She has consumed all of my thoughts when I wasn’t working, and I was glad that I’d be able to be around her today. I’d found the perfect spot where I was taking her. The Kennebec River Rail Trail was beautiful. It was amazing the one and only time I’d been there. It would allow us to walk around and view the water. It was also peaceful but out in the open, which I knew would help her feel safer. Another good thing is that the weather was cooperating today, and there wasn’t a rain cloud in site. It may be on the chilly side, but it’d be worth it to be able to get some fresh air and enjoy the scenery.
I went into the kitchen to make the picnic that I planned on bringing. I made our chicken salad sandwiches and gathered the grapes, a different assortment of chips, and some waters. I really hoped she liked what I was packing. Not knowing anything about her or having anyone to ask made me have to wing it. Maybe I needed an in with Sophia. Jeremiah could possibly know, but he was on shift at the firehouse, and I didn’t want to bother him with something so petty. I made a mental note to ask him in the future. For now, I was just going to go with my instinct. I put all of the food and the waters into the cooler and added a couple of ice packs to keep everything cold. I collected a blanket from the closet so we could sit in the grass while we ate. I went back into the kitchen and cleaned up the mess I’d made.
I got ready wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a fitted Under Armor shirt. I put on my socks and shoes, grabbed the cooler, and headed for the door. Once the apartment was locked up, I made my way to my truck. It was my baby. I plugged in my phone once I got in and put on some music. I hoped she liked country because that’s all that was being played.
On the drive over, all I could do was hope that she could handle going out with me somewhere. She had her reservations about people she didn’t know, but I was praying that she knew I was one of the good guys. I made a mental note to not push her for information. It’s a long shot, but a man can hope, right?
I was finally on her street and took a minute to take in the surroundings. She lived in a really nice neighborhood. I almost wanted to know how she could afford it. When I brought her home, I couldn’t take in the surroundings because of the dark and now that I have, I was wishing I could have afforded to live over here. I turned into the driveway, put my truck in park, and shut off the engine. Her home was well maintained. It wasn’t as big as some of the others, but from the outside it looked like it suited her well. It was a brick rancher with blue shutters and even had a blue door. The flower beds had an assortment of shrubs, and I could tell that flowers would bloom in the spring. I was trying not to picture her out in the yard taking care of the weeding and getting all sweaty. I needed to stop thinking this way. She said just friends, and I couldn’t push her. The only problem was that when I was around her, I couldn’t seem to keep my logical brain from wanting more. There was just something about her. She wasn’t my usual type because I went after the confident ones, but her shyness got to me every time. I don’t have a clue why either. It’s the wariness in her smile that just pulls me towards her. It’s almost as if she doesn’t even know what it could do to a man.
Wiping my hands across my eyes, I pulled myself out of my thoughts and got out. I hoped that she allowed me to help her into it even though she could use the side rails. My Chevrolet Silverado had a five-inch lift kit on it with thirty-three inch tires. I loved it, and it suited me just fine.
I walked down the path to the front door and took a second to wipe my palms down the front of my pants. My hands never got clammy. What was wrong with me? Shaking away the thought, my nervousness started to set in. I hoped she didn’t back out. Once I had obtained enough courage, I rang the doorbell and waited.
Moments later, I could hear her walking towards the door. She must have taken a second to check through the peephole, and she unlocked it. Once she opened it, and her eyes met mine, I almost threw caution to the wind. She was always beautiful, but today the vibe she was putting off made her even more beautiful if that was possible. It told me that she was just as nervous as I was. The funny thing was that I couldn’t figure out why her nervousness would affect me that way. But the fact remained, that it did. I wished it didn’t because I was always the kind of man that acted on what he wanted and pursued it ruthlessly. I couldn’t do that with her though. I had to reign in my approach. Get it together man, my subconscious screamed at me. My silence was probably making the situation even more awkward than it already was.
“Hey, sweetheart. You ready for an adventure?” I needed her relaxed and I knew a public place would be the best way for that to happen. I just hoped she liked the outdoors because I never thought of that when I planned this all out.
“I’m a little nervous considering I have no clue where you’re taking me. Are you going to tell me now or torture me some more?” She laughed. God that laugh was going to be trouble for me, as well.
“Oh no. You aren’t getting off that easy. I’m not telling. You’ll just have to wait and see. Are you ready to go?”
“All set. Let me just grab my coat and purse.” When she went back inside, it gave me a moment to catch my breath. She was going to drive me insane. Insane with wanting her that is.
She came back seconds later with the items in her hands. She locked up the house and when she turned back around we were almost touching. Both of our breaths caught in our throats. She may not admit it, but I could tell she felt this connection too. This was getting more confusing by the second. How could she get to me this way and we’ve barely been in the same vicinity? I’ll take Confusing as Ever for 200 Alex! I laughed to myself and caught her gaze. She was looking at me questioningly and probably thought I was crazy now. Great.
