“I’m so sorry.” She huffed, and I could just see her running her hand through her hair. “I really had planned on coming.”
I cleared my throat. “No, um. I get it. I…I guess we’ll talk later then?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.” I took a deep breath. “Love you.”
Hernandez and Barnes were still watching me when I hung up and turned around. “Well.” I forced a smile. “I guess you’ll have to wait just a little longer to see her.”
“Uh-huh.” Hernandez nodded, but Barnes smiled slightly. Gathering what remained of my dignity, I straightened my shoulders and went out to my truck.
It wasn’t that bad, really. I’d only moved back three weeks ago. I couldn’t expect her to drop everything and visit me constantly. Not when she had just landed the job of her dreams. Of course, I’d known it would be hard to keep a relationship living in different states, but as we were engaged, I’d figured it wouldn’t be too long before we were together again. And yet, four months after proposing, we were apart. Still waiting.
I pulled in front of my parents’ house. After locking the truck, I let myself into the backyard and into the little casita on the other side of the oversized swimming pool. As I unlaced my boots and tossed them into the corner, my phone buzzed. It was Amy.
“Hey.” Why did I sound like a pouty little kid?
“Look,” she said. “I’ll go through my schedule again and see if—”
“Derrick? Are you in there?”
I looked up to see my mom banging on the sliding glass door. I huffed as I went to open it. “Hold on, Amy. What is it, Mom?”
“Oh good, you’re home. I wanted to tell you to get cleaned up and presentable.”
“Mom, can this wait? I’m talking to—”
“Jade’s teacher is coming over for a a rundown of Jade’s summer appointments. She’ll be here within the hour.”
I scrunched my eyes shut. “Look, I gotta go, Amy. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I need to get on the elliptical. But Derrick?”
“Yes?”
“I’ll try. I can’t guarantee anything, but I’ll try.”
Even though she wasn’t there to see it, I grinned. “Thanks, Amy.” Maybe I would get to pull that green dress out on the dance floor again after all.
3
Interrogation Camp
Jessie
Ipulled up the driveway and let out a whistle. I’d known Jade’s family made decent money, but I hadn’t expected anything like this. Perhaps I should have, though, based on the salary they were offering me.
I might as well have been pulling up in front of a castle. The three-story brick building was set on a corner lot with an emerald green yard twice the size of the other houses on the block. Red and white brick contrasted nicely with a spotless cream-colored garage door. Matching cream-colored trim decorated the rest of the house’s windows and rooflines. I was suddenly quite aware of my old blue Camry’s dents and scratches as I gazed at the sleek white Lexus beside mine. The only car that looked remotely close to mine on the street was a beat up red pickup parked on the corner. Who did that belong to?
Not that it mattered. I was here to get a job that would pay for my master’s degree. And though I felt two hundred miles from home, rather than just fifteen minutes, I was here now. Besides, they had been the ones to offer me the job after all. So I took a deep breath, straightened my skirt, and smoothed my blouse before ringing the doorbell.
The door opened, but instead of Mrs. Allen, I found myself face to face with a young man. His eye shape I recognized immediately, for they were the same as Jade’s. He had blue eyes, though, instead of her brown. A piercing ice blue with streaks of gold shooting out from the iris. His hair was shaved close to the sides of his head and a little longer on top, a cut my military students referred to as a high and tight. He had an angular face, clean-shaven, with prominent high cheekbones and a perfectly straight nose, and I quickly realized that he was possibly one of the most attractive men I had ever seen.
He was also in camouflage pants and a sand-colored shirt. I wanted to sigh. So close.
“Can I help you?” His voice was clear and his words crisp.
“Yes.” I cleared my throat. “I’m here to speak with Mrs. Allen about taking care of Jade this summer.” I hesitated when he didn’t open the door any wider or offer to let me in. “I’m Jade’s teacher. She said to come on the twenty-ninth…” My words hung in the air like icicles as I waited for him to respond.
