Page 2 of July (New Orleans #7)

J ill replied to Enid telling her that she couldn’t hang out tonight, but maybe another time.

Enid Becker : Are you in Jackson Square right now?

Jill looked around and spotted Enid across the street. Enid waved at her, and Jill laughed. Then, Enid turned toward something that was behind a horse-drawn carriage, did something, too, and began walking across the street toward her.

“I thought that was you,” Enid said when she arrived.

“What are you doing here?”

“Dropping Care off. She’s working on the whole street art thing with this guy Mel introduced her to. He’s like a mentor or something now. Care’s car is in the shop, so I was the chauffer.”

“Do you get sex for that?” Jill teased.

“She paid me in advance.” Enid winked and sat down. “So, can’t hang out tonight?”

“No. My mom called earlier today, asking me to take care of my little sister.”

“You have a little sister? Why didn’t I know that?”

“I don’t tell many people. Honestly, I’m not even sure I’ve mentioned it to Mel.”

“What? She’s, like, your best friend.”

“Not really.” Jill shrugged. “I mean, we’re friends, yeah, but Mel and I were more work friends than outside-of-work friends for the most part until, like, last year.

Bridgette is Mel’s best friend. I was kind of on the outside, looking in, which was fine.

You can’t exactly compete with a decade of friendship all that easily.

We all started hanging out together more and more last year, though. I’m not sure Juni ever came up.”

“Juni? That’s your sister?”

“Short for Juniper. It was my stepdad’s idea. He really liked it, I guess.”

“So much I don’t know about you,” Enid said, shaking her head. “How old is she?”

“Ten going on thirty, I imagine; like most ten-year-olds.”

“Why do you have to imagine?” Enid asked.

“I’m a bad older sister. She’s ten, and we have literally nothing in common, with the exception of the same mother. Maybe when she is thirty and I’m forty-six, we’ll be closer.”

“Yeah, that is a big age gap,” Enid replied. “So, are you just babysitting for your mom or something?”

“Who’s babysitting?” Rory asked as she and Melinda approached. “Isn’t babysitting kind of my thing?”

“I’m not stealing any of your gigs, Rory,” Jill replied as they both joined her and Enid at the table. “It’s my sister.”

“You have a sister?” Rory asked.

“I didn’t know, either,” Enid added.

“Wait. You have a sister? Why did I think you were an only child?” Melinda asked.

“Long story,” she said, trying to avoid talking about the whole thing.

“Jill, you have a sister,” Melinda repeated.

“Look, she’s ten, okay? My mom had her when I was sixteen.

She met a guy, they dated, and she got knocked up.

They got married. She really loved him, don’t get me wrong, but Juniper came along, and now she’s ten.

My stepdad died in a car accident last year, so it’s just been my mom and Juni since.

I don’t spend a ton of time with them, which I probably should, but–”

“Your stepdad died? I didn’t even know you had a stepdad, Jill. I thought your parents were still married.”

Melinda looked hurt or maybe disappointed, which made Jill feel bad, but at the same time, it was her life, and she could choose what she wanted to reveal to people and when.

“He and I weren’t close,” Jill said. “He got there when I was fifteen and already mostly on my own. Then, they had a baby, and it became all about her, so when I was eighteen, I left for school and got that marketing degree I don’t really use.

Last year, he was driving home from the grocery store and got sideswiped by someone going way over the speed limit after they also ran a stop sign.

It sucked, and my mom has been struggling with it for a while.

I’ve tried to get her to see a grief counselor or, at least, have my sister go to one since that was her dad and she’s still a kid, but my mom hasn’t done that yet.

” She sighed. “It’s depressing over there, so I don’t spend a lot of time with them.

I just don’t feel what they feel, you know?

My stepdad was okay, I guess, as far as those go, but he wasn’t my father.

He was good to Juni but treated me like his stepkid, so it wasn’t always welcoming at home before I left.

That’s the short version, and I don’t usually tell the long one. ”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Melinda asked.

“My sob story?” Jill asked with a laugh. “I don’t know. I just don’t share a lot about my life. I don’t like to.”

