went dead, Josie shifted toward me. “Why did you do that?”
“Do what?” I asked innocently. “All I did was tell her that your Airbnb fell through.”
Even in the darkness that the evening brought, I could see the mortified expression on Josie’s face.
I wanted to put her mind at ease. Hell, I wanted to put my mind at ease. What I didn’t want to do was dive too deep into the reason that I’d made the offer for Josie to stay at the farm.
Since I couldn’t admit to Josie, or myself, the real reason that I’d spoken up, I went with a no lesser truth. “If I would’ve taken you to Parrish Creek, my mom would have beat me with a switch.”
“How would she even have known?”
“Dolly Briggs knows all and sees all,” I answered sincerely.
Her eyes cut to mine, glaring with disbelief.
“It’s true. Ask anyone. It’s a running joke in my family, the town, hell all of Clover County. I don’t know how she does it, but she does. Nothing gets by her. When I was a kid, I heard the phrase having eyes in the back of your head, and I thought that my mom actually did. I used to try and look for them under her hair.”
Josie smiled, “That’s cute.”
Cute? I couldn’t remember that adjective ever being used to describe me. But somehow hearing Josie say it made my chest feel all warm. “You think I’m cute?” I asked.
Was I flirting with Josie Clarke? Yes. Should I be? Hell, no.
“Um…no…I mean…yes…I mean…no…I mean…what you said was cute.” She stumbled over her answer before turning her attention back to her computer.
“Home sweet home,” I announced as my headlights shone onto the wrought iron security gate, complete with a large brass plate smack dab in the center with a capital B engraved on it. I pressed the automatic opener and it began to swing open.
Memories swirled in my head of the times before my dad had upgraded the system, when someone would have to jump out of the car and open it. It usually ended up being the youngest boy in the car. Which meant if it was only Sawyer or Wyatt and me, I was the one hopping out.
“Wow, this place is…” her voice trailed off as the truck rolled up the driveway to my childhood home.
To me, it was just home, and all that encapsulated. No matter how long I was away from it, or what improvements and changes my parents made, it was still somehow hermetically sealed in my memory.
I tried to see it through fresh eyes, how she might be seeing it. The white farmhouse with a black shaker roof and wraparound porch sat at the end of the long drive. Since the last time I was home, my mom had had my dad install string lights that lined the drive giving the entrance a much more inviting feel.
“It’s like out of a movie.”
I’d never thought of it that way, but I supposed if I were location scouting for a farmhouse, this would fit the bill.
I got out of the truck and was walking around to the passenger side when she opened the door.
“I was going to get that.” I picked up my pace and reached out, holding it open and offering her my hand as she stepped down.
As soon as her feet hit the gravel drive, she started to reach for her bags, which were stored behind the bench seat.
“I’ve got them.”
“I can take them,” she argued. It was in vain, though, since I had much longer arms than she did.
I easily retrieved them without a fight.
As we made our way up the steps to the front door, I was struck with the strangest feeling and it took me a moment to identify what it was.
As a teenager, I’d never dated anyone from Wishing Well or even Parrish Creek, the next town over, because it felt like doing that would’ve tied me to this place. And as an adult, my career hadn’t exactly lent itself to having a serious relationship.
Since I’d never experienced bringing a girl home, I had nothing to compare it to, but this was what I imagined it feeling like. And I didn’t hate it.
Chapter 6
Josie
“The only value someone else’s opinion has is the value you give it.”
~ Josephine Grace Clarke
Nerves pinged through me as I walked up the steps of Jackson’s parents’ farmhouse. Not because I didn’t want to impose, although I didn’t. But the bulk of my anxiety was tied