From The Wreckage - Complete (42 page)

It is close to four when Carson and Mindy’s friends start to arrive for their big celebratory barbecue. A casual affair consisting of ribs, lawn games, lots of beer and classic rock, it’s clear Carson and Mindy have an amazing group of friends. Jules stands to the side of a cornhole game that is rapidly becoming aggressive between West and Austin and two senior football players. She laughs at West when he shoves Austin for his poor throw, and Mindy quietly walks up beside her. A petite little blonde, Mindy reminds Jules a lot of Katie. 

“That boy is truly smitten with you,” she tells Jules; giving her a sideways glance.

“The feeling’s mutual.”

“I can tell.”

Jules twirls the ring around her finger. “Can you?”

“You glow — actually you both do — when you’re near each other. It’s pretty obvious.” Jules feels hundreds of tiny butterflies awaken in her stomach at the observation. “I’ve known West for two years now, Jules, and he’s never looked happier. He was crazy that first weekend after the twister, coming here after you two had just gotten together. Swore he was going to get home to find you’d changed your mind.” Her head moves from side to side slowly and her mouth turns down in quiet disbelief.

“He’s always so hell-bent on thinking he’s going to screw up. Like something he does will make me dump him.”

“Does he talk about his mom with you?” The question takes Jules by surprise. “I’m guessing by that look the answer is no.”

Jules nods.

“Carson thinks he’s never really gotten over her death. He says he was different before, and changed overnight.”

“Yeah. You know, I’ve known him since elementary school. He was different. He morphed into this pseudo bad boy…dropping out of football, not hanging out with friends, dressing all ‘Rebel Without a Cause’. I’m not sure anyone ever bought it one hundred percent.”

Mindy chuckles. “He’s too good for that. He’s really great. They all are, and I know their mom would be proud.”

Mindy releases a deep breath and bumps her elbow into Jules’ side. “Enough of the serious talk. How about we go show those Rutledge boys a thing or two about winning?” she asks with a sly wink. 

Their gazes follow the unsportsmanlike crowing of Austin and West as they brag about winning their round. “I think they totally need to be taken down a notch or two!”

“You know, you should have verified you could play this game before walking over here with all your big talk, sweet-cheeks,” West taunts Jules; his face up close and personal with her ear as she concentrates on her next throw. 

“Sweet-cheeks?”

“Yeah, baby. They are
definitely
sweet-cheeks, and I should know,” he drawls; wagging his brows at her. 

Jules fakes a dramatic throw-up sound and looks over her shoulder. “Interference! Austin, get your partner before you have to forfeit this round.” Tossing the bean bag in the air and catching it, she winks as Austin yanks West back by his shirt.

“Hey, hey…I was just offering up some pointers.” His hands go up in the air and the guys laugh.

Jules tosses her beanbag and grimaces when it lands on the edge of the board and then slides off into the grass.

“Sorry, love. Maybe you should have accepted my help.”

“Wow, you are the worst freaking winner I think I’ve ever met,” Jules retorts, and holds her hand up.

“Amen, sister,” Mindy agrees with a high-five. “Granted, you’ve never seen them all play together.”

“Awww man, here we go again,” Carson howls from fifteen feet away as Mindy starts in on her tirade. 

“Carson and I had just started dating when he invited me to the house to meet his brothers and dad. I swear on my life, I saw them at the kitchen table playing cards, and I folded over one hundred hands like an idiot that night
just
to avoid getting into a match with any of these guys. They’re brutal.”

“We are competitive. There’s a difference,” Carson jumps in and wraps Mindy in a hug from behind.

“Mmmhmmm, if that’s what you want to call it. They were drawing cards and giving death glares worthy of the freaking poker tour. I should have known how serious they took their games when Cars pulled out his sunglasses.”

Jules gasps and tries to hide a laugh. “No way! You actually wear sunglasses when you play poker against your
family
?”

“Hell yeah, I do. It’s poker.”

She looks between the three brothers and across the rapidly darkening backyard at their father, who is talking with a couple players. “I think we’re going to have to play some poker soon. I want to see this.”

Austin slings an arm around her shoulders. “Best you see what you’re getting yourself into before the wedding, huh, Jules?”

“Wedding?” The word echoes in the backyard as both Mindy and Carson gape at her and then at West.

West slaps Austin in the stomach but he barely flinches.

“These two took a trip under the tree this morning. So it’s safe to say I’ll have myself another sister-in-law soon.”

“Someday? Yes. Soon? No,” Jules hurries to explain and West jumps in too.

