Page 57 of Cross My Heart
“You know why. You also know why our entire town is invested in where this relationship goes. We all want you to have the best life you can. Miss Rosa said odds are 10-1 right now in Dexter’s favor!” Julia laughs.
I roll my eyes at her but secretly love that my home town cares so much about me.
“Okay,” she says, “show me your outfit again. I shouldn’t tell you, but I think he has something special on too.”
Laughing while I imagine what he could possibly be wearing, I stand in front of the screen again. He had someone make me a t-shirt in the most hideous pattern meant to look like the curtains Maria cut up in the movie. In large letters across the chest, it simply says, ‘Maria’.The lounge pants he picked are of the softest material I’ve ever felt in a deep navy color to compliment the ridiculous pattern of my shirt.
Julia has tears running down her face. “It is both the sweetest gesture and ugliest thing I have ever seen.” Composing herself, slightly anyway, she asks what else is on the bed.
“He left a massive bucket with some packets of popcorn, every kind of movie theater candy you can imagine, and a note telling me the movie begins as soon as I’m ready to join him,” I tell her.
“You have to admit, Lanes. That’s pretty romantic,” she says, all googly-eyed.
“It is,” I admit, “but I’ve spent the last year convincing myself romance was never going to be a part of my life, Jules. I’m so scared. I-I think I’m starting to care for him, and I love his kids so much. If I keep going down this route, how am I ever going to survive when it's time to come home?”
“I’m not sure, Lanes,” she says truthfully. “How about you don’t worry about the future for now and live in the present? I shouldn’t be telling you this, but Dexter is downstairs pacing, completely freaking out that he has scared you away. If you’re not going down, you should at least put him out of his misery.”
“Julia, are you telling me you are still talking to him every day?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
“Oh yeah, we have a group message going. Dexter, Preston, Trevor, Loki, and me.” She says, pride evident. “Hey, do you know what Loki does? He told us he was going MIA for a while, and he hasn’t responded since.”
“Oh my God,” I say, face planting into the palm of my hand. “No, I do not know what Loki does, that sounds like some kind of spy crap though. Are you seriously telling me that not only is our entire home town taking daily bets on my love life but that my best friend is plotting behind my back with a bunch of guys she’s never met?”
“Yup, it’s awesome. We even have a club name, but I can’t tell you what it is yet. And Dexter’s friends are fun to rile up. Preston takes my shit like a champ and Trevor, well, Trevor is pretty interesting, actually,” a slight blush crosses her cheeks.
My head whips up the screen, “What? What do you mean, Trevor isinteresting?”
Julia is definitely blushing, and she never blushes. Not once in twenty years of friendship have I seen her blush. “Oh, nothing.” She sing-songs, “Story for another time. We’re talking about you. Are you going to go down there and put that poor man out of his misery?”
Reluctantly, I agree. “You tell Miss Rosa this doesn’t mean anything. It’s just two friends watching a movie together.”
“Mm-hmm. Gotcha. Totally platonic. Have fun and hurry up! The poor man is down there, breaking out in a nervous sweat,” she laughs.
“You are so ridiculous,” I laugh. “Okay, I’m going. Luvs.”
“Luvs, Lanes. Talk to you tomorrow.”
Checking my hair one more time to make sure it looks perfectly messy, I grab our bucket of snacks and make my way to the family room.
Walking through the door, it takes me a second to process what I am seeing. Dexter is standing in the middle of the room, hands on his hips, smiling as broadly as I’ve ever seen.Uncontrollable laughter hits me as I stare at him. He is in a bright red t-shirt with ‘Vivian’written in bold with, ‘Baby I’m gonna treat you so nice’, underneath. As if that wasn’t enough, his lounge pants are the same hideous pattern as my t-shirt. It isn’t until I notice the windows that I completely lose my shit, laughing so hard I wouldn’t be surprised if I peed myself right here.
Covering every window is a large piece of fabric in the same pattern as my shirt. In the center of each one, there is a hole cut out in the shape of a t-shirt.
When I’m finally able to compose myself, I turn to him. “You’re taking this whole Maria thing a bit far, don’t you think?”
“It was easier than getting chimney sweeps to jump out of the fireplace,” he says, shrugging.
We are both laughing, him with his hand pinching the back of his neck. He does this when he is unsure of himself. I’ve already learned his tell. I smile and walk to him, telling my brain to shut up for once and let my heart lead. It’s in there, I just have to learn how to listen to it again.
Reaching him, I don’t hesitate. I wrap my arms around him in a hug, he instantly wraps me in a similar embrace. His strong arms are wrapping around me, holding me, making me feel safe. It’s a foreign feeling for me, I realize. Even when I was with the McDowell’s, I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. I knew it would only be a matter of time before my mother would show up to use me as a prop for whatever scam she had planned next.
“Thank you,” I say into his chest. “Just, thank you for going to all this trouble.”
“Sweetheart, it was no trouble. My mission, remember? Make it so you’re never gonna wanna let me go.”
Unsure of the emotions I’m feeling, I pull away slightly. “Alright,Vivian. What movie are we watching?”
“I’m offended you even have to ask,” Dex scoffs. “The Sound of Music, duh.” He says, smiling at me like I carry all the sunshine on my shoulders as he puts the disk in the system.
