Maple Hills, Vermont
When William and Beth pulled the U-Haul into the driveway of her new place of residence, Beth let out a sigh. Home sweet home.
Jack came out of the door and headed toward them, making her heart speed up. Forget the cop uniform. T-shirt, jeans, and a tool belt had that beat.
She unbuckled Ryder and then climbed out of the truck, helping him down.
Jesse got out of her car and handed her the cat carrier. "Never again, little sister. This cat meowed for the entire twenty six hours and thirty minutes."
"Aww. Poor Bella," she cooed.
"Yeah. Poor Bella. What about poor Jesse?"
"Thank you, Jess," she told him, kissing his cheek. "You're the best big brother."
"Don't you forget it."
"Daddy?"
"Yeah, buddy?"
"I want to see Mommy."
"Okay, let's go home."
"You're not staying to help me unload?" Beth asked him.
"I really should get Ryder home. I'll come back tomorrow."
As soon as Jesse backed his own car out of the lot, a squad car pulled in.
"Help has arrived," Jack told Beth as he walked past her.
Lee Coulter and Mike Hickam got out of the car and walked over. "We heard someone might need our assistance," Lee said with a grin.
"Are you sure you have time?" Beth wondered.
"Yep, slow day. Put us to work."
So that's how her truck was unloaded.
William, Lee, Mike, and Jack carried the large furniture items in the house while Beth told them where to put everything.
When Jack and Lee carried in her sleigh bed, she opened the bedroom door for them and gasped. "Oh! Jack, this is amazing. It looks exactly like the picture."
He smiled. "That was the idea."
"Thank you so much."
"You're welcome. Head into the bathroom."
She squealed when she opened the door. He stood in the doorway of the bathroom and watched her run her fingertips over the new vanity counter. "You like?"
"It's so perfect. I can hardly wait to take a bath in that tub." She turned and wrapped her arms around him without thinking first. "Its really great."
He hugged her back and laughed. "Happy to help."
When she leaned back, they had a brief moment where neither of them moved, they just stared into each other's eyes. She could feel the sparks between them, almost like static.
"Um, I'm going to go get another box." She stepped back and headed out of the room, trying to slow her heart.
It was amazing the effect he still had on her. "Beth?"
"Yeah, Dad."
"I'm assuming this dresser is for your bedroom, right?"
"Yep. The boxes are labeled but any furniture, with the exception of my roll top desk, is for my room. The desk, I'm not sure where to put it yet."
"Got it."
They worked the rest of the afternoon until dinner time and then Jesse and William both decided to head home.
"You can go too, Jack. You must be tired."
"Okay. I guess I will." He hesitated and grabbed his jacket.
"I mean, if you're hungry, I can make us some dinner."
"Or, I can go pick us up some take out. You've got to be more tired than me."
"Mexican?"
"Sure. I'll be back in a bit. You relax in that new tub of yours."
"Good idea!"
As soon as he left, she hurried to her room, grabbed some comfy clothes and headed to the bathroom. She found the candles that were in a box on the vanity and turned on the water, adding some vanilla bubble bath.
She lit the candles, turned off the lights and turned on her classical music on Spotify.
The atmosphere was heaven and before long she had dozed off. She woke up when she heard something in the kitchen. It scared her at first but then she realized it must be Jack.
She got out of the bath, got dressed and headed into the kitchen. "Jack?"
"Hey there. Did you enjoy your bath?"
"Yeah. I actually fell asleep."
"I figured. I put the food in the fridge for you."
"You aren't going to eat with me?"
"I actually waited and then I ate while you were in there."
"I'm sorry, Jack."
"Don't be sorry. You deserve to relax. I will see you tomorrow, alright?"
"Okay."
She grabbed her takeout container and a fork and headed to the living room. There wasn't a television but she made a note to purchase one and mount it above the fireplace. Or rather have Jack mount it above the fireplace.
The quiet started getting to her as she ate so she called her parents. "Hey, Beth!"
"Hi, Mom. How are you doing?"
"Doing well. How's your new house?"
"Quiet.
"Yeah, I imagine it would be."
"I don't have a TV so I can't even do that. I'm definitely buying one though."
"Do you want to come over here?"
"No, I'm okay. I just wanted to hear your voice. Maybe I should get a dog."
"Sure, that would be good for company."
"I have the fenced in yard so even a puppy would be good."
"But do you really want a puppy around all that construction? They eat everything."
"Yeah, maybe not. I guess I just need to get used to being alone. Bella is hiding out somewhere." If she hadn't fallen asleep, she could have had Jack for company while she ate.
"You can always come stay here until you get done with renovations."
"That could be like six months, Mom. No offense, but I really don't want to live with you and dad again for that long. Plus, I lived alone, well, with Bella, in Atlanta. I don't know why this is so different."
