Chapter Text
It had been three months since the divorce papers were signed and the last of Kent’s belongings had been boxed and shipped to whatever town he had run off to with her. Jodi had expected to feel empty. She expected to feel lost. Instead, she felt… calm. Like breathing after being underwater too long.
She was just starting to reclaim the quiet joys of her own life, morning coffee on the porch, the sound of birds instead of shouting, a house that was her own, even if it still echoed with old tension.
She didn’t expect her world to tilt again so soon.
It was a breezy spring afternoon when Sam brought her over.
“Mum, this is Taylor,” he said casually, brushing past her into the kitchen to raid the fridge. “She’s the new farmer I was telling you about.”
Jodi turned from the sink, drying her hands on a dish towel…and stopped cold.
Taylor stood in the doorway, tall and broad-shouldered, her clothes dusty from the fields, a confident grin playing on her lips. A sleeve of tattoos peeked out from under her rolled-up shirt. Her jaw was strong, her eyes sharp, and when she smiled, something inside Jodi fluttered. something that hadn’t moved in years.
“Hi” Taylor greeted, tipping her head slightly, voice low and velvety. “Pleasure to meet you Ms…”
Jodi blinked. “Oh… Jodi, just Jodi” she said before she could think, cheeks pink.
Taylor’s grin deepened. “Well it’s nice to meet you Jodi”
It was love at first sight. Not that Jodi recognized it for what it was. Not yet. All she knew was that she couldn’t stop thinking about those warm brown eyes, or the way Taylor’s voice lingered in her ears.
Taylor kept coming around. Always under the pretense of helping Sam with music or grabbing lunch after a hard morning’s work. But more and more often, her eyes would find Jodi across the room. She’d offer a wink, or a teasing comment that danced just close enough to flirtation to make Jodi’s stomach twist.
“I don’t know how you make a simple lunch taste like a five-star meal,” Taylor would say, leaning a little too close as Jodi cooked.
Jodi would laugh nervously, brushing her hair behind her ear. “It’s nothing, really…”
“Mmm…Must be the company, then.”
Jodi flushed, heart pounding. She told herself she was too old to be blushing like a teenager. She told herself Taylor was just friendly, just playful.
But then there was the way Taylor lingered when their hands brushed. The way her gaze settled just a moment too long on Jodi’s lips. The way her compliments always hovered between sweet and scandalous.
“You ever get tired of doing everything for everyone else?” Taylor asked one afternoon, the two of them alone while Sam had run out for guitar strings. She was leaning against the counter, arms crossed, muscles straining under her flannel shirt.
Jodi hesitated, her back to her. “…More than I like to admit.”
“Then maybe someone should start doing things just for you.”
Jodi didn’t turn around. She couldn’t. Her hands trembled where they gripped the dish towel. She wanted to say something… anything…
Instead, she just nodded.
Taylor didn’t press. She never did. But she kept showing up. Kept smiling. Kept teasing. And Jodi… Jodi kept falling. Quietly. Painfully. Completely.
She watched from the living room window when Taylor fished opposite the house. She listened from the hall when she laughed with Sam. And every night, when she lay in bed, she found herself thinking about the shape of Taylor’s hands, her mischievous smirk, the low rasp of her voice.
Jodi had never been with a woman. She’d never been with anyone like Taylor. It scared her. It thrilled her.
And she wasn’t ready to speak it aloud.
Not yet.
—
Friday evening brought a warm breeze to Pelican Town, and with it, the promise of one of Jodi’s favorite new rituals, girls’ night.
It had started after the divorce. Caroline and Robin showing up with wine and chocolate, declaring it was time for “healing and gossip,” not necessarily in that order. At first, Jodi had felt awkward and fragile, but over the past few months, it had become a lifeline. A space where she could exhale.
Tonight, they gathered on Robin’s porch, legs tucked beneath them on soft cushions, the clink of wine glasses under the soft creaks of crickets.
“So…” Caroline smirked, swirling her glass. “Tell me, Jodi, has anyone caught your eye lately? You’ve got that glow.”
Jodi nearly choked on her drink. “What? No! I mean…well… I don’t know…”
Robin raised an eyebrow. “That sounds like a ‘yes but I’m terrified to admit it’ kind of answer.”
Jodi stared into her glass, cheeks warming. “It’s complicated.”
“Oh honey, after Kent? You’re allowed a little complicated. Spill it.” Caroline said gently
Jodi hesitated. But the wine had made her braver, and her chest ached to let it out.
“It’s someone I… didn’t expect,” she said carefully. “She’s… younger than us”
There was a beat of silence.
Then Robin let out a low whistle. “Ooh… She…Now this is getting interesting.”
Caroline blinked, then smiled. “Is it anyone we know?”
Jodi nodded slowly. “Taylor. The farmer.”
Robin’s jaw dropped. “The tall, tattooed one? With the arms?” She made a crude gesture like flexing a bicep. “Those arms?”
Jodi laughed, covering her face. “Yes! God. I know. I don’t even know what’s happening to me.”
Caroline leaned forward, curious now. “Okay, walk us through it. Are you… attracted to her?”
“I think so,” Jodi whispered. “I mean, yes. She’s….she’s confident. She’s funny. She flirts with me and I just… I don’t know how to handle it. I feel like a schoolgirl around her.”
Robin nudged her playfully. “A schoolgirl with a very obvious crush.”
“I’ve never…” Jodi paused, her voice softer now. “I’ve never been with a woman before. Never even thought about it. But she looks at me like… like she sees me. And it scares the hell out of me.”
Caroline reached over and took her hand. “Jodi, it doesn’t matter if you’ve never been with a woman. What matters is how you feel. And from the sound of it, she makes you feel seen and wanted. After what you’ve been through, don’t you think you deserve that?”
Robin nodded. “And look, she’s bold. But she doesn’t strike me as pushy. If she’s flirting, it’s because she senses something in return”
Jodi took a sip of wine, letting their words settle. “I think about her all the time,” she admitted. “I catch myself staring. Wondering what it would be like to just… touch her. Or kiss her. And then I panic because…what if I ruin everything? What if I’m just confused?”
Caroline smiled softly “Confusion doesn’t usually come with this much longing.”
Robin laughed “And people don’t pine this hard for someone they aren’t falling for.”
Jodi smiled shyly, heart fluttering.
“You think I should… tell her?” she asked, barely above a whisper.
“Not yet,” Caroline said gently. “Wait until you’re sure. But don’t push it away either. Let yourself feel it. Spend time with her.”
Robin raised her glass. “To new beginnings. And hot farmers with excellent arms.”
Jodi laughed, clinking her glass with theirs, the tension in her chest loosening for the first time in weeks.
As the stars stretched across the night sky, Jodi felt something shift inside her—something warm and tentative and brave.
She wasn’t ready to speak the words yet.