Love in Greener Pastures

by Bretz, Amanda

  “You and your son?”

  “And my husband,” she said as she displayed her glistening left ring finger. “I think you might have met James at your mother’s service?”

  Gabby merely nodded her head. She vaguely remembered being introduced to someone at the funeral, but she couldn’t come up with a face or any other physical attributes.

  “How about two o’clock? It will give us some time to catch up while I cook dinner.”

  “Sounds great. Oh, wait. Where do you live?”

  “Same place I always have. We built a house on the south side of my folks’ property. You’ll find it. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said with a final hug goodbye.

  “Well, do you want me to bring anything?” Gabby asked, taken aback by the invitation to Sunday dinner. The two of them hadn’t spoken much since before Gabby’s mother had died.

  “Nope. Just bring yourself. I’ve got everything I’ll need right here,” she said as she pointed to her loaded shopping cart. “See ya, Gabby.”

  “Bye,” Gabby said to Stacey’s back. Jimmy turned and waved wildly as the two made their way out of the aisle and headed toward the checkout. He was so adorable Gabby couldn’t help but smile.

  ***

  Gabby loaded the paper grocery sacks into the bed of her father’s pick-up, returned the cart to the front of the store and jumped inside the cab. She backed out of the parking lot and headed toward the garage. She hoped Jake had been able to look at her car and at least have a diagnosis for her. And for her dwindling bank account’s sake, she hoped whatever it was that needed fixing wasn’t too costly.

  Gabby pulled in front of the garage and opted to skip the formality of walking into the office and ringing the bell. This time she walked right into the service bay area and found Jake working on an older model Ford. She looked around the garage and didn’t see her car anywhere.

  She cleared her throat, “Jake?”

  He looked up from his task, gave her a broad smile and began walking toward her drawing the grease smattered rag out of his back pocket.

  “Couldn’t stay away?”

  Gabby smiled at his question. “Have you gotten around to my car yet? I know it’s only been a couple of hours, but I had to run by the grocery store, and I just thought I’d check in while I was out.” She paused to catch a breath.

  “No, I haven’t. It’s actually still hooked to the tow truck, around back of the shop. I really need to get this one,” he motioned with his head toward the Ford, “finished up. And there’s one more car that needs to be looked at before I’ll be able to get to yours.”

  Gabby tried to remember that she wasn’t in the city, that people in Clear Lake seemed to be in a time zone all of their own. Things didn’t move along as quickly, and to most of the town that was just how they liked it. Nice and slow. After years of the hustle and bustle and immediate gratification of the city, Clear Lake’s pace not only boggled her mind, it grated on her nerves. She reminded herself to remember her manners when she spoke to Jake.

  “I understand. Did you happen to get the doors unlocked?” she asked hopefully.

  “No, I’m sorry. Like I said before, I really have to get these two vehicles done first, and I’m already behind schedule today.”

  Gabby felt her eyes narrow. She had inherited her mother’s Sicilian temper, although she didn’t let it loose often, she was told when she did, she really blew her stack. She felt dangerously close to letting Jake see that side of her. Was he insinuating she was at fault for his being behind schedule? She didn’t make him drive her home, he had offered, after all. ‘Didn’t you enjoy the ride home?’ a small voice in her head asked. Frustrated with herself and the situation, she mentally counted to ten.

  “Okay, I’ll leave you to your work. I don’t want to put you behind any more than you already are.” She turned on her heel and began walking out of the service area toward her father’s truck. “If you call me when you get it unlocked, I’ll come back up and get my things,” she called to him over her shoulder.

  Jake caught up with her in a few long strides. “I told you I’d bring your stuff to you on my way home. I’m good to my word. You’ll have it by dinner time. Speaking of which,” he said as he peered into the truck bed, “what did you pick up for dinner?”

  Gabby’s eyes grew large with surprise. “You expect dinner?” she asked indignantly.

  “Well, since you’re cooking anyway, and I’ll be stopping by about that time, it would be nice. Come on, I took you home, and I’m bringing you your bags, it’s the least you could do, don’t you think?”

