Chapter 12 Olena #2
When the Faulkners finally close the door, Jude and I stand there looking at each other in stunned silence for a moment.
I’m dying to know what he’s thinking about Carol’s unexpected hugs—nevermind what she said.
We both break into grins at the same time before cracking up into hushed laughter, the tension of keeping it together in front of the Faulkners finally snapping. We turn from the house, still laughing.
As we make our way along the path, Jude lets out a long sigh. “Well, that was… interesting.” He raises an eyebrow and smoothes a hand over his beard.
“Right? Oh my God.” I look up at the sky and try to settle my nervous laughter, inhaling a steadying breath with my hand on my stomach.
“Tell me something…” Jude’s low voice stirs electricity in me again and goosebumps prickle over my arms, my demeanor suddenly more serious—on alert. “Why haven’t I worked with you before?”
His question takes me by surprise.
Watching my expression, he continues. “This is a pretty small town and we work in the same industry. So, where have you been hiding?” We reach the driveway and he hops onto the open tailgate of his truck, those intense green eyes locked on me.
I let out a breath and look out across the river at the mountains, as if a palatable answer will reveal itself there.
“Well, I grew up here,” I begin, weighing how to explain, glancing back at him.
“I went to college in Seattle and then ended up staying for a few years. Got my business started there. It seemed like the thing to do.” I smile at him, shrugging.
“I just moved back home recently.” I stop there, hoping that’s enough detail.
He furrows his brow slightly. “What brought you back here?”
My smile falters, not wanting to go into what really pushed me to move home.
When I don’t respond right away, he continues. “I mean, it must’ve been hard to leave after getting your business up and running in a big city.”
The universe sends me a lifeline when Jude’s phone rings. He gives me a regretful look and answers. I gather from his side of the conversation that Teddy’s not coming into work today, after all.
Jude hangs up.
I throw him a quizzical look.
“Well, it appears Teddy’s dentist gave him the good drugs for his procedure and he can’t drive. So we’re down one more person.” Jude ponders a moment, then curses softly under his breath, slipping his phone into his back pocket.
“Did you need him today?” I ask, noting his furrowed brow.
“Yeah, actually.”
“Well, I can stay to help.” The words come out before I realize what I’ve said.
Jude gives me an uncertain look, then smiles. “I’m not going to ask you to do that.”
Instead of backtracking, I double down. “What, you don’t think I can do manual labor?” I tease. “Come on, I’m up for some hard work.” My eyes challenge him to argue.
He smiles, lowering his eyes briefly before meeting my gaze and hopping down off the truck. “Okay, but… you’re gonna get dirty.”
Steph finds a hoodie in her car to lend to me. “Trust me, you’re not gonna want to get dirt all over your clothes,” she says with a knowing look.
I’m grateful for the heads up. I hadn’t thought about what I was wearing before impulsively offering to help.
I tie my hair up in a quick ponytail and she hands me a pair of work gloves.
I’m suddenly feeling out of my element. Why did I offer to do this again?
I think wistfully about being home in my cozy bedroom, working on the renderings in front of my laptop. They’ll have to wait until tomorrow.
A dump truck full of fresh, black soil beeps a warning as it backs down the driveway. At Jude’s direction, the driver unloads the dark earth onto a few tarps laid out on the grass.
Jude and Steph shovel the soil from the pile into two wheelbarrows for me and Dimitri to move over to various marked areas on the property.
Jude tells Dimitri to top up the soil along the garden beds around the house; he tells me to wheel my barrow over to the too far gone area, which Teddy had dug out on Monday.
When I return to the pile of soil after several trips with the wheelbarrow, I discover Jude and I are alone, Steph having moved on to help Dimitri with the garden beds.
Jude gives me a once-over. “How’re you doing so far?” he asks, leaning on the handle of the shovel.
“Oh, fine.” I’m breathing a little hard and can feel sweat trickling down my neck. “I just… I don’t normally do this much heavy lifting.” I sigh and smile at him bravely.
He tilts his head at me, smirking. “Must be hard being stuck behind your desk all day,” he teases as he plunges his shovel into the pile of dirt.
I nod. “It is brutal,” I deadpan, putting my gloved hands on my hips, my breathing slowing down.
“Sounds pretty rough.” He scoops a shovelful of soil and turns it into the wheelbarrow, the muscles of his tattooed forearms shining with a hint of sweat. “I bet your fingers cramp up from typing so much.”
“They really do,” I say, playing along innocently.
“You probably have to readjust your reading glasses from time to time too,” he continues, then adds sarcastically, “How do you manage it all?” He smirks as he lets another scoop of soil fall.
I smile sheepishly and lower my eyes, laughing softly. “I actually do have reading glasses.” I meet his gaze again and don’t look away.
Fire flashes in Jude’s eyes and he pauses his digging. His expression turns darker than before.
I smirk at him with a raised eyebrow. “What, you wanna see them?” I ask, openly flirting. It looks like some of Carol’s audacity has rubbed off on me, because I’m failing miserably at keeping this professional.
He blows out a hard breath, looking away from me. I catch a hint of a smile as he turns.
I grab Steph’s abandoned shovel and drive it into the pile of soil beside him. “Focus up, Jude. Back to work.”
I’m off the hook by mid-afternoon when Jude assures me he, Steph, and Dimitri can handle the rest of the day’s tasks.
He leans against the side of his truck. “Thanks again for your help. You really didn’t have to stay.”
The look on his face tells me he’s glad I did. I am too. “It was fun,” I reply honestly.
“Hey, listen, I should get your number.” Jude pulls off his work gloves and reaches into his back pocket for his phone.
What?
“My—uh, you want my number?” I ask uneasily, not knowing how to respond.
Is he asking me out? I know we’ve been flirting a bit, but…
“Uh, yeah,” he says slowly. “I mean, I gave you my business card, but I didn’t get yours.” He’s looking at me with an unreadable expression.
My eyes widen as I realize what he means. Oh my God. For work, you jackass. He needs your number so he can contact you for work.
“Oh! Of course! Yes!” I’m stumbling over how to minimize the way I epically misread his intentions. I busy myself digging for my phone in the abyss that is my purse, taking longer than necessary to find it.
We go through the motions of saving each other’s numbers while I internally eviscerate myself for misunderstanding the situation so badly. I thought we were past the part where I make a fool of myself. I don’t know what to say as he fixes his eyes on me intently.
He looks like he wants to say something but then changes his mind. “Will I see you here tomorrow?” he asks instead.
“Um, yes, actually.” I tuck a wisp of hair behind my ear. “I’ll be putting an initial order in with the nursery when I get home and I’ll be coming back here to direct the delivery. Probably late morning?”
He nods.
“Oh, speaking of which, did you hear about the oak tree? Do we get to keep it, or what?”
“Yeah, the arborist gave us the all clear; just the branch removal for now.” He smiles.
“That’s great news; it’s a beautiful old tree,” I say, glancing over to where it stands near the house.
“Agreed.” He pauses and looks at me for a moment. “Hey, and Mitch is still off tomorrow so, if you feel like pitching in again, I won’t say no.” He gives me a half-smile.
I let his implied invitation hang between us for a moment, his eyes searching mine for an answer. “Sounds like a plan,” I say.