Love in Greener Pastures

by Bretz, Amanda

  Okay, so he was hot and he wanted to date her. Why was she so opposed to the idea? Gabby didn’t think she really wanted to answer that question. She threw the notebook on her desk in disgust and fell back onto the miserable bed. She had to go to sleep.

  It seemed that would be the only way she would stop thinking about Jake.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Gabby was putting her hair into a ponytail, ready to walk out the door to go to Stacey’s house, when her cell phone chimed. Out of habit, she answered it without bothering to check the caller I.D. Jake’s low timbre greeted her on the other end of the line.

  “Hi, it’s Jake. I just wanted to let you know your car is going to be okay, sort of. Do you want the good news or the bad news first?”

  “Gimme the good news.”

  “Well, your car is repairable. And it’s nothing too major.”

  “And the bad news?” Gabby hedged.

  “I don’t keep those parts in stock. Neither does the auto supply store over in Oak Valley. So, I’ve got to order the parts. And they’re kind of expensive.”

  “Define kind of,” she said warily.

  “With the parts, cost of shipping and labor, you’re looking at fifteen hundred”

  Gabby gasped. “You’ve got to be kidding me. My car’s not worth much more than that!”

  Gabby started to gnaw on her bottom lip as she thought over what she was going to do. If she spent the money to get her car fixed, it would almost completely wipe out her savings, but without her car, she’d be stuck driving the old truck. Maybe she could make that work, until a few paychecks started rolling in.

  “I know it’s a lot of money, Gabby. You don’t have to make a decision right now. You can leave it at the shop for a few days, if you want.”

  Gabby expelled a long breath. “Could I? That would help. Right now, I’m thinking I need to wait, at least until I get my first paycheck. But I don’t want to burden you. If you can’t hold it that long and need my hunk of junk out of your way, I’ll pay you to tow it to my dad’s house,” Gabby offered.

  “It’s fine. It’s not in the way. And I don’t mind keeping it here for you.”

  Gabby was touched by his kindness. Jake is a really decent man, she told herself. Not to mention gorgeous, her hormones reminded her.

  She knew she’d been more than rude to him in the past twenty-four hours. With a little uncertainty, she bit the bullet and said what was on her mind.

  “Look, I’ve been thinking, about what you said last night…” she let her voice trail off, unsure of how to bring up the topic of the two of them dating.

  “Last night…I said a lot of things, Gabby. Can you be more specific?”

  Gabby let out a sigh in annoyance. He knew what she was talking about, of that she was positive. Jake was just being difficult. It was clear he wanted her to come out and say it.

  “About Saturday? The two of us going out? I’d like to take you up on it, if the offer still stands, that is.”

  “Yeah, it’s still standing.”

  Gabby could almost hear the smile in his voice. “So, what are we going to do?”

  “Leave that up to me.”

  Up to him? Great. “Don’t I get a say in it?”

  “You’ll like it. I promise.”

  With an exasperated sigh, Gabby agreed and got off the phone as quickly as she could. She shoved her cell phone into the pocket of her jeans and flicked the lamp off on her way out of her bedroom. As she put the key in the ignition of her dad’s old truck, she couldn’t help but wonder what plans Jake had up his sleeve. What was there to do in Clear Lake or the other surrounding towns? Not much that she could recall. Who knew what his surprise entailed. She guessed she’d just have to wait until next Saturday night, which was six days away. An eternity for someone who liked to be in charge and know what was happening in her life. As Gabby turned the truck toward the edge of town, she once again marveled over how little had changed about the town since she’d moved to the city.

  Gabby felt sure the rough ride down the gravel road that led to Stacey’s house had jarred her teeth loose. She worked her jaw several times as she walked up the steps, assuring herself all her teeth were still in their place. She rang the doorbell and was surprised by who answered.

  “Hi, Gabby,” a high-pitched voice greeted her. Gabby looked down and smiled at the small child.

  “Hi, is your mommy here?”

  Smiling and nodding, Jimmy let her inside.

  “Stace?” Gabby called out to her friend

  “In here,” she answered from the kitchen.

