Then there was the t-shirt. Its neckline scooped down to a teasing level that made Brian’s heart race and body heat rise. Jill was looking really good at the moment, making him want to touch her all the more.
But at the same time though, he knew where they stood. It was imperative to play things cool, and so he tried to remain calm and reserved.
“Did you need something?” he asked, unsure why she’d visit him so soon after arriving.
Jill was a little taken aback by his lack of emotion. On one hand she understood why he might seem standoffish, but a part of her hoped what happened the last time they talked would have been long forgotten.
But of course not. Why would it? Jill realized.
“Here,” she said as she handed the container to Brian. “I made some cookies for you. The kind you really like. May I come in for a moment? I want to talk to you about something.”
Remembering he was still on the phone, he declined. “I’m sorry. I’m just really tired and have a lot to do. I’m actually on the phone with someone right now.”
“Oh,” Jill said, dejected. She then added, “Do you know when a good time might be?”
Brian had no clue why she had to talk to him or what about. And although he wanted to spend time with her, he didn’t know when a good time would be. With guilt, he said, “I honestly don’t know. Thanks for the cookies though.” He tried his best to smile, but the hurt he saw on her face reflected onto his.
Jill took a few steps back and said, “Okay then. Well, enjoy.” She motioned at the cookies she referred to. Turning around, she walked off.
Brian watched her go, feeling awful, but then quickly closed the door to get back to his phone call.
When Jill got inside the comfort of her own home, she began to reevaluate the situation. Her thoughts tried to play a trick on her, telling her that he didn’t love her anymore. Her heart, however, reminded her true love doesn’t change. Therefore, whatever may have caused Brian’s demeanor, it had nothing to do with not loving her.
She decided she’d try again to talk to him.
Whatever it took, Brian would not leave Ashwin one more time without knowing how she felt about him.
20
It wasn’t long after Jill had gone back home that she noticed Brian taking off in his car. If he didn’t know when a good time would be to talk then she would have to watch for the next time he came back and try again.
All the rest of that day and all night she found herself occasionally peaking next door to see if his car came back.
Nothing.
What’s keeping him away so long?
A twelve-hour shift was coming up at work the next day so she could only allow her eyes to remain open until a certain time or she knew for a fact she wouldn’t be able to function. And her co-workers needed her to function.
The patients needed her to function.
Looking at the clock and seeing it was close to midnight, she gave up. She was practically falling asleep on the couch and figured she might as well call it a night. Five in the morning would roll around all too soon.
Maybe I can just catch him in the morning, she thought.
She slipped into her pajamas and lay her head on the cool pillow at the head of the bed. Sleep overtook her immediately.
The next thing she knew, her alarm was going off. However, when she went to turn the annoying sound off, it was not the time she expected to see.
“Five fifteen?” she screamed in shock. Jill had been in such a deep sleep that she slept fifteen minutes through her alarm before coming to.
Usually she set out her work clothes for the following day, but being so preoccupied with catching Brian the night before, she had completely forgot. So Jill scrambled out of bed as fast as she could, opening various drawers to pull out what she needed to wear. Then racing down the stairs, she got into the bathroom to do all the routine things she did when she had to work.
There was no time for a decent breakfast so she had to eat on the go. Grabbing a banana and her water bottle, she put on a light jacket and hurried to her car.
Sure enough, Brian was next door, but her work obligations didn’t allow her to take the time to visit with him at that moment.
All day at work Jill could tell she was frazzled. Her mind was definitely not where it needed to be, and she was constantly viewing whichever clock she could find to see if it was close to calling it a day.
Working twelve-hour shifts were never something Jill liked to do, but being a nurse at the local hospital called for that occasionally. But of all days, she complained within herself as to why today had to be one of them. Then she had to remind herself to be grateful it was only occasionally because she knew many other nurses had to do it most of the time if not all of the time.
Today was a struggle, however, and she wished someone else would take over. There were only so many hours in a day and so many hours that she had before Brian left again. Working an extra four hours was four precious hours less of a chance she had to get to talk with him.
When her shift was drawing to an end, she was becoming more and more jittery. Jill found herself encouraging the clock to move just a tad faster, and she was running out of things to do to help speed along that process.
Then six o’clock came.
Jill grabbed a couple of her things, punched out and fled the building. She didn’t even remember to say goodbye to anyone, but considered that far less important than getting to speak with Brian.
As she made her way back home, she thought about how she would start her conversation with him.
Should I just come out and say it? Should I throw in some small talk first?
She had to repeatedly remind herself to breathe in order to calm her nerves, hoping that when the moment came, the right things would be said at the right time.
Her mind completely shut down, however, when she got to the front of her home. There above the ‘For Sale’ sign was placed a long, red bar with white words that read ‘SOLD’.
Jill was crushed.
Parking her car, she stared at Elena’s house. Once again, Brian wasn’t there.
---------------
Where is he?
