New Beginnings.

Chapter Thirteen

Saturday, 19 November 1994

"What are those?" Sean asks as I close the door to my car with my knee.

"Groceries!" I call out to him as he crosses his driveway to help me.

"Here, let me take that," He says and reaches for the two paper bags I am juggling in my arms.

He takes the two bags from me and says, "What is all this?"

"Sean, those are vegetables," I say with a laugh and he rolls his eyes.

He carries the groceries into his kitchen and begins to unpack them. He holds up a butternut squash and raises his eyebrow at me. "We are going to eat this thing?"

"It makes an awesome soup," I reply and snatch it from him. "Do you have pots?" I ask as I begin to open the cupboards in his kitchen. I am pleasantly surprised to find that his kitchen is considerably well-stocked. I discover a large stock pot and place it on his stove.

"Hmmm," he says as he looks over my shoulder at the pot. "Had no idea I had one of those."

"Where are your cutting boards and knives?" I ask and resume my search through his large kitchen.

"Uh, I don't know if I own..." he trails off when he sees me pull a cutting board out of a lower drawer.

"Huh," he says and scratches his chin.

"You didn't know you had kitchen supplies?" I ask.

He shakes his head, "No, uh, I bought this place and then hired someone to furnish it for me when I was on tour last year. I had no idea they bought kitchen supplies too," he says and opens a drawer under the large island.

"Fuck, there is baking shit in here too," he says with a surprised tone. I place my hands on his hips and look around his shoulder.

"Oh perfect!" I exclaim and reach around him for a baking sheet.

"Well, I'm glad you are enjoying this," he says with a chuckle and leans against the island to watch me. "So what's on the menu?" He asks.

"Butternut squash soup and berry cobbler?" I reply, my intonation rising when I realize that I'm unsure if he likes those things.

He uncrosses his arms and reaches for me. He pulls me up against him and says, "Incredible," before brushing his lips across mine. He begins to run his hands down my ass and I step away, "Let me get the squash roasting first."

He chuckles and shoves his hands in his pockets. I find his knives next and begin to cut the squash in half.

"You seem happy," he says as I busy myself with the soup preparation. 

"I am," I reply over my shoulder and grin at him.

A deep chuckle escapes his throat and he replies, "Things must have gone well with your new friend last night?" He asks.

I nod, "Yeah, she is going to help me enroll in college and she gave me some advice." I feel myself smiling again, excited at the prospect of changing my situation.

He comes up behind me and runs his hand down my back. "That's great, babe. The offer still stands if you end up needing anything. I'll even loan it to you if you'd prefer," he says as his hand rests on my hip.

"Thank you," I reply and lean into him. He squeezes my hip and then says, "What do you want to study?"

I tell him about how I want to study elementary education and how much I love children. I share how Wrenna told me about going to community college first then transferring over, and how I can apply for grants and scholarships to help with the payments.