Chapter 22
JILLIAN
Afew hours later, Jillian stood on the edge of the dance floor with Tripp by her side, wondering how such a sad day had turned into such a happy night.
The Lawrence kids were all out there dancing and having a wonderful time.
Of course, Jillian had insisted that the kids come along in the limo with them, and she’d thoroughly enjoyed their complete delight in the fancy ride.
She hadn’t been sure it was worth springing for the limo, but it turned out to be just the right way to break the ice with the rest of the family.
She only hoped they would come to understand her actions over the last week.
“What are you thinking about?” Tripp asked, his azure eyes filled with concern.
“Whether or not your family will ever forgive me for how I behaved,” she admitted.
“Well, if the kids are any indication, I think you’re in the clear,” Tripp said, winking at her.
“Kids are different,” Jillian said with a fond smile. “They’re more flexible.”
“My parents already love you,” Tripp said firmly. “I’m sure everyone will just be happy that we’re back together.”
Jillian nodded, then winced a little as something occurred to her.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I didn’t let my family know how tonight went,” she admitted.
“Well, I might have ruined your surprise,” Tripp said.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Coach sent me a text a while back asking me to give you the benefit of the doubt,” he said, looking uncomfortable. “And I sent him a picture of you doing the Macarena with the kids and let him know we were here together and all was well.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Jillian said. “It’s easier to enjoy everything knowing that they know.”
“You’re a special woman, Jillian,” Tripp said, taking her hands.
“And you’re a very special man,” she told him, meaning it. “I’m not sure I would have taken you back so quickly if you’d pulled on me what I pulled on you this week.”
“Well, you didn’t see yourself singing that song,” Tripp chuckled. “It’s never been more clear to me that someone was sorry.”
“That bad, huh?” Jillian asked, smiling wryly.
“Not at all,” Tripp said right away. “You have a lovely voice. It was more the look on your face that said you wanted to disappear that clued me in on what a sacrifice it was.”
“You deserved a grand gesture,” Jillian said, feeling her cheeks heat.
“Well, that was a good one,” Tripp said. “I only wish I had a video of it. Maybe one of the kids filmed it.”
“Oh, I hope they didn’t,” Jillian said, shuddering.
He laughed that deep laugh of his, and the sound reverberated in her chest and filled her heart.
They were really here together, at the Winter Formal, after all these years. Life could throw unexpected things in the way sometimes, but it could also be so very sweet.
“So, who told you I wasn’t a serious guy?” Tripp asked her teasingly.
“Oh, I can’t say,” Jillian told him. “They were only trying to look out for me.”
“If you say so,” Tripp said.
“And they all think you’re a good man,” she went on. “They just didn’t think you wanted a serious relationship.”
“Well, I never did before,” he said, his gaze so intense she felt her cheeks heating.
“I should be keeping an eye on the kids,” she said weakly, still unable to break his gaze.
“Of course,” he said softly. “How about we keep an eye on them from the dance floor?”
She blinked at him and then realized what he was asking.
“Are we allowed to dance?” she asked. “I’m a chaperone.”
“The way I see it, we’ll be able to keep a better eye on them if we get a little closer,” Tripp said, giving her a mischievous smile.
“Okay,” Jillian said. “Let’s go undercover.”
Tripp took her hand again and led her onto the dance floor, just as the song melted from a popular pop tune into Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”
“Oh, this is a good one,” Tripp murmured, pulling her into his arms.
He held her so close that she was sure he could feel her heart thundering. But he was a total gentleman, which Jillian appreciated, especially in front of the kids.
He was still Tripp Lawrence, though, so she wasn’t really surprised when he started crooning the lyrics in her ear, just loud enough for the kids around them to hear and start giggling.
“Tripp,” she murmured. She was blushing, but she couldn’t stop smiling anyway. He was a romantic man—a big, beautiful, silly man who was going to pull her out of her organized life and help her to finally have some fun.
By the end of the song, she was giggling and he was singing in full voice, completely unembarrassed to serenade her in front of the kids.
As Jillian caught her breath, she spotted two boys running to the back of the gymnasium, where they joined two more. All of them were carrying huge, bulging trash bags.
“Oh dear,” she said to Tripp. “Duty calls.”
“Can I help?” he offered.
“Sure,” she told him. “Let’s see what’s going on with these four.”
He scanned the gymnasium as he followed her.
