Chapter 3
3
J ackson walked through the front door of the resort and nodded at the front desk staff before slipping through the door behind it. A small office was set up in the room, making his mom, Karen, easily accessible if the front desk needed help with something.
Karen sat at a desk in front of the computer, typing away, but she looked up when he entered.
“Hello, honey.”
“Hey, Ma.” Jackson dropped a kiss on the top of her head before sitting in a chair at the small table in the room.
“How was your night? Did you get home at a decent time?”
He had been pulling long hours since they were short-staffed, but he was convinced he could do it all. He enjoyed the work he did, so he didn’t mind the extra hours.
He nodded. “Mia and I had dinner at her place last night.”
“How is she?”
“She’s doing well. You know, same old stuff.”
Karen smiled. “You should bring her to family dinner on Sunday.”
“I’ll mention it to her.” Jackson slapped his hands on his knees and stood. “All right. Time to plant some flowers.”
He walked out of the office, through the back door, and over the expansive lawn, making his way to the shed hidden at the far end of the grounds. He unlocked it and gathered the items he needed for planting, setting them into a wheelbarrow. Wheeling it around the building, he stopped in front of the main entrance. Jackson wanted to see flowers at the entrance instead of the unruly bushes he hated trimming, but had put it off before since it was a huge task.
But now, he couldn’t stand thinking about the bushes any longer and decided he needed to take care of it.
He got to work unloading supplies while he waited for help. It didn’t take long before his brothers walked out the front of the building. Noah, his older brother and head of the ski patrol for the resort, came out appropriately dressed in jeans and a Wintervale Resort polo. His younger brother, Ethan, who was the adventure guide, was similarly dressed. But Miles, his youngest brother, still wore his chef’s coat, clearly having come from the kitchen where he spent most of his time as the resort chef.
“You’re going to get that filthy,” Jackson said.
Miles rolled his eyes. “I’m a chef. What do you expect me to wear?”
“Work clothes. We’re pulling bushes out.”
Miles planted his hands on his hips. “Do you actually need me for this? I have an entire resort to cook for.”
“I mean, that’s a bit of an exaggeration considering you have a staff,” Noah muttered.
Miles shot him a dirty look.
Ethan laughed and slapped Miles on the shoulder. “Go back to work, bro. We’ve got this.”
Miles wordlessly walked back inside, and Jackson raised an eyebrow.
“What crawled up his ass?”
Noah shrugged his shoulders. “He seems the same to me.”
Ethan clapped his hands together. “All right. Let’s do this. I have a hike this afternoon.”
Jackson handed each guy a shovel before spearing his into the ground underneath the roots of a bush.
“Noah, how’s Jessa doing?”
Jessa moved to Wintervale only a few months back. She was just visiting while working remotely, but they fell in love quickly, and Jessa never left.
“She’s doing well. She has to go out of town soon for work, but she’s enjoying being in one spot.”
“You dating Mia yet, Jackson?” Ethan asked.
Jackson rolled his eyes. His family constantly asked him when he and Mia would start dating. It was the longest running joke in their family, and it was annoying as all hell. Despite him constantly letting his family know they were just friends, they continued to ask. He wasn’t sure if it was to annoy him or if they actually believed the two of them would end up together.
“Har har. I will not entertain that with an answer.”
Jackson dug up his bush and Ethan came over to grip it and help yank it out of the ground before they deposited it in the wheelbarrow. The bushes were large, but they could fit two in before needing to empty it.
“But for real, have you hung out with her lately?” Ethan asked.
“Of course. She’s my best friend.”
Jackson didn’t miss the look Ethan and Noah gave each other, but he ignored it. They worked side-by-side, tearing out the bushes and taking turns emptying the wheelbarrow into the back of the resort work truck to be disposed of at the dump later.
After an hour had passed, Miles came out the front door carrying a tray with a pitcher of ice water and some sandwiches. The guys all pulled their gloves off and sat down on the tailgate of the truck and a nearby bench to take a break. Miles joined them, this time without his chef’s coat on.
Jackson’s mind moved to his conversation with Mia about what she had found in her diary. It occupied most of his thoughts that evening as he tried to remember why they made the pact. Eventually, the memory came back to him.
Mia sat on a bench in front of the middle school, waiting for her mom to come pick her up. Jackson sat beside her, watching his best friend as she fought the emotion she was trying to hide.
He bumped her shoulder with his. “You okay?”
She nodded and let out a shaky sigh. “Just humiliated.”
“I don’t think it was personal.” Josh had turned her down because he was interested in someone else. It didn’t technically have anything to do with Mia.
“Still humiliating.” She twiddled her thumbs in her lap. “I don’t think any guys will ever like me.”
