Forgetting Yesterday (6 page)

I
could hear the raging water from the falls nearby. I could hear the river water crashing along. It was probably swollen due to the recent deluge. I couldn’t see anything beyond the tree line but I knew the falls and the river were there.

The air here was unbeli
evable. I realized I’d been in the city too long if just the simple scent of rain-dampened earth hit me the way it did. Not that Bedford was a huge city or anything but I hadn’t ventured out of city limits the entire time I lived there. I hadn’t had the time. Not between work, schoolwork and everything else on my mind.

“This is amazing,”
I said with a sigh.

Alex
glanced over his shoulder at me. “We’re not even there yet.”

“No, I mean, just being out here. It’s been way too long since I’ve just taken a walk through the woods,”
I admitted.

“We’ll have to see to it that you do it more often then,” he said. The path widened and he pulled
me up alongside of him. “We’re almost there. See that up ahead?”

“The clearing?”
I asked.

“Yeah, it’s kind of an unofficial overlook. The trail we took isn’t the trail
the park really wants us using,” he explained with a devious smile.

We
covered the short distance to the clearing. Or rather, just the small, open area. Warning signs were posted, telling us to keep our distance from the side where a jagged area fell down into the water below.

“It’s beautiful,”
I said as soon as the falls came into view. There were two, side by side. Raging white water crashed against the rocks, spraying in the air, creating a canvas for mini-rainbows as the water poured down into the river below.

The water
gushing over the edge crashed and churned against the rocks. The river sounded angry, as if it were raging. The sound alone was enough to make me keep my distance. I had a great view and I didn’t need to get any closer. Even from where I stood, I could feel a fine mist as the water sprayed back up into the air.

“You like it?” he asked. He was grinning, as if proud of himself for suggesting
the idea.

“I do,”
I said.

He
tossed his arm around my shoulders. He squeezed me gently before saying, “I’d hoped you would. Now we’ll have to see what else I can come up with to keep you entertained.”

I
fought down a giddy smile. “You plan on keeping me entertained?”

He grinned back. “Only if you’ll
let me.”

A light rain had started up again so the visit to the waterfall hadn’t lasted long. We’d hurried back to Alex’s truck and he offered to give me a tour of the town. We chatted as he showed me around.

I had thought maybe he’d ask me out when he finally brought me back home. I had mixed feelings about that. When I had decided to move to Grafton, it had been to get away. That had been my sole purpose. Starting a new relationship hadn’t been a priority. In fact, it hadn’t even been on my mind at all.

At the same time, meeting someone
my first day in town wasn’t exactly something I’d been prepared for. So of course, it wasn’t something I’d given any thought to.

I
was thinking about it now, though, as I sliced olives. I already had small bowls of chopped onions, tomatoes and shredded cheese ready to go for tonight’s meal. Claire insisted I didn’t need to do all of the cooking. However, since it was about the only thing I had to do this past week, I didn’t mind. In fact, I found the task relaxing. Spending time in the kitchen always made me feel closer to my mom.

If not for
Alex and my dinner-making, I’d have been completely bored out of my mind.

It was no surprise
I was thinking of Alex again when Claire poked her head around the kitchen doorframe.

“What’s up?” I asked as I glanced up at her.

Her eyebrows were raised and she wore an uncharacteristic smirk. “Were you expecting company?” she asked.

“Me?”
I questioned, feeling my own eyebrows shoot up. “Who would
I
be expecting?”

My stomach dropped. It couldn’t be Jason, could it? I couldn’t imagine him wanting anything to do with me after our last fight. He didn’t seem the type that would pine after an ex. He seemed to me to be the type to move on quickly.

The doorbell rang and Claire grinned at me.

Definitely not Jason if Claire was smiling.
Of course it wasn’t. I felt ridiculous for entertaining the thought, even briefly.

I felt my expression turn to one of confusion.

“Some incredibly hunky guy that drives a red truck, perhaps?” she teased.

I
dropped the olive I was slicing and wiped my hands on a dishtowel. “Alex’s here?” I asked, already on my way to the door. My stomach dropped in an entirely different way. It felt like it was freefalling this time.

“Unless you know someone else that fits that description, I would say yes. He most certainly is,”
Claire teased as she followed me out of the kitchen.

“What if he’s here for you?” I asked
as I glanced over my shoulder.

