Chapter 2 #2
In the kids’ section of the library, there was a colorful rug with rainbows, teddy bears, unicorns, and such, plus some kid-size tables and chairs and five beanbag chairs.
Unfortunately, no matter how many times Mrs. Faulkner, the town’s librarian, fixed them, three of those beanbags were always leaking.
The two good chairs were hard to grab if you weren’t there when someone left or if you weren’t the first through the door.
Lilly nodded. “That’s fine.”
But still no spark of excitement.
Jack’s shoulders slumped. “What is it, Lillypad?”
“It’s just not the same,” she said softly. “As much as I love the library books, I have to return them. They’re…not mine.”
Jack closed his eyes for a heartbeat. Fuck.
He needed to get his anger under control so Lilly didn’t mistakenly think that it was directed at her in any way.
Fuck their father and fuck their mother.
They had the most amazing daughter and they just abandoned her.
Lilly was like a beacon of light in a dark world of misery.
Once he was sure he was under control, Jack carefully turned her to face him.
He was still down on his knee before her.
“You have every right to wish for books of your own. I swear to you, Lillypad, one day I’ll buy you your own library.
” Slowly, he shook his head. “But not today.” He cupped her little, chubby face between his hands.
Even his fingers looked lanky in comparison.
“Can you be patient for me just a bit longer?”
Though Lilly was biting the inside of her lip with eyes so sad they burned Jack’s soul, she nodded. “Two years,” she started.
“Four months,” he continued.
“Twenty-two days,” she ended.
He gave her a sincere smile. “I swear, Lilly, one day.”
She stepped forward into his open arms, her little hands clinging to his shirt. “Thanks for taking care of me, Jackie. One day, I’ll take care of you too.”
He pressed his lips to the top of her blonde head. “Never. Big brothers are supposed to take care of their little sisters, not the other way around.”
“Some big brothers are really stubborn.” She stepped back. “But wanna know a secret?”
“What’s that?”
“Little sisters can be just as stubborn.” She gifted him with a smile.
Fuck, that smile. Jack knew he’d burn the world down for that smile. He needed to figure out a way to earn enough money to get them out of this shit town. Lilly was destined for so much better than a leaking mobile home trailer, secondhand clothes, and library books.
Jack was just about to rebut her sassy statement when movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.
The bookshop owner, Mr. Saget, was grabbing the Narnia box set out of the display window.
Both Lilly and Jack watched in silence as he carried the books and the lion stuffed animal over to the register.
The bookcases blocked who was the one doing the purchasing, but it wasn’t like it mattered overall.
The box set was gone before Jack even had a chance to ask if Mr. Saget would hold it for him until he got the money.
Though Lilly looked back at Jack with sad eyes, she still tried to smile at him. “It’s okay. Today is someone else’s chance to enjoy the books.”
Fuck, she was too good for this world.
“How did you get so sweet?” he asked her in all sincerity. “Certainly didn’t learn it from me.”
“It’s all the candy Mrs. Mallory gives me,” Lilly said with a wide, cheeky smile.
Kathleen Mallory was their next door neighbor.
She was a single mom with a three year old son.
Some days when Jack couldn’t take Lilly with him, he was able to arrange with Mrs. Mallory to watch Lilly in exchange for yardwork or babysitting her son, Billy.
It wasn’t the greatest arrangement, but it helped on occasion.
Lilly didn’t know that Jack left her behind so he could rummage through the junkyard and landfill for anything he could either pawn or fix and then pawn. Plus, he wanted her nowhere near that area of town.
Standing, Jack chuckled. “Remind me to thank her.” He reached out his hand to her.
Lilly put her much smaller hand in his. She knew to always be on whichever side was nearest to the building when they were walking down the sidewalk.
The candy shoppe was just down the block. Glancing at the setting sun, Jack debated on taking her there. He knew he had at least two pennies in his pocket. She deserved something nice after spending the day waiting for him to finish mowing lawns and then shopping for school supplies.
He could spare a few pennies. If they were quick, they could still make it home before the sun set.
Jack was opening his mouth to tell Lilly his plan when someone shouted, “Wait!” from behind them.
He glanced over his shoulder, so certain that whoever was speaking wasn’t calling out to them—and did a double take.
Running towards them in a cute, long dress was the most beautiful girl Jack had ever seen.
