by Reina Torres
The driver looked up and met his eyes in the rearview mirror. “What’s Mayberry?”
Vance laughed. “You know, Barney Fife and Opie? Aunt Bee?”
The younger man shrugged. “Is that on the oldies TV Network? My grams watches that at the home.”
The hired car passed by a food truck and the bright white side of the truck served as a mirror in the glass of the window. Vance saw the silver at his temples reflected back at him and he let out a sigh. “Yeah, it might be one of ‘those’ shows.”
Vance turned his thoughts back to Gabe. He was hoping to see him during his time here in St. Helena. He hadn’t been able to attend Gabe’s wedding to Regan, but if he had-
Shaking his head, Vance pushed aside the thoughts of ‘would have’ or ‘could have’ as his thoughts turned back to Jordan. If he’d gone to Gabe’s wedding, he might have met Jordan sooner. But there was no use in worrying about particulars like that. He might have met Jordan sooner than the book signing that Gabe had attended in San Francisco, but that didn’t mean that they would have hit it off then. Nothing was certain in this life, of that he was certain.
The driver slowed down and flicked on his turn signal at a four way stop and with a double look both ways, he turned onto Alta Lane and eased onto the gas.
“Just a few minutes more, sir.”
Vance nodded, sitting forward on the chair to get a better look at the tall trees lining the road and the steady line of houses set back from the curb. It was a huge change from his condo in New York. Some days, depending on the weather and cloud cover, sunlight barely made it in through his bedroom window. But here, based on the lawns that spanned the distance between the road and the houses, and the fences that bordered each property, he was sure that there would be some sun in his future.
And while the New Yorker in him almost twitched at the idea, he’d come looking for a change of pace to get his book written and he was sure he found it.
The car slowed and pulled up to the curb beside a mailbox that had the number 224 on it. And after checking the screen of his smart phone, the driver set the car in park. “Two two four Alta Lane. Looks like we made it, sir.”
Vance looked past the white picket fence and across the green bushes that dotted the lawn and up onto the porch in time to see the front door open. The woman that stepped out onto the shaded expanse had him reaching for the door handle.
The driver had beaten him to it and if it hadn’t been for a well-honed sense of preservation that New Yorkers were famous for, Vance might have tumbled out into the street nose first. Holding the door open, the driver waited for Vance to step out, dropping his phone into his jacket pocket and taking the handle of his messenger bag as he straightened his legs.
His gaze turned right back to the porch and he saw Jordan raise a hand to wave at him.
He wanted to drop his bag, laptop and all, and head straight up to the door and… and what, he wondered. When he’d met Jordan in person they’d shaken hands and shared drinks with Gabe. They’d even had dinner as a group and shared a good conversation when Gabe had gotten up to take a phone call from Regan. But even though they’d spent the last six months talking constantly on the phone to each other, he doubted that was enough of a ‘relationship’ to give her a hug or even a kiss on the cheek in greeting. This wasn’t a homecoming after all, he mused, but what was it?
Vance was saved from having to continue that train of thought when the driver returned from the trunk, setting down Vance’s suitcase at his side. He held out his smart phone and plastered on his best smile. “If you wouldn’t mind signing, please.”
Vance took the phone in his hand and plucked the stylus from the holder on the side of the case. Running his eye over the charges listed on the car service’s invoice, he jotted down a tip and signed his name in the provide box. “Thanks for getting me here so quickly.”
“No worries.” The driver took back the phone, closed the app and dropped it in his pocket. Taking one last look around, the driver leaned in close to Vance and shook his head. “But if you’re looking for a real vacation,” he explained, “you should have stayed in San Fran. This place looks like a total snooze.”
With those parting words, the driver tipped his imaginary cap at Vance and climbed back into the car, pulling away from the curb a moment later. If he had bothered to look behind him, lifting his eyes into the rearview mirror to see the scene behind him, he would have seen Vance standing on the curb, his hand stuck on the strap of his messenger bag as he watched Jordan step down off the porch and onto the path to the gate.
Once she had it open, she stepped into the driveway that led to the one car garage and made her way toward him. Her legs stretching out from the bottom of her chocolate-brown pencil skirt that tapered in around her knees, she walked toward him with a smile on her face. A smile that he had memorized after more than a hundred skype calls, but a smile that he was sure he’d never get tired of.
“Hey,” she sounded a little breathy as she came to a stop about a foot away from him, “you were faster than I thought.” She gestured to the house. “I barely had time to set my purse down when I saw the car pull up to the curb.”
He saw the flush of color in her cheeks and knew that he liked this look on her. The lighting when she was on her computer didn’t do her skin any justice. Neither, he decided, did his memory.
“I think it was my driver,” he explained, “he might have wondered a time or two if he’d somehow driven into a time warp. And I may,” he laughed and watched as her eyes brightened with her own snap of humor, “have encouraged the idea that if he spent too much time here, he’d be trapped here in-”
“The Land that Time Forgot?” Jordan added in the reference and he nodded in agreement.
