They both sat back to watch the game between dog and child.
Bella was like her sister. When her own sister had died, Bella had been there for her, unwavering in her support even though it had been a lot for another teenager to cope with. And now Jessica liked to be there for Ruby. It was her way of paying Bella back for all she’d done. In the past and when Jess had been sick, too. Bella had never let her down.
Jessica watched as her brother, Steven, pushed himself up off the grass and stretched out his legs. He’d been lying back, swigging on a beer with Bella’s husband, but she figured the barbeque was calling him.
“Are Mom and Dad coming over?”
Steven dropped a kiss to her head as he passed. “Nope. They had some old-folks thing to go to.”
They all laughed at him.
“They’re not that old.”
Steven shrugged. “When you choose bingo over a real night out, you’re getting old.”
Jessica made a noise in her throat but she could hardly reprimand him. Aside from the fact he was her older brother, Steven didn’t mean a word of it. He loved their parents as much as she did.
“You wouldn’t get me a beer would you?” he asked.
This time she stood up and thumped him on the arm. “If you weren’t so charming I’d tell you to get it yourself.”
Steven pouted and made them all laugh again. “Then who’d make you burgers?”
Jess stood up and walked inside. She liked it here. Steven’s place was a bachelor pad, not exactly warm and cosy like her house, but it always felt good. They’d had plenty of good times here, fun times with friends and their little family. It was like her second home.
Jessica reached into the fridge for a six-pack of beer just as her phone rang, vibrating and singing in her jeans pocket.
“Ouch!” She hit her head and almost dropped the beer. Darn phone, she thought. “Hello?”
The voice on the other end made her close the fridge and lean against it.
“Hey, Jess, it’s Ryan.”
She took a moment to catch her breath. Ryan. How could the sound of his voice make her legs wobble like that? Her heart was pounding.
“Hey.”
“I was wondering if you were free tonight?”
Heck. She could hardly bail on her brother and Bella, not when they’d been planning to all catch up together for weeks.
But an offer from Ryan was sure tempting.
“Ah, I’m actually out already. At a barbeque.”
There was a beat of silence.
“Oh sure, no problem. Maybe another time.”
Jess cringed. She didn’t want to say no to him. Well, she did and she didn’t, she couldn’t decide, but right now saying no felt like the wrong answer. Especially after that kiss last night.
She sighed. Kisses plural, more like.
“Ryan, I …”
Jessica looked out the window at her brother goofing around, chasing her dog. Bella was sitting on her husband’s knee, laughing as her daughter bounced up and down with excitement as she played.
Would it be so bad if she asked Ryan over?
“It’s fine, really, we can just catch up some other time.”
“No, I mean, why don’t you come join me? It’s only a few of us. Just casual,” she said.
He went silent again. Jessica pressed her ear closer to the phone, harder, willing him to say yes and terrified at the same time.
“Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude.”
“I’d love to see you again. We’re sitting around having a beer and waiting for my—” Jess paused and watched Steven entertain Ruby “—idiot brother to get started with the meat patties.”
“I’ll see you soon then.”
Jessica gave him directions then hung up. She leaned against the fridge again and tried to steady her thoughts. Had she done the right thing?
Probably not, but she was desperate to see him again. To be near him, to touch him and see whether she’d imagined what had happened yesterday. To see if maybe the connection hadn’t been as strong as she’d remembered it to be.
Or whether it was even stronger.
To see whether he was worth the heartache that was sure to come when he left again in a couple of months’ time. Because no matter how much she told herself she was okay with his leaving, she’d never allowed herself to get close to a man before without thinking there was a chance at some sort of future.
“You making the beer yourself, sis?”
Steven’s call forced her to move her feet, reach back in for the beers and go outside.
He gave her a puzzled look when she walked out again. He dropped his cooking utensil and moved toward her but she put up her hand.
“I’m fine.”
He was overprotective. Always worrying about her, especially after the cancer. But he’d already lost one sister, she could hardly blame him for wanting to keep her safe.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
She waved her hand in the air and tried to relax. “I was just chatting to a friend on the phone.” Jess gave Bella a sharp look, but her friend was already smiling. She had guessed exactly whom she’d been talking to.
“Oh.” Steven looked unsure but he turned back to the meat.
“He’s, ah, going to come over and join us soon, actually.”
“He?” Steven growled.
Now Steven was holding his cooking utensil at a scary angle, like he was about to behead someone with it.
Jess gulped. She should have predicted this. “Yes, he,” she repeated, standing up to her brother. “I think I mentioned that I had a pen pal, a soldier who I wrote to.”
The look on Steven’s face spelt thunder. There was a possibility he could have summoned a hurricane just with his expression. “And he’s coming here? Now?”
“He’s a friend, Steven, nothing to get concerned about.”
He grimaced then turned away from her. Bella was wriggling in her chair, but Jess shook her head. She didn’t want this to become a big deal. Right now Ryan was just a friend, and the last thing she needed was Steven getting worked up over it.
“His name is Ryan, and he’s back for a while to recover. He had surgery and as soon as he’s better he’ll be back with his unit, so there is absolutely no reason to overreact. It’s not like he’s even here for long,” she told him.
Steven shrugged, but he didn’t turn around. She could tell he wasn’t happy about it. But then given her recent track record, she could hardly blame him.
“And I don’t want him knowing about the cancer.”
That made him turn. Now he looked like Neptune about to command the entire ocean. “What kind of friend do you have to keep your cancer from?”
She reached for the bottle opener and popped the top off a beer for Steven. She passed it to him.
“The kind of friend who doesn’t need to know. Okay?”
He took the beer and tipped it up, draining a third of the bottle. “If he hurts you, I’ll deck him.”
She