by Barbara Gee
“Clever,” I said as we went through.
“I predict you and Hannah will get a lot of use out of this gate.”
“That would be nice,” I said. My voice sounded a little wistful because I was thinking of another friend and missing her. It just didn’t seem right that I’d finally moved here and Myla was gone.
I pushed my longing for her aside and glanced up at Jude. “Can I congratulate the Owens on their pregnancy yet?”
He looked at me with a horrified expression. “No!”
I pretended to be worried. “But what if I let it slip? I mean, I have no intention of telling them you were snooping around in their bathroom, but sometimes things just come out without me realizing it.”
“I wasn’t snooping around, I was cleaning up after their stubborn dog,” he insisted. Then he saw my mischievous smile and realized I was teasing him. He immediately turned it back on me. “If you let anything slip, Ava Milton, I’ll never give you a rematch in Battleship or play any other game with you, for that matter. I’ll always and forever be the victor, the one person you couldn’t beat.”
“But I can beat you,” I declared, “and I will.”
“Not if I don’t agree to play again.”
His eyes crinkled a little at the corners when he smiled, and I found it incredibly attractive. A guy with laugh lines was my kind of guy.
“So, even if I accidentally let it slip, you’ll still rob me of the chance to prove my superior gaming skills?” I asked, keeping my voice low because we were getting close to the Owens’ back deck and Chase was standing at the grill.
“The chance to attempt to prove your skills. The whole ‘superior’ part is still very much in doubt.”
I had to laugh. I was thoroughly enjoying our banter, glad that in spite of my scary-strong attraction to this man, I felt comfortable enough to joke around with him.
As I walked beside him, close enough that I could smell the scent of his soap—which was so, so good—I accepted the fact that I was falling hard and fast for a man I’d met a day ago. It was a brand-new experience for me, and I suddenly had to wonder if I’d made the move to Hidden Falls only to get my heart broken.
I clutched the salad dish a little tighter. Oh well. I could always join the army, right?
Chapter 7
Chase greeted me enthusiastically. “Ava! Glad you could join us on such short notice.”
I chuckled. “It took some work to clear my busy social calendar, but here I am.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll be booked up before you know it,” he said as we climbed the steps. He pointed his grill brush toward the French doors behind him. “You can go on in and put your salad in the fridge. Hannah’s in there working on the rest of the food.”
His wife appeared at the open door before he finished talking and she slid the screen aside for me. “Yeah, come on in, Ava. Keep me company while I finish up in here.”
“Thanks again for inviting me,” I said as we walked to the kitchen. “Whatever you’re making smells great. My stomach is already growling.”
She took my salad and found a spot for it in the fridge. “Well, here’s to hoping you aren’t disappointed.”
I assured her I wasn’t worried, and she laughed a little ruefully. “Maybe you should be. I didn’t cook at all before Chase and I got married. He’s still better at it than I am, but I try. Let’s just hope our first neighborly meal isn’t ruined because I forgot the salt or something.”
“At least you made the effort to be neighborly,” I said. “Back home, I only knew the name of one of my neighbors.”
Hannah waved a hand. “I know exactly how it is. I lived in an apartment building in Nashville before I moved here. I smiled and said hello to people in the elevator, but that was about it. It’s just a different culture. Not like here in small-town America.”
“I think I’ll like this better,” I told her. “Can I help with something?”
Hannah put me to work fixing a plate of cheese, crackers, and fruit for everyone to snack on while the guys grilled the steaks and the vegetable kabobs she’d already prepared. The baked beans and mac and cheese were bubbling away in the oven when we took the appetizer plate and bottles of water and iced tea outside.
It was the beginning of a very enjoyable evening. The guys grilled everything to perfection then acted a little cocky about it, but it was all in good fun. We talked and laughed and ate, not getting up from the table for the next hour and a half, except to refill our plates and bring out dessert.
