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Also, then she’d be prepared to see me, and she might not try to start any stupid conversations again.
When I walked in, I smelled the herbs and bright scent of pesto. Someone had gotten their hands on a lot of fresh basil, or they had made pesto from a mix.
“Jesse? Is that you?”
Jade’s voice came from the kitchen.
“I thought he wasn’t home often.”
This voice I was unfamiliar with.
My stomach sank. She had company over. Not only was Jade home but she had company. Maybe she had parked her car in the garage since she’d thought I was going to be away for a few days.
Great,I thought.Just great.
That was honestly the last thing I had expected to walk into, but I supposed it was also her home. She should feel like she can have company when she wants to. However, this was very much not wanted tonight.
First, I had to delay my arrival at the ranch for laundry. Now, I had to return home for a meeting tomorrow, and must also endure the threat of company when I just wanted food and sleep. And maybe a shower. Working on the ranch all day was hard work, and I knew I had been sweating up a storm.
I walked into the kitchen to find Jade at the stove with a young woman about her age, putting something in the fridge.
“Oh! You must be Mr. Delaney. I’m Maria Underwood. Jade has told me so much about you.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, managing to keep my voice polite. Somehow.
“She doesn’t bite, Jesse,” Jade said with a bit of a laugh. “But you told me you were going to be gone for a few days. Plans change? Again?”
I heard the challenge in her voice. I had promised her a house mostly to herself, and this was the second night in a row I was breaking that promise.
“I’m needed at the station tomorrow,” I said plainly.
“Would you like some pasta? It’s my mother’s recipe,” Maria said as if attempting to cut the tension between the two of us. “We have plenty to share. The recipe for the pesto makes far too much for just two of us, even if we split the leftovers.”
I was about to refuse when my stomach growled.
“I suppose some pesto pasta would do me well,” I said, resigned. “A small helping.”
“With a stomach growling like that, I think it would be best for you to serve yourself,” Jade said. “Good thing we hadn’t started the noodles yet. I’ll put more in, just to be safe. Whatever we don’t eat tonight, we can put in the sauce and put in the fridge for tomorrow.”
Maria nodded. I didn’t carewhatthey did.
“Save me a plate.”
With that, I went to shower quickly. It would be better than staying in the kitchen while they talked. Though it would only buy me a little bit of time since my stomach was absolutely growling at me, I wondered what they were talking about that had been put on hold while I was in the room.
When I finished, and had gotten dressed in some sweats and a clean T-shirt, I returned to the kitchen. Jade had indeed kept a plate for me, with a generous helping of pasta and pesto on the plate. Instead of saying anything, I decided to take the plate into my room.
“Oh, please don’t go,” Maria said. “I’d love to hear all about what you do for work. It’s got to be hard, working as both a firefighter and a ranch hand. How do you make the time for it all?”
I could tell there was genuine curiosity in her voice. This woman was no more malicious than the men at the fire station that I worked with, but I had no desire to answer her questions.
“Maria.”
Jade’s tone indicated that she had warned her friend of what to say and ask if I came home, and it seemed that Maria was not following the script. I had to appreciate this because Jade did appear to care… even if there was every reason in the world that she could have told Maria to pester me because I wasn’t answering her own questions.
“What? It’s not like I’m asking him how the job has impacted him mentally,” Maria said. “I’ve seen the burns, too, Jade. You’re not the only nurse here. I’m just genuinely curious to know how he’s handling all the physical labor from working as a firefighteranda ranch hand. I don’t think that I could do either, let alone do it all at once.”
“It is rather physically challenging,” I said, putting my plate in the microwave. The first bite was too cold for my taste. “It’s not the easiest thing in the world, doing both jobs. But I manage. One keeps me fed. The other keeps my soul warm.”
