A Fresh Start (9 page)

Her short speech stunned the Bradleys.

Mrs. Bradley gave a crack of scornful laughter. “He must be doing very well now. Can’t wait to snap up the money pot, huh?”

“I’m sure Gloria would know that better than me. She was the one who came knocking on my door in hopes of getting Justin to go out with her.”

The amiable facade on Mrs. Bradley’s face faded. She straightened and jutted her chin out, glaring down at Paige with stiff, pinched lips.

“Paige’s right.” Mrs. Seymour burst in. “And why do you care? I distinctively remembered you being the one who declared to everyone in town that Justin would never amount to anything.” Mrs. Seymour arched her brow at the Bradleys. “Come on, Paige.”

Pushing the Bradleys aside with her clutch, Mrs. Seymour dragged Paige along and pulled her back toward the car. “Vultures, I told you,” Mrs. Seymour muttered.
 

From behind, she heard Gloria screaming at Jane for something.

Paige looked over, just in time to see Jane scurrying away.

“They’ve been like that since high school. I don’t understand why Jane bother to hang out with them.” Moving over to the car, Mrs. Seymour continued. “Victor, you’re right. This girl has it in her. You should hear what she said to the Bradleys.”

“What did you say?” Mr. Seymour asked as he slipped into the car.

“The truth?” she said uncertainly.

On the way back, Mrs. Seymour filled her in on the Bradleys.

The Bradleys own the town’s grocery store. It was a successful business, and most people found Mr. Bradley to be a nice person.

Mrs. Bradley, on the other hand, always thought she was better than everyone else because they were considered to be one of the richer families in town. So Mrs. Bradley did everything she could to make the town turn their back on Justin and his mom.

To her, they were the outcast; the untouchables.

“His life is like a soap opera,” Paige said her thoughts out loud.

The Seymours laughed.

“Maybe that’s why he’s unhappy. Being back here, facing the people and the memories,” she stated.

“You believe that running away will solve everything?” Mr. Seymour asked.

“Running away?”

“He hadn’t been back here for nearly 10 years.”

“10 years? I thought he was coming in and out of town due to his work.”

Mrs. Seymour shook her head. “He left. He left for nearly 10 years. He’s only gotten back recently. That was why Victor and I were saying how much of a coincidence it was for the two of you to meet.”

“So you haven’t seen him for 10 years?”

“Oh, we have. Every year he’ll send us some tickets for a cruise or to some place for a holiday. He’ll pick us up at the airport. I don’t know what brought him back this time.” Mr. Seymour turned into the lane and parked the car.

Justin’s car was right in front of Paige’s house.
At least someone is utilizing the space.

She stepped out of the car and saw Justin on the Seymours porch, lying lazily on the swinging two-seater, his legs hanging out by the side.

“Hadn’t slept enough?” Mrs. Seymour chided as she walked across the deck to the door.

“I was up early, running errands for Miss Watson over there,” he said as he pushed himself up on the chair.

“Running errands for me?”

“We forgot to buy the paint for the front porch.”

“Oh, I was thinking we could use the paints that I already have.”

“It’s not suitable. You need tougher paints; otherwise it’ll start peeling very quickly.”

“You should’ve told me, I could’ve gotten them.”

“I wanted to buy something else anyway.”

“That’s nice of you,” Mrs. Seymour said. “But it’s no excuse to skip church.”

“I don’t mind going to church. I mind having to entertain the people after church.”

“We’ll go cook. You kids go watch TV or something.”

“I can help,” Paige offered.

“You can help by accompanying him. Otherwise, he’s going to start looking around for things to fix or buy.”

Paige laughed softly. “Okay,” she said, moving over to sit next to Justin. “Do you think I can have something like this over on my front porch?”

“You like this?”

“Yeah, it’s cute.”

“Shouldn’t be too difficult to find. So, tell me. Who did you meet in church today?”

“Mostly Mrs. Seymour’s friends. Oh, and Jane.”

