Page 79 of Sweet Trouble
And there was no mystery about who sent it, because standing in front of it was Jillian.
She was wearing that beautiful dress, with her golden hair swept up to reveal the elegant curve of her neck and a twinkling golden necklace.
The look in her eyes was a little reckless, and she was holding a big old boombox-style radio like the kind they’d had in high school.
“Tripp,”she called out to him.“I made a mistake.”
Before he could even think about a reply, she hit a button on the boombox and the opening notes to Paul McCartney’s “Silly Love Songs” began to play.
Tripp watched in utter amazement as Jillian cleared her throat and sang right along, her voice bright against the hush of the breeze, and her delivery nice and strong, even though she looked terrified.
As much as she’d hurt him, and as hard as this last week had been, he couldn’t help the warmth that spread through his chest as he watched one of the most reserved people he had ever met put herself out there for him, in front of a gaggle of teenagers, in the biggest way she knew how—a way she knew he would like.
Before the song was over, he found himself chuckling and singing along with her, with one or two of the kids joining in, Cody really giving it some enthusiasm.
By the time it was done, everyone wassmiling and laughing, including Jillian, whose eyes had gone from fearful to hopeful.
“Tripp Lawrence,”she called to him.“Will you go to the Winter Formal with me?”
The kids all whooped out happy sounds of surprise and approval. Delphine said, “Uncle Tripp just got a prom-posal.” And a few of them made kissy noises.
“Okay, kids,” Tripp said. “Everybody inside. Get ready to go. I’ll be right in.”
There was some grumbling, but all six kids piled back into the house, leaving Tripp alone outside with Jillian. Well, mostly alone. He wasn’t about to kid himself into thinking that everyone inside wasn’t watching through one of the windows.
Jillian stood there awkwardly on the lawn, the boombox still in her hands.
“I’m sorry,” she said after a moment. “I know this wasn’t really enough to make up for dumping you like that.”
He came down the steps to join her.
“What happened, Jillian?” he asked. “Why did you run away like that?”
“I was afraid to tell you what I wanted,” she said, meeting his eyes bravely.
“What do you want?” he asked her.
“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “But I know I donotwant to keep things casual.”
“That’s good,” he said right away. “Me neither.”
She frowned and looked down.
“Did you think that’s what I wanted?” he asked.
“Everyone in town was warning me about you,” she admitted.
“I see,” he said, trying to crush down his frustration over his reputation. After all, he had it for a reason.
“Also, I, um, was getting something out of my coat that night when we were over here for dinner,” she admitted, looking ashamed. “I promise I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help hearing what you were saying to West on my way past the living room.”
“What was I saying?” Tripp asked, frowning and trying to remember the conversation with his brother.
“You said,We’re just going to keep it casual,” Jillian said, not meeting his eyes.
“What?” Tripp asked, frowning.
“West said,Are you sure she’s okay with it?”Jillian said. “And you said,We’re just going to keep it casual.”