When we’d all finished our chocolate-peanut butter ice cream pie, Hannah leaned back in her chair and sighed contentedly.
“This has been so great,” she said, smiling at me. “It’s nice to have another woman around to balance things out a little. These two can be a little overwhelming sometimes.”
“Oh, come on, Han, we coddle you and you know it,” Chase protested fondly.
“And you haven’t had to take Lulu out to do her business since I moved in,” Jude added.
“At least not when you’re home,” Hannah agreed. “I’m gonna miss that, I’ll admit.” She looked at him and smiled slyly. “It’s almost dark, but if you’d want to show Ava the new walking trail in the woods, you’d have just about enough time.”
Jude raised a dark brow at her. “Seriously, Hannah? You don’t think I’m capable of asking Ava to go for a walk all by myself?”
She shrugged. “Just helping you along,” she said, not at all apologetic.
I loved the easy camaraderie between the two of them, but I felt a little awkward. I mean, what if Jude didn’t want to go on a walk with me?
Before I could say anything, he looked over at me with one of those slow smiles that did me in every…single…time.
“Ava, would you like for me to show you part of the brand new Hidden Creek trail?”
Hannah giggled at his overly formal invitation. “You should go, Ava. It goes right through the woods out back.”
“And she does mean right out back. You can be glad it was completed before you moved in,” Chase said. “There was a lot of noise out in the woods last month. Lulu practically lost her mind.”
“Yeah, but now that our section is done, the whole five-mile trail is finally connected,” Hannah said. “I’ve been walking a quick couple of miles almost every morning. Not many people are out then, and it’s so peaceful.”
“I’d love to see it,” I said, which was true, although I was a lot more excited about spending time with Jude. “I’ll help you clean up first, though.”
“Nah, we got this,” Chase said. “You two go on, otherwise it’s gonna get too dark for you.”
Jude stood and held his hand out to me. “Let’s go before he changes his mind,” he said, grinning at his friend.
Oh wow. I was about to touch Jude Keller for the second time, and it was crazy how hard my heart was pounding. I couldn’t help remembering the simple handshake we’d shared over the fence. I’d felt the contact all the way to my toes, and as I reached toward the same hand now, I knew it would be more of the same.
I desperately told myself not to overreact. It was only his hand, for Pete’s sake, and not a big deal. But then his fingers closed around mine and it was a big deal. It just was. His hand was big and warm and calloused—a man’s hand. The kind of man who knew how to work. Jude might be a project supervisor, but I was willing to bet he was a hands-on boss and picked up tools himself on a regular basis.
Unfortunately, he let go as soon as I gained my feet. As we walked through the grass side by side, he informed me the trail was only about twenty yards off the Owens’ property line. And mine too, for that matter.
We exited the yard through another hidden gate, this time one in the back fence with a keypad lock, and soon found ourselves in the trees. Jude surprised me by grabbing hold of my hand again. I glanced up to find him smiling.
“I knew Hannah would be watching until we got out of sight. I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction.”
I chuckled. “You two are like brother and sister the way you pick on each other. I feel bad for not helping with the cleanup, though. It’s not nice to make the pregnant gal work so hard.”
“But we don’t know she’s pregnant, remember? And by the way, good job on not blurting it out.”
“Were you seriously worried I would?” I asked.
“A little.”
“I wouldn’t blow my chance for a Battleship rematch, Jude.”
“Good.” He squeezed my hand. “I like having some leverage.”
We walked a little way in silence, then suddenly we were at the edge of the trail.
“Welcome to the Hidden Creek Bike and Pedestrian Walkway,” he said grandly, a bit of sarcasm seeping through. “I’m sure you’ve never seen a nicer one.”
“It actually is pretty nice,” I said approvingly, eyeing the smooth pavement. “I thought it might be a simple dirt path with a little mulch thrown on it.”
We stepped onto the path and walked in the direction of the setting sun.
“We don’t have to go far,” Jude said. “Just tell me when you want to turn around.”