“Oh wow,” Tripp said as the boys ducked out into the hall. “You have a good eye for trouble.”
“Let’s see what they’re up to,” she said.
She pushed open the doors between the gym and the hallway, blinking at the harsh light, and then followed the sound of laughter toward the main offices.
Tripp moved along beside her, staying quiet without her asking. He was probably thinking the same thing she was—that the kids would scatter if they realized the adults were watching.
“I know what this is,” he murmured as they rounded the next corner. “And I know what’s in the bags.”
She nodded to him, glad that at least he knew what was going on. But it was a prank, and he’d been a prankster, so that tracked.
Not when it came to asking me to the formal. I managed to prank myself on that one.
She put the thought out of her mind and focused on the kids.
They were in the main office now—she could see them through the glass. And they had brought their bags right to the principal’s door, where a half-dozen other bags waited. This clearly hadn’t been their first trip.
They might have been done and slipped away already, but they were having trouble with the door.
“Seen enough?” Tripp asked her.
“Yes,” she said. “We’d better stop them before they get into any real trouble.”
Tripp marched into the office, his brisk footsteps causing the four boys to freeze in place.
One by one, they looked up at him, eyes wide.
“We’re not doing anything, Coach,” the leader of the little crew said, swiping his hair from his forehead and narrowing his brown eyes.
“I know exactly what you’re doing, Kowalski,” Tripp said. “You’re standing outside the principal’s office with a hundred balloons.”
Balloons?
“It wasn’t going to hurt anything,” a smaller boy protested. “It’s just super funny.”
“We were going to clean it up,” a third boy put in quietly. “After she found it on Monday.”
The last kid kept his mouth shut. He looked like he was going to cry.
Jillian’s heart tugged. These kids were pulling about the most wholesome prank in the world. It probably took them all week just to get up the nerve.
“This part of the school is off-limits tonight,” Tripp said. “You’re only supposed to be in the auditorium. You’re going to be skating so many laps, Kowalski. And the rest of you…”
“Hang on,” Jillian heard herself say. “Just wait, wait, wait…”
Tripp turned to her in surprise and she marched forward, the group of boys parting before her like she might try to bite them.
Before she could overthink it, she hurried behind the counter and over to the secretary’s desk.
“Don’t call our parents,” one of the boys moaned.
She didn’t. Instead, she grabbed a set of keys and opened the door to the principal’s office as the boys, including Tripp, stared in wonder.
“Go on, boys,” she told them. “Just be careful.”
“Really?” the leader asked her.
“Really,” she told him. “Have some fun. You deserve it. But don’t hurt anything in here. Be respectful.”
The boys looked to each other with blazing eyes, and then began laughing and carrying their bags into the office and dumping them out to cover the floor.
She could only smile as the space filled to waist height with a rainbow of balloons. The boys must have been filling them all day and then some.
When they were finally finished, one boy snapped a picture with his cell phone, then they gathered up the trash bags and let Jillian lock the office again.
“Have a good night, boys,” she told them.
“Thank you,” the one Tripp had called Kowalski said.
“Yeah, thanks,” another boy added.
The other two chorused their thanks and then all four were taking off down the hallway back to the auditorium, laughing and yelling delightedly to each other about their epic prank.
“Now who’s the troublemaker?” Tripp asked, watching Jillian replace the key at the secretary’s desk.
“Didn’t you put a cow in the principal’s office?” she asked.
“No one could ever prove that,” Tripp said, winking. “I think I like this side of you.”
“Good,” she told him. “If you can change a little, then so can I. I’ve been thinking a lot lately, too. And I think it’s possible that I might be just a little bit too serious. Maybe we need to meet in the middle sometimes.”
“Is that so?” Tripp asked, moving behind the counter to join her.
“Life is short,” she told him, her heart speeding up as he approached. “We all deserve to have a little fun now and then.”
He didn’t respond. He only moved even closer, like an animal stalking its prey. Jillian felt that familiar spark of electricity, and she knew to her bones that he was about to kiss her.
“We should get back to the kids,” she said. But her traitorous feet wouldn’t move.
When he reached her, Tripp lifted one hand to cup her cheek before bending to brush her lips with his.
It was such a gentle kiss, but it still took her breath away.
“Come on,” he said gruffly. “We’d better get back to that dance before we need a chaperone of our own.”
She laughed and let him lead her down the hall, past the lockers and the classrooms and the memories, toward the future they were dreaming of together.