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I moved more of the boxes from the living room upstairs and noticed that Jesse was no longer in the dining room. With him out of the way, I seized the opportunity to get some food.
My stomach was gurgling louder, and I wanted to be able to say that I had not forgotten to eat completely today. I knew Maria was going to ask when I saw her tomorrow. Thankfully, earlier today, she’d been able to get the lease squared away for the building we would use as our storefront.
I walked into the kitchen and looked through the pantry, the fridge, and the freezer. It appeared that Jesse was a man of simple foods. Most of what was available could be cooked quickly or thrown in the microwave while he did other things to get ready. Instead of complaining, I decided to just make some scrambled eggs.
I’d pick up groceries for myself tomorrow. Thankfully, Maria would be off, and we could take the truck to the nearest rental place and get it all squared away. The last thing I needed was more charges on my card that I had to worry about.
The scrambled eggs didn’t take long and brought Jesse back into the kitchen. I felt my shoulders tense when he walked in.
“How long do you think it’s going to take to get all of this unpacked?” he asked without preamble, motioning to the dining room and living room.
“Maybe a day or two. I had to move my entire life down here,” I replied. “I’m going as fast as I can, I promise. There are just some things you cannot rush. A woman moving still needs to eat. Still needs to rest.” At this point, some of the annoyance was definitely showing in my voice.
He nodded slowly.
“I see.”
“Why?”
“Curiosity,” he replied. “I have a shift at the fire station starting tomorrow, and I’ll probably be gone a full week before you see me again. I’d like to have a living room and dining room by the time I get back.”
Considering the posting had emphasized that these were “shared” spaces and that he rarely had guests over, his saying that he wanted those areas cleared by the time he came back seemed… it was hard for me to quite identify.
I guess it made me feel like he still saw the house as his. Which, of course, it was his. But it made it sound like I was just visiting—not actually living here.
I bit back these thoughts.
“I think I can make that work, or at least move the boxes upstairs to continue unpacking.”
“Or even into the garage would work,” he said. “Just leave me enough room to park my truck.”
I nodded slowly. This man was an interesting subject, and I didn’t know what to make of him quite yet. A grump, yes, but there was something more under the surface. Something waiting to be discovered.
If I could make the most of what little time he’d be home, perhaps he would end up being a good friend by the time I moved out to buy my own house.
I certainly didn’t want to be enemies.
Chapter seven
Seven: Jesse
Though I had been at the firehouse last night, my shift did not start until Thursday. Now that Thursday had arrived, I woke up to my alarm early in the morning. I needed to be at the fire station early enough to catch the rundown from the last crew who had worked, and that meant getting there at six. My alarm went off at four-thirty, giving me an hour and a half to arrive at the fire station. I only needed twenty minutes to get there in the morning traffic.
The rest of the time was to make sure that I had enough to eat and that I was ready for the days I’d be at the station. It also gave me time to pack the bag I took to the ranch. After doing this for years, I knew exactly how much time I’d need each morning, depending on where I’d be working and whether I’d be heading straight to the ranch afterwards or not.
However, this morning, I didn’t have the privilege of being as loud as I naturally was. Jade was still asleep upstairs. Ideally, I’d get out this morning without waking her up. I wasn’t used to having to think about stuff like that.
I started by making myself some scrambled eggs. The ravioli last night was great, but it was not a food I could eat this early in the morning. Not with how heavy the workload could be. It’d be a better thing to have for lunch or something later. Maybe even at the firehouse if I could get a bag there. Then again, the fire chief was in charge of stocking the fridge, freezer, and pantry there.
I wasn’t sure he would want to take up precious space for a pound of ravioli for one person who didn’t have a medical need for the food to be on hand.
I took the scrambled eggs off the heat and carefully set the pan on one of the cool burners.
It smelled delicious. I sat down to eat at the raised counter. Unless I was eating and trying to stay out of the way, I didn’t really use the dining room. That was more for entertainment purposes than when I was home alone. Jade was welcome to eat wherever she wanted, of course, so long as she didn’t make a mess. The general rule of ‘you make a mess, you clean it up’ applied to both of us, after all.
As I was just about to put my plate in the sink after eating, I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. My heart jumped. For a moment, I worried that someone had gotten in the window up there, but I had to remind myself that my living room and dining room were still full of Jade’s things to calm my heart.
“What are you doing up? It isn’t even five in the morning,” she lamented. “And making such a racket!”
