Page 85 of Finding Jack
I texted her, panicked. “When are you getting here?”
“Leaving work in 15 minutes.” So that meant she’d be here in closer to an hour. Great. That should be plenty of time to obsess about what to wear and make myself crazy.
I marched into my bathroom and stared at my reflection. “No,” I told her firmly. “You have to quit freaking out.”
It didn’t work.
I beelined to my closet to figure out what to wear. It had to be something that looked like I’d actually wear it in my house but that was also cute without trying too hard. I settled on a gauzy tank top with a tiny floral print, cuffed jeans, and bare feet. There. I was practically an Anthropologie ad. I flat-ironed my hair and fixed my flaking mascara. Anything more than that would look too heavy-handed.
In between all the primping and closet-wrecking, I kept trying to figure out how I felt about it all. It should freak me out, shouldn’t it, that a guy I’d never met had invited himself to crash at my house with no notice?
But he was coming with my best friend’s brother. I knew Sean and trusted him, and I probably wouldn’t have been fazed if he’d called and said he was bringing some random guy I’d never heard of to crash with him at our place for the weekend. And Jack was by no means random. We’d talked or FaceTimed for hours over the last couple of months.
The fact that he wasn’t random might be the bigger problem. Was I supposed to think this was spontaneous and fun like I would if one of my old college roommates decided to surprise me? Probably, if Jack and I were friends.
That’s not how I felt, though. I felt…I didn’t know how to describe it, but I was dead certain my stomach had never done these gymnastics for any of my friends before.
I texted Jack and said,SEAN IS COMING TO MY HOUSE AND BRINGING COMPANY. WHAT IS GOING ON?But no matter how many times I shook my phone threateningly, it didn’t dislodge any new texts from Jack.
I was in the middle of texting my fifth “HURRY UP” to Ranée from the couch when she walked through the door. I immediately tried to peer around her for company, but she only shut it behind her.
“Just me, myself, and I,” she said, and I slumped back on the couch. “But Sean should be here any minute. And he’s bringing pizza.”
“And that’s it?”
She sat at the other end of the couch. “Em, he’s bringing—”
But right then the doorbell rang as the door opened and Sean poked his head through. “Hey, ladies,” he said. “I brought a friend.”
This was it.
I settled my hands into my lap and drew a calming breath while the truth washed over me. I couldn’t wait to meet Jack. And now I didn’t have to.
My phone vibrated just as Sean crouched down to pick something up. I checked the text to read, “It’s not me. Still in Oregon,” just as Sean backed through the door carrying a dog crate.
It felt like riding a roller coaster all the way to the top, starting the wild downward dive, and having it lurch to a stop mid-plunge. All of my adrenaline had spiked but now it had nowhere to go.
“Ladies, meet my new roommate, Shep.” He opened the gate and an Australian Shepherd puppy scrambled out.
“Sean got a new dog,” Ranée said, getting up to greet her brother with a hug. “I told him you like dogs.”
“Is it okay if he hangs out with me here until Sunday? He’s still so young that I didn’t want to leave him with someone else. But he’s housebroken, I swear.”
“Of course he can stay here. Can I pet him?” I only asked to be polite. Normally I would love to meet a new dog. I adored them, and it wasn’t Shep’s fault that he felt like a bait-and-switch, a consolation prize instead of the person I most wanted to see.
Shep wasn’t a large dog, and I could tell he still needed to grow into his paws a little, but he was more grown than not. He had a beautiful coat with patches of tan and white, but mostly it was gray with splotches of black. He raced over to Ranée and around her feet while she knelt and loved on him. “Oh my gosh, he looks just like Charlie Boy.”
“That was our favorite dog growing up,” Sean explained, grinning at his sister fawning over Shep.
This isn’t the dog’s fault, I told myself.Don’t be a jerk.I mustered a smile. “I can see why. We always had black labs, but I love Australian Shepherds.”
“So you really are cool with us crashing? A second ago you looked—”
I cut him off with a shake of my head. “Just didn’t expect a dog, but you’re both welcome, any time. It’ll be nice to have a dog friend this weekend.”
“So glad.” Another knock sounded at the door, and Sean opened it. “Pizza’s here.”
I didn’t want pizza. I didn’t want to hang out anymore where I could feel Ranée’s eyes studying my face with the intensity she usually reserved for hunting down her premature gray hairs. I summoned a smile and called softly for Shep who gleefully raced over to greet me at the sofa, his nails clacking on the wood floor.
