Page 2 of Jenna's Joyride

“Walker?” There was a time when his name was the only thing that came out of my mouth and the muscle memory makes tingles prickle across my skin.

His dark eyes threaten to melt me and his mouth pulls up at the corners.

“Jenna, hi. It’s been a while… I have a special delivery for you.” He smiles and his familiar voice is as soothing as a warm blanket on a cold night. “Actually, your sister put me up to dropping this off. I have no idea what’s in here. But uh, I said I’d deliver it. Honestly, I wanted an excuse to see you once I heard that you were back in town, so here I am. Merry Christmas.” He hands me the brown package with the golden bow.

My stare is fixed on his face and I take in every detail of him. The pooling eyes that look so much further than the surface. The squared jawline with the stubble. The faint lines that form at the corners of his mouth. There isn’t any pretense in his honest admission.

He’s so refreshingly unchanged by time. Walker runs a hand across the back of his neck and his face flushes with heat. One thousand thoughts race through my mind, but when I open my mouth, none of them float to the surface. They’re a jumbled ball of adrenaline that I can’t make sense of.

How is he here? Why did he come? What could this mean? What do I want it to mean?

“Merry Christmas,” is all I manage to get out in the end.

He puts the package in my hand. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

The truth is, I am okay. I’m thrilled that he’s here. I’m stunned of course. My heart thuds in my chest. My breath catches in my throat. I can’t stop tucking my hair behind my ears. But all said, I’m happy to see him.

I stare up into his eyes and just like that, I’m transported back in time to five years ago. It was a time when I thought Walker and I would be forever. He and I were perfect… until we weren’t, until all of a sudden, he was gone and I was to blame.

3

Walker

“Are you going to open it?” My breath turns to frost as I lean in toward her on the front step.

The truth is, I couldn’t care less about what’s in the box. But I am invested in finding reasons to stay here as long as I can. I couldn’t believe my luck when Tessa called me with the news of Jenna’s failed marriage and subsequent return to Findlay.

I’d like to say I’m sorry things didn’t work out for her, but I’m not. Jenna and I only make sense when we’re facing the world together. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for all these years and I’m not going to waste it.

“Yeah, of course I’m going to open it.” Her face flushes with a deep crimson as she pulls back the tape and opens the corner of the package. She peers inside then chews on the corner of her lip.

“Oh no.” She lets out a giggle that sends a rush of nostalgia washing over me.

I’ve always loved Jenna’s laugh. I know how much she’s been through and how hard she’s worked to earn back those moments of joy. After her parents passed away, there was a time I worried I’d never hear that laugh again.

I step closer to her. “Well, what’d you get? I’m invested now, can’t leave me hanging.” I tease her and she gives me that stunning, pouty-lipped-smile I’ve missed for so long.

“Ugh, my sister. You know Tess, she’s always up for a laugh. It’s a… toy.” She brushes a strand of hair away from her face the way she does when she gets nervous.

But why is she nervous? It’s just me. I’ve seen her at her best and worst and every place in between. The years that have passed can’t change our history.

I reach across her and the sensation of her arm brushing against mine sends sparks shooting through me. I lift the lid and peer inside the box. What I see makes me laugh too. It’s an enormous rainbow rocket.

“Okay. What do you need that for? Someone wasn’t doing his job.” My words are a flirtatious growl and it sends a wash of pink flooding across Jenna’s cheeks.

“Stop it.” Her eyebrows raise and she shakes her head with a giggle, closing the box. “This is the craziest, maybe best Christmas present I’ve ever gotten. I mean, you’re here? I can’t believe you’re here. How are you standing in front of me right now? I just can’t… Do you want to come in?”

“You bet your ass I do.”

She steps aside and I walk inside without another word.

“Home sweet home,” Jenna says.

My head turns on a swivel. “This place is so undeniably you. I love it. Look at all the colors, it’s like a Christmas card in here.” I take a self-guided tour and revel in all the clues her house leaves about who she is now. “Let me guess, you took these photos?”

“Yeah, I did. At the coast.”

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