“Let us get through high school first, you ass.” 

Mindy and Carson both just look at them and Jules pulls herself out from under Austin’s arm. The discussion ends as the crowd closer to the house starts cheering and two of Mindy’s friends carry out a huge cream cake with sparklers lit on top. They practice the traditional feeding each other cake-thing, but when Mindy tries to feed Carson, she smears the icing on his nose first before shoving it into his mouth. Everyone goes wild, laughing and clapping, and when Carson pulls her close, he rubs his icing-covered nose on her cheek.

After cake, there’s dancing and talking and laughter and then more dancing. Jules’ face hurts from all the laughing and smiling she’s done over the course of the day. Not to mention how sore her feet are from all the standing and how full her belly is from all the amazing food.

“I can’t wait for this,” she says to herself; standing in the shadows of the torches and fire pit that light the back yard. She’d excused herself from dancing with Austin to use the restroom, and is taking a moment to watch over the party when West startles her from behind.

“You always talk to yourself, cheerleader?”

The poignant memory of that night eight weeks ago flits through her mind. She leans back and rests against his hard chest. He wraps his arms around her stomach and rests his chin on her head. “I was just thinking out loud. Something I apparently do a lot.”

“What about?”

“How much I can’t wait for next year. To do this again, hang out with friends, spend my nights with you…to
live
.”

He tightens his hold.

“I’ve never been in a huge hurry to leave Tyler, you know. It’s home and I love it there, but now? Now I’m ready.”

“That’s understandable after all that’s happened.”

“It’s not just the twister, though. It’s life. I’m done with high school. I never realized how shallow my life was until it was swept away from me.”

“Jules.”

“No.” She waves his sympathetic voice off. Her mind goes back to the past three years and even before that. To when everyone adored her, followed her; when she took pride in having the largest group of hangers-on she could find around her. “I may not have been a bitch about it, but I loved being popular. I loved it, and look where it got me. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve spoken to my old teammates since August. The few times I’ve run into someone, it’s fake excitement and quick excuses. ‘Oh! We should get together. I miss you…I’m late, but call me’.” She mimics the conversation she’s heard a dozen times since the tornado.

“Next year, baby. Next year we will come to A&M and we’ll start fresh. We can get through this year together, and then we won’t look back.”

Jules loves the sound of that. She takes in his words and sears them into her heart; a promise of what’s to come. Only one thing stops her happiness about the future.

“I can’t keep feeling guilty over Tanya, West. I can’t.” 

“Oh baby, I know you can’t.” He spins her around in his arms. “But you shouldn’t. There was nothing we could do. You know that.”

She nods, and the question Mindy asked her earlier about his mother pops into her mind. “Why did you give up football when your mother died?” 

She feels his entire body stiffen at her question. All around them people are drinking and dancing, their voices carrying into the night air, but in the little bubble between Jules and West, it is silent.

“I don’t-” He stammers and his fingertips apply light pressure to her sides as he throws his head back.

“West?”

“I, uh, I had practice the day she died,” he confesses. She withdraws her breath to keep herself from comforting him so he can speak. “It pissed me off. Football just didn’t feel the same after that.”  

“So you just quit?”

“Yep.” His tone is sharper than usual, but he leans down to kiss her head and she ignores it. “Let’s get back to the party,” he suggests.

 

“It made sense to me that night; that he’d give up football because it reminded him of his mother’s death. After all, I did the same thing, didn’t I?”

She stretches, takes a sip of her tea and checks the time.

“I need to finish this up. I have somewhere to be in an hour.” She holds her watch up and taps the face. “So, yeah. Like I said, it made sense. Once school started, it took me a few weeks to realize how much I missed cheerleading. I don’t think I even told anyone how I felt; I just sucked it up and kicked myself for walking away. I quit because it brought back such a strong memory of Tanya, but thinking back I realize it probably would have been therapeutic for me to get back to it.

“It’s another thing West and I have in common; another thing bonding us together. Giving up our passions because we couldn’t bear the pain of the past. It’s not a very romantic connection, but it’s a connection.”

 

“After that weekend, we were closer than ever. My parents were even getting weary of our relationship. The ring threw them off, for sure. We spent every moment together. 

“I rarely hung out with Katie anymore, and our Tuesday night girl’s nights disappeared altogether. I tried to make the excuse that she was busy with Jeff, but it was just an excuse. I could have made an effort to see my friends more often, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to be with West every waking moment. Young love at its best - a fairytale. And then real life happened again.