Chapter 6
It’d sprinkledwhile they had dinner, and the air had turned humid. Jack had enjoyed getting to know about Jo’s life. They’d reminisced about high school and the different circles they’d run in, and he’d found her charming, engaging, and substantive.
“It feels so weird to be back.” Jo hugged herself as they walked the trail.
They’d finished dinner, and instead of going with his plan of taking her home right after, he’d asked if she wanted to take a walk. When she’d agreed, he’d felt like he’d thrown a touchdown. He wasn’t sure why since they’d only just met.
Sure, they’d gone to high school together, but they didn’t really know each other back then. Aside from that, even if they had, ten years was a long time to become a different person. He knew he was.
The cocky jock with unlimited potential and the future ahead of him was given a lesson on humility, respect, and loyalty. At eighteen, he knew everything. At twenty, unable to walk, he realized he knew nothing and that there was more to love and life than what was on the surface.
“Yeah? How so?” he asked.
“I don’t know. When I left, I was with Craig. We’d applied to a few schools in New York. I chose NYU, and he went to Columbia. It’s a little strange to be back without him. The last year of high school, we were inseparable.”
“Do you mind if I ask what happened?” He couldn’t for the life of him figure out why Craig let her go. Beautiful, smart, and funny. Unless there was some weird personality thing that had yet to manifest, she was a woman worth holding onto.
She was quiet a few beats, and he began to wonder if she was going to answer or not. Finally, she replied, “About six months ago, I was packing for a trip we were going on, and his phone was laying out. A text came through from a woman telling him she loved him.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
She dropped her hands to her side. “Don’t be. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I was hurt and angry at first, but as the weeks went by, I realized it didn’t hurt as much as it should. I should have been devastated, wrecked, in a ball, crying my eyes out, and it felt more like a papercut.” She groaned. “I’m so sorry. I just blurted all that out.” She gave a nervous chuckle. “How about you make me feel a little less awkward. She glanced at him. “Have any girlfriends I need to watch out for?”
“It’s okay.” Jack shook his head as he laughed. “There was one. We dated for a couple of years. I thought I was in love. I thought she loved me. Turns out, she really loved attention. Once I was injured, she was gone. I was a has-been.”
Pulling him to a stop, Jo caught his gaze. “Your value, your worth is not tied to football. Yes, you were great at it, but you were a good person. You put together food and clothing drives. You didn’t let the other guys on the football team bully other kids. Not only did you help rebuild Mrs. Jennings’s house, but you also did a toy drive for her kids that year because it’d burned down a week before Christmas. You were a good example in high school.”
“How did you know it was me? I never…” And did she just admit she knew about him a whole lot more than he knew about her? He’d known he was popular with the girls, but they usually went on about his looks and football, not the other things.
She chewed her lip. “I may have overhead your mom talking to my grandma one day while they were wrapping the gifts.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that I was cocky and arrogant.”
“Show me a high school quarterback star who isn’t.” She smiled. “You were… are a good guy.”
He’d done those things in high school because they were the right things to do. He’d been a freshman and picked on. He’d hated it and told himself that if he was ever in the position to keep that from happening to someone else, he would. Mrs. Jennings’s house… he’d had an aunt in Washington State lose her home around Christmas. It’d been devastating to her and her family. He’d seen how heartbroken they were. The things he did were basic decency. Nothing to be praised for.
There was also a decade between those two verbs. “How do you know I’m a good guy now?”
“If you were a bad guy you wouldn’t charge my grandma barely more than the materials.” She smiled.
His mouth dropped open. “How do you figure that out?”
“Grandma told me.”
“She knows?”
Jo leveled her eyes at him. “Really? My grandma?”
He chuckled. Yeah, she did have a knack for knowing things. “I guess I should have known that.”
“Yeah, nothing gets past her.”
Her gaze dipped to where her hand remained on his arm, and she yanked it back. Now that she brought attention to it, he realized that’s why his arm was tingling and little streaks of electricity were bouncing around inside his chest. With the way she jerked her hand away, he had to wonder if she was feeling the same charge.
She began walking again.
Jack stood there a moment, a smile stretching on his lips. He jogged to catch up to her. “I guess I’m just surprised you knew all that?”
“You were kind of a big deal. Even before I got to high school, kids were talking about you. Guys wanted to be you. Girls wanted to date you.” She seemed to realize what she’d said and added, “I mean… most girls. The ones who dated. Not that I didn’t date. I mean, I didn’t…” She clamped her lips shut.
Instead of doing what he was dying to do, which was tease her, he glanced at the well as they passed by it. For now, he’d let it go, but tuck the information away for later.
Digging in his jeans pocket, he had little hope of finding any change because he hadn’t grabbed any before he left the apartment. When his fingers wrapped around something, he pulled it out. “I’ve got a dime. Think it’ll work?”
“I dunno. I mean, it demands payment in the form of pennies.” She smiled. “You could unleash a plague or awaken something evil that will plunder the land.”
