Bobbie grabbed her arms and held her out, studying her face. “Oh, dear. Did Tyler break up with you?”
“No, Mom. He asked me to marry him.”
Jill felt her mother’s hands tighten painfully on her arms before she relaxed her grip and her hands fell to her side. “What?”
Jill closed the door at her back and grabbed her mom’s arm, dragging her into the kitchen. She sat down at the table where she’d eaten thousands of meals, done hundreds of homework assignments, and dreamed of the future. Her mom stumbled into the chair next to Jill.
“How?”
“He came over last night to say goodbye—”
“Goodbye? I thought he asked you to marry him.”
“He did. Just let me get this out.” She took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and laced her fingers together on the table in front of her. “His dad threw his back out. You know he owns a raft shop. When they were here last week, he left a man in charge who did a horrible job. Ty’s dad needed him to come home and run the shop until he’s back on his feet.”
Bobbie impatiently pushed the hair out of her face. “Okay…”
“So he came over last night to tell me he had to leave. I was upset. I knew he was leaving at the end of the summer and we’d never talked about the future. Ty was all wound up about leaving and he said he’s in love with me. He’s coming back to get his things and he wants me to think about moving there with him.”
Bobbie gasped. “To North Carolina?”
Jill nodded. “He’s signed a teaching contract for the year that he can’t get out of. He’s also starting the fly fishing shop with his dad. He’s tied there, at least for a year.”
“He wants you to move across the country? After only knowing you for a few months?”
“He said if I didn’t like it there, he’d move here, or we could live both places during different times of the year. He’s got to be there in the summer.”
“Jill,” Bobbie reached out and gripped Jill’s hands, “are you considering this?”
She couldn’t lie to her mom, no matter how devastated she looked. “I love him, Mom.”
“What would you do there?”
Her mother had hit on Jill’s biggest concern. “Ty said his mom and stepdad are opening a new restaurant. A nice one, nicer than anything the town has now. They want me to help with both places—the pizza place they’ve owned for years and the new place. His mom hates doing the books and she’ll need lots of help running two places.”
“Will that be enough? And what about your training? Are you giving up on that for good?”
“No. I’ve been running. My leg feels strong. I’ve decided to run in the qualifier in Denver this weekend.”
“Have you told your dad?”
Jill shook her head from side to side.
“You know he’s taking Charla?”
She nodded. “I know. Do you think he’d let me ride up there with them?”
“Honey, I’m sure all you have to do is ask.”
“Good.” At least one thing was settled.
“So, what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. I love him. I do. I want to be with him. I can’t breathe when I think about not being with him.”
“But?”
“But moving away from here, from you…it scares me. What if I hate it? What if I make him move back here and he hates me for making him leave his family behind?”
“That’s an awful lot of what ifs.” Bobbie stood up, gathered her coffee mug in both hands, and refilled it from the pot. She carefully added her creamer from the refrigerator and rejoined Jill at the table. “Love’s the biggest risk of all.”
Jill nodded. “Yes. He’s the best man I’ve ever known.”
“I could argue your dad’s case here, but I doubt you’d see my side of things.”
“Let’s just say we both love really good men.”
Bobbie pursed her lips. “Your daddy’s going to be upset.”
“I know.”
“Sounds like you’ve made up your mind.”
“One minute I think I have, and the next minute I’m all confused.” She got up and began pacing. She couldn’t think without moving around. “I’m going to run the race this weekend because that’s a goal I need to try and achieve first.”
“Do you think you’ll qualify?”
“My times have been close.”
“You know if you do, your daddy’s going to say I told you so.”
“And he’d be right. But I have to qualify first.”
Bobbie got up and stopped Jill in her tracks. “Don’t tell him about Ty just yet. He’s all keyed up about the race, about Charla, and if he were being honest with himself, about you. He’ll be glad you’re going. Let him be glad for a little while.”
“You think he’ll be upset about Ty?”
