15. Chapter 15
Chapter 15
Lizzie
S aturday, May 12th
8:45 p.m.
brOOKE: I cannot believe you hired James Tate to remodel the cabin! I forgot he used to live next door. What are the odds?
LENA: I’ve heard he’s really talented, Lizzie. Your place will look amazing when it’s done!
TESS: I heard another thing about James Tate…
LIZZIE: Wait, what did you hear?
INDI: Here we go again…
TESS: Hold up… who said it was anything negative? My friend Lani over in Heartwood went out with him a handful of times last year. Apparently, he’s an incredible kisser.
LIZZIE: Not exactly the credentials I was looking for…
JULES: C’mon, you deserve some good loving in your life after Ol’ Pencil Dick.
LIZZIE: *sigh* I really regret sharing that story with all of you.
brOOKE: No regrets. But I like the way you’re thinking, Jules…
Thursday, June 4th
10:10 p.m.
brOOKE: Ok, fess up. The last three messages from you have been all about a certain contractor. You wouldn’t be… I don’t know… *into him*, would you?
KAIT: She thinks he’s gooooorgeous, she wants to kissssss him….
INDI: I would tell you both to knock it off, but I’ve kinda been wondering the same thing…
I plopped my phone down next to me on the sofa, slamming my laptop shut with a sigh. I’d been getting nowhere with writing tonight, especially now that my brain was being flooded with thoughts of James Tate.
Or now, to be more specific, kissing James Tate.
Thanks a lot, Kait.
Though I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t already been thinking about it anyway—or of James as more than just my contractor. I’d done that all on my own these past few weeks, without any prompting from anyone.
I mean, from the first moment we literally ran into each other in Minneapolis, I’d found him crazy-attractive. Granted, the chaotic circumstances of our little ‘meet cute’ may have overshadowed my initial impression of the guy.
Ok, yeah… I thought he was the worst.
But even after starting off rocky yet again that day on the dock, there was no denying it—that spark I’d felt was still there. Tall and athletic, with the hint of whiskers on his face and short-ish, wavy-tousled golden brown hair that made me want to weave my fingers through it—James was the vision of the quintessential Minnesota boy with a scruffy Northwoods edge that somehow made him even sexier.
I had to admit, though—it was the way I’d caught him looking at me that got to me the most. I couldn’t decide if he found me completely ridiculous, or if he maybe felt something between us, too—the former of which was probably true, and neither of which would help me to write this damn book.
Of course, this made the fact that all I wanted to do was replay our conversations and figure out what made him tick—or how to make him smile in that way that made his eyes all crinkly— really problematic.
Even still, James and I were learning how to work around one another, quickly navigating our way from a cordial, professional rhythm towards something that could be called an actual friendship. And being around him all the time felt good, like a place I wanted to stay in.
So, sure—I guess he wasn’t the beast I’d first assumed him to be. In fact, far from it—and I was more than happy to be proven wrong. He’d gone from ‘Rude Guy’— seemingly intent on driving me crazy—to a man who had proven himself hard-working, thoughtful, playful, and kind. Heck, I’d even call him funny .
Which is exactly why I had to be careful and not let myself get carried away by thoughts of sexy smiles, flirty innuendos, and dreamy hazel eyes.
I didn’t even know if he was actually doing those things or if it was my imagination making it all up. Either way, I felt like I needed blinders around this guy if I was going to keep myself in check.
Because getting caught up in another man wasn’t what I came up here to do. I’d spent way too much of the last few years wishing things could be different, believing I should be different. And now that I’d been given this gift of a fresh start, I couldn’t screw it all up. Even if a man like James had me tempted to rewrite all the plans I’d made for myself.
Things felt right here, though. And so much had already changed in a matter of weeks. The more time I spent in Dearing Creek, the more I could feel myself re-learning how to relax and just be —like I could finally take a full, deep breath without the fear of drowning.
And now, for the first time ever, I had the time and space to give my writing— this book —everything I had. I owed that to myself, right?
Maybe if I did, everything else in my life would start falling into place, too.
“Turkey or BLT?”
I’d walked into the kitchen to see James standing at the table, pulling sandwiches from a paper sack. Grabbing the water pitcher from the fridge, I filled two glasses. “I thought we discussed this. Bacon trumps everything . Always.”
As I set the glasses down on the table, he tossed a sandwich in my direction—which, thankfully, I managed to catch this time. “I know. That was a test to see if you could resist Delilah’s Turkey Dinner Wrap.”
