Here's a short little chapter but it leads to a bigger, action packed chapter. I will have that up in a couple of days.
I would like to thank everyone that is reading and reviewing and for the favorites and follows. It's really what keeps me doing this. Thank you all.
Enjoy.

Chapter 5

Santana's POV

It's a beautiful Wednesday morning. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, there's a slight breeze in the air. I'm sitting out the back patio enjoying my cup of coffee and watching the activity on the bay.

A couple of jet ski's are zooming around in shallow water a few houses down. There are seagulls sitting on the top of the water doing whatever it is that they do. And a freighter is in the shipping lane going out, away from the port at a snails pace. Some kids are playing down on the beach, putting life and laughter into the air.

But, then I hear a loud truck out around the front of the house. It's probably the UPS man or something. I get up with my cup of coffee and walk around the side of the house to the front yard.

There is a big blue truck with a trailer attached to it backing into my driveway. I watch, confused, as the truck backs up and finally comes to a halt. A man with curling brown hair and a reddish-brown beard gets out of the driver's seat. He walks down the length of the truck and trailer towards where I'm standing. "Hi, we're gonna be doing mulch today." He says.

"Okay." But, I'm thinking who's 'we'. That is until another truck pulls into the other side of my horseshoe shaped driveway.

"Hey." Brittany waves as she gets out of the truck. She jogs over to where I am standing with the man. "Sorry, I'm late." I don't know who she is apologizing to me or the guy that is now opening the trailer doors- chucks of what must be mulch falling out onto the blacktop driveway.

"You wanna start on the edging and I'll start wheeling." He says to Brittany. Well, I hope he is talking to her cuz I have no idea what he means.

"Sure." Brittany nods. "I'll just get my shovel."

She walks back across the front yard to her truck and reaches over the side of the truck bed. When her hand reappears she is brandishing a steel shovel. She goes to the landscaped planting bed that is closest to her and starts working.

My feet lead my over to where she is. I stay far enough back that I don't get in the way of what she is doing- which looks like scraping the mulch back from the edge.

"Your dad called my boss and said that he wanted fresh mulch. He also said you told him about the box elder bugs." She says while she works.

I nod. "I did. He got a trap." I point to the tree that we are standing under where the box shaped trap hangs from a tree branch.

"Good. I'm glad. I can see that it's working already. There aren't hardly any of those little buggers left in this bed." She says around a smile.

"What are you doing?" I ask. I can see what she is doing but I don't know why she is doing it.

"Oh." She stops and looks around. "Eric and I are gonna do mulch. I am prepping the bed for it. I go around and scrap the old mulch away from the edge so the new layer of mulch doesn't overflow the bed. It shouldn't take too long. We should be done in three, four hours tops." She smiles and starts working again.

"Really?" That seems like a short amount of time to do the whole yard. "That fast?"

Brittany looks up and smirks. "Just you wait and see. We are professionals."

I nod. "Okay." I don't know if I can believe that but I guess I should take her at her word. She knows what she is doing, after all. "I have to work at two so-"

"We should be done before then." Brittany smiles and goes to the next planting bed and starts going around the edge of that one too. Meanwhile, Eric is shoveling mulch off the trailer into a wheelbarrow and then wheeling it into the bed and dumping it.

I watch them work in awe. They really do work fast. Brittany does the edge of all the beds in less than twenty minutes and then starts spreading out the piles of mulch that Eric has dumped in the beds. In about an hour they are finishes with the three beds and around the bases of the trees in the front yard.

It's almost something of beauty. They work together effortlessly. Both singularly and together all at once. Singularly on there own tasks respectively but working together to reach the same goal.

I watched a Brittany worked with her shovel. I watched the way she used it as an extension of her arm to scrape all at the mulch with practice ease. Her cutoff t-shirt showing off the way her bicep muscles flexed as she worked. Flexing and unflexing with each movement of the shovel.