“That his little girl’s getting married? Honey…”
“I haven’t answered him yet.”
She cupped Jill’s face in her palm. “I know this face. You’re already gone.”
Chapter 36
Ty came into the den and plopped in the easy chair with a sigh. His back, after twelve hours on his feet, ached like the devil.
“Long day?” his dad asked from his reclined position on the couch.
“I’m not sure how you managed to go so long without throwing your back out sooner. I’m exhausted.”
“That’s ‘cause I’m heartier than you and the wimps in your generation.”
“Whatever,” Ty said. He tossed the ledger book on the coffee table within his dad’s reach. “There’s the books. We had a good day. I think I’ve managed to reconcile everything from when you were gone.”
“Fantastic.” His dad turned the volume down on the Braves game.
“What’s the score?”
“Braves are up three in the bottom of the fourth.”
Ty tried not to nod off. Every muscle in his body ached. Even his brain hurt. “Are the girls in bed?”
“Lita’s putting Ella down now. She fights it.”
“She’s a night owl like her dad.”
“It’s a wonder I can sleep at all after laying around all damn day. Lita will hardly let me get up to use the bathroom.”
“Yeah, it must totally suck to have the woman you love cater to your every need.”
Ty’s dad didn’t miss the sarcasm in his voice. “Have you talked to her?”
Ty sighed and rubbed his aching shoulder. “Yeah. She’s working, getting ready for the race. She misses me.”
“Has she given you an answer?”
“No, but I haven’t asked.” When his dad gave him an exasperated look, he said, “I told her to think about it and I’m not going to pressure her. If she loves me enough to give up everything she knows and is familiar with, she’ll do it because she wants to, not because I’ve bullied her into it.”
“There’s nothing wrong with nudging her along. Do it for me, for goodness sake. I’m sick of feeling guilty watching you mope around here every morning and night.”
“Maybe I’ll go stay with Mom and Bryce so you don’t have to feel guilty.”
“Do whatever you want to do.”
Lita walked into the middle of the den and stood in front of the television. She folded her arms over her chest. “What’s going on in here? I can hear you two sniping at each other from upstairs.”
“Somebody thinks I should’ve hoisted Jill over my shoulder and manhandled her into agreeing to marry me.” Ty crossed his arms over his chest and sneered at his dad.
“And somebody thinks sitting around moping is going to magically make Jill move here.”
“Neither one of you is right,” Lita said. She stared at Jesse with her brows raised. “And someone is forgetting that he did the same thing as his son, presenting his case and then giving me time to think.”
“You didn’t take a whole lot of time, thank God.”
“So you have no idea how Ty is feeling and you might stop feeling guilt
y and sorry for yourself long enough to have a little sympathy.”
Jesse lifted a shoulder, glanced over at Ty. “Sorry.”
Ty gave an identical shoulder lift and shrugged it off. “Sorry, too.” He stood up and stretched his back. “Maybe I will go stay with Mom. She’s been nagging me to come over and it might help to beat up on the boys for a while.”
“You can come and go as you please,” Lita said. She hugged Ty, rubbing her cheek on his chest. “You know we love having you.”
“I know. Under different circumstances, I’d love being here. I’m beat. I’m going to grab a shower and turn in.”
He climbed the stairs carefully, being sure to miss the creaky spot that might wake the girls. He closed his door and leaned back against it, staring at his childhood bedroom. On impulse, he took out his phone and snapped a picture of his room.
Maybe Jill was so hesitant because she didn’t know what she’d be coming to. He’d never showed her any pictures of the area or his little part of the town. He decided to start that night by sending the picture by text.
Here’s the bed I’m sleeping in alone, missing you, dreaming of you. Yes, that is an autographed Chipper Jones baseball on my nightstand. Considering he’s destined to be a Hall of Famer, I’m allowed to be a fan. Love you.
