June//

The kids were out of school for the summer. Jessica decided to take their first few weeks of summer off of work to spend time with them.

Olivia was sitting in the living room on her phone rapidly texting someone. When Jessica came up behind her she quickly shut off her phone and smiled innocently.

"Oh, hey." She turns her body to Jessica. Jessica leans on the couch and smiles.

"Who was that?" Jessica chuckles

"Just a group chat."

"Okay. Well what did you want to do today? Since Sean's at work it's just you and I."

"Uh, I don't know."

"Why don't we go to White House Fruit Farms and get some corn for dinner?"

"Could I get apple cider and a donut?"

"Sure!"
**

Jessica and Olivia spent the day together running around town. Jessica was happy to have taken off a few weeks of work to spend time with the kids. Work had been very busy, she was rarely home. She needed the time off.

Once they got to the farm they walked around outside. The farm was a big piece of land with shops, stands, and outdoor activities. Jessica and Olivia made their way over to the fruit and vegetable stand.

"Hey, why don't you go find the best looking apples for me over there?" Jessica motions to the other stand and Olivia goes to find apples.

"Mr. Shepard, can you help me for a second?" The worker at the stand next to Jessica says. He was working the cash register.

Jessica doesn't pay attention to the worker until a tall man walks up beside her. He took the place of the cashier.

"Is the cash register acting up again?" The tall man says.

Immediately Jessica recognized the voice of that man. His voice was something Jessica couldn't remove from her head. Jessica got nervous and slowly moved away, hoping he wouldn't notice her. But he did.

As Jessica slowly moved away from him she bumped into a tray that was hanging off the side of the stand. The heads of lettuce all fell onto the ground catching the attention of everyone around Jessica. Her face turned beat red. Before the tall man could look at her face she kneeled down and put her head down, picking up her mess.

He looks down at the ground and immediately recognizes Jessica. He kneels down next to her and helps.

Jessica looks up at him and he stared into her eyes.

"Look who it is." He chuckles

"Hmm?" She says, trying to act like as if she didn't know who he was.

"You're the girl I saved from the horrible tinder date. Jenna?"

"Jessica." She corrects him

"Sam. Sam Shepard." He stands up after picking up the last head of lettuce. Then he holds out his hand to help Jessica up.

"Thank you. Sorry for the mess."

"Were you trying to run away from me?"

"What? No!"

"... or act as if you didn't remember me?"

"No! Gosh I'm sorry. I just didn't-" Jessica stopped herself then sighed

"Ah-ha! I caught ya!" He chuckles, patting the side of her shoulder.

"I guess running into someone that saved me from a tinder date is a bit embarrassing." Jessica says quietly.

"Don't be embarrassed. I was on one too."

"So do you work here?"

"Well kinda"

"Kinda?"

"I own White House." He says quietly

"Really?" Jessica exclaims

"Ha, Yeah."

"I forgot White House was originally Shepard Farms! That's your last name, correct?"

Sam nods "I changed the farms name, hoping people wouldn't make the connection."

"Oh, my bad!"

"It's good."

Olivia walks up to Jessica and puts the apples in the basket. She looks at Sam and smiles. "Mr. Shepard! Hey, it's me, Olivia Huston." She exclaims

Jessica widens her eyes, shocked that Olivia knew him.

"Oh hey, what's up Olivia?" He says

"Nothing! Gosh Sean will be so happy to know that I saw you."

"Haha, Sean!" He says

"You know each other?" Jessica says looking at Olivia.

"Yeah! When Sean and I go to grandmas he's always dropping off stuff from the farm for her. Remember, Grandma and grandpa live right next to the farm?" Olivia points across the way and Jessica nods.

"Yes I remember!"

"This is my mom, Mr. Shepard."

Sam smiles at Jessica then back at Olivia.

Jessica gives him a look and Sam nods. Jessica was hoping sam wouldn't bring up how they met.

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you." He says to Jessica

"And you too." She giggles shaking his hand.

"It was nice seeing you, Mr. Shepard.

...Mom, I'm going to go run in and get in line for donuts. Is that okay?"

"Sure honey, I'll meet you in there."

"Bye!" She says to sam, running off.

..

"Haha, thanks." Jessica says

"For what?"

"Pretending you just met me." She laughs

"It's okay. I could kinda see by your look you didn't want her knowing how we met."

"Well, it was nice seeing you. Sorry about the spill!"

"It's okay... but hey!"

"Yeah?"

"Maybe we could trade numbers?"

"Really? Okay." Jessica smiles

After they exchange numbers Jessica says goodbye and walks off to find Olivia. Jessica had gotten a strange feeling in her stomach after talking to him. It was a good strange feeling.

