The Summer I Met Her (GirlxGirl)

4- Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On

I entered the dusty old barn once again but with our refreshments in hand. Music played softly from somewhere inside.

"Jay....." I called in a sing-songy voice. "Where are you...?"

"Boo." I heard her relaxed voice say across the room.

I turned my head toward the sound. She was in that storage corner going through whatever was back there wearing a pair of protective old gloves. I started walking over.

As I grew closer, the music grew louder. It had a southern twang to it, as most eighties and nineties country does. The song was vaguely familiar, I felt like I was supposed to know it.

My eyebrows pulled downwards. I cocked my head as I listened carefully. "Hey what song is this?"

Jaycee opened her mouth to speak but closed it just as the singer himself answered for her.

"...Lord have mercy, baby's got her blue jeans on..."

"Oh hey I know this one!" I exclaimed. "Where's it coming from?"

She picked up her smart phone from the makeshift workbench between us and wiggled the device with a smile. I hardly noticed it amid all the tools sprawled across the tabletop.

"You like eighties country?" She asked, recoiling a wheel of barbed wire that had unraveled while in storage.

"A little bit." I admitted, passing her one of the glasses. "I owe that to my dad."

She muttered a thank you before taking a sip. "Your dad has good taste." She placed the glass on the bench.

That made me grin. "He'd appreciate that."

Jaycee pulled a leather saddlebag and tossed it aside. She briefly stopped to wipe her forehead with the back of her hand. "Why don't you have a seat? Might as well enjoy your tea break." She nodded toward a wooden stool nearby.

"You don't need help?" I asked as I sat.

She shook her head, pulling out a sealed sack of horse bedding. "You enjoy your tea."

That reminded me. I started downing a good amount of that sweet summertime drink in one go. You'd think I'd never drank anything before that moment the way it started spilling down my chin. I felt my face turn beet red as I hurried to clean myself with the hem of my shirt. Jaycee pretended not to notice while I pretended not to catch her smiling.

I cleared my throat, crossing my legs. "That was embarrassing." I set the drink close to me on the ground.

"What was?" She asked, feigning ignorance.

I squinted my eyes suspiciously. I couldn't tell if she was being polite or teasing me. "Nevermind. Do you have any hobbies?"

"Hobbies?" She repeated. "This is my hobby." She laughed dryly, lifting the plastic wrapped bundle of bedding from a stack in the corner. "But I have been known to pick up the guitar from time to time."

"Oh really? Do you sing too?" I inquired, my interest piqued, eyebrows raised.

She carried the heavy package of bedding under one arm. I had to admit, she made that look easy.  "A little. Although I'm no Loretta Lynn."

I beamed, feeling a little proud of myself for knowing an old country star's name. "That's so cool. I'd love to hear you sometime."

She lowered the bag into the horse stall, unsettling a puff of dust off the plastic covering. Without meeting my eyes, she folded her arms across her chest, leaning her weight against a wood beam. "Maybe one day."