It's not just Brittany either. That Eric guy shovels mulch like it's fluffy, weightless, cotton candy. I've never shoveled scoops of mulch but they must weigh a considerable amount, probably not like cotton candy. Every movement that these two make seems natural all while they do something so unnatural to me.

It's hot too. Outside, but also these two are hot working and getting all sweaty. It's obvious that both Eric and Brittany are very strong. It was even more evident when Eric took off his t-shirt, showing off his huge biceps and tight abs. I wonder what Brittany looks like without a shirt on. Maybe she'll take hers off too.

They continue working as if I'm not there. And I might as well not be. I return to the back yard to finish my morning coffee with them working along the north side of the house.

Time passes and I stare out at the bay. The only reason I know this is because Brittany brings it to my attention. "What are you looking at?" She asks breaking my from my thoughts.

"What?" I snap my vision to where she is standing at the edge of the patio with a wheelbarrow in her grasp. Still in her signature jeans, work boots, and cutoff t-shirt. "Nothing."

"The bay is pretty flat today. Not much of a breeze. Just a couple miles per hour." She comments. I don't know if she thinks that's what I was doing- looking at and thinking about the water and how flat it is and if there's a breeze or not.

I wasn't.

"Yeah." I hum.

"Well, I'll let you get back to your daydreaming. I hope it's a good one." She winks and wheels her wheelbarrow away.

I just at her as she walks away with a happy, content smile on her face. She is right though. It was a good day dream. I was thinking about Brittany working in my yard, without a shirt on, with her toned abs flexing as she went. I was thinking about how hot that would be. Heck, it is hot even with her walking around here fully clothed, save for her bare arms.

She's hot in general. I mean come on a strong girl in work boots who drives a truck and uses a shovel to cut through the earth like it's butter. What's not hot about that?

And to that the fact that she is a volunteer firefighter. Which not only makes her hot as hell, but also a total badass.

Brittany in a firefighter's uniform. That's gotta be a sight to see.

Words float through my head like high speed cars. Firefighter, hot, landscaper, truck, badass, muscles, blue, blonde, kiss…

Wait. How could I forget that? She tried to kiss me the last time I saw her. Shit.

I touch my fingertips to my lips. Shit.

I shake the thought from my head. Or I, at least, try. I jump from my seat and run into the house. I decide to take a shower for work even though that still over two hours from now before I have to leave.

The doorbell rings as I am fixing my hair. I run down the stairs to answer the front door. I feel more put together then I did before my shower. I can only assume that it's Brittany at the door. I take a deep breathe and pull it open.

The big blue truck and trailer that were sitting in my driveway are pulling out.

"We are all done and Eric is leaving." Brittany thumbs over her shoulder to the truck that is slowly disappearing down the road.

"So, that's Eric."

Brittany nods. "Yeah, that's Eric. He's like my annoying older brother but-" She cuts herself off and looks left and then right. I don't know what she is looking for though. "-I don't want to talk about him. I want to talk about you." She gives me a half smirk.

My breath catches in my chest.

"Did you listen to that Meatloaf cd?"

I nod, words escaping me at the moment.

"Good. And what did you think?" She asks and casually leans against the side of the house. I can see the sweat glistening on her skin. I gulp.

"I-it was good. Seems, uh, that I did know one song. I'd Do Anything For Love-" I mumble.

Brittany nods. "Yeah. That's his most popular song. Well, either that or Paradise. It's even in that M&M's commercial with the red M&M."

I don't know what she is taking about. I don't think I've ever seen it. I think I would remember if I heard that song in a commercial. I scrunch up my face and shrug my shoulders. "I don't think I've seen that one."

"Bummer. It's a good one. It was on during the last Superbowl, I think."

"I don't watch football."

"You know enough about it to know that the Superbowl is the championship for football." She says with a raised eyebrow.

I nod. She got me there. "My dad watches football. He's a big Ohio State guy." I point to the Buckeye Mascot statue that sits on our front porch- Brutus Buckeye. "He went to college there."

