Page 7 of Jaxson

“I don’t like that guy,” Jaxson said, doing the same with the back of his truck.

“He’s a good doctor, but he fired me.” She shrugged. She was not going to tell Jaxson that Mitch had a way of making her feel uncomfortable. There were a few times she was sure he was flirting with her, but could never tell. There was always something about him that made her a little uneasy. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but it was always there, lurking, and it did creep her out a lot.

The further away he got, the better she started to feel. “Would you like to follow me home, and I’ll spend the day showing you how to save money?”

Chapter Three

Jaxson drove around the town square, and he spotted Tillie sitting on the park bench. Belle was on her lap, as the dog didn’t seem to like lying on the floor. In her hand was a mug, and there were several pigeons on the ground.

He quickly had to press on his brake, as he’d been paying more attention to Tillie than to the car in front of him. Thankfully, no one was behind him, and he was able to stop in time before he bumped the person in front, not that it made him feel any better, far from it.

There was a space up ahead, and rather than get to his next job, he quickly pulled into it. Directly in front of him was a sandwich shop. Climbing out of his truck, he made his way inside, grabbed two turkey club sandwiches, then made his way across the parking lot.

It was Tuesday, and he’d not gotten the chance to catch a glimpse of her on Monday. They spent Sunday together. He didn’t like the way that doctor was looking at Tillie. Mitch Anderson was a good doctor and a respected member of the community, but Jaxson didn’t like him. Actually, before Sunday, he didn’t really think much of him, and then he got pissed off with the way he was looking at her.

Once they were in her home, though, that had all changed, and the whole afternoon was spent preparing food for the coming month. She marinated chicken and would describe the taste for him. They prepared some pork mince, and for some reason, Tillie didn’t like to eat beef, nor did she eat lamb. She preferred pork, chicken, turkey, or fish. Not that he had a problem with that.

He didn’t care what he ate, as long as he got fed. He was not a picky eater. After they had gotten their food prepared, she talked him through how to stack it in the freezer, and loaned him a couple of coolers to take his food home, so it didn’t spoil in the travel.

Jaxson didn’t know if she was that good of a cook, but last night was the best spaghetti sauce he had ever eaten. She helped him cook up a large batch. They did all the cooked food in the morning, and the marinating of the meat for prep in the afternoon.

She even wrote labels, how to cook everything for him, so he wasn’t completely clueless when it came time to eat, which he appreciated. She was so good at what she did.

Also, he stayed long enough to try a slice of her chocolate fudge cake, and it was heavenly. She had even given him several slices to take home, and he’d already eaten them.

Loaded up with a couple of sandwiches, he walked across the square and took a seat beside her.

“Jaxson, hi,” she said, and he held out a sandwich for her. “What’s this?”

“I figured you hadn’t eaten lunch, so I thought I would get us both something.”

“That is so kind of you.”

Belle lifted her head up, and he stroked the top of her head and was surprised as she crawled off Tillie’s lap and snuggled into his. He saw the shock on her face, and at first, he thought she was really disappointed.

“Oh, my, she must really like you. You know, I’ve heard dogs are amazing judges of character,” she said. “And you must be a great person.”

He was loving this dog more and more. “I do my best. So, what brings you outside?” he asked.

It was Tuesday, which meant it was a filming day for her, and not that he was a stalker or anything, as she told everyone on her videos what her plans were for the coming week.

“My house is haunted.”

Of all of the things he expected her to say, that was not one of them. “Haunted?”

“Yes, either that, or there is something wrong with the wiring in my studio. Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound crazy.”

“Why would you have sounded crazy?” he asked.

“You know, the whole haunted thing is not exactly a great advertisement, is it?”

Jaxson laughed. “There are a lot of unexplained things in the world, but if it’s your wiring, I can take a look if you’d like.”

“Don’t you have a busy day?” Tillie asked.

“Don’t worry about them. They can wait.”

She held her hand up and shook her head. “Absolutely not. I am not jumping the line. If you’d like, you can come to me when you’re done.”