Hey Jude (Lennox Valley Chronicles #1)

you have no idea.

so what’s happening Friday?

I’m not sure but he promised to show me a good time.

like a gentleman

oh that remains to be seen.

I’m actually seeing someone at work too

oh?

yeah but she’s driving me up the wall

how so?

yesterday she showed up wearing her hair in two braids

what’s wrong with braids?

they are very… distracting

why’s that?

I kept imagining pulling them.

that’s very immature of you

trust me, my thoughts in this area were very much mature in nature.

scandalous

oh, have I offended you?

oh it takes a lot more than that to offend me.

I’ll have to work harder then.

you seem like the imaginative type. I’m sure you’ll find a way.

I smirk to myself and shake my head, pocketing my phone.

I walk over to the Faulkners’ front door to ask them what to do with the firewood, passing her car on my way. Unable to resist, I stop to tap on her window, pulling off my ear protection. She rolls the window down and pulls one side of her earmuff away from her ear, wincing at the noise. I brace my hands over the door frame, leaning in.

“How goes the suffering?” I shout over the roaring noise.

“Oh, it’s pure hell. You?” she shouts back, squinting up at me.

“Same.” I grin, staring at her mouth. I want to kiss her.

“Good.” She smiles wickedly… and rolls up her window in my face.

I give her a rueful smile as I rub my jaw, shaking my head, and continue walking to the house.

* * *

Steph and I are crouched beside one another on Thursday afternoon, a stack of empty nursery pots between us. We’ve been planting ornamental grasses and shrubs along the garden beds edging the cliff-side. I pat the soil around the base of the azalea I’ve just put in the ground and stand to take stock of our progress. The day is sunny and Murphy stretches out nearby, soaking it in. I walk over to give him a scratch. When I straighten, I stretch my arms back, feeling the pull in my chest muscles. I’ve been hunched over all morning and my body is feeling it.