17. Jessica
Jessica
The church was empty except for the singer and a couple of family members who’d arrived early. No doubt, glad to take a break from the endless stream of visitors at the funeral home before the service began.
Jessica had a complicated relationship with playing at funerals.
It was such a terrible time for the families and friends and everyone who knew the deceased.
But she appreciated the opportunity to bring beauty through music to the broken-hearted.
She liked to think she was providing a bit of comfort to those in attendance.
She found the singer, Jasmine, in their usual spot in the back. They’d played in this particular church many times together, for both weddings and funerals, and they were comfortable doing these gigs with one another.
The familiarity allowed her setup to be a breeze, and she found herself with a good bit of free time before they needed to play while people entered.
Too much time.
Too much time to think about the night before when she’d sat next to Renee in her car, waiting around for what turned out to be nothing, but changed everything.
Too much time to remember the soft scent of ocean water cologne. The sound of her breathing in the silence. The decadent feel of Renee’s lips against her own.
Too. Much. Time.
She’d been trying and failing to think of anything but those things all day. Because there was no point in thinking about them. No point in wanting a repeat of that kiss.
They’d both made it very clear that there was no relationship to be had between them.
Not now, and not in the future. Jessica wasn’t ready for a relationship, and she couldn’t bring herself to do anything casual, no matter how much her friends pushed the idea.
And Renee didn’t want anything serious, even if she wouldn’t be returning to Baton Rouge soon, anyway.
So, no. There was no point in thinking about those things.
But she was thinking about them, nevertheless.
She and Jasmine slid into the closest pew and checked their phones before the service. Surely there was something on her phone to distract her from her thoughts.
“Damn,” Jasmine said, then slapped a hand over her mouth as she remembered where she was. She then removed her hand and whispered, “Have you seen this?”
She leaned over and aimed her phone screen at Jessica. It was open to a local news page. There was a map halfway down the article. A storm tracker map.
“Great,” Jessica muttered sarcastically. “When is that coming?”
She squinted at the screen but couldn’t read the tiny dates next to the predicted path points. The path whose Gulf of Mexico cone aimed straight at Louisiana.
“Midweek? It kind of popped up out of nowhere.
It wasn’t unusual that year for things to pop up in the hot Gulf waters.
They’d already been in one cone or another three times that season so far, but thankfully, all three had either veered off east or west of them or hadn’t built up enough steam to amount to much more than a large rainstorm. Hopefully, this one followed suit.
“Would be great if it could turn cool any time now,” Jessica said. “I’m sick of these things.”
“Same. I’m ready for winter.”
Winter sounded heavenly after the long summer and too-warm fall they were having so far. Jessica had always preferred the cold, even when she was a kid and didn’t have to be an adult worrying about storm prep.
People trickled in while Jessica and Jasmine began playing. The church filled up quickly as everyone arrived together from the funeral home.
The service was typical but lovely. It was the only Catholic church in town, and while it wasn’t as big as some in the nearby city, it was a gorgeous old building, with its dark wood pews, vaulted ceilings, large windows, and rich acoustics.
And it was welcoming in a way that the huge churches couldn’t match.
After the service and after almost everyone had filed out of the church, Jessica began to tear down her equipment. While she was wrapping up a cable, they were approached by a woman she recognized as one of the close family members who had sat up front during the service.
“Thank you,” the woman said. “The music was lovely.”
The woman’s voice was jagged, and her eyes were puffy and red-rimmed. This had clearly been one of her worst days.
Jessica couldn’t lie. Of course, she did these jobs for the money. But knowing she brought a little comfort to people like this woman made bearing witness to this kind of pain week in and week out more than worth it.
“Thank you,” Jessica said. “We’re so sorry for your loss.”
The woman thanked them again and left to join the others outside.
Once she finished packing up and told Jasmine goodbye, Jessica walked through the mostly empty parking lot and sat in her car to check her phone. There was a message from Naomi.
Still planning on another bananas idea tomorrow?
She smiled at the screen and typed back.
This one isn’t bananas. Just helping out.
Uh-huh. Helping out your hot P.I.
Jessica couldn’t even deny that Renee was hot. She’d already admitted it to Naomi. But her attraction was irrelevant. Or at least she had to keep telling herself that so she could move on from her feelings about the day before.
Check out that storm coming. Might have to bail on dinner this week.
There was a brief pause before Naomi texted back.
As Tim would say… deflecting.
Not deflecting. Moving on. Talk later.
Was she deflecting?
Probably.
But there was no point rehashing the same old objections.
Not even with Naomi, who always brought a new angle to their discussions.
There was no new angle here. She and Naomi had looked at this thing up and down and sideways, and there just wasn’t anything new to uncover. The situation was dead in the water.
Except it wasn’t completely dead. She was still going over there tomorrow to help Renee go through her aunt’s things.
Why had she suggested that? What had possessed her to initiate even more contact with this off-limits woman?
She knew exactly why. Because Renee needed help, and she was available to provide that. They weren’t friends, and they couldn’t be romantically involved, but she could still offer a friendly hand. That was reasonable.
Right?