Page 20 of Only This Once
Jinx’s face fell. “We don’t have to go.” He had that look he used to get, the one that made it obvious he was disappointed but trying to fit in with the big kids.
Julia shook her head. “I don’t back out of an agreement.” She held up a finger. “But you have one chance at this. We’ll go hiking this once, and if I hate it, never again.”
“That’s fair,” he agreed.
Mrs. Holden laughed. “I missed you two. When Jesse said you’d be coming here to meet him, I was so happy. I don’t see you and Phoebe as much anymore.”
Julia rubbed at her neck. “Yeah, I mainly go over to her place now that she has the two little ones.”
“Oh, I understand, and you’re great to do that for her. It’s hectic when you have two kids back-to-back like that.” Mrs. Holden smiled at her son. “I should know.”
“Please don’t call me your surprise baby again,” Jinx said.
Mrs. Holden laughed. “I wouldn’t have changed a thing. Now, don’t let me keep you two. Go enjoy the day.” She waved them off.
Jinx leaned down, kissing his mother’s cheek. “Thanks for breakfast.”
Julia said her own goodbye, finding her gaze lingering on the door while she buckled her seat belt in Jinx’s Jeep.
Jinx climbed in the driver’s side. “Thanks again for meeting me here.”
“It worked out. I got to see my favorite person in the world.”
“Hey, what about me?”
She pulled her gaze away from the door and grinned at him. “Do you really want to know your ranking?”
Jinx shook his head. “Please don’t tell me. It’s not safe to drive while crying.”
She laughed. “It’s not that bad.”
“Top ten?” he asked hopefully.
“Well, I have a big family.” She probably shouldn’t have enjoyed his crestfallen look. “How about in the top twenty? I mean, you ghosted me for four years.”
He flushed. “That’s fair.” His eyes met hers. “I really am sorry about that, Jules.”
She relaxed back into her seat, realizing the hurt that had been simmering for so long was loosening inside. “Well, you get to make up for it now. Onward toward the woods.” She waved at the windshield.
He smiled, putting the Jeep in gear and glancing in the rearview mirror.
“And on the way, explain about these bugs.”
Jinx let out a startled laugh, the dimple in his cheek that she’d almost forgotten about flashing. “It won’t be bad. I promise.”
As she listened to him ramble, she thought about how high up he really was in the bottom half of that twenty. Much closer to ten than she wanted to admit. Besides her family and his, she had very few people in her life.
It was nice to get one back.
Jesse tried not to look at Julia too much while they sat on the big rock together and dangled their feet in the water. He wondered if she remembered sitting with him like this before, back when they were kids. Even then, the outdoors hadn’t been Julia’s favorite thing, but Phoebe begged her to come with them that summer. Julia’s mom had been in the hospital, and Julia had sat here on this rock and looked out at the water. For the first time in weeks, the tightness in her shoulders eased.
That was how she looked now. Leaned back on her hands, with her eyes closed and her face tilted up to catch the sunlight, she was so beautiful.
His fingers rested near hers as he mimicked her pose, but he kept glancing at her face, not at the scenery around them. He stared down at how close he was to touching her, an ache building in his stomach.
Julia saved his life in this spot during that summer as kids. He’d been stepping onto the rock, something inside him wanting to be closer to her, when a dog ran up out of nowhere and lunged at his back. He fell face forward, and his forehead smacked into the rock before he splashed into the lake. Too stunned to swim, he’d immediately inhaled water, panicking as he floundered.
Julia jumped right in after him. Her hands wrapped around him and dragged him up until his head was above water. Having her there helped him find his feet. It was just like his nickname to almost drown in three feet of water. He’d coughed up half the lake he’d tried to swallow while she held him and told him everything would be okay.
