“They emailed me today to set up a date and time. They’re very enthusiastic and excited about my qualifications. There’s a signing bonus.”
“You must be excited.”
He sounded pleased for her, which was mildly upsetting and she couldn’t say why.
“I don’t how I feel. I wasn’t expecting such a fast response.”
“But this is what you wanted.”
She drew in a breath. “Sort of. I mean I do want to make changes but I’m confused about moving. I want to fall in love and start a family. Part of me doesn’t understand why I can’t do that here.”
“You said you’d run out of single guys. Is there a new batch moving to town? Because given the choice, I’d rather you stayed.”
“You would?”
“Yeah. Ryleigh, you’re important to me. As a guy, I don’t usually think this way, but you’re my best friend. After Kim died, I was lost. You saved me, you saved us. We’ve become close and that relationship matters to me. I respect and depend on you. You’re an amazing woman and while it will kill me to see you move, I want you to be happy more than I want to be the selfish jerk who tells you not to go.” He offered a self-deprecating smile. “Feel free to compliment me on my mature decision.”
“Very mature,” she said automatically, a little unsettled by his words but unable to say why. “You’re important to me, too. As is Noah. I guess that’s what makes this so hard. If I move there’s no guarantee I’ll find what I’m looking for. What if there isn’t some guy waiting for me in San Diego?”
“What if there is?”
“So you’re trying to get rid of me?” She tried to ask the question with a “hey, I’m joking” tone, but had a bad feeling that she sounded a little more accusing than she would like.
“Never. If it were up to me, things would stay exactly as theyare.” He held up his free hand. “I know. That’s the problem. The way things are isn’t making you happy. Sometimes you have to take the leap, kid. Do the scary thing.”
“I know. I’m going to schedule the interview and see what happens. I’m hoping doing that will give me clarity. In the meantime, don’t say anything to Jax, please. She’s dealing with enough crap right now.”
“I won’t say anything but just to be clear, Jax and I don’t talk if you’re not around.” He leaned over and lightly kissed her. “I wish you all the luck in the world.”
“Thank you.”
But even as the kiss deepened and her body began to respond, a tiny part of her didn’t like what he was saying and she had absolutely no idea why not.
Friday night the bookstore closed at the usual time but instead of walking around, turning out lights and getting ready to punch in the security code, Jax stood by the front door ready to welcome sixty teenagers and a dozen parental chaperones. Thanks to volunteers from the community, there hadn’t been much work for Jax and her team to do beyond Cheryl coordinating all the deliveries.
The teens showed up with sleeping bags, pillows and air mattresses if they wanted them. The caterers had worked their magic, the TVs were hooked up and had been tested and more than one of her customers had given the karaoke machine a test-drive.
Usually Jax looked forward to the sleepover. It was a fun night for the teens. Most of them didn’t stay up until dawn, but a few hardy souls got through all the movies.
The schedule was the same every year—an hour or so meet and greet with mocktails and snacks followed by the talent show and then karaoke. Dinner came next, then a rousing few rounds of Would You Rather. The movie marathon startedaround midnight. One of the giant TVs would be playing theHunger Gamesseries while the other would feature Marvel movies. Breakfast was delivered at six thirty in the morning, then the teens went home. At eight a cleaning crew arrived to spruce up the store before it opened at nine thirty.
Jax waited while the first of the teens piled out of cars and headed toward the store. Parents waved and called out warnings to behave. Jax held in a smile. She understood the very natural concern about a boy-girl sleepover, but there was a strict separation of the sexes and the parent chaperones took their responsibilities seriously. “No sex allowed” was the policy and as far as Jax knew, the rules were being followed. Just in case, the parents patrolled all night, taking turns prowling the floors and keeping close watch on couples who tried to bunk down next to each other.
Jax welcomed the seniors and pointed them to the name tag station where they would write their names. One of the girls stopped by the door.
“Any word?” she asked, her voice hopeful.
Jax shook her head. “Sorry, no. Nothing yet. We’re checking the internet for parrot sales, but we haven’t spotted an ad. Hopefully we’ll know something soon.”
“What if he’s scared?” the teen asked. “What if he’s hungry?”
“We have to think positive,” Jax said, privately agreeing with the concerns. They kept her up nights.
“I will,” the girl said, then stepped into the bookstore.
And so it went until all sixty teens were safely in the store. The volunteers took over, collecting everyone in the center of the store and explaining the rules and how the night would be structured.
Jax only half listened as she made her way to her private apartment. She would spend the night as she had been—sitting on the widow’s walk, hoping Ramon would return. She changed out his untouched food, then collected a jacket and a blanket. When she was settled outside, she scanned the sky.