“He’s done with this job. He has no reason to be here to see me. We’ve already wrapped everything up.”
She gave my shoulder a nudge, pushing me toward the entryway.

“He has no reason to see me either,” I muttered. That didn’t stop me from scurrying to the door.

I caught a glimpse of him through the side window. My heart skipped unexpectedly. It hadn’t done that for years. Not when I’d met Jason, not since I could remember when. As I opened the door, the little skip took off into a full-blown gallop.

Alex
was standing there looking more amazing than ever. This past week, I’d only seen him in his standard work attire: A gray t-shirt with his company’s logo on the chest, work boots and jeans that had seen better days. Now, he wore a light blue polo that did amazing things to his tan.
And
to my insides. He looked freshly showered. His jeans, though snug in all the right places, looked new and they hung just right from his hips.

Yet, that wasn’t what se
nt my pulse into high gear.

It was the unbeli
evably shy way he was looking at me. He held a fistful of wildflowers in front of him.

“Hi…?”
I didn’t mean for it to sound like a question. It did, anyway.

“Hey,” he said. “Sorry to just stop by.”

“No, it’s fine,” I told him as I stepped aside, allowing him entrance.

“These are for you,” he told
me as he swept the bouquet my way. “I picked them myself,” he said as a teasing smile crinkled the corners of his eyes and tugged at his lips.

“No, really? I never would’ve guessed,
” I teased back. Just then his hand darted to a daisy and he flicked off a bug.

We
both laughed as I took the flowers from him. “Thanks. This is really sweet.” The bouquet was a colorful mix of daisies, black-eyed Susan’s and   prairie-fire. I was well-aware that the bouquet consisted mostly of weeds. Yet, it was the most beautiful bouquet I’d ever received.

Simply because it was
so thoughtful.

“I know it’s kind of cheesy,” he said. He blushed. He actually blushed and
I bit my lip. “But I saw them in the ditch as I was driving up. I couldn’t resist.”

“It’s not cheesy. They are completely perfect,”
I told him, unable to contain my smile.

He cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah, well, anyhow…I did have a reason for stopping by.”

I waited expectantly as we stood there in the entryway.

“Is
Claire around?” he asked.

It was not what
I was expecting him to say,
not
after he’d handed me a bouquet of flowers.

“Right here!”
Claire sang out before I could reply. She came around the corner, making me believe she’d been standing right inside the kitchen door, listening in. A smile danced across her lips as she took in the sight of the flowers.

“Hey
, Claire,” he said. “I was just stopping by to bring you your bill.” She raised her eyebrows at him as he handed her an envelope. “I mean, I would’ve mailed it but I was out of stamps.”

Claire
’s eyebrows twitched as she tried to hide her amusement. “Yeah, okay. I bet you were.”

His blush deepened
and he hung his head, grimacing, yet smiling, knowing we didn’t buy it. I tried not to laugh. I could not remember the last time I’d seen a grown man blush. It was incredibly heart-warming.

“So. Yeah,” he said as he took a step backward. “That’s all. Sorry for just stopping by without calling.”

“It’s no problem,” I said.

“We’re having Mexican night,”
Claire told him as he reached the door. “You should stay.”

“Oh,” he said
, “I couldn’t.”

Claire
’s lip popped out in a pronounced pout. “You have plans?”

He laughed. “No, n
ot exactly. I just don’t want Zoey to think I only come by so she can feed me.”

“She likes feeding people,”
Claire said. She moved up behind me and gave me a backward hug. She rested her chin on my shoulder and I could
feel
her grinning. “Enchiladas are in the oven. She makes this incredible Mexican pizza with a homemade cornbread crust. It’s
so
good. You should stay.”

He looked hesitant and
Claire’s arms slid from me as she took a few steps toward Alex. “Come on. It’ll be fun. You already know Zoey’s a great cook. We even have flan for dessert.”

“Is flan Mexican?”
Alex asked.

“
I have no idea. I just think it tastes good,” Claire admitted.

“I don’t want to intrude,”
he insisted.

I
was starting to feel uncomfortable with his protests. It was sounding as if he really didn’t want to stick around. And if that were the case, I really didn’t want Claire to push.

But the moment
Claire said, “Sean is on his way,” Alex visibly became more relaxed. “You know Sean, don’t you?”