  Gabby found Stacey chopping and dicing at the large chopping block built into her countertop, an apron wrapped around her swollen middle. Gabby found the domestic scene both comforting and disturbing. Standing barefoot in the kitchen, Gabby thought her friend fit every archaic stereotype imaginable.

  “Hi,” Stacey put down her knife and wrapped Gabby in a hug. “How are you adjusting to small town life again?”

  “I’m used to it,” she replied with a shrug. “I guess I never really forgot how to live the small town life, I think I just preferred to forget it.”

  Stacey stopped her rhythmic chopping to give Gabby a puzzled look.

  “Stace, I think more than anything, I wanted to go to school in Chicago so badly because it was so different from Clear Lake. I think it was a way to find myself and prove that I could do whatever I wanted to. Plus, it was a great way to start over, you know?”

  “Of course I do. You went through a lot, Gabby. A clean start is only normal. But, I’m glad you’re back home, where you belong,” she rushed to finish after seeing the look of disbelief on Gabby’s face. “I know you belong here, Gabby. I know you’re staying here, despite what you say about returning to the city. I know you! You’ll never truly be happy there, the noise, the traffic, the people. Gabby, it just doesn’t fit.”

  Gabby felt blood rushing to her face. She didn’t know what she felt more, anger or hurt. How dare Stacey try and assume she knew what was best. The two had been friends for their entire lives, but Gabby had changed in college, she wasn’t the same girl she had been when she left town a few years ago. That girl was gone.

  As angry as Gabby was at Stacey’s words, she didn’t say anything to her friend about it. Stacey had always had that effect on her. She may make her angry, but she could never stay angry at her friend.

  “Whatever you say, Stace,” she said with an irritated shrug of her shoulders.

  “I’m right, you’ll see. Anyway, wanna help with dinner? Can you throw all this in a bowl for salad?”

  “Sure. What else are we having?”

  “Pot roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits, string beans and apple cobbler for dessert.”

  Gabby chuckled. “You always were the Martha Stewart type, even in high school. So, where’s the Army at? You know, the one you’re cooking for?”

  Stacey ducked her head, “Well, I am expecting one other guest.”

  “Oh, really? Who?”

  “Jake,” Stacey said airily.

  Gabby dropped the stainless steel bowl she was holding with an ear-piercing clatter.

  “Jake, as in Jake Harrison?”

  “Yep. I know the two of you have met, and from what I’ve heard, you really hit it off.”

  Gabby began throwing vegetables into the bowl with a vengeful hand. She was getting so tired of her life being fodder for town gossip. And she’d only been in Clear Lake for two days.

  “Who told you we ‘hit it off?’ That’s quite a stretch, in my opinion.”

  Stacey let out a snort. “Oh, whatever Gabby. You’re going out on a date with him, aren’t you?”

  Incredulous, Gabby whirled around to face her friend. “Where do you get your information from?”

  “I saw Jake at church this morning, and when I mentioned you’d be our guest for dinner, he perked right up. He gave your ziti high praise, by the way.”

  “Oh, I feel honored,” Gabby mumbled.
/>   “He’s hot and you know it. I know you’re attracted to him, don’t you even try to deny it,” she said as she pointed her knife in Gabby’s direction for emphasis.

  Gabby looked at the knife wearily. “Well, when you put it that way, how can I?” Gabby replied wryly.

  “Don’t try to joke your way out of this. He’s a great guy and hot enough to give the sun a good run for its money,” Stacey said lustily as she licked her lips.

  “Does your husband know how you feel about Jake?”

  “Oh, please. It’s the pregnancy, hormones, you know. Well, I guess you don’t know. Anyway, please, I am begging you, give Jake a chance,” Stacey said earnestly.

  Gabby turned back to the task at hand, assembling the salad, and gave a non-committal shrug. She didn’t understand why everyone was buzzing about her and Jake. There was nothing going on, and Gabby wanted it to stay that way. She could grudgingly admit to herself that Jake was both gorgeous and charming, but she didn’t want or need any distractions right now. Her game plan was to get through this difficult time helping her father through his injury and then she was Chicago-bound. For good.

