Page 15 of July (New Orleans #7)

W illa read the rejection email and then reread it.

She’d spent a lot of time working on this interview, and it sucked hearing that another teacher with more experience had been chosen over her for a school in Kentucky.

It had been a long shot; she’d known that.

She’d never thought she would get it, which was why she’d never told her family that she’d even interviewed.

This email telling her that she had been correct about that shouldn’t have hurt as much, but it still stung.

It wasn’t that she had wanted to move to Kentucky.

It was that the school had sounded so amazing.

Just looking at it online had her wondering if it was really a grade school.

It had that old brick and ivy-lined walls with one of those old iron gates that made it look like a university, not a school for kindergarten through eighth grade.

She tossed her phone on her sofa, wishing she could afford to drown her sorrows in alcohol, but she didn’t have any here and couldn’t afford to spend money on any, either, because she needed more construction paper for the kids.

Then, she remembered. Willa jumped off the sofa and went to the kitchen, rooting around in her junk drawer before she found it and pulled it out.

She’d been saving it for a special occasion, and she wasn’t sure if being turned down for a job really qualified, but she needed something good to come out of today.

Her parents had given her a gift card to her favorite local restaurant for her birthday.

It was for two hundred dollars because they had hoped she’d be able to go a few times with it, but Willa would splurge this one time.

She’d need to hurry, though, if she was going to do what she wanted.

◆◆◆

“Willa?” Jill asked.

“Hi,” she said. “I hope you haven’t had dinner yet.”

“What? No. Why?”

Willa held up two giant white bags and said, “I brought it.”

“What?” Jill asked, laughing. “You brought dinner?”

“And wine. The restaurant sells it by the bottle, and I just told them not to open it.”

“You–”

“You can totally tell me to go, but I was starving, and I thought you and Juni could use more than pizza, and I could use a drink.”

“Come in,” Jill said, motioning her inside. “Oh, let me.” She took one of the bags.

“Jill, who is–” Juni paused as she appeared at the end of the short hallway. “Hi, Miss Mailor.”

“Hi, Juni. I hope it’s okay that I came by for dinner again.”

“Is it pizza?” the girl asked, sounding like she hoped it would be anything other than that.

“No,” Willa replied.

“What did you get? The whole restaurant?” Jill asked as she looked down in the bag.

“Close.”

The three of them walked to the kitchen, where Jill and Willa set the bags on the table.

“What did you get me?” Juni asked as she flopped onto a chair, looking interested.

“Juniper, manners,” Jill admonished. “Say thank you.”

“Sorry,” Juni said. “Thank you, Miss Mailor.”

“Hey, Juni, since we’re not in school, if you want to call me Willa, you can.”

“Is that allowed?” the girl asked seriously and like it was a secret.

Willa laughed and replied, “Yes, it’s allowed. In school, can you still call me Miss Mailor like the other kids, though?”

“Okay,” Juni said. “Thank you for dinner.”

“You are welcome. So, for you, I got a salad with a lot of vegetables.”

When Juni’s face fell, Willa laughed hard.

“I’m just teasing. I got you chicken fingers and mac and cheese.”

“Mac and cheese?”

Juni’s face lit up in excitement.

“And if your sister is okay with it, I got dessert, too.”

Juni’s head turned quickly to Jill.

“What did you get?” Jill asked.

“Well, there’s cheesecake or a brownie with ice cream. What do you want?” she asked Juni.

“Can I have the ice cream?”

“Sure,” she replied. “Can you put it in the freezer for now?” she asked Jill.

Jill took the ice cream from her, and Willa pulled out the food box for Juni.

“Can I have ketchup?” Juni asked.

“Go for it. You know where it is,” Jill replied after she walked back over to the table. “You really didn’t have to do this, but thank you.”

Jill’s hand went to Willa’s lower back only for a second before she pulled away. Willa wasn’t sure if Juni knew that her big sister was gay or even what that meant, but she decided that might have something to do with Jill pulling her hand away so quickly.

“Napkins,” Jill added to Juni, who sat back down and went immediately for a chicken finger.

“Sorry,” the girl replied.

“So, I got us an appetizer so that we could act like actual adults,” Willa said. “I hope you like barbecue shrimp.”

“Heck, yeah,” Jill replied, pulling the box out of the bag when she spotted it. “Oh, and they put the toast with it. I love this stuff.”

Willa smiled and said, “There’s pasta or a chicken thing. I like both, so I thought you could just pick.”

“We can split them,” Jill suggested.

“Yeah, okay,” she agreed.

While Willa plated their dinner, Jill found the corkscrew and uncorked the red wine. It wasn’t expensive or anything, but it would at least be something for them to enjoy with their meal.

“Um… Can I please have my ice cream in the living room and watch TV?” Juni asked after they’d finished eating.

“Do you want the brownie?” Willa asked.

“Yes, please.”

“I’ll warm it up for you,” Willa said. “Is that okay?” she asked Jill, who was taking a sip of her wine.

“Yeah, of course.”

Willa stood and warmed the brownie up in the microwave before adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream to the bowl since Juni would probably make a mess if it was all on a plate. Juni took it from her, along with a spoon, very carefully and thanked her.

“Please don’t spill anything. I am begging you. I do not have the energy to clean the carpet tonight,” Jill requested.

