10

Missy POV

Adrian has been working on the electrical work all week, and the light switches finally make sense. He even replaced the front porch light while fixing the wiring so I don’t have to deal with the harsh light waking me throughout the night. 

The water is finally on and the pipes in the house are all replaced. Most of the house has new drywall going in next week and then Adrian has a team coming to replace the entire roof. The third-wheel trailer was hauled away yesterday since I finally have use of my bathroom. The jet sprays and waterfall showerhead Adrian upgraded me to feels like heaven. 

In my studio back in the city I had a shower with horrible water pressure. This is definitely an upgrade. I’ve been showering until the water turns cold because it feels so good standing in the spray.

Adrian has been….different the entire week. He’s still friendly and all smiles when I ask something of him, but there’s a professionalism that wasn’t there before. It’s like he’s finally treating me like a client. He doesn’t tease me anymore and I’m kind of missing it. Professional Adrian is not as talkative and I find myself slipping back into loneliness at times. 

Brittany has come with her brother a few times this week and she helps me in the garden. By help, I mean she sits and talks with me while I work in the garden. It’s hard work and messy, so I don’t mind. I’m just happy she’s coming to hang out with me at all. She couldn’t come today because of a shift at the coffee shop, but she invited me to meet her tomorrow for lunch in town. 

I planted a couple of grown tomato plants I bought at the feed store when I went in for a new hoe and tiller. It feels like cheating but I love tomatoes and didn’t want to wait until next year for my first harvest. 

My father was from a small town in Mexico that had a sliced tomato salad dish that used to be my favorite snack and side growing up. Since my parent’s death, I’ve found myself craving tomatoes every time I get lonely. They remind me of better days. When they were alive, I didn't know my dad was an adulterer and Barry was a random stranger to me.

Barry's emails have finally stopped. I don't dread opening up my G***l account anymore. Maybe he finally got the hint that I was done. I don't know why he was still trying to talk to me anyway. I would be embarrassed if I was caught like he was. I was obviously not enough for him, so I didn't understand why he didn't just move on to someone else. Someone into spanking and the vulgar talk he was obviously into. Seriously, who gets turned on being called 'daddy'? It's sick to even think about. Even if we got to that stage, I would never be that kind of woman for him. I had romantic notions of having a sweet love, with sweet love-making and sweet talk and sweet cuddles. What I saw that night was not what I wanted at all. It was the complete opposite, and now I'm back to not wanting anything because of a cheater.

I pop a cherry tomato in my mouth right off the vine before dusting the dirt off my knees and standing to head back inside. I've been out here most of the day and need a shower. Adrian is on a ladder in the living room installing a ceiling fan and light when I come in. The sight of him makes me stop in surprise.

His shirt had ridden up with his hands raised and I blushed at the sight of his exposed abdomen tapering down in a  ‘V’ into his low-hanging jeans. Who knew he was hiding that under his paint-stained shirts? Barry didn't have abs like that. I'm almost drooling as I openly gawk at the man in front of me.

“Like what you see?” 

I looked up to meet Adrian’s eyes and blushed deeper, the heat spreading down my neck at being caught ogling my handyman. Who’s the pervert now? He laughs softly then goes back to screwing in the last screw while I retreat back into the kitchen, completely embarrassed. 

“That should do it,” Adrian says, coming in behind me a few minutes later, rubbing his sweat off on a bandana. “All the lights should work the way they’re supposed to now, and I upgraded your fuse box. You’ve got all new breakers and fuses. I ran a load in the washer with your towels and it works along with your dryer. Fridge is plugged in and going. Should be cold enough to use by now. Air conditioner still needs to be replaced and I have a guy coming to help me with it Monday. You should be good with the ceiling fans for the weekend.”

“Thank you so much, Adrian. It’s starting to feel like a real home. A functional home,” I smiled up at him.

“No problem,” he smirks at me. He stares down, studying my face for a few moments. “You got a little somethin’ right there,” he tells me, pointing to his cheek.

I swiped my hand down my cheek, making him laugh.

“You just made it worse. Here,” he steps towards me with his sweaty bandana in his hands. 

“You are not wiping your sweat on my face,” I told him, glaring at the bandana he had raised in his hand.

He shrugs, “Okay.” He keeps walking toward me, pockets the bandana, then licks his thumb, wiping his spit-covered thumb down my cheek before I could stop him. 

“Stop! Gross!” I jerk away from him as he laughs whole-heartedly. His laughter makes mine bubble to the surface, despite my disgust, and soon he’s holding me upright as we both laugh uncontrollably while he continues to try and clean the dirt off my face with his spit. 

