Chapter 4
By the end of the weekend, we’d settled into a routine.
I make breakfast, Jade makes lunch, and we kind of did our own thing for dinner.
We wrapped up the office on Saturday afternoon and finished up the two hallway closets on Sunday.
Unfortunately, there had been a ton of stuff in the storage closets that took us hours to sort through.
Jana had told me her mom was an art collector, and I guess I assumed incorrectly when I thought that just meant wall art.
The storage closets alone had hundreds of wrapped figurines, trinkets, and statues that would all need to be appraised.
After my shower on Sunday night, I snuck down to the kitchen to grab a late-night snack. It felt like I was being spoiled having access to a filled kitchen like this. I’d intentionally left my kitchen bare so that I wouldn’t give in to my cravings. But when in Rome…
Jade sat at the bar with a glass of wine and a book in front of her.
She was back in that oversized band tee she wore to sleep in, with her hair in a high messy bun.
My face heated as I took her in. She made me feel nervous, as if I were under a microscope.
But she also made me feel warm, like butterflies in my stomach type of warm.
Before I could analyze my thoughts, she turned to face me.
Her plump pink lips tipped in a smile that I returned quickly.
“What are you reading?” I asked, making my way over to the pantry.
“It’s a book I enjoyed growing up. I found it in one of the storage closets we looked through today.
” She blushed, and it was charming to see her like that.
Embarrassed to be caught reliving her childhood memories as if that was a crime or something.
Before I could comment on that, she spoke again.
“Would you like a glass of wine?” That sounded good.
Plus, a midnight snack always tasted better once you were a little tipsy.
“Sure.” I gave her another smile, which she returned. “So, are you off work for the next couple of weeks?” I asked while she poured me a glass of Chardonnay. I leaned back against the counter across from the bar and thanked her when she handed me my wine.
“Yeah, I have my schedule blocked off.”
“Your schedule?” I asked, wondering what she did.
“I’m a tattoo artist. I have a shop in Riley that I own with my friend Gabriel.”
That statement reminded me to reexamine her tattoos.
My eyes fell on her arm as I tried to make sense of them.
I saw what looked like a broken clock with an arrow flying through it on her upper arm, and a beautiful angel with a broken wing on her lower arm.
It had black feathers falling from its left wing down her hand, and a broken halo tangled in its blood-red hair.
“How long have you been tattooing?” I asked, not trusting myself not to fawn over her tattoos with my words. She didn’t need me to boost her ego.
“I interned for a few years after high school. Gabriel helped me get hired where he was working when I was twenty-two. We opened our own shop, Canvas, last year.”
“And how old are you now?” I asked, unable to remember how much older she was than Jana and me.
“I’m thirty, and you’re twenty-seven?”
“Twenty-eight, just a few months older than your sister.” She nodded, taking a sip of her wine.
“What about you? How’d you get off work?”
“Oh, I didn’t. I work remotely, though, so I brought my stuff with me. I can help between meetings and then once I get off at five.” That was another thing Jana was supposed to mention to Jade that she clearly didn’t.
“What do you do?” she asked, seeming genuinely curious.
“I process insurance claims,” I said with a giggle. “Nothing nearly as exciting as your job and not something I ever saw myself doing. My degree is in marketing, but here we are.”
“You don’t like it then?” I sighed, considering my response.
“It’s not an awful job, but it’s also not rewarding.
When I was young, I just knew I’d do something that would change the world and all that jazz.
I’d thought about being a journalist or a reporter, but I kind of settled into something easier.
” Saying it all out loud sounded depressing.
I’d usually give a cheerier answer, but it felt like Jade would have seen through the bullshit and made me speak my mind.
“Makes sense. Mine’s not always fun either. I like to be creative and come up with my own interpretive designs, but most people want commercial-type stuff. There’s not as much room for creativity as you may think.”
I nodded, trying not to gulp down my wine too quickly.
I wasn’t sure if I was trying to prolong the conversation or just not overdo it the night before a workday.
As direct as Jade had been, she wasn’t un-fun to be around.
She was growing on me the more I talked to her.
I’m sure Jana would have some thoughts about that, but I need to be friends with her to live here, so Jana will just have to deal.