He nodded. “Yeah, not well. But we’ve met a few times. We have some mutual friends.”

“He’s bringing the chips and salsa. I’m making margaritas.” She drug out ‘margaritas’, each syllable sounding like its own word. “Stay, Alex. It’s practically a party and the more the merrier.”

“Okay, when you put it that way,” he said with a laugh. “I mean, if it’s okay with you?
I just really didn’t want to intrude,” he added on as his gaze swung back to me.

I
didn’t bother to fight down my smile. “It is most definitely okay with me. Come on in.”

“I’ll go find a vase for those,”
Claire said as she took the flowers from my hand. She took off down the hallway, toward the storage closet.

Alex
followed me into the kitchen. I washed my hands and then picked up where I’d left off, slicing the olives to sprinkle on the pizza.

“It smells amazing. Again,” he said.
“You do know I don’t just show up hoping you’ll feed me, right?”

I
looked at him through lowered lashes as I continued to work. “Why
do
you keep showing up then?”

A laugh
erupted from his mouth. “Okay. You got me. I guess,” he paused as he shifted from foot to foot, “I just wanted to see you. Since I finished the roof, I didn’t know if I’d see you again.”

I
stopped slicing to look at him. My heart sputtered, waiting to hear what else he had to say.

“I would like to see
more of you,” he finally added on.

I
smiled, relieved and excited, even as I wondered if I should be feeling this way so soon. I hadn’t flat out asked him but I was assuming after our trip to the state park that there was no wife, no kids, no white picket fence.

“Did my girl tell you she’s sticking around?”
Claire asked as she walked into the kitchen. The flowers, now in a vase, were held out in front of her. She set them in the middle of the kitchen table

Alex
’s eyes shot back to me. They crinkled in the corners as a satisfied look settled onto his face. I glanced at Claire who was off to his side, adjusting the flower arrangement. Claire winked at me, letting me know she’d caught the look as well.

“She didn’t tell me,” he said
, his eyes on me. “But I’m glad to hear it.”

“Me, too,”
Claire said. “Oh, I think I hear Sean driving up.” She made her way out of the kitchen again.

“You know,”
Alex said. “I think you need to let me pay you back. Let me take you out to dinner tomorrow night.”

“Oh,”
I replied, already shaking my head as I tried to think of a polite way to decline. Until that moment, dating Alex had been nothing more than a fantasy, wishful thinking. Daydreaming about dating him had not been a reality. Now the question was out there and my confused heart wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that.

“Would S
unday be better?” he asked.

“No, not really,”
I honestly replied. “It’s just, I don’t think so.” I couldn’t think of a reason I wanted to share so I didn’t give him one.

“What? You let me bum cookies off of you but I’m not good enough to be seen in public with? I see how you are,” he joked but he looked completely disappointed.

Despite myself,
I
felt disappointed. I had come here to move on. Didn’t that mean meeting someone new? But wasn’t it too early for that? My head was telling me that it should feel too early. And yet…

“It’s just,”
I motioned to my face, realizing I did have a logical excuse, “I’m feeling a little self-conscious. I haven’t really left the house yet.”

“Oh,” he said, his
smile brightening. “If that’s all it is, I’ve got a great solution. Let
me
cook
you
dinner. We can have a night in. We can rent a movie or something. Does seven o ’clock tomorrow night work for you?”

“Um,”
I pulled my shoulders up in an exaggerated shrug while I thought it over.
Why not
? I asked myself.
I mean, really, why not
? I was young. I was single. I was sure as hell female and he was one beautiful, thoughtful specimen of male. “Sure? Do you want me to bring anything?”

“You can bring
something luscious for dessert,” he said, his tone low and teasing. He cocked his head to the side, as if realizing something. “I may or may not have meant that the way it sounded.”

“I wouldn’t have minded if you did.”
Wow, where did that come from?

“
Zoey Beckett…I like you already,” he said as he grinned at me.

*******

“He likes you,” Claire informed me. “I mean, like he
really
likes you.”

“Do you think?”
I asked nervously. It was Saturday night. I was getting ready for my date. I was trying on my fourth outfit. Claire had already refused to let me wear jeans. She’d told me my shorts were too casual.

I had
pulled out a dress but now that I was wearing it, it felt too…prim and proper. I stared at myself in the full length mirror on the back of the door. I was not happy with what I saw.