Page 10 of July (New Orleans #7)

“S o, you let Mel and Kyle watch your sister?” Rory asked.

“They want kids one day, and they’re both adults, so I thought they could handle one shy kid for a couple of hours. Juni has homework, and she seems pretty self-sufficient, but honestly, I’m, like, three days into this babysitting thing, and it’s a lot. How do you do it?” Jill asked back.

“Well, they’re not related to me, and I get to leave at the end of the night, so that’s easier,” Rory replied.

“Willa, how long have you been teaching?” Rory’s girlfriend, Logan, asked.

“Oh, forever,” she said with an awkward laugh. “Since I graduated, I mean.”

“Do you like it?” Logan asked before taking a drink of her beer.

“I do,” she replied. “Somedays are harder than others.”

“How so?”

“Just that we make next to nothing and have to buy most of our supplies ourselves, which means the kids don’t get all the things they should be getting. It keeps getting worse, too, but I’m sure that’s not a surprise to anyone here.”

“That teachers get paid next to nothing and should get a whole lot more? No, not surprising,” Rory replied. “I do hate it, though.”

“Me too,” Willa said with a smile.

Jill’s friends were nice. Candace, the woman who owned the bar, had stopped by their table and had offered Willa her first drink for free as long as she promised to tell her friends about the new neighborhood hangout.

Willa promised, and Candace surprised her with some amazing apple concoction that she had to be careful about drinking because it was one of those drinks that made someone only taste the sweetness and not the alcohol it contained, and she was driving.

She had arrived after Jill and her friends, so she had been introduced to Rory and Logan and had joined their table.

Jill had introduced her as Juni’s summer school teacher, which, she supposed, was fine.

They’d only just met, and all Jill knew about her was that she was a teacher, but she thought Jill was cute and wondered if she might be into women, so she was hoping to maybe be a friend by the end of the night.

“Who’s Mel?” she asked.

Jill turned to her and smiled at her.

“She’s technically my boss, but she’s also a friend. Her fiancée, Kyle, is watching my sister with her. They’re thinking about having kids one day, like I said, so Mel told me she’d give me a few hours off tonight so that they could practice on someone else’s kid.”

“I can’t wait to hear from Mel tomorrow.” Rory laughed. “I’m guessing Kyle will be all laid back and let Juni do whatever, but Mel will want her to follow the schedule.”

“They’ll be good moms one day either way,” Jill suggested.

“Moms?” Willa asked.

“Oh, sorry. Kyle is a woman. Happens a lot,” Jill replied.

“Right,” Willa said.

Rory and Logan turned to look at one another, and Jill leaned over a little.

“Sorry. I guess I didn’t really explain when I invited you here, but most of my friends are gay. Mel and Kyle and those two.” Jill pointed across the table. “Um… Me as well.” She pointed to herself. “Is that a problem?”

“What? No,” Willa said with a little laugh. “I’m gay, too, so no problem. It’s actually nice. I don’t have many lesbian friends. None, technically. My older sister is totally straight and tries to help me meet women sometimes, but that’s about as close as I get.”

“Yeah?” Jill said with a half-smile. When Willa nodded, Jill cleared her throat before she turned back to the table and asked, “What’s your sister’s name?”

“Wallis.”

“Wallis?”

“My mom saw it in a book or something,” Willa shared. “Then, she went with the Ws for the rest of us, too.”

“How many siblings do you have?”

“Just one more. My older brother. He’s–”

“Let me guess.” Jill turned back to her. “Wilbur.”

“No.” Willa laughed.

“Walter.”

“No,” Willa said and turned to her, placing her arm on the back of the booth.

“Wesley?”

“Not even close.”

Jill squinted as if she were trying to read Willa’s mind, and it was really cute.

“Wyatt?”

Willa shook her head no and asked, “How many more guesses do you want?”

“At least three,” Jill said, holding up three fingers.

“Okay. Shoot.”

“Um… Winston?”

Willa shook her head again.

“Damn.” Jill dropped a finger. “William? Is it William? I thought that would be too obvious.”

“Not William.”

“Well, fuck,” Jill said, dropping another finger.

“Do you two need us here for this?” Rory teased.

“Shut up,” Jill replied with a laugh. “Last guess. Okay. What about Warren?”

“Nope. Sorry.”

“Really? How many more W names can there be?”

“At least one more, apparently,” Logan answered.

“Don’t you have a shift to get to?” Jill joked.

“Shift?” Willa asked.

“Oh, I work here. Not tonight, though. She’s just bitter she didn’t guess your brother’s name,” Logan replied.

“Wait. What is it?” Jill asked.

“Wade.”

“Wade? Oh, come on… How was I supposed to guess that?” Jill said and took a long drink from her glass.

Willa laughed and had this urge to put her hand on Jill’s lower back to rub it and comfort her mockingly, but she swallowed and kept her hand to herself instead.

She’d just met this woman. She had no reason to believe that Jill was into her at all.

An invitation to hang out with her friends didn’t mean that Jill was single or interested.

She glanced at Rory in an attempt to look away from Jill, and Rory gave her a look in return.

Willa was pretty sure she knew what Jill’s friend was silently doing: she was sizing her up.

Rory then looked at Jill before looking back at her, and Willa didn’t know what to do, so she just looked down and picked up her drink, which was already mostly gone.

When Jill’s phone rang, Willa didn’t mean to, but she read the name on the screen and saw that Jill’s mom was the one calling.

“Shit. Sorry,” Jill said. “I need to take this.”

“No problem,” Willa replied.

Jill got up from the booth to answer the call, and Willa watched as she headed outside, likely where she thought it would be quieter.

“So, you’re the baby, huh?” Rory asked.

“Sorry?” Willa asked back, returning her attention to Rory and Logan.

“The baby of the family.”

