“Crap. I don’t know what to say.”
“I was pretty upset. Lots of um…feelins’ at the time.” Jess cleared the catch in his throat. “He had it comin’, Al. Bad things happen to stupid people. That's all you really need to know. He's still alive. Got all his fingers and toes.”
“Thank you.”
“Well, don’t think I didn’t enjoy it.”
“Is your hand ok?”
“Just a small fracture across the top. Three weeks in one of those floatin’ casts then two in a brace.”
“Oh.”
We sat leaning against the stump. Neither of us talked after discussing Dutch’s fate. Neither of us really knew where to go next. The breeze picked up rustling the grass. Orange painted streaks filled the west sky, casting shadows with the start of night. It was only a short time before our Texas stars appeared in the darkness.
“Jess, are we really ok?” I whispered.
“Yeah.”
“Promise?”
“Yeah.”
Jess slipped his fingers through mine. Like a puzzle piece finding its place, I gripped tight to his hand. I never wanted to let go again. The rational side of my subconscious wanted to question it, but my broken heart refused to listen. The warmth of his skin wove a magic around the shredded pieces filling the missing gaps. I was finally whole again.
“I quit the fraternity.”
“You did? When?”
Jess didn’t answer for some time, but clasped my fingers a little tighter. “I moved out after the first week of school. Seth left too, and we got an apartment. I had too much goin’ on here.”
I didn’t know what to say. Jess had an apartment, and I knew nothing about it. “Where?”
“Not far from you actually. I’ve seen you a few times at the grocery store.”
“Oh.” This felt incredibly strange. Jess had an apartment and watched me sometimes.
“I couldn’t keep up with school and workin’ with Frank and the fraternity stuff.” He let out a deep breath. “I figured out what to do ‘bout Sprayberry.”
“You did?”
“Yeah, he’s gettin’ bad. Mother’s right. She can’t even get him to go to the doctor. My dad spends time with him, tryin’ to secretly access him. Frank knows too. Makes him a little crazy.” His thumb rubbed over my skin. “They need me here…he needs me here.”
“But you came back to school?”
“I did. We hired Skeeter to help Frank while I’m gone, but I come back every weekend. Sometimes I come on Thursdays and don’t leave until Monday. Sometimes more. I’m gonna try to keep it up until I graduate. Then I’ll come back and…stay.” He smiled sadly at me. “I want this Al. This place and me just go together.”
“I know it does.”
“But I really want to finish school too. I’m gettin’ behind pretty bad. I don’t know…I might not be able to finish. I’ll try I guess.”
“I’ll help you. Let me do it, please.” The words rushed out. I saw a way to make amends with him. “We can do study sessions and…I’ll even make you flash cards. I know you love it when I make them.”
“You’re gonna teach me your nerdy pants ways.”
“Yes. I’ll do whatever it takes to help you graduate and still come here.”
“Thank you.” His smile seemed incredibly sad. “I’ve missed you so much. You have no idea how much I wanted to talk to you ‘bout all of this. I’ve been so torn up over what I’m doin’. Confused if it’s the right decision. Not knowin’ if I should just quit school all together.”
“I’m sorry…Jess.”
“I know.” He swallowed. “Frank even figured it out. He looked at me a couple of weeks ago and said Boy, there’s no use tryin’ to cover up the smell of shit with the stink of an ‘ol pole cat.”
“I think I even missed your Frank jokes.”
“I’m not kiddin’. Frank looked at me and said it, tryin’ to shake some sense into me, I guess.”
I laughed faintly. “So Skeeter really works here now?”
“I wondered how long you were gonna let that slide.”
“Skeeter Rawlins works at Sprayberry.”
“Yeah, he’s doin’ good too. The other day…”
We talked until my bones froze against the stump. Jess rubbed his thumb over the top of my hand, warming up my frigid skin. After months of hurt, the rope holding us together was growing stronger. That’s what happens when something severs a tie. A new one has to be woven in place around the broken threads, making it bigger and tougher than what existed before the ripping pain.
I watched my best friend, feeling a deep warmth radiate out of my chest and into my freezing limbs. It was an intense feeling that took my breath away as my mind finally accepted what it meant; something I had felt toward Jess Mason since I was eight years old.
Chapter 35
When I was twenty-one…
Today was my birthday. Standing in front of the mirror, I curled one last piece of my long, red hair. Sadie came into my bedroom and stopped suddenly.
“You are not wearing that tonight.”
“I just wanted to be comfortable,” I complained, but only my reflection in the glass heard the words.
She came back in the room carrying a flowy, red skirt with a black elastic waist. “Put this on and I guess the shirt can stay.”
“That’s way too short. I can’t wear that.”
“You have those ridiculous legs and all you do is cover them up. I’m taking you out, so put on the skirt. You only turn twenty-one once, sweetie.” She shook the hanger at me. I rolled my eyes as I looked at her little, black dress and shiny heals. My jeans had a hole in the leg and not the fashionable kind. It was a comfortable, ‘I’ve worn these for years’, kind of hole.
I dropped the jeans and pulled the skirt up. I tucked my fitted black shirt into the waist band. If I bent over to put on my shoes, my black panties would flash everyone.
“That looks better on you than it ever did on me. You should keep it.”
“Sadie, I will never wear it again.”
“We will see.”
Hearing a knock on the apartment door, I looked at Sadie, but she just shrugged. I went into the living room and opened the door, feeling the cool air hit my bare legs. Jess grinned back at me. My breath caught in my chest, seeing his sweet face. He was supposed to be at Sprayberry because Frank needed him this weekend. “What are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t miss your birthday.”
“But I thought…”
“I couldn’t miss your birthday,” he said softly.
“Oh.”
He handed me a bag of orange slices. “Sorry, but they came from here. I didn’t have a chance to get the real ones.”
“I’m sure these are just as good.”
His blue eyes drifted over my hair and down the rest of my body to the short skirt and excessive amount of legs. “You look pretty, Al.”
“Thanks.” I blushed.
Jess touched my waist and then slipped his hands around my back, pulling me tight against his chest. The words remained unspoken, but we both remembered my last birthday. I blocked out those thoughts as I buried my nose into his neck. I pulled in a deep breath, getting lost in his smell. Jess didn’t let go until Sadie came into the room.
“Oh good, you made it. I was afraid I would have to employ some catastrophic incident to stall her.”
“You knew he was coming?”
“Happy birthday, sweetie.” She smiled, and I knew this explained her persistence in making me wear the skirt. “Now let’s go have some fun.”
“Where are we going?”
“That’s a surprise,” Jess grinned at me.
“I’m worried.”
“You’ll like it. I promise.”
“Jess, I am not riding a mechanical bull.”
He ignored me and looked at Sadie. “Seth’s gonna meet us there.”
“Meet us where?”
He grinned at me again. “Stop tryin’ to ruin your surprise.”
“If I have to ride that thing, then I’m doing a shot tonight.”
“You are not getting drunk.” Sadie turned to give me an evil look with those hazel eyes.
“One shot.”
“That’s it, Alex.”
“Maybe two,” I teased her. “I’m twenty-one and you can’t stop me anymore.”