Page 21 of Connected By Souls

I rinse off and grab the body wash. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to start my morning this way after having an intense dream about her that I couldn’t shake. I pray these lonely days will soon come to an end, and it’ll be her hands on me next time.

Grabbing some coffee, I sit down at my desk after my morning run and a quick swim in the pool. I let the memories fill my mind and knock out several pages of my book, putting me back on schedule.

I close my laptop and get ready to leave for the hardware store. I usually keep my Tuesday and Thursday afternoons free to work on the house I’m restoring. My wood flooring has finally come in, and I want to start laying it today. While I’m there, I want to check and see if they have railings for Emma’s front porch.

Making sure Nala is good, I head into town. I pass the library and see Emma’s Bronco sitting in the parking lot. Even though I would love to get a glimpse of her, I know stopping would really set off the stalker vibe.

I park in front of the hardware store a few minutes later. I get out and throw my shades on the dashboard before heading in. I see Henry behind the register as I walk in. He’s around my dad’s age and owns the place. His grandpa is the one who started the business. He passed it down to Henry’s dad, and Henry took over after his dad retired.

Smiling, I walk up to him. “Hey Henry, how’s it going today?”

Looking up from the paperwork he’s filling out, he grins at me. “Hi, Noah, it’s going well. I’m just going over inventory and reordering what we’re out of. Are you here for your flooring? I think you’re going to be pleased. I took a look this morning, and I think it’s really going to turn out beautiful.”

“Perfect. I can’t wait to see it. I’m headed over to the house from here to get started on it. I wanted to see what you had in stock for porch railings while I’m here. I need to replace a broken rail.”

“I’ll show you what we got.” He comes around the counter, and I follow him to the lumber section, hoping to find a match. It’s not your standard porch railing and has some detail to it. “Here’s what we have in stock.” He points to the selection on the back wall. “Let me know if you have any questions.” He walks away to help another customer who just came in.

“Thanks, Henry.” I start to go through the different selections. I’m about to give up when I find what I’m looking for. I grab enough material to fix what’s broken and head to the counter when I see Emma standing in the paint section. She’s looking at samples with a cute frown on her face like she can’t decide what to get. Her hair is loose and wavy today, and she’s wearing the cutest yellow sundress. Grinning, I walk over to her.

“For the record, I was here first, so it’s you that’s stalking me.” I lean the rails against the shelf and turn to look at her.

Lifting her eyes to mine, she smiles up at me. “What is it about the paint section that has guys sneaking up on me? The same thing happened to me last time I was here.”

“Who snuck up on you?” I try not to sound territorial.

“I didn’t catch his name, but he wanted to be my tour guide since I was new in town.”

“What did you say?” I narrow my eyes at her.

“I turned him down if that’s what you are asking.”

“Good.” I break into a grin, feeling secretly pleased that she said no to him but yes to me. “I wouldn’t want to fight anyone—that could get messy.”

“Come to think of it, though,” she taps her finger to her lips, “he was very hot. Maybe I should reconsider.” Her eyes shine with amusement.

“Don’t even think about it.” I step closer to her invading her space. I hear her breath hitch as I reach out and touch her soft hair. I gently pull a piece back that has fallen by her face. I see her swallow as my eyes burn into hers. “I know you feel this between us. It’s not just me.” I bend down and whisper in her ear, “I’m giving you time to process these emotions because I know you’re scared. Don’t mistake my patience for not caring because I’ll be damned if another man touches you.”

She stares at me, unable to speak, as I return the gaze. I let her see the desire in my eyes. She nervously looks away and runs her fingers through her hair. I know what I said affected her. Good. She needs to know I’m serious about us. “Um, I’m uh..thinking of painting the front porch next week. I came over on my lunch break to pick a color. What do you recommend?” She clearly wants to change the subject. I let her off the hook since I just threw her a bomb. I look at the paint samples she has in her hand.

“Well, you’ll want to make sure it’s outdoor paint, for starters, so that would be those.” I grab the outdoor paint samples. “Are you painting the shutters too? I can’t remember if they need it or not.”

“They look like they’ve been painted recently, so I’m just going to try and match it. They seem to be a basic white.” She looks over the outdoor paint samples.

Looking over her shoulder, I glance at the colors. “There,” I point to pure white. “I’ve done enough work around this area to know this is a popular deck color. I’ve used it many times myself.”

“Thank you. I could’ve been here for hours debating.” She laughs softly.

“Glad I could help. Look what I found.” I hold up the railings to show her. “I found matching ones for you. That’s part of the reason I’m here.”

“They’ll match perfectly.” She touches the railings and smiles.

“I should be able to replace it tomorrow. You don’t have to be home, so don’t worry about it if you're working.”

“I don’t go in until two, so that should work. I better get the paint mixed so I can get back to the library.” She puts the other paint samples away.

Holding the railings, I walk with her to the counter. She hands Henry the sample as he begins to mix it.

Dean, who works as the stock boy, comes from the back storage with my wood flooring on a cart. “Hi, Dean. Thanks for bringing those up. How’s high school going this year?”

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