“Jane Cassells?”

“Yup.”

“Still shy?”

“Very.” She chuckled.
And rather afraid of Gloria,
she thought. “What else did you buy?” she asked before Justin could ask her another question.

“Another paint sprayer. It’ll be faster with two.”

“I should pay for that.”

Justin shrugged. “It doesn’t cost much, and I can use it in the future anyway.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “And, I just found out that you haven’t been in town for 10 years. So I’m not the only new-in-town; you’re sort of new.”

“Someone has been gossiping after church,” he teased. “I’m not new in town. I left, then I came back.”

“Why?”

Justin leaned forward, leaning his elbows on his knees. “I don’t know.”

She bent forward and waited for him to turn his gaze toward her. “Welcome home,” she said softly and stood. “I, for one, am glad that you and your paint sprayers are here.”

Justin broke into a grin.

“Can I ask another favor?”

“What do you need?”

“We have some time now. Do you think you can practice driving with me? Like reversing up the slope and down. And parking.”

“How did you survive before you got here?”

“There are subways and taxis.”

He shrugged. “It is impossible to find parking space in New York.”

Her smiled grew wider. She could tell he was fairly certain of his deduction and was merely teasing her. She promised Andrew she wouldn’t tell anyone what had happened and why she had to leave New York so suddenly, but surely not denying was fine.
 

“Please?” she said, already going down from the porch.

He stood and followed. “New York. And the ex-boyfriend?”

“Stop it.” She laughed, but bit down on her lips when she saw the hint of seriousness in his eyes. “I didn’t move here because of my ex-boyfriend. I moved here for a fresh start over something I’d rather forget.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?” She arched a brow. “So no more fishing?”

“I’m sure you found out more than the fact that I haven’t been here for 10 years.”

Paige blinked, not knowing how to reply.

“It’s juicy gossip, but you haven’t asked me about it.”

She frowned. Was she supposed to? She thought he would rather not be reminded of those memories.

“So,” he said and stood from the chair. “I promise I won’t tell anyone that you’re from New York, and no more fishing.”

“Thank you.”

The old, crumbing house that Paige had moved into was slowing turning into a livable house. In a month, the bathroom had been given an overhaul, all the interior walls were painted, and the floorings for her second floor and staircase were completely done.

Once the bathroom was ready, she moved back into her house despite Mrs. Seymour insistence of her staying until the house was completely ready. Paige couldn’t keep imposing on Mrs. Seymour forever, but she promised Mrs. Seymour that she’d continue to dine at their place.

So, every morning, except on the weekends, she would go for her run. She no longer saw Justin when she was out running. But with all the work he was doing around the house, there probably wasn’t any need for him to get any additional exercise.

Every day, they would have their breakfast and dinner at the Seymours. Lunch would be settled at her house, eating her stash of frozen meals, or what Justin called ‘junk’.

Her life fell into a routine, and she loved routines. The only difference was the time spent on lunch. Each day, the lunch she and Justin had were getting longer.

They no longer work separately either.
 

When she was painting, he’d be helping her. When he was ripping the floors off and taking the kitchen cabinets apart, she’d help him clear away the pieces he’d taken down.

She ditched her iPhone, giving up the Italian lessons and audio books she was listening to while working so that they could continue with whatever conversation they had over lunch.

She loved listening to his stories of the things he had seen. He had clearly amassed lots of stories with all his traveling throughout the years.

As serious as he was when working, he had a lighthearted nature that always made her smile.
 

She was beginning to enjoy herself so much that she felt somewhat guilty for looking forward to seeing Justin each morning.

She did just end her relationship with Cole before coming over.

But she couldn’t help the way she felt.

She had found him attractive, especially when his hair was slightly wet from the rain and his darkened hair matched against his dark mysterious eyes. But he was tall and well-built; qualities that reminded her of Andrew, qualities that she’d come to associate with overprotectiveness.

From the first night she’d met him, she was comfortable around him. Andrew and his friends were much larger than Justin was, so she wasn’t intimidated by either his height or built.

