Page 54 of A Heart Worth Finding
As the movie played, with the scent of her lotion and Silas’s arms wrapping her in a warm soft cocoon, Jessica easily fell into a deep sleep, her dreams haunted by memories of spring break…and a boy named Jack.
THEN: April 8, 2020
Their first date hadabsolutely not gone the way he’d planned, and Jack had been mentally kicking himself since the night before. Why had he brought up what came after they left Mexico? In the grand scheme of things, they hardly knew each other, and Jack had probably scared the shit out of Jessica by trying to talk about the future.
She’d been distant the rest of the night, but when he’d dropped her at her room and asked if she wanted to go explore the markets downtown with him tomorrow, she’d perked up, saying she’d love to and giving him a sweet, lingering kiss before disappearing behind the door.
He just hadn’t expected her to bring her mom along.
Or Bethani…and Bethani’s mom.
In a last ditch effort to save himself from what could’ve been the most awkward excursion in the history of forever, he frantically called his mom and begged her to meet them in the lobby.
“What? Why?” she asked.
“Because Jess invited her mom to go shopping with us, and I don’t want to spend the whole day being interrogated. Please, Mom.”
“Fine. I’ll be down in a bit.”
“Thank you.” He hung up, then turned to the girls. “She’s on her way down!”
“Oh, good!” Michelle said. “We had a lovely chat yesterday, and I’m excited to get to know her better. You know, since you two seem to be getting so close.”
“Moooooom,” Jessica whined, and Jack grinned.
“What, dear?” Michelle said sweetly, then turned to Lisa.
At that moment, Tyler, Chad, and Zach entered the lobby, clad in swim trunks and Hawaiian print button-up shirts that hung wide open.
“Jaaaaaack,” Chad yelled, his name echoing across the marble floor and walls.
“Ugh,” Jack said, then placed his hands on Jessica’s shoulders and crouched behind her. “Save me.”
“No can do, big guy,” she said. “Hey Chad! Ty! Zach!”
The boys ran over, Tyler going so far as to scoop her up in a hug.
“Where are you guys off to?” Zach asked.
“Yeah, and why weren’t we invited?” Chad quipped.
“Yeah, Jack, why weren’t they invited?” Jessica asked sweetly.
Somehow, Jack just knew Jessica had invited her mom, Bethani, and Lisa to act as a buffer because things between them were getting too serious too fast. And honestly, he couldn’tblame her. He’d crossed some invisible line in the sand last night, and now he had to work twice as hard to fix things before vacation ended.
There is noafter.
Jack understood the motivation behind Jessica’s words, but that didn’t make them weigh any less on his chest.
Because if he had anything to say about it, therewouldbe an after. There had to be. He already knew that, because this girl had walked into it, his life would never be the same, and he couldn’t imagine carrying on after this vacation like everything about him hadn’t been altered by knowing her.
“I just didn’t think you guys would want to go shopping,” Jack finally told his friends.
“And you do?” Tyler asked with a raised brow.
And…okay, he had him there.
With a smirk, Jessica turned her attention to a conversation with her mom about the people back home they should buy souvenirs for, and Jack jerked his head at his friends, moving them out of earshot of Jessica.
