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“I suppose I could,” said Amelia, looking delighted at the prospect.
“Absolutely not,” said Josh. “Between you and Cass you’d run the place into the ground before I get back.”
“Then I’ll do it,” said a voice from behind them.
Josh moved to one side, revealing Billie in the doorway.
Jules’s heart beat harder and the only thing she wanted to do was to take Billie into her arms, but she couldn’t move.
“Done it before, have you?” Josh asked suspiciously.
“No, but I’m sure I’ll get plenty of advice and at least you can trust that your money’s safe with me,” said Billie.
Josh nodded. “Alright then, I’ll go get the car.”
“I’ll go control the crowd,” Max said, looking from Billie to Jules and back again before slipping out.
“And I’ll go and… go,” Amelia said, fleeing for the door.
For a long moment, Jules could only look at Billie, could only watch her, trying to memorize her face, trying to etch this moment into her brain forever.
“That was quite stupid, you know,” Billie said conversationally. “I mean, that bar’s a good, what, five foot or so. High jump champion in school, were you?”
“Not that you’d know,” countered Jules. “You never did PE.”
“Couldn’t risk breaking my fingers,” Billie said, getting defensive. Then she caught Jules’s eye and smirked. “Fingers can be quite important, you know. Not just for playing the violin.”
And Jules couldn’t hold it back any longer. She had to know. “Did you mean it?”
“What?” asked Billie, looking around the back room at the stored kegs and crates with interest.
“What you said on stage.”
Finally Billie looked her straight in the eye. “Every word.”
“Even…” Jules couldn’t bring herself to say the words out loud. “Even the last part.”
Billie took a step toward her. “Especially the last part.”
Jules reached up and Billie stepped in enough to take her hand, to twine fingers in with hers, the touch made Jules forget the deep pain in her ankle.
“Will you forgive me?” Billie whispered.
“There’s nothing to forgive,” Jules said immediately. “Not a thing in the world.”
Josh coughed from behind the half closed door. “Car’s ready.”
“Hold on,” said Jules, squeezing Billie’s hand. “I can’t leave you like this, with so much unsaid.”
“Jules, you have to go to get that ankle x-rayed.”
“We ready?” Josh shouted.
“Hold on,” said Jules again. “I don’t want to go,” she said to Billie.
“Well, if you weren’t foolish enough to jump over bars, it wouldn’t really be an issue, would it?”
“Helpful, thanks,” Jules said. She struggled to sit up straighter, pain shooting up her leg as she did so. “But I can’t leave like this.”
