jace had spent the better part of the morning covered in flour, helping his mom out at the bakery before he had to be over at the rosas’ house. a nice older woman owned the house, she and her husband had come into town and been so kind to jace and his mom that when her husband passed away jace helped her around the house. the boy had promised he would head over there to do some small repairs and take measurements for the deck she had been asking for. the dark haired boy knew she always left the back gate open for him, so he moved quickly into the back carrying his tool box thinking of everything that needed to be done. she was very specific and he was meticulous when he worked, every small detail had to be perfect in order for him to move on to the next thing.
when jace moved into the backyard he could have sworn that he saw someone in the lounge chair, he stopped in his tracks. “mrs. rosas?“he called out afraid to disturb her, but he hadn’t seen her car out front. he had even called her earlier in the morning and she had mentioned she would be in town today. “is that you?” he waited patiently, almost afraid of who was going to pop up from the chair. “i can come back later if you want me too…”
maye was deep into her book when a voice called out from her gate, startling her from her reading. she fumbled with her book, effectively losing her page as she sputtered “oh god.” she couldn’t imagine who would have the nerve to enter someone else’s yard unannounced, and she shot up out of her chair to find the culprit. her racing heart stuttered when she was met with a pair of warm brown eyes. “who are you?” she inquired incredulously, not so much angry as curious and shocked. a stranger was standing before her in her grandmothers yard, and she didn’t know whether or not she would need a bat for this confrontation, or just simple words. “come back later? why are you in my granny’s yard right now?” she questioned, her hands finding their way to her hips.
