Page 21 of Sweet Trouble
It would probably help to let go of the past if he wasn’t standing in the middle of it with her. How was he supposed to stop thinking about it when they were both right here in the same high school where he’d fallen for her?
“It’s my pleasure,” he told her, his voice more of a growl than he intended.
She nodded, that warmth still in her eyes.
“I’ll just put this back then,” he said, showing her the roll of tape before hurrying off to the supply room.
When he got there, he couldn’t help but notice her influence. Now that he was paying attention, it was clear to him that Jillian had made her mark on the formerly untidy space.
She used to keep her play script in a three-ring binder with rainbows of color-coded stickies and beautifully handwritten notes on every page. In an instant, she could calmly identify every lighting cue, everydetail of blocking, every scene change, all with just a glance at that binder. He couldn’t imagine there being a more organized stage manager even on Broadway.
Jillian had put that same attention on the infirmary supply room. Each shelf was neatly labeled, with rows of corresponding items. And the simpler items that she would need every day were located closest to the door, and probably eye-level for her, though Tripp had to bend a bit to read the labels.
Wherever she goes, she makes it a better place,he thought to himself as he carefully placed the roll of tape with the others.
All he wanted was to go right back to her office and ask her about her life—to learn everything that had happened since the last time they’d really talked.
But with the tape returned, he had no more excuses, so he headed down the hallway, figuring he’d see her again the next time one of his players needed to be patched up, which wouldn’t be long with the way these kids played.
It was probably for the best anyway, since the more he was around her, the harder it was to keep his feelings to himself. And if he couldn’t do that, he was in trouble.
On his way to his truck, it occurred to Tripp that once he was working on the house, he’d be seeing Jillian just about every day.
And even though the idea excited him, he couldn’t help but wonder if maybe he’d just made a huge mistake.
6
JILLIAN
Jillian drove slowly up Fox Hollow Road, taking in the dreamy view of houses with snow-frosted roofs, and trying not to think about Tripp Lawrence.
Back in school, she was always such a nerd, while Tripp was the star of the hockey team. All the girls in school were obsessed with him. Even her grandfather talked about him constantly because of his contributions to the team.
Jillian was only human, so she’d had a tiny crush on him, like all the other girls did.
But there wasn’t much reason for Jillian and Tripp to ever interact. Their social circles couldn’t have been more different.
The only thing they had in common was working on the crew for the school play. It turned out they both loved the magic of creating a world for the play to happen in. And even there, Jillian was on props and Tripp was on the lighting crew.
But then Jillian was promoted to stage manager her sophomore year. When dress rehearsals began, she was suddenly on the headset all night, giving cues to the sound, lighting, and scene change bosses, which included Tripp.
For the most part, she was orchestrating a hurricane of cues, her heart in her mouth that some tiny thing might go wrong and create a domino effect leading to an onstage disaster.
But there were moments, generally in the second and third acts, when the cues spread out, and the headsets went quiet.
Those were the times when Tripp used to chat with her or gently tease her, peppering her with silly knock-knock jokes or asking her what her plans were for the summer.
He even started arriving early for set-up. They would talk in person while Jillian carefully went over her pre-show checklist.
She wasn’t sure exactly when it happened, but one day she suddenly realized that Tripp Lawrence was actually her friend.
But he wasn’t really,she reminded herself as she pulled up at the covered bridge.
The blast of frigid air when she rolled down her window brought her right back to the present.
She tapped her horn and then headed through the dark, thundering cave and back out to the road on the other side.
Pulling into the driveway, she felt grateful all over again that her grandparents were helping with the girlsafter school. It felt good to be able to repay them with some work on the house.