The next morning, I decided I could still make breakfast for Jade and me.
She’d be putting in more work today than I could help with, so the least I could do was take care of this for her.
It was also nice to have someone to cook for, someone who seemed to enjoy my cooking.
My laptop sat on the counter beside me as I made two omelets and then buttered some toast.
Typing an email to my boss regarding a difficult claim I’d been working on, I heard Jade enter the room. It had been about an hour since I’d finished breakfast, but I’d foil-wrapped her food and placed it in the microwave to preserve the heat.
“Good morning.” It was my authentic voice that left my throat and not that fake, overly cheerful tone. It was Monday morning after all, and I was in no mood to be fake. “I made breakfast for you; it’s in the microwave.”
“You’ve been spoiling me, princess.” That pet name pulled all kinds of emotions out of me. She’d explained why she’d called me that, but it was followed up by her declaration that she found me adorable. My cheeks flushed, and I hid behind my laptop to hide them from her.
“I just felt bad that I can’t help you as much today. But I’ll still try too as often as I can.” That pulled a smirk to her lips as she made her way over to the dining table I was sitting at. Sitting her plate and coffee down, she pulled out the seat across from me.
“No worries, Libby, I promise I won’t hold it against you.” She winked at me, and it took all my strength not to crawl under the table and hide.
God, I’d never felt so flustered in front of someone before. She had a way of making everything so intense with those eyes of hers. Clearing my throat, I tried to focus back on my email.
“Yellow is a pretty color on you,” Jade commented, referencing my blouse. Looking up at her, she gave me an innocent smile; one that said she was being genuine.
“Oh, thank you,” I replied, unsure what else to say. She looked pretty in everything she wore, but I would not be bringing that up.
“Welcome. I’m going to start in the guest room down here today. Feel free to join me whenever you have time.”
“Of course, in fact, here in a few minutes I should be able to slip away.” She nodded, slowly chewing her breakfast. Taking a sip of my coffee, I looked back up at her and noticed she was still staring at me. “Um, everything okay?” I asked.
Instead of responding, she smirked and stood from the table, carrying her plate and coffee cup with her.
I’d thought the guest room would be easy, and boy was I wrong.
The closet was once again filled to the brim with clutter, clothes, art pieces, and various junk.
Jade and I sat across from each other on the floor, legs crisscrossed, looking through bags of bubble-wrapped items. It was unfortunate that we couldn’t simply leave them packed like this.
But because all the valuables were to be split up evenly, everything needed to be inspected.
“I’m about ready to call it a day on this,” Jade said with a sigh, standing up from the floor and stretching her arms out above her head.
“I can keep sorting. I know you were in here way longer than me today.” Jade shook her head at me and reached out a hand in my direction.
“You worked all day today, probably harder than me. Come on, let’s go rest for a bit.”
I accepted her outstretched hand, noticing the soft, warm skin that pressed gently against mine.
She pulled me up easily, which wasn’t what I expected.
She was a few inches taller than me, but I was definitely still heavier built than she was.
Releasing my hand slowly, she made her way out of the room.
Following her, we both took a seat in the living room, and I let out a contented moan to be sitting on something that wasn’t the hardwood floor.
“Hungry?” she asked after a few minutes, and I nodded lazily in response.
I was worn out, to be honest. Every free moment I’d had today, I’d run to help Jade, not wanting to make her feel like I wasn’t doing my part.
“Want to go out and get something? I don’t feel like cooking, and you need a break from it too.
” She wasn’t wrong. I did not feel like cooking, and I kind of wanted to skip dinner altogether and just hit the hay.
“That sounds good, but is there anything around here to eat though?” She snickered at my comment before replying.
“So, we don’t have very many options, but there’s a Mexican restaurant in town, or we can ride over to that diner by Starks College.” I was very familiar with that diner, and while I enjoyed going there during my school days, I think I’d eaten enough of it to last a lifetime.
“Mexican works,” I replied, standing back up way too soon.
"Can you drive? I think I may fall asleep at the wheel." Laughing at her words, I nodded. "Uh, I could just kiss you, Libby." I quickly fled the room to grab my purse and hide my burning cheeks.