  Ordinarily if a man had been so presumptuous with her she would have told him off. But as she looked into Jake’s blue eyes and the gleaming white teeth shining in his grease smudged face, she couldn’t say no. He had given her a ride to her father’s and it was purely her fault that she had locked the keys inside her car. He was just trying to be courteous because he was friends with her father.

  “Does dinner at six o’clock work for you?” Gabby asked reluctantly.

  “Perfect. What’s on the menu?”

  “I’m not sure yet.”

  “Great, I love surprises. See you in a few hours,” he said with a wink and another huge grin.

  “Sure,” she said as she heaved the door shut on the metallic heap that was her father’s truck.

  As the truck rumbled down the road, Gabby couldn’t help but feel pressured. Now she had to make something special for dinner. She had just planned on making a simple salad and maybe a ziti for her and her father. To hell with it, she thought sassily. She was making whatever she wanted for dinner and special or not, Jake Harrison would like it.

  Gabby pulled the truck under the carport and began the task of hauling the groceries inside. At the precise moment she wrenched the front door open, she dropped the package she was balancing on her left hip. Gabby was subjected to a shower of what felt like the entire twelve pack of diet soda. She shrieked as it sprayed her face and coated her long hair and clothes.

  Why couldn’t she catch a break today? Just one, she thought as she glanced toward the heavens.

  “Oh, honey, are you all right?” Louise asked as she rushed outside to help Gabby.

  “Yeah, I just got a cola shower,” she said with a small laugh. It felt so good to laugh, that soon Gabby was doubled over and tears were coming to her eyes. “It’s always better to laugh than cry,” she could hear her mother say. She gathered her composure and looked a bewildered Louise in the eyes.

  “I think I better just stay home for the rest of the day, though. It’s been pretty eventful.”

  “Here, I’ll take the groceries, you go change.”

  “Oh, damn! I don’t have anything here to change into,” Gabby said as she released the bags to Louise. “I guess I’ll have to see if any of my old clothes from high school still fit.”

  “If they do, enjoy it while you still can. I was a size four back in high school,” Louise said as she patted her ample hips. “Go ahead and change, I’ll clean up the front steps, too.”

  “You really don’t have to, it’s not like it’s part of your job. I can do it once I get changed, and rinse my hair,” she said as she ran her hand through her wet, sticky tresses. At Louise’s insistence, Gabby rushed down the hallway toward her old bedroom.

  She was greeted by the same cheerful yellow walls that her room had been since she’d painted them herself the summer before eighth grade. Gabby stripped out of her jeans and tank-top, and began to rummage through the old clothes hanging in her closet for something that might still fit.

  She figured as long as she was in there, she might as well get rid of the items that no longer fit and were outdated. After fifteen disgruntling minutes, the pile of clothes that fit twenty-five year old Gabby was significantly smaller than the pile of clothes that used to fit eighteen year old Gabby.

  She discovered that a couple of wool sweaters and a pair of corduroy pants fit her, unfortunately that didn’t help in June. No
ne of the sundresses or denim shorts fit any longer, and she knew exactly why.

  As Gabby peered at herself in the mirror, she could see she was beginning to inherit her mother’s pear-shape figure. The only outfit she could piece together was something Gabby used to wear when she had gardening chores to do. A t-shirt that begged the question, ‘Why do they call it a French kiss when Italians do it best?’ and a pair of very short, and not to mention tight, cotton shorts.

  “Dinner should be interesting,” she said to herself as she pulled the shirt away from her body, hoping she could stretch the cotton a little. Realizing it was a lost cause and not really caring what Jake thought of her anyway, she stepped into the bathroom that was off of her bedroom. She leaned her head over the claw-footed bathtub and turned on the tap. The water came out in a loud, sputtering burst from lack of use. She was sure the tap hadn’t been turned on since her last visit home. Once she had her head wrapped in a towel, she made her way back to the kitchen, where Louise was still putting away groceries.

