by B. A. Wolfe
“So what’s the story with my car?” I asked the question I had been dreading. He stopped walking, keeping his back toward me. He stood there still as a statue, a statue that was happy not talking.
“Jase,” I urged him on.
He took a long pause before finally clearing his throat to speak, and I was now wishing I hadn’t asked. “The parts should be in soon, but I’m not going to lie to you, Cassie. It’s going to take a little while. If you want, I could take you to Alamosa and then bring your car to you when it’s done,” he offered.
I’m not sure what I expected to hear out of his mouth, but offering to take me four hours to Alamosa and then dropping my car off when it was done was definitely not it. Why was he so nice, and why did it feel like I knew him forever and that this was something normal between us?
“I really appreciate the offer, but I can’t ask you to do that for me. If push comes to shove, Mel said she would pick me up. But at this point, I don’t mind waiting it out for my car,” I replied.
His worried expression that haunted his face just a moment ago was now wiped away with a pleased look. I could feel it in my bones, in my mind, and in my heart that he was feeling the same unexplainable connection I was. Our two bodies seemed linked, I just couldn’t figure out how. As much as I had learned about him in the past few days, I was hopeful I would learn just as much today and the next. He was growing on me too quickly.
“Okay, if you don’t mind sticking it out, Cassie. They are working on it, I promise. In the meantime, I’m glad you’re here,” he said, smiling at me.
“Well now that I know you aren’t going to feed me to the wolves, I’m glad I’m here too,” I said, sending him into those contagious chuckles of his.
“You might taste a little too high maintenance for them,” he told me.
“I’m far from high maintenance. I’m what we like to call a people pleaser,” I confessed, using my hands to make quotation marks when I said people pleaser.
He raised his brows at me and tapped his finger on his chin. “Really? Since you’re such a people pleaser, how about you go unpack for me? It would please me to see you not digging out of your suitcase anymore,” he said. “I have to go run an errand, and then I’ll be back later this afternoon,” he said, turning his grin into pressed lips as he stared past me.
“Okay, I suppose I can do that. Are you sure it’s still okay that I stay here?” I asked cautiously, already feeling guilty for staying one night. He motioned with his finger to move toward him, so I did. He put his hand on my arm, creating warmth on my skin where he kept his hand.
“Stop asking. You are more than welcome to stay as long as you need. My parents are not the type to kick a girl out on the streets,” he told me with his hand still on my arm. “And neither am I.”
“Okay, I’ll stop asking. Do you work; am I holding you from your job? If you need to go in, I fully understand. I can find something to occupy my time with.”
“I do have a job, it’s on the weekends though, so that means I’m all yours this week,” he said trying to tease, but something was wrong with the way he said it, like he was trying to cover up some sort of unhappiness that was buried inside him.
“Yes, I’m very lucky,” I said in a sarcastic tone. “Where do you work?”
“The hardware shop. My dad works there during the week after he gets off from working the morning shift at the farm, and then I take the weekends,” he answered.
“God, your dad is busy,” I said, feeling exhausted just thinking of all the work he had to do.
“Yeah, he’s a hard worker,” he replied.
“What’s this errand you’re running?”
“Just an errand,” he said quickly.
Well that answer was vague. “Can I help or go with?”
“No, not this time,” he said politely. He was trying to be nice about it but something inside said he definitely didn’t want me to go.
“So what’s the plan when you get back from your errand that I can’t help with and I’m done pleasing you by unpacking?” I asked, mocking him. I hated that he wouldn’t tell me what it was, but he wasn’t budging.
“We’ll just have to figure it out, won’t we?” He motioned with his head to follow him as he led us to the front door while he put on his cowboy boots. He put them on with ease under his tight fitting jeans. When he was done, he put his hands in his back pocket pulling out the key to his truck.
“In case you didn’t notice, I’m not much a of a ‘figure it out’ kind of girl. I like to have things mapped out, planned, organized.”
“Then this will be good for you, won’t it,” he said before he walked out of the door, not giving me a chance to argue with him. This wasn’t going to be good for me. The last time I didn’t plan something or keep to my already mapped out life, I ended up in this predicament.
Nine
I DIDN’T REALIZE HOW MANY clothes I had actually packed. Maybe I was more high maintenance than I originally thought. I sat up in the bed stretching my arms after I took a quick nap. I tried looking around for the time when I remembered there were no clocks in this room and I was without my phone. I was glued to that thing and felt naked without it, not to mention it was my one security item that I had. I was now disconnected to the world and a way to keep in touch with Mel. It was far more troubling than I previously thought, and I definitely didn’t appreciate the fact that I always had my phone when I needed it before.
The more I thought about it, the feeling of not being able to touch base with Mel was the only thing I was mostly upset about. Other than that, I felt a sense of liberation. No one could call me, no one knew where I was, and vice versa. I started nodding my head in approval to myself when I then remembered what happened the last time I felt liberated. I suddenly sunk down back in the bed and curled into a ball. I really had to find a balance between liberation and control. I had to find my medium, my level head, and the stability I desired without weighing the scale too much to either side. I didn’t want to be one extreme or the other, and I couldn’t figure out why I was. I heard my stomach growl and I knew I needed to eat again quickly before I got the overwhelming sensation to have yet another relationship with their toilet bowl. We were already too close. Ginger ale and crackers were a must right now.