“Spit or sweat. That’s all I got,” he chuckles, wiping his dirt and spit-covered thumb on the front of his shirt. 

“I choose neither,” I tell him laughing, taking a couple of steps back after he lets me go. 

“You can wipe your spit on my face if it makes you feel better. I don’t mind swapping spit with you,” he laughs, wiggling his eyebrows at me. There's the Adrian I know and missed. 

I giggle despite my previous annoyance at those kinds of comments. I know he doesn’t mean them. I’ve seen him with his family and daughter. He’s all talk, just like his sister said. “I’m good. Thanks for the offer.”

“Anytime,” he smiles, then checks his watch, “I gotta head out to get Hailey. We’ll be eating at the diner again tonight. It’s kind of our ritual after I pick her up. You can join us again if you don’t have any other plans. I may not be as good company as those tomato plants and blackberry bushes of yours, but Hailey and Brittany will be excited to see you. Dad too.”

I smiled brightly at the invite. I was wondering what to do about dinner. I ran out of soup. “That would be great. Thanks, Adrian.”

“Yep,” he smiles at me, ruffling my hair in a brotherly manner. “I should be there with her at 6:30ish but dad and Britt get there early to get our booth.”

“Kay, I’ll be there,” I called to him as he left out of the front door. 

I showered, getting all the dirt off me, along with Adrian’s spit, then dressed in leggings and a comfortable t-shirt. It’s almost a crop top, something my parents would never have approved of, but the fabric is soft and buttery, and the way it hangs makes my waist look thin. 

I toss on my sneakers and head out. Pulling into the diner’s parking lot at around 6 PM, it was already getting busy. I have to park in the back by the dumpster. After closing my door, I hear mewling coming from a box next to the dumpster and treeline. I walk around to examine what’s causing the noise, toss the lid back on the box cautiously, and out pops a little gray kitten. 

I fell to my knees, cooing and pulling the little furry ball of adorableness out of the box.

“Who are you?” I asked it in an abnormally high-pitched voice like it was going to answer me. I rub its soft little head on my cheek, “We just met, but I love you already,” I say with my eyes closed, relishing the feel of its soft purring in my hands as it continues to mewl at me. 

Low chuckling causes me to open my eyes, turning towards the sound. 

“Who’s your friend?” Chris asked, standing behind me. I saw his same group of friends from last week walking around to the front of the diner, waving at me and smiling as they went. 

“I just found him and he’s already my best friend,” I held the kitten up for him to see. Chris pets his little head, then kisses his nose, making me almost swoon. It was such a sweet gesture. 

He takes the kitten from my hands and examines his belly. “Well, he is a she. And she has ringworm,” he tells me, pointing to a round crusty spot on its tummy. “I bet that’s why she was left here. It’s contagious. We should probably disinfect our faces and hands now,” he laughs, setting the kitten back in the box and picking the whole thing up. 

“How did you know it was ringworm?”

He shrugs, “Lots of cats growing up. Mom liked to save anything furry and four-legged. Three-legged sometimes too. We had a dog at one point with three legs, no tail, and one eye. Called him Lucky.”

Giggles bubble out of my chest from hearing that, “Poor dog.”

“No poor anything. The mutt lived to be almost twenty and my mom cooked it 3 meals a day. I don’t think the thing ever ate dog food a day it lived with us.”

“Aww, that’s sweet. Your mom must love animals.”

“That’s an understatement,” he chuckles, handing me the box. “You’ll need to take her to the vet tomorrow if you want to keep her.”

Chris pulls a little thing of hand sanitizer from his front pocket, squirts some into his hands. Then, after he disinfects his hands and lips, he takes the box from me and hands the sanitizer to me. I did the same, then slipped the bottle into his pocket since his hands were full with the kitten. 

“I have a kennel you can borrow to keep her in tonight if you want,” Chris offers. 

“Are you sure? I can go buy one at the feed store.”

“Naw, save your money. Wait here and I’ll run home and get it really fast. Pegs won’t mind you bringing it in if you want to go ahead and eat.”

I smiled brightly at him. I feel bad for being wary of him before. He’s going out of his way for me again when he doesn’t have to. “Want me to order you something too?”

“Sure! How about a burger and fries?”

“You got it,” I told him. He tells me he’ll be right back one more time then jogs off in the direction of his truck.

I bravely scratched between the kitten's ears, earning me more purring and a tiny meow. So stinking cute. I walked into the diner, smiling gleefully with my new friend.