My Blue River (4 page)

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Jack’s Journal

Friday, June 4

I’ve learned two things for certain today:

Blondes really are airheads

Californians really do suck at driving

I nearly took out the backend of a car with California plates today, and since it was an Aston Martin, I nearly wet myself in the process. Its driver was a blonde, who, had she not been such a little rich, snob, I otherwise would have thought she was totally and completely beautiful. Seriously, I have never seen anyone so beautiful except in magazines. Her eyes were so blue, like clear blue water—clear, icy, cold blue water. The kind of water you wouldn’t mind taking a dip in because after the pain of the freezing cold temperature faded away, it might actually feel kinda good. Yeah, she was that cold and mean! She was really pretty though. I felt like an idiot when I started to rant at her because I lost my train of thought. Dang! She was amazing to look at though.

Since she had California plates, I’m guessing she’s the daughter of Mr. Davis who hired me to do work at the old Anderson place. Her dad mentioned a daughter who’s going to be a senior and a son who’s going to be a sophomore. I can tell already, Miss California isn’t going to fit in very well here. Talk about ATTITUDE! She thinks she is the crème that rose to the top. She made some crack about how all of
us
Montanans should watch out for
her
. I’m sorry. Were we supposed to roll out the red carpet for the new family in town because they came from sunny California? I don’t think so. Who does she think she is? She’s so full of herself! I don’t even remotely look forward to breathing the same air as her.

I didn’t make the best first impression. Wait, why do I even care about that? What the hell is wrong with me? Some out of town snob comes around and my brain goes numb just because she is drop dead gorgeous? If I could kick the crap out of myself I would!

I didn’t think about it until I was following her home that she doesn’t know I live a mile down the road from her. She probably thought I was some sort of psycho. That thought makes me laugh. She must have been freaked out! Okay, that’s not nice, but it’s funny!

I have to admit, I can’t wait to see her face when I show up at her house tomorrow. I hope she’s there. This should be fun. I guess I do want to share the same air with her…maybe just for a little while.

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After waking up to the actual sound of a rooster’s crow, I threw on some clothes—jean shorts and a green t-shirt that read,
“You may think I’m sarcastic, I say I’m funny.”
I didn’t bother with makeup and pulled my hair up into a ponytail. I begrudgingly went downstairs to the kitchen where I found my dad’s “to-do” list on the counter. I read it as I ate a bowl of Cheerios. I mentally checked his chores off in my head.
I’m not doing this, I’m not doing this, oh, hell no, and I’m for sure not doing that!
I groaned when I finished breakfast because finishing meant starting to work outside.

When I walked into the living room, I saw the flash of sun reflecting off metal. The front of the house had large windows that allowed for a fairly good view despite the obstacle of trees. There was no mistaking the vehicle that had just entered the driveway.

“No…freakin’…way!” I exclaimed, dragging out each word. “This guy is such a jerk!” It was Wrangler Boy from the Brody’s parking lot near accident incident. I could see the now familiar brown Jeep Wrangler come to a halt. He got out and headed straight for my dad. My dad’s face lit up with a huge, friendly smile.
Figures.
This guy is a complete stranger arriving unannounced and of course, my dad is acting like he’s about to meet the local priest. They exchanged a hand shake and began conversing.
Unbelievable! I wish I could read lips.
But I knew exactly what he was up to. He was here to complain about me and my driving when he was the one who nearly hit ME. A light bulb went off.
I knew it! He followed me home.
He wanted to know exactly where to go so he could make my life even more miserable.
Let’s pick on the new girl in town.
I hated him already.
Well, that answers the question of whether or not he lives here.

I pounded out the front screen door, letting it bang behind me. I stomped over to where my dad was seemingly enjoying the conversation with psycho boy. I needed to stop him before he said anything damaging about me. If he ruined my chances of ever driving the convertible again, he would soon learn who could challenge him in the psycho department.

“Hey!” I hollered over them.

I opened my mouth, ready to defend myself but was stopped short when Dad said, “Hey, Addy, glad you’re here. I have someone I want you to meet. This is Jackson Cooper—the handyman.”

I was sure my gaping expression gave away my shock as I stared at Jackson who said, “You can call me Jack.” He winked and smirked at me, knowing I recognized him. He recognized me, too, that much was obvious. I couldn’t believe he was here and worse, he was the handyman my dad hired.

I couldn’t help but notice that without the expression of anger on his face, he was even more attractive than I originally thought, not to mention the amazing dimples that made their appearance with his smirk. As much as I found his dimples adorable, I also wanted to smack them right off his face and ask him to stay away from my miserable life.

“Jack it is then,” said Dad. “Jack, this is Adelaide. We call her Addy. Jack comes highly recommended. He is known around town as a Jack-of-all-trades.” Dad and Jack chuckled in unison. He was genuinely laughing with my dad and for some reason that irritated me even more.

“Figures,” I mumbled. The entire statement sounded just so typically
country
to me.

“Excuse me?” Jack asked, but I knew he’d heard me. He was still beaming his obnoxious grin that showed his perfectly brilliant teeth. I looked down at the ground, not wanting to make eye contact with my enemy because frankly, given the chance, the enemy might make me blush.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Nice to meet you, Jack.” When I finally looked up, I noticed he was probably six feet tall, as he stood nearly head-to-head with my dad, who was six foot one. I again noticed his eyes were brown; as brown as mine were blue, with long, thick eye lashes.
Why do boys always get the great eye lashes?
I turned to leave before he could respond but I wasn’t quick enough. He still called out to me.

