Heart of Valor

by Adriana Peck

  “You ready?” he asks. I nod again, eager to see what Jake’s got in store for me. He takes the box from me, freeing my hands as I grin up at him.

  He doesn’t say another word. Instead, he turns on his heel, walking toward the factory’s front door.

  I take a deep breath, utter a silent prayer to myself.

  I know Jake’s bad news. This might just be the stupidest thing I’ll ever do.

  But I don’t care.

  I collect myself, taking one last look around the factory floor to make sure Nora’s not staring me down angrily. When I see that she’s nowhere to be found, I follow after Jake, leaving out the front door.

  Eight

  Jake

  As I leave the factory fundraiser, I take one last look around at the sights before me. The colorful booths, the lights, the live music. It’s all so much, I never expected a town like Twin Orchards to have the ability to put on a night like this with such short notice. But that Nigel Knoxley did it, and I’d consider myself impressed.

  On the way out, I pass by the charity auction. Bid on a Hot Date for Tonight, the posters read. And I nearly double over in laughter when I see who’s standing in the front row, eager to wave around a stack of bills in everyone’s faces.

  I guess Chance is having his own type of fun tonight. I’ll be sure to follow up with him later, see if he got into any trouble. Us Reeves boys don’t seem to have a hard time finding it when it comes around.

  I push through the double doors, stepping out into the cool of the evening. I glance behind me, I can see Nancy’s trailing closely behind, the cardboard box of snacks in tow.

  “You didn’t want to stick around at all?” I call back to her as she pushes through the double doors. I grab one handle, holding the door open for her as she nods, thanking me.

  “Not really,” Nancy says. “I was getting sick of the crowd. Plus, when people come up to your booth and harass you, you end up wanting to leave those kinds of people in the dust. Whole town’s been acting that way, and I’m starting to get sick of it all.”

  We pass by the factory parking lot, beyond all the cars spilling out into the grass field. I can see the tree-line up ahead, the semi-secluded spot where I parked my rusted-red pickup. I guess we’ll head that way, but I really didn’t have much of a plan after getting Nancy to ditch the factory with me.

  I guess it’s time to improvise.

  “You live around here?” I turn around, facing her as I walk backwards to my truck, the box of snacks still in my hands.

  “Yeah, just in an apartment. Closer to town than the factory.”

  “Need a ride home?” I ask, taking a shot in the dark.

  Nancy shakes her head. “I took my own car here. But thanks, Jake. If I hadn’t, I would’ve said yes.”

  She would’ve said yes. I’ll take that as a win for now.

  “Well, why don’t we at least share some of these?” I ask, holding the box up as I turn around to keep walking toward my truck.

  “I thought that was your plan,” Nancy says in a semi-knowing tone. I bet she’s gathered that I’m hitting on her. I sure hope so, at least.

  Nancy and I reach my truck, and I pull my keys out of my leather jacket’s pocket as I unlock the truck bed door, lowering it. I hop up, toss the box of snacks inside as I turn around and offer Nancy my hand.

  When she takes my hand, I can feel a hint of electricity coarse through my veins when we’re skin-to-skin. I can’t help but smile at the feeling, and I pull Nancy up to the bed of my truck with ease.

  She lurches up, and comes to a stop directly in front of me. We stand there on the bed of my truck, lost in the moment as our eyes lock for the second time tonight.

  I’ve never said this about any other girl before—but I think her eyes are just so fucking charming. There, I said it. Call me names, I don’t really care. Call me a wimp. Sissy. None of that means that much to me. But I can’t stop staring into her eyes, and I’d stay here in this moment for an eternity if she’d let me. Those bright green eyes of hers shine like emeralds in the starry fall night. The way her blonde hair drapes around her shoulders, the way she thrusts out her hip to the side, teasing me.

  “Hey,” I breathe, finding myself at a complete and total loss for words.

  “Hey,” she grins back.