"I gathered. Anyway, I'm gonna go now but I forgot to get your phone number the other night so we can set up our little camping trip. I was gonna come into the restaurant but I didn't get the time. I thought about asking Jerry to get it from you but then thought that would be weird." She shrugs the shoulder that isn't leaning against the building- cool as a cucumber.

"The guy with the Santa Clause beard?" I ask. She knows so many people I can't keep them all straight.

She smiles at my description. "Yeah. He goes to the restaurant every morning for breakfast."

"Oh, right. I've seen him in there the couple of morning shifts that I've worked. You got your phone?"

Brittany nods and pulls her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans, without moving from the side of the house, and hands it to me. I enter my name and number in her phone and hand it back to her. Her fingers slips across the tops of my fingers in the exchange and I hold my breath. Was that intentionally on her part? I look from my fingers to her face and she is smiling.

"Thanks." She pockets her phone and pushes herself off the house with her shoulder. She lifts her hand up and makes a grab at the brim of an imaginary hat that she isn't wearing. She pretends to tip her hat at me and bows slightly. "Have a good day Miss." She says in a proper English accent.

I feel my cheeks heat up. "Thanks. You too Brittany." I look down at my toes as she spins on her feet and walks away from me.

I look up in time to see her pulling the door of her truck open and hoisting herself into it. Super sexy.

She backs out the driveway and I let out a sigh that I didn't know was inside of me. That girl makes me feel so different. Almost special. No one has ever made me feel special before.

Work drags on all afternoon but finally I get done with my shift at eight. I grab my phone out of my purse on the way to the car and check for messages.

There are two missed calls and a text message from Brittany. I open up the text.

To Santana: I was thinking we should start as soon as possible w/this campin thing its nearly mid-June. Times a wastin. How about this weekend?

I smile down at my phone, at Brittany's goofiness, and hit the call button. It rings four times before I hear a muffled hello.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"No." Brittany says but I have a sneaking suspicion that she is lying.

"To answer your question- I have to work this weekend. Two til eight both Friday and Saturday."

I think I hear Brittany yawn. "Well, you're in luck, Missy. I can work with that."

"How?" I don't know how we can go camping if I have to work. Not that I am excited about the prospect of camping but I told her I would go. And she said if I wasn't having fun we could go home. So, I can always get out of it if I don't like it.

"Don't worry your pretty little face. I will set everything up for Saturday night and I will pick you up from work when your shift ends." I can imagine she is grinning from ear to ear on the other end of the phone.

"Okay." I say dumbly. "So, what are you doing tonight?" I ask just to make light conversation. Something in me doesn't want to hang up the phone just yet.

"Oh, I was just spending an evening at home. Relaxing. Watching tv. Ya know."

"Yeah." I do kinda know. It's nice to have a lazy, relaxing night at home. "Well, have a good rest of your night, Britt."

It quiet for a second and I look at my phone to making sure we didn't get disconnected. "Th-thanks." She stutters. "Goodnight Santana."

"Goodnight." I hang up the phone and get into my car that I just now realize that I was leaning against the whole time I talked to Brittany.

I start the car with a big smile. The music starts and I turn it cd has been in my car, except for when I took it out and uploaded it onto my laptop, even since Brittany gave it to me. I haven't really listened to anything else.

I smile at the memory of Brittany singing to me that night we went to the bonfire. God, she has the voice of an angel. Soft and sweet. With the huge cheesy smile on my face I put the car in gear and pull out of the parking lot singing along with the song I know pretty well now.

And we're glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife
Glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife
C'mon, hold on tight
C'mon, hold on tight

Though it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night
I can see paradise by the dashboard light

Ain't no doubt about it we were doubly blessed
'Cause we were barely seventeen
And we were barely dressed

Ain't no doubt about it
Baby got to go out and shout it
Ain't no doubt about it
We were doubly blessed

'Cause we were barely seventeen
And we were barely dressed

Song: Meatloaf's Paradise By The Dashboard Light