Charming Ever After

Chapter 1

Echo my dear, this one is especially for you. Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 1

"Fuck." I say, trying to fix the door on the barn. "I really need to hire someone. Shit." I say. I get the the door, barriered up and head to the truck. I drive into town to get some groceries. I head back to the butcher, James and he speaks when he sees me. "Hey Echo. How's it going?" he asked. "Good, James. How's Marti doing?" I asked. "Good. She said to thank you for the eggs." he says and I smile. "Hey, you don't happen to know anyone looking for a job do you? I could use some help around the farm." I asked. "Not right off hand." he says. I get what I came for and head to the checkout. As I'm putting my things in the truck, a man walks up to me. Putting my hand at the small of my back where I keep my gun, he says "I'm sorry. I heard you say you were looking to hire someone at your farm?" he asked. I look him over and notice that he's very nice looking, blonde hair, beautiful blue eyes. "You ever worked on a farm before?" I asked. "No but I learn quick." he says. "What did you do before for work?" I asked, as he lifts the big bag of dog food into the back of the truck for me. "I was a mechanic." he says. "Where are you staying?" I asked, curious. "Wherever I can, honestly." he says. I look at him for a minute, noticing he has a duffle bag over his shoulder. "Okay. Throw your shit in the back and get in." I say.

We get in the truck and as I crank the truck, I say, "I'm Echo Jones." I say. "Jax Teller." he says. "Well, Jax Teller, job is seven days a week, meals and room provided. You good with that?" I asked. "Yes ma'am." he says. "None of that ma'am shit. Call me Echo." I say and smile. He smiles back and it's that panty dropping smile. Shit.

Pulling up to the farm, we get out and he helps me get the groceries out of the back. Heading into the house, we put things down and my sister, Kari is in the kitchen. "Kari, this is Jax. Jax, this is my sister Kari. Kari, do you care to put these up so I can show Jax around? He's going be helping out around here." I asked. "Sure. Nice meeting you Jax." she says before looking at me and raising her eyebrows. I shake my head and lead him outside.

"You'll be helping me with repairs, cleaning the barn, normal shit like that. It's pretty much same shit each day but out here, no one bothers us. Closest house is about five miles out. There are horses in the barn that need to be taken out daily. During off time, I like to ride. You're welcome to come along anytime." I explain. Showing him around and showing what needs to be done. "We get up at 4am and don't stop until it's all done. Breakfast is at 4:30. Kari does the cooking and handling the house while we handle everything else." I tell him. "Got it." he says. "Kari and I took over this farm after our parents died and been running it alone for the last eight years." I tell him. "Wow. That can't be easy." he says. "You do what you gotta do, right?" I asked. "Yeah. I get that." he says. "So, tell me a little about you." I say. "Grew up in California, oldest of two kids. Moved out here about a month ago and been looking for work since." he says. "Wow. Georgia is a long way from California. You said you were a mechanic before?" I asked. "Yeah. Worked in my family's garage." he says. "Let me show you something." I say before leading him to the other side of the barn. "This was my dad's old work truck, I know some about working on shit but I have not been able to figure out what the hell's wrong with it." I say. "I can take a look at it." he says. I pop the hood and he leans over to look at the engine. "Can you try to crank it?" he asked. I get in and turn the key. "One more time." he says after doing something that I can't see and it still doesn't crank. "Do you know what's wrong with it?" I asked. "Yeah. The wires connecting to the starter need to be replaced. Won't be too hard to do. We can head to town tomorrow and get the wires if you want." he says. "Yeah." I say.

We head back towards the house and Kari meets us at the door. "Dinner's almost ready. Get washed up." she says. Jax grabs his bag out of the back of the truck, heading inside behind me, I lead him down the hallway. "Here's your room. It's not much but it's got a bed, dresser and your own tv." I say. "It's fine." he says. "I'll let you get settled. Dinner will be done in a few. Just come out when you're ready." I tell him and he says "Thanks again."

Walking into the kitchen, Kari looks at me. "Where'd you find him? He's hot." she says. "Picked him up at the store." I say and hear him behind me, "I was on sale." We look at him and he has thi sexy smirk on his face. Fucking hell. Sitting down to eat, Kari asks "So, Jax, you got a girlfriend?" I glare at her. Of course she'd be the one to ask that. "Nah. Don't have a girl. Not for a long time now." he says, glancing at me. I feel my face heat up. Shit. "What about you two? Boyfriends?" he asked smirking. "I'm seeing Jacob. He helps out here part time while he's in school but Echo here, she's definitely single." Kari says and I say "I need to make my nightly rounds." I get up from the table and take my plate to the sink and head out the door. "She okay?" he asked. "Yeah. Her last boyfriend was an ass. Treated her like shit and then married her best friend." Kari tells him.

Jax gets up from the table. "Thanks for dinner." he says before following me outside. Standing in the stables, petting my baby, Rayne, I hear someone come in. "Hey." he says softly. "Hey" I say, turning around. "You okay?" he asked. "Yeah. Just needed to check on my baby here." I say. He walks over and lightly pets Rayne's nose. "She's never let anyone other than me touch her." I say slightly surprised. "Must be a good judge of character." he says and we both laugh. Kissing Rayne's nose, I say "Let's head in the house. Got an early morning coming."