  “Here, let me do the rest, Louise,” she said while taking a can of crushed tomatoes out of the woman’s hand.

  Gabby was on her way to placing canned goods in the walk-in pantry when she caught the time on the stove’s digital clock. “Is it really four o’clock already?” She asked the empty room.

  Damn, she would have to hurry to get dinner ready in time. Oh well, she loved to work under pressure, and after the years of working on her college newspaper and her internship, she had learned to thrive under it.

  ***

  “Nice outfit. You didn’t have to change clothes just for me, you know,” Jake said as he took in her too-tight T-shirt and short-shorts.

  “These are my old clothes from high school, I spilled something on myself and since I didn’t have any of my things I had to wear this,” she said as she gestured to her ridiculously small clothes.

  “Does everything you have here fit you like that?”

  Gabby nodded mournfully.

  “Well, maybe I should just hold onto your luggage a little longer then,” he said with a lusty smile.

  Any snappy comeback she could have come up with died on her lips when she looked into Jake’s eyes. There was a hint of playfulness, and something else she couldn’t put her finger on. Unsure of what to say next, Gabby stepped aside and motioned for Jake to come inside.

  “Were you able to get my things?”

  “They’re in my truck,” he said.

  The thought of her suitcases being in Jake’s truck made her blush. Fearful that he’d see the telltale pink in her cheeks, Gabby turned her back to him. She began walking toward the kitchen and motioned for him to follow her.

  “I figured I’d bring your bags in after dinner, if that’s okay. It smells great, by the way. Oh, I’m gonna go say hi to your dad.”

  Even though her insides were fluttering, Gabby feigned indifference and shrugged. As she watched him swagger down the hall in his khaki colored shorts and t-shirt, she noticed that he was no longer wearing his uniform. She’d also noticed that his face and hands had been cleaned off. Either he had changed at the garage or he was lying about her house being on his way home. Somehow, Gabby suspected the latter.

  Gabby went back to the kitchen and put the finishing touches on the salad. When the oven timer buzzed, she pulled the ziti from the oven and let it begin to cool. She leaned into the dish and inhaled deeply. Her nostrils were happily met with the smells of tomato, basil, sausage and various cheeses.

  “Need any help?”

  Gabby almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of Jake’s voice. She whirled around with her hand on her heart.

  “Sorry if I scared you,” Jake said with a laugh.

  “No, it’s okay. I just…it’s…well,” she stumbled on how to tell Jake the truth, “This is the first time I’ve made this dish in a while and it was sort of my mom’s specialty. It brings back memories, you know?” She shrugged. “If you could set the table that would be great. I’m going to make Dad’s plate and take it to him on a tray,” she said as she handed him two plates, forks, and salad bowls.

  As she prepared her father’s tray, she couldn’t help but feel as though she had been set up on a date. As a journalist she’d met strangers for lunch or dinner plenty of times, but she’d always been the one calling the shots and asking all the questions. Somehow she doubted Jake would be willing to let her play the role of reporter and bombard him with questions over dinner.

  “Here you go, Daddy. Salad and Mamma’s ziti,” she said as she placed his food in front of him.

  “Thanks, Boogs. That’s some outfit you got on there,” her father said with a raised right eyebrow.

  “I know. I couldn’t find anything else that fit me here, and Jake’s just arrived with my stuff. I’ll change after dinner.”

  “I didn’t say it was bad,” he began, “But if I didn’t know my daughter better, I’d think you were trying to impress Jake, what with the outfit and your mother’s best dish.”

  “Oh, Daddy!” Gabby wished she could think of something to tell her father. Like the dinner was just a favor, and that she wasn’t trying to impress anyone in Clear Lake, certainly not Jake. But instead she said in the airiest voice she could muster, “Enjoy your dinner, let me know if you need anything, I’ll be right in here at the table.”

  Her father nodded his head in agreement and reached for the remote control. Ever since her mother had died and she had gone back to college, her father had grown accustomed to eating in front of the TV like some sort of zombie. Gabby plastered a smile on her face, stifled a sigh and headed toward the casual table that was located in the eat-in kitchen.