I nodded, but if he was going to keep holding my hand, I was game for a nice long walk.
“So, I know we talked a lot last night and also at dinner,” he said after a brief pause, “but I still only know general stuff about you. I know you were born in the DC area and have lived there until now, you have two older sisters who like to tell you what to do, and you’re a self-employed computer whiz.”
“I never said I was a whiz,” I corrected.
“But you are, right?”
I shrugged self-consciously. “I mean, I hold my own, I suppose, but there are a ton of people every bit as good as me. And quite a few who are a lot better.”
“Okay, and now I also know you’re modest.” He paused again. “Tell me more, Ava.” His voice was low and smooth, as attractive as the rest of him.
I was flattered he wanted to know more about me, but also afraid he was going to be disappointed. My life wasn’t all that exciting.
“I don’t know exactly what to tell you,” I said. “If you have questions, just ask. Chances are I’ll answer.” Unless it has to do with my job.
“Okay, so this might be lame, but in the interest of getting inside your head, I’ll ask anyway.” He gave me a sideways look. “If you were going to post a profile on a dating site, a real profile, not a made up one, what would it say?”
I returned his sideways look with one of my own. “If I tell you, will you reciprocate?”
“Yep.”
“You promise?”
“Yep,” he said, this time with a grin.
I pretended to think about it. “I’m trying to remember what my last profile said,” I began, sneaking another glance at him.
He looked at me sharply, his brows drawn together. “You actually post on those sites?”
“Why not? They’re all the rage nowadays.”
He lifted his free hand and rubbed his jaw, the stubble rasping against his fingers. “There’s nothing wrong with it, I guess. I just didn’t figure you were into that.”
I laughed and bumped his arm with my shoulder. “I’m just messing with you. I’ve never signed up anywhere. But I have a friend who did, and she got engaged last month. It worked out great for her.” I shrugged. “I don’t think I could ever do it, though.”
“Same. But if you did, what would your profile say?” he persisted.
“Hmm. Well, obviously I’d say I love taking moonlit walks on newly paved trails through the woods,” I said, shivering a little when he gave a low chuckle.
“Be serious, Ava,” he chided softly. He turned his hand, lining up our palms and lacing his fingers through mine.
I don’t know why it felt so different that way, so much more intimate, but it did. It also made it harder to concentrate on the conversation, and it took me a little bit to focus my thoughts.
“Okay,” I finally said. “Ummm, I guess I’d say I’m a girl whose faith and family is really important to her—even though I have to admit I’m pretty excited about being farther away from that family right now. I love them all dearly, I really do, but they can’t seem to accept I’m grown up and don’t need their constant advice.”
“I imagine they’ll realize that soon enough, now that you’re gone.”
“I hope so,” I said fervently. “They mean well, but it can be so stifling. Even the baby of the family eventually has to grow up, you know?”
“So my baby sister tells me.”
I laughed. “Make sure you listen to her.”
“What else is on that dating profile?” he asked.
I thought for a few more seconds. “It would probably say that I sometimes have trouble finding a good balance between work and play. I work crazy hours sometimes, but I do enjoy my down time. I just have to be really careful about making sure I get it.”
“So, what do you do in that down time, when you remember to take it?”
“Sometimes I hang out with friends, or I’ll go running or hiking, or maybe just read a book.” I grimaced. “That’s not real exciting, I know.”
“Doesn’t have to be,” Jude said. “Down time just needs to be enjoyable and relaxing so we can recharge and hit work hard again the next day.”
“Agreed,” I said. “And to finish up my profile, I’d say I like to cook, I love to eat, and I enjoy the outdoors. I drive a sensible SUV, but someday I want to get a sporty little car to go with it. Not a convertible, though. I don’t like the idea of sitting out in the open where everyone can see me and look inside my car. That just seems weird to me.” I looked up at him hopefully. “Is that enough? Do you know me now?”
