“Hello?” I said, pressing the cell to my ear.
“Hello, beautiful,” said Jake, and just hearing this man’s voice seemed to make my night ten times better.
“Hello, Hill,” I said with a smile, pouring another small drink of whiskey. “I didn’t expect to hear from you again.”
“Yeah, well, I came in for our usual appointment this morning, and they said you were on temporary leave,” said Jake. “I know that Remington is one of your good friends, so I convinced him to tell me how I could get ahold of you.”
“Knowing Rem, he gave it up easy,” I said with a laugh.
“Yeah, he said you’d say that. He also said that I should defend his honor if it was brought up and tell you that I had to fight for it.”
“Did you?”
“Not really.”
I giggled again, wishing suddenly that I was seeing Jake in person and not an hour away, holed up in my mother’s cramped and cluttered little house. I realized that I should have gone out on a date with the guy when I had the chance, and I was angry at myself for refusing him.
“Well, I’m sorry to burst your bubble,” I said, capping the whiskey to stow it back in the freezer. “But I’m out of town for a while, and I don’t know for how long.”
“Out of town?” said Jake. “Like, far away?”
“I’m in Eagle River.”
“Oh,” Jake said. “So you’re only an hour away?”
I chuckled, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth to nibble on it. “I guess I’m only an hour away, yes.”
“That’s not far.”
“It’s far for some guys,” I said, shrugging to myself, and this time it was Jake’s turn to laugh.
“Not for me,” he said. “And I’d still like that date. Can I take you out sometime?”
“I don’t anticipate I’ll be back in Denver much for a while,” I admitted. “Otherwise, I would have loved to.”
“Don’t be silly,” said Jake. “I’ll come to you.”
I fell silent for a moment, wondering if it was worth the time and effort to get to know this guy. I realized that my plan was, eventually, to move back to Denver and resume my life there, but how long would that take? And how long would Jake wait?
“If you’re dead set on that date, you can come woo me at any time,” I told him with a smile. “Fair warning, Eagle River isn’t Denver. We have limited options here.”
“I don’t care,” said Jake. “I’d just like to get to know you.”
“I hope you’re not disappointed,” I cracked. It was supposed to be funny, but it came out more pathetic, and I slapped the palm of my hand against my forehead with embarrassment.
“I’m not,” Jake said. “Because I already know you just well enough to know that you’re worth it. All of it.”
“I’ll remind you that you said that.” Down the hallway, the dryer buzzed, alerting me that it was time to switch out the laundry. I sighed and rubbed the sore spot on my neck, not wanting to travel back to reality but knowing I didn’t have a choice anyway. “Jake, I have to go. I’m in the middle of cleaning my mother’s house. Call me tomorrow? Or I can call you, whatever works.”
Jake chuckled on the other end of the line. I loved his laugh. It was so easy, carefree. “I’ll call you,” he said. “And we can set up a date then.”
“Okay.”
“Goodnight, Peyton Blake.”
“Goodnight, Jake Collins.”
We bid our goodbyes, and I tossed the phone aside on the table before getting up to switch the laundry. Maybe Jake would end up being my anchor back to the city, a serious relationship I had to look forward to as soon as I was finished in Eagle River. I had no intentions of staying here, not really. Besides my childhood with my mother, I had no good memories of growing up here. Leaving had been the best thing to ever happen to me, even when Chicago hadn’t worked out. Denver and Eagle River were like two separate worlds despite being so close together, and that’s how I liked it.
