Looking for Wildflowers

Chapter 3

“What do you spend all day writing about, anyway?” Riley asked, trying to peek over her shoulder and read her story.

“None of your business.” she snapped as she turned the screen away.

“Can I read it when it’s finished?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I said so.” Taylor didn’t really have a reason, she just hated people reading her work. It made her feel exposed. Vulnerable.

“Can you tell me what it’s about?” Riley kept pushing, not giving up easily.

“It’s just a dumb romance novel that I probably won’t even finish.” Taylor announced, defeated.

“Ooh, I love a good romance novel.” Riley smiled.

“Well, too bad.” Taylor slowly shut her laptop, making sure to not look anywhere near Riley. “What do you do in your free time? Annoy people?” she joked, but she saw a flash of hurt in his eyes and regretted the last bit immediately.

“Well, I don’t really usually have a lot of free time.” he admitted. “I’m typically working sun up to sun down.”

“So you just work and sleep? That’s no fun.” Taylor pouted.

“I don’t have a reason to do anything else. I’m usually by myself, and why would I spend time painting pictures when things need to get done?” he shrugged. Taylor felt bad about even bringing the conversation up and now just wanted to lay down in bed.

“Well, how about tomorrow, you switch it up?” Taylor offered. “For lunch, we can have a picnic.” she tossed the idea out, her heart racing.

“A picnic?” Riley just looked at her.

“Sure. Out in the field. Take some time to relax a bit between jobs and we can get to know each other better.” She shrugged. “We don’t have to, just thought I’d offer.” Taylor stood up. “I’m going to get ready for bed. I’m sorry if I upset you any...” She sighed and headed to her room.

“Wait,” Riley called, quickly standing up. “I’d love to go on a picnic with you tomorrow.”

Taylor stopped with her hand on the door handle. “Okay, great.” she said, trying to hide her excitement.

“And, you didn’t upset me any. I’m used to it.” he chuckled.

“Well, you shouldn’t be. I’m sorry.” she apologized once more before disappearing into the bedroom, leaving Riley standing alone in the living room.

The house was dark since the sun was starting to set and another storm had taken over. Riley wondered how much longer these storms would last and if Taylor had a good storm shelter. He walked up to the door and reached up to knock, meaning to ask about the storm shelter. If she didn’t have one, he’d have to build one. Just in case. Three quick knocks and the door was opened.

“Yes?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Oh, uh, I was just going to ask if you had a storm shelter.” Riley was caught off guard by her in a big t-shirt and shorts. It looked like she was pantless. “Cause, you know, these storms don’t look like they’re going away anytime soon, and in case a real bad one comes, you need a place to go.” he couldn’t take his eyes off of her but tried to make sure it wasn’t obvious. It was. And it caused Taylor to shuffle her feet and blush a bit.

“There’s an old one at the side of the house. The wood is almost rotten and I don’t know what’s in there. I haven’t checked.” she kept her eyes on the floor as she gripped her hair brush. “If that’s all, I’ll just be going to bed.” she gave a light chuckle, not really wanting the conversation to end. It’s been so long since she’s had someone to talk to, and she really liked Riley. He was nice and they got along great.

She’d talk to him all night if she could.

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s it.” Riley said, clearly not wanting the conversation to end either. He turned to go to the couch as she started to close the door, biting her nails. She had a queen-sized bed and hated making him sleep on that old dusty couch.

“Hey, Riley.” she opened the door a bit more and poked her head out, trying to act casual, but her face was red and she couldn’t stand still.

“Yeah?”

“I, uh. I have a rather large bed...” she started, unsure of how to bring up the question. “And that old couch isn’t worth shit...” he turned to look at her, knowing what she was indicating but waiting for the official question. “Do you, uh, this is stupid, but do you, do you want half of the bed?” she rolled her eyes and acted like she didn’t really care. "At least, until we get the other room built?"

Riley felt blood rush to his face but he just smiled a bit. “Are you sure?”

“If I wasn’t sure, I wouldn’t have asked.”

“Sure, I’ll join you.” he laughed a little as he gathered his pillow and headed into the bedroom with her, shutting the door behind him.

“Just so we’re clear, we’re sharing this bed as friends.” Taylor looked up at him as she drew the covers back.

“It’s clear.” Riley nodded his head as he made his way under the blankets and started adjusting the pillows.

They lay facing the opposite direction of each other, both too afraid to move and disturb the other, and blushing that they were sharing the same bed. Taylor couldn’t believe she actually asked someone she met yesterday if he wanted to sleep next to her. Riley couldn’t believe he actually agreed.

There was a looming question over both of them: was the picnic tomorrow a date? They both liked each other, but the other was oblivious to it. It wasn’t officially stated it was a date, but could it be? Taylor was dying to ask but wanted Riley to make the first move.

Riley lay there gripping his pillow, trying to work up the courage to ask what they were both thinking.

“Taylor,” Riley started, his voice tight and quiet.

“Yeah?” She responded normally.

“About tomorrow...”

Taylor felt her heart rate quicken at the mention of it but she managed to lay still and hide her anxiety about it.

“Is it... Like do you want... Are we having lunch as friends?” he managed to get that part out and there was silence for a few moments. “Or is it something more?”

Taylor felt like she might die. She hadn’t been crushing on a guy this hard since high school and that ended tragically. But she couldn’t help it, she loved the thought of them being together.

“I mean, what do you want?” She forced herself to ask, trying to hide any sound of hope in her voice. A heavy silence fell over both of them, their hearts racing.

“I mean, if you want something more, I’m down. But I’m cool staying just friends if that’s what you’d prefer.” Taylor could hear the dread as the last few words left his mouth.

“No. No, we can try something more. If you want to, of course.” she said, almost shaking.

“Yeah, I want to.”

They both could relax a little, now that they knew what tomorrow actually was. But now they were both anxious and worked up about it happening.

Eventually, they both fell asleep, Taylor’s long hair tickling Riley’s face and his toes poking her legs. It wasn’t a good sleep, but it was sleep. Neither one mentioned the disturbances when they both woke up. Secretly, Taylor enjoyed it. For once, she didn’t feel completely alone.