Page 78 of Facing the Line

“I thought maybe I had recovered.” Jonas grabs a strip of bacon and shoves it in his mouth. “I have not.”

Emma smiles and shakes his head. “You’re such a scaredy-cat.”

“Am not.” He swipes the pancake she was trying to plate and heads for the table in the small dining area off the kitchen. The house is open, with one area flowing into the next. I grab a plate and follow suit. Mary pours me a cup of coffee, and I murmur my thanks.

“So maybe not Navy Pier,” I say, settling into a chair next to him, across from Emma and Mary. “But definitely the Bean. What else do you recommend, Emma?”

Emma pauses, her bite midway to her mouth. “Um, my family likes to go to a bunch of museums and stuff, but I think that’s boring.” She rolls her eyes. “I like the American Girl store, the otters at the aquarium, and the Skydeck.”

She shoots Jonas a triumphant grin as he groans. “Are you trying to kill me, Em?”

“Maybe,” she singsongs, as I ask, “What’s that?”

Mary chortles. “Oh, you know. The glass lookout platform off of one of the tallest buildings in the world.”

I can’t help it, I giggle at him, too. “Does your family always torture you like this?”

“Yes.” He nods, a fake pout on his face. “They’re so mean.”

I pat his hand, then withdraw my fingers before anyone notices. It’s harder than I thought to turn off my affection for him.

“Jonas might be afraid of heights, but I can’t make fun of him for it, because he knows what I’m afraid of, too,” I say to distract from how I can’t keep my hands off him.

Emma gasps with delight. “What is Hadley afraid of? Is it spiders? Because I hate those things.”

“No, not spiders.” He raises a brow. “You should guess.”

“Zombies!” Emma shouts as her mom says, “Sharks!”

Jonas shakes his head. “Nope.”

“Death! Failure!” Emma pounds the table in her exuberance.

“That got deep fast.” He raises his brows at her antics.

I take a sip of my coffee, enjoying the drawn-out pause. “Blood.”

“Blood?” Emma scoffs, but I have to fight not to feel woozy at the word. “That’s not scary at all. I get blood drawn all the time.”

“I know it’s not scary to you,” I tell her. “You’re incredibly brave. But the, uh, first time I met Jonas”—I only trip over the lie a little—”I cut myself and about passed out on him. He had to take care of me. It was so embarrassing.”

“That’s why he’s studying nursing.” Mary ruffles his curly hair as she stands and refills her mug. “And why I’m not.”

“I don’t know, Mom.” He stretches, arms above his head, showing off that sliver of skin at his waistband. I drool a little.“You work in an elementary school. You probably see about as many bodily fluids on a given day as the hospital.”

She huffs a laugh from over by the coffee maker. “You’re not wrong. But back to what we should show Hadley of our fine city.”

“No matter what else we pick, there’s one non-negotiable.” Jonas’s tone is firm, but his face is open and full of smiles.

“What?” I ask, as he glances at Emma.

“Em, where must we absolutely take her to eat?”

She bounces in her chair. “Giordanos!”

Jonas gazes at me, his face solemn. “Chicago deep dish is practically our religion. You must try.”

“As long as there are no onions, you know I’m game.”

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