Chapter Seven
Placing the final cup into the cabinet, I shut the door and look around. The place looks wonderful. I’ve cleaned everything, including inside the oven and under the couch. It took some elbow grease, but I cleaned the scuff marks off the wall. I just need to hit a few yard sales or Goodwill to pick up a comfy chair for the living room and some pictures for the wall, and it will be absolutely perfect.
The sound of tires rolling over gravel hits my ears, pulling me away from my inspection. I look out the window just in time to see Chance’s truck come to a stop a few feet from the front porch. I’m out the door before he cuts the engine off. By the time he steps out of the truck, I’m by his side.
He lets out a chuckle. “Happy to see me, Gypsy Girl?”
“I gotta show you something,” I say, motioning for him to follow me inside.
I rush up the porch steps and through the door. A second later, I’m running to the bedroom. Once there, I bend down and look under the bed. My eyes land on the frame, just as my hand grabs it. Pulling it out, I look up to see Chance standing at the door.
“Look what I found,” I say, motioning to the picture.
“Shit,” he mumbles, bending down to pick the large frame up. “This has been gone since we moved into the new office. I thought it was lost.”
The frame holds a photo of Chance as a teen with a guy that looks so similar that he can only be his brother. Each has an arm slung over the shoulders of an older woman with kind eyes. They are standing in front of this trailer with huge smiles on their faces.
“This was taken the day we bought this place,” he says, a grin spreading across his plump lips. “We were all so damn proud to say it was ours.”
I stand up and look at it. “You were so young. I can’t believe you owned your own business back then.”
“I was nineteen, and Adam was twenty. We took the money we inherited from our grandma and bought the land and equipment,” he says, sitting down on the bed, looking at the picture. “Mom bought us the trailer with her share of the inheritance. She said she wanted to invest in our future.”
I’m smiling now, too, imagining how proud they were the day that photo was taken. “You should hang it up in the new office. That way you never forget where you started or how far you’ve come.”
“Good idea,” he says with a nod, standing up and motioning for me to follow him. “I’m gonna do that right now, surprise Adam next time he comes in.”
I follow him out the door, shutting it behind me. We walk around the trailer to the back door of the office. He hands me the frame just long enough for him to unlock the door, then leads me inside. As soon as I walk through the door, the smell of rotten food and old coffee hits my nose. I have to put a hand over my mouth to keep from complaining.
“Damn,” Chance mutters as the smell hits him full force. “It’s not usually this bad in here, I swear. We’ve had a big job down near Murray, so we haven’t been by the office for nearly two weeks. I guess leaving it shut up for so long wasn’t a good thing to do.”
I look around the little kitchen area we are standing in and see the problem. “It could have something to do with the food left on the table while you were gone.”
“Well, shit,” he growls, leaning the frame against the wall.
He walks to the back of the room and grabs the trash can then starts cleaning up the mess. I avoid the table and head to the sink. After pushing open the window, I dig around in the drawers to find a dishcloth then look under the sink for some disinfectant. By the time he’s back in from taking out the garbage, I’ve gotten the table wiped down and am washing the coffee pot.
“Sorry about that,” he says as he closes the door.
I smile, setting the coffee pot on the drying rack. “Not a problem.”
He picks up the frame again and leads me into the main office. I look around as he drags a hammer and a few nails from a cabinet by the door. While he is hanging the picture, I walk to the desk and scan the stacks of papers covering it.
Unable to believe this much has accumulated in just a couple of weeks, I ask, “How long ago did you say your assistant quit?”
“Two or three weeks ago, maybe a little longer,” he replies, straightening the frame. “But she had been on maternity leave for nearly two months before that. When it got close to the day she was supposed to come back to work, she called and said she just couldn’t leave her kid with a babysitter.”
“Okay, that makes sense,” I say as my eyes scan the rest of the room.
Other than the stacks of papers on the desk, everything seems to be in order. There is only one desk; I assume it will be mine. There are two file cabinets sitting near the back wall. Three padded folding chairs line the wall on the other side of the room, and a half dead plant sits in the corner. There’s a large cabinet by the door where Chance got the hammer and nails. Other than that, the room is bare.
When he’s finally satisfied with the picture, he steps back and looks in my direction. “What do you think?”
