My Missing Puzzle Piece (Creekside Falls #1)

by Kristin Hoepfl

  Trevor was running with Bruiser at his side like always, he was on the last few miles of his usual run. When he thought he saw someone who looked like Elle but figured it couldn’t be her and kept on going.

  He was hoping to see Elle this week, it had been a super busy week and too long. It was driving him crazy not seeing her. He knew he would have to do something about it.

  Elle tried to run two and a half to three miles most days, but didn’t always get around to it, especially on the weekends. Somehow today she felt like she could go longer, which never happened when she was running outside. She was still running when she saw a man running on the other side of the park with an adorable dog. The guy looked like Trevor but she assumed he’d already be at work by now so it couldn’t be him and kept going.

  Trevor was finishing up his run when he saw the woman who looked like Elle up ahead, stretching near the benches. This time when he saw her, he swore it was her so he had to go see for sure. He walked up to the empty bench a safe distance away, he didn’t want to look like a stalker, and did some cool down stretches as well. He looked over to check her out, ‘good-body’ he thought, he caught a glimpse of the side of her face and he’d be damned, it was her. How they timed it so perfectly he didn’t know but he’d take it. As he walked over his eyes grazed her body and he thought how cute she looked in her Capri workout pants and tank top, that look never really did anything for him before but somehow this time it made him suck in a deep breath, he couldn’t pull his gaze away and stop looking.

  Elle looked up and saw Trevor standing close with a look on his face that was hard to decipher. It must’ve been him before then. She used her hand as a visor to shield her eyes from the sun, “Hi. How are you? What a coincidence. I assumed you’d be at work by now. This has been such a crazy week.”

  Trevor blinked and shook his head, “I know, I hate we kept missing each other, but this is a nice surprise. I wanted to come over but didn’t want to bother you when you were stretching before and I wasn’t totally sure it was you.”

  “Thanks for that, I’ve been told I scare easily,” she said with an awkward laugh, hoping she didn’t give off how awkward she felt standing there sweaty with her workout clothes on, she started thinking she should’ve worn something sportier or even sexier. She looked down and noticed his cute dog wagging its tail and looking up at her. “Is that your dog? What’s its name?”

  “Yeah, his name is Bruiser. He loves to come jogging with me in the park, it’s kind of our thing.” Trevor couldn’t help but notice her body language; no direct eye contact and constant movement showed she was uncomfortable. Man, he hoped to hell it wasn’t because of the kiss the other night, but what else could it be? He hated this awkwardness between them. He thought of one way to solve that problem. It was all in or nothing.

  “Does Bruiser live up to his name or is that to throw people off? I didn’t even know you had a dog.” She said with a smile and quickly added, “I bet he helps you get women too, huh?” She said it but couldn’t believe those words had just come out her mouth. She wanted to rewind the morning and start over. They had come so far and she had probably just blown it by saying too much and saying the wrong thing. Why couldn’t she be cool and confident, like Taylor? She always knew the right things to say to men.

  Trevor was laughing but suddenly stopped when the last part of her sentence registered with him. He said almost defensively, “I haven’t dated a woman because of my dog, but I’ll be honest I have had quite a few approach me because of him.” There was an edge to his voice when he said that but he took a breath and tried to repair her damage by answering her original question, “He doesn’t live up to his name at all. He’s so gentle it can be embarrassing but I didn’t know that when I named him, it sounded like a good name for a lab. Do you usually run here?”

  She just laughed self-consciously at his answer about Bruiser and recognized his efforts to smooth over her ‘women’ comment. She was also grateful he didn’t say anything about her not knowing he had a dog. She could tell by his tone and the way he made eye contact he was telling her the truth about using his dog to pick up women. Elle looked up at him embarrassed, “I didn’t mean to offend you, and to be honest it just slipped out before I thought about it.”

  He relaxed and shook his head, “It’s fine.”

  She moved on quickly to change the subject and hopefully restore what she screwed up, “No usually I’m a treadmill runner but the weather was too nice to pass up today plus I had a few extra minutes than I thought before my first appointment so here I am.”

  She remembered she had an appointment, glanced at her watch and said, “Speaking of time, I better get going. I’ll see you later Trevor,” she bent down to pet Bruiser and said, “nice to meet you Bruiser.”

  God her laugh was amazing Trevor thought to himself, he definitely wanted to hear more of it and more often. He was still ticked off a little at what she said about him meeting women thanks to Bruiser. He didn’t want to imply he didn’t date but he didn’t date a lot and when he did he didn’t need his dog to score women for him. He tended to be somewhat picky, something his friends always ragged on him about.

  She started to walk away when Trevor reached out and touched her arm to stop her, “Speaking of dates. Would you want to go to dinner with me tomorrow night?”

  She turned to look at him and said, “Really?”

  He was a bit taken aback by her reaction he had no clue why she would be so surprised but he did see a sparkle in her eyes so he continued, “Yeah. You sound surprised.”

  “No I’m not.” She let a minute pass before saying, “Okay maybe I am a little but sure I would like that.”

  “You shouldn’t be surprised. I told you I like spending time with you, I want to get to know you better Elle. What time should I come get you?”