**

On the way home Olivia took a sip of her cider then turned to Jessica.

"Mr. Shepard is cute, isn't he?" She smirks

"Olivia!" Jessica snaps

"What, oh my god!"

"He's much older then you."

"So is Justin Bieber."

Jessica rolls her eyes then smiles. "He's cute."

"You should have talked with him more."

"Well you introduced use then that was it." Jessica lies again to Olivia. As bad as she felt she didn't really want Olivia knowing how they met, since it was embarrassing for her.

"... so he's friends with Grandma and grandpa?"

"Mhm. He's always over helping grandpa out."

"What a small world." Jessica says under her breath.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing!" Jessica says quickly

**

Later that evening once Sean got home from work Jessica prepared dinner. The three of them sat outside and ate their chicken and corn.

In mid conversation Olivia interrupts Sean.

"Guess who Mom and I saw today!" Olivia exclaims

"Who?"

"Mr. Shepard!"

"Ah, Really? I love that guy."

"Yeah! He met Mom."

"What'd you think about him?" Sean says

"Not much to think since we only introduced each other."

"Well that's good. That would be so weird if you were interested in him or something. He's nice and all but, I don't know..." Sean says

"I get what you're saying. He's too earthy crunchy for mom." Olivia adds

Jessica sits in her chair quietly, not saying a word.
**
A few weeks later//

Jessica was back at work. The kids went out to Stillwater for a week to see their grandparents so it was just Jessica. She decided to get out for the night and go to the bar up the street from her office for a drink.

She walked into the bar. The game was playing on the tvs, drinks were being prepared, people were being served, and others sat up at the bar, alone, with a drink. Jessica found her own stool at the bar and enjoyed a beer. Jessica pulled out her phone, and right as she did she got a call from a phone number that she had not recognize. She answered anyways.

"Hello?" Jessica says happily

"Hey, Jessica. It's me, Sam Shepard."

"Sam, hi!"

"How are you?"

"I'm good, and you?"

"Great. I've been thinking, and I'd really like to ask you out on a date."

Jessica was happier then ever that Sam asked her. She was so excited she forgot to respond.

"I mean you don't have to... I'd understand if you didn't want to."

"No, id love to"

"Really? Awesome."

"Are you busy tonight?" Jessica says

"Actually, no. I'm bored out of my mind. And you?." He chuckles

"Same here, bored out of my mind."

"Why don't I pick you up and we can go out."

"I'm actually not home right now. Would you like to meet up?"

"Sure! How about we meet at The Boot, seven?"

"I like that! Okay, see you then."

Once the phone call ended Jessica couldn't stop smiling. She payed the bar tender leaving her drink untouched. She ran to her car and fixed herself so she looked a bit more presentable.

She drove up to the restaurant and Sam waited outside the restaurant door with a few sunflowers in his hands.

"Hey, Jessica!" Sam walks up to Jessica and greets her. He gives her a hug then hands her the flowers.

"Sunflowers, how beautiful. Thank you!" Jessica giggles

"No problem. You look great." He smiles

"Aww, thanks!"

"Let's go get a table."

**

After they are seated and decide what they want Jessica and Sam went into a deep conversation. Telling one another about themselves and all in all having a good time. Sam and Jessica talked about their carriers and then family.

"You're kids are amazing. Sometimes when I go over to Dorthy and Al's your kids are there hanging out. They are so polite and have great personalities." Sam says

"Well thank you, I appreciate that. They are pretty great. How long have you known my parents for?"

"A couple years now."

"Huh, it's crazy that you've known my family way before that crazy date!"

"The world is so small. Sometimes your son will help with your dads old Chevy."

"That's great... Sean liked working on an old corvette that my ex had." After Jessica said 'ex' she became embarrassed. She hated the fact that she even mentioned him.

"If you don't mind me asking, are you divorced?"

"I am." She says softly

"I'm sorry...

"It's okay, really. I didn't mean to bring him up."

"If it makes you feel any better I'm divorced too."

"Divorce isn't fun. But I guess it gives you an opportunity to start over."

"Now here we are, starting over."

"That's right." Jessica smiles

///
After talking for a while the night was coming to an end.

"Hopefully we can get together again. I really liked getting to know you. You're quite an amazing person." Sam says walking Jessica to her car.

"I hope we can too. It's insane how we met on tinder dates and now we are on a date of our own."

"It blows my mind. Next time I'll take you somewhere more formal. I'll pick you up and we can go somewhere nicer. I promise."

"Thank you for dinner." Jessica gets on her tippy toes and kisses Sam's cheek. He immediately blushes and Jessica giggles.

"Goodnight, drive home safe." He says

"Goodnight to you."

**