Passion, Vows & Babies: Pink Sunsets (Kindle Worlds Novella)

by Amy Briggs

  “I’m not going to embarrass you. I’ll go to work; in fact, I’m kind of looking forward to it. So, how about that for progress?” I grinned. I wanted to lighten the mood a little, not ready to disclose my overall agitation with life. Particularly, not over breakfast, the day after my arrival. It seemed that everyone thought my lack of motivation was a far bigger deal than I did, and for a moment, it did give me pause. I certainly didn’t want to be a burden and a disappointment to everyone around me, but that didn’t make me know what the hell I wanted to do either.

  Flynn chuckled at my reply and cleaned up our breakfast dishes before heading out to work. He was a contractor, actually, the best contractor in this part of the state, and had a thriving business. That’s one of the reasons the house he lived in was so magnificent. There was way more room than just the three of them needed, so there was plenty of room for me to live there for the summer and be out of the way at the same time. He’d suggested that I spend some time exploring downtown, and told me about a little coffee shop that I might like, in a little area that had some shops and such to walk around. I decided that was the perfect way to spend the afternoon, so I readied myself for a little exploring in small town Nebraska. I figured that would take up a solid hour at least.

  “Jacinda, I’m going to go explore a little, do you need anything while I’m out and about today?” I wanted to be polite, and since I still didn’t know her that well, we didn’t have a whole lot to talk about. I was still feeling like my presence was a little storm cloud over their happy home, and while I was resentful, I was also appreciative of their offer to let me stay.

  “Thank you so much for asking,” she replied, pacing with the baby in her arms. “I don’t need anything right now, but I appreciate it. Have fun!”

  “Okay, I will. Text me if you change your mind. I don’t have any real plans, I just wanted to check the area out a little and get out of the house.”

  “I don’t blame you one bit. I know it’s a little weird being in a new place, but consider this your home. Get to know it.” She smiled at me. She was so pretty, it was no wonder Flynn changed his whole life for her. Well that, and she was the nicest person ever. I mean, maybe she was putting on a front for me, but even if she was, it didn’t go unnoticed how sweet and accommodating she was.

  “Thanks.”

  I took off in my little car, with no real plan except maybe getting a cup of coffee. When I found some street parking, I grabbed my bag, which had a notebook for my thoughts tucked inside. I carried that notebook with me everywhere. It wasn’t stories so much as observations and things that came to mind. They needed a place to reside outside my head, and I felt like the old school notebook was perfect. So many people had gone digital over the years, but I still loved the actual act of putting pen to paper. There was something satisfying about my brain sending the message to my hands about what needed to be written down.

  I got to the coffee shop and found that it was as crowded as a downtown franchise coffee shop would be, which was surprising but also gave me a bit of a sense of home. The scent of the freshly ground beans filled my nose, bringing a smile to my lips. I was well aware that my everyday normal look was ‘resting bitch face’ as they call it; I looked mad even when I wasn’t, so if something brought a smile to my face, even I noticed it. For the first time since I arrived in Nebraska, I wasn’t teetering on the edge of annoyed and anxious.

  I grabbed a coffee and found a little table in the back, where I settled myself in to observe people and write down some thoughts. I liked creating scenarios for the people around me; make up stories about their lives. Like the man reading the paper in the front of the shop window, for instance. He was drinking a hot coffee, and his arms were held high so that he could see the full spread of the pages. I decided that he was probably in witness protection, and he came to the coffee shop to read the paper, and get out of the house. He didn’t have any friends; he couldn’t afford for people to get to know him, since he was being chased by the mafia.

  As I watched the man read every inch of the paper, I studied his features. He had small plastic reading glasses perched at the edge of his nose, a full head of salt and pepper hair, but he was still fairly young, as if he’d grayed prematurely. I wanted to ask him his name, even though surely it wasn’t his real name. I couldn’t see what the barista had written on his paper cup, but it didn’t matter. I was going to make up a name anyway. Sergio. That was his real name, or at least the one I gave him, but he went by Stephen. Nobody called him Steve, except for the officers he worked with, and he hated it.

  I wrote some of the notes down, and then moved on to other people around the coffee shop. Several came and went quickly, just grabbing a cup to go. But quite a few were saddled up at tables and overstuffed chairs for the long haul. Notebooks, computers, and wires for electronics were everywhere; nobody could be disconnected. Most of them were probably working, so I couldn’t fault them, but I always found it interesting to watch.

  I spent the next hour or so, writing down notes and observations on the patrons. An unhappy-looking pregnant woman made her way into my notebook, along with the cheerful barista who took the time to put a smiley face on everyone’s cup. Characters perhaps, but mostly just strangers passing through my life. I was looking for a new personality to create when he walked in. A handsome stranger, with rugged good looks. Unable to keep myself from staring, our eyes met and I realized, far too late, that my mouth was hanging wide open.

  Kill me now.