“Exactly.” He let his eyes roam over her from head to toe, not feeling the slightest embarrassment that she saw him. He remembered how tall she was from the first time they’d met. He’d liked the feeling he had when she looked him straight in the eye. There weren’t many women who even came close to his height and he could only imagine how amazing she looked under all the autumn colored clothes that she tended to wear. And imagine was what he’d done, especially over the last few months.
“So,” he heard her hesitant tone and realized that he’d probably zoned out a little on her, “I was wondering if you’d like to go inside.”
Well, that got him moving. “Yes, thanks.” He grabbed the handle on his suitcase as she was reaching for it. “What are you doing?”
She looked a little affronted by his question. “I was going to help you with your bag.” Jordan half-waved her hand in its direction. “You’re a guest, and I was going to be helpful.”
“I’m a guest,” he agreed, but he leaned closer to her and caught the scent of her perfume, “but there’s no way in hell I’m going to let you carry my bag.”
A slow smile spread across her lips and he hated how much he wanted to brush a kiss against them. “I wasn’t going to carry it.”
He saw the glimmer of a challenge in her words and tilted his head to meet it. “Oh? You weren’t?”
She shook her head. “Nope.” A little shrug lifted the ends of her hair where it lay on her shoulders and a moment later she was reaching toward him and he felt his breath catch in his lungs. Her lips were so close he was sure he’d feel her breath on his at any second.
But instead, he felt her hand on his before it slid off to take hold of the handle at the top of his suitcase and give it a little wiggle. “Your bag rolls.”
Before he realized what was happening, Jordan Schultz, in all of her redheaded and curvaceous glory, had stolen his suitcase away and was walking up her driveway. Vance was left to follow her, his gaze passing appreciatively over the sweet swell of her hips as she stepped through the open gate.
He knew he was in trouble. If she could shake him with just a few words, just a hint of her delicate spicy perfume, how would he be able to resist her and get his work done?
When
she paused just inside of the gate, turning to look at him with a definite gleam in her eyes, he knew that trouble didn’t even begin to describe what she was, but he was certainly going to give it a try. And enjoy the effort.
Chapter 2
Jordan knew she was in deep trouble. Just a few minutes in Vance’s general vicinity and she was ready to rip the buttons off his shirt and wrap her legs around him. It hadn’t gotten any better once they were inside. She’d showed him around the house she’d moved into right around the same time that Ava had graduated from High School, and it had all been manageable until they’d gotten around to the spare bedroom and that’s when all of her internal dialogue and protestations turned into a whole lot of lip service.
All it had taken was the sight of him taking off his suit jacket and laying it over the back of a chair and she was suddenly burning from the inside out.
It wasn’t like she’d been celibate since her husband had left her when Ava was a child, but being in the same room as Vance Donovan and a bed was apparently all she needed to lose her mind. And that was why Jordan found herself heading right back out the front door of her own home and getting into her car for a quick getaway using the excuse of stocking the refrigerator that she knew had more than enough groceries in it to last for the rest of the week.
The instant she’d stepped into Pickers Produce she knew she’d made a huge mistake. Both Marilee and Biff turned to look at her as if they were seeing things. Even with that silly line down the center of the store dividing Marilee’s half from Biff’s there was no one else in the store to divide their attention and both halves of the married couple were suddenly focused solely on her.
“Well goodness, Jordan. This is a surprise!” Biff gave her an encouraging smile. “What can I do for you today?”
Besides telling me where all the other people in town are? She had hoped that the store would be teeming with people, or at least parents stopping in with their children after school. But no such luck today. Great. “Nothing in particular, Biff,” she turned to look at his wife as well, “Marilee, I just thought I’d pick up something a little extra to cook for tonight.”
She knew that the smile on her face was a little brittle. Nodding, Jordan was sure that was about as non-committal as she could get, hoping to deflect any curiosity away from her.
“A little something extra?” Marilee caught onto any lead in for a question, “What-”
“Jordan’s here to talk to me, Marilee.”
Turning toward Jordan with a look of shock on her face, Marilee sputtered. “Really?”
Biff continued on as if Marilee hadn’t interrupted. “Well when you came in the other day, you about cleaned me out of options. If you’re looking for something ‘different’ from the usual. I’ve got a bison steak,” Jordan saw Marilee flinch out of the corner of her eye, “or I think I might still have some ostrich meat.”
Jordan was fairly sure either of those proteins were far beyond her culinary skill. “Maybe something a little less Wild Kingdom?”
“I agree,” piped in Marilee, “what about a nice tofu stir fry. You can get everything for that dish on my side of the store.” She gave her husband a pointed look before swinging back on Jordan. “You've bought an awful lot of groceries.”
“Goodness, Marilee,” Biff lowered his gaze behind the counter.
“I just want to make sure everything’s all right. I'm allowed to care for my customers, aren't I?”
“Over my dead-”
“You know what,” Jordan drew in a desperate breath, eager to put a cork in the back and forth between the couple, “I think I’ll take a pound of the Bison.” She gave Biff a hopeful look. “As long as it's not some endangered species, I think I can manage to cook it. And Marilee,” she gave the other woman a look and watched her perk up, “why don't you help me pick out some veggies to stir fry with my bison.”
