Chapter Two

After a brief stop at the office headquarters on Broad St to pick up a large bulging envelope that James had left out for her, Rachel sat happily ensconced in the comfortable leather interior of the back of a sleek town car headed for her new temporary home. As part of her new duties, supervision of foreclosed properties was a major role and when she had asked James’s advice on where to look for suitable accommodations he had suggested; well more like requested that she take up temporary residence in a foreclosed property in New Jersey. 

Apparently there had been security issues since the house had lain empty and the bank was anxious to have someone live onsite whilst maintenance and repairs were carried out to get it back on the market.  The idea suited Rachel perfectly; she could carry out most of her duties from a comfortable home while she looked for permanent accommodations with no time constraints.

Once the sights of lower Manhattan in the early morning sunrise had disappeared in the darkness of the Holland Tunnel, she turned her attention to the contents of the envelope. Her fingers first found a large bunch of keys, presumably belonging to the property she was going to be occupying. James had mentioned it was a large, high end residence but judging by the amount of keys jingling on the ring it must be enormous. Luckily somebody had been diligent enough to label each key with its rightful lock so that at least should make the task of gaining entry somewhat easier.  

When the car emerged on the Jersey side of the tunnel filling the car with natural light, she pulled several sheets of paper out that were embossed with the bank’s recognisable letterhead. The first one was a short handwritten note from James apologising for being unable to meet her in person due to back to back meetings and promising to call her later. She shook her head slightly as she read it, she most certainly hadn’t expected to see him at the airport – being CEO of such a prestigious banking institution wouldn’t allow time for greeting new employees. Reflecting for a moment she considered what that meant for her, she was a new employee yet she knew that strings had been pulled to land her this job. She hoped James didn’t think he had to babysit her, even in a strange part of the country she was fully confident in her capabilities to handle the job. Flicking through the rest of the papers she found more contracts awaiting her signature along with more documents. She barely noticed the time pass as just under an hour later the car slowed to turn down a small road lined with tall trees decked out in vibrant green foliage. At the bottom of the road she could just glimpse the glittering expanse of a river before the car turned right and stopped before an impressive set of wrought iron gates.

“Excuse me Ms. Braden, do you happen to have the code for the gates?” The driver turned around and politely enquired snapping her attention away from craning her neck to see more of the river.

“Oh…….erm………I should have……..somewhere…..” Muttering under her breath, she frantically pulled the papers from the envelope once more. She was sure she had seen a thin binder somewhere relating to information about the property. A small remote gate opener that she previously had failed to notice fell from the envelope onto the seat beside her as she shook the papers out hastily.

“Ah, here we are!” She waved it triumphantly at the driver who merely smiled politely and redirected his attention to the still closed gates. Hitting a random button on the small object she smiled in satisfaction as one of the gates jolted and began to swing inwards. Success! While she waited for the car to move again she once more turned left to gaze down at the river. Some of her favourite childhood memories had been fishing with her father and living in suburbia for so long had nearly erased them from her memory. Just as she was pondering the possibility of perhaps getting some fishing lessons the driver somewhat irritably cleared his throat.

“Ah……Ms?”

Facing forward to see what the issue was now, her cheeks burned in embarrassment as she clearly saw the problem. The gate that had first begun to move was now stuck mid manoeuvre providing a gap barely big enough for a person to slide through never mind a car. More jabs on the various buttons failed to make them budge and so it was that five minutes later she found herself standing on the driveway with her luggage stacked beside her watching the car leave.  Her driver apparently had forgotten to bring his sense of humour to work this morning and had unceremoniously dumped her claiming he had another client to pick up. Charming.

Sighing in frustration she threw her hands up in disgust at the parting fumes of the car and turned to take her first proper look at her new home. The bright sun glinted sharply off the grey slated roof of one of the most beautiful houses she’d ever seen. A magnificent pale sandstone porch served as the grand entrance to the front of the stone worked house, oval windows and beamed arches giving the huge structure character and old world timelessness. It looked like a modern day fairy tale and it must have cost a solid fortune to build. Large wings flanked either side of the main building, turreted windows and painted shutters finishing the understated look. At a glance it took her breath away but judging by the state of the gates that she was currently trapped by, it was anyone’s guess what condition the house was actually in.

Try as she might, the weight of her slender frame did nothing to persuade the gates to co-operate and she resignedly started to tug her cases through the narrow gap. All but one fit through, the largest rigid case a simple matter of physics. There was no way it was sliding through and the dead weight in it meant lifting it over was out of the question. Gritting her teeth in frustration she looked around her for any means to solving the problem. It wasn’t as if she could just leave it there! The sparsely planted landscape that swept from the front of the house to the perimeter either side of the gates yielded nothing useful looking. Cursing the idiot driver again for not helping her she attempted one final futile tug through the gap. Beads of perspiration were starting to gather at her temples with her temper beginning to gain steam also. This was a great start to her new life, just freakin’ great!

“Hey, need a hand there?”

A voice from the road jerked her face back up and she found herself staring at a muscular and tanned man jogging slowly up to the gates. Decked out in running shorts, trainers and sweaty t-shirt with a baseball cap and dark sunglasses shading his face, the stranger smiled  across the gate at her as he rested his hands on the fronts of his thighs, his breath slightly puffed from his run.

“Oh………hi!” Rachel found herself somewhat paralysed noting the definitions of the taut muscles running the length of his arms and the brilliant white smile he had just flashed at her. 

“The um………gate…”She pointed somewhat stupidly she felt to the offending obstacle that stood between them and attempted a friendly smile back.

“They’ve probably rusted, haven’t seen anyone here in a while.” Still smiling he shoved his weight against the gate until it begrudgingly squeaked forward a few more inches. “You moving in?” he asked as he handed her case through the now wide enough gap.

Gratefully accepting it from him, she nodded. “Yes……..well for a while anyway.”

“Well then………welcome to the neighbourhood!” With that he gave her a small wave and turned to jog away with one final glance over his shoulder. “Better get those gates looked at!”

Staring after him, her mouth gaped slightly as she took in his perfect rear view.

“I will……..thanks….”

It was a long time since the sight of a man out jogging had made her knees buckle but she couldn’t help herself – the man was astonishingly attractive.

And apparently was her new neighbour………