CountryCore Series: Fixer Upper (WLW)

Hometown Allure

This chapter contains dark themes.

Jan watched as Kenna cooked some food at her kitchen stove and grabbed a long bun near the stove. She scooped some of the bacon up with her tongs after getting a slice of butter onto her bread and placed it onto the bun, then added a few nearby sauces. She set the sandwich aside and did the same with another loaf, then added some hash browns to the plates before turning off the gas burners. Once Kenna added some fresh grapes to each plate, she turned around and jolted as their eyes met. After a loud gulp, she brought the food over to the dining table where Jan sat and handed her the latter plate, which was steaming a bit more than the other.

This was something she'd seen many times in Kenna and now more than ever, Jan wished she could go back in time so that she wouldn't overreact like she had on her farm. Kenna, or Kenny as she'd been calling her since their discussion down in her parents' deli, was such a giving person. She held out chairs, doors, carefully aided Jan in bringing her things up into the apartment so she could be set up in the guest room and now she'd even gone as far as to give her the freshest of the two dinner plates. Kenny had done so on her farm on several occasions and had gone out of her way to be as accommodating as possible, only further stirring the need within Jan to make her understand how regretful she was of the past.

"Thank you. So, what do you call this?"

Kenny smirked and pulled back the top of her bun, showing the inside of her sandwich. "It's called a bacon butty in England and something of a tradition there. My parents make a sauce special for it that was passed down from mom's parents who are still in England."

"Your mother is English-American?" Jan picked up her fork and took a bite of hashbrowns, then set it aside as she lifted the sandwich.

"Well, one of my grandparents is American and the other is English. Mom spent a lot of time here when she was little on yearly road trips with my great uncle in Iowa. Her favorite place was right here in Providence and she met my dad here when she decided to go to college nearby for business management." Jan listened with peaked curiosity as she took a bite of her sandwich, feeling her eyebrows journeying up her forehead as her mouth began to water. She dove in and chomped down on the amazing sandwich as she heard Kenny chuckling. "That good, 'ey?" Kenny took a bite from hers and hummed as she chewed before adding with a hand obscuring her mouth, "Anyways, mom met dad in college and she eventually got pregnant shortly after finishing her year-round coursework. Dad decided to go with her plans for her future and they opened a deli. They've been here ever since."

"So, are your parents married?"

"Well, technically they aren't, but they've lived together for the last thirty-six years and since they file taxes and do so much together, they are considered married by the government." Kenny took another bite of her food and seemingly grew intrigued by Jan's marveling. "What is it?"

"I just think it's amazing they haven't married. I personally am not a huge fan of marriage. Or rather, the government's involvement in it." Janet moaned as she took another bite of her sandwich, smirking as Kenny smiled at her with apparent appreciation. "Sorry, this is just really good. No wonder you took to country cookin' so well with how hardy this meal is. You should cook more often when we get back."

Chuckling before she answered, Kenny glanced up from her food into her eyes and leaned inward with that devilish grin she'd seen coming more often the more time they spent together. "Still going with that method, 'ey?"

"Have you ever heard of Brad Pierce?" Kenny quirked her head to the side as she nodded at Jan's words. "You talk just like him. Your brother's accent isn't as strong. How come?"

"He spent more of his time around my parents than others growing up. I spent a lot of my time with other people until..." Kenny's smile fell and she sat back, setting her fork aside as she latched onto her drink instead. "Until things changed."