Page 28 of You Wish
Georgia covered her laugh with her hand. “Get out of here.”
“He once flushed his granddad’s watch because he thought the toilet was a time machine.”
“Okay, that’s adorable.”
“Adorable was when he insisted on wearing my pink cowboy boots with nothing but his diaper.”
“Please tell me there’s photographic evidence.”
“Oh honey, I’ve got a whole blackmail binder. Come here, child.”
Georgia followed Joy into the living room and sat on the couch facing a roaring fire. Joy opened a chest doubling as a coffee table and pulled out a well-loved photo album. She sat next to Georgia and spread the pages across both of their laps.
“Now, you want baby Jake in a tutu? Baby Jake covered in glitter with a Barbie in each hand? Baby Jake sobbing because he thought his butt had fallen off? Boom. Binder. Sectioned by emotional trauma.”
Georgia opened to the toddler years and burst out laughing. There was a bitty Jake sitting on the potty wearing a cowboy hat, too-big boots, and holding a guitar—looking like he was inBonanza.
“You are dangerous.”
“I am the reason he never brings girls home. But he brought you home. That must mean something.”
“We’re just working together.”
Joy looked unconvinced. “Hmm. How long have you known him?”
Georgia swallowed. She didn’t want to go where this conversation was leading.
Make your answers short and sweet. Not too many details that will encourage more questions.
“Since college.”
“Was it love at first sight?”
She choked on air. “What? No. We’re just friends.”
“Nic and I were just friends. For three years. Then we gave up being stubborn to chase happy.”
“I’m happy. I have my dream job. Great friends. I own my house. And I get to make kids’ dreams come true. I can’t imagine what else I need.”
“What about love?”
“Love is hard and heavy and if you’re not careful it can take you under. I like my life light and magical.”
Joy mumbled her disagreement. “Don’t you want someone to share it with?”
“In my experience, sharing only creates a false sense of security. It’s easier to carry all the weight myself rather than get used to the lighter load only to have it dropped back on your shoulders unexpectedly. Like a boomerang, it circles back around usually bearing more weight than it left with.”
“I see,” Joy said with a knowing smile. “Then maybe it wasn’t the right time.”
Once upon a time, she thought she had but that ended up crushing her. Georgia didn’t think there was a right person for her—and if so, she didn’t want to meet him. Love always ended with loss and she’d lost enough in her lifetime.
“The universe doesn’t make mistakes.”
Well, in the case of her and Jake it had. Young love, she’d always chalked it up to. And all the feelings she was experiencing now? Hormones, pure and simple.
“How old was Jake when he came to live with you?”
“Oh, he was a young thing. Maybe six. His dad was offered the position at the embassy in France, and he couldn’t pass up the opportunity. My daughter-in-law is a human rights activist, so she was excited to expand her network internationally.”
