Coffee With You: Small Town Romance

Chapter Six

**Not edited or proofread!**

Kaecee

After the fire early that morning, I was exhausted and dead on my feet. Farrah and I had sat up at the house waiting on Grayson to come to us with some kind of news about the livestock. We weren't stupid; we knew some cattle had been trapped. We could hear them bellowing for help, for crying out loud.

We'd ended up falling asleep while waiting. When Grayson finally came in, the sun was high in the sky, and he looked exhausted.

"We lost seven," he quietly told us. "Nothing we could do for 'em."

I nodded, keeping my mouth shut. Farrah sighed softly and stood from the couch. "Come on. You could use a shower."

I quietly left the house, giving them their time to themselves. Drew was waiting outside the barn for me. He tipped his hat to me in greeting.

"Figured you hadn't showered yet," he commented. He drew me into his arms when I reached him, and I sagged against his tall frame, thankful for his support. "Come on. Let's get you upstairs. You mind if I crash here?"

I shook my head. "So long as you bathe first," I murmured.

He pressed a kiss to my temple. "Let me get some clothes out of my truck."

Yawning, I nodded. He moved away from me quickly and headed for his truck. He came out of it with a duffel bag and Blue. I laughed softly. "I don't how Bax is going to do with with Blue."

He shrugged. "I'm sure they'll learn how to get along." He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Come on. Let's get upstairs so we can shower and crash."

I looked up at him as we ascended the staircase. "Thank you for coming to help."

He shook his head. "Grayson is a good friend of mine and one the best men I know besides his brother-in-law. Even if I wasn't a fire fighter, I would have dragged my behind out of bed to come help, and he knows that." He looked down at me. "And I want you to remember that, too, Kaecee. No matter what happens, if you need someone, I'll be here, you hear me?"

I swallowed thickly, lost for words because his words meant more to me than he would ever know.

~*~*~

"I want you to go somewhere with me."

I jerked my head up from the book I was reading. We'd been sitting in silence for a while now, nothing but the sound of the TV filling the otherwise quiet room. Bax and Blue were surprisingly curled up together at the foot of the bed when we woke up, and they were still lying there. Drew and I had fallen into a companionable sort of silence.

"Where?"

He grinned at me. "It's Saturday. The fresh food market should be open, and I want to take you there. Lots of fresh veggies and fruits. Lots of people sell cakes, candles, soaps—it's sort of like a huge flea market."

I frowned in confusion. "What in the world if a flea market, Drew?"

He laughed softly and stood up after he was done tugging on his boots. "I'll have to show you a big one." He held his hand out to me. "What do you say? Another date?"

Shrugging, I placed my hand in his and stood. "Sure. Why not?"

He pressed a tender kiss to my lips before snapping his fingers at Blue. The dog groaned and stood up, stretching before following his owner. I laughed. "He seems pretty vocal about what you order him to do."

Drew rubbed the big dog's head. "He's a complainer. I'll be down warming the truck up."

I nodded. It was a cool day, Autumn officially settling in here, and I was excited. I heard everything was stunning here when it all began to change colors, and I was very impatient to experience it all.

After I tugged on some warm leggings, a knitted sweater and a pair of soft boots, I headed outside to Drew's truck. I hopped inside, and he passed me a to-go mug of coffee. "You can thank Farrah when we get back," he told me at my questioning look.

I grinned. "She's a good friend."

He smiled. "Yeah, sweetheart, she is. Hard not to like you, though."

My cheeks flushed red at his sweet words.

~*~*~

"This place is incredible," I breathed when we stepped inside the old building.

Drew gently squeezed my hand. "Figured you'd like it. Come on."

Like it? I loved this. It felt like most of the community was there. Whoever wasn't selling was buying. And as I watched, I noticed some of the townspeople took over for the sellers so the sellers had a moment to go look around as well.

This dynamic of this place was almost too good to be true.

And the thought of possibly having to leave it one day made my chest ache. I never wanted to leave here. I finally felt like I belonged.

"Hey, whatever you're thinking about, push it aside," Drew told me. I looked up at him only to find his pretty eyes already locked on my face. "Today is about having fun and forgetting about the horror you witnessed last night."

Swallowing thickly, I nodded and tightened my hand around his.

I wouldn't be leaving his place without kicking and screaming first.