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 for too long.
She was just starting to reclaim the 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 Kent left in his wake.
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 casually said, 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 lopsided grin on her lips. A sleeve of tattoos peeked out from under her rolled-up shirt. She was the most masculine woman Jodi had even seen. 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. “Pleasure to meet you Ms…”
Jodi blinked. “Oh… Jodi… please just Jodi. It’s very nice to meet you Taylor.” she said before she could think, cheeks pink.
Taylor’s grin deepened. “Well it’s nice to meet you too Jodi.”
-
Taylor kept coming around the house. 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 and 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, butterflies swarming her stomach, brushing her hair behind her ear. “It’s nothing, really…”
“Mmm…Must be the company, then.”
Jodi flushed a gentle red and felt her heart pounding. She told herself she was too old to be blushing like a teenager. She told herself Taylor was just friendly, just playful… she surely wouldn’t be interested in someone like her. 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.
Maybe there is something there…
“You ever get tired of doing everything for everyone else?” Taylor asked one afternoon, the two of them left alone while Sam had run out for emergency guitar strings quickly. She was leaning against the counter, arms crossed, muscles straining under her flannel shirt that Jodi could barely keep her eyes off of.
Jodi hesitated, turning 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 her. 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. But this gorgeous woman stoked a fire in her belly she had not felt in a very long time.
But she wasn’t ready to speak it aloud.
-
Friday evening brought a warm breeze to Pelican Town, and with it, the promise of one of Jodi’s favourite new rituals - girls’ night.
It had started after the divorce. Caroline and Robin showing up with wine and boxes of chocolates, 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 and just be herself with her best friends.
Tonight, they gathered on Robin’s porch, legs tucked beneath them on the various 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 and I bet there’s someone cute behind it.”
Jodi nearly choked on her drink. “What? No!… I mean…well… I don’t really know…”
Robin raised an eyebrow. “That sounds like a ‘yes but I’m terrified to admit it’ kind of answer babe.”
Jodi stared into her glass, she could feel her cheeks warming. “It’s… complicated.”
“Oh honey, after Kent? You’re allowed a little complicated. Come on, spill it.” Caroline enthusiastically begged.
Jodi hesitated, but the wine had made her feel braver, and her chest ached to let it out to someone.
“It’s someone I… didn’t expect,” she said carefully. “She’s… younger than us”
There was a beat of silence as Caroline and Robin looked at each other and then slid back to Jodi.
Robin let out a short whistle. “Ooh… She AND younger…Now this is getting interesting.”
Caroline blinked, then smiled. “Is it anyone we know?”
Jodi nodded slowly. “Umm… it’s Taylor. The new 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, even more curious now. “Ok, walk us through it. Are you… attracted to her? Has she shown any interest?”
“I think so,” Jodi whispered. “I mean, yes. She’s….she’s confident. She’s funny. She’s so kind and 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 big fat crush.”
“I’ve never…” Jodi paused, her voice softer and bit more uncertain now. “I’ve never been with a woman before… Never even thought about it and certainly never found another this attractive. But she looks at me like… like she sees me… she sees Jodi… 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 knowingly “Confusion doesn’t usually come with this much longing babe.”
Robin laughed “And people don’t pine this hard for someone they aren’t falling for.”
Jodi smiled shyly, heart fluttering like it always does when she thinks of Taylor. “You think I should… tell her?” she asked, barely above a whisper.
“Not yet,” Caroline patted her knee gently. “Wait until you’re sure. But don’t push it away either. Let yourself feel it, spend time with her and have fun.”
Robin raised her glass. “To new beginnings! And hot farmers with fucking 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, it felt cautious but also brave.
She wasn’t ready to speak the words yet, but she’d very much like to one day… sooner rather than later.