“It looks good. That’s the perfect spot,” I reply with a smile. “It’ll be the first thing you see when you walk in.”
“That was the idea,” He says, shooting me a wink. “You hungry?”
Of course, my stomach decides that now is the perfect time to growl. “Yeah, I guess so. I don’t have anything to eat over at the trailer.”
I went to the grocery store and stocked up the day Jarrod left. I bought enough food to last me for a few days, knowing there was no way I’d be able to afford to eat out. When I got home from putting in applications the next day, nearly everything was gone. I asked Rory about the food that same night, trying to explain that I didn’t have the money to feed us both. He told me it was his house, so he’d eat whatever he wanted. Since then, I had kept a jar of peanut butter hidden under the couch, but not much else.
Pulling out his phone, he cocks a brow. “How about Chinese? There’s a great place not far from here that delivers.”
“I’ve never eaten Chinese food, but I’ll give it a try,” I reply with a shrug. “Just order me whatever you like, and I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
Chance looks at me like I have two heads. “You’ve never had Chinese food?”
“Until I moved to Macon and became friends with Jarrod, I’d never eaten at a restaurant unless I was working in it,” I reply without thinking. “More often than not, I had cereal or peanut butter for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
When I finish, the room goes silent. It stays that way long enough for me to realize what I just said. I’ve never told anyone that but Jarrod. Even with him, it took a bottle and a half of wine and a lot of pleading to pull it out of me. My arms slide protectively around my body as I wait for his reaction.
Instead of saying anything, he clicks his phone and brings it to his ear. “Hello, I’d like to place an order for delivery.”
He’s quiet for a second then says, “I’d like a large order of your house Lo Mein, family sized sweet and sour chicken, a family order of shrimp kow with mixed vegetables, a large Mongolian beef, family sized pork dumplings, and an order of fried wontons. Add on a gallon of sweet tea.”
He goes silent for a second then mutters out the address. “Thanks.”
As soon as he hangs up the phone, he pushes it back in his pocket and says, “I ordered almost everything, so there should be something you like.”
I chew on my bottom lip with worry, wondering how much half will be. “Let me go grab my purse.”
“What do you need your purse for?” he asks, sounding thoroughly confused.
I paste on a fake smile, hoping my nervousness does not show. “I gotta give you some money to cover my part.”
“No, you don’t,” he says, turning to walk out of the room. “It’s on me.”
I follow behind him and down the hall into a larger office. Judging by the two desks and the pictures on the wall, I’m guessing it belongs to Chance and his brother. It’s a little messier than the one up front, but nothing a good broom and a can of Pledge couldn’t fix.
Waiting for him to sit down at the desk, I fold my arms over my chest. “I can pay for my half of the food.”
“That’s not gonna happen,” he states, irritation making his eyes appear more green than brown. “When we’re in this building, you’re my employee. If I order food for us, I’ll be the one paying for it.”
The words no more than leave his mouth before he adds, “Forget I just said that. Any time we share a meal, be it take out or in a restaurant, I’ll be paying.”
“That’s not gonna work for me,” I say with a shake of my head. “I don’t take handouts, even if they come in the form of free food.”
“You’re gonna have to get over it.” He leans back in his chair, blowing out a frustrated breath. “In case you missed it, I’m a man. A man, at least a decent one, doesn’t let a woman pay for their meal. If a woman decides to cook him something, that’s different. But other than that, a man always pays.”
I nibble on my bottom lip again, trying to think of a response. Instead, I remember a similar conversation Jarrod and I had. It happened the first time he took me into the city to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. When I told the waitress to split the ticket onto two checks, he nearly lost his mind. He informed her that I was wrong, then spent the next half hour fussing at me for embarrassing him.
A few weeks later, when I tried to pay for half of the pizza he ordered, we had another conversation. That one laid the ground rules for the rest of our friendship. Since then, he always pays when we eat out or order in. In return, I would bring a bag of groceries to his house from time to time and make him dinner.
“Fine, but you have to come over one day this weekend to eat dinner. You can even bring your brother along,” I say, trying my best to not make it sound like a date. “I’ll make fried chicken and mashed potatoes.”
“Sounds good to me,” a voice from the hall says, causing me to jump. “If you add some biscuits into the mix, I’ll be there with bells on.”
