out today to talk to me about her book. I looked online last night, and her photos are good. I can see why the ones she took in this area are her best sellers. They’re my favorites, too.
I spent hours flipping through the photos, mesmerized by her ability to find different angles of some popular locations in places like Yellowstone. I’m not sure what she wants to know about me, but I’m happy to help her because I can’t wait to see what she does with this book.
I couldn’t sleep last night, knowing she was coming today, so I’ve been up since dawn working on the chairs. I have three more before this order is complete, and so long as I stay on track, they’ll be done early. That means that I can start on Jenna’s table sooner, which will give me more time to spend with her.
When the sound of her car making its way up my driveway fills the silence, I glance at the clock. It’s just after 8:00 a.m., which means I’ll get to spend a good part of the day with her. As nervous as that makes me, I’m also excited.
I’ve never liked having people around me while I work, but it’s different with Jenna. Maybe I can figure out why after spending some time with her today.
When she steps out of the car, she takes my breath away. She’s dressed in jeans, a T-shirt with a sweater, and boots. Her attire is casual and she’s not wearing much makeup, but she looks even more beautiful than when she was dressed up yesterday.
‘You can sit there.’ I nod to the chair I placed in the corner of the workshop so she would be safely out of the way as I work.
Nodding, she takes a seat and watches me work on the chair I’m finishing up. I get lost in my task as I usually do, and when she speaks, it startles me.
‘You’re good at what you do.’
My face heats, and I keep my gaze on the chair. ‘It’s redundant work when you have to do twelve chairs all the same.’
‘What makes your stuff beautiful is that you pay attention to detail.”
To change the subject, I ask, ‘What questions do you have in your notebook?’
Holding up her notebook, she gives me an enticing smile and, thankfully, lets me off the hook. ‘Is it common for the people out here to be self-sufficient like you?’
I stop and think because, while I don’t want to betray my friend’s privacy, I want to answer her questions the best I can. ‘It’s not common, but it’s not unheard of either. Those that work in town tend to live there, and they’re not as self-sufficient as I am. But the winters out here are rough, so they stock up and know how to get by when they can’t leave their house for any length of time.’
‘But they’re not self-sufficient in the way you are living out here.’
‘No. You saw my friends at the shop. They’re self-sufficient like I am, and there are others out here in the mountains. We own our plot of land and live off of it. But not all of us are friendly. When I first moved here, I was looking for property and stumbled on a cabin owned by a man who wanted nothing to do with anyone. He never goes into town, and he lives completely off-grid, as your city folks call it.’
She scribbles down notes while I continue to work, waiting for her to ask the next question.
‘How off-grid are you and your friends?’
‘My friends are even more off-grid than I am. The four of us have a radio to check in if we need anything. Since I go into town more often than they do, I’ll pick up supplies and take them to their homes. I have satellite internet at the cabin, but I don’t use it much. The reception is pretty spotty, but I can use it to make emergency calls.”
Jenna scribbles down some notes before checking her phone. ‘I don’t have service out here. The Wi-Fi doesn’t come out to the workshop?’
‘If I wanted service here, I could get it. But I moved here to get away from people and electronics. Since the workshop is my sanctuary, I don’t want anybody interfering with that. The only exception is the radio in case the guys need to get hold of me.’ I nod toward the radio on my workbench. I also have one in the house, but I don’t need to go into too much detail with her.
‘So, you spend all the warmer months preparing for winter?’
With that question, I go into all the details of winter prep. I tell her about the hunting and fishing, how I prepare the meat to be stored, and what sort of creature comforts I have compared to when I lived in town.
Although Jenna asks about my life before I moved out here, I shut those questions down as it’s not something I’m willing to talk about. Thankfully, she drops it.
We talk more about what winters are like in these mountains and how I learned how to take care of myself out here.
Outside of being stood up for prom in high school, I have no experience with women, so I’m not sure if Jenna is flirting with me or not. She’s smiling a lot, that soft smile I love. Sometimes when she says something, and I don’t get what she means, her cheeks flush pink. A flush I find incredibly sexy.
When she’s embarrassed, she looks down at her notebook and tucks her hair behind her ear. At one point, she walks over to look at what I’m doing with the chair, and her shoulder brushes mine. Though she apologizes, she doesn’t move away. When her eyes land on my lips and her tongue darts out to lick hers, I’ve never wanted to kiss anyone more in my whole life.
