It was so much easier to be brave when she could be brave for someone she loved. All she had to do was make it possible for him to say what he wanted and needed to say to her.
Her only fear now was that she had forever blown it.
It was almost midnight when she finally decided to call Casey.
She held her breath as the phone rang and rang.
Casey answered, and actually sounded alert. “Britt!”
“I’m so sorry to call so late... Casey... what are you doing right now besides trying to sleep?”
“I was awake! Oh my God, Britt, did you see J. T.’s video?” She was sniffling, too. He’d made all the women in the world cry, it seemed.That’s my man, Britt thought proudly.
“I did see it. And this is about J. T. I need your help. Are you up for Round Two? I screwed up big-time, and I need to make it right before it’s too late. It might already be too late.”
Casey was more than game once she heard Britt’s plan. Thank God for friends who were delinquents. “I’ll be right over,” she said, absolutely thrilled.
Britt ended the call and stared at her phone. She was nervous as hell, and her palms were sweating, and she’d never felt more alive.
Sometimes love was in the quiet moments. But sometimes, like in the movies, a grand gesture was called for to really get your point across.
She took a deep breath and looked at herself in the mirror. “Alley-oop, Britt.”
J. T. locked his house door and stood back to stare at it. He’d loved this house, but suddenly it felt like a movie set, unreal, without Britt in his life. Maybe he’d sell the place when they were done filming Hellcat Canyon location shots.
Something tumbled toward him and knocked into his boot. He picked up an old horse-chestnut husk, blown from one of the thousands of trees in the hills here.
That’s just how he felt. Empty and exhausted.
Rebecca was really quiet. And she’d been really quiet all night, too. Her mood was both taut and pensive and it was unfamiliar to J. T., but he patently didn’t care what she was thinking.
At the moment, he wanted to get away from the scene of where he’d been happiest, because it was like a taunt. Rebecca chucked her bag into the front seat, and he chucked his overnight bag in after it, and in the cool gray early light he maneuvered his truck onto the road. Past the river. Past the vista point that looked out over the canyon where he and Britt had found a new use for his truck. Back through town. Past the turnoff to Britt’s house. Past the redecorated bus benches and the Misty Cat. He could have sworn he saw a movement in the upstairs window there, even though it was too early for anyone to be in.
And finally out onto the highway.
All in utter silence.
They had the road completely to themselves at this time of day. That billboard was visible in the distance, and it was entirely white. But Rebecca had clearly vanished from it. Efficient of them to take the clown version down so quickly. J. T. thought it was kind of a shame.
But...
Wait.
He squinted. He’d thought the billboard was all white, but was there writing on it?
“Guess they took my ruined billboard down,” she finally said with some satisfaction. “They should have a new one up pretty soon. Same ad.”
They got a little closer. J. T. stepped on the brake and slowed to a crawl.
It looked as though a fresh layer of white butcher paper had been slapped up over the entire thing.
He slowed down even more.
“Hey... doesn’t that say ‘J. T.?’” Rebecca was confused.
He nearly drove off the road.
He got a grip on the steering wheel in time and carefully pulled over to the shoulder and cut the engine instantly.