She had flaming orange hair, piercing hazel eyes, and a dusting of freckles over her nose and cheeks.
As she skidded to a halt in front of them, Jack noted that she was only a few inches shorter than he was.
Maybe five-seven. The yellow dress revealed just a teasing amount of cleavage.
Her arms were covered by a white sweater, which Jack desperately wanted to take off of her to see if those freckles could be located there too.
Though fifteen, he’d never had a girlfriend before.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t noticed the girls in his class or around him.
He’d had crushes before, and the occasional eye contact with one made his heart—and other things—jump to attention, but never enough to actually follow through or commit to anything.
But this girl…
Just…wow.
She was a flame in the darkness, as mesmerizing as the beauty of a flickering fire. And that smile. It stole his breath.
Her hair was in an intricate braid that looped around the top of her head like a crown. It seemed fitting in a way. Queen of Hearts. Then he corrected it to, Queen of my heart. Maybe even clichéd, but damn if Jack cared.
The girl smiled at Jack before turning her attention to Lilly. “I really hope I’m not overstepping, but I have a rule to do one kind thing a day.” She held out a brown paper shopping bag to Lilly.
Lilly looked up at Jack, unsure of what to do. It was rare that townspeople talked to them or engaged them in any way. Small towns talked, and it was widely known that John Duncan did not believe Lilly was his daughter. No one wanted anything to do with the illegitimate child, not even John Duncan.
Cautiously, Jack nodded down to Lilly. He didn’t know what was in the bag, but instincts—or maybe his lizard brain—was telling him that he could trust this teenage girl.
Lilly let go of Jack’s hand to grab the handles of the bag with both of hers. It was heavy enough that she had to place it on the sidewalk. The girl watched in expectation as Lilly reached into the bag. With a gasp, Lilly pulled out the lion stuffed animal from the bookshop window for Jack to see.
His eyebrows raised in surprise.
Lilly tipped the bag enough for him to see inside. Sure enough, there was the box set of Narnia books. Ribbon and all.
“Wow!” Lilly looked up at the teenage girl with flaming orange hair. “Is this for me?”
She nodded down to Lilly. “Of course! I saw the way you were looking at the books in the window.” Glancing up at Jack, she added, “I hope I didn’t overstep.
I just was so busy today that I hadn’t had a chance to do something special for anyone and I knew as soon as I saw your sister look at the books that that was the one kind thing I wanted to do today. ”
They stared at each other for a long moment, gunmetal-gray eyes to hazel. There was…something in her eyes that told Jack she was studying him as much as he was her. Jack had never before considered what it would be like to fall in love. It wasn’t as if his parents had been an example to him.
The saying ‘falling in love’ had just been something corny to him until this moment.
Something romance books and poets used. One didn’t actually fall.
But then, why did it feel like he was standing on the edge of a cliff with no parachute?
Like he could fall into those hazel eyes and drown?
Like she was the only girl in the entire world?
“Thank you!” Lilly’s high-pitched, excited voice seemed like background noise.
But it was enough to break the moment on the girl’s part. She blinked rapidly, as if coming back to herself. When she looked away, Jack’s entire body rebelled, wanting to demand her attention again.
“I’m so glad you like it,” she told Lilly. Her smile widened on his sister and a jolt of jealousy hit him. Fuck, he wanted her to smile at him like that.
“Jackie, look! They’re all there. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven! All seven books!”
Jack forced his eyes away from the girl’s face to look down at his sister’s request. “That’s great, Lilly.”
“I’m glad I caught you. I thought I was going to be too late when I saw you were gone by the time I left the store.”
Jack noticed that the girl didn’t have any other packages with her. That meant she hadn’t bought any books for herself. Just Lilly.
As sweet as the gesture was, a churning in Jack’s stomach left him with a feeling of inadequacy. This girl, as beautiful as she was, was a stranger. She’d bought Lilly a gift that was Jack’s responsibility to give.
“Hey, Lillypad, could you go wait by my bike for a minute?”
Lilly looked up at him with wide eyes. “You’re not going to make me give them back, right?”
He shook his head. “No. They were a gift to you. They’re all yours.”
She let out a long sigh of relief. “Thanks, Jackie!” She hugged the stuffed lion to her chest. This close, Jack could tell it was also used. “Thank you!” Lilly said to the girl.
“You’re very welcome.”