He laughed. “Wow. That’s imaginative.”
Shrugging, she grinned. “Hey, I am a writer.”
Secretly, he was toying with the idea because a penny was one wish for love, but he was looking at a woman and a situation that seemed hopeless. There were roadblocks aplenty. He stuffed the dime back in his pocket, and they began walking again.
“Not chancing it, huh?” Jo asked through a laugh.
“Nah. Don’t want to anger it. I’d hate to mess it up for anyone who makes a wish.” He glanced at her. “Who knows, I might need it later on.” He grinned as they passed a lamp. Sure enough, her cheeks held a dusting of pink. Why did he enjoy that so much? Maybe it had to do with the fact that he affected her. A talent he wouldn’t mind developing further.
The rest of their walk was more small talk. Stories from high school, their favorite candy bar or show, and a myriad of other little things. Insignificant by most standards, but he’d loved learning each little thing. Unlike the other women he’d dated, he wanted to know those details. They seemed unimportant, but they weren’t. They made Jo, Jo, and he liked her.
By the time they’d made the circle, they still hadn’t run out of things to talk about. A feat that hadn’t happened to Jack before. Most of the time, a walk with a woman resulted in awkward silence and stares as he took her home.
Not Jo.
When they reached her house, they were still talking and laughing. He loved her laugh, too. Light and musical. She’d even snorted once which brought out a shade of red he’d yet to see on her cheeks.
As he was walking her to the door, she turned, a step above him and smiled. “I had so much fun tonight. Thank you for dinner.”
With the porch light haloing her, it almost seemed like he was dropping off his very own angel. Flyaway hairs caught in the light like little gold threads.
“I had fun, too. Thanks for going with me.”
She toed the step, and her gaze dipped. “I have a confession.”
A confession? “Well, you have my interest piqued.”
There was a pause, almost like she’d changed her mind.
“What?” he asked.
“In high school…” She took a deep breath. “In high school, I had the biggest crush on you, but that wasn’t unique. Every girl had a crush on Jack Turner.” She lifted her gaze again, and their eyes met.
Suddenly, Jack’s world felt jostled. He’d never looked a woman in the eyes and caught a vision of his life with her before. Marriage, carrying her over the threshold, building a future. He saw it all in her dark eyes.
Until recently, he hadn’t wanted to find love. Not really. It wasn’t until Ethan found Serenity that a tug for something more began stirring in him. A woman he could build a life with.
His gaze dipped to her lips, still glossy. Still kissable. What if he did kiss her? Well, she’d leave and possibly take his heart with her. That was one consequence he could think of.
In a blink, she gave him a peck on the cheek and ran the rest of the way up the stairs. “Thanks for tonight, Jack.”
Stunned for a moment, he stood there, gathering his wits before making his way back to his truck. He got in, started the engine, and sat there unsure if he was glad or relieved she’d dashed into the house.
Sliding the gear into drive, he decided he was going back to that well and tossing in the dime. In his mind, he was paying extra because he knew his wish would be a little harder to grant. Miracles happened all the time. Why couldn’t one happen for him?
Just as Jo reached the kitchen, the light flicked on, and her grandma gave her a knowing grin. She’d most definitely caught Jo giving Jack a kiss on the cheek.
Jo was still unclear what had come over her. One minute, she was standing there, gazing into his eyes, and the next, she was planting a kiss on him. Granted, it was just his cheek, but only because her brain had finally kicked into gear and switched lanes. Her cheeks burned just thinking about the train wreck that would have been. Kissing him would have been a big mistake. Huge!
It’d been forever since she’d had a date—not a date—dinner with a friend. What an incredible evening. They had so much in common. The walk they’d taken was a blast. Just them, talking. Jack was charismatic, funny, and interesting. She was so attracted to him. Just the little bit of time they spent together was enough to know he was still the same good guy he’d been in high school.
Craig would have never been okay with something as simple and laid-back. It always had to be fancy and expensive. Superficial. They’d talk, but it wasn’t a conversation as much as talking at each other.
But Jack. Oh, Jack. He made her toes curl with just a look. Those lips. That smile. His laugh. He was beautiful inside and out. She couldn’t remember being so attracted to someone in her life, not even Craig.
That moment on the steps, gazing into his eyes, she’d seen her life play out like a movie. Visions of walking down the aisle, seeing his smiling face when she woke up and went to bed, their kids running around, growing old.
That peck on the cheek was a teaser of something better, deeper. A real kiss? The thought danced through her mind. Breathless. He’d leave her breathless and wanting more. She just knew it. Jack would take what might be a toe-curling kiss and turn it into a sock-ripping, life-altering physical pledge of forever.
She also knew it couldn’t go anywhere, which meant from this point forward, she’d keep her lips to herself. The last thing she wanted was to get hurt or to hurt him.
Jo forced herself to casually walk to the cabinet holding the glasses, take one out, and fill it with water. After taking a sip, she leaned her hip against the counter. “I told you not to wait up.”
