Chapter 14 She’s a Ten
Chapter fourteen
She's a Ten
Beau
Working with Jo hasn’t been nearly as awful as I imagined in my head.
Okay, so it’s only been half a day, and she and I haven’t had much contact at all.
But still.
I worried that having Jo here would change how I feel about this place. I thought maybe I’d feel differently about my job and no longer enjoy my time here.
That’s not the case, though. While I don’t particularly like seeing her, we are doing a decent job at staying out of each other’s way. I’ve been out in the bay while she’s been working in Jack’s office.
We ate lunch together, but with half a dozen other people, there were plenty of buffers. When Jamie asked if she had a boyfriend, I didn’t stick around to hear the answer. I don’t need to know.
The only words we’ve spoken have been when I told her cigarettes were bad for her. I was saying it really just to be a smartass, but of course, Jo snapped back.
She’s always been quick with the wit.
But to answer her question, no, I don’t care. At least I shouldn’t care.
Some habits are hard to break.
I go back to work and manage to fully immerse myself in what I’m doing.
I don’t come up for air until I walk into the break room to grab a soda.
As I pass Jack’s office, I have to stop and do a double take. I move a few steps back to get a better look.
Peering through the glass, I see Jo. She’s crouched in the middle of the floor. She holds a highlighter in her hand and has a pen tucked behind her ear. Her hair is piled on top of her head in a messy bun.
That’s Jo.
Growing up, Jo got a bad rap because she had a huge wild streak.
People tended to think she was some sort of hellion.
Maybe that was partially true, but she also was the most passionate person I’ve ever met.
When she would get into something, she’d pour her entire soul into it.
She had two speeds, and when she went from zero to one hundred, there was no stopping her.
She went straight from neutral to fifth gear, not slowing down in between.
Maybe now, she’ll use her powers for good to help Jack with the shop.
I’m startled when a voice speaks behind me.
“Man, she’s a fucking ten isn’t she?”
I turn my head to see Jamie. He’s also looking at Jo but in a far different way than I am. He’s looking at her like he’s picturing her naked.
“She’s alright,” I mumble, determined to deny how attractive I thinks she really is.
“I heard you two used to be friends.”
“Something like that.”
“You ever take a ride on that?”
My head snaps toward him. “No!”
“Sorry, man, I had to ask. I bet that woman is one hell of a lay.”
Have I thought about Jo in that way? Sure. I was in love with her. Of course, I pictured us together like that, but I’ve never been one to talk about women like that behind their back.
And I’d sure as shit never do it to Jo.
First of all, if she would have ever found out, she would have kicked my ass seven ways to Sunday.
And second, well, she’s just…Jo.
I almost forget that Jamie is standing next to me until I see him practically drooling through the window.
“You better get out of here before I tell Dylan,” I tell him.
He scoffs and calls me a narc, but ends up stomping away. Also not wanting to get caught looking by any of the Lawson clan, I do the same.
The rest of the day passes without any more run-ins with Jo. She stays in the office, working on things for Jack while I finish up the car I’ve been fixing. It’s all very uneventful, and that’s just the way I like it.
After work, I head over to my mom’s because she said she needed help getting some boxes down out of the attic. I figure if I hurry up and get it done, I can head home and rot in front of a computer screen for a few hours before bed.
Christie asked me if I wanted to get together tonight, but I’m just not in the mood. I’m tired and just want to spend time with no one else but my dog.
But first, I’ll help Mom. It’s not like she has anyone else to help her do it.
When I walk through her front door, I catch a glimpse of her in the hallway and see that she’s up on the ladder leading into the attic.
“Mom,” I say loud enough for her to hear but hopefully not loud enough to startle her and make her fall.
“Beau?”
“Yeah, it’s me. What are you doing up there? I told you I was coming over after work.”
“What?” She asks, her head still poked through the attic access.
I repeat myself but just get another “What?”
A little louder this time, I say, “Why don’t you come down here, so you can hear me better?”
Slowly, she climbs down the ladder, and I watch intently in case I have to grab her.
“Mom, what are you doing? You could’ve seriously hurt yourself.”
“Oh, pfft.” She waves me off. “I’m fine.”
“Remember last year when you twisted your ankle simply stepping off the front porch?”
“Number one, that step is huge,” she says while pointing her finger at me.
“And number two?”
“I wasn’t actually going to attempt to bring anything down. I was looking at what all was up there to have you bring them down from the attic.”
“Yeah, sure,” I joke. “Tell me what I am grabbing.”
I spend the next fifteen minutes bringing down everything she asked for.
When I’m finished, I follow her into the kitchen.
She hands me a bottle of water before we sit down.
“Mom, you know I never mind coming over to help you out with stuff, but do you want to tell me why I’m bringing down Christmas decorations when it’s not even Halloween?”
Her eyes avoid mine while she picks at her fingernails.
“Mom?” I prompt.
“I think I’m going to go through all of it.” She pauses a moment. “Maybe it’s time to get rid of some.”
I’m a little lost for words because this is extremely out of character for my mother.
“Mom, what’s going on? You love Christmas. It’s your favorite time of year, and you always go all out.”
“Honey, it was my favorite time of year. Now, it’s just hard without your dad and brother.”
Okay, now we are getting somewhere.
“Mom, I know you miss them. We all do, but I want you to think about what either one of them would say if you told them you were going to give up all of your Christmas festivities?”
A small smile pulls at her lips. “Well, your dad would listen to me talk about it for a while and then talk me down off the ledge like he always did. And Brian probably would’ve waited until I left the house and then decorated the whole thing for me to come home to.”
“And knowing how anal you are about those decorations, you’d redo every last one of them, and by the time you finished, you’d be back in the Christmas spirit.”
She laughs while thinking about it. “Lord, I miss them.”
“Me too. But not that long ago, you told me I couldn’t stop living my life. They wouldn’t want us to.”
“I know.” She nods. “It just hardly seems worth it to go all out for just the two of us.”
I gasp and do my best to act offended. “Oh, it’s totally going to be worth it.”
“How so?”
“Because I don’t care if I have to come over here every single day to celebrate with you. We’ll bake cookies and watch Christmas movies. We’ll do all of it. I’ll make sure you’re in the Christmas spirit.”
She cracks a small smile. “Oh, is that right?”
“Damn straight.”
She still doesn’t look entirely convinced, so I add, “Just think about it, okay? For now, we’ll leave all the boxes down here. Maybe if you start going through them, it’ll make you feel a bit more festive.”
After another pregnant pause, she says, “Okay. We’ll leave them be for now.”