But she’s here to get some information for her book. There’s no way she sees me like that. After a moment, I go back to working on the chair, and she sits back down to scribble in her notebook. She doesn’t ask me any questions for a while, just watches me work. I thought I’d be uncomfortable with her in my workspace, but it’s comforting to have her here.
‘I like how there’s no phone reception or Wi-Fi in your workshop. It can be such a distraction, and I’m sure I’d get so much more done if I could find a place like this to work,’ she says quietly, almost as if talking to herself.
Words spill from my mouth before I can think, shocking me. ‘You’re more than welcome to come back tomorrow. Bring your stuff to get some work done, and we can talk some more if you have any other questions.’
Not wanting her to see how hopeful I am that she’ll take me up on my offer, I look down at what I’m working on. If she says no, I don’t want her to see the disappointment I won’t be able to hide.
‘If you’re sure, I’d like to take you up on that,’ she says.
‘I’m sure.’
When I turn to look at her, she offers me another one of her killer smiles before packing up her stuff. She says her goodbyes and promises to be back tomorrow at the same time.
After watching her car drive away, I try to get back to work, but it doesn’t feel the same now she’s gone. It’s hard to concentrate on the intricate details when Jenna’s smile invades my thoughts.
Deciding to switch gears, I load my truck with some lumber to take over to Axel’s place, who’s building a small addition to his home. The upside to taking the lumber is his wife Emelie might have some insights about Jenna. Axel is the first of us to get married, and Emelie has taken the rest of us under her wing. She’s always baking for us and offering advice, so I know she’ll be happy to sit down and talk to me if I get up the guts to say what’s on my mind.
Parking as far up Axel’s drive as I can, I walk the rest of the way to his cabin. Since he isn’t expecting me, the first thing I see when he opens the door is the shotgun and then him.
It doesn’t even surprise me. Now that he’s married, he’s very protective–not that he hasn’t always been cautious about safeguarding his land.
‘If you’d let me know you were coming, I wouldn’t have greeted you with a shotgun,’ Axel grunts.
I shake my head. ‘You don’t scare me. I brought some of the lumber you wanted. If you hook up the four-wheelers with the trailers, I can help you bring it up to the house.’
He nods, setting the rifle down.
‘Please tell me you’ll stay for dinner, Phoenix,’ Emelie calls from inside the house.
‘Of course, I’ll stay.’
Axel and I hook up the trailers to the four-wheelers and head down to my truck.
‘What’s on your mind?’ he asks as we unload the lumber from my truck.
‘Jenna.’
‘The girl from the shop?’
‘Yeah. She was at my place again today, and she’s coming out tomorrow, too. I find her hard to read.’
‘Women, in general, are hard to read. Talk to Emelie about it. You know she’ll be happy to point you in the right direction because she’s ready to have more females on the mountain,’ Axel smirks.
‘I don’t know if it’s going that far, but I’m at ease around her, so that’s something.’
After unloading the lumber, Axel leans against my truck and crosses his arms, staring at me. He’s bigger than me, but only by a few inches in height. Muscle-wise we’re on an even playing field, but he has a way of making me feel intimidated.
‘From the moment my eyes locked with Emilie’s on that riverbank, I knew she was mine. Who would think I’d be grateful for a storm flooding out the road so she couldn’t leave? The thought of her going tore out my heart, and that was before I understood my feelings for her. I was comfortable around her, and I liked having her in my space.’
‘I know what you mean. There was something there when I saw Jenna at the shop the other day. I’m comfortable with her in my space. And yeah, I’m excited for her to come back tomorrow. Even though she just moved to town, I don’t have the feeling that she’s going to leave.”
We don’t say anything else. Axel just nods, and we drive the four-wheelers back up to his cabin, unloading the lumber at the back where he plans to add to the main living area.
Dinner, as always, is delicious. We catch up, making plans for me to help with the building of the cabin and go hunting together. Then the conversation turns to plans for the upcoming winter and all the things required to be self-sufficient up here on the mountain.
Emelie is still learning and asks a lot of questions, and it’s her that walks me outside as I get ready to leave. I know Axel has told her about our conversation as they tell each other everything, so I don’t have to repeat what I told him earlier.
‘If she’s making plans to come back out to your workshop in the middle of nowhere, it’s a good sign. The best thing you can do is be yourself. If she didn’t like being around you, she wouldn’t spend more time with you. One of the things you’ll have to do is make her understand this way of life. If it’s not for her, you want to find out sooner rather than later. And don’t tell her, show her.’
With that, Emilie hugs me and sends me on my way with a pie and a lot to think about.
