Love Finds You

Love Finds You - Part 4

Chapter 4

"Wha... what's wrong?" she asked, still half asleep. "Do you need something?"

"Sure do, I need you to get up and come with me." Aunt Gabby turned and started to walk away. Jen raised herself up onto her elbow and looked at the clock on the white nightstand next to her twin bed; 4:45. She cringed. "Lord have mercy Aunt Gabby! It's not even five a.m.!" she whispered harshly.

"Child, I don't know why you are whispering; it's just me and you in this house. You don't need to worry about waking anyone. Now get up, get dressed and meet me downstairs in ten minutes."

Jen sat up, her blond hair a tangled mess. "What are we going to do?" she asked through a yawn.

Aunt Gabby turned when she reached the door, mischief in her eyes. "You will see, you will see, you will see." She made a little song out of the phrase that Jen could hear her singing all the way down the stairs. This couldn't be happening; it was far too early to be so cheerful. Slightly annoyed, Jen dragged herself out of bed and began to get dressed.

Soon, she made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. She wore a white sun dress with a yellow short sleeved jacket, and yellow high heeled shoes. Her golden hair hung loosely around her face, touching her shoulders softly.

"My, don't you look like a ray of sunshine!" Aunt Gabby complimented.

Jen smiled; she knew she looked good. "Thank you," she said graciously, "I just bought the shoes before I came. Figured I'd save them for a special occasion."

Aunt Gabby nodded, "They are very fashionable. However, I'm not sure they'll be appropriate for what we're doing today."

Jen looked down at her shoes. "What are we doing today?"

Aunt Gabby smiled and winked. "It's a surprise!"

"I'll need to know what we are doing so I can dress appropriately," Jen said, feeling a twinge of annoyance.

Disregarding what she said, Aunt Gabby hurriedly told her to get some breakfast. "Zack will be here in five minutes. Grab yourself a muffin and banana and we'll be off."

"Aunt Gabby, I do not eat carbs. You keep trying to make me eat them..." Jen mumbled for what felt like the thousandth time.

The look she got from Aunt Gabby was the closest thing to a motherly look Jen had ever seen. It said: If you don't want a muffin that's fine. But don't whine to me when you are starving in an hour!

A knock and hello from Zack at the front door broke their moment. "Everyone ready?" His cheerful voice rang through the house. "We're burnin' daylight people, let's go!"

Aunt Gabby grabbed an apple. "I'm comin' Zacky, I'm comin'," she sang as she hurried out the door.

Zack turned to Jen, "Wow, you look like a ray of sunshine." Jen rolled her eyes. She was starting to think that wasn't a compliment. "Um, you might want to change your shoes," Zack offered. He tilted his head sideways as he looked at them. "I haven't seen ones that high in a while."

Jen gave him a dirty look. "I know fancy shoes are a rare thing out here in the middle of nowhere, but where I come from, girls kill to have shoes like these."

"Really?" Zack said in mock fascination. "Who'd you kill?"

Jen let out a frustrated breath. "Do you always enjoy being so annoying?"

Zack chuckled and held his hands up in defense. "Hey, I was just curious."

"Let's just go," Jen grumbled as she grabbed her purse.

"Are you going to grab something to eat?" Zack asked, pointing to the muffins.

"I don't eat in the mornings," Jen said in a snobby tone she didn't intend.

"Alrighty, but don't whine to me if you're starving in an hour."

Jen huffed and turned to walk out. Zack and Aunt Gabby seemed to have a lot of the same thoughts! He opened the front door and waited for Jen to walk onto the front porch before closing the door behind them.

"How much did you pay for those shoes?" Zack asked as they walked to the truck.

"None of your business!" Jen snapped. She wasn't going to give him more to scoff at.

"I'm honestly curious." He smiled at her and his dimple appeared, mocking her.

"They're made by a top designer; let's just leave it at that," Jen said in an irritated tone.

Zack nodded and let out a slow "Hmmmm" that proved to Jen he was just pretending to be interested.

They had reached the truck and Zack opened the passenger door for her. Aunt Gabby was already nestled in the middle, clearly eager to get a move on. Zack got into the driver's seat and turned the key. The truck roared to life and they were on their way.

"So, where are we going?" Jen asked. She had forgotten to get an answer from Aunt Gabby.

"We're gonna go do some branding," Zack said enthusiastically without looking at her.

Jen had absolutely no idea what that meant, but she wasn't about to give Zack the satisfaction of knowing that. So, she just nodded, determined to look as if it hadn't fazed her.

Aunt Gabby chatted happily to no one in particular as they drove. Jen stared out the window, not intentionally ignoring her but not really paying much attention. She had her own thoughts to deal with and realized she had a problem. She couldn't decide if she was attracted to Zack LaFaye, or if he annoyed the ever-living heck out of her. She sneaked a peek at him; he wore a navy-blue t-shirt and jeans. Did this guy ever dress in anything other than a t-shirt and jeans? Of course not, this was a small town in Ohio. Farm boy country. They all dressed that way, or so she assumed. His dark hair was uncombed; it looked like he'd been wearing a hat. He still hadn't shaved. His whiskers would become a full-blown beard if he didn't trim up soon. Maybe that's what he was going for. Maybe he didn't care about the way he looked. Maybe he was one of those back-woodsy type people that never showered or shaved. Jen's eyebrows furrowed, and then she mentally scratched out that thought. He didn't seem dirty; just... she searched mentally for the word. 'Rugged' was what she finally came up with.

Her thoughts were broken when Zack turned and caught her looking at him. She didn't move. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was intimidated. Their eyes locked for a second. He didn't smile and Jen finally looked away. She felt a flutter in the pit of her stomach and immediately pushed it aside. She looked back at him one more time. He caught her again and this time he winked. She turned away quickly in defiance. Annoying. He definitely annoyed her. He was annoying. It was official.

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