Chapter Seven
The day? The day went fairly smoothly. Despite the thunder and build up, it didn't rain very much. Just enough to make the ground a little muddy. I found all of my classes and was only intimidated by one older, smaller professor who didn't smile and sort of glared most of the class. I didn't run into J any which was disappointing. It might have been nice to have lunch or something, but I ended up eating with a person from my chemistry class. Her name was Alicia Dyer. Pretty. Blonde. English major too. She was nice to talk to… so I did.
She asked me for my number which I found pretty forward, but I gave it to her. She gave me hers too. I still make fun of her over it because, when you get to know her, she's not that out in the open normally. Alicia's more reserved. More quiet… unless you make her mad which I do tend to do on occasion. Sometimes it's accidental.
Sometimes.
Anyway, we sat next to each other in Chemistry, didn't know anyone else and decided to eat lunch together. Less awkward-looking that way. By the end of the hour, I had a full stomach and her phone number. Not a bad first day of school.
Now, you might be thinking I was sort of cheating on J by eating lunch with Alicia, but you'd be wrong because 1) we weren't dating, and 2) she was — I found out later — eating lunch with Oliver at Langston's. I know, right?! Who would go to that fancy place during the day? Better yet, who would go there at night?
At around four o'clock, I made it back to J's car. She wasn't there yet, so to kill time and nonchalantly lean on the hood because my knee was killing me from all the walking, I pulled out the paper Alicia had given me and started programming her number into my phone. Before I could punch in the first digit, the phone was swiped out of my hand. It shocked me at first until I saw who it was, standing there all cocky next to the car.
"Day one and you've already got a girl's number." She grinned, holding my phone hostage.
"Jealous?" Maybe not the best thing to say, but oh well. I said it. Sue me.
Thankfully — since she was my ride and all — she didn't seem to let that bother her. "Not at all." She started fiddling with the keys and doing something to my phone. Knowing her, she was probably making it sing the Barney song when she texted me or something. "It's just… you are a lot smoother than I gave you credit for, Walker. And here I thought you weren't over Lauren yet."
It was my turn to take the phone from J's little fingers. "I'm not. I sat next to Alicia in Chemistry."
J smirked. Chemistry. Ha. Got the joke. It was stupid.
J just took the phone right back from me and kept on keying in stuff and asked me if the girl was cute.
Now, I'm not an idiot. I know how the world works. I know it isn't very smart to tell a girl that another girl is cute. And I know that they know this… and I know that they — girls, that is — keep asking men the same question, hoping to trap them in the answer. I knew J was doing the same thing when she looked up at me with her eyes twinkling. She was teasing me. Playing me. I couldn't help but laugh and shake my head.
Funny how I never saw that side of J when Oliver was around. He had this sort of stick up his butt quality that stifled J, if you want my personal opinion on it. Sure, I hadn't known them long and I'd only seen J with Oliver twice, but still — she was different with him. I hoped this was the real her. I liked this J much better than Oliver's "Jordan".
"Yes. She's cute," I answered before grabbing my phone back from her and slamming it in my jeans pocket before she could get the chance to swipe it again. At least I hope she wouldn't grab it again. I didn't think she'd shove her hand down my pants pocket, but who knew? Definitely wouldn't have been the worst thing to happen to me.
"No more Lauren?" she asked, tilting her head in a way that made her neck look exceptionally long. Alicia was cute. J was beautiful.
"No more Lauren." I had to clear my throat because it hitched when I tried to speak. I stared at her for longer than I meant, not able to will my eyes to look away. At first she laughed and bit her lip like she was still playing with me. Then I guess she saw how I was looking at her and the smile faded. Not like it had faded with Oliver earlier. Not in a bad 'eww' way, but maybe she was looking at me like I was looking at her.
I'd had a good lunch with Alicia. I wasn't over Lauren, and J had a boyfriend. Even though I didn't like the jerk, he was still hers. And I shouldn't have been looking at her like that.
I bit my lip and looked away as quickly as I could, because frankly, it was embarrassing. After clearing my throat for a second time and shoving my hands in my jeans pockets, I tried to make like that never happened. "Ready?"
She blinked a few times. "Yeah. I hope you don't need to stop somewhere else before we get home." Her voice hitched like mine had earlier. "I really need to get back, shower, and get ready. Oliver will be there at six," she said as she walked toward the driver's side.