His low laugh came again and I almost closed my eyes in delight.
“It’s a start. How did your family react when you told them you were moving to Hidden Creek?”
I winced. “I told them soon after I found out Grandma had left me the house, but they didn’t think I’d actually do it. No matter how much I talked about it, they were convinced I’d change my mind. My mom was speechless when she asked me to have lunch a few days ago and I told her I couldn’t because I still had a lot of packing to do.”
“Ouch,” Jude murmured.
“Yeah, she was floored. Twenty minutes later, she showed up at my condo with Ella and Audrey in tow. They started telling me how ridiculous I was being. I listened for about five minutes, then told them they needed to either leave or help me fill boxes.”
“Please tell me they helped you with the boxes.”
“They did,” I said with a laugh, “but only because it allowed them to stay and keep hounding me.”
“Did they really think you’d reconsider at that point? I don’t see you as someone who changes course after digging your heels in.”
“See, that’s the thing. I’ve been digging my heels in since I learned to walk, but they never learned how to handle it. I feel like I’ve had to fight for almost everything I’ve ever wanted to do. But at the same time, it’s hard to get mad at them because I know they love me. They just don’t know what to do with such a hard-headed girl.”
“You’d think they’d learn after twenty-some years.”
“You’d think. But in spite of it all, I still feel lucky to have them.” I smiled wryly. “It’s just a lot easier to love ’em when they’re not breathing down my neck.”
“Did you get some distance when you went to college? Or did you stay local?”
“I stayed local because the school had a good volleyball team and offered me a scholarship. But I did live on campus, which was nice.” I paused, then decided to be completely honest with him. “I only went for two years, though. I’m not cut out for the classroom.”
I was a little worried about how he might react to that tidbit of information. Being a college dropout wasn’t normally something I was sensitive about, but since Jude didn’t know I’d left school due to a fantastic job offer, he might see
me as a quitter.
He stopped walking and tugged me around to face him.
“That’s kind of ironic,” he said, a smile curling his lips. “You hated school and now you spend your days at a desk. At least I assume you do.”
I gave him a sheepish look. “It’s kind of a table because I have a lot of monitors….but, yeah. Same thing.”
He chuckled. “I was kind of the opposite. I played sports too, but I loved the classroom. I couldn’t get enough. I finished college early and went right to grad school for my MBA. Didn’t even take a break. I intended to work my way up to being a CEO somewhere, and I never saw myself anywhere but behind a desk.”
“Really?” I asked skeptically. I slipped my fingers from between his and lifted his hand, holding it palm up as I ran a fingertip along the row of callouses at the base of his fingers. “These aren’t the hands of a man who stays behind a desk all day,” I stated.
He smiled. “No, they aren’t, and it’s all because Chase talked me into taking a summer job at Owens Construction after I finished the MBA. He said I needed to decompress from so many years of school. Expand my horizons. I laughed at him at first. I’d never had the slightest interest in construction, even though my older brother, Jed, went into the field. In my mind, I was the academic son. I didn’t swing a hammer.”
“Until that summer?” I prompted. I was still holding onto his hand, and I wasn’t ready to let go.
“Yeah. I let Chase convince me to give it a try, thinking I could do that for the summer while I pondered which companies I wanted to apply to to get my business career off to a good start.” He shook his head and laughed. “They put me on a framing crew for a house, and I was incredibly bad at it. I knew how to pound a nail the old-fashioned way, barely, but I’d never even seen a nail gun. Thank goodness I worked with guys who were patient with me. As they taught me the ropes, I became totally fascinated with the process. The whole process. Reading the plans, figuring out the materials needed, and then building an actual house from them. I loved watching it all come together. Every day when I left the job site I felt fulfilled, you know? Proud of the progress we’d made. I couldn’t wait to go back the next day. By the end of the summer, I knew building things was my passion. I don’t know why it took me so long to figure that out, but I’ve been with Owens Construction ever since.”