I pulled myself out of the fetal position I put myself in, opened the door, and made my way down the hall. I was almost to the kitchen when I heard Jason’s voice and another one crying, almost hysterical, it sounded like Trish.
“Stop crying. It’ll be all right, Mom. We’ll get the next one, okay?” I heard him say as I inched my way closer to the kitchen. I could see the two of them sitting around the table, his mom had her head in her hands sobbing heavily as Jason sat close, consoling her with his arms around her, holding her tightly.
My heart started to rip right down the middle as I continued to hear her sobbing. As much as I wanted to know what was so emotional for him and his mother, I had to leave before I busted into tears too. As I took a backward step, the floor creaked making Jason’s head shoot right in my direction. His eyes were glossed over with tears that matched his mother’s.
Shit. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry for interrupting,” I apologized as I quickly pivoted my feet and started heading back to my room.
I could hear them both getting up from their chairs as I all but ran like a chicken back to my room closing the door behind me. It only took a few moments for him to enter the room I was cowering in.
“Jase, I am so sorry. I was just headed to the kitchen to get something to eat. I promise I wasn’t spying.”
He looked at me with red eyes, now free of any leftover tears he must have wiped clean. He walked slowly to the bed and sat down right next to me, our legs almost touching as he folded his hands in his lap.
“I believe you,” he said with his eyes on the floor.
“What’s going on? Is everything okay with your mom?” I asked cautiously. If he didn’t want to discuss it, I could ac
cept that, but I needed to make sure he knew I was here for him if he wanted me to be. This wonderful family that took me in was growing on me and it was hard to see them in pain.
He kept his head low, his gaze trained on the floor by our feet. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and hold him tightly, but I couldn’t. My body was frozen with fear that I even wanted to hug him, and all I could do was move my hand. I placed it gently on his leg, causing him to break his focused stare on the floor. He raised his eyes to meet mine, they were still red, and I wanted so badly to know what was making them sad.
“If you don’t want to talk about it, I understand. I just want you to know you can tell me anything. I’m here for you if you need me,” I told him, keeping my hand on his leg. He locked his eyes with mine; blinking his long dark lashes a few times, trying to hold back the tears.
His shoulders came back down as he let out a deep sigh. “Everything is fine with my mom, there are some things going on right now that are not okay; but they will be.”
He put his hand over the one I kept on his leg and offered up a resemblance of a smile. “Thanks for asking. I really don’t want to talk about it anymore though. Okay?”
“I understand, but if you ever want to, I’m here for you,” I reminded him.
“I appreciate it, but I don’t need to burden you with our family problems,” he said as he removed his hand off of mine. “So now that that’s over with.” He rubbed the palms of his hands over his eyes. “Let’s get out of here,” he said quickly, helping me up from the bed. “Why don’t you put some shoes on? You did unpack, right?” he asked peering at me, waiting for me to probably tell him no.
“Sure did,” I said, sliding open the closet doors.
“You are a very good people pleaser,” he stated. I rolled my eyes and grabbed a pair of shoes, quickly putting them on before heading to the truck.
He opened the passenger door, holding my hand as I pushed myself into the seat. I heard a chuckle escape his lips as he shut my door and walked over to the driver side door.
“I heard you laugh,” I informed him as he started the truck.
“I’ve just never seen a girl have such problems getting into a truck before,” he whispered to me.
“Well, I’m not like other girls around here,” I whispered back to him, latching my seatbelt together.
“No you’re not,” his lips curled into a sexy grin as he reached over and latched his seatbelt. He pulled us out of the driveway and down the street, not saying a word. It then occurred to me I had no clue where we were headed.
“Where are we going?” I asked him, watching the houses pass by through the window.
“To dinner,” he stated, keeping his eyes on the road in front of us. I was absolutely not dressed to be seen in a public place like a restaurant. I didn’t care how small the town was; wearing clothes that I was unpacking and napping in was not considered dining material.
“To dinner? Dressed like this?” I gaped at him.
He turned his neck and faced me with a stunned look that took over his eyes and mouth. “Well yeah. What do you want to go in, your pajamas?”
“I feel like that’s what I’m already in. Jase we need to go back, I need to change and get dressed in something more…” I looked down at my pants and felt my hair that was frizzy from absence of hair care. “Appropriate. I can’t go out looking like this,” I said in a panic.
He shifted his eyes to the road and then back to me with a confused expression plastered on his face. “Why would you dress up to go eat dinner?”
“You’re kidding me right?” I gawked at him. He shook his head and then turned his focus back on the road. “Jase!” I yelled at him with my body practically turned completely in his direction.
“I don’t know why you think you need to change, but we’re almost there. I’m not turning back just so you can go put on different clothes.” His voice sounded as frustrated as I felt. I wasn’t going to win this battle with him.
