Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 35240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
He made her all tongue-tied, and she didn’t seem to have any control. She had never been this way around anyone.
They made their way to the meat and poultry section, and he filled his cart with the same deals.
At home, she had her herbs and spices, and she was happy to work with him, to feed himself for a couple of weeks, if not a few months.
They made their way around the aisles, and when she got to the baking one, she grabbed some chocolate chips, but advised he didn’t need to, as she was making herself a cake. She was not going to eat it all in one go either, she was going to make one, cut it up, and freeze it for when she craved some chocolate cake. This was how she didn’t throw things away. She didn’t have to do the math to make a tiny cake. She could make the giant cake and either share with her neighbors, who were always thankful, or freeze it.
Once they were done, they were heading out into the sunshine, and the moment she looked across the parking lot, she saw a man near her car, and Belle barking. She had left both windows down, and in Higher Ridge, she didn’t have to worry about people hurting Belle, but she didn’t like how close he was to her car. Panic set in, and she pushed her cart across the parking lot and got to her car, only to see it was Mitch, the doctor she had once worked for.
“Doctor Anderson,” she said, as she caught her breath.
“Hi, Tillie. I don’t think your dog likes me too much.”
He was close to the car, not quite touching it, but Belle wouldn’t stop barking. “Yeah, she’s not always a people person.”
At that moment, Jaxson joined them. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“I was ... uh, I was worried because I didn’t know who it was next to my car, and I know Belle is not exactly a people person, and it was just Doctor Anderson.”
“It’s Mitch, Tillie,” he said. “We’re out of the office.”
“I thought a doctor was never off duty,” Jaxson said.
“We’re not, but Tillie doesn’t have to be quite so formal.”
Tillie looked between Jaxson and Mitch, and they did not seem to have any real love between them. She didn’t know exactly what to say to either of them. Instead, she opened the trunk of her car and started to load her groceries inside.
It was then she noticed Jaxson had parked on her other side.
“Well, it was good to see you, Tillie. It would be great to catch up with you sometime,” Mitch said.
“Yes, lovely to see you too, but I better hurry and get this loaded in. Belle’s making such a fuss.”
She didn’t like how Belle acted around Mitch, and she knew her dog’s bark had a tendency to irritate some people, although she found Belle’s bark absolutely adorable. The truth was, she loved everything about her dog. Even when they had to go for long walks in the snow, in fact, she especially loved her then.
Mitch nodded at both of them and walked away.
She was already loading up the car.
“I don’t like that guy,” Jaxson said, doing the same with the back of his truck.
“He’s a good doctor, but he fired me.” She shrugged. She was not going to tell Jaxson that Mitch had a way of making her feel uncomfortable. There were a few times she was sure he was flirting with her, but could never tell. There was always something about him that made her a little uneasy. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but it was always there, lurking, and it did creep her out a lot.
The further away he got, the better she started to feel. “Would you like to follow me home, and I’ll spend the day showing you how to save money?”
Chapter Three
Jaxson drove around the town square, and he spotted Tillie sitting on the park bench. Belle was on her lap, as the dog didn’t seem to like lying on the floor. In her hand was a mug, and there were several pigeons on the ground.
He quickly had to press on his brake, as he’d been paying more attention to Tillie than to the car in front of him. Thankfully, no one was behind him, and he was able to stop in time before he bumped the person in front, not that it made him feel any better, far from it.
There was a space up ahead, and rather than get to his next job, he quickly pulled into it. Directly in front of him was a sandwich shop. Climbing out of his truck, he made his way inside, grabbed two turkey club sandwiches, then made his way across the parking lot.
It was Tuesday, and he’d not gotten the chance to catch a glimpse of her on Monday. They spent Sunday together. He didn’t like the way that doctor was looking at Tillie. Mitch Anderson was a good doctor and a respected member of the community, but Jaxson didn’t like him. Actually, before Sunday, he didn’t really think much of him, and then he got pissed off with the way he was looking at her.