Page 26 of July (New Orleans #7)

“You’re a great sister,” Willa said and kissed the top of Jill’s head.

Jill looked up then and quickly stood.

“We’re not doing this.”

“Doing what?” Willa asked concerned.

“Can you get up?”

“What? Jill!”

“Just a second.”

Willa stood, not knowing what was going on.

“I don’t know how heavy this thing is. Can you help me?”

Jill was standing on the sofa now, looking at the deer’s head as if inspecting it.

“Oh,” Willa said and joined her.

With both of them on the sofa, they pulled and carried the heavy animal head over to the corner of the room, setting it on the floor. Jill stood back and looked at it, seeing something she didn’t like. Then, she reached for a throw blanket and tossed it on top.

“Better,” she stated.

Willa laughed as they sat back down on the couch and looked up at the empty spot where the animal’s head used to be.

“It really was awful,” Willa said and wrapped her arm back around Jill’s shoulders.

“If she’s going to leave me here to deal with this house, I’ll deal with it my way.”

“Seems fair,” Willa replied as Jill settled against her.

“Movie?”

“Sure,” she said.

Jill picked up the remote, and they held each other while a movie neither of them was really watching played in front of them. About halfway through it, though, Willa heard Jill’s breathing slow and even out.

“Jill?” she whispered.

“Huh?” Jill said softly.

“You’re sleeping. Let’s go to bed.”

“Yeah, okay,” Jill agreed, sounding like she hadn’t really understood what Willa had said to her but that she was going to do whatever Willa had suggested anyway.

Willa helped her up, and they turned off the lights together.

Jill checked that the door was locked and met Willa in the guest room, where Willa changed into the same clothes that she’d worn the other night.

Jill changed in the bathroom and checked on Juni before coming into the room and letting Willa take the bathroom.

When Willa was walking back, she stopped and peered into Juni’s room, too, making sure she was still out.

“I checked her head,” Jill said when Willa walked back in. “She’s warm, but it’s not worse.”

“That’s good. She probably just caught a bug or something,” Willa replied. “Ready to sleep?”

Jill nodded and pulled back the blanket for both of them.

Willa climbed in and set her phone on the table.

Jill was in the bed next to her then, and she turned on her side, facing Willa, who turned to face Jill as well.

Willa’s hand moved to Jill’s hair, brushing it back from her face so that she could take in her blue eyes.

“You are so pretty,” she said. “I’ve thought so since I first saw you.”

“Yeah?” Jill asked, moving a little closer and wrapping her arm around Willa’s lower back, lifting her shirt a little to rub the skin there.

“Yeah,” Willa replied with a smile. “I like who you are, Jill, and that includes who you are with your sister. You love her.”

“She’s my sister.” Jill shrugged. “It’s in my blood.”

“I have a sister, too. And yeah, I love her, but I don’t like her all the time. You like Juni all the time, don’t you?”

Jill smiled and said, “She’s a cool kid. I feel bad that I didn’t really know that until now.”

“You’re making up for it, babe,” Willa replied. “She’s going to be fine because of you.”

“Until I tell her that her own mother doesn’t want her,” Jill said and closed her eyes.

“ You want her.” Willa cupped Jill’s cheek. “You’re willing to change your entire life just to be there for her and make sure she has what she needs. Not everyone would be doing what you’re doing.”

“But how long will you really stick around? A girlfriend with a kid? I doubt you planned on that. You have a classroom full of them all day long.”

Willa smiled and kissed Jill on the forehead.

“I want you,” she said. “That’s all I know right now. As for kids, I thought I would have my own, maybe, but there’s nothing that says I couldn’t still do that if I end up with someone who already has one. I’m thirty years old. It’s definitely possible.”

Jill opened her eyes just to squint them and said, “Yes, it’s possible. It’s happening.”

She sounded so adorably tired that Willa couldn’t resist pressing their lips together.

“Yes, it is,” she said softly against Jill’s lips before she reconnected them.

Jill moved to deepen the kiss, and before Willa knew it, her hand was under the front of Jill’s shirt, seeking purchase. Then, she heard it.

“Was that a door?” she asked.

“Shit. She’s up,” Jill replied and practically tossed Willa off her. “Hide.”

Willa laughed at that and went to pull the blanket over her head, hoping that and the darkness of the room would be enough to hide her because, just then, the door opened.

“Jill?”

“Hey. What are you doing up?” Jill asked her sister in a high-pitched voice.

“Can I have some juice?”

“Juice? You already brushed your teeth.”

“My throat hurts.”

Jill slipped out of bed and said, “Let me get you some medicine and maybe a cough drop, okay?”

“Can it be cherry flavor?”

“I’m not sure what kind we have or if we actually have them. Want to go look together?”

“Okay,” Juni replied.

“I guess this is parenthood,” Jill said. “I’ll be right back,” she added in a whisper. “Do not go anywhere.”

Willa smiled under the blanket until she heard the door close.