***
The phone in Jill’s pocket beeped as she worked behind the bar at The Tap. Through the crowd and the music, she didn’t hear it and the text went unnoticed until almost eleven when she walked out to her car. She smiled at the double bed with a brown and red quilt, the glassed in baseball on the nightstand, and when she zoomed in on the corkboard on the wall, a picture of her held up with a yellow tack.
She looked at the time. He was asleep by now in that bed. She didn’t want to wake him, but she couldn’t let his text go ignored. I love you was all she wrote. She hoped, in the end, that was enough.
***
With every mile she ran, images flashed through Jill’s head. The raft shop along the banks of the Powellachee. The nearly ready to be christened fly shop and the wooden sign that was yet to be hung. His mother’s brick house where the twins wrestled in the sprawling yard. His father’s picture perfect farmhouse where the girls ran through a sprinkler near the front porch. Ty, with his arm around his grandfather’s shoulders. The cabin where they would live until they decided what and where they wanted to be. His mother’s restaurant from the outside along the quaint city block. The site of the new restaurant they planned to open in the fall, construction crews already at work.
The pictures played like a movie in her head. The soundtrack was Ty’s voice, telling her he loved her and explaining to her his mother’s plans for the new restaurant. Kerri Ann needed help and she was more than willing to trust someone who had restaurant experience, someone who cared as much about the success of the businesses as the owners, and someone her son wanted as his wife.
Ty said he’d be waiting at the finish line. She’d thought he hadn’t kept his promise, but she understood now that he was waiting at the finish line. He was waiting for her to finish one chapter of her life and he was there to help her begin another.
Heedless of her stride or her leg or the time she kept on her watch, Jill ran like a woman possessed along some of Denver’s most famous streets and attractions. She crossed the finish line without even noting her time and slowed to a walk. The sound of her father calling her name broke the trance she’d been in for the half marathon.
“Jill!” He grabbed her in a bear hug, lifting her off her feet, and twirling her in the air. “You did it! You qualified.”
“I did?” She accepted a bottle of water from a race volunteer and looked back toward the finish line. “What was my time?”
“You beat it by three minutes.” He scanned the crowd. “I’ve got to go look for Charla. She should be close.” He gave her a smacking kiss on her forehead. “I’m so damn proud of you. I knew you could do it.” He jogged back to the finish line and waited for his runner.
Jill guzzled the water, tossing the empty bottle in one of the many trashcans around the finish area. She kept walking until her heart rate steadied and her breathing calmed. She stretched her quads, calves, and hamstrings before joining her dad and Charla where they stood next to the water station. Charla missed qualifying by twenty-three seconds.
“Congratulations,” Charla choked out through gasping breaths. She leaned over and clutched her knees, gulping in air. Frustration bounced off her in waves. Jill felt sympathy for the girl she’d expected to dislike, but found charming and unaffected on the ride up from Westmoreland. Her dad had chosen a good runner with a big and eager heart.
Jill rubbed her back. “You did great. It won’t take any time at all to shave off twenty-three seconds.”
“I lagged on mile seven,” Charla said. “I just kind of zoned out and didn’t focus. By the time I realized my mistake, I couldn’t make up the difference.”
“It’s one race,” her father said. “There’ll be others. Knowing where you dropped the ball is half the battle. Now we know to work on keeping you focused throughout.”
Charla nodded and gave Jill a beaming smile. “I guess it’s off to Oregon for you.”
Jill swallowed and looked away. Her father, bless the man, threw her a lifeline. He thought he was sparing Charla the embarrassment. “We’ve got plenty of time to talk about Oregon. Let’s get you girls to the massage table and work out those kinks before the award ceremony.”
Chapter 37
Tommy helped Lyle hitch Ty’s boat to the back of his truck while Olivia stood brooding, kicking dirt with her sandal and squinting into the bright morning sun.
“I still can’t believe you’re leaving me,” Olivia said. “What in the world am I supposed to do in this town without you?”
