Love & Serenity

Chapter 9

Jax had noticed Lillian's finger and the icepack. Mindy had mentioned what had happened, at least, the story Lillian had told her. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to help, it probably had to do with the sole reason of being brought up that way. So far, he'd stayed out of trouble and all of a sudden, she comes into town and she's running into his dog and needing his help even if she didn't ask for it.

He'd been to Parker's store earlier and Parker had mentioned the exact same thing to him about Lillian needing his help. The repairman wasn't in town and everyone knew Jax was the next best thing to their handyman. He literally built his place from the ground up.
The place had been run down when he arrived. He'd purchased the place without seeing it. His assistant usually took care of things like that but since he hadn't wanted a soul to know where he was heading after everything that happened, he had taken care of it by himself and that was the result. He'd had to stay in a hotel while he rebuilt the cabin. Took him three months of hard work, with the repairman and other folks in town pitching in and helping any way they could.
It was the period when he wanted to be all by himself and beat himself up as best as he could, and shut himself from the world. Instead, he'd had to deal with the entire town which he'd hated the first month he had to deal with them, but when he'd come out of his head, he realized it was all happening for a reason.

God had a weird sense of humour.

Although it took him a while to deal with what had happened, he was certain his grieving would have lasted longer without the folks in town. They were sweet, kind and loving in their own way. At first, he thought they were nosy and stepping way out of their line coming over and helping when he hadn't asked for help. So many things they did frustrated him because all he wanted then was to be alone in that period but they weren't letting him and he'd gotten used to it and gone along with it, which in a way, helped him with his grief.

Thinking about it now, he realized that's exactly what they were doing for Lillian. He was certain she hadn't asked anyone for help and they were all just concerned about her. The only reason people moved to a place like this was to take a vacation or to run away from something. His was to run away and Lillian had things haunting her, he'd recognized that look in her eyes. She was also running from something even though everyone says she's on an extended vacation.

Jax arrived at his place and grabbed his toolbox before heading out to Lillian's place. She said she had things to get done before nightfall, and he assumed it was what got her finger that way. So, even though she didn't ask for it, it was what she needed, just like the town had helped him even when he hadn't asked for it.

His place was walking distance to her place, so he made the short walk there, not like his truck would be of any help since it was all trees and more trees. He stepped out of the woods a few minutes later and admired the cabin. He had been to this part of the woods when he went jogging every morning and some nights when he couldn't sleep. He'd always admired the cabin and wanted to get his hands on it and remodel it as he did his, but it wasn't his to remodel.

Just as he was about to climb up the short stairs to the porch, the front door opened and Lillian stepped out with a hammer. She shut the door behind her and jumped when she saw him, her hand flying to her heart.

"Jax, for the love of God." She said.

"I'm sorry if I startled you."

She stared at him.
"It's ok." Her hand dropped to her side. "What are you doing here?"

He lifted his toolbox.
"I'm here to help." He said, "And don't say you don't need it because your finger says otherwise."

She smiled.
"I wasn't going to say that." She said, "I've learned my lesson and I wasn't looking forward to trying again."

She dropped the hammer on the chair.
"This way, please."

Jax followed behind her to where the main switch was.

"That right there is the reason for my swollen finger."

"I'll take care of it," Jax said and got to work while she watched what he did.

"So, how did you know I needed the help?"

"Word travels."

She sighed.
"I'll need to be careful from now on even though I'm grateful that you're here." She said, "You do the repairs around here?"

"That would be Tucker, but he's away."

"Oh." She said as she let him work.

"So, you're here from..."

"New York." She provided.

"Ah, the city where no man sleeps." He said. "Don't you get tired of all the noise and rush?"

"I do, which is why I'm usually always in my apartment."

"You work from home."

"I do." She said and deflected back to him. "What about you, you don't seem like you're from around here."

"I'm not but I absolutely love it here."

Lillian didn't fail to notice how he subtly changed the direction of her question.
"I'm starting to love it as well. It's absolutely beautiful." She said as she looked at her surrounding again, taking it all in.

"So beautiful you can see yourself living here."

She snapped her gaze to his. He understood.
"Absolutely."

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised." He said as he closed his toolbox. "All done."

"Thank you." She said. "How much do I owe you for that?"

"Oh no, it's nothing."

"You have to let me pay you."

"Really Lillian, it's fine."

They walked to the front of the porch.
"Do you, want to come in for a drink?" She said. "It's the least I can do."

He debated his decision in his head.
"Another time?"

"Sure." She said, not exactly sure why she'd offered.

"Ok then, see you around."

"Thank you." She called out as he walked back the same way he came.

Lillian sighed audibly as she mentally checked that last thing off her list. Now, her mind had one less thing to worry about. All that was in her head was her new book and nothing else. She could focus now.

She entered the cabin and restocked the refrigerator with the food items she'd gotten. Now, she didn't have to step out of the cabin and eat at Mindy's which was a relief.

Lillian got started on supper. The day had started out great and ended with her tasks accomplished. She was looking forward to the next day and also not looking forward to it.