One Day

Part 13 - Muddy Water

He glances at the screen before giving me an encouraging smile, "It's my mom." He answers as my heart finds its way back in my chest. I don't want to think about the unspoken competition I seem to be having with January or all of the "what ifs" but my mind stays distracted while he talks on the phone to his mom. What if that phone call would have been her? Would he have answered? Will he meet her later to talk to her? What will happen if he does? Will he decide he wants to be with her instead of me? When did I become this girl that is so worried about something that is out of my control?

I bring myself back when I hear him say my name. He is still on the phone but he is looking at me while his left arm rests on my knee. "Yeah, we don't really have plans so that works. What time?" He pauses for a moment to listen to his mom. "Okay, we will meet you there. Is Easton coming? Okay. See you after while."

I'm curious as to what he just agreed to us doing as he ends his call. I'm looking at him with a questioning expression as he smiles reassuringly. "We are going to meet my parents for dinner tonight at 5:30 at House of Ribs."

"I'm meeting your parents?" I say unsure of what I have to be nervous about but I can't ignore the butterflies. My mind is nervous and excited at the same time as I process what that means for us. If he wasn't at least somewhat serious about a relationship with me, I wouldn't be meeting his parents.

He sits up and gives me a quick kiss before standing up and pulling me with him. "Yep, you are meeting my parents," he says smiling. "Don't be nervous, they're great."

He grabs my hand and leads me down the hall to the front door, turning off lights as we make our way out. I wait for him to lock the door before we make our way to the Jeep. "But first, we have a water leak to fix."

After a quick stop at the store, he is in my backyard working to fix what we thought was an easy problem. Come to find out, there is a larger issue with the entire spigot that is now requiring us to return to the store to purchase a replacement spigot and some piping. A few hours later, I am working on a nice tan as we work together to dig up the existing spigot and lines and run brand new ones. He is down to just his khakis and tennis shoes and I'm sweating through my tank top and shorts. The water line had been leaking underground so what should have been just dirt is now a muddy mess. We are both covered in mud and sweat by the time we finish the project.

I squeal as he lifts the lever and watch the water sputter out before running a clean stream. I look at him, "I'm so proud!" While my dad never let me have the easy way out in fixing things, this is the first time I've ever worked on a project like this.

He laughs as he washes his hands under the water, "You should be. That was a lot of work."

I walk into the shed to find the water hose so we can spray off the tools without having to stand in the mud pit. He turns off the water to attach the hose and begins unrolling it as I gather the tools. I'm bending down with my back facing him when I feel a cold jet of water hit my back. I scream as I drop everything in my hands and try to run away. Realizing I have nowhere to go that isn't within the water's reach, I change my game plan and start running straight towards him, holding my hands out to block the water as much as possible. When I'm within reach, I lunge forward and wrap my arms around his waist, pulling him and the water hose to the ground. I'm laughing so hard I can hardly breathe as we fight each other for control of the water hose.

I feel mud push into my hair as I roll onto my back. His hands slip away from the hose as he tries to catch himself before tumbling down on me and I use the opportunity to gain control of the hose and stuff it into the back of his shorts. His laugh is cut off by the rush of cold water as he scrambles to his feet. "Truce, truce!" he yells as he grabs the hose and puts a kink in it. He's laughing and trying to catch his breath as he turns off the water. He walks to where I am now sitting and helps me stand. If I thought I was covered in mud before, I was just kidding myself. I now have mud in places that I didn't know mud could go.

He laughs as he wipes mud off my nose, "If we are meeting my parents in an hour, you may want to shower first."

I gasp because I had completely lost track of time. "Oh, that's not nearly enough time to get ready!" I yell as I jump over the mud and make my way towards the house. "I'll shower as quickly as I can so you'll have time to shower, too."

"Okay but don't worry, they won't care if we are a little late." I hate being late, though.

He starts rinsing off the tools as I walk onto the back porch and realize I'm making a trail of water and mud. I step out of my shoes and yank off my tank top and shorts before quickly opening the door and stepping inside. I glance back to Jace as I close the door and see that smile I have grown to love so much as he watches me disappear into the house.

Thanks for reading One Day! I try to post each weekday and look forward to where this story takes us as it is a work in progress.

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