“Nice to meet you too, Addy.” He almost sang the words, mocking my departure.

“Yeah, sure it is,” I mumbled. I kept walking away, unwilling to look back.

Once inside the house I let out the breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. Why did the handyman have to be the guy from the supermarket? And why did he have to be so—so—
appealing
to look at? I looked out the window to get another look and all I could think was,
WOW!
He’s gorgeous!

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Jack’s Journal

Saturday, June 5

No. I was wrong. Miss California, who I now know is named Adelaide, nicknamed, Addy, is every bit as beautiful as she was yesterday. My heart started beating pretty fast when I saw her fly out of the house. I didn’t know rage could look so beautiful. And her body…man, long, tan legs in those short shorts complimented everything else about her quite nicely. She’s got an attitude and I was certain she thought I was there to cause problems for her which in all honesty, I probably could have. I’m guessing Mr. Davis is rather fond of his car, but he looked fond of his dear Adelaide, too. He looked at her like she was a princess. I’ll let it go. I was just as much at fault in the parking lot.

I love her eyes. Why am I talking about her eyes? What is wrong with me? I hate myself for this, but I know there’s a story behind those big blue eyes and I want to know what it is. I don’t even think she realizes how beautiful she is and that makes her even more attractive. I need to watch myself though. Her dad says she’s counting down the days until she graduates and leaves Blue River. He says she wants to go back to California really bad so it’s best to not get attached. I won’t waste a single moment of thought on her.

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I had dismissed and all but forgotten just how well God had put together Jack the Handyman until I ran into him—literally—at Brody’s Supermarket, one week after our meeting at my parent’s house.

I was exiting Aisle 2—the bread aisle—and at the same time Jack was exiting Aisle 1. Bang! Our carts crashed into one another. We gave each other one long hard stare before either of us spoke. I broke the tension first.

“Wow. You really can’t drive
anything
can you?” I said sarcastically. I gave him a smirk.

“Really? I was just about to say the same thing to you,” he smirked back.

“Guess I’m quicker.”

“I’m sure you are—all big city girls are.”

I looked at him squint-eyed and lips twisted. “What would you even know about big cities, cowboy? I am guessing you haven’t been very far past the edge of town.” I waited for some type of snarky response, but Jack simply smiled at me which egged me on even further so I added, “You know, you really suck.”

“Wow. Is that all a big city school teaches? Four letter words?” Jack chuckled at his own joke.

“You’re lucky that’s the only four letter word I use. I would use larger words, but you probably wouldn’t understand their meaning.”

I took a bag of bread from the shelf and looked at it, pretending to search for the expiration date, as if it were more important than anything he had to say to me.
I hope I don’t look interested
. I continued to look at the bread because in all honesty, I just couldn’t look into those amazing eyes without losing my edge. I loved the little crinkles that formed at the corners of his eyes when he smiled. I knew if I looked directly at him I would blush and there was no way I would give him the satisfaction of seeing that happen. I could tell he was enjoying our banter and actually, so was I. He was challenging me and it was kind of exciting.

He finally spoke, “Well, I’m standing here wasting time talking to you so I guess I’m not lucky at all.” He also grabbed a bag of bread, pretending to assess its quality, and then put it back on the shelf. He avoided looking directly at me.

“Nice. You’re real clever,” I quipped as I put the bread back on the shelf. I didn’t really need it. I had already grabbed everything on my mom’s grocery list before I ran into him.

“I am actually, thank you.”

I scowled at him and announced, “I need to leave.”

“Be my guest.” He spread his arm out as if to say, “Please pass by.” But just as I moved my cart, he moved his, too. They crashed into one another yet again. I glowered at him, but couldn’t help but notice the smile that played at the edges of his lips and it made my heart tingle. I could even overlook his cowboy boots and Wranglers.
Yuck. Western clothing.
I must be insane.

“Bye, Addy,” said Jack in a taunting way as I passed by him.

I drove home hating that I found Jack to be adorable.
How did I go from hate to heart tingle so quickly?
Lucky for me, he was also slightly annoying.
It will be quite easy to resist these feelings.

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Jack’s Journal

Friday, June 11

I need to stop running into Adelaide Davis—literally and figuratively. She is doing things to me I’m just not ready for. Well, I am ready for these things, but not with a big city girl like her. She isn’t remotely what I’m looking for in a relationship. I certainly don’t want to be with someone who believes she is somehow superior to all those who reside in Blue River…no, make that all of Montana. How do I keep someone at a distance that I see every day? I will work at her family’s place and I’ll see her at school. Man! I hadn’t even thought of that part! School! We’re both seniors at Blue River High School and that school is small! I already think about her all the time. I even started writing a stupid song about her. She probably hasn’t noticed anything about me other than my sarcasm. She probably hates me. But I love her sarcasm. She’s pretty clever, I mean, she’s annoying, but she also drives me nuts in a really good way. I sort of want to reach out and touch her cheek, just to feel her skin and make sure she is real, and then I realize someone that bitter would probably scorch my skin! Ha. Ha. I have always wanted to meet someone who is well, different…different from everyone I grew up with, not that they’re bad, it’s just that I don’t see any of the girls here as more than a friend. I know I’ve officially lost my mind, but I want to get to know Addy. It’s sick and wrong, self-torture really, but I can’t help it. I find her intriguing.