Summerfield: Chapter 26

I woke up early the next morning, ready to get my day started. I hummed a little tune as I curled my hair and got dressed. As I climbed out of my car, Josh was just putting his key into his shop’s door. I gave him a huge smile, and he waved back with a shy smile.

I started cleaning up. There was always some detail cleaning to do, especially since the grand opening was coming so soon. I started by kneeling and wiping the baseboards. After I was done, I came to the brick wall between our two businesses. I decided to clean the grooves between each brick. As I did, I noticed another loose brick, so I pulled it carefully side to side until it came loose.

Looking through the hole in the brick wall, I could see that Josh was dusting around some books on the shelf. Unconsciously, I wanted to get a better look. The brick next to it was a little loose, so I went into the kitchen to get a butter knife to pry it open. I stuck the knife underneath the brick and jimmied around it until I could pull the rough red brick out. Laying it on the floor,I started on another. I’m not sure why I kept going. Josh was in his own world, not noticing what I was doing.

I wondered how old this building was and when the bricks were first laid. It must have been a long time ago. The mortar could hardly hold them together anymore. Brick after brick I was slowly tearing this wall apart. I’m not sure when Josh noticed what I was doing, but before long he had a tool of his own, a pocketknife, and was loosening some bricks from his side.

We were silent, not acknowledging each other’s presence, but working towards the same goal. We chiseled in one area and then another. When there were only one or two bricks keeping us from being able to travel between the two buildings, we looked up at each other and smiled. Then once the bricks were free, we continued staring at each other for a moment. Not daring to look away, we kept our gaze locked while slowly setting down our tools.

My heart raced as we continued to gaze into each other’s eyes. I didn’t dare breathe as he walked through the hole between the bricks and over the threshold towards me. I traveled in the same direction, being pulled like a magnet towards him. His serious gaze burned into mine and soon he was so close, I could feel his warm breath on my face. He slowly put one hand behind my head and one on the side of my face gently. He gave me a long, passionate yet sweet kiss, and I melted as I returned it. Then he released me and stepped back, both of us breathing a little harder. With a twinkle in his eye, he smiled and asked, “Should I get a sledgehammer?”