  ***

  “Oh my God! Put that away,” Gabby shrieked in embarrassment.

  Stacey had just pulled out their high school yearbooks and was pointing out pictures of Gabby and herself to Jake. The foursome were sitting on the front porch watching the western skyline change colors while talking and sharing stories. Gabby hadn’t counted on the evening taking such a nostalgic turn.

  “Come on, Gab. Take a trip down memory lane,” Stacey persuaded.

  “I think you look great. What are you acting shy about?” Jake asked as he appraised Gabby’s yearbook picture. “I’m surprised at the nose ring, good call on the outfit though,” he said with what Gabby was becoming to think of as his signature smirk and wink.

  “I was going through a rebellious phase. So I had a nose ring and dressed a little…provocatively. Sue me. I was seventeen.”

  Stacey laughed at Jake and Gabby’s exchange. “Yep, for a while there our Gabby was trouble with a capital ‘T.’ Naturally with her figure she had all the boys in an uproar when she decided to swap out her jeans, sweaters and t-shirts for mini skirts, short-shorts and oh, remember those skin-tight leather pants you wore practically all through senior year?”

  “Leather pants? Got any pictures of those?” Jake asked Stacey.

  “God, I hope not,” Gabby mumbled as she put her hands over her eyes.

  “Damn my rotten luck,” Jake said.

  Suddenly Jimmy appeared on the deck with a cry.

  “Mommy I had a bad dream,” he said as he buried his head into her shoulder. “I had an accident,” he added in a stage whisper.

  Stacey looked at his wet pajama bottoms then to James.

  “We’ll get you all fixed up, buddy.” James said as he scooped up his son. “I’ll get the new sheets,” he said to Stacey.

  “Oh, I’ll do it,” she replied as she hoisted herself from her lawn chair. “I’m sorry you two, parenting calls.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I was getting ready to call it a night anyway. Tomorrow’s my big day, remember? I start my new job,” Gabby said. Out of the corner of her eye, Gabby saw Jake stand to leave, too.

  “Okay, good luck, and have a good day,” Stacey said as she wrapped Gabby in a quick hug. “Bye, Jake. It was nice having you over.”

  “Thanks, dinner was delicious. Tell James goodbye for me.”

  Stacey waddled up the few steps leading into her house, leaving Jake and Gabby alone to say their goodbyes. Gabby was the first to break the silence.

  “Well, I really do need to get going. I’d like to be fresh for my first day on the job tomorrow.”

  “Of course,” Jake said as he let her lead the way toward their respective vehicles.

  “So, I guess I’ll see you around. I’ll call the shop later this week and let you know what I plan to do about my car,” she said as she hauled the driver side door open to her father’s truck. Gabby jumped in and Jake closed the door behind her. He rested his forearms on the open window, not content to let Gabby leave just yet.

  “Don’t forget, you’ll see me Saturday. On our date,” he promised her with a gleam in his eye.

  “Jake, you just won’t give up, will you?”

  “No, why should I?”

  “What if I told you I’m not interested in you?”

  “Well, then I’d have to call you a liar and I’m not in the habit of calling women names, so don’t say it.”

  Exasperated, Gabby started the engine on the truck, hoping he’d get the hint. Instead, he gazed at her with an intensity that both intrigued and frightened her. She noticed his eyes flicker down toward her lips for a split second. She stomped on the clutch and threw the truck into reverse.

  “I gotta go. I’ll see you later, Jake.” With that Gabby left him no choice but to step away from the vehicle and let her leave. He gave her a nod goodbye and a short wave as he walked to his own truck. It wasn’t until Gabby was safely on the road that she realized she’d been holding her breath. Whether she’d been holding it in the hopes of Jake kissing her or in her haste to get away from that possibility, she didn’t know for sure.

  ***

  Gabby reached for her notebook and mug full of coffee and headed to the small employee lounge area where the staff had their morning editorial meeting. Even though it was only her second day at the paper, she already dreaded these meetings, since the majority of the editorial staff at the Lake Breeze consisted of chauvinistic pigs. She already hated bouncing ideas around in the machismo-filled room.

