Page 120 of The Lucky Heart (Jamison Valley 3)
My heart had been in my throat that afternoon. Seeing my brother and his two best friends catapult off that rock ledge into the dark water forty feet below had scared me half to death.
“I was so proud when you jumped,” Silas said. “When we were swimming below, we could hear the guys taunting you. Your brother and Wes kept saying that you’d never jump but I just kept my eyes on that cliff. I knew you had the courage to do it, and you did.”
To this day, I couldn’t believe I’d actually jumped. It had been one of the most thrilling and terrifying things I’d ever done.
Silas grazed my cheek with his knuckles. “I remember thinking, ‘That’s my girl.’ I was planning on asking you out that night.”
My eyes opened and blurred with tears. “You were?”
“Yeah, but Wes beat me to it. The asshole knew I was going to do it, and he did it first.”
Another what-if echoed in my head. I was getting really sick of them.
I’d had a crush on Silas back then. I’d only agreed to date Wes because Silas had seemed so far out of my league. Wes had been handsome, and I had been so young, only fourteen at the time, so of course I had said yes when Wes had asked me out. It had never occurred to me that Silas’s sweetness was because he’d seen me as more than just his friend’s little sister.
“When did you get Courage?”
“About six years ago. Right after I got home from the army.”
“And you named him after me? Even though you hadn’t seen me in a decade?”
“Just because you weren’t here, doesn’t mean you weren’t here.” He reached into the water and pulled out my hand. Dripping wet, he pressed it against his heart.
My heart swelled so full of love, the only thing I could say was, “I love you, Silas.”
“I love you too, Lis.”
I relaxed further into the bath but kept my hand on Silas’s chest. With each one of his heartbeats, my aches and pains melted away.
Three days later, I was spending a nice Friday afternoon with my mom shopping. She’d asked if I would take her downtown to see the holiday decorations. All of Main Street had been decked out in red, white and blue for the Memorial Day celebrations tomorrow.
Before picking up Mom, I’d stopped by my house to find Khloe feverishly cleaning. When I’d told her that it was unnecessary, she’d refused to listen. Her gloved hands just kept scouring away as she declared that cleaning was a necessary outlet.
Khloe had been as fired up and angry as I’d ever seen her. If Derrick did find her hiding spot, God help him. She’d ranted on and on about what she’d like to do to his man parts the next time she saw her soon-to-be ex-husband.
“How about this one?” Mom asked, pulling me from my thoughts. She was holding up a sleeveless azure tunic.
“Definitely. It would be great for your eyes.”
“Oh, not for me. I meant for you. I don’t leave the house enough for something this nice.”
“You know, if you moved in with me, you’d be a lot closer to downtown. You could walk down here whenever you wanted and then you’d have the chance to wear that pretty shirt.”
“No, no,” she said. “We’ve talked about this. I’m not going to move.”
I refolded a pair of jeans and stacked them back on their table. “Why, Mom? I don’t understand why you’re so set on staying in that old trailer.”
“I just am. Please stop asking me to move. You’re becoming as bad as Jess.”
“Then explain it to me. If you want me to stop asking, you have to help me understand your attachment to a place that’s falling apart around you.”
She handed me the blue blouse. “You should buy this.”
“Mom, please?”
She sighed and leaned a hip against the jeans table. “I didn’t have much when your dad and I got married, but we were happy. A couple of young kids in love. Hank worked nights, and I wanted a job with hours that matched his so we could spend our days together. It wasn’t a fancy job, just stocking shelves at night at a grocery store, but I did my best. We were living in this tiny apartment but managing to get by.”
I stood quietly and listened. Mom was rarely forthcoming about her time with my dad and I didn’t want to stop her before she could finish.
