Two
R iding down a dirt road with the Georgia sun high overhead was not what Jessica had in mind when she’d told her parents she was going to visit Grace for the next six weeks. To be fair, the road wasn’t actually dirt, and the tree-lined roads that made up wherever they were actually were charming. Add the overall-wearing cutie beside her with dark brown skin and lips made for kissing, and this was probably the best thing that had happened to Jessica in the past couple weeks.
“So Vini,” she said breaking the silence that had fallen between them. She didn’t know how long it would take to get to Grace’s place, so she figured starting a conversation might help pass the time. “Have you lived in Peach Blossom long?”
“All my life,” she replied, her eyes not leaving the road. “Born and raised here.”
That was so strange to Jessica. She had been born on an army base in Yongsan, and though she had lived in South Korea up until middle school, later she had spent years traveling around. Between her dad’s army career and her mom’s acting and voice-acting gigs, she never stayed in one place for longer than a couple years before moving on to the next. “Wow. So you’ve never lived anywhere else? Not even for a little bit?”
“Nope,” Vini said lips popping around the final p sound in a way that caught Jessica’s attention and refused to let go. “Started working at the shop in high school and took it over after I graduated and got my certificates. Been doing it ever since.”
That caught Jessica’s attention. She let her gaze slide over Vini’s face and tried to gauge how old she was. She didn’t look any older than early twenties to begin with, but the way she said that made her seem so much older. “How old are you?”
Vini’s lips twitched like she wanted to smile, and her eyes finally shifted for a moment to glance over at Jessica. “Twenty-two for another couple weeks.”
Relief washed though Jessica. There was still a five-year difference between the two of them, but that wasn’t so bad. Girl, what are you thinking? We didn’t come here to gallivant among the locals. She gave herself an internal smack on the back of the head for even letting her mind go there for a moment. Sure, it had been a little while since she had last enjoyed the company of someone else and stress always did make her a bit hornier than normal, but that didn’t mean she needed to jump the first person who smiled at her. She wasn’t desperate yet. Plus, small towns weren’t always known for being the most welcoming. Sure, Grace had given the place nothing but praise since she got back, but she’d also grown up here. People always tended to have blind spots for the familiar.
It was part of the reason Jessica kept moving. If she didn’t stay too long, she wouldn’t start to romanticize something that wasn’t even there. She preferred to have her feet firmly planted in reality.
“You’re really young for working in the shop all by yourself.”
Vini raised an eyebrow but didn’t reply. For a moment, Jessica wondered if she had said something out of turn, but it was the truth. When she thought about mechanics, her mind instantly conjured images of thick-necked men with greasy hands and a perpetual eye for talking you into paying for things your car didn’t actually need. Then again, Vini’s cute baby face would probably have even more of an effect. People probably wouldn’t expect to get swindled by a cherub wearing overalls.
“So will you let me know what’s wrong with the car and price things out before you do the work?” Jessica asked, wanting to know if she was going to need to sell a kidney on the black market to get the rental car back that she didn’t even want. If it cost too much, she was tempted to leave the damn thing here and let someone else worry about it. The tabloids could do whatever they wanted with that information, and she would still feel justified.
“Of course,” Vini replied. Jessica raised an eyebrow when she didn’t elaborate but let it go. She wasn’t trying to annoy Vini to the point that she dropped her off on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere Georgia.
Vini turned right, and the road got a little bumpier before a picturesque house came into view. Jessica couldn’t help but be delighted by the quaint feel of the place with its long porch and old-school shutters. She didn’t even know people put shutters on houses anymore.
“Wow. This place is adorable.”
A soft chuckle beside her wasn’t enough to pull her attention away as the truck rolled up the driveway. The two-story house was painted white with sky-blue wooden shutters adorning the windows giving it a homey feel. There were a few trimmed bushes in front and a driveway leading up to it that made Jessica wonder if at some point there had been a basketball hoop at the end of it. It reminded her of those homes she saw in the old television shows her mom liked to watch. It was all very...domestic.
When Vini pulled the truck up to a stop, Jessica almost told her to turn around. Jessica Jae-eun Miller didn’t do domestic. She was a spirit that could not be tamed, especially not by a town so small it didn’t even have taxis.
“Well, here you go. I can wait here if you need?”
The offer was tempting, and Jessica wondered again if maybe there was something more to it. She was absolutely down for a roll in a cornfield, but she didn’t think Grace would appreciate her defiling the guest room so soon after her arrival. Jessica did have some tact.
She turned and favored Vini with a wide smile that she had been told a few times was rather captivating. Vini’s eyebrows lifted slightly, but besides that her expression didn’t change. It left Jessica a bit off-kilter. “Oh, you don’t have to do that. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
Vini stayed quiet as Jessica gathered her things and opened the door. It wasn’t until Jessica was halfway up the small stairs leading to the porch that Vini spoke up again. “Wait.”
She turned when she heard the sound of a door opening, and Jessica smirked briefly before fixing a curious expression on her face and turning. Vini was only a couple steps away and she looked just as good as she had only a foot or so away inside the truck. She moved with no hesitation as she made her way to Jessica. Before Jessica could get out a word, a piece of paper was thrust in her direction.
“What’s this?” she asked reaching out. Their fingers brushed as the slip of paper changed hands. She looked down at Vini’s retreating fingers before jerking her gaze over to the piece of paper now in her own. “Your card?”
