Chapter 5 Ella
FIVE
ELLA
Texas had been my neighbor for a few days, and I was glad that the weekend had finally rolled around.
More and more, I kept glancing over at his place.
I kept looking at his front door, wondering if he’d emerge or come over to keep me company again.
His dinner had been incredible, and Keva inhaled it faster than she ever would have the pizza I had ruined.
Hell, she ate it quicker than any pizza I could have ordered out.
The pasta was fantastic, and I actually had Texas leave me the recipe for his pesto sauce.
Maybe one day, when I had the energy, I’d try my hand at it.
It was Saturday morning, and the entire time I drank my coffee, I looked at my front lawn.
It was overgrown and really needed to be mowed.
I groaned at the thought of it. But if I was going to get it mowed before Keva woke up, then I needed to get it done quickly.
She was usually up and out of bed by nine, and I didn’t want to bother Joanne with watching her while I endlessly fought with the old, broken-down lawnmower that desperately needed to be replaced.
I hated that old, stupid thing.
I changed into some jeans and a t-shirt before walking out to the garage.
The damn thing used to be my father’s. They had plans to retire to Hawaii before their lives were taken so pointlessly, and he had “gifted” me a great deal of his old equipment.
I had power tools and wrenches to spare for the entire neighborhood, along with a weed whacker I still didn’t know how to use.
I was thankful that they had never sold their house.
Without it, I had no idea where I would have taken myself and Keva after the divorce.
Stone had kept up the house and then insisted I move in after my divorce.
I brought the old tools and the old lawn equipment back to its original destination after the divorce was finalized, and I’d made my childhood home the place where I’d raise Keva.
Even though I was stuck with the ancient gas-guzzling pieces of crap that filled the garage when I was a young girl.
I rolled it out into the lawn and tugged at the cord.
It groaned and heaved, but not once did it start up.
I pulled and pulled. I grunted along with it, trying to get the damn thing to start.
And after my ninth pull, it finally roared to life.
A puff of black smoke came up from the rusted piece of machinery, and I wrinkled my nose.
No wonder Stone wore a mask with this thing.
I waved as Joanne as she came out onto her porch with her morning cup of tea.
I pushed the lawn mower up and down the lawn, sputtering as grass came up and flew into my face.
I coughed. I waved it away with my hand.
I pulled my shirt up over my nose in an attempt to breathe something that wasn’t dirt and the smell of hacked-away grass.
“Grandma Joanne! Grandma Jonanne!”
I paused my mowing and saw Keva dash out of the house.
I rushed to intercept her before she got to the road, but Joanne was there to greet her.
I swear, I had no idea how a woman her age moved the way she did, but she scooped my daughter into her arms and waved me off.
I sighed with relief as Keva clung to her, smiling and still rubbing her eyes from waking up.
And pretty soon, my daughter played with one of the many toys she had across the street.
I went back to mowing the lawn but looked up every now and again to see my daughter playing with a firetruck.
Every week, she wanted to be something different.
She imagined herself as a different adult every time.
Last week, she wanted to be a doctor. The week before that, a unicorn. The week before that, a princess.
And this week, she wanted to be a fireman.
I couldn't wait to see what she wanted to be next week.
I turned the lawnmower around and was met with the wide eyes of Texas.
He stood there on his porch, a morning beer in his hand and a startled look on his face.
My eyes roamed his body as he set his beer down.
As his long, strong legs stepped off the porch and made their way for me.
His pants were tight against his body. Against his crotch.
His shirt was practically painted on him, giving me a wonderful glance at the muscles that were hidden underneath.
My eyes rose to his as he approached me, and then his hand came down onto the handle of the lawnmower.
“I’m going to take this over for you,” he said.
I furrowed my brow as I revved the engine of the mower down.
“What?” I asked.
“I’m going to finish this up,” he said.
“I’m more than capable of mowing my own lawn, Texas.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m mowing it for you.”
“No, you’re not.”
In a pointless struggle, he ended up wrestling the mower away from me.
And for a brief moment, I thought about taking it back from him.
I stepped back, a scoff falling from my lips as I made my way back to the driveway.
Fine. Whatever. If the stupid jerk wanted to do my work for me, I’d let him.
I pulled the t-shirt down from my face, realizing just how idiotic I looked trying to fight with him with the fabric over my nose.
As he continued the path I had carved out over the grass, I started across the street for my daughter and Miss Joanne.
“Well, the view from my front porch just got a whole lot better,” she said.