Maybe I'm projecting… maybe it wasn't really how she felt, but I didn't… and still don't… feel that she was terribly excited about going.
"Still ticked that he went behind your back with your brother and got you off tonight?"
She shrugged. "Doesn't matter now." She slid in her side of the car and I got in on mine. "It's done. Emily will cover my shift, and I'll get to go to the Weston mansion and have a 'cozy' dinner with about fifty people I don't know, and if I do know them, I probably will wish I didn't."
She turned on the ignition and I couldn't hold it in any more. "Then why go, J?"
Her head snapped around quickly and she looked like it was the craziest question ever. "Because. He asked me. He got me off of work. I'm his girlfriend."
My mouth wouldn't stop. "I know that, but why? He doesn't seem like your type."
I was being sincere, but she didn't seem to take it that way. We backed up and then she put the car into drive. "Because you've known me all of a day, you think you know what my type is?"
"Surely, it can't be him. He's just… blah."
I didn't know really what to expect from her because she was right, I didn't know her that well. She could fly off the handle and drop me off in some part of town I didn't know, make me walk home. "You don't know him. He's different, but he's alright. He's never given me any grief. Never hit me. Never cheated."
I scoffed. "Is that the only definition you have for a 'good guy'?"
It was her turn to be sincere. "Believe me. I've been with worse."
After that she got really quiet and I didn't know what to say. Here we were, newly finished our first day of college and I had nothing to say. That's not true. I had a lot of things to say, but I didn't know how to say them. I wanted to know about the 'worse' and what they had done to her, but another part of me didn't want to know. To me, J was a strong woman, and I didn't want to think of her as anything else.
I honestly didn't even want to think of her with Oliver, because I didn't like how she acted around him. She wasn't as care free as she was with me… well, normally. In that car going home, she sure didn't have much to say.
I figured her mind was a million miles away. Mine was too, I guess. I didn't know her well, but still… There wasn't one part of me that wanted her to go out with Oliver that night. Sure, okay, yeah, I was jealous. Jealous that he got to spend time with her… and jealous that she acted so strangely around him.
And jealous that it wasn't me.
Now I know it was jealousy. At the time, I just thought it was concern for her well-being.
As she drove us back to Mrs. Bainbridge's, I couldn't keep my eyes off of her. I tried. Man, I tried, but I couldn't. There was something about her, way beyond her dark hair and eyes… way beyond how pretty she was. There was something that I caught even then. Something that drew me to her. Some would say lust or the proverbial wanting what I couldn't have, but it wasn't like that. I can't explain it. All I know is that I couldn't keep my eyes off of her.
And, of course, she noticed.
"What?" She laughed as she moved her eyes from the road and back to me a few times
.
I'd been caught. Great. She'd probably think I was a pervert or something.
"Nothing," I lied and looked out my side of the window at the yards passing by. The yards would soon turn into buildings closer together, then a red light, then Main Street, then we'd be home. After such an exhausting day, home sounded great. And even better, I had the night off. I'd make up for it tomorrow by working over two hours, but for tonight, the dry cleaners weren't mine to manage. I couldn't say I was sad about that.
J couldn't leave well enough alone. "No, seriously. What? Do I have something in my hair?" She fumbled her fingers around in the few dark strands that had fallen down around her face.
I couldn't help but laugh. "Nothing in your hair. Not that I can see anyway."
"Then what?" The light in front of us changed from yellow to red and J slowed to a stop. "Tell me. Something's going around in your mind."
There were a lot of things going around in my mind. Lots of thoughts that, honestly, I'm not entirely sure were pure. Lots of thoughts I won't tell you about. You have an imagination. I couldn't help it. But those weren't the only things I was thinking.
"Come on." She grinned and tilted her head my direction. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, almost like she was threatening me if I didn't do it. "It can't be that bad. Tell me, Walker."
I took a deep breath and tried to put all of my jumbled thoughts in one coherent bunch. "I don't think you should be with Oliver." And there it was. I said it. I didn't know her well enough to say it, but I did. But to be fair to me, how long exactly did Romeo and Juliet know each other before they decided it best to take the poison than live without each other? I wasn't at the poison-taking stage… not just yet. I was, however, at the 'I kinda like you' stage.