“You okay over there, Texas?” That nickname really pissed me off. Why, oh why, did she have to taunt me now?
“I thought you were going to stop calling me that.”
“Well, I figured that since you’re going to torture me for however long it takes us to get where we’re going, that I’d torment you as well.” I groaned inwardly. She was already torturing me and she didn’t even realize it. This was going to be a long twenty minute drive that’s for sure.
I motioned for her to head to the truck and as we walked down the path to the driveway, she stopped in front of the truck with a funny look on her face.
“How am I supposed to get in this thing, Texas?” She asked.
I could have told her that she could help herself, but what was the fun in that? I opened the door to the passenger side and grinned at the thought of touching her.
I turned back towards her and she looked even more confused. Her height was a bit of a challenge in this situation and considering she wasn’t wearing heels, she couldn’t be any taller than around five feet five inches.
“I can help you in the truck, sweetheart.” I moved towards her and went to put my hands on her hips so I could hoist her up into the truck, but stopped before I could actually touch her. She tried to hide the fact that she tensed at the thought of me touching her, but I’d seen it. It made me have more questions that I knew probably would take her a while to get her to answer. My questioning gaze told her what I intended to do, and she nodded her head. Placing my hands on her hips, I lifted her up. I turned so I had the right angle to place her inside and sat her in the seat. She almost looked relieved when I took my hands off of her. Judging the look on her face, I could tell she was trying not to panic. What happened to this beautiful woman? I let out a breath and moved around the front of the truck. Once I was inside, I started the engine. I knew she needed a moment, so I didn’t speak. I just turned the radio back on and let Luke Bryan’s song “That’s my kind of night” play through the speakers.
I put the truck in reverse, backed out of the driveway, and started heading towards our destination. When I stopped at a stop sign, I nervously looked in her direction. I was almost scared to because if she still had that look on her face, I didn’t know if I could hold back asking her why she tensed up. What I saw surpris
ed me. She had a grin on her face. It seems as though she had collected her thoughts enough to let whatever went through them to disappear. This woman just continues to amaze me. How she managed to gain back her composure that quickly was beyond me. I wasn’t going to question it though. I just wanted it to mean that our day wasn’t going to be affected by whatever happened.
“What are you grinning at over there?” I asked playfully.
“I don’t think you really want to know!” What the hell? I did want to know.
“I think I do!”
“I was thinking boys and their toys, Texas.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You and this big truck. What does a man need this big of a truck for, huh?” She had the gall to smile and try to hide the chuckle that escaped. She had jokes. This was a good thing. I could work with jokes.
“I’m from Texas, hunny. Everything is bigger in Texas or have you not heard that before.”
She looked like she was hesitating in giving her response. I wondered why, but then she spoke.
“Is that so? And what pray tell is bigger in Texas?” I could easily come back with something not so appropriate to say, but I didn’t think she would appreciate my form of humor.
“Our trucks for one thing. Let’s not forget our football teams either.”
“I can see that, but in my experience people are overcompensating when they buy enormous things,” she laughed.
How the hell could I not take that the wrong way? It’s official. She’s trying to kill me.
“I plead the fifth on that note.”
She busted out laughing more than she was before. Oh dear, God she probably thinks I am overcompensating. That couldn’t be further than the truth. I had to bite my tongue from saying what I wanted to say. I also had to stop the thoughts of when, and yes I said when, she found out how I wasn’t overcompensating at all.
Our easy conversation held and before I knew it, I was pulling into the parking lot for the Kennebec River Rail Trail. I parked the truck and shut off the engine. I stared out the windshield because I didn’t want to look over at her. It also gave her a second to register our surroundings. I gave myself a pep talk telling myself to get my head out of my ass and looked over at her.
She was looking around through the window taking it all in. She looked like she was in awe of where we were. I couldn’t take my eyes off her face. The expression it held suggested she’d never been to a place like this before. It was amazing from the one experience I had.
I grazed her arm with my fingers to get her attention and she about jumped out of her skin. I wished she would stop getting freaked out by my touch. It was bothering me, but only because I wanted to know why so I could help. After taking a breath, she turned to face me.
“What do you think of our destination?”
“It’s definitely not where I was expecting you to bring me. It’s beautiful out here. I’ve read about this place, but haven’t had time to come.” At least she was smiling as she replied.
“Just where did you think I was going to take you?”
“Somewhere typical. To the movies, lunch, a coffee house. Not on a hiking trail that’s for sure.”
“I wanted us to be able to enjoy the beautiful day. I also wanted to do something that you wouldn’t think I would do. Looks like my mission was accomplished. Shall we?”
“We shall.”
I grabbed my jacket and the cooler, opened the door, and got out of the truck. Making my way over to her side, I noticed that she’d already gotten out and put her jacket on. I wondered if the reason she didn’t let me help her was because she didn’t want me to touch her again. I needed to let it go so it didn’t ruin my time with her. She might end up not wanting to hang out with me again if I started acting weird. Smiling at her, I motioned for her to start walking towards the beginning of the trail.
