Wish

Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Jacielle

I didn’t call my dad for another week. I didn’t know if I could trust myself. Autumn helped me through a lot of my breakdowns. She practically lived with me and the boys now. She has grown on us. Her conceitedness was both addicting and hilarious. The boys informed me that the tour starts next week. We were all sitting in the living room laughing when I suddenly felt guilty. “Harry, Autumn can you guys help me?” they exchanged glances then followed me outside. I looked down at the ground. “I still haven’t called my dad.” I instantly put my hand up to stop their oncoming comments, so they just nodded. I took my phone out of my pocket and dialed his number. Harry held my hand while Autumn stood there.

            “Hey kiddo!” he sounded excited to hear from me.

            “Hey Man.” I could already feel my emotions building up. Harry gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. “What have you been up to?” he laughed.

            “The usual. Kicking butt in law cases.” Lies. I knew that if he couldn’t walk they would put him on a paid vacation. “You there Jay?”

            “Yeah. Um the tours about to start over here.”

            “Well you have fun, but not to much fun, or else I’ll have to kick those boys a-”

            “I’ll tell them dad.” I smiled as a tear rolled down my cheek.

            “Love you Jay.” You could hear a little hint of sadness in his voice. If it weren’t for Harry and Autumn, I would’ve fallen.

            “I love you too man.” We hung up and Harry pulled me into his strong embrace. “Why?” Autumn was rubbing my back while Harry spread soft kisses through my hair.

            “Autumn I’m going to take her out.”  He said over my sobs. She nodded and went inside. “Let’s go love.” He led me to his car.

            “Where are we going?” I asked.

            “You’ll see.” After that I thought about the time I tripped over a rock.

*

“Jace!” my dad’s thunderous footsteps came in my direction. The rock wasn’t very big, but I managed to cut my knee open. “Jace are you okay?” I nodded and pointed to my knee.

“Man, why were you so worried?” I looked into his brown eyes and he smiled.

“Because I can’t let anything hurt my little girl.” I smiled as I twisted my hair around my little fingers. “I won’t leave you to take care of yourself. Ever.” I nodded my head.

            “Can we go swing now?” he nodded and smiled.

*

            At the time I didn’t understand what he meant, but now that I do, I just wanted to go back to when I was six and my dad could keep that promise.

*

            Harry took me to the woods. Don’t ask me why I was trying to figure that out myself. As we continued walking Harry held my hand and I listened to the sounds. I remembered going on nature walks with my dad back inAmerica. He would always know what animal made what noise and so on. We came up to a little stream. “Do you remember this place?” Harry asked softly. Now that he mentioned it, it did look familiar. Matt.

            “This was Matt’s favorite place.” I answered. I remembered the first time Matt brought Taz, Harry, and me to this spot.

*

            “Watch out for snakes!” Matt called back with a grin. I instantly jumped on Harry’s back.

            “Matt! Jace is on me again.” Matt laughed before telling us to catch up. We came across this beautiful stream covered in lush brightly colored flowers and green moss.

            "This is my thinking spot.” I smiled at how childish my brother sounded, but then he became serious. He looked at us. “You may need this one day.” Matt informed us.

*

            “”I guess Matt was right. We do need it.” He must have had the same flashback as me.

            “More like it needs us.” He nodded. The ground that was once littered with bright flowers is now a weedy mess and the usually clear blue water was a murky brown. “What happened?” I asked not expecting anyone to answer.

            ‘He stopped caring for it.” Harry said. I remembered Matt would disappear for hours each week.

            "Well maybe this spring we should replant it and stuff.” I suggested sitting on one of the rocks. He sat on the one across from me. “I just feel like everything loves to pick on my family. Matt’s crash, Zaya leaving with Terance, and now my dad.” Thinking about Zaya and her little girl made tears well up in my eyes. “Terance is never going to know who her grandpa is.” I imagined the mass of brown curls on that child’s head bouncing around dad’s funeral. “Nothing good ever happens.” Harry wrinkled his face. “Even I almost died.” I referred to my crash. Harry faced me.

            “Losing Matt made you cherish the little things in life. Losing Zaya kept you on the right path in life and if it counts, I don’t think you’ll lose your dad. He’s strong and he’ll pull through.” He gave me a weak smile. “And your crash, well I’m happy that you crashed.” He fidgeted in his seat and I arched my eyebrows. “I’m happy because it gave me a reason to come and see the love of my life again.” Wait. Love of my life. Before I could process those words his lips were on mine. I was shocked because of the kiss, but was more shocked at the fact that I was kissing him back. He pulled me onto his lap and I tangled my fingers in his curls. He wrapped his arms around my waist. He pulled away to where our noses were touching. I looked into his bright green eyes and smiled which made him return the gesture. “I’ve been waiting to do that for forever.” I laughed.

            “And I’ve been waiting for you to.” I replied before kissing him again.

            Yep. I’m falling for him. Hard.