journalist. She’s visiting from California. ”
Mary’s eyes light up as she reaches out to shake my hand.
“Nice to meet you,” I say, and she replies the same.
“I didn’t know your family knew anyone on the West Coast, Jolene. What brings you all the way out here from California, Eva?”
“Actually,” Jolene buts in. “She’s looking for a job.”
I shoot her a look as she slides behind Mary’s back, and gives me a wink. Not knowing what she is up to, I smile back at Mary.
“Is that so?” Mary asks. “When are you looking to move? I actually need a new editor. Is that something you’d be interested in?
The job wouldn’t start for a month or so, but I’d be willing to meet with you and talk about it.
I’d like to see your work history if you are interested?
What type of work did you do in California? ”
“I was just a reporter,” I answer, slightly embarrassed and not sure if that would immediately count me out for the position. A position I didn’t even know existed and had no plan on applying for, but one I am now all of a sudden slightly intrigued by.
“Well, we all start somewhere don’t we?” Mary smiles as she slips her card across the table to me. I pick it up and examine it. Flipping it over in my hand, I take a deep breath. The weight of what it offers is too heavy to even begin to process.
“Come by my office Wednesday,” Mary suggests. “Let’s talk. Jolene, it was excellent as always. I will see you next week. It was nice meeting you, Eva.”
“What was that about?” I ask Jolene as we watch Mary leave and walk across the parking lot. “Why did you tell her that?”
She shrugs and smiles a sly smile as she walks back towards the kitchen. “I heard they were hiring from one of my regulars earlier. Never know, maybe you are looking for a job and you just don’t know it. Best to keep your options open.”
She pushes through the doors and into the kitchen as I turn my attention back to the card in my hand.
I can’t meet with her. That would be insane.
Or, would it? Could I actually do this? What if she wanted to hire me?
Would I actually say yes? Move to Kentucky?
What on earth am I thinking, I can’t move to Kentucky! Can I?
“Hey,” Gwen says, as she rushes into the restaurant and plops down in the seat across from me. “Sorry I slept in. What did I miss?
I look up at her in shock. She looks down at my hands, still holding the business card, and then back up at my face completely lost.
“I think I just got offered a job,” I say, amusement lacing my tone. Her eyes widen. Jolene walks over and sets a cup in front of her. Gwen looks up at her in disbelief.
“Coffee?” Jolene smiles, as she starts to fill her cup.