  I nod like an idiot, looking around the bed of the truck nervously. I spot the snacks, diving for the cardboard box as I pick up a bag of chips and pop the bag open. Nancy and I are still standing face-to-face, and I awkwardly begin eating the powdered corn chips as Nancy breaks out into laughter.

  “Should we sit down, or something?” she asks through the giggles.

  I nod, gesturing to the floor of my truck bed as I munch. Nancy giggles again, plopping herself down onto the edge of my truck bed as she slides the box of snacks over to her. She grabs a soda, thumbing the tab as it pops and fizzes open. I devour the bag of chips, emptying the crumbs into my mouth and toss the empty bag back into the snack box. I hunker down, sitting next to Nancy on the edge of my truck bed as she sips her soda innocuously.

  A pause hangs in the air, and I feel nervously awkward sitting next to Nancy. Like I should be saying something. Doing something different.

  “So,” I start, looking for a conversational lifeline to keep us afloat, “you graduated…what, a few years ago? I remember you being a year or two below me.”

  Nancy nods, taking a sip of her soda as she looks up past the tree-line into the night sky.

  “Yeah,” she says. “Graduated in ’16. So not even a few years ago, really.”

  “You went to college?” I ask.

  “Associate’s Degree online at a community college, but that was it. And I got that right after graduation. Now I have no idea what I’m doing.”

  I laugh. “Me neither.”

  “But you were in the Marines,” Nancy says, looking over at me. “I thought they would’ve done something to help you out after you came back home. Offered careers or something like that.”

  I shake my head. “Not for grunts like me.”

  “I’m sorry. That really sucks.” Nancy takes another sip of her soda as I stare out into the forest ahead of us.

  “Yeah, but now I get to come back home. See my parents, my brothers—well—the one who stuck around, at least. And I get to see Mom and Dad, too, which was nice after years overseas. Plus I ran into you.”

  She looks over at me, and I see a flash of a smile creeping across her face.

  “So, our meeting wasn’t a coincidence tonight?” she asks. I feel my cheeks about to redden, I know she’s going to make me admit it.

  “Maybe,” I reply. “Maybe I was looking for you.”

  Nancy punches me on the shoulder playfully. “You totally were,” she grins. “I can see it in your eyes.”

  I nod, pretending to wince as I rub my now ‘injured’ shoulder. “So what if I did?” I retort, serving her playfulness back to her. “You looked like you were in need of saving.”

  “Maybe I was,” Nancy says. “Those customers got pretty nasty back there.”

  “What they’d do, slap down a stack of money, buy out the rest of your stock so you could have the night off? What a bunch of jackasses.”

  Nancy and I share a laugh over that, and she leans closer to me. I feel her weight shift as she scoots over just a half-inch, but that’s a half-inch closer than we were just before.

  “Thanks for getting me out of there,” Nancy says. “Sometimes I feel like I’m going crazy here, you know? Even though you just got back, I’m sure you’ve got your own gripes with Twin Orchards. I have some, too.”

  I nod, completely agreeing. “Every small town has its weaknesses,” I reply. “No matter where you go. Everyone has to know everything about everyone here.”

  Nancy’s eyes widen as she finishes her soda and sets the empty can into the cardboard box. “I know, right?” she beams. “It’s like I can’t get away from the rumor mill already. It’s like I’m back in high school.”


  “What do you mean, rumor mill?”

  Nancy turns away from me, and I see the edge of her cheeks redden.

  “Nothing,” she says.

  “No, what?”

  She takes a deep breath. “I may have heard people whispering. In Nora’s Café. About us. Just for talking when you came in the other night.”

  I want to laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of that. Nancy and I haven’t been out on a date, we aren’t making out in the booth at Nora’s.

  “Let them,” I say. “They’re going to want to talk about me either way. Might as well have it be about something other than my going to jail.”

  Nancy pauses, and I know I’ve touched on a subject too tender for her to handle right now.

  “You know, I think you’re more than that,” she says quietly.

  “More than what?”

