Page 21 of Chasing Church
“Jones. Long time, no see.” She bent down and caught him up in a hug. The smell of her perfume mixed with perspiration drifted into my nose.
“What’s up, lil’ mama?”
She grinned. I wanted to snicker. She thought he was calling her a pet name. She didn’t realize that he didn’t remember her given name. “I thought that was you. Where’ve you been?”
“I’ve been busy. Working.”
“You’re heading this entire project up?”
He nodded.
She grinned again. “You have been busy. You ever feel like taking a break?” Her eyes were bright with both confidence and flirtation.
“No time. I’m on my grind. When I’m off it, I’m sleep. I don’t get out like I did when I first got here. But you take care, sweetheart.”
She stood there for a few additional seconds, like she couldn’t believe he dismissed her. She gave it one last shot. “All work and no play makes Jones a very dull boy.” Her mouth fell into an attractive pout.
He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. “That’s the price I have to pay to be on my grown man shit. We’ll see each other around.”
She took the hint that time. “Okay. See you.”
I went back to my fries. I guess it was true that he was trying to pull back from being in the streets. I wished him the best of luck.
A little more thana week later, I looked around my brand-new, completely finished, and ready-for-business production room. Jones and his team had made all of my dreams come true. The space was perfect.
And now you’re intimidated, Inner Church whispered to me.
“Ain’t nobody intimidated,” I lied out loud. I was definitely intimidated. What if I spent all of my savings on building out the space, and my sales stayed the same? What if a rare apple tree disease attacked my orchard and killed everything? What if things just didn’t work out the way I expected them to?
I wanted to call Mari so badly. She was the rational one. She was the one who saw the big picture and was methodical enough to make it into a reality. But it was her mother’s birthday. Her entire family was in California at their ocean-view vacation home.
Rain pelted the newly installed roof. Spring was considered the rainy season, but to me, fall was just as rainy. We were expecting a major downpour. It would’ve been the perfect time to get into a rhythm, lock in, and knock out enough product to shelve a few cases for a little bit of surplus. But instead of setting up to work, I was standing in the middle of the room, looking around.
The doorbell that Jones installed to alert me of deliveries rang, and that was followed by a light rap on the door. There was a small glass pane in the door that I hadn’t yet covered with any kind of window treatment, so I could see Jones standing there. I crossed the room and opened the door for him.
“What are you doing here?” I stepped back and let him step into the production room and out of the rain.
“Yo, let me apologize off the rip for just dropping by. I know that?—”
I cut him off. “Surprisingly, I wasn’t even talking about you showing up unannounced. You might have some last-minute touch-ups or something to do. Or maybe you needed to pick up your tools or something. I’m not tripping about you stopping by. I mean, what are you doing out in this storm? They’re predicting flash floods and possible mudslides.”
“Shit, I know. I’m not from around here. I was sitting in Butterscotch Café, minding my own business, when I noticed people leaving real fast. Then the waitress brought my check, talking about they were about to close for the night and send their people home to beat the storm. As soon as I got in my truck, I knew there was no way I was making it out to Uzziah’s.”
“You stay with Uzziah?”
He eyed me. “Nah. I stay on his property. When I first got here, I wasn’t sure how long I was staying.” He shook his head. “I’m never sure how long I’m staying. My family calls me a nomad. Never been one to put down roots. I like to stick and move. Stay mobile. I got me a little camper. It’s an RV. It’s small, but I pimped it out. Everything’s modern and new. Anyway, it’s parked on Uzziah’s property.”
I chuckled. “Your getaway RV? When you need a new place to conquer, you just pull off, huh?”
He chuckled too. “Pretty much. Make sure my bike is secured on the trailer, and I’m out.”
“That’s convenient.” Thunder cracked loudly outside.
“Yeah.” He looked around. “Anyway, I thought I could make it to the lodge. Ride out the storm there. Get Aunt Beverly to give me a room for the night. But shit, I couldn’t even see out the windshield. Your place was the closest. I was hoping you would take pity on me.”
Bright streaks of lightning illuminated the production room. “Yeah. I’ll take pity on you. There’s no way I would send you back out there in this.”
“Thanks. What were you doing with this rain coming down like this?”