  Chapter 4 - Everett

  The beautiful stranger caught my eye immediately. She was sitting alone in the back of Smokey’s coffee shop with nothing but a notebook, a pen, and a cup of coffee. Her black hair looked almost purple, where the sun from the front window shone on it. She had been gazing around the room when we met each other’s glance. I smiled at her, taking in her porcelain skin and pale pink lips. She looked away quickly, averting her eyes back to her notebook and began scribbling something down.

  It’s a small town, and for the most part, we all sort of know each other. Either you grew up here, or you landed here—like Jacinda, for example—and settled here with someone. I’d never seen her before, and knew that surely I’d remember such a beautiful creature, had I crossed her path before. No, she was definitely new to town, and I wondered if she was Fallon. Our town wasn’t someplace most people stop and pass through, so she had to be.

  I ordered my coffee and sauntered over to her table. Her eyes were still glued to her notebook, and it looked like she’d been taking notes of some kind, although I couldn’t make them out. Her handwriting was wild, and there were doodles in the margins. I stood in front of her for a moment, hoping she’d look up and when she didn’t, I finally spoke.

  “Excuse me,” I said, not wanting to startle her.

  It appeared as if she knew I’d been standing there all along and begrudgingly looked up at me. “Yes?” she asked, looking pained.

  “Are you Fallon?”

  “Who are you?” she snapped.

  “Oh shit, I’m sorry. That was probably creepy, you don’t know me. I’m Everett Johnston. I work for Flynn.”

  Her demeanor shifted, becoming more relaxed. “Oh. Yes. I am.”

  “May I join you for a minute?” Our introduction was far more awkward than I’d expected, and while I still didn’t know what to say, I didn’t want to leave just yet. Waving to the seat in front of her without replying, I watched as she scrutinized me. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your work… is it work you’re doing?”

  Tilting her head and examining my face, she replied, “It’s not work… exactly.” She placed her hand over her notes, covering them up. “I work for Wyatt Kincaid. The architect. But I don’t start till next week. But you probably knew that, didn’t you?”

  She was a tough one. Not especially welcoming. She was testing me, and I rather enjoyed the challenging attitude; much different that the girls from here. “Yes, I did. Flynn told me you were coming to town for the s
ummer. How do you like Red Falls so far?” I may as well have asked about the weather; I’m such a dork.

  “It’s quite flat and dry.”

  I laughed. “Yes, it is flat. I didn’t realize it was dry. Is it?”

  “Compared to Denver, it is.”

  “Oh that’s right, you’re from Denver.” I pretended I didn’t recall that fact, but I did. For whatever reason, I remembered everything Flynn told me about her.

  “I am.” She picked at the edge of her coffee cup nervously. “So, you’re from here, I suppose?”

  “Born and raised. How do you like it so far?”

  “I haven’t seen much. This was my first stop, and I haven’t been anywhere else yet.”

  “Well, it might not seem like much, compared to Denver, but we have some good places to eat. And you can’t beat the sunsets.” She had to think I was some weirdo for sure now. Sunsets? What dude talks about sunsets in the first five minutes meeting someone? Ugh.

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” She leaned back, closing the notebook all together.

  “Maybe I can show you around sometime,” I offered, surprising even myself. I rarely did anything except work, so offering to show someone around town wasn’t normal for me. But she wasn’t just any girl. I could see that.

  “Did Flynn suggest that?” she asked, a skeptical look on her face.

  “No,” I replied, wondering why it mattered.

  “Well, in that case, maybe I’ll take you up on it sometime.” Her lips tilted into a small smile.

  “Why would it matter?” I asked.

  The smile faded as she pursed her lips, making them look even more pouty. “Well, because I don’t need a babysitter, and I don’t need my cousin setting up playdates for me. I’m not a child.”

  “Nobody thinks you’re a child, Fallon.” She was extremely defensive, and I feared the conversation was going to go south if I didn’t fix it quickly. “I certainly don’t.”

  “Oh really? And what would you know?”

  “I know that you’re spending the summer in my favorite place, during my favorite time of year. That’s all I need to know today.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me, before letting the smile return just a bit. “Hmm. Well, I don’t start work until next week, so I have lots of free time until then.”

  “Well then, how about tomorrow night, I pick you up around seven, and I’ll show you some of my favorite places. We’ll get some dinner someplace.”

  “Dinner, eh? This sounds like a date. I’m not looking for a date.”

  “Not a date. Just a friendly local guy showing a lovely visitor some great places in his hometown. That’s all.” I smirked at her. I liked that she thought it might be a date. When I suggested it, that wasn’t what I had in mind, but now I did.

  “Okay. You know where to get me?”

  “Everyone knows where Flynn lives.” I picked up my coffee and stood to leave. “I’ll see you at seven.” I figured it was a good time to get the hell out of there before I fucked it up. Even though I wasn’t sure what ‘it’ was, I wanted to spend some time with her. She was intriguing.

