Chapter 1 #2
What the hell am I going to do with a four-stall garage? “I don’t remember it being this gorgeous. Or large. This is a breathtaking house.”
“It’s been well taken care of. Should just need a good cleanin’ and maybe some traps.”
I tilt my head in confusion. “Traps?”
“For mice.”
“Mice?” I squeak.
Smiling, he attempts—poorly—to hide his laughter, and it eases my fear of the small rodents possibly running amuck in my home. It strikes me how attractive I find him for the most unconventional reasons.
“You don’t like mice?”
“Does anyone?”
“Cats, I suppose. I don’t mind them, but I ain’t plannin’ on keepin’ them as pets.”
My jaw drops even as my stomach bounces at the charming way he drops the “g” from the end of his words. “People do that? Keep mice as pets?”
“There are mouse breeders out there. And you can buy them in pet stores.”
The thought of mice running around as I clean makes me rethink the decision to move out here for a simpler life. Maybe penthouses are where I belong after all.
“I’ll go get your car from the ditch, and if needed, I’ll have it towed to my shop.”
“Shop?”
“Yeah, I have a shop out off of twenty-three, not too far from here. Aside from the dealers in the next town over, we’re the only place that works on cars in town. Usually, we work on large equipment, but business is business.”
Nodding as though I have the slightest clue what he talks about, I smile. “Thank you for the ride, Rhet. And I appreciate your help with my car. As you can about imagine, I’m a bit out of my depth here.”
“I’ll swing by in a bit, either to drop off the car or let you know I’m towin’ it. Is your key in the car?”
“Oh, right, that might be helpful, huh?” I say and blush as I rummage through my purse. Handing him the fob, I smile brightly. “Thank you again.”
I unbuckle my seatbelt as he hops out of the pickup, and he’s opening my door before I have a chance to grab the handle. Taking his hand, I feel the butterflies once again as he helps me onto the pavement. “See you in a bit, Brynlee.”
Rhett climbs back into his pickup and waits until I walk up the wraparound porch before pulling away.
If this was a date, I bet he’d wait until I was safely inside before driving away.
Chivalry. It’s an intriguing idea. Looks-wise, he’s nothing more than ordinary, but he has an air about him.
Something I haven’t come across before and can’t put my finger on yet.
Moving out of the way as the two men who can’t be much more than nineteen barrel out of the house to the truck. Apparently, it wasn’t locked, and I choose not to think too much about that.
The moving company I went with has the motto of “Anywhere you go!” Except there appears to be boundaries they don’t advertise considering I had to stop at a truck stop about fifty miles south of Atlanta to swap trailers with these two.
And they complained about how they had a game to get to tonight. Which explains the rushing.
Whatever game they want to attend must be really important because they’ve unloaded half of the truck already. But now I can’t help but add changing the locks to my long list of things to do. Just in case there are keys to the house floating out there.
The place needs a new coat of white paint, but the front door is a bright blue that makes me smile. No wonder people paint accent doors. I get it now.
I step inside and gasp. Besides the thick layer of dust on everything, it feels like a country palace, if there is such a thing. My palace.
Walking into the dining room to the right of the entryway, a table and chairs sit with a large sheet hanging over them.
Unable to help myself, I tear the sheet off, choking myself with the flying dust, and run my hand over the beautiful dining room table.
It’s a dark-stained wood with intricate designs carved along the legs with matching chairs.
“Why would my father ever want to leave a house like this?” I ask as I imagine a family sitting down to dinner and discussing their day. The idea is so comforting, probably because I never had that.
Every decision I’m making would horrify Mama. Modern and elegant, not rustic and historical. City not country. In her world, vintage, historical, and rustic are just fancy ways to call something old. No, Mama wanted everything new.
Cars, houses, clothes, hairstyles, and men.
All new and exciting. Me? I like comfortable.
Modern feels clinical to me. Cold. Mama always said I have an old soul, only she didn’t mean it as a compliment.
It’s probably why this house speaks to me, and Mama would run away screaming if she could see me right now.
The dining room leads into the kitchen, and I run my hands over the dusty marble countertop with a peninsula island.
No, wait, it’s not marble. Mama drilled into me the ways to tell the real from the fake.
That way, I could tell if a man truly had money or was faking it.
These are quartz, which Mama called a poor man’s marble.
Personally, I like quartz. Less maintenance.
But you’re not the one maintaining it, darling. That’s what the help is for.
Shaking Mama’s voice out of my head, I move across the entryway and into the living room, passing by a staircase to the second floor. I step out of the way of the movers, and boxes sit all over the living room floor. It’s a mess.
I sidestep everything when I get a look at the stone fireplace, and I tenderly touch the mantle. It needs to be cleaned, at a minimum, and it gets added to my list.
It may be the middle of summer, but I have images of lighting a fire with Christmas decorations all around. I long for December. I can see it all now, and any doubts about my decision to finally move in here disappear.
Turning, I stare out the large picture window at the sprawling farmland spanning as far as I can see. A good amount of it belongs to me, technically. I think. I’m not entirely sure how to determine property boundaries.
When I inherited the house and land, I was told about a rental agreement in place with someone named Jones, and I chose to keep the terms in place.
Same rate, too. I have no idea whether it’s a steal or not, but it’s extra income for me that I squirreled away for the past five years. Not even Mama knew about it.
“This is just what I need. A fresh start far away from the noise of city life. This will be good.”