Man, word definitely traveled in this town. Things that he wasn’t too sure of had made their way around quicker than he had expected them to. The fact that Kate was so sweet and everyone was now picturing her as a love-'em-and-leave-type had him concerned for Kate’s sake instead of his own.
“I’m sure I won’t have anything to worry about, Nance,” he said, holding his cup up as he headed for the door. “Thanks for the fresh coffee. Have a good day.”
If he were to be honest, they could say the same thing about him as they were about Kate. He had moved here with a past he had left behind him. An ugly past of broken hearts and shattered dreams, finalized with a divorce. If anyone knew anything about leaving it all behind and starting over it was him, and he wasn’t about to let anyone think less of Kate.
* * *
Unfolding the flyer that Jessica had given her on the way out of the flower shop today, she read over the details of the upcoming couple’s photo contest. She hated the fact that Jessica was persistent on having Kate enter the contest, whether she believed she and Jordan were a couple or not. Jessica had her heart set on Kate finding happiness—and soon.
The first thing Kate wanted to do was get back to her job. She hadn’t called them or talked about it since the day she explained it all to Jordan. He had been there for her since the day she had met him and here she was now, debating on whether they were really an item or not.
Doubt was a constant downfall for her, showing its ugly face in times she really didn’t want to deal with it. She hated the fact that her insecurities from her past haunted her now, especially when she was trying to move on and forget her past had ever existed.
“I’m not even sure who would want to be with me after all of this,” she said to her reflection, as she scrubbed her makeup off her face. Lines had been drawn on, etching deeply into her skin around her eyes, as heavy bags from lack of sleep and constant emotions running their course, sagged underneath.
She would give anything to talk to Jordan, but the thought of calling him just to tell him about her problems didn’t seem as relieving as she had thought it would be. She was sure he had his own problems and hearing about hers would somehow only weigh him down even more. She couldn’t bear the thought of being a burden in someone else’s thoughts, regardless of how much they cared about her. She wouldn’t take advantage of him like that.
But the thought of hearing his voice nagged her until she finally gave in and dialed his number—only to be disappointed when he didn’t answer.
Setting her phone on the nightstand next to her bed, she reached for the book she had started reading before her mother passed away. The book had been upbeat about a young couple falling in love and she had read more than halfway through it. Knowing that reading would somehow relax her, she flipped the book open to the spot she had dog-eared.
Within five minutes of reading, she wasn’t exactly sure she had been focused on the story when the phone rang. Quickly grabbing it off the stand, she swiped her finger across the screen. “Hello.”
“Hey you, how’s everything going? I saw that you called, but I’ve been busy with inventory count that I didn’t even hear my phone ring,” Jordan said. She loved the way he talked fast when he was nervous. The sound of his voice brought a sense of relief to her overwhelming thoughts.
“I’m doing okay,” she said, flipping the corner of the page down before tossing the book to the side. “Actually, I’ve been thinking about you for the last couple of days, but I didn’t want to bother you, because I know you have your own stuff going on and I’m...”
“Kate, you should’ve called me,” he said, sounding relieved to hear her confession. “I told you to call me no matter what.”
“I know, but...”
“But nothing, I’m here for you. I told you that.”
She couldn’t explain the sudden emotion that passed through her: a sense of guilt, followed by a sense of relief, soon followed by a rush of tears that threatened to escape. Failing to keep her emotions under control, her lip quivered and she soon became a blubbering mess. “I’m sorry...”
“Kate, don’t be sorry,” he said, his voice calm and soothing. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I was here waiting for you to call because I didn’t want to overstep my boundaries. More or less, I was afraid to make you think that I’m super clingy and cheesy.”
She couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of him being paranoid of what she thought of him. “Being cheesy is cute, though,” she said, swiping tears from her cheeks as she smiled like a love-struck teenager at her phone, realizing she should have called him sooner.
“Is it? Because I’m not so sure that being clingy and cheesy would be cute,” he said, and she could hear his smile through the phone. She pictured his smile, more of a sideways grin. The one that made her take a second look at him when she had slammed into him in the hallway at the school.
“I guess it would all depend on who the guy was,” she said, holding back laughter before saying, “If it were Brad Pitt or Ben Affleck, it’d be cute, but other than those two, I’m not so sure...”
“Ouch, man down. Man down, I need back up,” he hollered into the phone, causing her to laugh so hard her stomach hurt. “She doesn’t think I’m cute anymore. Man down, I need back up, stat!”
“I don’t remember ever saying you were cute. I think you might want to check your sources,” she said, allowing her laugh to echo through the phone.
“Ouch, Kate, are you trying to wound my pride here or what?”
“No, I wouldn’t do that,” she said, thinking about making it up to him. She was clearly joking with him and he had to know that, but still... the thought of spending her time with him and showing him just how cute she thought he was...
“What are you doing tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow? Why tomorrow?” Once the words were out, she heard how disappointed she sounded—not to forget how desperate. Slapping her forehead, she silently mumbled about how stupid she was for acting like that.
