Page 10 of Echoes of a Southern Song

Chapter Four

Jack

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JINNIE STEPS OUT OF her tiny house when I pull up. For a second, I forget how to breathe. She’s wearing a pretty sundress with her hair falling in loose waves over her shoulders. When she meets my gaze, she smiles.

Thunderstruck.

I’ve never really understood what that meant, but I do now. It feels like a donkey kick right in my chest. She takes my breath away.

I’ve never felt this way about anyone.

I hop out of the truck and run around to open the door for her.

“Hi,” she says. There’s a legit sparkle in her eyes that turns me inside out.

“Hello.”

She brushes against me as she climbs in, leaving a trace of vanilla and something citrusy in her wake.

“You clean up nice,” she says, eyeing my button-down as I slide into the driver’s seat.

I grin. “Had to match your level. Everyone can see I’m punching above my weight, but I have to at least try.”

She laughs. “I think we both know you’re the one everyone’s looking at.”

I wink and close the door before walking around the front to slide into the driver’s seat. This is what we need. This morning we were a little off, but we’re good now. We’ve got it figured out. At least, I think we will figure it out.

I bounce down her driveway and hit the open road. Jinnie rolls down her window, letting the warm evening air rush in.

“So,” I say, glancing at her. “Any more thoughts about Sam?”

She sighs and shakes her head. “Just that I hope whatever he wants is easy. I’m nervous.”

“About?”

“I don’t know what he could want from me.”

“He doesn’t get to take anything from you, Jinnie,” I say, trying to sound confident even though the thought of him trying to claw his way back into her life makes my blood boil.

She doesn’t respond right away, just stares out the window at the passing fields. “What if he wants something I can’t give him?”

“Like what?”

She hesitates, her eyes flicking to mine and then away again. “I don’t know. Money. Property. Or... something else.”

“Something else?” I prompt, though I already know what she’s hinting at. The idea sits like a rock in my gut.

She exhales sharply, her shoulders slumping. “What if he wants me back?”

I know that’s a strong possibility. The guy was a moron for walking out on her. He had to have suffered some kind of stroke to do something that stupid. But my worry is how much she is holding onto. Is she angry or hurt? If she is either, that implies she still has some feelings for him.

“What if he does?” I ask. “What will you do?”

She shakes her head. “Decline the oh-so tempting offer,” she says sarcastically. “I just want this disaster over. The quicker the better. I want to get rid of him once and for all.”

The words land wrong. A sharp little twist in my gut. Get rid of him. Like she might one day want to get rid of me. Like this thing between us is temporary.