I stared at him. For just a moment, I’d come close to seeing something deeper. But now he was back to being everything I’d come to expect of military men. Cocky. Sarcastic. Funny, as much as I hated to admit it. Impudent. The sharp angles of his posture said it all. But he’d thrown up his shields. And because he knew how to take charge, he’d done a fantastic job of directing the conversation as it suited him. But I wasn’t about to bow. I knew better than to let him run the game. Because I could play, too.
11
Hope
Derrick
When Jade had about fifteen minutes left in her session, I excused myself and stepped into the hall. It was nearly seven Amy’s time, and she would be done with the gym by now and on her way to work. I called her, fully expecting to be sent to voicemail. But to my surprise, she picked up.
“You’re quite the early bird lately. Shouldn’t you be asleep by now?”
“It’s a long story.” I scratched my head and peeked through the window in the door at Jessie. “Hey, I was thinking. I know you’re busy, but do you think you could make it out here for like a weekend? I could pay for the flight, and my parents have a spare room you could use in the main house.”
“Hold on.” She paused. “Okay, I’m at a stoplight. What weekend were you thinking?”
My heart leaped as I put the phone on speaker and scrolled through my calendar. “What about two weeks from now?”
“Actually…” She sounded surprised. “I think I’m free that weekend. What did you have in mind?”
I grinned. “Well, Jade has a piano performance that Saturday. My parents are going to be working, so I thought that it might be fun if you could come with the two of us. Then we could take her out for ice cream after and spend a little time together. And I’d like to try a new church out, but I get the feeling that dragging my parents around to shop for one is going to take an act of God.”
“Oh.” There was a pause on the other end. “And will we have any time for us?”
“Well, I’ll obviously take you out after Jade’s gone to bed, if that’s what you mean.” I wanted to kick myself for leaving that part out. Of course, she would want to go out. “There’s this great little restaurant in the—”
“Oh, um. My boss is calling me.” Amy’s voice was oddly tinny. “I’ve gotta go. I’ll…I’ll get back to you when I get things more hammered out here schedule-wise.”
“But I thought you said that weekend was free.” I frowned. “Amy, what’s wrong?”
“Look.” She sighed. “I’m too tired to talk about this right now. But I’ll get back to you, okay?”
I swallowed and forced my voice to sound normal. “Sure. I’ll talk to you tonight.”
“Bye.” And with that, she was gone.
Gathering my dignity, I did my best to appear unruffled as I went out to face Jessie. She was standing up with one shoe resting on the bottom plank of the ring’s fence, and she was clapping.
“That was fantastic, Jade!” she called. “I’m so proud of you!” When she noticed me, she turned, and for once, she didn’t look at me like she might a sour lemon. Instead, her green eyes were bright. “Jade just tossed a ring on the stick all by herself while the horse was moving.”
I went to stand beside her, and this time, my smile didn’t feel so forced. “Great job, baby girl!” I called out, clapping along with Jessie.
Jessie was a hard nut to crack, but the way her eyes lit up when she praised my sister gave me hope. Maybe, just maybe, this summer wouldn’t be quite so bad after all.
12
Buy the Book
Jessie
“Oh, I meant to ask,” Madison said as she turned into the warehouse parking lot, “how did your mom’s appointment go? It was last Friday, right?”
“It went okay, I guess.” I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. “He called today, though, and wants her back tomorrow to repeat a test.”
“Well,” she said as she pulled into a parking space, “I guess it’s not bad to be careful. Less than a week later, though…that’s pretty fast.”
“No.” I groaned. “But I hate going through this stress every time someone loses a sticky note in the office somewhere, and they have to call her in again.”
“Got your coupon?” Madison asked as we got out of the car.