“Well, I was thinking of having lunch tomorrow, but if you can’t wait to see me until then...”
“I can wait,” she nearly hollered into the phone. “It’s just that I was thinking about everything I have to get done tomorrow and how I won’t have time to do anything else because the amount of time it will take me to do these things on my list. It’s like, never-ending.”
She could almost hear his amusement at the way she rambled on, making things up just to cover her own desperate wants and needs. How ridiculous it had been for her to even mention such things.
“Oh, yeah? What do you have going on tomorrow? Is there anything I can help out with?”
Yep, there was the amusement. It was more than evident now within the sound of his voice. He was enjoying this conversation while she was digging herself a hole she would have to work extra hard to get out of. She needed to be honest and up front with him. Beating around the bush was too much work and she was too tired to hee-haw around with the thought of seeing him tonight instead of tomorrow.
“What do you have going on tonight?”
“I... uh... tonight?” She had caught him off guard and now it was her turn to enjoy it. This time it was his turn to stammer in an attempt to find his words and collect his thoughts. “Nothing. I have nothing going on.”
“What would you say if I asked you to come over?” She asked, unable to control the smile along with the butterflies that had come alive in her stomach. Her heart raced as she fanned her face, waiting for him to say something—anything—before she passed out from lack of breathing.
“Well, I’d say... see you in a bit.”
* * *
Being in his thirties did nothing to impede his chance of falling in love with this woman. Kate was everything—and so much more than that. He had never expected to meet someone so damned sweet in this small town, but the moment he had met her—or bumped into rather—he knew there was something about her worth knowing.
With it
pushing ten o’clock at night, he threw a hoodie over his head and stepped into his work boots without taking the extra minute or two to tie them. Running out of the house with flailing arms as though he were on fire, he fought to get his arms into the sleeves of his hoodie. Only when he got to the driver’s side of his truck did he realize he had forgotten the keys where he had last set them down—wherever that might have been.
Jogging back to the house, he remembered that he had been so busy with getting the list of things done for his upcoming event with Kate that he had forgotten to approve the shipment for Paul’s order today.
Searching through his house for the missing set of keys, Jordan flung junk mail off the table and continued searching through stacks of bills—mostly leftover from his divorce. Not wanting to lose those, he shoved them into the napkin holder in the center of his kitchen table. He had spent months fighting through the legal system to get the divorce crap figured out, he wasn’t about to lose track of the remaining debts he owed.
After digging through a stack of newspapers and other miscellaneous nonsense thrown haphazardly on his counters and kitchen table, he found his keys. Wasting more time than he wanted to already, he rushed out the door and hopped into the driver’s seat of his truck without caring that he left the light on and the door unlocked.
* * *
Knowing he’d be there any minute, Kate scrambled to clean the place up a bit, which included a quick trip to the bathroom to freshen up and to make sure she hadn’t left anything too personal lying around. She had a bad habit of tossing clothes around the house, and a bigger habit of not folding laundry. A habit she was more than willing to break when the time came for her to share her space with someone.
Thoughts of one day sharing her space flittered through her mind as she brushed her teeth. It had never occurred to her that there would be a time when she would have to do that once again, but the thought of having to share her space with Jordan... that was the most decent thought she’d had all night.
The sound of his truck rumbled against the walls in her house, causing her heart to race and the butterflies to take flight once again. She would never get tired of this feeling when Jordan came around. If she was big into listening to those old tales about the signs that you’re meant to be with someone, and just knowing who the right one was, she would have long ago settled on knowing Jordan was the one, but since this wasn’t her first time experiencing these feelings, she knew that those sayings weren’t always true.
She took her time getting to the door once she heard the slam of his truck door. She wouldn’t want him to think of her as clingy or too desperate, or, in his words too cheesy, so she waited a minute after he knocked to answer the door.
Holding the suspense of the night in her control, she gently twisted the door knob and allowed the door to slowly creak open, revealing Jordan little by little. His eyes were tired, but full of excitement and desire. His shoulders were broad and confident as he stood on her porch, waiting for her to offer him to come in.
Standing back, she pulled the door open farther, allowing him to step inside. Sliding out of his boots, he smiled and said, “I hope you don’t mind, I brought us something to celebrate.”
Celebrate? She hadn’t known there was anything worth celebrating. With the events over the last couple of weeks, there really wasn’t much to celebrate. Instead of questioning him, she stood in silence trying not to show concern about what he had just said as he placed his boots neatly on the rug by the door.
Pulling an unopened bottle of sweet wine out of the front pocket of his hoodie, he smiled and said, “I brought your favorite.”
Raising an eyebrow, she quietly questioned how he would know that was her favorite wine and what exactly was worth celebrating on a week night when it was already past ten o’clock. Keeping her thoughts to herself, she went along with his excitement and followed him to the kitchen... noting that he hadn’t forgotten where it was.
“Where are your glasses?” he asked, turning subtly as he rounded the kitchen counter. She pointed to the corner cupboard where she kept most of her dishes.