“Um… Okay. Thank you,” Juni said, smiling at Willa.

“You’re welcome, sweetie,” she replied, smiling back.

Juni left the kitchen, and Willa returned to sit next to Jill at the table.

“Have I thanked you for this yet? If not, thank you. I was this close to ordering pizza again.” Jill held her thumb mere millimeters from her index finger.

“There are other foods you could’ve delivered,” Willa teased.

“I know. But I have all these points from the pizza place that I’ve accrued from ordering way too much pizza, so it’s cheaper.”

Willa took a sip of her wine and then asked, “Have you heard anything from her?”

Jill shook her head.

“Has Juni asked about her?”

“Yeah, right before you got here. So, thank you for that, too. I was literally saved by the bell, and I think she forgot all about it when you started talking about mac and cheese and ice cream.”

Willa chuckled and said, “Happy to help.”

Jill leaned forward, sliding her wine glass to the side, and said, “You’ve been more than just help, Willa. You’re like a breath of fresh air I wasn’t expecting at all, but I’m so happy you’re here. Is that okay to say?”

Willa nodded and said, “I feel the same way about you, so, yeah, it’s okay.”

“How can I be a breath of fresh air for you? All I’ve done is unload my problems on you since we met?”

“Not true. You also made cute cupcakes and delivered them on paper plates and a baking sheet that I think you left in the cafeteria.”

“Shit. I knew I forgot something.”

“I’ll bring it over for you.”

“How do parents do this?” Jill asked. “Like, there’s this whole other person that I’m suddenly responsible for, and I’m letting her eat ice cream in the living room, so I’m pretty sure I’m going to be cleaning something off of that carpet later.”

“Juni’s a good kid, Jill. She’s respectful in class, quiet when she should be, participates when she should, and honestly, the past few days, I’ve really seen her come out of her shell more.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” Willa confirmed. “And my guess is that you have something to do with that. She looks up to you.”

“I hope not. I’m a tour guide with barely anything in my bank account and not much going for me.”

Willa leaned in and said, “I think you have a lot going for you.”

“Oh, yeah? Like what?”

“You’re beautiful and funny, and you might be more responsible than your mother.”

Jill laughed and said, “Low bar right now.”

“You’re taking care of your family, Jill.”

“I don’t know how long I can. It’s not like I was prepared for this. I don’t have much of anything saved up.”

“You’ll be okay. You’ll figure it out.” Willa placed her hand on the table, palm up. “And you have me. If you… want me, I mean.”

Jill stared down at that hand and asked, “If I want you how ?”

“I think you know how.”

When Jill still hadn’t slipped her hand into hers, Willa was worried that she might be very off base here, which made her feel suddenly very warm in her cheeks. She prayed that her blush wouldn’t be too bad.

“I want to,” replied.

“But?”

“Willa, I have a lot going on right now.”

Willa pulled her hand back and said, “Right. Of course.”

“That’s not a blow-off, Willa. I want to.”

“Want to go out with me, you mean?”

“Yes,” Jill said. “I absolutely want to go out with you.”

“Just not now?”

“No, I want to now.” Jill then finally took Willa’s hand, slipped her own hand into it, and leaned over a little more. “I don’t know that we should right now, though. I need to sort this thing out with my mom and Juni.”

“So, you need a little time?”

“I don’t know if it’s only a little.”

Willa let her thumb dance over Jill’s hand.

“Not fair.” Jill chuckled. “That feels really good.”

“It felt really good to hold you when we woke up.”

Jill smiled and replied, “Yes, it did.”

“I’d like to do that again.”

“Me too,” Jill agreed.

“And maybe more.”

“No, definitely more,” Jill countered.

Willa laughed.

“I’m done,” Juni announced.

Willa turned, regretfully letting go of Jill’s hand, and saw Juni standing at the door to the kitchen, holding out her bowl.

“Did you spill anything?” Jill asked.

“No. Well, a little on the table, but I wiped it off.”

“With what? You didn’t grab a napkin when you left.”

“I got toilet paper from the bathroom,” Juni replied.

Willa laughed.

“Can you put your dish in the sink and get ready for your bath, please?” Jill asked.

“Okay. Thank you for dinner, Miss–” Juni stopped herself. “Willa.”

“You’re welcome,” Willa replied.

When Juni scurried out of the kitchen, Jill asked, “Do you want to finish this wine?”

“I shouldn’t. I’m driving.”

“You could stay again,” Jill said, looking almost hopeful.

“I’d love to, but now that we’ve put it out there, I don’t think I should unless we’re really doing… well, you know.”

Jill nodded and replied, “I understand. Do you want to watch a movie or something?”

“I should go. You finish the wine, though.”

“I’ll cork it. We can have it another night.”

“Yeah, okay,” she replied as she stood. “Will I see you tomorrow?”

Jill nodded again and said, “I’ll walk you out.”

“Will you tell Juni I said goodnight?”

“You can tell her yourself. She’s in her room.”

“You told her to take a bath.”

“Oh, she’s not doing that. She’s on her tablet, playing a game until I walk in and remind her to take a bath.”

Willa laughed and said, “Seems like you’ve got this parenting thing all figured out.”

Jill laughed loudly.