"Because it's new and the house is big and there are probably noises you aren't used to yet."
"Thanks, Mom. Now I'm going to hear everything."
"You're welcome, dear. Now your father wants to go to bed so I'm going to have to go now."
"Okay. Night, Mom."
"Night, Beth."
Once she finished eating she went into her bedroom and bathroom to finish unpacking. To keep herself from going nuts, she turned on her music extra loud. It helped a little.
…..
The next morning, she got up early and unpacked a few more boxes and took them to town to a dumpster to get rid of them. By the time she came back, Jack was there.
"Hey," she greeted. "No work this morning?"
"Nope. I have the day off."
"And you are spending it working here? You can take the day if you want."
"I'm good. As long as you don't care that I am here, I am more than willing to finish demolishing the kitchen so we can get the floor taken care of."
"I'd like the company. Gets kinda quiet around here."
"Great. I'd like your company too."
"Have you had breakfast?" she wondered.
"Because I can whip us up some scones or something before you finish demolishing the kitchen."
"Scones?"
"Yeah. I have groceries in the car. Do you like blueberry or strawberry scones?"
"Mmm strawberry please."
"Great."
So Jack helped her carry the one bag of groceries in from her car and watched from the counter as she measured and stirred and mixed and baked. "Isn't it boring watching me cook?"
"Nope." He grinned at her strangely.
"What?"
"You have….something…here," walking over and brushing the flour off her cheek.
"Oh, thanks."
"You're welcome."
While they waited for the scones, she showed him more Pinterest ideas for the kitchen.
A notification from the local news channel popped up on her phone. "A windstorm?"
"I heard there was one coming this afternoon."
"Yeah. Apparently sixty or seventy mile per hour winds. That's horrible."
"It could make things interesting."
"Meaning what?"
"You remember the windstorms when we were growing up, right, Beth? The power usually goes out and trees fall. You end up with lawn furniture in someone else's yard."
"I guess I had forgotten about those."
"What else did you forget?"
"What do you mean?"
"Did you forget me?"
"Of course not, Jack. You're pretty memorable." Her cheeks burned hot, as much as she wished they didn't.
"You too, Beth."
"Do you want some coffee?"
"You do that a lot."
"Do what?" she asked, finding a mug in a box.
"When things get a bit uncomfortable, you change the subject."
"Do I?"
"Yeah."
"Interesting."
"Right? I mean I could go on about how when you left for Columbia Law, I missed you so much."
"But you were at the Police Academy. I'm sure you weren't thinking about your best friend's little sister."
"I was just finishing up there. I was thinking about you though."
"Why?"
"Because you weren't just Jesse's kid sister anymore. You were smart and beautiful and independent. The world was at your feet. I wanted to get to know Beth, the woman."
"How come you never called me? Or wrote?"
"I had not seen any indication that you felt the same. I figured it was a pretty risky move to assume that you would want to give us a shot."
She stirred her cream and sugar into her steaming coffee. Then she sipped it, warmth filling her, maybe partially due to the handsome cop/construction guy staring at her. "Not so risky," she admitted.
"You mean, if one of those Christmases when you came home I had asked you out, you would have gone?"
"Its possible. I never knew how you felt either."
"I guess that was my mistake."
"Mine too. I could have told you how I felt over the years but I didn't."
"Over the years?"
"Yeah. I pretty much thought you hung the moon when we were kids." Still did, actually.
"Huh."
"Yeah. Well, that was a long time ago. We are older now. We have responsibilities that don't lend themselves to a relationship."
"Wait, what?" What was she talking about?
The oven timer buzzed so Elizabeth walked over and opened it. "They look good." She took the sheet pan out and set it on top of the stove. "Too hot to eat but soon."
"Beth?"
"Jack, I need to go get some ice to put in the fridge in case I lose electricity."
"I can go with you."
"No, I think I need to go myself."
"Alright. I'll eat and then get started on taking out the cabinets."
"Thanks."
Jack wasn't sure what had happened. It was a revealing conversation that they had just had and then she shut it down. Was it fear talking or did she really think that their careers didn't make room for relationships?
He absolutely intended to find out.
Elizabeth headed to town and grabbed the ice and a case of water along with some things that didn't need refrigeration. Then she drove around for awhile, killing time before heading back home.
As she walked in, Jack was waiting. "The storm is coming sooner than they said. I'm glad you're back. It could be pretty dangerous driving around."
"I have a case of water in the car."
"I'll get it."
As the early afternoon progressed, the wind picked up and then it rained. Hard.
"Roads are gonna flood by the river if this keeps up," he mentioned.
Then they'd be stuck there together in a huge house that would probably lose power. She wasn't sure what was worse. No power and being stranded or being forced to talk about her feelings for the guy she was talking to.