  ***

  Gabby tossed and turned in bed. She looked over her right shoulder and saw the clock on her nightstand said it was just after midnight. She told herself the reason she couldn’t sleep well was because of the old mattress. Gabby knew it couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that she had dodged Jake’s advances all night. Well, she didn’t think it had that much to do with it. Maybe fifty-fifty, she relented.

  She threw her covers off with an aggravated sigh and stalked out of her bedroom and down the hall to the kitchen for a drink. As she stood in the wedge of light provided by the refrigerator, she stared into the contents of the space and wondered why Jake had decided to use dinner as the time to hound her about dating. She fully believed he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

  She remembered the way he had found her in the kitchen as she was putting away the remnants of dinner. The kitchen she had always thought of as cute and cozy, had become downright tiny and cramped with Jake’s commanding presence. He handed her their dirty dishes and had apparently went and picked up her father’s tray while she was in the process of putting leftovers into containers.

  “I’ll wash if you’ll put away,” Jake told her as he began loading dishes into the dishwasher. She nodded, surprised that a man as masculine as Jake felt comfortable in the kitchen. In her kitchen, no less.

  “You know, you really don’t have to help. I can manage. If you want to go catch up with my dad, I’ll understand.”

  “Are you kidding? With the meal you just prepared, it’s the least I can do. Besides, we aren’t finished talking about next Saturday,” he said as he leaned against the sink, arms folded over his chest, head angled to one side, taking an appreciative view of Gabby in her shorts as she bent to store the leftovers on the bottom shelf of the fridge.

  As soon as Gabby peeked a glance at him over shoulder and figured out what he was staring at, she straightened up so fast she whacked her head on the upper part of the refrigerator.

  Her Sicilian temper rose to the surface as she let out several curse words in both English and Italian.

  “Ouch, are you okay?” Jake asked as he stepped forward to rub her head. She merely nodded. “I didn’t know you could speak Italian,” Jake said.

  “I don’t really, but I know all the bad words,” she said with an impish grin.

/>   Jake smiled at her and without really thinking about it, leaned forward and kissed the top of her head. “There,” he said in a husky voice. “All better.”

  Gabby felt her face flush and as she tipped her head up to look Jake in the eyes, she almost tilted her mouth up to kiss him. Then she remembered she was in her parents’ home. In the kitchen, with her injured father only a couple of rooms away and Jake was her dad’s friend.

  “Thank you,” she whispered as she took a step backward disentangling herself from Jake’s embrace.

  Jake cleared his throat. “So, I’ll let you know what I find out about your car. I’ll probably call you tomorrow after I have a look at it. We’ll talk more about Saturday, too,” Jake said with a wink.

  Gabby turned her back to him. He just wasn’t going to let up about this, was he? She began scrubbing out the stainless steel sink as a means of distraction.

  “Okay, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Have a good evening, Jake.”

  Back on her mattress, giving sleep another futile chance, Gabby rolled out of bed with an impatient sigh, the memories of dinner keeping her from even the pretense of sleep at this point. Damn! How she wished she had a good story to work on. Writing had always served as a means of escape, even as a young girl, she’d kept a journal and had written stories full of outlandish characters.

  She could work on the book she’d been putting on the backburner throughout college. But, she didn’t feel like rummaging through her suitcases to get to her laptop. Not one to remain idle, she grabbed a notebook and instead decided to go over potential questions she could ask her first interview subject on Monday.

  While a story about the various types of livestock making an appearance at the upcoming annual county fair wouldn’t normally keep her up at night, Gabby put her pen to the paper to distract her mind. Per her usual thinking process, Gabby began doodling on the margin of the notebook. When she realized she had scribbled the letters “J” and “A”, she stopped herself before writing “K” and “E”.

  For goodness sake, why was she being so foolish? Maybe it was because she was trying to get re-acclimated to her small town. Maybe it was just because Jake was hot. Yeah, that was it, all right.