Numb (Alliance Trilogy)

Ramp

~Chapter Seven~

A high-pitched screeching reverberation came from the outside, waking Jenny out of a beautiful dream where she had walked along a riverside. Now reality hit her and with it came the annoying sound of a saw screeching all through the large house. Groaning she rolled to her side and pulled the pillow over her head trying to drown out all of the noise. Finally, when she could not take any more of the racket outside she did her best to climb out of bed and freshen up.

Once cleaned up and refreshed she filled the only single glass she had with ice and water and made her way over towards the front door.

"Max!" She exclaimed.

***

The saw came to stop half way through a two by four and quickly removing the goggles from his eyes he looked up at Jenny sitting at the front door with a glass of water in her hand.

"I thought you might like something to drink while you work." She offered.

He smiled, stood from his crouched position, and removed his gloves to reach out for the glass. "Thanks'." He replied.

"It's nine in the morning, and already you are waking the entire neighborhood with that racket." She teased.

"If I start early I might be able to finish this off by the afternoon."

Jenny didn't reply simply smiled and stared at the work in progress. He had come early to set all the wood down, enough for him to build a steady ramp.

"Well I'll leave you to it, thanks again, you really didn't have to." She said.

"Like I said, I had all of this extra wood lying around my back yard."

Jenny smiled again, but he knew it was forced somehow, there was something in Jenny that told him she was trying to be polite about it but deep down she was trying not to get ahead of herself. Max looked over to his handy work and figured it was best to get on with it. The way he saw it, Jenny was pushing herself away, yesterday she had apologized for being so rude but it hadn't meant they were friends. He bent down to reach for the saw again and stopped before his hand could squeeze down on the handle.

Why did it bother him so much that Jenny was refusing his friendship? Ever since he had first met her they had not seen eye to eye. Guilt, he thought, as he continued on with his work. It had to be guilt that had him here; never in all of his life had he ever done something like this for a woman.

"First time for everything." Max said to himself.

***

The door closed and Jenny simply stared at it as Max continued with his work outside. He was being all too kind and she hadn't expected him to show up today and especially so early. Her lonely heart gave a little jolt but deep down she was afraid of what all of that could mean. Max was a handsome, good looking man and she was a lonely woman who clearly would get too carried away. Jenny suppressed the little joyful skips her heart gave out. She could not get too attached or friendly with Max. Truthfully, nothing good would come of it all, she would wind up liking him too much, and grow hope that something might be and at the end of it all he would never see it like that. Plus Jenny had always hated to think of herself as the other woman.

"What am I thinking." She whispered. Her mind was getting too carried away as she sat there starring at the front door.

"No. Max is just being friendly, plus he sort of understands because he was there, he saw what happened." She said to herself.

Jesus! The guy hadn't been here for more than two days and already her mind was rambling about with absurd ideas. She growled, clearly disappointed at herself and quickly scooted away from the front door. Today she would eat a healthy meal seeing that she had lost too much weight, then maybe later after the ramp was finished and Max was gone she would see to it that she got a little shade of tan on her skin.