When Stars Align

Chapter 4

I watch with my eyebrows furrowed watching Jamie and Leah talk from across the pool table. Leah is clearly trying to flirt with Jamie but, Jamie appears to just be friendly? Leah keeps blushing, twirling her hair and swaying into Jamie but Jamie is standing with her hands in her pockets and keeping a reasonable distance between them. How interesting.

"Is someone jealous?" Alex whispers in my ear, catching me staring at the pair.

"Don't be ridiculous. I was just curious about something is all." I say, reluctantly peeling my gaze away from Jamie and Leah to look directly at Alex.

"I may or may not have grilled Jamie on her thoughts of the single women in town and I know that she only sees Leah as a friend. Thought I'd do you a favour and get to the bottom of that..." Alex says with a wink.

"Why would I possibly care about Jamie's romantic feelings about anyone in town?" I say with a shrug.

"Whatever you say Haley, I just thought I'd let you know." Alex smiles and squeezes my shoulder.

"Did you ask about me?" I say without even thinking. Why the hell did I say that? It's not like I care what she thinks about me. I'm not even close to being drunk but maybe I didn't eat enough for dinner and the alcohol is hitting me different. Yeah, that must be it.

"Hm, wouldn't you like to know?" Alex says with a chuckle and turns to walk away.

"Hey now you have to tell me!" I shout after him.

"Tell you what?" A voice from behind me says lowly- Jamie. Oh god, my thoughts are too jumbled for this interaction.

"Oh nothing. Alex was just being annoying as always." I say with an exaggerated sigh and force a small laugh at the end.

"Can I get you another drink? Looks like you're all out." Jamie says with a hopeful smile. And... and it's not fair that she's so captivating. No wonder the people in town undoubtedly all like her. Especially when she's out chatting them all up on a daily basis.

"Uh no. I've had enough to drink for the night I think." I say with a cringe because yeah i definitely don't need anything clouding my judgment.

"Hmm, a soda then?" She says and signals me to follow her to the bar.

I can do this. I don't know exactly why I dislike her or why she annoys me. There's something almost palpable when we interact that makes me uneasy and makes me lost in my thoughts that I just don't like. But that being said, there must be a reason everyone else thinks so highly of the farm girl.

While trying to navigate my thoughts, my body makes the decision for me and starts following Jamie towards the bar and I take a seat next to her.

"Two cokes please Emily." Jamie politely orders. Emily looks between us and gives me a curious smile.

"So... how's the farm. It was a mess the last time I seen it." I ask while reaching for the drinks Emily placed in front of us.

It really was a mess. Totally overgrown and a destroyed greenhouse? Yeah not pretty sight.

"It's actually coming together well. I've cleared out the overgrowth and I've planted my first crops of the year. It's been a lot of work though, I've never been so exhausted in my life." She explains with a pained laugh.

"Yeah I can't imagine how much work that is." I say with a sigh because yeah, that does sound hard. It would take a very dedicated person to get that farm up and running again.

"Luckily i trained and got into shape before coming here so I could handle the workload." She says with a pleased look.

I then take a closer notice at Jamie. You can tell she's fit. Especially with her outfit choice for the night. She's ditched the work clothes and has opted for a flattering pair of blue jeans and a form fitting white tee shirt. Her hair is down and brushed over her shoulders so it's flowing down her back. She had a flannel over top of the shirt but as the night went on she took it off, and now that it's off, it's easier to appreciate the work that she's put into her body.