Page 12 of Call It Serendipity

He snorts, but doesn’t try to defend it. Interesting.

“What does it mean to be vice president of community relations?” We are only a block from my house now, and he’s managed to keep me talking.

“It means that I get to negotiate partnerships once we’re developed and be the public face of the company.”

Objectively, it is a nice face. They should want to plaster it on everything.

We reach my home, and I hesitate at the end of my front walkway.

“This is me. But if you have time to finish this… chat⁠—”

He smiles. “All the time in the world.”

“I could spare a few minutes to sit out on the porch,” I explain, climbing my front steps and stopping at the top. He stays at the base of them, lifting only one boot up on the bottom tread. “Just because I love the feeling of being at the brink of fall.”

“Understood.”

Walking over to sit in one of the rocking chairs, I motion for him to join me. He doesn’t hesitate to do so.

When he settles in at my side, he says, “I’m guessing you’re a fan of the autumn season?”

“I am,” I confirm.

“What’s your favorite thing about it?”

I bite my lip, considering his question. “It just feels… comforting. That probably sounds crazy, a season making me feel that way.”

“Not at all,” he says seriously.

We don’t speak for a beat. The gentle shuffle of the rocking chairs against the wooden porch and the sound of a truck in the distance are the only noises permeating the silence. Normally, it takes far more than these few encounters to be so at ease with another person. But not with Jake, apparently.

With him, I’m not restless to hurry inside. To get home and close the door behind me and be alone once more.

“I hear autumn in New York City is magical,” I say. “What’s it like?”

“You know some about our company then? To know where the home office is?”

I shrug.

He smiles.

“I can’t say I ever really paid too close attention to it. But thinking back, you can feel the city slow down once autumn hits. As much as a place like that can.”

“Do you think you’ll miss it while you’re taking over our town?”

“I think I might miss having pizza delivered at one in the morning if I feel like it,” he says with an easy laugh. “What about you, have you always been a small-town girl?”

“Ellicottville born and raised, I even stayed here while commuting to campus in college.”

“Something related to animals?”

“Giving up on the matchmaker theory then?”

He drums his fingers on the arm of his chair, and I can’t help noticing how large his hands are. “I walked you to the animal shelter last week, so now I’m thinking you matched her with a four-legged companion.”

The corners of my mouth twitch on their own accord. “You’d be correct. But I actually went to art school.”

His eyebrows raise. “Art school? What’s your trade?”