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“I found the win-win. I was patient. Looked for what the customer needed but wasn’t asking for and gave it to them.”
“Luc, I think women are the same. Find the thing they need and give it to them. Love, sex, commitment, stability, whatever. You can do this. Get your ass back here and prove it.”
“I’m working on it.”
I hung up and stared out the window. Could paying attention to what she needed and then giving it to her or helping her find it for herself be really all I had to do? I could do that. If that was making a relationship work with the right girl, then I could totally make a relationship work with Jo. I called Jo, and it went straight to voicemail, so I started packing.
It was a good thing I didn’t have much to pack because the meeting with the realtor took longer than I expected. The few boxes and clothes I planned to take with me tomorrow to Perry Harbor were already by the door. I’d finish my sushi takeout and go to bed. Jet lag was a real bitch. The upside was I’d get on the road early tomorrow.
Finn:Hey bro, you need to work harder.
I popped the last piece of toro, fatty tuna, into my mouth and texted back.
Me:What are you talking about?
Finn:Jo called Mom today and told her she couldn’t do the farm meal next week because she had a job interview in Nashville.
Me:What?
Finn:That’s what she told Mom.
Me:Shit. I’ll be there first thing in the morning.
I had to talk to her. She couldn’t take a job in Nashville. There was still too much to say. I loved her, and she needed to at least know that before she made decisions that affected us both. I called her again. No luck. Why the hell wasn’t she answering her phone?
42
JO
I was a glutton for pain.I scrolled through my phone, rereading the old flirty texts from Lucas. Even with the heartbreak, his humor and confidence still gave me tingles in all the right places. Or wrong ones considering I was on my way to Nashville for a job interview and time to regroup on my life.
“Ma’am, please put your phone in airplane mode. We’re getting ready for takeoff.”
“Sure, sorry.” I made the switch and slipped it into the seat pocket. I was taking the direct evening flight from SeaTac to Nashville, and it would be midnight in Tennessee when I landed. I’d give myself a break from my phone until the morning. It only reminded me that I hadn’t called Lucas like he asked me to this morning. I wasn’t trying to blow him off. I needed one more day to figure out what I would say to him. The past five days hadn’t resulted in the right words. I had no idea why I thought one more day would help, but that’s what I told myself.
I rested my head back, lost in thought, as the plane climbed into the sky. I tried to read a book on my Kindle, but I couldn’t. Memories of all my career plans and my dreams of standing on my own were interrupted by images of Lucas and how he made me feel, in and out of bed.
Lucas. If this job worked out, I’d come back to pack, and I’d probably have to sell my SUV. A cross-country drive alone wasn’t a good idea in my state of mind. The thought of losing that car made my heart ache more.
How did I get here? I left home almost ten years ago to take control of my life and find success all on my own, and now I was heading right back to where I started.
The airplane cabin grew dark as we jetted away from the setting sun. I closed my eyes and let sleep take me. One day at a time. One foot in front of the other. Like every other time I’d had to make a new plan.
“Excuse me.It’s time to go.” I glanced up to see a woman I didn’t know. “The plane landed,” she said. The plane? What plane? Oh, wait. I was on a plane.
I shook my head and grabbed my backpack from under the seat. I stood like a zombie at baggage claim and then lugged my suitcase out to the arrivals area to find my daddy’s silver truck waiting for me.
“Hey Sammy girl, how was your flight?” My father wrapped me in a big hug, the familiar smell of sweat and hard work making me smile. Drummond Patree may be a retired electrician, but the farm still had work for him. He was always happiest when he was cutting the tallgrass with the ancient bush hog attached to the tractor or tinkering with the chicken coop.
“I’m fine, Daddy. Thanks for coming to get me so late.”
“It’s no problem. Not much traffic this time ’a night. We’re glad to have you home.”
The miles hummed by with the smell of hot concrete cooling in the night air and the sound of crickets audible through the open windows. Early summer in the south.
My phone! The sick feeling washed over me. I never grabbed it out of the seat pocket.
“What’s wrong, Sammy girl.”
