Page 24 of July (New Orleans #7)

Having pulled into the driveway behind Jill’s car, Willa grabbed her stuff just as an email notification came in on her phone.

Normally, she would’ve just checked it later, but she went ahead and pulled it up now to not have to worry about it while she was with Jill.

Expecting spam that she could just delete, Willa smiled when she saw it was from another school she had applied to.

It was a private school in Savannah, and a friend of hers from college worked there now as a biology teacher.

She had a connection and a reference from an existing faculty member, so Willa was excited about this opportunity.

She read through the email to herself, not wanting to say the words out loud because the excitement she’d just had was gone now.

“Not even an interview,” she said and sighed.

The school had rejected her. They hadn’t even offered her one interview, and she’d come with a recommendation.

Her friend had guaranteed Willa that the recommendation would at least get her one interview, one lousy conversation to see if she’d be the right teacher to fill the school’s vacancy, but Willa hadn’t even gotten that.

She closed out the email and opened her text messages.

Jill’s name was at the top of the list there, which made her smile for a second until she remembered that she was supposed to be inside, helping Jill cook dinner.

She wouldn’t be good company tonight. She’d expected this interview.

It had been the one school she was sure she would at least get a decent shot at.

Now, she only had two more schools that she’d applied for within the past couple of days, and she had no connections there.

Maybe no real shot, either. She went to the messages she’d exchanged with her college friend and told her about the email.

Willa hadn’t expected a response right away, but it appeared that her friend had been expecting a message from her because she was right there replying to Willa that the job had been decided before the role had even been posted, and she hadn’t known that until today when they had announced that a former teacher, who’d left a few years prior, had decided to return and take the spot.

Willa still thanked her friend since it wasn’t her fault and asked that she keep her in mind for other roles.

Then, she put her phone on silent and tried to put on a brave face for both Jill and Juni.

She locked the car, walked to the door, and rang the bell, putting her customer service smile on her face as she waited because it was all she could muster.

When Jill opened the door, she was smiling her real smile, but it fell quickly.

“What’s wrong?” Jill asked.

“Nothing. Why?”

“Because you’re smiling weird,” Jill explained.

Willa smiled her genuine smile then and said, “How do you know that already?”

“I saw it last night when we walked into the gift shop, and you were smiling at the customer. What’s wrong?”

“Can I tell you while we cook dinner, maybe?”

“Yeah,” Jill said and motioned for Willa to walk inside. “Oh, you should know that I think Juni is sick.”

“Sick?”

“I found the thermometer in my mom’s bathroom, and she’s running a slight fever.

She seems fine otherwise, just a little tired, so I don’t think it’s a big deal, but I’m keeping an eye on it.

I think you should stay in the kitchen while I bring her dinner just so if she is coming down with something, you don’t get it.

I got her some soup that I can just throw in the microwave because I do not have the time or energy to make chicken noodle soup from scratch. ”

“She’s not feeling well? Poor thing,” Willa said. “And I made her wait so I could come over and cook dinner. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. She got her ice cream when we got home, and then I gave her a healthier snack.”

“What was that?” Willa asked.

“A peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”

Willa chuckled and replied, “Not exactly chicken noodle soup.”

“I know. It’s much better,” Jill said and closed the door behind her.

“Wait. Juni’s in her room?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Because I can do this.”

Willa leaned in and gave Jill a chaste kiss. Jill’s eyebrow lifted, though.

“That’s all I get when she can’t see?”

Willa leaned back in and pressed their lips together for a real kiss.

They knew they couldn’t let it get too out of hand because Juni could come out of her room at any minute, but Willa needed this kiss, this connection to Jill right now.

She needed to hold her and be held by her, to have some sort of normalcy tonight with the woman she was clearly crazy about already.

“Need a hug?” Jill asked when their kiss ended naturally.

“Yes,” Willa said on a sigh.

Jill pulled her in, and Willa held on tight. She’d just seen Jill a few hours ago, really, and they’d had their first date only one night ago, but Willa had missed her.

“I missed you, too,” Jill said.

Willa wasn’t sure how Jill had read her mind, but she smiled all the same.