Thus, set upon their separate tasks, peace descended upon Pickers and Jordan could focus on her next immediate concern. How the hell she was going to have Vance Donovan under the same roof and not fall into the cliché of a hot torrid affair with her part time houseguest?
‘Then again,’ her mind really wasn't going to give her a break, ‘what was wrong with having a little fun?’
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Drawing in a steadying breath she let Marilee take her arm and lead her to the vegetable display, a hesitant smile starting to tug at Jordan’s lips.
‘Then again,’ that helpful voice in the back of her head really had it in for her, ‘who’s to say he wants to jump into any kind of affair with you?’
Whoa, that thought took the wind out of her sails. The stupid voice had a point. A ridiculously depressing point, but a point nonetheless.
“What do you think of these?”
Jordan felt something nudge her arm and she looked down to see Marilee holding out a couple of different vegetables for her to choose from. She rustled up a smile and nodded at Marilee. “Sounds great, just perfect, thanks.”
She let the other woman set the items in her basket and made her way to the meat counter to pick up her bison knowing the whole time that she didn't mean a single word of her answer.
Vance sat at the desk in his room of Jordan’s house and stared at the wall. Sure, he didn't expect to start writing the day he arrived, but he had anticipated spending a little more time with Jordan.
But, it seemed like once she showed him the layout of the house she couldn't get far enough away from him.
Leaning back in his chair, he looked out the windows into the backyard of the house. He’d already known what the yard looked like. Jordan had been out in the garden during some of his calls and using the camera on her phone she’d shown him her plants. But seeing them for himself gave him a real appreciation for her accomplishments and instead of wanting to set up his laptop and start writing, what he really wanted to do was have Jordan take him outside and walk him through her garden again, but this time he would get to smell the flowers in more ways than one.
A soft scrape of sound had him out of his chair and moving into the main area of the house. He’d just managed to get to the table before the door opened and Jordan stepped inside, one arm wrapped around a reusable shopping bag brimming with produce. She caught sight of him and a smile bloomed on her lips, infusing her cheeks with color. “All settled in?”
It took him a second to recover, moving him forward across the room. “Sure, yeah. Great.” He reached for the bag to take it from her and he saw the indecision on her face.
“I got it.” She skirted around him and set the bag down on the kitchen table. “You should get some writing done, or maybe get a little sleep. I’m sure your internal clock is a bit off.”
“My internal clock is going to be just fine.” He followed her and leaned against the kitchen table, trying to sneak a peek into the grocery bag as Jordan pulled out a pan and a cutting board. “And I’m not here just to write.”
The cutting board landed with a soft thud on the counter. “Oh? Here to check out best local gardens in the Picnics and Petals festival?”
“Sure,” he sighed and reached into the bag, “tease me if you like, but it’s only going to make me try harder.”
He could have sworn he saw her tremble.
“Try harder to do what?”
Vance held his laughter inside. Knowing Jordan’s sass and her slightly prickly temper, she might hit him with something. He looked at the brown paper wrapped package in his hand. “Bison?”
He heard her frustrated groan and braced himself before she turned around. But he wasn’t ready for the snap of humor in her eyes as she lunged for him.
Reaching out to touch her he suddenly came up empty as she pulled the package from his hand. “Stop snooping!”
She set it down on the cutting board and pushed her hair back from her face. The heavy sweep of her thick copper colored hair made his palms itch. He wanted to touch her hair like that, a calm casual gesture that said he had
every right to be near her.
Using a wicked sharp knife that she pulled from the knife block, she sliced through the twine. “I bet you’re the kind of person who shakes your Christmas presents the instant you get them.”
Vance shrugged. “What’s wrong with that? It just means I’m curious. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t snoop.” He reached into the bag and pulled out a smaller container wrapped in a waxed paper marked in Japanese character. “Is this tofu?”
Turning, Jordan looked over her shoulder and waggled the knife point at him. “Keep it up and you’ll be eating that tofu for dinner.”
Vance set the covered block down on the table and backed away, his hands held up in surrender. “Yes, ma’am.”
Satisfied, Jordan turned back to the counter and removed the paper between the meat and the cutting board. “You’ll remember that if you know what’s good for you.”
That’s when he gave up trying to push her buttons and laughed. “You’re good for me, Jordan.” He saw the line of her shoulders soften and the tension in her arms eased. “I’m glad you let me come here to see you.”
“How could I turn you away?”
He heard the heavy dose of humor in her tone and it made his hands itch to touch her. And unlike the months of phone calls they’d shared, now he was close enough to make it happen.
“Still, I’m glad you offered to let me stay here.”
She set the knife down and moved to the stove, reaching for the olive oil on the counter. “Well, you’re here to write. And even as close as you are to Gabe, he has two children under the age of ten. Not,” she grinned back at him as she capped the oil, “exactly the quiet you’d need to finish your novel.”
He nodded trying to take the hint. Keep it business, for now. “It makes good sense when you put it that way.”
He thought he heard a little relieved sigh escape from her lips. “Of course.”
“And I appreciate it. This book has been giving me nightmares.”