In all my years, I'd never seen an expression change so quickly. Her smile faded into a hard line and I knew I'd crossed it. If I could have taken it back, I would have. Not that I liked Oliver, I'll never like Oliver, but because it was none of my business. And I knew I didn't want her to look at me like that.
She agreed. "I don't think that's any of your business. Who I date is my problem, not yours." The light changed green and she floored it until we pulled into the space next to our apartment. Without a word, she jumped out of the car, yanked her backpack from the backseat, and ran into the building without even giving me a second glance. Like I wasn't even there.
I bit my lip and ran my fingers thought my hair, repeatedly telling myself I was stupid. I paced a few times on the sidewalk, completely forgetting that the sheriff station was right across the road, and her sheriff brother tended to sit outside and watch everything with an eagle eye.
When I heard a whistle coming from across the street, I remembered him and cringed. He had to have thought I was the biggest loser ever. Either that or a moron weirdo. He told me later he thought I was drunk. In any case, he yelled for me to come over. Not wanting to upset the sheriff, I moseyed on over.
Sheriff Joseph Rivers leaned back in a wooden chair, whittling. I kid you not. The man was whittling the first time I officially met him. He was a younger guy, younger than he appeared from across the road. I didn't think of whittling as a young guy's hobby. He had on his sheriff's uniform, not a wrinkle insight. His hair was the same dark brown as J's but his eyes were a chocolate brown. Pretty. For a guy, pretty.
Okay, I'm not going to lie. His eyes were pretty for anyone. His scruffy beard wasn't my taste though. And he was a guy, and I sort of had lustful thoughts about his sister. And maybe even Alicia Dyer from my math class.
I'm straying off topic here. I'm sorry...
Anyway, the point is that Sheriff Rivers was a nice-looking man and any woman would agree with me. Okay, that's out of the way. Can we move on now before I say something even more embarrassing?
Back to the topic you want to hear about. How it began… or at least now we are about in the middle portion of how it began. How we met…
Sheriff Rivers, Joshua, didn't look at me when I walked up to him. He just sat with his chair back, whittling away. It was a piece of cedar — I could tell that. And he had just started it from the looks of it. "You look like something's upsetting you."
Never did he raise his eyes, which was good because, quite frankly, I was a bit intimidated by the sheriff at the moment. No one wants to have a long conversation with the sheriff of a town during their first week… and definitely not when they're living with the sheriff's sister — well, sort of living with.
"Just a long day," I said, not really wanting to get into it with him. It wasn't like I knew what he thought about Oliver. He could have thought the man walked on water for all I knew — that was a Jesus reference, in case…
Okay. I guess you knew that.
"Yeah, first day of college. Not easy. I remember my first day. Sort of made me want to go home, cry, beat my fists in the air, and cry."
I felt my brow rise. "Really?"
It was then he looked at me, never stopping the whittling. Probably dangerous now that I think about it. "Nope."
I got the humor. He was making fun of me, and I could appreciate it. Looking back, I can imagine how silly I must have looked to him, being all frustrated on the other side of the road. I'm sure I looked like an idiot. And he'd called me one… not in so many words. "Yeah, I guess I got a little frustrated."
"A little," he agreed and motioned for me to sit in the chair next to him.
I hesitated for a second, then decided I'd better do it. I didn't want to be on the sheriff's bad side. We sat in silence for a good thirty seconds. The only sound between us was the few cars driving by and the sound of his knife scraping against the cedar in his hand. "Is Jordan as frustrated as you?"
"I… uh… I don't know."
He shook his head. "You were in the car with her. How did she act? Was she upset over something?"
"I don't know if I should talk about your sister," I said, and I meant it.
His eyes found mine. He wasn't kidding now. "She's my sister, and I have every right to know. Was she upset? Did you make her upset?"
It occurred to me as I watched the knife gliding across the cedar that maybe he was trying to intimidate me. He knew I'd been in the car with her and he knew that I was upset. Put two and two together, and it stands to reason that she was upset too. He was being calm to bide his time.
That realization made my heart beat faster and sweat start to form on my forehead. "She's a little mad at me, yeah."
"Why? She barely knows you."
I really wanted him to stop whittling.
