Page 25 of July (New Orleans #7)

“I t’s disgusting,” Jill stated, and Willa laughed at her as she spit the broccoli into the sink. “Why does it taste like a sweet ish leaf?”

“Well, it is a plant,” Willa said as she continued to laugh.

“So is lettuce, and it doesn’t taste like this. God, why did I buy this?”

“Lettuce is mostly water.”

“Is broccoli mostly gross?”

“Have you really never had broccoli before?”

“Not as a kid,” Jill replied. “My mom kind of let me eat what I wanted. I tried it in a restaurant in a mixed vegetable thing, and I didn’t like it, so I just ate the carrots.”

“How old are you?” Willa asked, still laughing.

“Old enough to make out with you in the kitchen,” Jill suggested.

“Your sister is waiting for dinner.” Willa pointed at her. “You take this to her. Making out will wait.”

“But I’ve waited all day,” Jill said with a pouty lip.

“Your sister is sick,” Willa reminded.

“Fine. Fine.”

Jill took the tray, which they’d set up with some grilled chicken just in case the soup wasn’t enough, a bowl of chicken noodle soup, juice, yogurt, and some strawberries, and carried it out of the kitchen.

In the meantime, Willa set their plates on the table, got the bottle of wine they hadn’t finished the other night, and poured them each one glass, emptying the bottle.

After a few minutes of waiting, though, Jill still hadn’t returned, so Willa walked down the hall toward Juni’s room and stood by the open door.

“Mom puts crackers in my soup,” Juni said, sounding exhausted.

“She does? Okay. We have crackers. I can get you some,” Jill replied. “Does she crumple them up or just set them in the bowl?”

“She crumples them up for me.”

“Got it. I can do that,” Jill said. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired.”

“Yeah? Just eat this for me, and you can go back to sleep, okay?”

“No bath?”

“Not tonight. You’ve got a little fever, and I don’t want you in a warm bath or shower. Tomorrow, okay?”

“Do I have to go to a doctor?”

“Maybe. Not tonight, though.”

“Jill?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I call Mom?”

Willa knew she shouldn’t be eavesdropping, so she left to look for the box of crackers in the kitchen instead. Once she found it, she carried it back and waited for Jill.

“She should know I’m sick,” Juni said. “When I’m sick, she reads me a book and makes chicken soup with crackers.”

“Well, I made you the chicken soup. I just forgot the crackers. I’ll bring them, though. Plus, you got ice cream earlier. That’s pretty good, right?”

“Yeah,” Juni said with a smile.

“I’ll text Mom and tell her you’re not feeling well. She’s just really busy with Grandma and Grandpa. She misses you like crazy, though.”

Willa smiled.

“Why doesn’t she call, then?”

“Because Grandma and Grandpa keep her pretty busy. You know how they are.”

“Yeah,” Juni said. “Can I have the crackers, please?”

“Sure. Let me get them.”

When Jill walked out of the room, she was surprised to see Willa standing there, waiting for her. Willa held out the box of crackers, and Jill nodded gratefully before she took it and went back into Juni’s room.

“Here you go. Do you want me to dump all of them in there?” Jill asked Juni teasingly.

“What? No. That’s way too much,” Juni protested.

Willa laughed silently and went back to the kitchen. Jill came in after a few more minutes and sat down at the table, letting the box of crackers sit by her plate as she stared down at the broccoli.

“Don’t people put cheese on this sometimes?”

Jill sounded just as demoralized as she looked right now, and it hurt Willa to see her like that.

“Yes. Want me to heat up your plate?” she asked.

“Yes, please,” Jill replied.

Willa stood up, picked up Jill’s plate, and walked to the fridge, where she pulled out a bag of shredded cheddar cheese and sprinkled some on the broccoli. Then, she took it to the microwave, started it up, and turned around to see that Jill was definitely zoning out.

“You look tired,” she noted.

“Gee. Thanks,” Jill replied sarcastically.

“You’re still beautiful,” Willa added, smiling at her.

They began eating in comfortable silence at first before they started talking about Jill’s mom and Juni.

Willa wished she could do more to help because it was clear that Jill was managing a lot, and hearing that Jill’s mother wanted to sell the house that they were currently in was hard even for Willa because she could see Jill’s worried expression.

“Can we talk about you now, please?” Jill asked.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“Will you stay over?”

“I’d like that,” Willa replied.

Jill smiled and said, “Okay. Well, now that that’s settled, how was your day?”

“Oh, not good until I got here, really.”

“No?”

Their dinner done, Jill stood and took their plates while Willa kept talking.

“So, my hours got cut, and four hours a week is a lot. I think I might have to find something else, if I even can this late in the summer.”

