25. Jessica
Jessica
Despite her intentions, Jessica had enjoyed a little too much wine the night before and was feeling sluggish the next morning.
Sleeping on Renee’s couch hadn’t helped that either.
They all slept in the living room together, with Renee on the love seat, Jessica on the couch, and Ben in a recliner.
Aside from her aches, their sleepover had been fun and cozy.
So much so that Jessica barely worried about the winds howling past the boarded windows or the house bones creaking.
The wind had since died down to a gentle breeze, and the power came back on shortly after daybreak, indicating that the damage must not have been terribly widespread.
Despite the extra wine, Jessica’s head was fine. Even Renee’s wasn’t too bad with the low pressure after a couple of ibuprofen. Once the three of them had a cup of coffee, Jessica decided it was time to go back to her apartment.
“There’s no rush to leave,” Renee said, still wearing her clothes from the previous day, looking adorably rumpled. “You can spend the day here. Make sure the roads are clear first.”
“I don’t think it’ll be too bad, and I’m not very far,” Jessica said. “I promise if the roads look dangerous, I’ll turn right back around.
The city might be called Oakview, but the short distance between their homes didn’t have a lot of large trees.
Those were in other parts of town. There shouldn’t be much in the way of road blockage, and what there was in this area would have been mostly cleared by then, just like they had the power restored early on.
It really was a good sign that they’d been spared the brunt of the storm.
“We’ll be here if you need, so don’t risk anything,” Renee said.
“Yeah, what she said.” Ben walked over to give her a goodbye hug. “It was nice meeting you and spending the storm together. You’re welcome to let me beat you at video games any time.”
He flashed her that sly smirk of his, and she laughed at the sight of it and at him.
“It was nice hanging out with you, too,” she said. “Even if I lost at every game we played.”
She grabbed her box of cards and headed toward the door, Renee a few short steps behind. The game had been fun. She had learned that Renee was afraid of elevators, loved action movies, and preferred waking early to staying up late. It was a perfect activity for the night.
“Thanks again for having me over,” she said when she stood on the front porch, ready to leave.
Renee leaned lazily against the door frame. “Thanks for coming over. I had fun. You guys kept me distracted from going through my first storm here without Aunt Ellen. And I just liked having you here.”
“I liked being here,” Jessica said. “With you.”
They both moved forward and shared another small kiss. Soft. Warm. Sweet. Absolutely perfect.
“Text me the minute you get home and let me know you’re safe.”
Jessica smiled, warmed by the concern and wondering how they got here. There had been no hope for them when she arrived. And now… now they were entering what seemed to be a long-term future relationship. Not ideal, but worth it if things continued to work out.
“I will. Promise.”
“That’s it for today,” Jessica said. “We don’t have time for sight reading, but we’ll get back to it next week. Homework is to keep practicing the two pages we worked on today, and do that new warm-up exercise I gave you every day.”
Lila acknowledged the assignments and grabbed her books, then they both left the practice room to meet Danielle just outside. As usual, Lila wandered off to look at the pianos, leaving the two women alone for a few moments.
“Everything okay on your end with the storm?” Jessica asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Danielle said. She was wearing teaching khakis and her embroidered polo shirt again, since the storm recovery had been easy enough on the city for the kids to go back to school that day.
“Lila and I stayed at Morgan’s place with her cat so she wouldn’t have to transport him or leave him alone at the house. ”
Jessica thought about poor Bartholomew staying under the bed all night, only coming out the next morning for food after the wind had died down.
“So is the plan still to move in together?”
A big smile stretched across Danielle’s face. “Yes. But I think we’re going to look for a new place. Something with a little more room for the three of us.
“I’m so happy for you. Lila must be thrilled she’s getting a cat in the deal.”
“It’s not a dog or a snake, but she’s excited about it,” Danielle said. “What about you? Please tell me you didn’t stay by yourself.”
Jessica shook her head. “I actually stayed with Renee and her friend. And her cat, too.”
Danielle’s eyebrows raised. “Did you? That sounds promising. Any new developments on that front? Did the storm play matchmaker?”
“Kind of. She’s going back to Baton Rouge soon, but I think we’re going to try to make something work.”
Jessica had been processing that for the past two days, and she was still having trouble believing it was real.
She’d pretty much given up on the idea, then one night changed it all.
Now, she couldn’t wait to see where this relationship could take them, and she’d been delighting in their nonstop texting since then.
“Oh, that’s great! I’m so glad for you. I hope the logistics of that work out. You seem happy.”
“I am,” Jessica said. “Although I’m afraid I’m a bad book club member. I haven’t even started this month’s book.”
“It’s pretty good. I was behind on reading, too, but I read a big chunk of it during the storm while Morgan and Lila played video games until the power went out.”
Jessica fondly remembered the activities with Renee and Ben. It had been such a fun evening, despite the storm. Fun and easy. She was surprised how well she seemed to fit into their little friend pairing.
“I’m sure I’ll catch up in the next couple of weeks. I should be able to get started Sunday. I’ll probably be tired from Saturday night’s gig, anyway.”
The celebration of life for Renee’s aunt was tomorrow night.
She couldn’t believe how fast time had flown by.
It was going to be a rough time for Renee, but hopefully, she could find some comfort in having everyone around her remembering all the good times with her aunt.
Jessica kind of wished she could be there with her in a different capacity, to help her through it, but she was glad to be able to play for it.
And Renee would have Ben with her, at least.
“Oh, speaking of the book club,” Danielle said. “Melissa was talking about maybe doing a dinner party. Probably not until some time after the next meeting. Nothing concrete yet, just wanted to put it on your radar.”
“That sounds fun!”
“I know, right?” Danielle gave her a little wink. “And now you can bring Renee with you.”
Jessica couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face. “If she can make it into town then, I would love that.”