And I really didn't want to tell him the answer to that question. But by the way he looked at me, I had a very real feeling that he'd know if I weren't telling the truth. "I told her that I didn't think Oliver was a good person to date."
At first he didn't have any expression on his face, which didn't make me feel very confident that I'd said the right thing. Then, slowly, he concentrated on the cedar in his hand and carefully pulled the knife across it, making a curl of wood which fell to the floor. "Do you go to church, Mr. Scott?"
Out of all the questions or responses I expected from the sheriff, I never imagined that one. I had to stutter out an answer because the words wouldn't form correctly at first. "Uh… yeah. I used to in Oklahoma. My father's a preacher."
Sheriff Rivers didn't look up. "Ours too."
"Yeah. J told me."
With his pocketknife, he pointed down the road to the little white church at the end of the street. "See that church?"
I nodded and made a grunting sound to let him know, yeah… I saw it.
"Our father's church. We went there all my life. The congregation kept voting him to stay, so we did. The main superintendent didn't like it much, but my father put his foot down. He said that was where he wanted to be and that was where he was staying."
"Where is he now?" I asked, still looking at the white structure. It honestly looked like one of those churches on a post card or even a Christmas card. A small, wel
l-manicured yard, black shutters — from what I could tell. And three steps that led to the front entrance. I could see some flower beds that were getting ready to be planted with fall flowers. It wouldn't be long.
Sheriff Rivers turned back around and tilted his chair against the side of the police station. "He's still there."
I can't exactly describe how he said it, but it was very ominous. Something about it made me pause and know that maybe there was more to the story. "Still there, as in still the preacher?"
"Still there as in lying in a box in the ground behind the sanctuary."
I could have kicked myself. That's why he was J's guardian. Sometimes I didn't think. The only thing I knew to say was I'm sorry.
Sheriff Rivers shrugged. "Don't be. It's been a few years now. Died in his sleep. Oliver was at our house. He had just started dating Jordan. In fact, I'm not sure she could have made it though it without Oliver. He was there… when I couldn't be. Our mother had died a few years before so I was the guardian now. I took that to mean I had to do everything to financially support her. Oliver took care of her emotionally."
Of course, I wondered what he was talking about, but I didn't ask. I let him keep talking, because frankly, I didn't want to cut him off. He seemed the type to get offended if I did. "So yeah, Oliver has his faults, one of which is having Victor as a father — but I guess he couldn't help that, could he? Just be easy on her and don't tell Jordan bad things about him. You don't know him and it's really none of your business. He helped Jordan when our dad died. I couldn't ask for anything more."
He took a big deep breath. "And you're the new guy. You don't have the same chemistry and history that Jordan has with Oliver, so drop it and don't try to break something up that doesn't need it."
"I'm not trying…" I stammered.
"Sure you are. And it's not going to work."
He went right on whittling and from his body language, I knew this conversation was over. I wasn't entirely sure what happened. I hadn't meant to offend him or talk bad about Oliver. Had I talked bad about Oliver? Oh well.
"Nice to meet you," I said as I started back home across the street. J was still mad at me. I saw another lecture in my future.
Sheriff Rivers yelled my name and I faced him. "You aren't wrong about Oliver. As a person, I don't like him either. As my little sister's boyfriend, he's a good one."
I nodded and crossed the traffic. I supposed that was the way everything would be when it came to Oliver Weston. No one really liked him… well, except maybe J, but they all 'liked' him. It was weird and strange and I wish I had the same effect on people. Imagine the kind of power you could have if people both loved and disliked you at the same time.
With a deep and heavy sigh, I opened the door to the foyer and immediately smelled bacon.
I know. It shocked me too. One it was… well… bacon. And two, it was after five at night. Who had bacon at five at night? "Mrs. Bainbridge?" I yelled and took a few tentative steps inside.
"In the kitchen!" she yelled. "Cooking some breakfast."
I had the same look you have. "For supper?"
"It's better then. You'll see. You are more than welcome to come down and eat! Starts at six."
Yes, that was all yelled through the walls. We had no tact at the Bainbridge house.
As it was, my stomach decided breakfast for supper would actually be a good change and that I would come down at six and take her up on her offer. Plus, it was free and I hadn't gotten paid yet this week. Tomorrow and work couldn't come fast enough. I sort of wished I had to work that night. It would have gotten me out of the house and my mind off of J out with Oliver… and his house, mingling with the rich — talking — chatting — doing things dating people do that I didn't need to think about or it would make me mad, and I had no reason to be mad because J wasn't mine.
