Chapter 9
CHEWIE
Since Taya was sleeping, I fumbled with the nav screen until I found her home address and then followed the directions that took me around Eugene to a rural area west of town.
When I pulled off the main road onto a gravel drive, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Taya’s home was no more than twenty minutes from my house.
She had mentioned that she lived in the country, but what she didn’t mention was that she lived in an idyllic three-story farmhouse surrounded by open land with another house nearby and only a few outbuildings to mar the expansive view.
For some reason, the house seemed familiar, but I couldn’t imagine why, so I ignored the thought and looked over at Taya once I parked in the driveway.
She seemed so peaceful that I hated to bother her and wondered if I should have followed her suggestion and found a hotel a few hours ago. If I had, she’d be in a comfortable bed right now instead of in the awkward position she’d contorted herself into using my coat as a pillow.
I was hesitant to wake her up, not just because the porch light was shining on her face like a spotlight, highlighting the beauty I had quickly become addicted to seeing when I woke up in the morning or right before I closed my eyes to sleep at night.
Now I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get another opportunity to do that.
After our initial argument, which ended with us having sex rather than making firm plans, neither of us had mentioned what we would do when we got back home.
Eugene wasn’t exactly a small town, so it wasn’t surprising that we had only run into each other that one time, but now I wondered how many times we’d been in the same place and never knew it.
Now that I knew her, I had no doubt that I would always search the crowd everywhere I went to see if she was in it if she didn’t want to continue seeing each other.
“I know the car has stopped, and I can feel you staring at me,” Taya murmured in a raspy voice. She cleared her throat and wrinkled her brow before she opened one eye and asked, “What’s up?”
“Are you just going to sleep in the car, or are you going to let me borrow it and bring it back tomorrow?”
“Do you have to go home?”
I felt my heart start to race and asked, “Do you want me to stay?”
“I do. I’m not ready to sleep without you,” Taya said as she took off her seatbelt. She quietly said, “I’m not sure I ever want to.”
My heart stopped racing. As a matter of fact, it stopped completely. “Are you asking me to move in?”
“I’m considering it. If I did, what would you say?”
“I’d consider it, but I think it’s important to learn how to live our normal lives with each other. I’ll stay at your place sometimes, and you can spend the night with me now and then. Once things aren’t so new, we can reassess the situation.”
“Look at you being a mature and cautious adult.”
“It happens occasionally.”
“Will you stay here tonight?”
“Gladly.”
Once I had my bag and Taya’s suitcase out of the SUV, she took her backpack and a smaller bag out of the back seat and walked up the porch steps in front of me.
The house was dark inside, so I couldn’t see anything through the windows.
I was taken aback when she opened the door and flipped on the light.
The entryway was rounded with a bench that curved along the wall with shoes lined up beneath it. There was a staircase on the left that led up to an open landing, and when I looked to my right, I could see what looked like a child’s play area complete with a gate to close it off.
Taya kicked off her shoes and pushed them under the bench before she said, “I need something to drink before we go to bed. Do you want anything?”
“I’ll take a bottle of water,” I told her as I rolled her suitcase to a stop near the newel post at the bottom of the stairs.
I set my bag down beside it and then followed her into the living room, glad that there were motion-sensitive lights strategically placed to help us see our way since we were out in the country without the glow of streetlights coming in through the windows.
Once we were in the kitchen, Tay opened a wine cooler under the counter and pulled out a couple of bottles of water, handing one to me.
When I glanced down at the cooler and then over at the fridge, she said, “It’s a wine fridge, but I don’t drink all that much, so I use it for kid juices and water. ”
“That’s handy.”
“It was great until Ollie got big enough to open it by himself and figured out how to twist the cap off a water bottle. For some reason, he thinks that shaking an open bottle over his head is hilarious, but he still hasn’t quite managed to figure out how to drink from one.”
I laughed as I walked closer to the refrigerator to look at the pictures held up by magnets, interspersed with children’s drawings and various coupons and mailers. There were photos of two girls and a boy, all candid shots showing happy children with bright smiles.
“These are your grandchildren, right? How old are they?”
“That is Sophia. She’s seven. Elaina’s six, and Ollie’s almost three now.”
“Cute kids.”