  “Your mistakes,” she says. She turns to face me, and I can see her cheeks are in full blush by now. “I heard about what you did back in high school. And I remember you disappearing one year. I didn’t want to believe the rumors, but I guess they were true this time.”

  “Sometimes they are,” I reply. “True, I mean. And there’s nothing any of us can do about it.”

  “Can we…no, that’s too much,” Nancy says, trailing off.

  I look over at her. She looks stunning tonight in that tight-knit sweater over her work uniform, and I want to tell her how great she looks this evening, but I know it’ll be overstepping the line.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Can we just clear some stuff up?” she says, looking ahead at the forest in front of us.

  “Like what?”

  “Like you coming back home. Talking to me. We never really spoke in high school, Jake. I just want to know what changed since you left.”

  I shrug. I don’t really have much of an answer for that.

  “I guess I just changed,” I say. “Maybe it’s for the better that way.”

  Nancy nods, and I see a faint hint of her smile coming back.

  “What about you?” I ask, staring at her as she keeps looking dead ahead.

  “What about me?”

  “You were always so good back in high school. I’m pretty sure you were on the honor roll if my memory serves me correctly. I don’t remember any of their names, but I saw you dating a few of the guys on the football team back then, too. And now you’re just at Nora’s Café, I guess?”

  Nancy nods. “Sounds about right.”

  I take a deep breath.

  “You ever think about getting out of here?” I ask.

  Nancy nods, never hesitating for even a moment. “All the time.”

  “Really? You seem like you have things pretty good here, all things considered.”

  Nancy shakes her head. “No, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows,” she replies. “Like you said, I’m really just at Nora’s Café. That’s about all I can do at this point.”

  “What would you do if you could just…leave?” I ask. “Seriously. If I handed you a million bucks to never come back to Twin Orchards again, would you take it?”

  Nancy pauses, turns and looks at me. Our faces are only inches apart now, and I can see a reflection of myself in her emerald-green eyes. I feel my heart begin to race as she stares at me intently, and right now I feel like the most important person in the world with her by my side.

  “I would,” she says matter-of-factly, her gaze never leaving mine. “What about you?”

  I nod. “Oh, yeah. My G.I. check got me back home, but I’m working on saving up once I find a job here in town. I plan on ditching town as soon as I can.”

  “Well, when you get out of here, send me a postcard?”

  I nod, never taking my eyes off of her.

  “I’d like it better if you were with me,” I reply.

  Nancy blushes, her cheeks going full-on ruby red as she lets out a giggle and turns away from me.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Nothing,” she says, letting another giggle escape her. She’s still turned away from me, facing the factory we’d just left a few minutes prior. “It’s just…funny, that’s all.”

  “Why was that funny?”

  “Because I kinda pictured the same, actually,” Nancy says, turning to face me again.

  Our faces are millimeters away from one another’s.

  I’ve never had a more perfect moment.

  She smiles at me, and I return the gesture.

  Her eyes dart down to my lips, my jawline, then back up to me.

  “Hey,” I grin. “Caught you staring.”

  “What are you going to do about it?” Nancy says, teasing me.

  I keep on grinning. “This.”

  I lean forward, closing the gap between us as we both close our eyes.

  The kiss is short, sweet, but it’s everything I ever could have wanted from Nancy. Her lips are soft, warmer than I’d expected them to be, and I feel magnetically attracted to her as we kiss. Her arm scoots over to me, resting behind my back. I bring my arm up, wrapping it briefly around her shoulder while our lips are squarely planted against one another’s.

  Nancy pulls back, looks down at the ground. I can see her smiling, and I meet her gaze down below.

  “You good?” I ask.

  She nods. “I’m good,” she says.

  “Me, too.”

  I look back up at the tree-line ahead of us, studying the night sky just above us. I’d never taken the time to learn any constellations, even when I was out in a desert, staring up at the same night sky from my army tent. Maybe Nancy’ll know some of those old shapes. Maybe she’ll show me one day.

