AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So, are you going to stay here with me or something?” I ask
She glances around the tiny house. “Darlin’, I think if we were to both live in this little house, we’d kill each other. Heck, we both dang near killed each other living at home in that big ol’ farmhouse.”
I laugh. “Very true.”
“I figure I’ll just come over every day to make sure you’re doing okay. I can bring you food or take you to the doctor. Whatever you need.”
It sounds great in theory, but I know that my momma has never been all that good at being hands-off. So, I’m not holding my breath.
But the rest of our morning goes pretty smoothly. Momma helps me unpack while filling me in on all the drama going on in the small town of Grady.
It’s nice because it’s almost enough to make me forget that my life is in shambles.
Almost.
But when she leaves later in the afternoon, I’m all alone. And I’m not entirely sure how to handle that. Alone time is something I’ve never had an abundance of.
Even after my three brothers moved out, they were still always coming over—or their wives or kids were. Then, I went to college and had a roommate. Plus, I was surrounded by the girls on the team, or I was with Justin. I was never alone.
Now, though, the silence in this house is deafening.
Trying to drown out my thoughts, I flip on the TV and stream one of my favorite horror movies.
Grady is starting to look a whole lot like Fall. Autumn has always been my favorite time of year. The Smokey Mountains look beautiful, covered in all of the warm-colored trees.
And Halloween might just be my favorite holiday with Thanksgiving a close second.
I suddenly am bummed that I’m not going to be able to do much for Halloween. Back at college, I’d be going to all the parties and dressing up with all of my friends. Now, I’ll be stuck on my couch, watching scary movies at home.
My life has become very, very sad.
There’s a voice inside my head telling me that I should start planning my next step. It tells me maybe I should start thinking about my future. But the mere idea of that is daunting as hell.
So, I tell it to shut up and continue to watch TV.
Chapter Eight
Shane
Afew days later, I’m walking around the ranch trying to finish up all of my work for the day so that I can get out of here. I’ve got a date tonight that I want to have time to get ready for.
Her name is Anna, and I met her on that stupid dating app I’m on. I doubt she’s the one, but who knows. Maybe we’ll hit it off. She seems nice enough.
As I walk toward the west end of the ranch, something catches my eye. When I glance at the small guest house on the property, I see someone sitting on the back porch. All I can see from this far away is tan skin and a mess of blonde hair. I figure it must be Jenna. Taylor told me she was moving in.
I probably look like a total weirdo standing in the middle of this field, staring like an idiot. To make it a little less awkward, I decide to say hello.
As I get closer, I see that she’s scrolling on her phone, which tells me she probably didn’t notice me staring in the first place.
I think I can probably make a clean getaway without her even noticing me at all.
But then, she looks up, and we make eye contact.
Shit.
The confused look on her face tells me that she has no clue who the hell I am. It’s too late to turn back now, so I walk toward her once again, quickly closing the gap between us.
“Hey, Jenna,” I say when I’m close enough not to have to yell.