Melinda nodded, seemingly understanding something that Jill wasn’t even sure she herself understood.

“Um… You’re babysitting?” Rory asked, changing the subject because of the apparent tension in the air.

“For at least a week,” she replied. “My grandparents are sick, so my mom is going to stay with them and make sure they go to the doctor. She just called me and asked me to stay at the house with Juni this week. I haven’t slept at that house since I was a teenager.

I never even stayed there when I was in college.

It’s going to be weird. I don’t know how to take care of a kid.

She’s ten. What do you do with a ten-year-old? ”

“I imagine you can talk to her because she’s a real person,” Enid said, joking a little.

“But what about? What TV show are ten-year-olds into right now? Does she wear makeup? She’s in summer school. Should I make her do her homework or leave that up to her because that… builds character or something?”

Melinda, Rory, and Enid laughed a little.

“I think you should go with your mom’s instructions,” Rory suggested. “She’s the parent, so check with her on the procedures.”

“There are procedures?” Jill asked.

“What time do you pick her up and drop her off? What time is dinner? Any foods she can’t have or your mom doesn’t want her to? Rules on TV, screen time, and homework? Bedtime? Medications? That kind of stuff.”

“My mom told me she would order us a pizza and that she’s in summer school. That’s all I know,” Jill said.

“I’m sure she’ll give you the rest when you get there,” Rory replied. “I’d help you tonight, but I’m going with Logan to this thing.”

Jill noticed that sometimes, Rory would say that she and Logan had a date night , so Jill could ask what she was up to that night, but other times, Rory just told them that they had a thing .

Jill was pretty sure that didn’t mean some kinky sex thing, but she also didn’t know what it did mean.

Since she’d just told them all that she wasn’t a big sharer about things in her own life, though, she didn’t think it was appropriate to grill Rory on what they meant now.

“Are your grandparents okay?” Melinda asked.

“She thinks so, but they’re old and don’t take care of themselves.

They’re also stubborn like her, so she wants to make sure they go to the doctor.

I get it, but I’m not exactly thrilled to have to move in there for a week and take care of a sister who I hardly know.

I’m old enough to be her mom, technically. A very young mom, but still.”

“There’s your future, Jill,” Enid said and laughed.

Jill looked over at the street where Enid was nodding, and there was a teacher – or some kind of chaperone, at least, Jill supposed – walking a group of kids across the street toward the cathedral. They looked to be about Juni’s age and were possibly on a field trip or part of some summer camp.

“Hilarious,” Jill replied sarcastically.

Then, the group stopped at the crosswalk and waited for the light to change.

The woman accompanying the kids looked really pretty.

She was about half a football field away, so Jill couldn’t make out all the details about her, but she had long brown hair, which she had in a French braid down her back, and she was smiling or maybe laughing at something one of the kids said.

Then, she knelt down in front of one of them as if to make sure that they knew she was listening to them.

When the pretty brunette laughed again and stood up, Jill smiled at the sight.

She was wearing a pair of khakis that didn’t exactly fit her all that well, which totally seemed like something a teacher would do.

Her button-down white shirt had a princess cut, though, and while it didn’t show off her cleavage, it definitely cupped her breasts nicely.

“I’m not supposed to be taking care of a kid,” Jill added and sighed. “I’m supposed to be going on dates and hanging out with my friends. I never wanted to be a young mother.”

“You’re twenty-six,” Melinda said. “Is that still young to be a mom? I’m not sure where we’re at as a society on that these days.”

“I was thinking after I’m thirty or something, maybe. I’m not in any rush for that. I just want to meet someone.”

Her eyes were still on the woman who was walking the kids across the street and pointing at the statue of Andrew Jackson in the center of Jackson Square.

“God, I think I’ll wait until I’m at least thirty-two or not have them at all,” Enid said.

“Yeah, your new girlfriend is only twenty-one. My guess is you’ll be waiting a while.”

“Neither of us is even sure we want them,” Enid replied.

“We might not. I like the idea of Care and I being able to pack up and go somewhere whenever we want without having to find a babysitter or worry about kids. She’s an artist and wants to travel, and I plan on going with her. Just easier without kids.”

