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I say goodbye to Travis, heading out the garage door to climb in my truck. Minutes later, I’m pulling onto Ridgewood Drive, scanning the house numbers for hers. When I spot 1407, I swing my truck into the driveway.
It’s a cute house. A small, gray, rambler style with a large front window, where I can see a cat perched on the back of the couch, scanning the outside world. There’s a long flower box below the four pane window, filled with blooming, colorful flowers. Not that I would expect anything less from a florist.
I shift the truck into park, and turn the key. After I hop out, I smooth my shirt a bit, not wanting to appear a rumpled mess. Quickly running a hand through my curly hair, I try to make sure it stays out of my eyes. I should really get a cut, but every time I go, they always cut it too short, or the curls lay wrong for a month afterwards.
Striding up to her front door, I shove one hand into my pocket, the other, ready to knock on the front door. I knock a few times, and see the cat scurry off the back of the couch into another room.
Chuckling under my breath, I can’t help but imagine what Travis would think of a cat. He hasn’t really been around one before, so that might be interesting if they were to meet.
Jeez, am I really that confident about her that I’m thinking about the potential of introducing our pets to each other? A year ago, a thought like that would’ve sent me into a tailspin of erratic thoughts, but now? I’m ready for something steady. A feeling of contentment washes over me.
“Andrew,” Josie’s soft voice calls from somewhere beside me. I turn my head to the left, to see her peeking out the garage door. “That door is broken, come here.” She waves me over, so I step down the few steps, my feet crunching over the rock pathway. Like earlier, she has light makeup on that highlights the blue of her eyes.
Her strawberry hair is twisted on the sides, flowing into a low bun at the base of her neck. Soft spiral tendrils of hair frame her face, and her lips are painted a light pink hue. She looks so natural, effortless. She’s wearing a different outfit than earlier, no doubt the other one is in the wash. She has on a pair of light denim jeans, a black shirt tucked into the high waisted pants, with a soft cream colored cardigan over it. It’s simple, yet she looks amazing. The way her jeans settle right at the curve of her hips, flowing perfectly with her body.
“You look amazing, Josie,” I say honestly, holding myself back from taking her lips in a bruising kiss.
Her freckled cheeks flush ever so slightly. “Thanks, it’s not much, but I figured I would change if I needed to once I asked what we were doing.”
“You’re perfect.”
The door opens wider, Josie taking a step back for me to step into the garage. An overwhelming floral smell hits my senses, but not in a bad way. It’s soothing, refreshing. I realize then that my hands are empty. Fucking hell, why didn’t I get her flowers or some fancy shit? God, I really am the worst date, no wonder I’m single.
“I just realized I should have brought you some flowers or chocolate or something,” I murmur, reaching down to take her hand. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t thoughtful of me.”
She only smiles, her cheeks pinkening slightly. “Andrew, take a look around you, I have plenty of flowers. You being here is all I need.”
I look around me, realizing that she is, in fact, right about the flowers. “Ha,” I chuckle. “Good point.” On a second glance around the room, I take in her setup. Her “workstation” if you could call it that, is two sawhorses with a piece of plywood laying on top. Various tools are scattered all over it, and my brow furrows.
“Is this where the magic happens?” I ask, trying my hardest to keep any sort of worry or concern from my voice at her workstation. She deserves something more than a piece of plywood. I smooth my hands over the rough surface, then look at her. She glances at me, her blue eyes wary.
“I know it’s not much, but it’s all I can afford at the moment. Someday, I want to have a storefront so I don’t have to work out of my garage.”
I nod along, glancing at the piece of wood, trying to gauge the dimensions. “That would be amazing. Would you have the store downtown?”
Josie shrugs. “I think so. I feel like foot traffic would be best there. I just have to save enough money to afford the lease and the move.”
“You’ll get there,” I say, reaching down to clasp her hand in mine. I give it a gentle squeeze, proud of her for what she’s already accomplished in a short time. “Do you have more weddings coming up?”
“Not at the moment. I’m still waitressing at a diner in town, and this is the side gig at the moment. Although one of the funeral homes has been giving me a lot of clientele, so I might be cutting my hours soon. How morbid is that?” she chuckles softly. “The more people die, the more clients I might get.”
I chuckle lightly. “Could be worse, you could be working at the funeral home, where your whole wellbeing is people dying.”
She visibly shudders, her mouth quirking into a grin. “Yeah, that’s… wow. I’ve never thought of it like that before.”
“Kinda fucked, huh?”
“You can say that again.”
I give her palm another gentle squeeze, and reluctantly let go of her hand.
“I really don’t need to change? What do you have planned?” Josie asks.
“To be completely honest, I don’t have anything planned. I got as far as getting here, and then I couldn’t think past that.”
“Hmmm,” she murmurs, tapping her pointer finger to her pink shaded lips. What I’d give to kiss those lips again, maybe bite down on that plump bottom lip. “To be honest, I don’t know much about this town. I should, since I’ve lived here for a while now, but I guess I don’t get out much. Is there a place where you always go with friends?”
I raise one of my shoulders, and run my hand through my hair while I think. Sure, we could go to the small bar one of my high school buddies owns, but it usually get’s pretty crowded and loud in there. I want to be able to hear her while we chat. A movie is out, because we wouldn’t have any time to talk, and I’d spend the whole time trying not to make out with her like a teenager on his first date. And I’m definitely not going to be taking her to Jason’s brewery. Even if he weren’t working tonight, his staff would definitely be sure to pass along that I had taken a date there.
