The Montgomery House

Five

Jackson

Jackson screamed and swung as soon as he'd shouldered his way through the kitchen door; the sharp thwack of the slipper bouncing off the head of the intruder was met with a strangled scream and a string of profanity so elicit he was surprised his mother didn't rise from the dead to scour the mouth of the fiery-eyed redhead who stood glaring at him from the middle of her kitchen.

Eyebrows quickly disappearing into his hairline, Jackson stood with his chest heaving and his mouth agape, taking in the woman who had by the sight of the cornflakes decorating his kitchen floor and the bread on the counter broken in to bring him breakfast.

Curly titian hair had been pulled into a messy bun at the nape of her neck, long strands split free to frame her delicate pixie-like face and spill down her back. Pale with shock, the smattering of freckles which decorated her nose and cheeks which were usually more subtle, stood out against her fair complexion. Her hazel eyes which had caught him off guard the moment he'd looked into them, glared at him with a mixture of bewildered curiosity.

Loose-fitting khaki pants, a white t-shirt and a long grey chunky woollen cardigan, complete with a pair of white socks and orange Crocs, made him smile despite himself.

Sensing his gaze, she glanced down at her feet and blushed. She'd taken her time with her outfit, selecting what she hoped would help her appear like she'd just rolled out of bed and not like she'd spent the last two hours obsessing whether or not to come over, before wasting a third in the shop obsessing over whether buying a pack of bacon for a neighbour she'd never met would be seen as coming on too strong.

Lifting her gaze back up to meet him, her lips twitched as she took in the tousled hair, the baffled expression and the pink slipper he gripped as if he still might decide to bludgeon her to death.

Laughter filled the kitchen, light and almost lyrical in tone, it filled the space between them until Jackson felt his lips twitching in response.

Overcome the petite woman doubled over, tears streaming down her face as she struggled to control herself. "God... you screamed like a girl" she rasped out around loud hoots of laughter.

Instantly offended, Jackson scowled. Dropping the slipper on the floor he crossed his arms over his chest in an attempt to make himself more imposing and reclaim some of his masculinity. Much to his annoyance, however, the move just seemed to make the woman in front of him lose it a little bit more. Howling, she sat herself on the floor and wrapped her arms around her middle. "Stop... please you're going to make me pee..."

Frustrated and flustered, Jackson opened his mouth to say something three times, instantly snapping it shut at another peal of laughter.

"I did not scream!" He eventually stammered. "That... was a manly battle cry..."

The woman on the floor howled with laughter for another minute before eventually sobering up enough to pull herself off the floor. Taking a deep breath, she ran the sleeve of her cardigan across her face to dry up any remaining tears.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, I..." She started.

His patience wearing perilously thin from the horrible night's sleep, the grief of losing his mother and the fact that he was being forced into conversing with another human being before he'd even had his first cup of coffee, Jackson was not in the mood to play nice.

Cutting off the rest of her sentence he glowered at her from his position in front of the kitchen door. "Who are you? And what are you doing in my house?"

A lesser man would have cowered under the withering stare the red-headed bandit served him with. All previous signs of warmth and kindness disappeared the moment she felt the energy in the room shift. Fiery hazel eyes met his blue ones at his bluntness.