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“Sounds good.”
Fifteen minutes later, we arrive back at his house. Once we are inside, he grabs us a couple of water bottles, and we sit out front on the large porch swing.
“Alright, cowboy, spill it,” I say, giving him a cheesy smile.
He takes the baseball cap off his head and shakes out his waves before pushing them away from his forehead. I look into his eyes, and when we are outside, they look even more crystal blue than usual. I keep getting lost in them, and each time, I find myself more and more hesitant to come back to reality.
His large sigh echoes between us before he begins to speak. “Nicole and I started dating right after high school. She was a sweet, Southern girl that every momma wants for her son. We were good together, but something was missing.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m honestly not sure. Passion, maybe? It’s like we should have been the perfect match, but we just weren’t. Sure, we got along fine, great even. But there were no sparks. And it’s not fun to be with someone who agrees with you constantly. I wanted someone who would challenge me. Someone who I could love so fiercely that it was like life and death. We lacked that.”
As he talks about his former lover, an unexpected twang of jealousy stabs through my gut. I have no idea why. Jonas Mitchell isn’t my boyfriend or anything of the sort. Why the hell do I care who he was with in the past?
Pulling me from my thoughts, he continues, “We kept it going for a while. We even started planning a wedding. Everyone in town kept telling us how perfect we were together. We thought maybe we just needed to give it more time, and everything would click. It never did. Before we both went through with a decision that would be extremely hard to undo, I called it off.”
“How long ago was that?” I ask.
“We broke up five or six years ago.”
“Five or six years? Then, why the hell are people still worried about it? Why do they care?”
“Not everyone cares. Unfortunately, a couple of the people you met seem to think they have a personal stake in the matter. Brenda Jenkins happens to be Nicole’s aunt, and Arlene is her best friend.
“Ah.” Now, it’s starting to make sense.
“Yeah. The funny thing is that Nicole and I are still good friends. There were no hard feelings between the two of us. We both understood that we were just better as friends and nothing more.”
“So, if you’re over it, and Nicole is over it, why do other people care?”
He shrugs. “Honestly, I think a lot of it is the fact that when Nicole and I split up, we kept the details of it mainly between us. I think a lot of people assume that I either dumped her or cheated on her.”
“Why don’t you correct them?”
“Would it matter all that much? One thing about me, Andi, is I am a fairly private person. I don’t go blasting my personal business all over town. Most people don’t know more than a few trivial things about me, and I like it that way. It’s hard to keep any sort of anonymity in a small town, but I sure as shit try. That’s why I built the ranch out here a little more off the beaten path. They would have to go out of their way to come out here, and most people don’t.”
I can’t help but see the parallels between Jonas and myself. There are few things in this world that I value more than my privacy. Michael was always exactly the opposite. Although he had his secrets, he always wanted to meet new people and bring them into our inner circle. He was always the life of the party; whereas, I was usually the one in a hurry to go home and curl up with a good book. He would always tell me to let loose and have more fun. The thought that my lack of fun is what made him step out of our marriage makes me cringe.
“Look, Andi, I’m sorry that people are giving you a hard time. I don’t want you to think any less of this town or the people in it. Yeah, some are set in their ways, but the majority of people in Grady are good, hardworking folks who have hearts of gold.”
All I do is nod since I really have no idea what to say.
“I just don’t want them scaring you off. I kind of like having you around,” he says.
Cautiously, he sets his hand on my thigh. Instead of moving away or getting nervous, I put my hand on top of his.
I let out a sigh, and Jonas asks me what’s wrong. But I’m not sure exactly how to answer him.
“Talk to me, Andi,” he pleads.
Inhaling deeply, I say, “When I decided to come here, it was completely out of my comfort zone. I’m a creature of habit. I shop at the same grocery store every week and hit the same coffee shop every morning with the exact same order every day. I had my life, and I thought I was happy with it. Then, one day, it all got turned upside down, so I decided to change absolutely everything about my life. I came here, and everything in this town is bringing me out of my comfort zone. Almost everything seems to make me feel awkward or uncomfortable…except when I’m with you.”
“Oh?” Although I’m not looking at him, I can feel his blue eyes staring at me.
I have no idea why I am telling him any of this. I imagine it’s because I have no one else to talk to, so I continue. “I don’t do well with new people…or people, in general, most of the time. And I don’t handle new situations well. But somehow, when I’m around you, it’s easy. It’s like you have this natural way of putting me at ease.”
“Can I tell you something, Andi?”
