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I didn’t see myself as a particularly paranoid or nosy person, but it never hurts to be safe. If there was anything else to worry about, then I’d worry about it in Lantana.
Besides, if push came to shove, I hadn’t signed a long-term lease that would keep me locked in for a year. There was always an advantage to that.
My phone buzzed.
Got it. Thanks. See you Wednesday.
Chapter five
Five: Jesse
Wednesday morning finally came, and I got up for breakfast. I’d slept at the fire station since I had an overnight shift. Me and my buddies ate around six in the morning most days here, and I was glad for that. That’d give me plenty of time to get out to the house and get everything I didn’t want Jade to see into my room before she arrived.
It wasn’t like there were things I was trying to hide. I just didn’t want her to see any of the last little messes I’d left around the house.
“You look like you’re in a hurry, Jesse,” my coworker said. “What’s got you in such a rush this morning? Something happen at home? Need to fill in for a friend at one of the other stations around here?”
“I’ve gotten a renter for the top floor of my home,” I said.
It was best not to mince words; the sooner we got the questions over, the better. Once I mentioned it was a young woman moving in, my friend was intrigued but quickly asked for clarification. She was just a renter to me. Nothing more. I made sure everyone knew that.
“Well, I’m glad to see that you’re doing something with that house,” he said. “It’s a beautiful one. Other than hosting get-togethers outside the ranch, I don’t know what else you’d use it for. And you’re hardly home enough to even host a get-together.”
I nodded. That was the whole reason I’d decided to rent out my top floor, after all.
“Well, I should be leaving after breakfast because I have a few errands to take care of before she arrives,” I said. “She’s got a bit of a drive, so it’s going to be an interesting day. If you need me, you know how to reach me.”
Those at the table nodded.
“We’ll be fine here, but we’ll let you know if there’s an emergency. Hope moving in your tenant goes well!”
“Good to hear. Thanks.”
I took a deep breath as I grabbed my boots and started pulling them on. Thankfully, after living as a firefighter for so long, I had developed a habit of leaving any laced shoes – whether they were my boots or regular sneakers – with the laces undone and loosened so that I could pull them on, tighten them quickly, and get going to what I needed to be doing.
Upon arriving at my truck, I heard my phone buzz.
Just left my apartment. See you this afternoon!
The text came from Miss Santana. I took a deep breath. This was really happening.
I hadn’t anticipated feeling all these emotions about renting out the top floor of my house, but I supposed any change to what I considered normal would make me feel this way. The most concerning feeling was that I was actually nervous to meet this young woman. Perhaps it was because she was a woman or because I didn’t know her all that well. Whatever the case, I pushed all those feelings aside and started towards the house.
Before she arrived, I wanted to be sure that it was clean and that anything I didn’t want her seeing was away in the master bedroom or one of the adjoining rooms. The cleaning crew had done a good job yesterday, but I’d left a basket of laundry in the living room and a few other items I needed to tidy up.
I scooped up a couple of sketches of a new fence for the ranch and my work gear. The gear, I stored in the closet near the door. Most of my uniform stayed at the station, but we all kept emergency gear at our homes just in case. I’d taken mine out to clean, but now I hung it carefully back in the hall closet.
In the closet, there were also a few jackets. Since there wasn’t usually much of a winter in Lantana, I doubted Jade would need much space for heavy, thick coats, which was good. There was definitely space for a few light jackets, though.
Once all of that was taken care of, I poked through the kitchen. I decided to make a quick run to the grocery store so that the fridge was stocked with at least bread, jams, eggs, that kind of thing. I figured it would be helpful for her if she had a few essentials already in the fridge that she could use to cook tonight and wait until tomorrow to go grocery shopping if need be.
Come one that afternoon, I was convinced that I had everything ready. I’d walked through the upstairs just to make sure everything was ready. The cleaners had done a beautiful job – as always. The top floor sparkled; it was that clean. I put away the few groceries that needed to be put away in the fridge and the freezer—as I had decided to get some frozen ravioli for myself to eat tonight—and then waited.
An hour or so passed before I heard the telltale sounds of someone pulling up and stopping in front of the house.
A quick glance out the window revealed that it was indeed a young woman. She looked down at a phone in her hand, the other shielding the screen. I wondered if there was some reason she could not turn her brightness up even more or if the brightest setting just wasn’t enough for her to be able to see it all in this light.
I opened the front door and stepped out to greet her.
