Chapter 15
Annie tugged Jo through the Hotel Bellwether lobby and out into the courtyard garden known as The Follies.
A large fountain stood at the center, the unexpected greenspace filled with palm trees and flowers.
“There!” Annie pointed triumphantly at the fountain before dropping Jo’s hand and sprinting towards it.
The low-walled, circular fountain was surrounded by yellow and blue flowers, bright bursts of color amongst the greenery.
The blue tile bottom made the water appear impossibly clear as it splashed over the large stone sculpture at the center.
In the sunlight, copper and silver coins glinted from the shallow pool.
How many of those wishes had been granted?
Annie pressed a penny into Jo’s hand. “You have to make a wish.”
“For what?” Jo asked.
“Anything. But don’t tell me what you wish for! If you tell someone else your wish, it can’t come true. Like birthday cake wishes.”
Jo rolled the penny between her fingers, unsure what to wish for.
She had a life in Aster Bay that, if not exactly fulfilling, was perfectly fine.
She was happy enough. She had friends who loved her, who had made her a part of their families.
An apartment that, thanks to Derek, she could afford for the next few months at least. A job where she didn’t have to sit behind a desk.
She had a good life waiting for her. And if it would feel a little less full, a little less vibrant now that she’d glimpsed this other life—
No. She couldn’t compare this time in California to her day-to-day in Aster Bay. Anything was fun and sexy when it was new and temporary.
But what if she didn’t want it to be temporary? What if she liked the way she felt here, with these people, living this life? What if, for the first time in years, she didn’t feel like the extra friend, the fuck up who hadn’t figured their shit out yet?
What if these last few days with Derek and Annie and the whole Midnight Storm family were the first time in years that she really felt like herself?
“Make a wish!” Annie said as she chucked an entire handful of pennies into the fountain.
Images flashed behind Jo’s eyes of Annie grinning around a mouthful of chicken nuggets, helping her pin her hair up for the dance party, Kat and the band teasing each other on the beach, Zach and Logan grinning for her camera backstage before a pane.
And Derek. His soft smile when she woke in his arms, the crease between his eyebrows when he was worried, the crinkle at the corner of his eyes when he was trying not to laugh.
The calm that flooded her veins when he gathered her against his chest in the middle of the night.
The way her skin tingled when his eyes were on her, eating up the sight of her with no makeup, no filters, and still wanting her. Maybe even wanting her more.
Derek.
Jo tossed the penny into the fountain.
“Do you think it worked?” Annie asked.
“I don’t know.”
“There’s a lot of wishes in there.” Annie leaned closer to the fountain to get a better look at the accumulated change lining the bottom. “What if there isn’t enough magic to make them all come true?”
Would there be enough magic left for Jo to get her wish for once?
“I don’t think there’s a limit on how much magic can exist,” Jo said, swallowing down the unexpected lump in her throat. “You threw a lot of pennies in there. I think the odds are in your favor. You must have wished for something really important.”
“So important.” Annie worried her lower lip. “Kat said this fountain helps people fall in love.”
Jo’s eyebrows shot up. “She did, huh?”
“She said there’s all kinds of legends about the hotel helping people fall in love because the lady who started it used to write kissing books, like Kat does.”
Wasn’t seven a little young for Annie to be making wishes about falling in love? “I don’t know much about these legends, kid, but I know that most legends aren’t true.”
“Not uh! Legends are based on the truth, or on what people think is true, even if they can’t prove it. We learned about it in school.”
“Either way, one thing I know for sure is you are too young to be this serious about falling in love.”
“It’s not for me,” Annie blurted out. Her eyes widened and she slapped her hand over her mouth.
Jo knew hot gossip when she saw someone trying to hold it in.
She dove at Annie, tickling her on the spot low on her side that made her shriek and giggle.
“Who’s it for then, huh?” She caught Annie around the middle and pulled her down into the grass with her, tickling her side and armpits, the sensitive spot behind her knees, while Annie gasped for air, laughing.
“Is it for your mom and Miles? Kat? Come on, kid? Who did you wish would fall in love?”
“You and Daddy!” Annie shouted between bursts of laughter.
Jo’s hands fell away and she sat back on her heels as shock ricocheted through her.
Annie scrambled to her feet, dusting grass off her rainbow-striped leggings and nervously glancing at Jo.
But what was Jo supposed to say? How did Annie know there was anything going on between Jo and Derek in the first place? They’d been careful—hadn’t they?
She supposed she shouldn’t be so surprised.
Kat and the Midnight Storm boys had gone out of their way to orchestrate two nights where Derek and Jo could be alone together.
And she’d be lying if is she said she thought she’d done a good job of not ogling Derek every time he was within sight.
It was naive to think Annie wouldn’t have noticed.
But more than that, Jo supposed she was surprised Annie was so invested, that she cared enough to make a wish in the fountain. A whole handful of wishes.
God, this is exactly what Derek was worried about.
“Annie—”
“It’s just a wish,” Annie said, brushing it off as though she didn’t care. As though Jo couldn’t see straight through her seven-year-old deception. “Mama said I shouldn’t get my hopes up.”
Jo’s gut twisted. Derek wouldn’t like that Chelsea knew there was something going on between them. “You talked to your mom about this?”
Annie’s mouth pulled down at the corners. “Last night. Was I not supposed to?”
“You can talk to your mom about anything you want. I’m—your Dad and I...”
The little girl cocked her head to the side. “Don’t you like him?”
Jo nodded. “I like him very much.”
Annie grinned. “I knew it.”
“It’s not that simple, Annie. People don’t fall in love so fast.”
“Why not?”
Jo grasped for a way to answer her question, but the more she hunted for the right words to say, the fewer answers she had.
People didn’t fall in love in three days—did they?
This hurricane of emotions whirling through her body, the wild, out of control sense that if she didn’t hang on for dear life she’d be blown away, that wasn’t love.
Was it?
She was such an idiot. She’d gone and fallen in love with him?
That was not part of the plan. And this sweet little girl—his daughter—looking up at her with her big, sad puppy dog eyes, wasn’t supposed to have any clue.
This was supposed to be sex, just banging the hot single dad on her work trip.
It was not supposed to be love. How could she have let herself fall in love with him?
No one can know about this… His words from the other night rushed back to her, knocking the air from her lungs. How had she let herself fall in love with someone who wanted to keep her a secret?
“It’s complicated,” Jo managed to get out.
Annie rolled her eyes. “Why do grown-ups always say something is complicated when what they mean is they want you to stop asking questions?”
Jo’s heart swelled and she fought the urge to wrap her arms around the young girl. “I’ll never tell you to stop asking questions. But I don’t have any answers for you right now.”
Annie seemed to consider this. Then, as though she’d come to a decision, she held out her hand to help Jo up and gave a firm nod. “Don’t worry. That’s what the wish is for.”