As soon as he steps into the room, I know this is Chance’s brother. Even if I hadn’t seen the picture, it would have been an easy guess. Other than having blue eyes and hair a shade or two lighter, the two of them look like twins.
“So, this is the new girl,” he says to his brother then looking me up and down. “I know you said she was pretty, but damn, bro, she’s beautiful.”
If Chance hadn’t already told me he was gay, I’d probably be a puddle on the floor right now. He is the one that is beautiful. Chance is ruggedly handsome, but Adam has those movie star kind of looks that drive women wild. His face is almost too pretty for me, but I can still appreciate the perfection of it.
When he winks my way, my heart skips a beat. In that instant, I know I have to set up a meeting between him and Jarrod. Digging my phone out of my back pocket, I pull up a picture of Jarrod. I scroll through a few before I find the best one and then walk over to him.
Holding it up for him to get a look. “My best friend is coming down this weekend. You’ve gotta come over and meet him.”
Adam blinks at my words, but his eyes scan the picture. “That could be arranged.”
“It already has been, remember chicken and mashed potatoes,” Chance says, standing up from his seat. “Gypsy can play matchmaker while she fills our bellies.”
“Oh, yeah,” Adam says, finally taking his eyes away from the phone. “Just so you know, I may be gay but that doesn’t make what I said any less true. You are a very beautiful woman, too damn beautiful to waste your time on an asshat like my brother.”
The laughter in his voice lets me know he’s teasing. “I’m not wasting my time; he gave me a job and a place to live.”
“I forgot about that,” Adam replies, draping an arm over my shoulders.
He starts to say something else, but Chance pulls me away, replacing Adam’s arm with his own. “Hands off, man. This one is all mine.”
My stomach dips at his words, but I can’t tell if fear or excitement is the cause. I can deny it to myself and everyone else, but I am interested in Chance. Interested in a way that I never thought I would ever be. Before Kilo, boys were barely on my radar. I had a crush or two, while growing up, even had a serious boyfriend at one time. At least, at the time, I thought it was serious. Until I gave him my virginity, and then never heard from him again. After that, I decided it wasn’t worth the burden.
Other than the one boyfriend and Kilo’s attack, I’d never had more than a few fumbling kisses in my life. Well, I did kiss Stephan a few times. He even let his hands roam after our last date. It didn’t scare me the way I thought it would, but it also brought me no pleasure. Until meeting Chance, I assumed my body just didn’t react like other women. I knew I wasn’t gay, but I wondered if maybe I was just not sexual in anyway.
“Let’s go see if there are any paper plates in the kitchen,” Chance says, drawing me away from my thoughts. “I don’t want to be washing dishes tonight.”
“What are you having, and did you order enough for me?” Adam asks, a smile on his face.
“Chinese from the Red Lantern, and I ordered damn near the whole menu,” he replies with a smile of his own. “It should be here any minute.”
Leaving his arm in place, he leads me past Adam and down the hall. When we get to the kitchen, he takes me to the table and motions for me to take a seat. Then, he and his brother start digging through the cabinets. After Adam finally finds what they are looking for, Chance pulls some forks out of a drawer and brings them to the table.
They take a seat and start talking about the job they finished up today. I stay quiet, just listening to them talk. They’re just finishing discussing a problem with one of their employees when a knock sounds at the door.
“Come grab a bag or two. I didn’t lie when I said I ordered half the menu.” Chance gets up and goes to the door, his brother right behind him.
I listen as the door opens and a muffled voice starts talking. A minute or two later, Chance is back carrying two bags. A minute after that, Adam walks in with two more. Chance goes back and there are more muffled voices before the door shuts. This time, he comes in carrying one bag and a gallon of tea.
He looks down at me and says, “Can you grab the glasses? They’re in the cabinet to the left of the refrigerator.”
My stomach chooses that moment to let everyone know just how empty it is. Ignoring the sound, I do as he asks while him and Adam start pulling containers out of the bags. Setting the glasses on the table, I open the tea and fill all three glasses and then take my seat.
“I hope you’re ready for this. Chinese food is easy to get addicted to,” Chance says, piling a big serving of rice on my plate. “I have to eat it at least once a week.”
