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She clamped a hand over her nose. “I do not!” Her shrill exclamation must not have earned the reaction she hoped for when he doubled over laughing because she balled her hands into fists and propped them on her hips then stomped her foot in response. “I do not have jellybean shaped freckles!”
He crossed the few remaining feet to his discarded bike and pulled it upright. “Nope, you sure don’t. Just one.” He wheeled back to her and tapped the tip of her nose with his index finger. “And it’s right there. But I’ve got really good news for ya.”
Jillian rolled her eyes to the bright summer sky and sighed. “Please do tell.”
“That’s what I’m talkin’ bout. Who talks like that? My brothers would have put me in a headlock until I told them.” He shook his head and twisted his lips to one side.
She dropped her head, auburn waves partially covering her face. “You’re making me grateful that Brad is off in boarding school.”
He wrinkled his nose and squinted at her. “Who’s that? And what the heck is boarding school?”
A small smile curled her lips, but it didn’t light up her face the way it had when he’d first arrived today. “Bradford Evans Monroe. The third. My brother. He’s a lot older than me, he’s sixteen. He goes to school a long way away, has ever since he was in seventh grade. It’s the same place my daddy went and his daddy went.” She lolled her head from side to side. “It’s kind of like college. They live there.”
The horror that washed over Dean at the idea of living far from home, and most especially from his mama’s chicken pot pie, long before he was eighteen was impossible to keep hidden. “That sounds mean.”
Jillian shrugged. “He likes it. He’s always anxious to get back when he comes home for breaks.”
Silence hung between them for several minutes and Dean struggled to come up with something to say. In that moment he wished he were Tanner because his oldest brother always knew the right thing to do. Or Wyatt who could manage to make nearly anyone laugh. Or even Connor and his ability to know when silence and a hug was the best option.
“What’s the good news?”
Her soft question cut through the noise in his brain and it took several seconds before he understood what she was asking.
He forced a smile in spite of all the questions in his mind. Maybe life in the massive house in the distance wasn’t the fairy tale he’d imagined the first time he’d spied it. “Jellybeans are my favorite candy.” He threw a leg over the seat and pointed to the front of the bike. “Now, you sit right there and hold onto the bar between the handles.”
She stared questioningly at the thin strip of metal covering the front wheel. “Are you sure that’s safe?”
Something Dean hadn’t felt before thrummed through his veins and he spoke with more determination than he ever had before in his seven years on the planet. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
***
Jillian
Nineteen Years Earlier
Fear and excitement caused Jillian’s hands to shake as she gripped the bar exactly where Dean instructed. His confident assurance had given her the strength to take the makeshift seat to begin with. She had no idea why, but she trusted the boy she’d only just met. The one who came from “new money” that her mother would never approve of her befriending.
But he was already more of a friend than any of the children who went to her school or sat in uncomfortable silence with her at the various luncheons and dinner parties their parents attended.
He started off at a crawl compared to the excessive speed he had arrived at. Even still the gentle breeze kissed her skin and sent shivers of excitement rippling along her skin, causing goosebumps to form.
She tightened her hold on the metal and a firm voice washed over her from behind. “I promise you’ll be safe.”
Never before had she believed the truth in anyone’s words.
They meandered at a slightly faster rate through the soft grass between the house and the construction zone Dean told her was going to be a barn and paddock for his older brother Wyatt’s horse.
“Go faster.” She couldn’t believe the words came from her mouth, but she meant every syllable. She knew he would be safe, but she also knew she wanted to feel the wind tangle her soft curls into knots that would positively drive Frieda insane.
He silently obliged and moved from a snail’s pace to a turtle’s and she sighed at him over her shoulder. “When I said faster I meantfaster.”
A mischievous grin curled his lips and his dark blue eyes twinkled. “Whatever you say, Jillybean.”
The nickname had sounded weird and slightly insulting to her ears when he’d first spoken it, but in just the space of an hour it quickly turned to something very different. As the increasing wind slashed across her fair skin, she made a promise to herself that Dean Carlisle would be her best friend forever. No matter what.
Long before she was ready, Dean slowed to a far gentler stop than the skidding, dust cloud creating halt he’d skidded to when he’d arrived at the rock.
“I’m hungry.” His simple proclamation caught her off guard.