“Thanks. I had no part in creating them, but I love that all three of them look like Blaine.”
“Blaine is your oldest?”
“Yes. He and his wife live here on the property with Ollie. Elaina and Sophia visit every other week.”
“Will I get to meet your kids?”
“Yes. I’d like to tell them about you first, and then I’d like for you to meet them.”
“Good. I already told Samara about you, and she’s excited to think she’ll have someone in her corner when she starts to nag me.”
“She nags you?”
“All the damn time.”
“About what?”
“Vitamins, drinking water, eating healthier, turning my music down to a reasonable level.”
“She doesn’t think it’s reasonable?”
“She doesn’t have good taste in music, so she can’t really appreciate what I listen to or the fact that it sounds better when it’s loud.”
“I don’t know why I’m so tired. I slept for hours, which I’m sorry about. I should have stayed awake to entertain you on the drive.”
“Your snoring kept me awake.”
“I don’t snore.”
“Oh. Did you leave a chainsaw running in the back seat?”
“No!”
“Then it must have been your snoring.”
Taya pushed at my shoulder and laughed. I wrapped my arms around her and held her close before I looked down and kissed her. “Take me to bed.”
“Gladly.”
◆◆◆
I’d finally had enough. There was no way I could lie on this bed for another second without spontaneously combusting or dying of asphyxiation.
When I first laid down and snuggled up to Taya, I thought the mattress felt like a cloud.
Now, after sleeping fitfully for about six hours, I could confidently say that it was not a cloud.
Hell, I would be surprised if it had any natural fibers in it at all.
There was nothing natural about Taya’s mattress. It was a product of some mad scientist who wanted to bring back all of my childhood fears. Now the floor wasn’t lava, the bed was, and it had pits of quicksand that were trying to suck me under and suffocate me.
It took a bit of effort to sit up because the quicksand was trying to hold me in, but I finally managed to get to the edge of the bed and put my feet on the floor, which was thankfully freezing.
I wanted to lie on it to drop my core temperature to a manageable level, but instead, I stood up and found my bag so I could take a cool shower and get dressed for the day.
Last night’s conversation with Taya came back to me. I was both impressed and relieved at my foresight - because until this situation was rectified, I would not be sleeping at Taya’s house, but she was more than welcome at mine.
Once I finished my shower, I pulled on a pair of sweats and left the bedroom as quietly as possible, pulling the door shut behind me once I was in the hall.
The first rays of dawn were peeking over the horizon, and that meant some strong coffee was in order followed by a search for somewhere to nap until Taya woke up and I had to rescue her from drowning in the fucking mattress.
Once I figured out how to work her coffee machine, which took some effort since the thing was fancier than any I’d ever seen before, I decided to start breakfast. Granted, I went to prison when I was barely an adult, but I had some experience cooking before I went in.
Years spent in the kitchen with my grandmother and aunts gave me more knowledge than most kids my age, especially boys, and I learned from experience after my release.
Having grown up on a working farm, I wasn’t a big fan of processed food, although I could do some damage on the candy aisle of the local convenience store on occasion.
When I opened the freezer, I was shocked to see so many frozen dinners inside and wondered if my search for actual meat might be in vain.
I decided there must be another freezer somewhere in the house and wasn’t surprised to find a chest freezer in the laundry room.
That’s where I found the motherlode and took my time sorting through the packages wrapped in white paper that told me Taya had purchased this meat from a local rancher.
With frozen bacon and sausage in hand, I turned to walk back into the kitchen just as I heard the door open and footsteps on the tile.
I wondered if Taya was looking for me and rounded the corner with a smile, but then stepped back in shock when a woman holding a toddler screamed bloody murder and threw the mug of coffee she was holding at me.
I managed to duck and miss the mug, but the hot coffee splashed across my bare chest and made me drop the frozen packages of meat. When one hit my toe, I cursed and fell against the counter. I immediately lost my balance and fell to the floor when I put my foot back down and it landed on one.
I heard footsteps on the stairs, and then Taya yelled, “What’s going on?”
I sat up as she came around the corner and then pointed at the open door and said, “She went that way!”
Taya ran outside and yelled, “Jade, wait! It’s okay!”