“Get your degree,” Tommy mumbled out of the side of his mouth. Olivia, with years of eavesdropping experience, overheard him perfectly.
“Besides that,” she said.
“It’s okay if you miss me,” Jill said. “Because I’m going to miss you like crazy.”
“So don’t go. Make Ty move out here so I won’t be all alone with them.” She jerked her thumb at Tommy and Lyle where they knelt to secure the lock on the hitch.
“I’m not going to make him do anything, just like he’s not making me do anything.” Jill gave her a beaming smile. “We’re going to make each other very happy.”
“You weren’t this annoyingly sappy before you fell in love.” Olivia put air quotes around the words ‘in love.’
“You will be too when it’s your turn.”
“I guess the good news is that if tall, dark, and handsome ever shows up, my biggest competition will be across the country.”
“See,” Jill said. “There’s my optimistic friend. I knew she was in there somewhere.”
“Okay,” Tommy said as he walked over and handed Jill the keys. “The boat’s secure. Be sure, when you stop for the night, to pull everything into the hotel. If you don’t, there’s a good chance there won’t be anything left when you go back out in the morning.”
“My dad already warned me that we shouldn’t use the boat for storage for that very reason.”
“I can’t believe you talked him and your mom into riding with you to North Carolina,” Lyle said.
“It was their idea. Since neither Charla nor I are going to Oregon, he had the time and he and Mom really want to meet Ty’s family. See where we’ll be living.”
“And you still haven’t told Ty you’re coming?” Olivia asked.
“And ruin the surprise?” Jill asked. “No way. I can’t wait to see his face when we pull up in his truck.”
“I feel like I’m never going to see you again,” Olivia pouted.
“I’ll be in constant contact. I’ve got a wedding to plan. I need my maid of honor to help me with all the details.”
Olivia squealed. “Oh my gosh, really?” She hugged Jill and began jumping up and down. She spun around and faced T
ommy who stood rolling his eyes. “A good brother would send us to New York to find your dress.”
“She’s marrying the guy who stole my best employee.”
“Hey,” Olivia said. “I’m your best employee.”
Tommy ignored her and pulled Jill into his chest. “Be careful. If anything happens to you, Ty’ll have my head.”
“I will. Thank you so much for everything.”
“Go,” he said. “Be happy. Come back and visit us sometime.”
“Count on it.”
Lyle wrapped his arm around Jill’s shoulder. “Be careful, Jill. If you all get tired, make sure you switch off or stop for the day. That’s a long haul, especially pulling the boat.”
“We’ll be fine. I’m actually looking forward to spending some time with my parents. Dad was really cool about me forgoing Oregon and I think he and Mom need some time to digest the fact that I’m leaving.”
Olivia and Lyle walked arm in arm with Jill to the driver’s side. “I hate you for leaving me,” Olivia said, “but I’m so darn happy for you.”
“I love you,” Jill said.
The thin hold on Olivia’s emotions broke. “Damn it, you’re making me cry. I love you, too.”
“Call me when you get there,” Lyle said.
“I will.”
“Call me from the road,” Olivia said. “I’ll be so bored here alone.”
Jill gave them both a hard squeeze and then hopped into the truck. “I’ve got a feeling you won’t be alone for long.”
“Really?”
“Really.” Jill blew her best friends a kiss and waved as she pulled out.
Olivia wiped at her tears. “Damn it, Lyle. Why did she have to fall in love?”
“They say it makes the world go round,” Lyle said and placed a consolatory arm around her shoulders.
She looked up at him and grimaced. “How would we know?”
He shrugged. “Beats me.”
***
“What are you wearing?” Ty asked Jill when she answered her cell phone. He’d stolen a moment for himself in his dad’s office while the afternoon groups were gone and the place was quiet. Ty was better when things were busy. During the slow breaks in the day, he missed Jill so much he wanted to jump out of his skin.
Mending the Line Page 21