  “Jake, I want to be honest with you,” Nancy says softly next to me.

  I look back over at her, eyes wide. “Yeah?”

  She looks back up at me, and I can see the edges of her eyes are wet with the forbearance of tears.

  “I almost got married, after high school,” she says. “I thought I should…well, you know. Bring it up before we kissed again.”

  I raise my eyebrows, perplexed. “Really? You almost got married?”

  Nancy nods. “It was this guy on the football team. Darius Blighter.”

  I want to gasp, reel in shock. Darry never mentioned he was with Nancy Callahan, not even back in high school. This is all news to me.

  “What happened?”

  “Darius and I broke it off. I don’t know, it just wasn’t right for us at the time. I still see him at Nora’s every once in a while, things aren’t awkward or anything. I just wanted to tell you that, after we just…”

  “Yeah, I get it.”

  “Really?”

  I nod. “Oh yeah. Darius’s a good guy. You would’ve been happy with him.”

  Nancy shakes her head. “Not after the registry. Not after the showers, the gifts, the money donations. I felt evil for going back on my word. Darius got to keep all the presents, I’d never be able to live with myself if I kept those.”

  Suddenly, an idea hits me.

  One that might just get Nancy and I out of here once and for all.

  I have no idea what she’ll think about this, I’ll admit it. But it’s worth taking a risk.

  I guess it’s all just a shot in the dark, then.

  “What if I told you I could get us out of Twin Orchards for good?” I ask.

  Nancy looks up at me, perplexed. “What are you saying?”

  “I have an idea. Call me crazy, but I think it just might work.”

  Nancy nods, her golden-blonde hair bobbing as her eyes widen expectantly.

  “You and I get engaged,” I say, putting it all out there at once.

  Nancy reels back from me, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. “What?!”

  I hold out my hands, steadying her to calm down. “Just hear me out, okay?”

  “Jake, I never thought you and I were going to—”

  “It wouldn’t be real,” I clarify, quickly covering my tracks.

  Nancy pauses. She sits back up, scoots a
hair closer to me again. I can tell I’ve got her attention.

  “What?” she looks utterly confused, her mind’s probably racing a mile a minute. And to be fair, mine is, too.

  “Just hear me out, Nancy. I have an idea.”

  “You keep saying that, Jake, and I’m hearing you out as best I can. It’s just a really weird thing to spring on someone you’ve just kissed for the first time. And I don’t take engagement lightly.”

  I grin, I can’t help it. “It was a nice kiss, though.”

  Nancy stares at me, and I know she’s expecting me to start explaining myself.

  “Alright, Nancy, here’s what I’m thinking: we both want to leave here, right?”

  She nods reluctantly.

  “Okay. And if we left, we’d probably never want to come back, true?”

  She nods again, shrugging to herself. “I don’t have anything keeping me here. My whole family moved away years ago.”

  “So, think about your engagement to Darius. The whole town showered you with gifts. Presents. Money. Things you weren’t obligated to return to them.”

  “I don’t see where you’re going with this, Jake.”

  “We get engaged. Not for real engaged, but everybody else can think that. The whole town, everybody who’s eager to spread rumors about us all find out. They shower us with gifts, money, the works. We take that money as collateral for all the shit they put us through, and we get on the first train out of here. And we never look back. We can ‘break up’ after we leave town if that helps, too.”

  Nancy doesn’t say anything for a while. She stares directly ahead, weighing her options carefully as she mulls my words over.

  “What do you think?” I ask after a few minutes have passed.

  Nancy shrugs. She stays completely silent, until—

  Nancy bursts out into laugher, louder than any laugh I’d coaxed out of her tonight.

  “You can’t be serious,” she giggles, cackling at my suggestion. “An engagement plot? What is this, a cartoon?”

  I shrug. “Whatever,” I reply. “Just an idea. Nothing has to come of it. I wasn’t expecting you to go along with it anyways.”