absolutely ready for a break.
Jay pointed out in front of us, and I had to squint for a moment to see what he was pointing at. A break in the trees. I nodded again, and he gunned the motor, whooping as we lurched forward.
The sunlight exploded around us as we broke the tree line, the bumpy ground and thick underbrush giving way to grass that had been mowed down recently, and blue skies as far as the eye could see. It was breathtaking, the difference a couple of feet could make.
Jay let the UTV skid to a halt in the middle of the grass, killing the motor. His hand brushed against my thigh again for a moment, using it as leverage to lift himself up and out of the seat with a dramatic groan. With a whistle, Jay moved to the bed of the UTV and grabbed the big black duffel bag, slinging it over his shoulder.
“Come on, girl. Let’s stretch our legs.”
It seemed like every time we talked, Jay was telling me to ‘come on’. Like he was always trying to boss me around, or coerce me into something. He was lucky he was so cute, that was for damn sure. I unhooked my seat belt and slipped out of the UTV, giving a groan of my own as I laced my fingers over my head and stretched backwards, my spine popping. It was amazing how something so simple could feel so good.
“What do you have planned, anyway? Acting like some kind of evil mastermind or something.” I was teasing, mostly. But my curiosity was starting to get the better of me. Was Jay’s threat back in the kitchen an empty one?
Jay laughed, dropping the bag into the grass. He knelt down next to it, tugging the zipper open in one long pull. I held my breath as he tossed back the flap and I saw…a blanket? Sure enough, it was a fuzzy gray blanket that was kept in the linen closet for when people slept over. It was a big, old blanket that had worn thin in places, but it was comfortable.
He laid it out over the grass, smoothing out the edges. Thankfully, the wind wasn’t blowing too hard and the blanket was able to sit against the ground without the edges being tugged up by the breeze. “Come on, sit. Take a load off.” Jay plopped down onto the blanket, patting the spot next to him.
Another stretch, this one forward so that I could wrap my arms around my knees and feel my lower back lengthen before I moved to the blanket and dropped down next to Jay, sitting cross-legged. I turned my face up to the sky, letting my eyes fall closed as my skin was warmed by the sun. I felt at peace, at ease. Life was good.
“You ever make plans?”
I cracked an eye open as Jay spoke. He was toying with one of the frayed edges of the blanket, rolling it between his fingers.
“Like a ten-year plan. I heard on TV somewhere that if you make a ten-year plan, you’re like seventy percent more likely to achieve your goals than somebody who didn’t write any of it down. It’s supposed to help you visualize it or something.”
Slowly, his gaze rolled up from the blanket across my knees and up along the line of my body with idle lingering, before his eyes met mine. “So do you got a ten-year plan or something?”
I was distracted, briefly, by the idea that Jay had gotten a couple of pieces of information mixed up. I’d heard that writing down goals could help with achieving them, but I hadn’t heard anything about a ten-year plan. Nor had I ever thought that far in advance.
I was the type of person to worry about every little thing. If I thought further ahead than a couple of weeks, I would give myself a panic attack. There were too many variables, too many things that could go wrong. It scared me to think about all the ways I could screw up my life. I gave a little shake of my head. No, I didn’t have a ten-year plan.
“I do.” This felt like it had all been a setup. Jay trying to find a way to work his own plans into the conversation and unsure how to. “I’m going to save up, buy my own farm. Work with poultry
Jay pointed out in front of us, and I had to squint for a moment to see what he was pointing at. A break in the trees. I nodded again, and he gunned the motor, whooping as we lurched forward.
The sunlight exploded around us as we broke the tree line, the bumpy ground and thick underbrush giving way to grass that had been mowed down recently, and blue skies as far as the eye could see. It was breathtaking, the difference a couple of feet could make.
Jay let the UTV skid to a halt in the middle of the grass, killing the motor. His hand brushed against my thigh again for a moment, using it as leverage to lift himself up and out of the seat with a dramatic groan. With a whistle, Jay moved to the bed of the UTV and grabbed the big black duffel bag, slinging it over his shoulder.
“Come on, girl. Let’s stretch our legs.”
It seemed like every time we talked, Jay was telling me to ‘come on’. Like he was always trying to boss me around, or coerce me into something. He was lucky he was so cute, that was for damn sure. I unhooked my seat belt and slipped out of the UTV, giving a groan of my own as I laced my fingers over my head and stretched backwards, my spine popping. It was amazing how something so simple could feel so good.
“What do you have planned, anyway? Acting like some kind of evil mastermind or something.” I was teasing, mostly. But my curiosity was starting to get the better of me. Was Jay’s threat back in the kitchen an empty one?
Jay laughed, dropping the bag into the grass. He knelt down next to it, tugging the zipper open in one long pull. I held my breath as he tossed back the flap and I saw…a blanket? Sure enough, it was a fuzzy gray blanket that was kept in the linen closet for when people slept over. It was a big, old blanket that had worn thin in places, but it was comfortable.
He laid it out over the grass, smoothing out the edges. Thankfully, the wind wasn’t blowing too hard and the blanket was able to sit against the ground without the edges being tugged up by the breeze. “Come on, sit. Take a load off.” Jay plopped down onto the blanket, patting the spot next to him.
Another stretch, this one forward so that I could wrap my arms around my knees and feel my lower back lengthen before I moved to the blanket and dropped down next to Jay, sitting cross-legged. I turned my face up to the sky, letting my eyes fall closed as my skin was warmed by the sun. I felt at peace, at ease. Life was good.
“You ever make plans?”
I cracked an eye open as Jay spoke. He was toying with one of the frayed edges of the blanket, rolling it between his fingers.
“Like a ten-year plan. I heard on TV somewhere that if you make a ten-year plan, you’re like seventy percent more likely to achieve your goals than somebody who didn’t write any of it down. It’s supposed to help you visualize it or something.”
Slowly, his gaze rolled up from the blanket across my knees and up along the line of my body with idle lingering, before his eyes met mine. “So do you got a ten-year plan or something?”
I was distracted, briefly, by the idea that Jay had gotten a couple of pieces of information mixed up. I’d heard that writing down goals could help with achieving them, but I hadn’t heard anything about a ten-year plan. Nor had I ever thought that far in advance.
I was the type of person to worry about every little thing. If I thought further ahead than a couple of weeks, I would give myself a panic attack. There were too many variables, too many things that could go wrong. It scared me to think about all the ways I could screw up my life. I gave a little shake of my head. No, I didn’t have a ten-year plan.
“I do.” This felt like it had all been a setup. Jay trying to find a way to work his own plans into the conversation and unsure how to. “I’m going to save up, buy my own farm. Work with poultry
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