“Fine, but if people start staring at me, just refer to me as your crazy cousin you just picked up from the hospital.” I gave in, folding my arms across my chest. I could see out of the corner of my eye his head was turned toward me with what looked like the biggest grin I’d ever seen on his face. He leaned across the middle seat that divided us as I kept my defeated gaze ahead of me.
“Well, you kind of are, aren’t you?” He quietly chuckled close to my ear. I whipped my head to face him dead in the eyes and all the evil that was ready to come pouring out of my mouth suddenly shied away. I couldn’t help getting lost in his laugh and the sweet look taking over his face. I shrugged it off as we both turned our bodies forward, Jason still wearing the huge smile across his face.
We pulled up to what I would normally drive by and classify as a “hole-in-the-wall” and parked a few spots down from the door. The sign above the restaurant only said “Diner” and nothing more. The window seats were all full; as I could only assume this was one of the few main places to eat in this little town.
“Come on Crazy Cousin Cassie,” Jason said, reaching for my hand as I sauntered toward the door.
“At least give me a fake name,” I said in complete honesty, in hopes that he would.
Ten
“JASON,” AN OLDER LADY SAID as we stepped through the front doors.
“Miss Sue,” he said, giving her a half hug.
“Just two tonight?” she asked.
Jason leaned in close to her telling her something so quietly I couldn’t hear.
She gave me a slightly odd look before taking us over to a booth near the back of the small diner. She set the menus down on the table before giving Jason another hug and leaving us to our booth.
“Thank gosh we’re in the back,” I said, relieved that no one would be able to see what I was wearing aside from Jason. He got comfortable on the other side of the booth and set a menu in front of me.
“I told her my crazy cousin was afraid of people and needed to be seated far away from everyone.”
I smacked the menu back down to the table and gave him a piercing look. He was now officially taking this too far. He was pressing his lips together, but it was useless, he couldn’t hold it back.
“I’m kidding. I asked her for some privacy,” he confessed with a slight chuckle. “You don’t even look like someone who’s crazy. You look good, you always do,” he said before putting the menu back up in front of his face.
I could feel my cheeks starting to flame as the compliment sank in. I whispered thank you, before hiding my face behind the menu as well.
“So what are you getting?”
I glanced back over the menu once more before placing it flat on the table with his. “The Caesar salad with chicken.”
He rested his arm on the booth’s edge making himself comfortable. “I should have guessed.”
I shook my head at him, appalled that he was judging my food decisions. “Salads are good if you just give them a chance,” I hissed back.
The waitress was another older lady who patted Jason on the shoulder when she arrived to take our orders. Yes, I was certain everyone knew who Jason was or the town was just that small.
Before I could say a word, Jason grabbed my menu and handed them to the waitress along with our order. “The usual Peggy, for both of us,” he told her, pointing his finger at me when he said ‘us’.
I focused my gaze on him and didn’t know whether to be disgusted or amused that he just ordered God knows what for me.
“You’ll like it I promise.” He sat there, looking amused with himself.
“You better hope so, or it’ll end up in your lap,” I told him. Knowing I would never throw my food at him, part of me was slightly entertained that he ordered for me. I also cringed at the thought of what he just ordered. For all I knew, it could be liver and onions.
We were next to a window. The sun was going down and was providing just enough light through the blinds to hit Jason’s eyes just perfectly again. The light hit
a piece of his hair as well, making the strand appear a light shade of blonde. It made me laugh to think of him with blond hair since his hair was dark. It definitely wouldn’t suit him.
“What are you thinking about over there? Or do you just like staring at me?” he asked, tilting his head as he found my eyes.
Busted. I hated to admit it, but he was easy to stare at. He wasn’t one of those guys who was busting out of his baby tee shirt with arms that could barely fit through the sleeves. He was better than that. He had the perfect amount of muscle; he was lean and it looked good on him. His wavy hair was in absolutely no way styled, but it worked. His eyes were the main focus, and anyone with a heartbeat would be stupid not to take a moment to stare into them for even just half a second. The jeans he wore snuggled his body in all the right places. The boys that I dated would never be caught in them, and I would have agreed with them, until I saw Jason wearing them. Of course, they had to be paired with a pair of cowboy boots and a tee. It was never the type I gave a second glance to and I’m ashamed, because now it’s the only thing I could focus on.
“I’m thinking about too many things,” I told him, fidgeting with a piece of my hair, trying to conceal the fact that all my thoughts were about him. “What are you thinking about over there?”
“That I want to play a game with you.” A sexy grin spread across his face, which not only complimented the thoughts I was having, but also scared me.
“What kind of game?” I was nervous to inquire.
“It’s called Diner trivia,” he said, bringing his arm that was resting over the booth down to the table.
“What kind of game is that?”
“I’ll start, I get to ask you five questions, and you have to answer all of them.”
“Clearly I’m getting the raw end of this game,” I muttered.
“I’m not finished yet, Sweetheart,” he said, leaning over the table with his hands practically on my side. God, I loved that he calls me that. No one has ever called me Sweetheart. “If you answer all five, then you get to ask me five, and so forth. But if you don’t answer all five, you forfeit your turn.”