Jill wanted to scream because nothing was working out. The only option she could think of was to go to Elena’s. If he wasn’t next door, her place was the only other place Jill could think of that he would be.
She brought the remaining cookies that she had baked the day before with her. Saying goodbye to her cat that was meowing for attention, she once again left the house. Her attention was focused on one thing and one thing only: getting to Brian.
Brian’s car wasn’t seen in the parking lot when Jill got to Elena’s, but she couldn’t rule out he wasn’t there. So she walked inside, cookies in hand.
Knock, knock, knock.
Elena opened the door and offered Jill a bright smile. “Jill, it’s nice to see you. Come on in!”
Immediately, upon entering, Jill could tell that Brian wasn’t there, her hope quickly fading. She did her best, though, to put on a smile, offering the cookies she made. “They’re a couple of days old now, but should still taste pretty good.”
“Oh, they’ll be fine. That’s nice of you!”
Elena asked if Jill wanted to take her coat off and stay a while, to which Jill replied that she probably wouldn’t. She mentioned to Elena that she just wanted to quick pop in with the cookies and ask a couple of questions.
“Well, I might have some answers. What ya got?”
“So you sold your house?”
Elena grinned, “I sure did. Did Brian tell you all about it?”
Jill shook her head. “No, I haven’t been able to really talk to him at all lately. Have you?”
“Let’s see,” she began. Thinking through her answer, she added, “He stopped in yesterday for quite some time. He was here again today, but left maybe, I’d say, an hour ago.”
“When is he leaving?”
Jill was spitting out questio
ns so fast one right after another as soon as they were answered that Elena didn’t have time to pause and explain a couple of things she wanted to share. “I think he said he was going back tomorrow morning. But –”
“Tomorrow morning?” Jill shrieked. “Already?” Her eyes widened in horror as her heart raced.
Time.
She was losing time.
As Jill got to the door to leave she said, “If you see him, tell him I need to talk to him.”
Before Elena could get another word in edgewise, she could see Jill running down the hallway.
If only she’d let me speak, she thought, head shaking side to side.
---------------
Jill raced home in the dark, cloudless night, hoping that when she got there, Brian would be around.
He was!
Okay. Breathe, she rehearsed, making her way next door.
She knocked.
He didn’t answer.
There weren’t any lights on that she could see, but it was too early for Brian to have gone to sleep.
Unless he wanted to go to bed early so he could leave bright and early.
She tried to knock again, this time with a pound as hard as she could make.
Jill’s mind went back to the night they shared their first kiss. He didn’t answer that night either.
Maybe I should just walk in again!
As much as he may not appreciate it, she tested the doorknob to see if it was even a possibility.
It was unlocked!
Jill slowly opened the door, and right away she could hear music blaring from upstairs.
That explains why he didn’t answer the door! He couldn’t hear me!
She walked towards the stairs and started climbing. At the top there was a bathroom in the middle and then a bedroom on each side. The one side had the door shut and looked completely dark. The other side had light shining through the cracks around the door that was ajar, signaling where Brian must be.
Standing just on the outside of the room, she hesitated before walking in. She didn’t want to frighten him, and she contemplated how it must look for her to just make her way into this home when it didn’t belong to her.
When the upbeat music faded, she made her move. Slowly opening the door, she found Brian staring in the room’s closet, hands on his hips. It appeared he was thinking about what to do with the space before him.
“Brian?” she asked nervously, making her presence known.
He turned around quickly, startled someone else was in the room with him. “Jill!” he shrieked. Putting a hand to his chest, he gasped, “You scared me! Hasn’t anyone taught you how to knock?”
Jill was hurt by the way he asked that question, but in all honesty, she would have done the same. “I did knock, but you never answered.”
“I’m sorry, I’m just busy. I’ve got to leave tomorrow morning.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“What did you need?” he asked, slightly on the cold side as he was still trying to bounce back from the scare she gave him. He found a couple of boxes he knew could go downstairs, and so he lifted them up and started heading in that direction as he waited for Jill to make her response.
She followed right behind him. Whether they talked face to face or if she had to talk to his back all night long, she didn’t care. As long as what she needed to say was said, that’s all that mattered. Not knowing where she would start, she let the words just flow from her mouth. “I just wanted to talk about how we left things last time. I feel terrible and wanted to apologize.”
Brian definitely wasn’t expecting her to say that. The mere fact she expressed regret left him speechless until he reached the dining room to place the boxes on the table. Turning around to face Jill, he asked, “Okay. Is that all?”
His lack of conversing with her was making it hard to figure out just what to say and how. “Well, no, not exactly.”
He brushed past her to head back upstairs while asking, “Well, what else you got?”
Jill thought of the gift. “The gift you gave me before you left, the one that was left on the steps. Thank you. It was nice of you to remember that I admired that picture.”
Back in the upstairs bedroom Brian replied with a partial smile, “I figured you’d like it.”
“I did. I mean, I do.”
