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She gulps. “Maybe I was then, but life has a way of changing people, Everett.”
And we’re back to this. Back to whatever made her so guarded. I don’t want to drag trauma out of her right now—we’re barely in the getting-to-know-you stage of things. Even so, her wariness has me concerned. “You told me about your job, and I get being a little paranoid about saying the wrong thing in public. But did something else happen that you feel like talking about?”
She takes a deep breath and a long pull of her coffee, then adopts a nonchalant smile. “You know how things are. Life can be tough.”
“Yeah, but you’re tougher.”
“What makes you think that?”
“I remember the clever girl who kept me laughing the first night I met her. And then you pulled me into a chase at my parents’ home, and I could have lost you in the crowd if it weren’t for your hair. You’re feisty, Aria. It would take a lot for life to drag you down.”
She huffs. “I knew it was the hair. Too memorable. I should cut it off—"
“No!” I teasingly demand. “Not the hair! It’s too perfect.”
She giggles. “Thanks, but you should see it first thing in the morning. It’s dreadful.”
“Nah. I still remember what you looked like that morning. Killed me to leave for the airport.”
Her cheeks go rosy again, and she clears her throat. “Um, tell me about the Andes while you walk me to my car. I have to get going.”
Damn. But I get to walk her to her car, so that’s good. Once outside, the breeze has picked up, and she walks a little closer to me. “The first day I was there, an unseasonable thunderstorm, and lightning started a wildfire. The population near where we were staying is sparse, so we jumped into helping to put it out. It was terrifying.”
“Then why are you smiling?”
“Because I loved every second of it. I did three months of camping after that, but all I could think of was fighting fires. That’s how I ended up becoming a smokejumper when I came back to the States.”
“Really? That sounds dangerous.”
Nodding, my mind goes a thousand miles an hour. “Oh, it is. And it’s amazing. Pulling together as a team, saving forests, houses, animals, whatever. There is nothing quite like the rush of jumping out of an airplane into the middle of nowhere, knowing you have to fight your way back to civilization, and in the process, you make an impact on everyone and everything around you.”
She smiles with stars in her eyes as she stands next to her car. “That’s kind of how I feel about teaching pre-K. Not the impending death and doom stuff, but making an impact. I get that part.”
“Ah. I can see that for teachers. Knowing you’re helping is the second best feeling in the world.”
“What’s the first?”
“This,” I say, leaning in for a kiss.
But she slightly turns her head, giving me her cheek. Ouch. She bites her lips inward for a beat, like she’s nervous again. “Um, I should go.”
“Oh. Okay.” Did I read this all wrong? Is she just looking for a friend out of this?
When she pulls away, I’m left with more questions than answers.
-
12
Aria
All weekend long, I think about the kiss that never was.
Why am I such a fraidy cat about Everett? The answer is being sullen over his breakfast. “What’s wrong, Owen?”
“I don’t want to go to school today.”
In the history of my son, he has never uttered those words. He loves school, so I’m not sure how to react at first. I don’t want to be one of those parents who insists their child does things they don’t want to, but this is out of left field for him. “How come?”