Jackson raised his eyebrows. Mia was perfect. He couldn’t imagine any guy not wanting her. Except for himself. She was his best friend, after all.
“That’s not true. You’ll find a guy when we’re in high school. I’m sure of it.”
She quickly swiped a hand across her cheek. Under the lamplight, he could see the streak of water from her tears.
“Yeah right.”
Jackson leaned forward and rested his elbows on his thighs. “Look at me, Mia.”
She turned her head, and the tears she fought so hard to keep back were glistening in her eyes. His heart hurt seeing it.
“When we are thirty, if neither of us is married, let’s marry each other.”
She looked at him incredulously. “What?”
He smiled. There was no way she’d still be single by then, so he knew the time would never come for it to happen. The feelings weren’t there for him. There couldn’t be. No way could he marry his best friend and risk a friendship. That would be crazy!
“Let’s get married when we’re thirty, if we’re both single.”
A van pulled up to the curb, interrupting their conversation. Mia’s mom waved from the driver’s seat.
Mia held up a finger at her mom, signaling to wait a moment. “Are you serious?”
“Deathly.”
The smile he hoped to see bloomed on her face. “Okay. It’s a deal.”
She held out her hand, and he took it in his, giving it a small squeeze before they shook on it.
“Earth to Jackson.”
A piece of bread bounced off his forehead, and he frowned at Noah. Miles also frowned at Noah, not being one to waste food.
“Dude, I’ve said your name like ten times. Where did you go?”
“Just got distracted.”
The guys all exchanged looks.
“This wouldn’t have anything to do with Mia, would it?” Noah asked.
Jackson sighed. There was never a day that went by where his brothers didn’t bring up Mia. “What is your guys’ obsession with her?”
“I mean, are we wrong?”
Damn it.
Noah chuckled. “Knew it. What happened?”
“She was going through an old diary, and came across an entry about a pact we made. Specifically, a pact for when we both turn thirty.”
“What kind of pact?” Miles asked.
“Oh, did you two make a pact to lose your virginity to each other?” Ethan asked.
All eyes swung to him.
“Dude. I’m thirty. You think I’m still a virgin?”
Ethan shrugged. “Maybe you aren’t, but maybe Mia is.”
A strange stirring happened in Jackson’s stomach at the thought of Mia having sex. He knew she had. They had discussed it after it had happened. The two of them had always been very honest with each other, but somehow it wasn’t sitting right with him.
“So what was the pact?” Miles asked, the ever-serious Blake getting them back on topic.
Jackson scrubbed a hand down his face. “If I tell you this, you all need to get off my back. No nagging me constantly about Mia. It’s seriously getting old.”
“I can’t make any promises.”
“Nope.”
“Not gonna happen.”
They all spoke at once with their replies, and Jackson rolled his eyes. He knew it was a long shot, but thought he’d try, anyway.
“We made a pact to get married if we were both single at thirty.”
Silence descended upon the group, aside from the sounds of people passing by. Jackson looked at each of his brothers, who seemed frozen in place.
“Did a blip in the universe just happen?” Jackson asked.
Ethan blinked. “Let me get this straight. You two made a pact to marry each other at thirty if you are both single… which you are.”
Jackson nodded.
“What are you waiting for?” Noah asked. “Let’s go.”
His brothers stood up, dusting the crumbs off their clothes and putting the gardening tools away.
Jackson furrowed his eyebrows. “What are you doing?”
“Duh, we’re going to the courthouse to get you two married,” Ethan said, as if it was the most obvious response.
“I’ll sign as the witness. Oh, let’s swing by the elementary school to grab Emma. She can be a flower girl. It would be adorable,” Miles said.
Ethan and Noah nodded.
“Mom and Dad will be pissed if we don’t tell them. Ethan, run inside and get them,” Noah said.
“What the hell are you guys doing? We aren’t getting married.”
As if a record scratched, they paused and looked at him.
“Why?” they all asked at once.
Jackson stared at them incredulously. “Because it was a pact we made when we were twelve.”
“Point being?” Noah asked.
He huffed out a laugh. “Because we aren’t in love with each other.”
Noah, Ethan, and Miles each let out a collective breath before sitting back down.
“For fuck’s sake. Are we still on this?” Miles muttered.
“I think the question is, ‘Why are we still on this?’ I’ve told you numerous times nothing is there. We aren’t getting married. Besides, Mia isn’t even thirty yet.”
Ethan laughed. “She will be in, what? Two months? So then you’ll get married?”
“No!” Jackson tossed his hands in the air. “No one is getting married. Except Noah and Jessa.”
His brothers exchanged looks again. Normally Jackson would roll his eyes, but this time it unsettled him. Especially when they all shrugged, followed by an “okay,” and a change of subject.
Nothing ever good came from that.