“She’s never had Chinese food?” Adam asks, sounding slightly more surprised than his brother was earlier. “Have you been living under a rock your whole life?”
Chance glares in his direction, giving him a quick shake of his head. Looking away from his brother, he starts scooping noodles, beef, chicken, and shrimp on my plate. Then, he adds a few things that I can only guess is dumplings.
“Our dessert’s in here; it's gonna rock your world,” Chance explains and points to another bag that is still closed.
I look at my plate and shake my head. “I doubt I’ll have room for dessert.”
Not waiting for a reply, I scoop up some of the noodles onto my fork and take a bite. The flavor is instant, causing fireworks to go off in my mouth. I try the chicken next, then the beef, finally grabbing a piece of shrimp. Each thing I eat is better than the last.
Pushing a bowl of red sauce in my direction, Chance nods his head. “Dip your chicken in this; it’ll taste so good it’ll blow your mind.”
Doing as I’m told, I close my eyes and let out a moan. “Oh my God.”
“You gotta quit that shit or you’ll make my brother embarrass himself,” Adam says, causing my eyes to pop open.
Of course, the first thing I see is Chance’s face. The look is so sexual I can feel it in places that I thought long since dead. For some reason, a reason I don’t quite understand, I can’t stop my tongue from coming out and running over my top lip. When his eyes turn a shade of melted chocolate, I look down and take another bite.
We eat in silence until Adam breaks it to say, “Give me my dessert, brother.”
I watch as Chance tosses him the bag and keep my eyes on it until Adam pulls out an oddly shaped piece of pastry. When he takes his first bite, he lets out a sound not much different from the one I made earlier. He licks something sticky looking from his lips then turns to me.
“You gotta try one of these,” he says, wiggling the bag in my direction.
I wave my hand over my plate. “I don’t even think I can finish what’s here.”
“You have to try at least one.” Chance grabs the bag from Adam and pulls one out. “Just a couple of bites, you won’t be sorry.”
Unable to resist the sweet smile on his face, I grab it from his hand and bring it up to my mouth. The minute my teeth sink into it, a sugary sweet flavor hits my mouth. The texture is odd, hard, and crunchy on the outside but tender and soft on the inside. It has a buttery undertone, causing the whole thing to melt in my mouth.
“Good, huh?” Chance asks as he takes a bite of his own.
After swallowing, I nod my head. “Excellent.”
I force the pastry into my already full stomach, not willing to miss a single bite. As soon as that’s gone, I pop up from my chair and start cleaning up. By the time I have everything put in the fridge, I’m nearly dead on my feet.
Chance notices and stands up to grab my hand. “I’m gonna walk her out to the trailer. Don’t run off. I want to talk to you about the Martin project before you leave.”
After a quick goodbye to Adam, I follow Chance out the door. He leads me around the trailer to the front door, but doesn’t go inside. Instead, he lets go of my hand and pulls his keys from his pocket. Fiddling with them for a moment, he pulls one off and hands it to me.
“That goes to the trailer, both front and back doors. Adam has one, too, but he’ll hand it over to you in the morning,” Chance says as I wrap my hand around it. “Mom has the only other one, but you don’t have to worry about her trying to come in. Once she has you trained, you probably won’t see her much around here.”
I smile, realizing he’s trying to make me feel secure in my new home. “Thank you.”
“I don’t want to scare you off, but I gotta let you know what I’m thinking,” he says, causing my sleepiness to fade away in an instant. “I want to get to know you, and I don’t mean just as my employee.”
“I’d like that, too,” I whisper, saying words that I never thought would leave my lips. “But, I want to take it really slow.”
He smiles, reaching up to push a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “We can take it as slow as you want. I’ll be happy as long as you’re willing to give me a chance to be something more than just your boss.”
He then leans down, placing a soft kiss on my forehead. The gentleness of it causes something deep inside me to shatter. It’s as if all those memories that I have had to push away for so long have been replaced by something better. I know they’re not gone, but they aren’t alone anymore. Now, I have this memory to hold onto whenever they come back to haunt me during the night.
“Lock up, Gypsy Girl,” he says as he pulls away and steps off the porch.
I watch him walk away, thinking that Jarrod is right. It’s time for me to start living again.