  Elle said, “How about seven?” Then she got that feeling back again, one of excitement and desire.

  “Sounds good, I’ll see you then.” He said with a smile he didn’t bother hiding.

  “Okay perfect,” She said as she turned to walk away with a smile on her face too. This running outside thing turned out to be a better idea than she originally thought.

  y the time Elle got back to her house and ready for the day she was rushing around. Her day seemed to fly by in a blur. She didn’t even realize the time until Taylor stopped by at seven that night with takeout and a bottle of their favorite white wine.

  “Hey girlfriend, how are you? It’s Thursday girl’s night, you shouldn’t be working when your best friend brought food and wine.” Taylor said as she walked into Elle’s kitchen, she used her key to let herself in.

  Elle looked at the time, “Holy crap, I didn’t realize it was that late already.” She said as she started to put away the papers she was working on, they could wait until later. She was going to enjoy her night. “What did you bring? I’m starving.”

  “Chinese. What else? Glad you’re starving because so am I.” Taylor said as she grabbed wine glasses and the corkscrew.

  Elle started to grab plates and utensils when she said, “How’s V by the way? You said you had to go pick her up again earlier.”

  “She’s good, it was her car again, I swear she’s gonna have to get a new one but she’s being too cheap. We both know she doesn’t have to be but you know her.”

  They opened the food before they sat and Taylor said, “So how did the rest of last Thursday go with Trevor, I never got details and didn’t know if I should ask you at the office.”

  Elle felt her face turn bright red. She didn’t even have to say anything because Taylor caught her blushing, she was hoping that Taylor wouldn’t have noticed but of course she did so she had to tell.

  “Oh my God. Something happened and you didn’t tell me, why?” Taylor practically yelled.

  “Fine. He came back here after the bar, we watched a movie, fell asleep, kissed when he left and have a date tomorrow night. Okay so let’s eat.” She said as she sat down
and started putting food on her plate.

  “Shut the front door! Back up and tell me everything from the beginning and don’t leave anything out. I mean it.” Taylor shrieked and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

  Before Elle could speak, “Why did you wait a week to tell me this by the way?”

  “I’m sorry.” She groaned, she knew should have told her everything the next day but somehow it all didn’t seem real so she didn’t say anything but knew at some point she would have to tell Taylor. To be honest she was kind of dying to spill. So she took a sip of her wine and told Taylor everything from when Taylor left McDuckers to this morning in the park.

  After she finished Taylor said, “Wow, okay you’re forgiven…I have to say it sounds like you’ve got it bad for this guy. But so does he so it looks like you’re perfect for each other! So what are you wearing tomorrow night?”

  “I don’t know yet; maybe a dress, or jeans with heels and a top. I’m not sure where we’re going.”

  “Let’s grab this wine and head upstairs; you have outfits to try on. We are going to be sure you look hot!” Taylor said with a cocky wink and confident smile as she rushed them through their dinner. She grabbed their glasses after topping them off; “Come on, get up and get a move on.” They went upstairs for Elle to try on clothes.

  Trevor’s day flew by so fast after the park he couldn’t believe it was after eight already. His meetings and appointments were longer than he thought but he was able to make bookings for next week, they were going to be beyond busy. He may have to consider hiring some more guys, but figured he should wait until all the problems were fixed at work and Elle helped him figure out who was screwing with the scheduling and his business was back on track. Of course his mind immediately went to Elle; man she was amazing. He felt like a teenager, he was so giddy over how things were going with them the past few days. His daydreaming about Elle was cut short when his doorbell rang. His pizza was here and he was starving. After he finished eating he turned on ESPN to watch some TV, he was exhausted thanks to his busy past few days he didn’t have the energy for anything else. He felt older than his twenty-eight years, but so stinkin’ happy he didn’t even care.

  “We definitely found the outfit!” Taylor said with a triumphant look on her face.

  “Now this outfit works?! This is the original outfit I pulled out two hours and twenty changes ago.” Elle said with narrowed eyes looking at Taylor with a hint of annoyance and amusement. Elle changed out of the outfit and into her pajamas -- she knew Taylor wouldn’t care what she had on. She sat on the bed next to Taylor and they finished their wine. It was time for a refill. She figured now was a good time to ask. “So what did you think of Jake?”

  “What I thought of Jake? Why would I think anything of him?” Taylor said quickly without making eye contact with Elle.

  “Because you guys seemed to get along and you thought he was hot when we first saw him, that’s why.”

  “Okay fine. I liked him, probably more then I should since I barely know him. But he did give me his phone number and said to call him, but I don’t know.” Taylor said with a sigh at the thought of his hotness.

  “I knew it! So you’re not going to call him? Why?”

  “You knew what?” Taylor asked

  “Well that you two liked each other. Okay that you liked him, I wasn’t sure how to read him but I was pretty sure. But I thought I saw him give you his number when he left.” Elle said with a smile.

  “You did? Oh...” Taylor said with a slight blush. “Should I call him? I’ve never felt nervous or unsure before but with him I do. Damn it!”