I used a paper towel to dry the coffee off myself as I stood in front of the sink and looked out the window just as Taya caught up to the woman and started talking.
She took the little boy, who I assumed was Ollie, and talked to the younger woman as she bent forward and rested her hands on her knees, obviously trying to catch her breath after such a scare.
By the time they came back inside, I had already cleaned the mess off the floor and picked up the meat I’d dropped and was limping toward the coffeepot to get all three of us a cup.
The adrenaline from the last few minutes had me wide awake, but I knew I’d need the coffee to keep me that way after getting so little sleep.
When Taya walked in carrying the boy, she came right over to me and smiled as she said, “I’d like you to meet Oliver.
Oliver, do you remember Chewbacca from the movie you like to watch with your dad?
” The boy nodded as he looked at me suspiciously, but then his eyes got wide with anticipation after Taya said, “This is my friend Chewie.”
I knew what Taya was hinting at, so I tipped my head back and did my best Chewbacca imitation before I smiled down at the boy who was staring at me in wonder. He squealed excitedly and then lunged toward me, so I took him out of Taya’s arms and set him on my hip.
“Instant bestie,” his mom said with a grin.
“Chewie, this is my daughter-in-law, Jade.”
“We met at the bookstore,” I reminded her as I extended my hand to shake hers.
“It’s nice to see you again, and I’m sorry I tried to melt you with my coffee.”
“She rarely runs into half-naked men in my kitchen when she comes to work,” Taya joked.
“I didn’t know we’d have company, so I didn’t think to get dressed,” I explained.
“Feel free to stay shirtless,” Jade said with a wide grin. Taya elbowed her, and Jade laughed before she said, “What? I’m married, not dead!”
“I made coffee. Have you guys eaten?”
“Not yet.”
I looked at Ollie and asked, “Wanna help me make breakfast while the women have their coffee?” The boy nodded, so I picked up a mug and handed it to Taya before I gave one to Jade and said, “We’ll just be over here.”
Jade’s eyebrows shot up, and a smile spread across her face before she looked at Taya and asked, “He likes kids?”
“They’re a little gamey but not too bad if you use enough ketchup,” I answered. Taya cackled, and Jade blushed before I said, “Go catch up, and I’ll call you when breakfast is ready.”
As the women walked out of the kitchen, I heard Jade ask, “Is he real, or am I having a very vivid dream?”
“Oh, he’s real.”
“If you rub his head, does he grant you a wish?”
“I don’t know about wishes, but when I rub lower, he grants me multiple orgasms.”
Jade giggled and said, “That’s even better!”
◆◆◆
As Taya pulled into my driveway, she asked, “Are you sure you want me to come over later?”
“Absolutely. Do you want to have dinner?”
“Not tonight. I’ve got a lot of stuff to catch up on with Jade, and I have to let the kids know I’m home so they can swing by if they want to check in.”
“I’m pretty sure that Jade’s gonna tell her husband what happened this morning.”
Taya chuckled before she said, “And I’m sure Blaine will tell Brandt, but I’ll need to talk to Brinnie before she finds out from them. She hates being the last person to know anything.”
“That makes sense. Samara is always up in my business. If she were home right now, she’d be watching us through the front window like she’s part of a neighborhood watchdog group.”
“Since no one’s watching, does that mean I get a goodbye kiss?”
“I’d kiss you even if everyone was watching,” I assured her as I leaned over the console and touched my lips to hers.
Her fingers ran through my hair, and I moved mine along her jaw to hold her in place as I devoured her mouth as if I wouldn’t see her again in just a few hours.
When I pulled away, we were both panting, so I asked, “Are you sure you can’t come in for a minute? ”
“You’re insatiable!”
“You started it in the shower this morning, and now I want to get you into my cave so I can dirty you up and take another shower with you.”
“Tomorrow morning. I promise. Right now, I’ve got to go to the grocery store and restock my fridge before I get some work done.”
“I’ve gotta do the same thing. I should probably call and let Ajax know I’m back and available.”
“He just calls when he gets something for you to do?”
“Yeah, and when I’m not working for him, I have a hobby that keeps me occupied and keeps the lights on.”
“What sort of hobby?”
“I’ll show you my workshop when you come back tonight.”
“Now I’m really curious. I can’t wait!”