“Oh. I guess. Are you still the baby when you’re thirty years old?”

“I’m thirty, and I don’t think I’m a baby,” Logan said.

Rory smiled and rolled her eyes at her girlfriend.

“How long have you two been together?” Willa asked.

“A couple of months,” Logan answered.

“Really? Seems like much longer.”

“Feels that way, too, sometimes,” Rory replied with a smile. “So, do you have someone special?”

Willa shook her head and said, “No, I’m single. Haven’t had a relationship in a while.” She thought about how that sounded. “Not that I don’t want one or that I can’t be in one. I just meant that it’s been a while. Like, a couple of years or so.”

“Logan is my first relationship,” Rory shared.

“And she’s my first in a while,” Logan added.

They talked for a few more minutes, which was enough time for Willa to finish her drink, and she wondered what was taking so long as she looked over at Jill’s watered-down one.

“Do you think I should go check on her?” she asked. “It’s been a few minutes.”

“Go for it,” Rory said. “We’ll be here.”

Willa stood and grabbed her purse. She didn’t want to interrupt an important conversation, but Jill had been gone for a while now, and Willa just wanted to know that she was okay.

She walked through the open door and looked left and then right, spotting Jill still on the phone near the corner of the block.

Willa didn’t want to eavesdrop, but Jill was looking away from her, and she was talking pretty loudly.

“Mom, come on. I can’t do that. That’s too much,” Jill said and spun around right after.

When she noticed Willa standing there, probably looking like she was lurking behind her, Jill held up a finger. Willa made some kind of motion with her hands to try to indicate that she’d just go back inside, which made her look like an idiot.

“Mom, I’ve got to go. I’ll call you later.” Jill paused, probably to listen to whatever her mother was saying. “I’ll show you how to send it, but you have to send it, Mom. I can’t just suddenly afford to take care of a kid out of nowhere.”

Willa made a different move with her hands, trying to show Jill that she was going back inside, so Jill should talk as much as she wanted.

“Yeah, bye,” Jill said and hung up the phone. “Sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry.” Willa took a few steps toward her. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I–”

“Are you leaving?”

“What? No. I came to check on you.”

“Oh. You just have your purse.”

“I didn’t want to leave it inside,” she explained. “I really didn’t mean to interrupt. You were just out here for a while, and it’s not safe at night to be outside alone. I have pepper spray to–”

“Pepper spray?” Jill teased.

“Yeah, on my key chain.”

Jill smiled and said, “That’s cute.”

“It’s not cute.” Willa laughed. “It’s for safety. Safety isn’t cute.”

“I bet it’s cute when you hold it up.”

“Want to find out?” Willa offered jokingly. “I can spray you with it, and you can tell me if it’s cute.”

“No. No.” Jill waved her hands in front of her face and laughed.

“Is everything okay?” Willa asked. “You don’t have to tell me. I–”

“She’s going to be gone longer,” Jill shared. “She didn’t really give me a ton of details, but I guess there are more doctor’s appointments and tests to run, so she’ll be there at least until the end of the month and maybe longer.”

“Oh, wow,” Willa replied.

“I’ve been watching the kid for three days, and I already needed a break,” Jill said, shaking her head. “How am I going to take care of her for a month?”

“Do you have any other family here that can help?”

“No. My mom moved here with my dad before I was born. Everyone else is in other states, and my family isn’t big to begin with. I asked if I could drive Juni to her this weekend so that she could enroll her in a summer school there, but she said no. She wants her to stay here and finish.”

“It is easier for her to stay here. The curriculum might be different wherever she’d end up, putting her behind.”

“I know. But I have a life. I’ve already had to take time off to make cupcakes.

I altered my schedule so I could drop her off and pick her up from school.

My mom was supposed to leave me money, and she didn’t.

I just told her I’d show her how to transfer money online because she doesn’t really do that, and she said she would, but I’m not convinced.

She told me before that she’d pick Juni up from school and leave me information and cash, and she didn’t do either. ”

“Do you need a hug?” Willa asked.

Jill smiled at her and said, “Are you offering? Because that would be really nice.”

“I am,” she replied and held out her arms, leaving her purse to dangle on her elbow.

Jill walked into her arms and wrapped her own around Willa’s shoulders.

Willa’s were around Jill’s waist, and, damn, Jill felt good.

Willa hadn’t hugged a woman whom she wasn’t related to in a long time.

She didn’t want to hold on too long, making this one of those hugs, because she didn’t want things to turn awkward, but Jill wasn’t rushing to pull away, either, so Willa finally did what she had wanted to do earlier and rubbed Jill’s back up and down.

“That feels good,” Jill said against her neck.

“It’s going to be okay,” Willa replied softly.

“Is it? I might have just been forced to adopt a ten-year-old.”

Willa laughed a little against Jill’s body and said, “She’ll be back, Jill. She’s just taking care of your grandparents.”

“I know.” Jill sighed. “Do I have to stop hugging you? You give great hugs. Five stars.”

Willa smiled as she squeezed Jill a little tighter and said, “No. We can keep doing this for however long you need.”

“Well, it’s getting late. Do you have that pepper spray handy just in case we need it?”

Will laughed, and due to the shaking of her body against Jill’s, her hand accidentally shifted under Jill’s shirt on her back, touching the warm skin for only an instant before she removed it and pulled quickly out of the hug.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s okay,” Jill said with a smile. “I really didn’t mind.”

Willa nodded slowly and asked, “Should we go back inside?”

“Sure. Why not? I’ve got Mel and Kyle for…” Jill pulled out her phone and checked the screen. “Another hour. Want me to buy you another drink?”

“Maybe just get yourself a new one since your first one is probably mostly water by now. I can take a sip of that.”

“Oh, you can , can you?” Jill teased.

And Willa really liked it.