The Town of Last Haven: A Zombie Novel

Part 34

Natalie let Julia sleep in her old bedroom, now leading Jake down the hall to the kitchen. All these months she'd spent away, the memory of their parents' deaths flooding her mind. Her hands clenched into fists as she held back tears.

"Will you be staying with us now, Jake?" Clarise asked he who stood by Natalie's side. Jake looked to Natalie for the answer, and she gave to him a kind smile.

"If he wants to be closer to us, then he can stay in the guest house." Natalie looked to Jake now for an answer. She'd not have another boy living with them--or be living under another boy's roof--after what happened to Julia with Luke. That was an emotional massacre of complete selfishness, and Natalie wanted to protect them all from that ever happening again.

"The guesthouse?" Trent's eyes widened, face paling. "What happens if the zombies break in here? No one will be here to protect us." Trent had a point, a rational fear in his mind. Julia was exhausted from everything, Natalie wasn't all that handy with a gun, and Austin sometimes went trigger-happy and wound up wasting bullets with target practice.

"I'll protect you however I can," said Jake. "I think the guesthouse would be a great idea." He smiled to Natalie, looking at her the way her dad once looked at her mom--with nothing but absolute love and total devotion. Natalie would not move fast as Julia had done with Luke--she'd not jump into bed with the so-called first love.

"Care for a tour of the Brown Estate?" Natalie asked with a soft smile, and Jake nodded once, He'd already seen the house--Clarise had given him a tour--but he'd not seen the guesthouse or much of the needed-weeding garden. "Come with me."

Natalie led Jake outside, then took him inside the guesthouse. Quite a surprise to Natalie, the house hadn't been invaded. And then she recalled that Austin and Luke had been in their house, but she hadn't all these long months. Austin and Luke were the ones keeping the place clean, boys seemingly unfazed by the burial plots of the Brown parents. Natalie couldn't stomach it much, and she was already feeling queasy as it was.

"Are you alright?" Jake came to Natalie's side, helping her stand straight again as she put a hand to her stomach. Jake was so kind, so gentle with Natalie--and she noticed from his touch alone the warmth of his skin, how she wanted to be near that warmth, that feeling of safety, of kept promises.

"I-I'm fine," Natalie stammered, then cleared her throat before continuing the little tour of the place. She showed him the small kitchenette, the small office filled to the brim with far more books--mainly murder mysteries and thrillers for Owen, and historical romance novels and gardening magazines for Violet. Unless Jake was one for murder mysteries and thrillers or even the romances or gardening magazines, they'd not be as read as the books in the main house, Natalie thought to herself.

Ending the tour with a showing of where Jake would be sleeping, Natalie opened one of the doors, the metal handle cold to the touch.

"This will be your room," Natalie said, "unless you want to sleep on the couch or in one of the other bedrooms." Natalie had given Jake the biggest room there was, and what's more, the windows faced little House Brown with a view of the upstairs bedrooms.

The walls were a brick layout, the furniture all brown wood and rustic. The carpets were ornately designed to have an old feel, and the bed was fit for two. Natalie looked away from the bed, a picture of a shirtless Jake appearing in her mind. She put a hand over her mouth in embarrassment, then watched as Jake moved into the room and sat on the bed. And Natalie would not allow herself to think of what may come, what would happen if she stayed with him--in that way.

"Thank you, Natalie," said Jake. "My house is nothing compared to this."

Natalie turned to Jake. "Where were you staying before... well, here?" she asked.

"I was staying in a downstairs basement." As Jake spoke, Natalie shuddered, rubbing her hands over her arms as she thought of the basement where Tanner had stayed before he went mad for Julia. She hoped that madness would not be repeated--not with Jake, she prayed.

"Are you sure you don't mind staying here? You don't want to stay in our house?" Natalie practically squeaked, but Jake seemed to think her red-cheeked face cute.

"It doesn't matter to me where I stay," said Jake. "Just as long as you feel comfortable and safe."

Natalie swallowed hard. She felt a tug towards Jake that was springing to life faster than the flowers--or weeds--could grow. She felt heat go further into her face, turning away quickly so Jake wouldn't see. "I do feel safe when you're around, Jake." She cleared her throat, then straightened fully. "You're free to move about here as you wish. Feel free to read any of the books, move any of your belongings here. Our home is... is your home now."

Natalie quickly left Jake in the guesthouse, closing the front door behind her and leaning against it, her heart beating out of her chest.

"An epiphany," she whispered breathlessly, "is a sudden realization of great truth... right?" she asked no one in particular, looking to the clouded grey sky. "I think..." Natalie almost couldn't say it. "I think I'm falling for Jake Hayden."

The world stopped for Natalie in those few precious seconds she spoke, her hand placed over her heart. Her ears deaf to the thunder in the distance, she smiled with tears in her eyes. She was falling in love with Jake; she realized that now.

And she was coming to realize that he had already loved her since their first meeting on that old pickup truck--what seemed like so long ago.

"I think I'm in love," Natalie said again, so soft her voice was a mere whisper.