Page 16 of Evergreen Desires
Curious, I turned to look and saw that self-important man from the diner, standing up from a table across the room and making his way toward us. I let out a small sigh and quickly turned back toward Beau. But something must have shown on my face because his leg gently leaned against mine, and he softly said, "It's okay, he's hounding me, not you."
"Beau! How are you doing? What brings you down the mountain?" Rich said, clearly showing no real interest in the answers. “Small world, huh?”
"I just came into town for a few things we needed and to get Jake here set up a little more comfortably," Beau responded dryly.
"Jake, huh?" Rich glanced in my direction. "Yes, we have not officially met but remember seeing you at the diner. Seems I remember reading a police incident report with you two in it at the corner store."
I held my breath, unsure of where this conversation was going.
"Yes, there was a misunderstanding. Bob didn't realize Jake here was my boyfriend and I was going to pay for him, then he had a medical emergency. You know, low blood sugar and all," Beau said, the tension between the two of them palpable. But I found some relief in Beau's determination to stand up for me. "We met the new police chief, Mat. He was helpful in getting it all sorted and making sure that Jake wasn't injured. He seems like a good guy, looking out for people," Beau added.
"Yes, he's a good hire the city manager made. I haven't had too much time with him yet. He seems like someone who takes his job seriously and can’t be pushed around," Rich remarked.
"Well, that's a good thing for the community, especially given how small we are," Beau replied, clearly growing frustrated.
"Speaking of the small community, have you given any more thought about the new operation coming to town?" Rich probed.
"Not really. It takes time for licenses, building permits, and rezoning. Lots of things can throw kinks into the mix. Shoot, it took me a few years to get through the process."
"Oh, they applied for a fast-tracked process. Given that we have the roadmap from when we got your operation moving, it could be a matter of weeks for all the approvals," Rich revealed with a devilish smile.
Beau stared at Rich, his jaw muscles tensing up. There was an awkward silence between them before Rich finally turned to leave. "Well, let me get back to my dinner table. Just wanted to stop by. Nice to meet you again, Jake. Try to stay out of trouble. The last thing Beau needs is to have a complaint filed against his state license for a misunderstanding. Talk to you later."
Our food buzzer went off at that moment, and I swore I heard Beau physically growl. "I'll go get our food," he said, pushing himself back from the table with a little too much force.
"Thanks," I managed to reply as he headed off.
A few minutes later, he returned with heaping plates of food that barely fit on the table as I helped him set them all down. As Beau settled back into the table, he typed on his phone, seemingly preoccupied.
"I'm sorry," Beau said to me, avoiding eye contact.
"What for?"
"For that jerk insulting you like that and openly threatening us. You won't cause any issues with my farm licenses; I can assure you of that."
"I'm sorry he upset you and that you had to pretend to like him when clearly you just wanted to punch him," I said, sympathetically. Thank you for defending me.”
"What goes around, comes around,” Beau grumbled. “By the way, I am placing a quick order at Best Buy up the road here for a couple of wildlife trail cameras that I forgot we needed. We'll swing past there and grab them curbside on our way out,” grabbing his phone and was tapping away.
"Trail cameras?" I asked, wondering what the sudden need for them was.
"Yeah, they’ll make good motion-activated security cameras around the farm. Now, let's eat and get you home."
CHAPTER 14
BEAU
Jake padded into the kitchen, barefoot and bleary-eyed, his hair sticking up in every direction like he’d wrestled with his pillow and lost. He hadn’t put on his glasses yet, which gave him a softer look—unguarded, almost boyish. He rubbed a hand over his face and yawned as he made a slow beeline toward the coffee.
“Good morning,” he mumbled, voice still thick with sleep.
“Morning,” I said, trying not to smile too obviously. “I’m making scrambled eggs. Coffee’s fresh. And—” I nodded toward the counter, “—there’s a little something for you next to the toaster.”
"Thanks, I need it. Wait, what?" Jake looked over after pouring some coffee into a mug and taking a sip, spotting the silver laptop sitting on the counter. "Why?" he choked out, coughing as some coffee goes down the wrong way. "Why did you get me a laptop?" He continued coughing. "When...?"
"I picked it up last night at Best Buy with the trail cameras. After you went to bed, I got it set up with somehigh-end photo editing software. I can't have my photos looking anything less than professional for the business," I explained.
Jake's face showed a mix of amazement and discomfort. I realized it wasn’t just the lack of morning coffee that was making it hard for him to think straight. His scent was off, tinged with fear. "Hey, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to push you. I genuinely thought you would like to have the tools for your photography. I'm serious—I need some new advertising photos for my seriously outdated website." I moved in closer for a quick side hug, hoping to provide some comfort without pushing him away.