“Yeah. So you have my information for updates on your car.” Vini pointed to the back of the card, prompting Jessica to turn it over. “That’s my personal cell. I’m not always in the shop, so feel free to shoot me a text, and I can let you know when I think I’ll be finished with it and how much it’ll cost.”
Jessica nodded slowly before looking back up at Vini. “That’s really kind of you.” Damn. Cute and nice? Grace will just have to forgive me. She gestured to the house. “Want to come inside for a bit? I’m sure I could find some coffee or a bottle of wine.”
Vini shook her head. “I should get back to the shop and get under your hood. Tell Grace I said hey.”
Jessica blinked quickly and tried to remember if she had mentioned Grace’s name. Before she could say anything else, Vini turned and made her way back to the truck. With a little wave, she was gone, leaving Jessica confused and slightly turned-on. Without another word, she turned and tried the door, shocked—and yet not—to find it unlocked. She made her way inside, her gaze focused on the slip of paper in her hand as she wondered how soon was too soon to call.
“Where’s my favorite PR nightmare?”
Jessica rolled her eyes as Grace came around the corner, but she didn’t hesitate before going in for a tight hug. The rest of the afternoon had been uneventful as she unpacked her suitcase and explored the house she had only seen in pictures and over camera when they FaceTimed. It wasn’t what she was used to, but there was something strangely comforting about the step back in time. Many of the rooms had been updated, and Jessica could clearly see where Grace tended to spend most of her time. The back enclosed porch was especially begging for her to grab a book and some sweet tea so she could spend some time back there like a good Southern belle.
It reminded her of her grandparents’ home just outside Wonju, South Korea, with all the trees interspersed with older homes and farmland. It made her want to go exploring, but she had figured it would be better to do that with someone who was actually from here. It had been tempting to call Vini and ask her for a more personal tour around town. If not for her exhaustion and the need to call and complain to the car rental company, she might have done just that.
“I’m so glad you came.” Grace pulled back and looked at her, brown eyes glassy. Jessica shook her head.
“You big sap.” It had been a while since they were last together, and if not for being tired, her eyes might have been a little misty as well.
“Let me drop this stuff in the office and get changed,” Grace said gesturing to her bag. “I want to hear all about your drive down here. It still sucks I wasn’t able to come get you from the airport.”
Jessica waved away her words. By the time Grace came back down wrapped in sweats, Jessica had gotten comfortable on the couch. There was a tray of meats and cheeses on the coffee table that she had brought as a present. She drew Grace’s attention to them once they both settled in.
“So I noticed there wasn’t a car in the driveway when I got in,” Grace started. “Is everything okay?”
Jessica made a stack of cheese and meat on her cracker. She shoved it in her mouth, not caring how she looked. She was damn hungry after her ordeal. She wiped her hands and chewed furiously before answering. “The damn thing stopped on me.”
Grace frowned as she reached for a slice of pepperoni. “Stopped on you how?”
“Like, just slowed until it wouldn’t move at all,” Jessica replied waving her hand. “I barely made it to the side of the highway before it did. Luckily a cop came by and pulled over when he saw my hazard lights.”
“Well, damn,” Grace huffed out. She popped the meat in her mouth before continuing. “So wait. How did you get here, then? And why didn’t you call me?”
“Girl, you were working. Besides, it gave me a chance to meet the cutest little mechanic I have ever seen. Seriously. Normally, I’m wary of them, but she was an angel in oil-stained overalls. I almost asked her out, but I remembered that I was supposed to be on a break.”
Grace shook her head but smiled. “Yes, you are. No shacking up with the locals. You’re only going to be here for six weeks, and I don’t want to deal with the fallout of you magicking the pants off someone and then jetting off never to return.” She reached for a piece of cheese before pausing and cutting her eyes at Jessica. “Plus, didn’t you just deal with some drama that reached the internet? You’re lucky Black Twitter didn’t get ahold of it, otherwise you would have been trending.”
Jessica winced at the reminder of why she was spending six weeks in a rural town in central Georgia instead of an Italian beach somewhere with her parents. Her mom and dad would have been more than happy to have her come with them even after causing her mom drama, but she had known it would be better for her to take some time away to let things die down. It wasn’t every day you got caught with two of your mom’s colleagues. Sure, it wasn’t like they were all together at the same time, but the end results of her trysts coming to light had been the two costars going at it and Jessica’s face being splashed on the back pages of a few tabloids and Daum.net.
“I am rather alluring.”
“Jess,” Grace said, her voice full of warning. It needled Jessica to be chastised, but she knew Grace only did it for her own good. Plus, she was right. Seeing the look of disappointment on her mother’s face had hurt enough. She didn’t need to see the same look on Grace’s face in her rearview mirror as she left town. She also didn’t want to make things more difficult for Grace after she left. Things hadn’t been the best when she had moved to town to begin with.
“Oh, all right,” she agreed finally. It really wasn’t that difficult to give in. Vini was cute, but she wasn’t cute enough to risk making Grace angry. Okay, that was a lie. With a face like hers, Vini would have had no problems convincing some people to go to war for her, back in the day. “I won’t cause any trouble.”
Grace giggled before reaching for her glass of wine. “I doubt that, but just don’t have anyone coming after you with a pitchfork and we should be fine.”