by Laura Miller
My gaze shot back toward her. A second later, I was searching her eyes to gauge her seriousness.
“You still remember that?” I asked.
I was still hoping that she hadn’t—that the night had just miraculously disappeared from her memory.
Her eyes faltered and fell to the ground.
“Jules, that whole thing was just a bad idea,” I said and then stopped.
I searched her features then with narrowed eyes and furrowed brows, until she found my eyes again, and my expression softened. Surely, she hadn’t thought that I had been with Jessica this whole time.
“Jules, I’m sorry about that night. I…,” I started.
“Will, it’s fine,” she said, stopping me. “You had a date. So what? We weren’t together. Plus, it was a long time ago. I don’t even think about it anymore.”
I tried to say something, but instead, the word anymore bounced around my mind, interfering with my speech functions. She didn’t even think about it anymore. The thought made me sigh both because there was a part of me, I guessed, that still hoped she did think about it—about us—and then there was another part of me that wished I could say the same. Most times, I wished I couldn’t remember it either. I let my eyes linger in hers for a few more seconds before I gently smiled and returned my attention to the lake again. Then, I refit my baseball cap around my head and tried to clear away the ache in my throat. That ache meant I had to act fast. I had to get her or me away before that damn mist in my eyes returned.
“Well, I have to go to my parents’ house for dinner tonight,” I said, as I reeled in my line and stood up from my chair. “Mom’s making her specialty. I promised her I’d be there.”
I watched her grow still and then nod her head.
“Okay, yeah, can’t miss that,” she said. “I’d better get going then. It was nice seeing you again, Will.”
I caught her awkwardly fidgeting with the zipper on her jacket again, and it helped me to smile.
“Come,” I blurted out.
“What?” she asked.
Her voice was soft and hesitant.
“Come with me,” I said again.
Her eyes fell toward the ground, then returned to mine a couple of seconds later.
“Okay,” she said, starting to smile and to slowly nod her head again.
“All right, let’s go,” I said, turning to leave.
I took a couple of steps, then looked back at her. She hadn’t moved.
“You coming?” I asked.
I watched as her pretty lips lifted into a grin. Then, she nodded her head and followed after me.
...
“Dinner was okay, huh?” I asked.
She met my gaze and smiled.
“Dinner is always more than okay here,” she said.
She kept her eyes on mine for a couple of seconds. Then, I noticed her stare venture over to my guitar, propped up against the porch railing.
“Do you still play?” she asked.
I smiled a wide grin at her, then got up, grabbed the guitar and laid it across my lap.
“This song is all yours,” I said, swinging the guitar’s strap around my body.
She flashed me a puzzled look. I, in turn, gave her a confident smile and then went to playing with the guitar’s strings for a second.
“Mine?” she asked.
“Yep, all yours. Everyone needs a song—this one will be yours. I’ll never use it for anyone else,” I vowed.
She lowered her eyes and laughed.
“Okay,” she said, peeking at me from behind her long eyelashes.
I got lost in her stare for a moment. Then, I took a deep breath and reluctantly tore my eyes from hers. Seconds later, I started in on a soft melody, and then, added its words:
“It’s a summer night
And I can hear the crickets sing
But otherwise, all the world’s asleep
While I can only lie awake and dream
And every time I close my eyes
A butterfly comes to me
It has soft, green eyes
A sweet soul
Brave wings
And each time, it hears me sing…”
I stopped singing but continued to tickle the guitar’s strings, until eventually, my fingers ceased their dance altogether, and silence filled the air around us again.
“That’s it?” she asked. “Where are the rest of the words?”
My eyes fell to the wooden floor beneath us.
“I’m…I’m still working on the rest,” I said.
I was trying not to smile.
“You can hear it again when I’m finished with it. I promise,” I said.
I returned my eyes to hers. Her suspicious glare was burning a tattoo into my forehead.
“Well, when will it be finished?” she asked.
I paused and allowed the corners of my mouth to slowly rise.
“I’ll find a way to get it to your ears,” I said. “Don’t worry.”
She playfully pursed her lips. Her eyes were still narrowed, and she was still giving me an apprehensive look.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll wait if I have to, I guess.”
I watched her take another sip of her lemonade.
“You should play for people—you know,” she said, setting the glass back down onto the porch boards. “I might even do you the honor of being your biggest fan.”
I laughed once.
“You never give up, do you?” I asked.
My eyes caught hers and rested in them for a little while.
“Nah,” I finally said. “Work keeps me pretty busy. Besides, I don’t mind just playing like this—for friends, for you.”
She smiled, and then her eyes ventured off to somewhere in the distance. I followed her stare to a couple of street lights starting to come alive in the darkness that threatened to engulf us.
“Will,” she said.
Her soft voice attracted my full attention again.
“You know you’ve got a piece of me always, no matter what this crazy world has planned for us, right?” she asked.
