Page 51 of Only This Once
No matter how much he might wish otherwise.
Julia walked into her parents’ kitchen with Jinx trailing behind her. Her mother stood at the stove, flushed from the heat of cooking and stirring something in a big pot.
“Hey, love!” her mother called, her eyes flicking over to Jinx. “Oh, you brought a guest. Jesse, so good to see you.”
Her father let his hand fall away from her mother’s back to turn to them. “It’s been a while, son,” he greeted and crossed the kitchen for a proper handshake.
Jinx’s cheeks reddened, and she wondered what thought he’d had to put that adorable, embarrassed look on his face.
Her father had always been especially kind to Jinx, and Jinx had looked up to him. While he’d had his older brother, there hadn’t been a lot of men in Jinx’s life when they were kids. He got a certain glow while speaking to her dad.
Julia left them to it to, approaching her mother and kissing her cheek. “Sorry for not giving you a heads-up,” she said, more out of habit than genuine worry.
“No problem. The more the merrier.” Her mother added more butter to the pot of mashed potatoes, even though they alreadylooked like they’d stick to the ribs. Julia loved her mother’s potatoes more than anything. “Your sister is setting the dining room table if you want to help.”
“Sure,” Julia said, the sounds of laughter and voices deeper in the house settling something inside of her. She was a loner, but she appreciated the time spent around her family. In small, scheduled doses, of course.
Except for the time during her mother’s health scare, the home she’d grown up in had been full of joy and love. She considered herself very lucky.
Grabbing the rest of the Sunday plates from the cupboard, she joined her oldest sister in placing them around the table. “We’ve got one more today,” she said.
“Ah.” Heather glanced toward the kitchen. She lifted an eyebrow as she studied Jinx. “Ooh, he looks nice. You can’t tell me he put that outfit on just to meet all of us. I take it the date went well?”
A smile tugged on her lips as she remembered the night before. “Don’t start. I told you, it’s just a friends thing.”
“With benefits, if he stayed overnight.” Heather glanced at her. “You look happy about it.”
“I like being around him.” Finished with the plates, she moved over to the silverware drawer.
“You sure it’s not more than that?” Heather asked, divvying out the napkins.
“I’m sure.” Julia paused, her hands tightening around the forks. “It was a really good date, though. I kind of realized I’d never been on one before while on it.”
Heather lifted an eyebrow. “So what you normally do with guys isn’t considered a date?”
Julia snorted. “Definitely not. I couldn’t turn down Jinx when he asked, though.”
“Hmmm,” Heather hummed.
“I’ve always had a soft spot for him. That’s nothing new, and a little sex isn’t going to change things.”
A choked sound came from behind her, and she turned to see Jinx red-faced in the dining room doorway, her father at his back.
He patted Jinx’s shoulder and turned around to head back into the kitchen. “I’ll see if your mother is ready for me to bring anything out.”
Julia moved toward Jinx, using her free hand to cup his hot cheek. “Don’t panic. I told you, I don’t want you to feel ashamed of what we did.”
“Right.” He cleared his throat. “So… can I help with anything? Please? Any distraction will do.”
“Show him where the spoons are,” Julia told her sister. “Nothing with sharp edges for this one.” With Jinx’s luck, he’d fall and impale himself on something. She pinched his cheek lightly and turned to finish placing the forks.
While her parents had a standing monthly lunch invitation, it wasn’t often that all their children and grandchildren showed up. It was almost a full house that day, with all in attendance but Heather’s two boys who were away at college.
Jinx stayed mostly quiet as his eyes followed the conversation around the table, a soft smile on his face. He’d worn that same expression every time he’d eaten with her family as kids, as if the way her family interacted delighted him.
Growing up with a single mother who worked multiple jobs, meals weren’t the same in his household, though his family had the same level of love and support.
The conversation flowed freely. Maria was all smiles, telling them about her first few weeks as a teacher and how much she loved the kids. She said she’d made a blunder with one of her colleagues but was certain she’d be able to turn it around. She didn’t mention the man who had followed her to the school, andJulia made a mental note to ask her sister whether he was still hassling her.
