“Ok, don’t worry about it. I’ll work on it. I also noticed a corner of the fencing out back that has a hole. I’ll get that fixed up too.”
We stood staring at each other for a moment. “Thank you, Jesse. You know, you’re not so bad to have around after all.”
He chuckled and teased, “Well, you aren’t such a brat after all.”
I feigned shock and said, “A BRAT!!! Me?? Never.”
***
Jesse and I worked well together and our personalities complemented each other. At first, I didn’t want him around, and then I did, and I was finding little reasons to keep him coming back, fixing this or that. Before I knew it, it had been a month and he’d fixed the barn doors, the attic door, helped me clean up around the property, and started working on the front porch.
The attic was far worse than either of us expected. When he got the door open and went upstairs, it was a mess. There wasmouse crap everywhere, and only God knows what kind of other rodents had taken up residence. The biggest shock of all was the hive of bees at one of the vents leading outside. He didn’t mess with that, and neither did I. In fact, I didn’t go up there at all. Jesse is a blessing because he cleaned up the entire attic once the professionals took the bees away. He also laid traps to keep any rodents out and sealed up any holes.
It was June and everything was in full bloom. Summer was acting like summer and scorching everything, including us. I walked out onto the porch where he was working on the bannisters. “Jesse, I made us some tea.”
“Oh, that’s perfect. Thank you.”
“How’s this thing coming? Is it giving you a tough time?” He’d been working so hard at it.
Smiling, he said, “No, it’s coming along just fine. I just want to make sure I only need to cut this wood once and not waste any of it on mistakes. I’d say I’ve got about another week of work on this, but it’s going to look gorgeous after it’s painted. I figured I’d go ahead and repaint the entire porch, so it matches.”
“Oh my god, you don’t have to do that. You’ve done so much for me already.”
He waved me off as he took another drink of his iced tea. “No, it’s fine. It’s going to look incredible.”
“Thank you, Jesse. Would you like to stay for supper?”
“Actually, that sounds great. Can I shower here? I always keep a change of clothes in the truck.”
“Of course!”
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 closetor 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.”