We began walking in a peaceful silence. It was gorgeous here as well as relaxing. We walked side by side for about ten minutes without saying anything or looking at each other. I wanted to talk, but I didn’t know how to start. Then she spoke.
“Thank you for bringing me here, Mattie. It’s beautiful. I love walking by the water and just taking it all in.” She took a deep breath through her nose and exhaled through her mouth breathing in the fresh air.
“You don’t have to thank me. I’m glad I thought of such a good place. How was your week?”
“It was horrible. I was swamped with meetings. They were just never ending every day. I also volunteered at the teen center on two of those days and worried about Mia. It was exhausting to say the least. How was yours?”
“Hectic. Lots of investigating that got us close, but not close enough. It was frustrating more than anything. I want justice for her just as much as you do and it pains me knowing that I have to leave for the day without the case being solved.”
“You’re an overachiever then. I like that. Thanks for working so hard on her case. She didn’t deserve what happened to her. No woman does, let alone a teenager. I hope you catch him soon.”
“Me too. Okay, enough about work. Let’s talk about something else.”
“Like what?”
I looked over at her, but kept walking. Play it cool, Matt. I needed to remind myself that I couldn’t go in for the kill until she felt comfortable with me. That took time, but I could be patient.
“How old are you?” I knew that men shouldn’t ask women that, but I wanted to know.
“I’m twenty-six. And you?”
“I’m twenty-eight, but most days I feel older,” I replied. That seemed to amuse her because she giggled.
“Don’t we all?” she asked still giggling.
“Yeah, I guess we all feel older than our age at times. What do you like to do for fun?”
“I read, volunteer at the teen center, and recently, I’ve started going back to the shooting range. How about you?”
That’s interesting. She didn’t say anything about being social with anyone. Maybe she didn’t want to reveal too much too soon.
“I like to run, go to the shooting range, and listen to music. Looks like we have at least one thing in common,” I laughed. Thank God for that. When I’d seen her there before, I didn’t know if it was a hobby or if she was just blowing off steam.
“No, we actually have two things in common. I love music, as well. All kinds,” she countered to my response. Well, we could work with those two things and build from there. At least that’s what I was hoping.
We walked for about a mile asking questions back and forth. I learned that her passion for music ran deeper than she originally told me, her favorite movie was Halloween, her favorite color was blue, and her favorite time of year was the summer. We had a lot in common. I was enjoying the easy way that we seemed to be able to talk to each other once the awkwardness wore off.
I had stuck to asking the basic questions because I wanted her to be comfortable. She seemed relieved that I hadn’t asked anything harder than that. I would keep following her lead and see where the conversation led.
About half a mile later, I was starting to get hungry and wondered if she was feeling the same way.
“Are you ready to eat yet?”
“Sure. I’m starving.”
Walking towards one of the grassy sections that were close by, I turned back and grabbed her hand to lead her over to where I wanted to set up the picnic. She seemed surprised by my actions, but she didn’t pull away. Thank goodness for small miracles. We may be getting somewhere.
I found a spot that was far enough away from everyone so we could continue our conversation and eat. Reluctantly letting go of her hand, I slid the cooler off of my shoulder and sat it on the ground. I unzipped it and grabbed the picnic blanket. She helped me spread it out on the ground. Once we had sat down, I started setting out what I’d packed. Once everything was laid out, I looked up at her and she had an amused look on her face.
“What’s that look for?”
“I’m just shocked you packed such a nice picnic. Did you have help?” She was mocking me. I couldn’t do anything but shake my head and smile.
“No, I didn’t have help. I hope you like chicken salad.”
“I love it. Thank you.”
“Well, then let’s dig in.”
I handed her a sandwich and opened the containers of grapes and cheese. She picked the bag of pretzels I packed and I picked the bag of Doritos. We ate in silence for a few minutes when I heard her speak.
“How did you end up in Maine?”
Okay. She was going to start with the hard questions.
“I needed a change of scenery. Where are you originally from?”
“I moved here from Arizona going on three years now.”
“Why did you move to Maine?”
“The globe said so,” she stated laughing.
I almost choked on my sandwich. “And how exactly did a globe tell you to move here?”
“I decided the best way to choose a new destination was to spin the globe and go where my finger landed.” That’s interesting.
“It’s kind of funny that you said that because that’s exactly how I chose to move here as well.”
“I guess it was fate that we met then.” Yeah, it was something like that. Maybe we were meant to meet.
“How does your family feel about you living so far away?”
“They’re gone. I left everything that reminded me of them behind and moved here,” she replied while picking at a grape. Well shit. I wasn’t expecting that response.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know or I wouldn’t have brought it up.”
“I know and it’s ok. It’s been a long time and I’m used to being on my own now. Can we talk about something else though, please? How does your family feel about you moving so far away? Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
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