“Aunt Rory could babysit,” Rory said of herself. “Logan and I probably won’t have any of our own, either, so babysitting would be a nice way to have them but give them back at the end of the night.”

“You can take mine whenever you want,” Melinda said. “Ky and I might have a couple, so if you’re offering your services, we’ll take advantage.”

Jill was only half paying attention at this point. Her eyes were still on the woman who had the kids stopped outside of the fence. She was explaining something to them, and her arms were moving around as if she were really excited about it.

“Pay attention, dear,” a female voice said.

Jill turned to her friends, but they were all still talking about kids, so she looked around and saw an older woman standing outside the barrier between the sidewalk and the café. She was looking down at Jill, but Jill thought for sure the woman wasn’t talking to her .

“Pay attention,” the woman repeated and pointed across the street.

Jill followed her finger, which appeared to be pointing to the brunette she’d just been staring at.

“What? Why?” she asked.

The woman gave her a kind smile and said, “You’ll see. Hello, dears,” she added, looking at Jill’s friends now as if she knew them.

Then, she walked right past their table.

“I haven’t seen her since…” Enid faded out.

“You know her?” Jill asked.

“Me too,” Rory said.

“Me three,” Melinda added.

“Who is she?” Jill asked.

“Logan and I saw her a few times, and she told her to be with me, basically. It was weird. She’s like a psychic or something.”

“Or something,” Melinda said. “Ky and I have seen her around here and there, but yeah, she’s a psychic or reader in the Square. Same with us: she kind of told us we should be together.”

“Wait. Really?” Enid asked.

“Why? You too?” Jill questioned.

“Last month, when you and I were on our date here, I saw her. She shook her head at me and looked down at how we were holding hands, but when I was doing the same with Care on our date, she nodded.”

“She has a gift,” Melinda replied. “She did the same for Bridge and Monica. I think Sophie and Bryce, too.”

“Linden and Asher?” Jill asked.

Melinda nodded.

“Is she just very lucky?” Jill asked.

“Or, maybe she does have a gift,” Rory suggested with a shoulder shrug. “I mean, look at her track record.”

“Her track record could be, like, ten percent success, for all we know. She could be walking around telling everyone she sees who to be with, and she’s just only gotten it right with our friend group,” Jill argued.

“But what are the odds of that?” Enid said.

“Did you end things with me because this psychic shook her head at you?” Jill asked her.

“What? No.” Enid laughed. “I was already feeling like you and I would be better as friends. I was just confused and not sure what to do about it: give us more time for me to get there or end it because it wasn’t going to happen. She shook her head at me, and I thought she was nuts and let it go.”

“But then, she’s all nodding at you and Caroline, too?”

“It felt like I should pay attention to both,” Enid said. “And I did. It was the right call. You’re meant for someone else, and I–” Enid stopped.

“You were about to say that you were meant for Caroline,” Rory noted with a wide smile.

“I met her last month. I have no idea if we’re meant to be.”

“Yes, you do,” Melinda replied, smiling as well. “I knew with Ky right away. It happens like that sometimes.”

“What did she say to you?” Enid changed the subject back to Jill, trying to avoid talking about her new relationship with Caroline.

“She told me to pay attention,” Jill replied.

“To what?”

“She pointed.” Jill nodded toward the Square.

“To the Statue?” Rory asked.

“I don’t know. It looked like she was pointing to the group of kids Enid joked about.”

They all turned their heads and stared at the kids and the woman who was still explaining something to them.

Jill stared only at the woman, though, wondering what color her eyes might be and if she had dimples, which was stupid because she had no reason to wonder about this woman’s potential dimples or lack of them.

“I wonder what she meant,” Rory said.

“No idea,” she replied. “Should we get beignets now? I could use a ton of sugar to get me through tonight.”

“I’ll hold the table, if you want. I don’t want any,” Enid said. “Oh! But will you get an order for Care? I’m sure she would.”

Jill nodded and laughed at her friend, who was clearly already in love but not ready to admit it to herself or her girlfriend. She then took one last look at the woman with the French braid and awful khaki pants and smiled before she turned and walked with her friends to join the line.