I nodded my head as a smile pushed its way to my face. I knew I probably should have been thrown off by her confession, but I wasn’t. It was the truth. The truth rarely surprised me.
“Yeah, I know, and you’ve got the other half of me, damn the luck,” I said, chuckling.
I watched her tilt her head back, as a soft laugh fell from her lips.
“How can we ever function separately?” I asked, silently stroking the strings of my guitar.
She caught my stare and smiled a wide grin.
“I’m sure we’ll make do,” she said.
Her eyes lingered in mine just a little too long—long enough for me to imagine kissing her again. My heart sped up, and I could feel my chest rising and falling in short blips.
“I probably should be going,” she said, suddenly throwing her gaze to the hard floor.
I froze for an instant, my eyes still locked on her.
“Okay,” I said, eventually forcing a sound.
I didn’t agree that she should be going, but I knew that I couldn’t force her to stay either.
Then, suddenly, she started to get up. I followed with my eyes a path from her pretty lips to her hand that now rested on the arm of the chair. And then, without another thought, my own hand instinctively went to hers.
“Jules,” I said, placing my hand on top of hers.
I felt her soft skin under mine, and I squeezed my fingers around hers. She stopped and sat back in her chair, as her eyes darted first toward her hand and then to my eyes.
“Promise me you’ll come if I ever change my mind about the singing gig,” I whispered. “Promise you’ll come and listen to the rest of the song.”
She looked a little caught off guard, of course. I would have too. I followed her eyes as they moved back and forth from my hand on hers to my eyes. And then, she smiled.
“I promise,” she said, in almost a whisper.
&nb
sp; Then, she pushed up from her chair, slid her hand out from underneath mine and made her way back into the house.
My body was frozen, but my eyes followed her into the kitchen. And I watched her through the glass as she set her drink into the sink and then made her way to the front door.
I quickly got up then and scurried inside after her but stopped when she turned back toward me.
“Thanks for tonight, Will,” she softly said.
I forced a smile.
“Don’t mention it,” I said.
She held her gaze in mine for a moment, and then without another word, she turned and escaped back into the night on the other side of the door.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Deal
“You should sing—for people,” she said, through her pretty laughter.
The sound of her laugh echoed off the walls in the empty room.
I shook my head, but a smile lingered on my lips.
“No, Will, I’m serious,” she said. “You should.”
Her smile was soft and confident, but then it faded. And I watched as she turned and started to walk away.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
My smile had disappeared as well.
“I have to go,” she said.
I could hear a certain longing in her voice, as she stopped and faced me again.
“Dreams don’t wait, Will,” she said, with a sad look in her eyes.
“You’ll like it,” she assured me.
I traced the features of her pretty face, as a smile slowly returned to life under her sad eyes.
“And I’ll come back. I promise,” she said.
Her gaze lingered in mine, and her longing stare made my heart crumble into a billion pieces. I didn’t know her thoughts, but I knew they carried with them some amount of sadness. I kept my eyes on the green in hers, until I blinked, and then she was gone.
“Julia,” I yelled, running toward the door.
I pulled on its knob when I reached it, but the door didn’t open. I pulled harder with both hands, but it still wouldn’t budge. I turned and thrust my back against its wooden surface. Then, I cradled my face within my hands out of frustration mixed with a pain that made my knees buckle. I felt my body slowly slide down the door then, and I sat there kneeling until a noise made me look up. It sounded as if something had just fallen to the floor, but nothing was there. Then all of a sudden, I noticed something. She must have dropped it. I picked myself back up and shuffled toward the object. It was a card—a business card. I read the name at the top: Jesse Sovine. Then, my eyes followed over the words below the name, but as I got to a word, its letters quickly disappeared, until the card was just blank, except for the name at the top. Then, suddenly, there were hundreds of the same card all raining down from heaven. I lifted my hand to shield my face from them. And as soon as I had, I noticed there was something else now on the card in my hand. I squinted my eyes in order to read the tiny text. Now, instead of the name, there was one, small sentence: I Promise.
...
I turned my face over on my pillow and felt something hit my forehead. I quickly shifted again and then pulled the sheet up so that it was covering most of my face. A second later, I felt something else hit the top of my head. Then, I opened my eyes and saw a big peanut resting on the pillow next to me.
“What the hell?” I exclaimed, as I quickly sat up.
“Dude, are you going to sleep all day?”
“What?” I asked, noticing Jeff in the doorway, a can of peanuts in one hand. The other hand was feeding handfuls of peanuts into his mouth. “What time is it?”
I rubbed my eyes and searched for the glowing numbers on my alarm clock.
“Umm, seven maybe,” he said.
I shook my head and rubbed my eyes again.
“Why are you in my house?” I asked.
“Dude, I’ve been standing here trying to get you up for ten minutes now,” he said. “You sleep like a bear.”
“Wha…,” I stuttered, still shaking my head.
I didn’t even bother finishing my sentence.
“I was wondering if you wanted to go fishin’,” he said.