“Wine glasses are towards the back, along the edge...” She wasn’t able to finish telling him before he had reached for two glasses and was already preparing the wine to be poured. “There’s a corkscrew in the drawer to your right.”
She watched him intently as he turned the wine bottle until he had popped it and was pouring it like a pro. She could watch him work with those muscles and those hands of his all day. She would have been there all night trying to pop the cork. She would have eventually given up and called it a night.
Sliding a glass across the counter in her direction, he grinned in amusement – obviously confident in his own skills. She couldn’t help but smile back at him. Reaching for the glass, she clanked it against his as he said cheers. Raising the glass to her lips, she could smell the sweetness of the black cherry merlot and couldn’t wait to devour the wine like it was the last thing she would ever have to drink.
“So, what’s this all about?” she asked, after pouring herself a second glass. She needed something to unwind and she wouldn’t be able to thank him enough for bringing just the right thing to her rescue when she needed it most—his company included.
“Well, with everything that has happened lately, I forgot to tell you that I talked to my brother shortly after you told me about your job.”
The anticipation was killing her. She not only wanted to know what his brother said, but needed to know. It wasn’t up to his brother whether or not she was coming back, but he did have some pull, according to Jordan. If Howard wanted her in his classroom, he could potentially save her from Mrs. Witch and invite Kate into his room to be his assistant throughout the school year.
“I should just say that my brother likes you, a lot,” he said, grunting before taking a swig from his glass. Setting his glass down on the counter, he focused his eyes on hers. “I told him how much you love being in the classroom. How much you enjoy your kids.”
Hearing him mention her kids trailed her thoughts into unmentioned territory. She was soon thinking about having her own children. Locking her eyes on Jordan’s had been her first mistake at the mention of kids. She was sure he could read her like a book—she was sure her eyes told him everything he needed to know, regardless if he wanted to know or not.
“I told him that you wanted to come back to school and he told me he would look into it,” he explained, keeping his eyes on her as she swirled the last bit of wine in her glass. A million thoughts scrambled their way through her mind as she thought about returning to school, back to a classroom where she would continue doing what she enjoyed. If Jordan’s brother could make that happen, she would forever be in debt to him because he would be saving her from this nightmare of losing her job—the only thing she absolutely loved and could see herself doing for the rest of her life. “When I got a call from him the other day, I wasn’t expecting him to tell me that he had gone through with it.”
She witnessed the excitement as it danced across his face. She couldn’t help but feel the instant turn in her stomach as it flipped and flopped in anticipation of what he was about to tell her.
“He said he talked to the principal, or the boss as he called it, and they agreed that you would start working in Howard’s classroom,” Jordan said, holding out his arms to catch her as she rounded the counter and jumped into them.
“Oh, my gosh! That’s the best news ever! Thank you so much for doing that for me,” she said, drowning half her words with tears that had quickly fallen from her eyes as she exhaled the breath she had been holding. “I can’t believe it!”
“There’s only one other thing they had both decided,” Jordan said, looking down at her with a look of concern. There wasn’t much of anything he could tell her right now that would ruin her excitement and happiness about returning back to school. “You’ll have the rest of the year off, through summer, and return in August to work in Howard’s room.”<
br />
She couldn’t believe the nightmare was over. She would gladly accept their decision and return in August. She would take this summer to catch up on things she needed to get done around here. Her to-do list was a mile long and things were constantly being added to it.
“But, there’s only one more thing my brother told me to tell you,” Jordan said, holding up a finger to draw on the suspense. “He said, with being a new teacher, he hasn’t earned the respect of the students yet, so the kids are somewhat out of control. I think the word he used to describe them were little hellions?”
“Sounds about right,” she said, laughing at the thought of the kids being a pain and bouncing off the walls, like all kids did when they got a new teacher. Even her kids once acted like that, when she first made an entrance into her classroom. There would be something wrong with them if they didn’t act out once in a while.
“So, you know how awful they can be?” Jordan asked, laughing as he filled their glasses once again. The bottle was just about empty and the night was still young.
She nodded, because the truth was, she knew all too well. “I also know how amazing they can be. How much love they have to give to those they care about. How proud they are when they get stars on their paper and can show us their efforts.”
The thought of her kids, along with the thought of having her own kids someday, brought a new-found hope for her future. She’d had plenty of thoughts while she was in Arizona this last week, and one of the repeating thoughts had been leaving Iowa and venturing on with her life. Relocating somewhere new once again, and starting over. But now, after hearing the news Jordan had to share and just by seeing how much Jordan cared about her, she was no longer in the mood for another change. She was in the mood for something more right here in this small Iowa town.
Waking up to the sun beating its way through the half closed blinds and shining onto her face, she attempted to pull the blanket over her face, but failed when Jordan’s hand grabbed it from her and pulled her towards his chest. “Good morning, beautiful,” he whispered, kissing the tip of her nose, and trailing his lips down the side of her face until he was content with the area just above her collar bone. “Last night was amazing.”
Kate's Forever (Thistle Do Flowers Book 1) Page 9