“Well, if I’d listened to you, I’d have missed you giving Jack Turner a kiss on the cheek.” She snickered. “I take it that it was a good date?”
Jo groaned as April 25th darted through her brain. She hadn’t even needed a light sweater with the walk. No way was she telling her grandma that. “It wasn’t a date. It was dinner with a person I knew… of in high school.”
“Does your face and lips know that? Because you”re sort of glowing, and you haven’t stopped smiling since you dashed into the house.”
“I am not.” She forced her lips into a frown. The corners immediately popped back up. “Okay, so I’m smiling. It was fun. I can smile because it was fun.”
“And because you like him.”
“Grandma, nothing can come of it.” She set her glass down. “I don’t need a relationship right now, especially one that’s in Wishing Well. Everyone knows long distance doesn’t work.” Even if it did, she’d just gotten out of a long-term relationship. She needed a little time on her own to figure herself out and then maybe think about dipping her toe in the dating pool again.
Her grandma eyed her and then pointed to the kitchen table. “You look like you could use an ear. Sit. I’ll make some hot chocolate, and we can talk. It’s been forever since we’ve done that.”
A few moments later, her grandma slid a cup of hot chocolate with a spoon sticking out in front of her and took a seat across from her. “Talk.”
She swirled the spoon in the drink. “I’ve been at the magazine for five years. It’s been great, but Delia keeps promising me that she’ll let me be a photographer. Every time I think she’ll keep her word, something happens. They just can’t move me. They can’t lose such a great writer. I’m needed where I am…blah, blah, blah.”
“You are an excellent writer. Always have been.” Her grandma paused a beat. “But that’s never been where your heart is. You’ve always loved taking pictures.”
Jo gave a long sigh. “I just… I feel like I’ve given the magazine so much of myself. Traveling, writing article after article, and I’m grateful that they gave me a chance after I got out of college. But…”
“You want to follow your heart.”
“I do. No pun intended,” she said with a chuckle. “I’ve spoken to the head of the photography department, Hayden Smith, and he said my photos are great and that he’d love to have me on the team. Of course, I haven’t told Delia that. It would be one thing if I knew I didn’t have a shot, but I do.”
Her grandma took a sip of her chocolate. “Do you really want to work for the magazine, taking photos of weddings?”
“It would open doors. Hayden invites his team to a party every year. They rub elbows with some of the most influential people. People who can make an artist’s career.”
“I see.”
“Grandma, I don’t know what to do. Now that Arianna is at the magazine, I don’t know if or when another spot will open up for me. Do I wait it out, or do I give up?”
They sat quietly for a moment, sipping on their drinks.
“Would it really be giving up if you left? Just because that opportunity didn’t work out doesn’t mean another one wouldn’t come along. What if you were a freelance writer? You could travel and write what you wanted. Clearly, you’ve got a following, or you wouldn’t have Hollywood stars asking for you.”
Jo had toyed with the idea a few times, but the thought of striking out on her own scared her. It was risky. Not that she didn’t think she could do the writing, but what if she never got the chance to do what she loved? What if no one ever wanted to buy her photos or print them?
Silence lingered as they each drank a little more.
“Do you remember when we used to talk about turning this place into a bed and breakfast and wedding venue?” Grandma smiled.
Nodding, Jo leaned back in her chair. “I remember.” Then she’d met Craig. Meeting him changed a lot of things. When she’d mentioned it to him, he’d told her Wishing Well was a small town and it was a money pit. It was too much of a risk with little chance of it working out.
“We’d talk for hours about it, and then one day… you just… you wanted nothing to do with it anymore.”
“We were just talking, grandma. It was more about spending time together.”
Her grandma tilted her head. “It sure didn’t sound like that when we were planning things.”
“I was just a kid. Daydreaming. That’s all. I wanted to pursue photography. You know that.”
“I know.” She took a breath and let it out slowly. “But maybe it doesn’t have to be a daydream. A wedding venue would open plenty of opportunities to photograph. We’ve got wide open fields—I know you’d loved wandering off and taking pictures of wildlife.”
Flashes of memories played in Jo’s mind. More than once, she’d gone off on a Saturday, wandered all over the property, and down to the river it butted up against. She’d return to the house happy with a full memory card.
“Just think about it, sweetheart. Don’t shut your doors before you’ve looked around the room a little. You might find something you didn’t know was there.” She tapped the table, stood, and smiled down at Jo. “Keep an open mind while you’re here. You never know what might pop up.”
“Okay.” The word came out halfhearted.
Leaving the magazine felt like quitting or giving up. She’d worked so hard to move from being a lowly plebe to where she was, and the thought of picking up and leaving filled her with a level of disappointment she couldn’t describe.
Then again, how disappointed would she be five years from now, and she was still writing instead of following her heart?
Maybe by the time she left Wishing Well, she’d have an answer.