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“Sorry. I just have something to say to you.”
Sage sighed. “What?”
“You scared the hell out of me.”
She laid back down. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t intentional.”
“What possessed you to ditch your horse at a full run?”
“It was that or get knocked off by the tree.”
He was quiet for a moment. “I thought we were going to find you hurt or…”
“I’m fine Sawyer. Although, I think I’m going to have a pretty sore butt tomorrow.”
He laughed. “Serves you right.”
“Thank you, Sawyer.”
“For what? Waking you up?”
“No. For caring.”
“It’s not that I care. It’s just that I…” He sighed again. “Fine. I guess I care a little.”
“I care a little bit about you, too.”
Chapter four
"Trust me. I've got this."
Joey was on her back porch sanding the doors to the kitchen cupboards. She had them all laid out on a table. They were painted white, but it had yellowed with age and it was chipping and worn in spots. She had a plan for the kitchen. And it didn’t involve white cabinets. She’d removed all the hardware and was sanding down to the bare wood, which was oak.
When she heard a noise echoing up through the valley behind her house, she stopped what she was doing to listen. It sounded like someone banging on something. Hammering, maybe. It could only be one person. J.T. was working on his house. She tried to picture him hammering away in the late morning sun. Not a bad picture.
She hadn’t seen him since the woodstove incident several days ago. Since then, she’d had the chimneys cleared, the power wason, and there was propane in the big white tank by the side of her house. The antique cook stove in the kitchen ran on propane or wood. She loved it and had no plans to replace it with something more modern. The hot water was also propane, as was the central heating system. But with four woodstoves, she hoped she wouldn’t need to run the heater very much. Everything was all a bit rustic. It was going to be great.
The hammering continued, and curiosity got the best of Joey. She decided to take a walk and check out J.T.’s new house. He’d probably get mad. But so what? He was always going to be mad at her. And he had a right to be. Time and distance had changed her perspective on the situation. Asking him to move away from the ranch to go to school with her was a lot. It was too much. And she should’ve understood. But at the time, she’d convinced herself that if he loved her, he’d follow her. He didn’t. And then her world turned upside down and she had other things to think about. Her leaving J.T. and Castle Springs six years ago was just a part of why he was going to always be mad at her. But she was back. And hopefully she could fix some of it.
She went inside and ran a brush through her hair, then she braided it to one side and hung the braid over her shoulder. After brushing sawdust from her jeans, she stepped off the porch and walked across the tall green grass toward the sound of hammering. It was spring and everything was green. This was a beautiful spot and she was glad she’d come back to Castle Springs.
It seemed the houses were closer together going across the field then they were by the road. After Joey cleared a stand of aspens, she could see the house on a ridge in front of her. The grass covered bluff dropped off twenty feet in front of the house, creating a spectacular view of a green meadow with pine trees a half-mile away. Beyond the trees you could see the snow-cappedmountains surrounding the valley Castle Springs sat in. Joey was impressed. His view was even better than hers.
J.T. was on the roof hammering nails into the frame forming the roof. His back was to her and she could’ve just left without saying anything. But she was mesmerized by the boy she once loved, who was now a man. A man who was wearing just his jeans and a ball cap. And the muscles in his arm were quite impressive every time he brought the hammer down.
I should leave.She continued to watch him. When he stopped and dropped the hammer down to the plywood floor below, she felt like a deer in headlights. She froze, hoping he wouldn’t look her way. But as he made his way across the two-by-four frame toward the ladder, he spotted her. He stopped and cocked his head.
“Josephina?”
“J.T.”
He continued to the ladder and climbed down as she reluctantly moved toward him. She smiled as she tried not to look at his bare chest.
“So this is it, huh?”
“Yep.” He went to an ice chest and opened it, then took out a beer. He looked at it for a moment, then looked at her. “Beer?”
She shook her head. “No. It’s a little early for me.”
