When it's Not Right

Chapter 12

Cory got into town early and headed straight to the hardware store. The baseboards had arrived and the same sales lady that had been helping him for the past year had set them aside for him to pick up. He thanked her, paid for everything and left, then stopped in at Bowler's to pick up Jay's keys so he could get into the apartment. She was in the middle of training a new lady for the floor staff, so he got the keys and left without more than a quick hello. Trench was duly disappointed that it was only Cory coming in with more building supplies and then he just went back to lying down in the living room after getting his usual pats.

        Cory got everything he needed into the apartment, locked the door, clicked on the radio, and opened the fridge to grab a couple bottles of water. There was a note in the fridge with his name on it, sitting on top of a grocery bag that was beside a six-pack of the beer he liked and a bottle of wine that Jay liked. He picked up the folded note carefully and opened it at arm's reach:

I know you'll probably be done before I'm finished at work, and I didn't know if I'd get a chance to talk to you at work, so this is my back-up plan. You have to stay for dinner tonight because Lou and Tony gave me a BBQ as a house warming and I'm making up steaks to celebrate having an apartment I want to live in.

I'm off work at 3:00 pm, so early dinner should give you enough time to get up to the house and feed the dogs.

See you when I get home.

J.

        He smiled at the note, especially that she'd underlined 'home', and then used one finger to hook the edge of the grocery bag and peek inside. There were two steaks, a few potatoes, and some fresh vegetables that would roast up to taste awesome with Jayler cooking.

        He took out the water bottles he'd originally opened the fridge for and swung the door closed. Leaving the note on the counter, he walked over to the balcony door and looked out at the little, propane barbeque that Lou and Tony had given Jay. It was small enough that the two steaks she'd bought would probably cover most of the grill, and it was still almost too big for the tiny balcony it was chained to. He adjusted the couple hours he'd expected to spend in town to stretch out for the day, realized that if he got Jay's baseboards done quick he would have time to pick up the groceries he'd missed yesterday because the store had been closing after he'd finished fuel deliveries.

        The apartment would be cleaned up and his errands would be done around the same time she was finishing work. If he timed it right, he could even pick her up. His phone dinged with the first of today's photos of Conner, so Cory replied with the daily phone call as he turned away from the balcony and went down the hall to the bedroom to get started with getting finished.

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        Jay couldn't help but smile through her day. Training the new team member went great, Barb met her for a coffee break with fudge from the bakery up the street, and dinner was waiting in the fridge to get cooked up as soon as she got home. Cory had sent a quick text that he wasn't going to turn down steak with a photo of her note sitting on the kitchen counter. She'd sent him at least four messages asking for pictures of the finished apartment, but he only replied to the second one that she'd see it when she got there. She typed up a fifth and final message asking for pictures as she pulled on her coat and hat for the walk home, hitting send just before she walked outside.

        She heard the familiar ding of his message notification going off as she dropped her phone into her purse and started to pull on her gloves. Cory was half sitting on the front fender of his jeep just outside the front of the store, completely unaware of how he looked in old jeans, worn boots, and a fall jacket. He smirked at his phone – obviously checking the message that she'd just sent him – and then lifted the grin up to her. Her stomach summersaulted through a full gym routine when he reached over and opened the passenger door of his jeep for her.