Page 22 of Trip Through Your Wires

I look away, avoiding that look in her eyes. I don’t want to go down that road of irony. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ms. Butler?”

“Have you ever considered that connection you and Jake have is—”

“No,” I cut her off, knowing what she’s about to say. “So drop it, okay? Guys like Jake and girls like me, we don’t fit. End of story.”

“And why is that?” She tilts her head, narrowing her eyes. “And don’t tell me some bullshit like where you’re from because newsflash, that town is in my blood, too.”

She may have been born into Elmhurst society, but her birth father was from Cherry Cove. The same tough as nails, take no shit attitude that I’d been born with, so too, had she. But she didn’t grow up there. She had a charmed life, and mine was anything but.

“It’s not about where I come from,” I sigh. “It’s because he is going to be a star and the three of you are going to be part of a world that I just don’t fit into.”

“But you do fit.” She reaches for my hand and squeezes. “The four of us are family. You’re already a part of our world. Not to mention one day you will run it because your buildings will grace the cover of Architectural Digest.”

I hold her hand tightly, wanting that more than anything. “Do you think so?”

“I know so.” She turns and looks at us in the mirror. “You are Jenica Dawn Miller, damn it, and the world will be your oyster. Just you wait.”

“I don’t need the fame.” I let go of her hand dejectedly, to sit down on the bed. “Just the fortune.”

She chews her lower lip, and I know what she’s thinking. “No,” I shake my head before she can say a word.

“How do you even know what I was going to say?” she counters.

“Because I know you and I know you want to help me, but the answer is no. I love you, but I’m not taking money from you.”

“But you wouldn’t be taking it from me.” She comes over and sits down next to me. “You’d be taking from the Trust, which as you know, is about to have a whole philanthropic arm whose mission is to help communities in need.”

If the Davenport Trust had to fall into anyone’s hands, I’m glad it was hers. The world needs more people like Ellery Magnolia Butler. Forces of nature with not only the desire to help, but the drive to do so.

Her plans for the Trust that had spent generations taking from Cherry Cove and lining Elmhurst’s coffers were inspiring. I just didn’t want to be my best friend’s charity case.

“Sorry babe,” I shake my head. “I get there on my own, or not at all. But don’t you worry,” I add breezily. “I’m determined. I’ll be done with DCC and Cherry Cove in two years, come hell or high water. Until then, we live it up on the weekends we get to spend together.”

She exhales and looks down. Ellery wants to help me, and I love her for it. But she also knows when I’ve dug my heels in on something, that’s it. I’m not budging.

“What’s wrong?” I ask when she falls suspiciously quiet.

Crossing one leg over the other, she squares her shoulders and faces me. “What’s going to happen when the guys get drafted?”

“What do you mean?” I shake my head.

“The scouts are already calling and with their season starting next week, it’s only a matter of time until one or both gets picked up.”

“That’s good,” I nod with encouragement. I know it was always Jake’s dream to play for the Mets and Cruz the Yankees. “So what’s the problem?”

“Well…” She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “No matter where Cruz gets picked up I’ll go with him. I mean, I’ll stay here to finish the semester, but as soon as I’m done, I’ll transfer wherever he is. Depending on Marcus and Jake, I’ll keep this place until they’re settled, but once it’s empty, I’ll either sell or rent it.”

“Okay…” I drawl. “And?”

The way she’s chewing on the inside of her cheek tells me there’s something else on her mind, and it isn’t real estate.

“Hey,” I place my hand on her knee. “I feel like you’re trying to say something that you either can’t or don’t want to say. Whatever it is, just say it.”

She looks at me carefully. “Earlier, you told me you wouldn’t be able to come up next month because of what it cost you to change your ticket this morning. I guess it didn’t dawn on me until just now, that if the guys do get picked up soon, and you aren’t able to visit again until April, then this could be our last weekend here…all of us together.”

The idea of my weekends here coming to an end makes the muscles in my chest constrict. After everything we went through last summer, this place has been my safety; the people that call it home, my family. We’ve had some good times here, and I know nothing lasts forever, but I wasn’t ready to lose this place, or the four of us just yet.

“Well,” I swallow, not wanting to admit about how the idea of these weekends coming to an end makes me feel. “Then I guess we better party this weekend like it’s 1999, right?”

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