I unwrapped my BLT as I lowered into my seat, smiling as I noticed he’d requested extra avocado for me as well. “Ok, I’ll admit, you almost had me. The TDW is my second-favorite. But…”
“... ‘no bacon’ , I got it.” he said, chuckling as he pulled out the chair next to me.
“You learn fast, Tate.”
“Doin’ my best, Blake.”
We grinned at each other for a moment before each taking a bite. Lunching together had quickly become a habit over the past month, with Jesse usually heading to home or the clinic to have lunch with his wife, who I’d learned a couple weeks back was expecting their first child this fall.
Even though I hadn’t met Tara yet, I envied the two of them—how incredible to have found the one you not only wanted to share every lunch with, but a future family, too? And Jesse was such a great guy, so laid-back and happy—I had no doubt he’d be an awesome dad.
I could tell he was good for James, too. They seemed to balance each other out, in all the ways only an old friend could. Kind of like my Dearie Girls.
“So, I was thinking… do you think GiGi would let me pick some of the rhubarb from her garden?”
He sniffed back a laugh as he finished his bite. “I think she would pay you to take it. She practically has an acre’s worth on the west side of the cabin by now.”
Laughing, I plopped a piece of avocado that had fallen from my sandwich into my mouth. “Good, I was hoping that might be the case. I was thinking of taking a crack at my grandmother’s rhubarb pie one of these days.”
“The custard one? GiGi said Cora finally gave her a copy of the recipe a few years back… practically had to fight her for it.”
I giggled. “Yep, that’s the one. And I’m not surprised. Pretty sure I’m the only other person who managed to get that recipe out of her.” A sudden movement near the fireplace on the other side of the cabin caught my eye. I vaguely reached towards James, blindly swatting at his arm as I kept my eyes glued to the spot.
“What? You trying to fight me, too?”
“No… I think there’s a mouse…”
“A mouse?” James pushed back his chair, standing up quickly. “Where?”
I pointed towards the far wall, and at that exact moment, I saw the little guy dart across to hide behind the curtains of the large picture window. “Over there! Under the window!”
Grabbing the nearby pail I’d planned to use for collecting rhubarb, he crept slowly in that direction, gently poking at the fabric of the curtains with his foot until the mouse came flying out. In one swift motion, James quickly dropped the pail over his path, trapping the critter inside as he gave a triumphant whoop. He glanced back towards me, one hand on hip, victorious. “You’re safe, m’lady.”
Half-laughing as my heart continued racing, I crept over to where he stood. “Thanks, but… now what?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, how are you going to get him out of here?”
He glanced down, crossing his arms. “Well, to be honest, I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”
“Yeah, me neither. Are you sure he’s in there?” Chewing on my lip as I dug my fingernails into my tingly palms, I gently tapped the side of the bucket with my foot—the resulting scratching noise from inside making my skin crawl. “Eww, no… this is not ok. We need to get him out of here.”
“Alright, well… do you have rat poison?”
My eyes widened as I looked at him. “What, and kill him?”
He chuckled. “Ok then, Snow White, how about a live trap? We could slide one underneath the bucket and release it outside later.”
“Um… no. I don’t have anything like that.”
“Something tells me a trip to the hardware store might be in order after this conversation,” he said, smirking. “Ok, let’s try a piece of cardboard from the box of tiles. We can jimmy it underneath, hopefully trapping the little guy between that and the bucket, then rehome him out in the woods.”
“Fine.”
Moments later, I was crouched on the floor next to James, tilting up the edge of the pail ever so slightly as he began to slowly slide a cardboard panel underneath. Which was going great, until suddenly—I caught a whiff of dust from the cardboard, and I sneezed.
It was just enough to both startle James and jerk the pail upwards, giving Mr. Mouse the sweet taste of freedom as he raced around the corner towards the bedrooms. James fell backwards onto the floor as I squealed, laughing hysterically at the look of horror on my face.
“Ok, cabin life’s been real. I’ll be leaving for the city now.”
Pulling himself together, he stood up, reaching out a hand to pull me up as well. “Naw, we just need to get you some supplies so you’re better prepared for critters. I’ll drop off a few live traps tonight.”
“And in the meantime?”
He shrugged, grinning. “Maybe leave out a bedtime snack for your furry little roomie?”
James roared with laughter as I threw the cardboard at his head, his whole body shaking—and then damn it , I couldn’t stop myself from laughing, too.
And despite the fact that I would never be able to sleep in this cabin ever again, I couldn’t help thinking how great it felt to be here like this, laughing at the ridiculousness of life, with someone like James.