“Want me to ask Mel if she needs anyone? She’s basically adopted everyone else who needs a job.”

Willa laughed and replied, “I don’t know.”

“We could make out in the back office whenever we’re alone. Plus, Mel and Kyle have an apartment they mainly still use for sex right above NOLA Guides. We could do that, too.”

Willa laughed again and asked, “You want to have sex in the same bed they do?”

“No, but there’s a couch and a floor,” Jill replied as she placed a bowl of ice cream in front of Willa and sat down with one of her own.

“Thank you,” Willa said, lifting the spoon. “And I’ll let you know about the job thing, but it might not be worth it to try to find something new until the school year starts and everyone else taking those part-time jobs goes back to school themselves.”

“Offer’s open,” Jill said. “I can talk to Mel whenever. I can even train you myself, and when you do a good job, there could be prizes.”

“You’re kind of just what I needed, you know that?”

“I am?” Jill asked and took a bite of her ice cream.

“Yeah,” she confirmed before taking a bite of her own.

“You’re just what I needed, too,” Jill said with a wink. “So, anything else making it a bad day?”

“I didn’t get this job I wanted. Well, I didn’t even get an interview,” Willa shared.

“Another job?”

“A teaching job. I love teaching here, but it’s a lot; the budget cutbacks are killing us. Every year, it just gets harder and harder, and I’ve got a college friend who teaches at a private school in Savannah.”

“Savannah?”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t get it,” she added after taking in Jill’s face.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t be selfish right now,” Jill said. “What happened?”

“Nothing. I just got an email that they went with someone else.”

“You really wanted to move to Savannah?”

“No, but it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. The school is amazing.”

“I’m sorry it didn’t work out, if it’s what you wanted.”

“Are you, really?” Willa asked with a teasing eyebrow.

“No,” Jill admitted with a little laugh. “Savannah isn’t exactly a short drive away.”

“I know.”

“Are you still looking?”

“Yeah.”

“And these schools are all far away?”

“One is in Baton Rouge.”

“Oh, that’s much better,” Jill replied, nodding. “You should work there.”

Willa laughed and said, “I’m hoping I hear back from them soon. They’re huge and not Catholic.”

“Savannah was a Catholic school?”

Willa nodded this time and said, “I would’ve had to stay in the closet, so not ideal, but it wouldn’t have to be forever. I could’ve used it as a way to open doors for myself.”

“You’d go back in the closet for a job?”

“It’s a Catholic school. They have rules. Even straight couples aren’t allowed to live together before marriage there. So, my friend and her boyfriend of two years have to live in separate apartments even though they basically live together already.”

“That’s stupid,” Jill noted.

“It doesn’t matter anymore because I didn’t even get an interview.”

“Jill?” Juni yelled from her room.

“Sorry. One sec.”

“Take your time,” Willa replied.

Jill stood and kissed her on the lips before heading out of the kitchen. Willa smiled and finished her ice cream.

“She okay?” she asked when Jill returned.

“Yeah. She just spilled her juice on her shirt. I got her changed and settled.” Jill set the tray she brought with her on the counter. “She’s brushing her teeth right now, and I’ll put her to sleep.”

“Are you going to read to her?”

“Yeah, she asked me to,” Jill replied.

“I’ll do the dishes and meet you in the living room?”

“You don’t have to clean up,” Jill said.

“It’s okay. I don’t mind.”

“I’ll be right back,” Jill told her and kissed her again.

“I like it when you do that; kiss me before you go.”

“Me too,” Jill replied with a wink.

After Willa finished doing the dishes, she went into the living room and sat on one side of the couch so as not to be under the deer head that bugged her.

While she waited for Jill, she pulled out her phone to delete that rejection email because she didn’t want to look at it again.

Seeing that there was another email above it now, she opened it.

“Hey,” Jill said. “She’s asleep.”

“I got the interview,” Willa shared.

“Interview for Savannah? Did they change their minds or something?”

“No, for Baton Rouge. They just emailed me.”

Willa held up her phone.

“What? That’s awesome. Babe, congratulations,” Jill replied and sat down next to her, taking Willa’s free hand.

“I just have to give them my availability, and we can do it over video.”

“That’s great,” Jill said as she rested her head on Willa’s shoulder.

“Yeah, this day turned around when I got here, but now, it’s even better.”

“You really want to work there?”

“No, you just put your head on my shoulder,” Willa explained, dropping her phone onto the arm of the couch.

Jill laughed a little, and Willa wrapped her arm around Jill’s shoulder.

“Want to watch a movie?” Jill asked.

“I thought you wanted to make out.”

“I do, but in the bedroom where there’s a lock on the door. I just want to stay out here for a bit in case she wakes up and comes out, needing something.”