“You really need to tuck it in around my daughter,” I said.
“Well then, turn around and I will.”
I sat in a rocking chair next to Joanne and quickly understood what she was talking about.
I lifted my eyes to take in Texas, the rugged, chiseled man who had shredded his shirt on my front lawn.
And holy hell, the man looked amazing. He slung the black t-shirt over his shoulder and gripped the mower, and I swear I saw every single muscle in his torso ripple with his movements.
The etched lines of his back made me lick my lips.
When he turned the mower around, I caught a full view of the thick rings around his abs.
His chest was swollen with strength. His arms were boulders that poured into meaty mounds of flesh on top of his shoulders.
His jeans sat low on his hips, exposing lines I would have begged to trace with my fingertips. With my body.
With my tongue.
“Well, it’s also getting pretty hot out here,” I said.
“Uh-huh,” Joanne said cheekily.
“That sun is already high in the sky.”
“Oh, yeah. High in the sky, all right.”
“Joanne,” I warned.
“I’m old, but I’m not dead. I know a good-looking man when I see one. And Mr. Motorcycle over there is very nice looking,” she said, grinning.
I sighed as I shook my head.
“When are you going to hop on that fine—”
“Joanne!” I exclaimed.
“Mommy, can I go get a snack inside?” Keva asked.
“Of course, you can,” I said.
“There are apples in the fridge for you, sweetie,” Joanne said.
“Can I have two?” Keva asked.
“When you finish your first one, yes,” I said.
And once my daughter scurried into the house, Joanne turned her gaze to me.
“Really. When are you going to hop on that fine slice of ass?” she asked.
I rolled my eyes. “I swear, you’re a teenager trapped in that body of yours.”
“Well, all I know is that if I had a stallion roaming around my lawn, I’d have to ride it until it was broken in.”
“Joanne!”
“Stallions are very good at getting cobwebs out of hard to reach places,” she said with a smirk.
I stared at her, mortified at what she was saying.
“Mommy?” Keva asked.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“What’s a stallion?”
I shot Joanne a look, who then tried to bury her laughter by rolling her lips over her teeth.
“It’s a horse, honey,” I said.
“Can I have a horsey to ride?” my daughter asked.
And that was when Joanne burst into a full-on belly laugh.
“How about this, if your Mommy rides a stallion, she’ll find you a horsey to ride as well.”
“If you keep that language up in front of my daughter, I’ll be finding a new babysitter,” I scolded.
But I found myself blushing at her words.
My daughter looked at me with a confused stare and then went back inside to chomp on her apple.
I gave Joanne one last warning look then turned my gaze back to my lawn.
The sun beat down hard on Texas’s body, and with each push of the lawn mower, he grew more and more sweaty.
His skin glistened. His muscles looked good enough to lick.
Deep down in the pit of my gut, I knew Joanne was right.
No matter how inappropriate she had been around my daughter.
I’d have to talk with her about that later.
She had a point, though. I’d love to hop onto Texas and ride him like a wild woman.
I’d love to feel his muscles working for my pleasure.
I cleared my throat and diverted my gaze. It was wrong of me to be thinking those thoughts. I still had Jett to get off my back, and Texas was Stone’s best friend. It was wrong. It would always be wrong.
And yet, thinking about it made my body tingle with everything that felt right.
“I hate you,” I murmured.
“Gotcha thinking, didn’t I?” Joanne asked.
“Stop with that type of talk around my daughter. I’m serious,” I said.
“I know. I know. And I am sorry she overheard that. But now that she’s sitting at the table, I want to say one last thing.”
I turned my head slowly to face her and saw her smile at how blushed I was.
“It’s the sun,” I said flatly.
“Don’t ever play poker,” she said.
“What is it you want to say?”
“I want you to know that it’s okay for you to be happy.”
I paused at her words.
“No matter what your brother or your ex or anyone else says, it’s okay for you to be happy.
It’s okay for a single mother to want more for her life.
Not just the life of her child. Yes, this is about Keva.
But it’s also about you. This is a fresh start, and I don’t want to see you squandering it because you’re afraid of your ex.
Or afraid of your future. Or afraid of being vulnerable with someone again,” she said.
I turned away from her, afraid she’d see my tears if she looked at me any longer.
“I just wanted to get that out,” she said.
“Well, thank you for that,” I said breathlessly.
Then, my eyes focused back on Texas. On the way he fluidly mowed my lawn with the lines of his strength glistening in the morning sun.