  “Okay then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “It was lovely to meet you, Fallon Fitzgerald.” Her name rolled off my tongue like a poem. I loved the alliteration of the Fs, and I uttered it under my breath several times as I walked out of the coffee shop, my heart racing a bit.

  Chapter 5 - Fallon

  Well, that was an interesting turn of events. Maybe Nebraska wasn’t so bad after all, and I could have a bit of fun with this Everett character. He was extremely attractive, and his sandy blond hair matched his scruffy beard, except for the few reddish hairs that wove through it. While I didn’t love that he knew about me already, I didn’t really want my transgressions aired on the jobsite, maybe Flynn didn’t tell him everything. I had no choice but to ask when I saw him. I wasn’t looking for anything more than a bit of summer fun, something to do besides work and sit around the house, and he seemed like a good candidate for that.

  I needed to find out some more about him. I decided to pack up my notebook and head back to the house to do some fishing with Jacinda. Everyone in this town knows each other so I was sure she’d have some gossip or insight to offer.

  “You’re back sooner than I expected,” she said, when I walked in the door. She was home all day, since summer break had already begun. An art teacher by trade, she had managed to pick up a job teaching at the community college when she moved here to be with Flynn, but she didn’t have any summer classes to teach.

  “Well, I start work next week, so I didn’t want to waste all the free time I had off by myself. I thought maybe we could hang out a little bit?” I replied.

  “Of course. I just put the baby down; let’s go out on the porch and have some iced tea. It’s absolutely lovely out back.”

  “That sounds fantastic.”

  Jacinda went to the kitchen and got us both a glass of fresh iced tea, and we made our way to the massive patio and outdoor kitchen area off the rear of the house. It was magnificent. Literally, this was the stuff that people dream of having in their backyards. A huge pergola above a cement patio, that had a full outdoor kitchen and brick oven, as well as a large grill and all the seating you could handle. You could cater an event with everything that was out there.

  “Holy shit,” I muttered.

  Jacinda laughed. “I know, it’s pretty great, right?”

  “Great? It’s absolutely gorgeous. Do you guys have people over a lot? I’d have parties all the time.” My mouth was agape.

  “Oh, we don’t have many parties or anything like that. But now that the weather is getting nicer, we’ll probably do most of our cooking and eating out here until it gets a bit too hot in August. You know Flynn built every bit of this himself?”

  “He did?” I was stunned. The intricate detail in the brick around the oven, as well as the fancy tile on the bar, looked like a team had designed and installed it.

  “He sure did,” she said proudly. “When we met, it wasn’t quite finished out here, and he was trying to get it all done before the first frost. We were able to cook one or two meals out here last winter in the freezing cold. Not exactly the best conditions, but how could you not? It’s pretty awesome, isn’t it?”

  “It really is. I’m looking forward to spending some time out here myself.”

  “It’s lovely and quiet for reading, or writing, drawing, or whatever it is you like to do. I come out here to draw and paint sometimes. Well, I used to before I was up every twenty minutes with a little one.” She took a sip of her tea and leaned back in one of the chaise lounges. “So what did you do today?”

  “I went to Smokey’s coffee shop.”

  “Oh, their coffee is fantastic. It’s as good as any fancy coffee shop in the city, if you ask me.”

  She was totally right. It was great coffee. “It was good.”

  “Did you do anything else?”

  “I met… Everett?” I said, as if it were a question.

  “Oh, Everett Johnston?”

  “Yes. He came up to me and introduced himself. Is that normal? Like, does everyone in this town really know each other, so I was just easy to pick out?”

  Jacinda giggled a bit. “Yeah, you get used to it. If you didn’t grow up and stay here, you’re kind of ‘on display’, so to speak. Everyone wants to know who the new person in town is. But I’m sure Everett knew it was probably you from talking to Flynn at work. He was nice, wasn’t he?”

  “Oh yes, of course. He was very nice, actually. In fact, he offered to show me around town himself tomorrow night.” I dropped it out there, waiting to see her reaction. Her eyebrow raised, and a grin formed across her face.

  “So, you have a date?” She took another sip of her tea to cover her smirk.

  “It’s not a date.”

  “A handsome young man, about your age, offers to show you around. Not a date. Got it.”

  “It’s not a date!” I exclaimed. I felt
my face grow hot from embarrassment.

  “Okay, okay. It’s not a date. But you know, if it was, it would be the best pick in town.”

  “Uh huh. Well, it’s not. And, I’m only here for the summer. That’s it. I’m paying my penance to my mother, and getting a plan together for the future this summer. I have no interest in dating anyone, especially not here. I’ll be going back to Denver at the end of all this” I declared.

  “Hmm, well, you know, I thought I was just here for a summer too.”

  “Oh my God, Jacinda, stop.” I was getting ready to snap; it wasn’t funny anymore. I didn’t want a boyfriend, a date, a fling, or anything else. If the hottie wanted to take me around town so I didn’t have to figure everything cool out on my own, that was great, but if not, no big deal.