I should stop here and say that I'm not a crazy stalker person. I don't just fall head over heels for the first girl I see. I normally don't even fall head over heels at all. And if you want to know the honest truth about it, at the time, I didn't know I was falling for her. Now I can see it. Hindsight being 20/20 and all, but then... I don't know. I knew I liked her. I knew I didn't want her with Oliver.
I should have followed my gut instincts. We would have all been happier. I know I would have been. I would probably be with her right now. Not talking to you…
No offense. You are great and it's helping… I'm going to get back to the story now before I put my foot in my mouth some more.
Okay, so I walked up the stairs, well, limped if you want the correct word. Limped because my knee was killing me from all the walking on campus and the God-forsaken stairs.
God-forsaken. Let's go off on that tangent for a second. See, Sheriff Rivers asked me if I believed in God. If I was a church-going man. And I answered him yes. Yes, I was… actually I said my father was a preacher which basically means the same thing. I went to church. I believed in God. I was saved at a very young age. You need to know all of that before we go on with this story. You need to know that I prayed and I had every faith that everything would turn out okay.
Here's the sixty-four thousand dollar question… do I believe in God now? Three months later? I guess we'll have to get to that part, won't we?
I didn't have any of these thoughts as I climbed up the stairs. I did, however, remember just as I got to the landing on J's floor that she had been mad at me. And I wondered, for a split second, if she still was. I didn't have to wait long.
A shoe.
A SHOE.
A red shoe.
A red high heeled shoe.
Flew past my head.
I had to do this really cool Matrix move to keep the stiletto from impaling my eyeball.
Yep. Still mad.
I had a choice. Go up the stairs and sulk or go talk to the girl. Maybe apologize. I wish I could say it was an easy decision. A deadly object had been thrown at my head after all, but I decided I'd take the high road for once in my life and go apologize to her.
Didn't mean that I went in all confident, though. I have to say, I kept my hands up and sort of shuffled into the room. I mean, I knew enough to know that shoes came in pairs. Only one had zipped by my head. She had another one in there somewhere.
"J?" I said as I passed the threshold. "I take it you're still mad."
"What would give you that idea?" She huffed and pulled her towel tighter around her wet, naked body. Her black hair was piled on top of her head and her cheeks were rosy. A hot shower.
I can't tell you that I thought a coherent sentence when I saw her. I wasn't expecting that. I expected something. Okay, I expected at least clothing.
Being the gentleman I am, I turned my back to her… after a good ten seconds when my legs would actually move again. I know I stuttered and my face had turned a very VERY dark shade of red. Thankfully, she couldn't see it.
"You threw a shoe at me." I held the instrument up to prove my point. I didn't, however, turn. Some people will argue that all teenaged guys only think of one thing. I beg to differ. Not that I didn't think about that, but it wasn't like that…
"There it is!" she yelled, ran in front of me, grabbed the shoe, ran around so she could face me, and hugged my neck. Obviously not still mad.
Now, let me set the picture for you. An eighteen year old girl, very much in her prime, who had just gotten out of the shower, and was only in a towel, and her hair was up off her neck… and dripping little droplets down her back… was hugging me.
I'm good, but I'm not that good.
I hugged her back.
She looked up at me.
I looked down at her.
And for a second. The briefest of seconds, I had to fight very hard not to lean down and kiss her. It would have been wrong, of course. She was happy with Oliver, and like I keep saying, I hadn't known her long. But still… her body was so warm from the hot shower and my fingers automatically slid to the small of her back.
For a second all the a
ir was sucked out of the room. J looked up at me and something in her expression changed. I don't know what it was. I like to think that she saw something she liked. I felt my fingers forming little circles on the small of her back and I leaned closer toward her lips, unable to stop myself.
If I hadn't known better, I could have sworn that she rose up, just a little on her tiptoes to kiss me back.
As per my life, we were interrupted when J's couch cushion started singing. As if waking from a dream, she shook her head like she had to clear the cobwebs and went to answer it. I want to think our little encounter affected her as much as me, but I can't speak for her.
"It's Oliver," she said, reading the screen.
And my good mood faded.