Page 30 of Coming Home to the Top of Main Street

“I’ll get it.” She walked out and stepped into the enclosed trailer, and then headed toward the box at the darker end.

Marcus bounded into the trailer just then and wrapped his arms around her, turning her in a complete circle before planting a kiss on her lips. From where they stood when they came to a stop, he was facing the opening at the end of the trailer, so some light made it to his face. Just enough to see his ever-present smile that she now recognized was slightly different for her than it was for anyone else. No matter how tired she was, that smile always gave her a boost.

“That was a long time to be in the same rooms as you without being able to wrap you in a hug.”

“I know; I’m sorry. I would’ve told them about us, but”—

“I get it. I saw their faces. I think it was a good idea to let them get used to us being business partners before we bombard them with anything more. As long as I can still sneak in a kiss here and there, it’s all good.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “And a date.”

She cocked her head. “A business-planning date?”

“Nope, a real date. Tonight. Like the kind that couples go on who aren’t four short weeks from opening their first business. What do you say?”

“I say,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck, “that you are the one with the brilliant ideas.”

Then she kissed that smile that he always saved for her alone.

fourteen

MARCUS

Marcus had his eyes closed, soaking in the feel of Joselyn’s lips against his, her body pulled close to his, the smell of peaches and cream shampoo that he forever associated with her. The two of them were lost in a bubble where only they existed.

At the sound of a creak from the end of the trailer, his eyes flew open. Joselyn’s dad had just rounded the corner, probably to check to see if they had gotten all the boxes, and met eyes with him. Marcus froze, but just like he’d expect from Mr. Z, the man quietly ducked away. Joselyn pulled back and twisted to see what had spooked him, but she didn’t see anyone and must’ve thought his reaction was just out of fear of getting caught.

“We should probably head back in,” she said, then gave him one more quick kiss. He picked up the final box and as they walked toward the open end of the trailer, she said, “I assume tonight will be in Denver?”

His head was suddenly so full of worries that he just looked at her, not understanding what she was talking about.

“Our date. Since we haven’t told my family...”

“Right. Denver.”

They stepped out in the sunlight, and Joselyn glanced around like she was seeing their surroundings for the first time. “How long were we in there? I swear time stopped, but now I’m wondering if we were gone long enough for everyone to start wondering where we went.”

He suddenly wished he wasn’t holding a box so he could run his hands through his hair or over his face so he could at least feel as if he was doing something to make sure it wasn’t obvious he had just been kissing Joselyn.

Not that it mattered at this point. Mr. Z had seen, and it was high school all over again. Back then, the situation hadn’t been much different than it was today. He and Joselyn had been secretly dating and the only person who had known was Macie. He’d brought Joselyn home one night, and instead of parking in the driveway and walking her to the front door like he would have done if her family had known they were dating, he parked in front of the house Oliver and Audra were building. Parking there wasn’t unusual, considering how many Zimmermans now had driver’s licenses and old, beat-up cars.

Then he’d walked her to the side of the garage. They had pretended that the space between two large shrubs was her front porch, and he gave her a goodnight kiss. The kiss hadn’t been overly long, but they had been talking and making plans for their next date with his arms around her waist and their faces inches apart.

Just as they had both gone in for the kiss, Joselyn’s dad walked around the corner of the garage, probably to get the garbage cans to put out at the curb. Marcus had heard his footstep on the gravel and his eyes had flown open just as Mr. Z had noticed them in the faint moonlight. And just like this time, their eyes had locked before Mr. Z ducked away. Joselyn never knew.

Both times, Marcus knew, though, that he had somehow let down the Zimmerman family.

They went back into the house and got the last of Macie’s larger items in place and helped unpack. The whole time, he could practically feel Everett’s inner conflict about Marcus and Joselyn becoming business partners, the desire to be supportive of his best friend, and his worry and irritation that he and Joselyn made that decision when they’d known he was against it.

Marcus wouldn’t hear anything about it from Everett today. Everett had never been one to discuss something when he was angry. But he would bring it up soon enough. Marcus shook his head. What would Everett say if he also knew that Marcus was dating his sister?

Mr. Z didn’t come talk to him, either, and he wouldn’t. It was one of the things he respected most about Joselyn’s dad. Marcus knew that Mr. Z saw him and Joselyn kissing, and Mr. Z would expect that knowledge alone would make Marcus hesitate long enough to ask himself if it was right. It had beenenough to make him hesitate ten years ago and now.

In fact, he suddenly wondered if he had possibly sabotaged their relationship all those years ago without realizing it, just so he wouldn’t sabotage his relationship with the entire Zimmerman family.

All he knew was, for a kid who had dealt with so much familial loss, that two months away had been the most difficult of his life.

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