  With a sigh, Gabby fell into one of the shabby, stained fabric-covered chairs. She exchanged a weak smile with Angela, the only other female on the editorial staff. Angela was a part-time staff writer and Gabby was fairly certain the older woman had been part of the original staff when the paper launched over forty years ago.

  “Are we all ready to go this morning?” Chuck asked the listless staff.

  Gabby took in the unenthusiastic looks of the other reporters. Apparently everyone dreaded the editorial meetings as much as she did. To buy time, Gabby took a sip of coffee, and then cleared her throat. She might as well throw around some ideas about articles and get it out of the way.

  “I’m working on the livestock piece. It’s informational, a what, where, when type of story. No fluff,” she added, looking at the bored male faces around the table.

  “Sounds great,” Chuck said sounding uninterested.

  “And,” Gabby rebutted, “I’m working on some ideas for a story about local recycling, or lack thereof.”

  “Recycling? What are you trying to do? Turn this into some hippie, liberal paper?” Asked Walter, the resident political writer and an all around thorn in Gabby’s side. Although she knew Walter was only half serious, his attitude and condescending tone of voice rubbed Gabby the wrong way.

  “Walter, keep the politics limited to your stories, please,” Chuck said. “Recycling, great. Sounds fine. You got anything else?” Chuck asked.

  “Well, I was thinking about,” Gabby hesitated and glanced at Walter, who was chatting with some of the other staff. “The Anderson family, here in town,” she continued.

  “I heard about what happened. I don’t know them personally, but I know of them, and I’m sure you’re all aware of the house fire a few weeks ago. They’re still struggling, they literally lost everything.”

  She noticed she had the attention of Chuck, Walter and the whole editorial staff. Emboldened by their attention she continued on.

  “I’ve seen the fliers around town, there’s to be a benefit in their honor at St. Mary’s this Saturday. I thought I could run something about the benefit, how to help out, there’s going to be a dinner, a silent auction. I was also thinking, it may be good to interview the Anderson family. If they’re willing, that is. We’ve all heard the story of how their house burned down, but we haven’t heard the family’s story. Yet.”r />
  “That’s good, I like both of those angles, Gabby. You can do an informational piece about the benefit and a human interest piece about the family. Tell their story. Great, let’s run with it. Anything else?”

  Gabby shook her head, too awed to speak. She had just received more attention and respect from the staff than she thought she would get, being the newbie at the paper. She smiled to herself. Maybe her time at the Lake Breeze wouldn’t be so bad after all.

  ***

  Gabby stared at the blinking cursor on her screen and furrowed her brows in concentration. Her story just wasn’t coming out the way she wanted it to. She couldn’t concentrate on her article to save her life. The loud electronic bleep of her cell phone’s ringer forced her out of her daze.

  “This is Gabby,” she said.

  “Hi. How’s your day going?”

  At the sound of his melodic voice Gabby’s heart leapt into her throat.

  “It’s going okay, I guess. I’m working on a story, but it’s not coming out right.”

  “Well, maybe you need to take a breather and get back at it when you’re fresh after lunch.”

  “I’m probably going to skip lunch, Jake. I’ve got a million things to do and I didn’t bring anything from home today”

  “Oh good, because I’ve got a craving for Smokey’s. I’m buying. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  “What? No, Jake, I really can’t stop what I’m doing to eat. Jake? Jake? Are you there?” Gabby checked her phone’s screen and saw that the call had ended. Frustrated, she ran her hands through her hair. She looked back to her computer screen at the winking cursor mocking her. She quickly hit the save button on her computer’s word processing program and decided she would shelve the story until after lunch.

  Maybe Jake was right, maybe once she got out of the office and forgot about her writer’s block, she could come back and put some fresh ideas down. Knowing Jake would be true to his word and show up at her office within ten minutes, she quickly gathered her things and locked her computer. She ran to the ladies room to freshen up her hair and touch up her lip gloss. She also found herself reapplying some of her body spray. Although she didn’t know why she was going to any trouble to freshen up. It wasn’t for Jake’s sake. Even though a growing part of her was becoming insanely attracted to him.