Chapter 4
Jesse
The shower felt good, even though I noticed her shower head was oddly held up by a weird makeshift wire ring.
I knew we could do better than that, so I made a mental note to add it to the list of things to fix.
The list was getting longer, but spending time with Laida was worth it.
She’s beautiful and sweet, with a sassy sense of humor. The thought brought a smile to my face.
I swore off dating after what happened with Mikaila.
I walked in on her and Jacob screwing at the firehouse.
Yeah, I got Jacob a job at the firehouse and he repaid me by fucking my girlfriend on the back of my truck.
Turns out, he thought that when he was assigned to clean the truck, he’d be the only one out there.
And Mikaila… I still don’t know what to say about her.
That one hurt. She and I had been together for two years.
That’s a long time to invest in someone only to have them fuck you over. So, I completely closed myself off.
I rinsed the last of the soap down the drain and shut off the faucet.
When I reached for my towel, I realized I never grabbed one.
Peeking around the curtain, I didn’t see a closet or anything.
Not awkward at all, I thought to myself.
“Laida!” I yelled loudly hoping she would hear me from downstairs.
A few moments later, after rooting for certain drops of water in a race down the shower liner, I heard, “Jesse? Did you call me?”
“Yeah! I don’t have a towel, and I don’t see where a closet where you keep them.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I don’t have a towel closet in there, yet.
They’re in my bedroom closet until I figure something out.
Hang on.” Standing behind the shower curtain, I smiled, thinking, just another thing to add to the list. “Here you go,” she said, handing me a pink towel through the gap in the curtain.
“Pink. Excellent. This color really brings out my eyes.”
I could hear a small giggle as the bathroom door closed. It was pretty and cute. I scolded myself, no, Jesse. A crush is the last thing you need. When I opened the bathroom door, I noticed the scent of something delicious cooking. The noises in my stomach reminded me that I was famished.
I got dressed in Laida’s room. It was plainly decorated, and I was sure she was saving it for last to spruce up. Making my way downstairs, I asked, “What’s that incredible smell? I’m so hungry.”
Beaming, she said, “Steaks!!!! We deserve it after all the work today.”
“I’ll second that.”
We sat together and ate, which was a welcome change of pace from eating alone, something I did most nights. “So…tell me about yourself, Laida.”
She took a bite, shrugged, and asked, “What do you want to know?”
“What was your life like before Whispering Pines? I mean, I know the farm brought you back here, but did you leave anyone behind? A boyfriend, friends, job?” She finished chewing and then stood and grabbed a bottle of red wine from the cabinet and two glasses. “Oh, this requires wine, huh?”
She grinned as she filled our glasses. “This definitely requires wine.” After she took a long sip, she said, “No job. My apothecary is my job. It took a long time for me to get to a point where I could rely on it full time. Between my website, social media, and Etsy, she’s thriving.
I need to restock soon, which is why I’ve been working around the clock to get this place up to speed.
But my plants are thriving and they’ll be ready for another batch of harvesting soon. Same with the flowers.”
She took another drink as I sat quietly, attentively, listening to her as she took her time getting to the part that I was most curious about.
“I have friends, but we’re all scattered and we mean to group call, but life is busy.
We’re experts at sending reels and memes though.
At least I know they are doing good.” She took another bite of her steak and another drink of wine.
“I’m not close with my mother. We just never agreed on the right path for me, and she’s too judgmental about that. Aaaand I had a boyfriend once.”
“Once…?”
“Well, I mean, I’ve had boyfriends. I was in a relationship with someone for almost two years.
It was honestly a waste of time. He was incredibly self-absorbed.
We always did what he wanted but never asked what I wanted to do.
He never offered to help with anything. He never showed an ounce of interest in my work.
I was second, sometimes third, to his life and the things he had going on and I just couldn’t do it anymore.
He acted like he was shocked when I told him I was moving and we were over, and when I broke it down to him, he acted offended.
‘I care about what you do.’ I asked him to tell me one thing I made in my shop, and he couldn’t name a single thing. "
Asshole, I thought. I’m glad she dumped him.
“It all happened when I found out I was given the farm. The timing was incredible. So, I told him we were done and I vowed that I wouldn’t be second in someone’s life ever again.
If I’m going to be with someone, I need them to care.
I need them to show interest in what I have going on, and I don’t want any drama.
Basically, fill my bucket the same way I fill theirs.
That goes for anything in life. You can’t pour from an empty cup, and there are people who will just take and never refill. ”
After she finished, I soaked up everything she said like a sponge. She was right. “You’re right. Are you happy since moving here? Do you have any regrets?”
She nodded again, “I’m happy. At first, I wasn’t.
I’m still dealing with a lot of emotions around my grandparents’ death.
Things I should’ve done and said. I should’ve visited more.
I could’ve been around more for them, ya know.
Seeing how rundown everything was when I arrived…
made me regret not doing more.” I could see that she was beating herself up inside and needed some encouragement.
“I think you’re doing an amazing job. We all have little regrets in our lives, but it’s what we do with the present and future that helps us deal with those past regrets, right?”
She perked up and agreed. “I like that, and I have you to thank for helping me! I can really feel this place coming back to life.”
I raised my glass, “To the present and the future…”
She clinked her glass with mine, “To the present and the future...”
Yeah, I was falling for her. Big time.
***
Helping her clean up, we polished off the bottle of wine, and I was feeling the buzz. “Let’s go out on the porch,” I said to her.
It was a cool June evening. Evenings like that were a rarity in Whispering Pines and I loved being outside when we were lucky enough to have them. The sky was colorful, like a rainbow, painted sideways.
“She’s so beautiful,” Laida said as she stared out at the sunset.
“Yeah, she is…” But I was staring at Laida. She finally turned, noticed me, blushed, and tilted her gaze down.
“Oh no… don’t make me blush. It’s embarrassing. The wine is wine-ing so extra right now,” she said with a giggle.
I moved toward her. “You blush the same color as the sunset.” She peeked up at me, through long eyelashes, until I found myself bringing my hand up to her cheek.
“It’s beautiful.” I leaned down slowly and she didn’t pull away, so I sealed my lips over hers, softly at first. When she didn’t pull back, I deepened the kiss, moving my tongue to taste her.
Her lips were so soft, just like everything else about her.
I wrapped my arm around her waist, bringing her into me.
She tasted like the wine we’d been drinking.
She let out a small moan before pulling back. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I think we drank too much. If you need to lay on the couch for a while, you can.”
Hesitantly, I took a step back. I didn’t want to scare her. “Yeah, I just need to down a bottle of water and sit for an hour or so before I’m good to drive home.”
She kept peeking at me and then looking back down. “I’m going to head up to bed. Will you lock up before you leave?”
“Of course. Thanks for dinner, Laida.”
“G’night, Firefighter.” Thankfully, she was still flirting with her eyes and blushing.
After I watched her disappear inside the house, I turned around to watch the last glimpse of sunset and played the kiss on loop in my head.
I didn’t know whether I made a mistake and things would be different, but I did know that I was going to dream about that kiss over and over until she was mine.