Then, as they worked together, she began noticing how different Justin was.

Justin never instructed her on what to do, and never tried to takeover when he thought she was struggling with a particular task. He would help her, either by providing better tools or teaching her some trick to complete the task, but he never treated her like a baby who couldn’t do anything.

Her lips parted, morphing into a smile as she thought about how Justin had gone downstairs to find her jumping around and still wincing from the pain of her fingernails bending backward when she was peeling off the wallpaper.

She hadn’t screamed or anything. It was mere coincidence that he saw her.

He had gone up to her, took her hand, and asked her what was wrong. His voice was harsh and serious, but after making sure that she wasn’t bleeding, he relaxed and listened to her account of silliness.

He had laughed and headed out, returning with a flat scrapper. He handed it to her, but pulled it back at the last minute. He made her promise to tell him if she needed any help.

Once she’d nodded, he gave her the scrapper and went back upstairs to work.

He did come down periodically to check on her, but that was it. He didn’t hover over her, telling her what was the best way to do it or how she was doing it wrong.

Then, they began working in closer proximity and she began noticing more of him.
 

While Andrew carried bulging muscles, probably a necessity for carrying his heavy field pack and guns, Justin’s muscles were lean and sculpted.
 

Each time Justin picked up something heavy, each time he was busy working on something, she couldn’t help but allow her stare to linger for a moment longer than she should.

Closing her eyes, Paige pushed her hair back and turned off the shower.

If only there was a way to know that Cole had moved on, that way, she wouldn’t feel so guilty over having such a great time with Justin.

She sighed softly.
 

Andrew did tell her that Cole had called once, and he’d given Cole the letter she’d written; the letter explaining her decision to leave and apologizing that she didn’t think they belonged together.
 

Since then, Cole hadn’t called Andrew again.

Maybe Cole
had
clean forgotten about her.

Paige got dressed and moved to the window. She ran her hand down the edge of the curtain; down the line where the cloth had been folded back and stitched, feeling the grains of the cloth against her finger. She gazed out onto the streets and watched Justin parked his car in front of her house.

A fresh start was exactly what she needed.

She couldn’t remember when was the last time she looked out of her window from her apartment in New York. Her curtains were always drawn, and she didn’t allow herself to stay by the windows.
 

She turned as the classic iPhone ringtone sounded from her bed. Moving over, she stared at the unfamiliar number across her screen.
 

This is a new phone. There’s nothing to be afraid of.
She took in a deep breath and picked up the call as she went down the stairs.

“Hello?” a lady said on the other end.

She sighed softly. “Yes?”

“Miss Watson?”

“Yes.” Paige opened the door and smiled at Justin.

“I’m Mrs. Garner, calling from Pine Bluffs High School. Are you still interested in the math teacher position?”

She closed the door behind her and straightened. “Yes.”

Mrs. Garner went on to tell her that one of the math teachers might have to leave in two months time and the position would be opened.

Two months were a long time without work, but it was still way better than having no job at all.
 

She bit down on her lips, trying to suppress her excitement.
 

When she noticed Justin staring at her, she bounced down the steps from her house and right into Justin.
 

He reached out and held her by her waist.

“I got the job,” she mouthed, her free hand pointing at her phone. “I got the job.”

Paige took in three deep breaths while Mrs. Garner promised to call again to let her know when she would have to go down to settle the paperwork. “Thanks. Yes. See you.” She hung up the call and threw her arms over Justin. “I got the job!”

He laughed and wrapped his arm across her waist. “Congrats.”

“Thank you,” she said and suddenly realized the position she was in. She pressed her lips into a thin line and stepped back. “I still have to wait another two months, but it’s something. Let’s go out for dinner tonight, my treat. I’ll ask the Seymours along.”

Justin dropped his arms and watched Paige half skipped over to the Seymours. He didn’t want to let her go, she was so warm and soft, and the scent she wore was really soothing.