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42 - Jessica
For the first timesince I’d moved back home, Mom didn’t give me a hard time about spending the weekend away. She barely acknowledged that I’d been gone. There was no drug test waiting for me, no surprise date arrangement, and best of all, no arguments. No shouting.
Overall, the house was more peaceful than it had been in weeks.
Work was already loading more tasks onto my plate. But since I was moving to full-time, I had additional training I needed to complete on top of my usual duties. I wouldn’t be merely answering emails and handling spreadsheets in a few months, and I almost cheered when my boss told me that the person who would take over my part-time position had been hired. The prospect of finally putting my degree to good use had me dancing around the house, humming little tunes as I went about my chores.
It was easy to forget the issues that still lingered. Reagan, Alex, Nate — I was so focused on the future I put them out of my mind. I was too busy daydreaming about apartments, about all the mischief the boys and I could get up to in the city. It would be a fresh start for all of us, the beginning of something so much bigger than I’d ever expected.
Julia invited me to go for a hike midway through the week, and I jumped at the chance to get out of the house after work. The weather was pleasantly cool as we set out, a mass of pale gray clouds blotting out the sun. Only a few minutes after getting on the trail, Julia slowed her pace and kept lingering a few steps behind me.
“Am I walking too fast?” I said, turning to walk backward as I looked at her.
She grinned and said, “Nah, I’m just trying to get a look at your ass in those leggings. Damn girl, thatcake.”
Looping my arm through hers, I dragged her along to walk beside me. “God, you’re as bad as the boys.”
“I’m worse,” she said, and we both laughed.
She was thrilled about my promotion, although after a few minutes of excitement, her mood suddenly sobered.
“This means you’re leaving,” she said. “I mean, I knew it was coming, but damn. We only just started hanging out.”
“New York isn’ttoofar away,” I said, although the words weren’t very comforting. It would be a relief to leave Wickeston, but I did regret the distance it would put between Julia and I. She was a good friend, despite only knowing me for a couple months, and that was hard to come by. “I’ll be coming to visit as often as I can. And you can come visit me too!”
That got her to smile again. “I am so down for a sleepover. Have you found a place yet?”
“Not yet,” I said. “The boss gave me three months to get everything settled, which is probably going to go by way faster than I think it is. I’ve been browsing apartments in the city online. Rent prices are killer though. I may have to choose something a little more rural and commute.”
“Girl, yes, go for someplace bigger and cheaper!” she said. “Besides, you want to have a little extra room for the boys, right? What’s their plan anyway? How did they take the news?”
It was difficult to talk about without getting emotional, and I refused to cry in the middle of a hike. I’d never been the type to cry over a man, but these men got to me in a way no one else could.
“They’re moving too,” I said. “To New York.”
Her shriek of excitement startled nearby birds out of their roost. “Oh my God, yes! Finally! I’m so happy for all of you!” She grinned proudly, a little strut coming into her step. “I knew you’d all fall for each other, I justknewit.”
The trail curved, looping back toward the trailhead and the parking lot. We’d been walking for a while, although it felt like only minutes. Two people were hiking up the trail toward us, but I paid little attention to them at first. It was only as they got closer, and their faces became clearer, that I realized who they were.
“Oh no,” I said softly, and Julia was immediately on alert, narrowing her eyes at the men approaching us.
“Is that Nate Calkin?” she said, her steps slowing.
“And Alex McAllister,” I said. “Do you know them?”
Their path wasn’t aimed to walk past us; they were walkingatus. Although we slowed down, the gap between us was swiftly closing. Alarm bells were clanging in my head, tension making my palms sweat.