Jill tried to make eye contact with Brian to see if she could read his mind in any way, but he kept moving around too much.
Brian found another stack of items that belonged downstairs. He grabbed them, and again made his way to the lower level.
Jill eyed his moves, counting herself lucky she got to see the muscles in his arms flex as they needed to carry the objects he moved. However, she felt she wouldn’t be truly fortunate until those same arms were wrapped around her and never letting go.
Silence hung in the air, making Brian assume that was all there was to say. “Well, thanks again for the cookies. Your empty container is on the counter by the door.”
He isn’t pushing me out the door, is he?
Brian dropped the stack of items onto the dining room table and added, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I really need to go finish up some things so I can get to bed.”
Thinking back on how those words came out, he thought he was serious yet kind enough to not come off rude.
He is! He’s trying to get rid of me! I’m not going to let him!
Right when Brian again began to walk past Jill, she turned around herself and said, “Don’t!”
Brian stopped to face her, exhaustion on his face and a beseeching in his tone. “Don’t what, Jill? I really don’t have the time.”
Staring directly into his dark brown eyes, she noticed a sparkle in them from the light above. “Don’t go!”
“Don’t go?” he asked, confused.
Grabbing his hand, she begged, “I don’t want you to go. I want you to stay.”
Brian exhaled, looking deep into Jill’s eyes, deep into her heart, taking in what just happened, what was just said. Reclaiming his hand so he could place both of them up in front of him, he stated, “Wait. You want me to stay? I thought you said there was no reason for me to stay?”
Jill placed her hand to her head, wincing, “I know. I know. But the truth is I was…I am scared. But not seeing you ever again scares me even more.” Picking up both of his hands this time, she finished with, “Brian, I love you. Please don’t go.”
Brian stared, not believing what he heard. “Did you say you love me?”
Tearing up, Jill just nodded her head and smiled the best she could.
“Oh, Jill…” Without finishing that sentence, he cupped his hands around both sides of Jill’s face and leaned into her. There was no pause this time before he locked his lips to hers with a hunger and craving so fierce that he ached for more.
By the time they stopped, Jill was breathless, but looked at him as if to say, “Why did you stop?”
He didn’t want to stop, but had to finish what he began to say. “You’ve just made me the happiest, luckiest man in the whole world. And, I might add, glad I did what I did.”
Jill was puzzled. “Glad you did what you did?”
Pointing to himself, he informed her, “I bought this house. I’m the reason it’s sold.”
“You did?” Jill asked shockingly. She was exhilarated it would be him next door to her instead of some stranger, but she had to ask why he did, not knowing she felt the way she did first.
“Because the way I looked at it, if all we could ever be is friends, I’d rather have that than being nothing at all. So I talked it over with my mom in some great detail and she finally agreed to let me buy the place and move up here.”
“But what about your business?”
“It’s all taken care of. That’s why I’ve been so busy actually. Not only did I have to take care of the paperwork for the house, but I had to deal with the bank and the hardware store right in town.”
Jill’s eyebrows raised in interest as Brian contin
ued, “I’ve been dealing with the owner and the two of us came up with a good deal. I’ll be starting my own business right here! Something I’ve been wanting to do for the longest time.”
“So you’re staying then,” she stated blissfully, almost finding it hard to believe.
“Well, technically I’m leaving tomorrow. But,” he emphasized, “I just have to get a few more things squared away and then Buddy and I will be moving on in.”
“Really? Brian, I’m so…” Jill gave him a lasting, memorable kiss before whispering with a smile, “Happy.”
“And when I get back this next time,” he began, “I’m not leaving you again.” Wanting to get as close to Jill’s heart and soul as he could, Brian leaned over to rest his forehead on Jill’s, cupping the sides of her face once again. “You’re stuck with me,” he teased.
The words Brian spoke were music to Jill’s ears, a pleasant melody in her heart. “And you’re stuck with me, Mr. Montgomery.”
Both of them snickered at the use of his formal name.
Brian wanted to say one last thing before he allowed himself to dive in for another taste of Jill’s lips. “Hey, it’s the least we could do –”
Jill finished the sentence with the exact words he was going to say. “For the one we love.”
The two of them smiled at one another there in the dining room before they embraced each other, immersing into each other’s lips in a delicate yet passionate kiss.
EPILOGUE
Jill stood before her closet, staring at some of the fancier tops she owned. She was having a hard time trying to figure out what she was going to wear tonight on her date with Brian.
It had been eight months since she declared her love for him. Eight fast, blurry months since she found out he would actually be moving up here. Only the last five of those months, however, had he finally been able to stay.
And ever since he moved next door, the two of them had spent a lot of time together, really making a go of their relationship. She helped him unpack and make the house exactly the way he wanted. She even helped him get his business up and running. They went out to dinner often, and numerous times they visited Elena who was thrilled for the two love birds. All in all, Jill was very pleased with how things were going.
Next Door Neighbors Page 19