  “You liked him, he liked you and it’s not like he proposed, you’d just be getting to know him.” Elle grabbed her friend and gave her a big hug. “He gave you his number so he wants you to call and why wouldn’t you? I think you should and I think you guys would be good together. Maybe even balance each other out. Plus he isn’t Bill, remember that.”

  “I know he’s not.” Taylor said quietly and after a minute said, “Okay I’ll do it. But not tonight, tomorrow. I don’t want to worry about it tonight plus I need to figure out what to say.”

  “Okay but you better. At some point you have to take a risk sweetie. I know your heart has been broken but there is a point you put yourself out there and take a chance with someone. You can’t protect your heart from hurt forever. He may not be The One, but you’ll never know if you don’t let somebody in. You know I’ll be here regardless.” They both had tears in their eyes remembering the many breakdowns Taylor had and all the times Elle just held her while she cried. Taylor broke up the weep fest with, “how ‘bout we refill these wine glasses, I could use another.”

  “You got it. And let me know what happens. You don’t need to think of something clever, just let it go and see what happens. He may steal the conversation you never know.” Elle said and they both started laughing.

  “Oh yeah Mr. Talker he is not. But I guess since I talk so much sometimes it would be perfect if we did hit it off, wouldn’t it?” Taylor said with a quick flash of smile at the possibility.

  “Yes. Now let’s go get some more wine and see what our fortune cookies say? We could both use a good fortune.”

  “You’re on and hell yeah we could!” Taylor said as they headed back into Elle’s kitchen.

  Trevor woke up on his couch with a knot in his neck from sleeping sitting up. He turned off the TV, shut off the lights and headed towards his bedroom when he remembered he had to charge his phone. He went in the kitchen and plugged it in; he saw he had a text from Jake saying, “Hey man, what’s up? You pine for Elle for months and don’t tell me you finally balled up and asked her out? What the hell?!”

  Trevor had to read what Jake sent twice before realizing he had obviously heard from someone about his date with Elle and his money was on Taylor -- Elle was right about those two. He texted Jake back, “Sleeping that’s what’s up. Yeah I asked her out but didn’t know I had to clear it with you. I’ll do it next time. Talk to you later.” Then he went to sleep pissed off for some reason that people knew about his date with Elle, it wasn’t a secret but he liked thinking it was just their thing for now.

  Elle and Taylor finished the first bottle of wine and opened another, which they were half-way through before Elle declared, “Okay we’ve had enough.” She started to put the wine-stopper in the wine bottle when Taylor’s phone beeped, for what seemed like the thousandth time that night.

  Taylor looked at her phone after eating another fortune cookie and whispered, “I think I may have screwed up. I texted Jake tonight when you went to the bathroom and we’ve been texting back and forth ever since. I wanted to call him tomorrow, I don’t know what got into me, maybe your pep talk earlier.”

  Elle just looked at Taylor for a minute before saying, “No wonder your phone’s been going crazy. You didn’t say anything embarrassing did you? You did help me drink all that wine.”

  Taylor responded to another text from Jake and then started looking back through her messages in their text thread. After a few minutes and a cup of tea she said, “No I didn’t say anything embarrassing but I did mention your date with Trevor and apparently he didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

  “Then you don’t have to worry about embarrassing yourself. You’re fine. Why did you tell him about Trevor and me? I mean it wasn’t a secret... you know what, I am not worrying about that tonight. But I am glad you texted him and I hope you guys hit it off. He seems like he’d be good for you.” Elle went over and hugged her friend before sitting down next to her with her tea.

  “You’re the best! Would you mind a sleepover, even if it is a work night?” Taylor said with a wink; they had Friday off because Elle decided to close the office. They could work from home if they needed to; there were no scheduled appointments, which was rare, so they did something they never did and took a day off.

  “Thanks. You’re the best too...I figured you might be staying anyway so I made up the guest bedr
oom for you.”

  The next morning after they had breakfast and Taylor left, Elle started doing things to help pass the time, she was worried time would move too slowly until her date with Trevor. She had to admit to herself she was pretty excited. She answered email, organized her home office and gave herself a home facial; it had to be at least noon. But when she checked the time it was only 10:30, jeez she had a lot of time. So she decided to put in her favorite yoga DVD and get in a workout to help pass some time.

  Trevor woke up to pounding on his front door; he looked at the clock and saw it was 11 a.m. Wow! He never slept that late, but he was exhausted and he wasn’t going into work today. He got out of bed and headed downstairs to the door, who would come by at this hour on a Friday when he was normally at work. As he went to open the door he thought of only person -- Jake, who was also off today.

  When he opened the door, “Hey buddy. Whoa did I wake you up? Sorry about that.” Jake said as he walked past Trevor into the house and to the kitchen.

  “Come on in Jake,” Trevor said as he closed the door and followed him to the kitchen.

  “So what ‘cha doing today man?” Jake asked as he started making coffee and going through Trevor’s refrigerator for something to eat, he found bagels in the freezer, he lifted them up to see if they were still any good.

  “Well I was sleeping until you came so now I’m up,” he said with gruffly, “I was planning on getting something done and then I’m going to dinner with Elle.” Trevor said as he poured himself a cup of coffee before it was even done filling the pot.