Sidecar Crush

It was true. I’d never felt so adrift. But for the first time in a long time, I felt free.

“Do you mean you’re giving it all up?” he asked. “No more modeling, or acting?”

“Would you think I was crazy if I said yes?”

“Why would I think that?”

“I guess… I know what others would say.” I meant Kelvin, but I didn’t want to say his name. Not here, in this moment. “They’d say I’ve worked too hard to quit now. That this show was just a stepping stone to something bigger and I’d be throwing it all away on a whim.”

Jameson looked deep into my eyes. “Is it a whim?”

I shook my head. “No. I don’t think I can be the person I want to be if I have to play their game. I’ve had to compromise too much of myself already. If I went to L.A. today—if I kept traveling down that same road—I’m not sure who I’d be at the end of it. I don’t know what road I’m going to take now. I just know that one isn’t right.”

“I’m so proud of you,” he said, his brilliant blue eyes still holding mine.

“Thank you.” I nibbled on my bottom lip.

“Listen,” he said, brushing my hair back from my face. “I realize things are up in the air, and you’re not sure where you’re going next. But there’s something important I need to ask you.”

“Okay.”

“Leah Mae, I’m wonderin’ if you’ll be my girl.”

My heart melted inside my chest, pooling into a little puddle of mush. “Your girl?”

“I know, it sounds silly,” he said. “We’re not kids anymore. But imagine we’re sixteen again. You’re here for the summer, stayin’ with your daddy. We’re down by the water and you’re wearin’ that pink and yellow swimsuit. Your hair’s all wet ’cause we’ve been swimming since lunchtime, and the sun kissed freckles all over that sweet little nose of yours.”

“I remember those days.”

He nodded. “I should have done this then, but I didn’t. So I’m doin’ it now. What do you say, darlin’? Stay. Stay and be my girl.”

I leaned my forehead against his. “I will gladly be your girl, Jameson Bodine.”

Our lips came together again, so warm and soft. His kisses felt like magic.

“I was coming to see you,” I said when we pulled away. I didn’t want him to think I’d have let him believe I’d left for L.A. “I wanted to surprise you, and I stopped in town to pick up something sweet to bring with me. And then you pulled up, and well… here we are.”

“Here we are.”

Smiling, I nodded and kissed him again. Kissing was good. I wanted more of that. A lot more. I could tell Jameson did too.

We made out in the front seat of his truck like we were teenagers again. Like it really was that summer when we were sixteen, and none of the last twelve years had happened. We weren’t adults dragging the burdens of baggage and heartbreak. With the stresses of families and careers and hard choices. We were just two kids who were a little bit crazy for each other, kissing in the front seat of a pickup truck on a rainy summer afternoon.

I wished it never had to end.

His mouth tangled up with mine felt better than anything I could remember. I’d certainly been kissed before, but never like this. This was warm summer sunshine and sweet tea all wrapped up in a pleasantly scruffy jaw, soft lips, and very capable strong hands. He touched and caressed me. Kissed away all the questions and uncertainties.

And for that brief moment, everything was perfect.

20

LEAH MAE

I tilted the picture I’d bought for the kitchen, making sure it hung straight. It was made of wooden planks and said Home Sweet Home in rustic white letters. I’d seen it in the window of Daisy Home Furnishings and it had tugged at my heart so hard, I’d gone in and bought it.

It had been a long time since any place I lived felt like home. In fact, it had been about twelve years, and that house was not a five-minute drive from my little cabin on the lake, here in Bootleg Springs. The house I’d lived in before my parents split up was the last place that had really felt like home to me. My dad had sold that house years ago and bought the little one he lived in now. It was easier for him to maintain, and living there alone, he didn’t need more room.