Chapter 76

Jesse

The pair remained at the cabin for two more days. After the unfortunate incident their second night there, things seemed to regulate and return to normal, except that Jesse was especially careful not to bring up topics that included Hal’s work or his career.

For the most part, though, Jesse had a wonderful time, and based on her observations, so did Hal. The rain finally died down sometime after the second night, and they went out into the woods once again and lingered at the creek, eating sandwiches and drinking wine that Hal had packed. Hal had even taught her to fly-fish.

Jesse enjoyed the things they did together, and she enjoyed being alone with Hal. If it had not been for an email she received, she would have likely been content to stay there for weeks on end.

Alas, when Jesse had opened her emails to see a message from one of the magazines to which she had applied when she left her job with Elaine, she had been both shocked and elated. They said they had been impressed with her resume and her portfolio, and they wanted to schedule an interview with her as soon as she could arrange one.

Jesse had not hesitated to email them back, telling them that she would be available for an interview at nine o’clock in the morning the very next day. She was too eager to schedule it for any time later.

After sending the email, Jesse closed up her laptop and put it back in its traveling case. Then, she went to find Hal. She crossed from the guest room and into the living room, where Hal was seated on the couch. He looked up at her as she entered the room, and his eyebrows raised as he saw the excitement on her face.

“What’s up?” he asked, keeping his eyes fixed on her as she sat down beside him on the couch.

“I got an email from one of the places I applied to,” Jesse explained, her voice brimming with excitement.

Hal blinked and shook his head a little.

“Wow, that was soon,” Hal noted, surprise on his face. “Congratulations!”

“Thanks.” Jesse laughed, blushing a little.

“Where is it from?” Hal persisted, seeming genuinely curious.

“It’s some blog.” Jesse shrugged. “To be honest, I’ve never even heard of it before.”

Hal frowned a little at the news.

“And you want to work there?” he asked her, raising an eyebrow.

“I mean, at this point, I’m not going to be too terribly picky about who offers me a job,” Jesse explained.

Hal grunted and didn’t seem to be appeased.

“Besides,” Jesse went on, “it’s just an interview. It doesn’t mean I even have the job at all.”

Hal sighed, shook his head, but seemed to be a little more open.

“I guess that’s true.” Hal shrugged. “I just feel like you are better than working for some unheard of blog.”

“Maybe.” Jesse shrugged. “But right now this is what’s on the table for me, and I’m not just going to overlook it. I mean, who knows when something else will come my way at all.”

Hal nodded, seeming to at least understand, even if he wasn’t particularly excited about it.

“So when is the interview?” Hal asked, his voice much lighter.

“That’s actually what I came to tell you,” Jesse said, her voice a little remorseful. “I scheduled it for nine o’clock in the morning. I was too excited to have it any later.”

Hal blinked a little in surprise.

“Wow,” he said softly. “Well, I better put in a few calls, and we’d both better get packed up, don’t you think?”

Jesse felt a sense of relief that he understood.

“Yeah,” she said. “I’m sorry; I know this was all really sudden.”

“Don’t apologize,” Hal waved her off. “I told you we could leave whenever you needed to, and now you need to. I’ll put out a call to Phillip, and by the time we’re all packed up and ready, he’ll probably be here already. Sound good?”

Jesse nodded and smiled up at him. He smiled in return and leaned down to press a soft kiss to her lips.

“I’ll call Phillip,” Hal said, and Jesse nodded once more. “You go ahead and start getting ready to go.”

Jesse wasted no time and hurried into the guest bedroom to gather up all her clothes and pack them up. While she had slept in Hal’s room for the most part, her things had managed to stay in the guest bedroom. Now, though, Jesse made haste as she packed up.

Jesse couldn’t help being excited as she wondered how the interview would go. It was definitely very little time to prepare for an interview, but she had no one to blame for that but herself. Still, she had gone through interviews before, and they had all gone just fine.

It did not take Jesse long to assure that she had packed up all her belongings, and she took her bags to set them by the door that would open up to the stairway leading to the roof. No sooner had she placed them there than Hal emerged from his room and placed his things alongside hers.

“I haven’t heard back from Phillip yet,” Hal said. “But he is definitely on his way.”

“Okay.” Jesse nodded. Truth be told, she wasn’t horribly worried. She knew that the pilot would soon be there and they would on their way back to the city.

Jesse couldn’t help being a little sad and more than a little anxious at the thought of returning to the heavy population of the city they had been able to escape from, at least for a little while. She was not excited about being once more surrounded by people all the time and about worrying that she and Hal would be discovered.

“Jess?” Jesse shook her head as Hal’s voice ushered her out of her thoughts. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Jesse nodded, but Hal’s brow raised, and she knew that he wanted a more truthful answer. “I just wish I could stay here with you forever, away from everyone else.”

Hal’s expression softened, and he gathered her up in his arms, pulling her close to his chest, nuzzling the top of her head with his chin.

“You know what your problem is?” Hal spoke, and Jesse could hear the humor in his voice. “You want too much. You want to stay here, you want to go back, you want to be with me, you want to be a journalist. It seems the only thing you don’t want is for people to know you’re with me.”

Jesse frowned as Hal’s voice hardened a little at the last part of his statement.

“Hal?” she pulled back from him and looked up into his eyes, letting her facial expression voice her concerns.

Hal released a sigh and shook his head, then chuckled lowly.

“Sorry,” he said. “But I mean you have to admit, it’s a little frustrating that the person you love wants to keep your relationship a secret when a part of you wants to just tell the whole world.”

Jesse’s face wilted.

“Oh, Hal,” Jesse sighed and cupped his cheek with her hand. “I don’t want you to think I want to keep us in the dark. It’s just … I’m not excited about being in the public eye, is all.”

“I know, I know.” Hal nodded, seeming to relax a little bit, though he still seemed to be a little put out.

“I just …” Jesse started and trailed off, trying to find the right words to say. “I just need a little time. I’m sure things will take a perfectly natural and logical course if we just let them. I’m sure I’ll get used to everything as it comes.”

Hal nodded and stroked her face.

“I admit, it’s a lot to take in,” Hal agreed, “but I promise, it’s not as overwhelming as you might think, and you get used to it really fast.”

Jesse nodded, smiling gently up at him. A part of her was still horribly nervous about being out and open in the public eye.

“And no offense,” Hal started again, his voice carrying an edge of humor. “Nobody really knows who you are, so for a while, people are just going to be waiting for me to confirm what your name is, which I can drag out indefinitely.”

Jesse couldn’t help laughing a little at that because it was certainly true. Celebrity gossip was usually centered around more than one celebrity and thus magnified. At least since she was pretty much unknown, the press would wonder if they were in a relationship at all for a while.

“Well, no matter what happens with the press,” Jesse said, “it will be worth it if I can be with you.”

Jesse smiled up at Hal and was rewarded with a soft kiss.

Warmth flooded over Jesse, and she knew that no matter what the media said about them, she could put up with it as long as she got to share her life with Hal.