I found the clock. It glowed six twenty in its neon numbers.
I took a breath in and then let out a sigh.
“All right,” I said.
“Good, I’ve got the poles in my truck,” he said.
Just then, my eyes fell onto the business card sitting on the chest across the room.
“Just put some pants on. Let’s go,” he squeaked.
Another peanut hit my face and broke my stare from the card.
“Is there something wrong with you?” he asked.
“What?” I asked, returning my attention back to him. “No…I just remembered this crazy dream I had.”
He threw his head back and laughed once.
“Buddy, your life’s a crazy dream,” he said. “Now, let’s go.”
My eyes eventually settled onto the card again.
“Okay,” I said. “Just give me a second, and I’ll be out there.”
I glanced back at him. He was giving me that dumb, puzzled look he does best. I didn’t say anything.
“Okay,” he eventually said.
I watched him turn and leave the doorway. Then, I pulled the sheets back and walked over to the chest. I picked up the business card and held it carefully in between my fingers. I read over its words, then spotted my phone sitting on the chest next to a bottle of cologne. I reached for it, picked it up and cradled it in my other hand. Silent moments passed with the business card in one hand and the phone in the other. Then, finally, I took a deep breath, slowly let it out and then pressed number six on my speed dial.
“Hey, buddy,” I heard a voice answer on the other end a few rings later.
“Hey, Matt. I didn’t wake ya, did I?” I asked.
“No, no, we just got back from a call,” he said. “What’s up?”
“Uh, you still want to give this agent a shot?” I asked.
He was quiet for a second.
“Uh, yeah,” I eventually heard him say. “Do you?”
I smiled to myself.
“I think I do,” I said. “Do you think you could talk Daniel into it?”
“Daniel’s in,” he said. “He just needed some reassuring that it wasn’t quite the craziest thing we’ve ever done.”
I laughed.
“Okay,” I said, taking another deep breath.
“So, we’re really going to do this?” he asked.
I could hear a smile in his voice.
“I’ll give this Jesse Sovine guy a call, and we’ll see what happens, I guess,” I said.
“All right, great,” he said. “I’ll tell the guys.”
“Okay,” I replied, nodding my head.
My finger lunged for the button that would end the call but stopped when I heard his voice again.
“Wait, Will?”
“Yeah?” I asked.
“What made ya change your mind?” he asked.
A smile started to slowly etch a path across my face, as I let a silent moment pass.
“A girl,” I said.
I heard him laugh on the other end.
“I should have known,” he said.
“Hey, call me after you talk to him,” he said.
“Okay, I will,” I said.
I hung up and found the number on the card still cradled in my hand. Then, I methodically punched into my phone each number, until all ten digits were displayed on the phone’s screen. And after another deep breath, I counted to three in my head and then hit the call button.
Five, long rings later I heard his voice telling me to leave a message. I contemplated hanging up, but I didn’t and instead, waited for the beep.
A second went by after the beep before I said anything. Then, I cleared my throat.
“Uh, hi, Mr. Sovine, this is Will Stephens from District 9,” I said into the receiver. “We talked at the Home of Blues a while
back. And I don’t know if you’re still interested, but we’d like to talk about you possibly representing us.”
I hesitated for a second.
“Uh, you can call me back on this number. Thanks.”
I stopped, ended the call and carefully set the business card back onto the chest. Then, I felt something small hit the back of my head, and I watched as a peanut rolled to a spot on the floor.
“Dude, I thought you went back to sleep or something,” Jeff said in his whiney voice. “Why don’t you have pants on?”
I looked down at my boxers, then turned around and shuffled back over to the other side of the bed without even acknowledging him. I found a pair of jeans I had worn the day before lying on the floor and stepped into them. Then, I reached for a shirt from an open drawer and squeezed it on over my head.
“Voilà,” I said, turning and facing Jeff with my arms out to my sides. “Ready.”
“About time, loser,” he said, as he turned on his heels in the doorway again. “The fish have probably all hibernated or frozen in the time it took you to do that.”
I smiled and shuffled toward the bedroom door. But on my way, I took one, last glance at the business card staring back at me from the chest. It forced me to suck in another big breath of air.
“Girl, the things you make me do,” I mumbled in my next exhale.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Wedding
“Will, I’ve been looking for you.”
I turned around in the bench to see a young woman, dressed from head to toe in white, and immediately, it made me smile.
“Hey, Mona, do you need something?” I asked her.
Mona had always been like a little sister to me, and now, she seemed all grown up all of a sudden.
“No, no,” she said, laughing. “I just saw you talking to that girl over there.”
“What girl? When?” I asked.
“Taylor,” Mona said. “The petite girl, auburn hair, you know? She’s a friend from college.”
“Oh,” I said, habitually rubbing the back of my neck.
“Uh, yeah, she’s requesting a song,” I said.
Mona flashed me a mischievous grin.
“She asked if I would dance with her when it plays,” I continued.
“And you said?” she asked.
