Breathe (11 page)

“Abby says you should take us out to ice cream tonight!”

Easton laughed. “Tell Miss Abigail that I would be happy to do that on another night.” He reached into his pocket. “That would be her now.” He smirked and pressed Accept on his phone. “Abigail Jane, how are you this fine day?” There was a pause and he was smiling. “Now darlin’, you know your momma will not let you out on a school night. All right—maybe after Finn’s birthday on Sunday. Although, I can’t see you needin’ any more sweets after that. All right, see you then.” He hung up. Lily just stared at him.

“Does that mean you’re Finn Sullivan’s cousin too?” She looked accusatory.

“Guilty as charged. But don’t hold it against me. You can’t choose your family.” The smirk was back. Lily nodded. I’m sure she had a picture of Caedan in her head right then.

“Finn broke my phone,” she told him. I was shocked. The kid that broke her phone was Easton’s cousin?

“Well, now… He’s a bit of a devil, but once you get to know him, he’s okay. Would you like me to take care of him for you, Miss Lily?” He looked serious.

“No, I gave him a talking-to and he apologized. He wrote me a nice note, but can you tell him to stop following me around all the time?”

We both burst out laughing.

“Well, Miss Lily, you can’t blame the boy for having exceptional taste, but I will have a chat with him for you.” She nodded.

“Lily, please set another place for Easton at the table. He’s staying for dinner,” I asked. She got the silverware and plates and flounced off to the dining room.

“Wow. Small world.”

He nodded. “That happens a lot around here.”

Dinner was interesting. I let everyone else guide the conversation. I just wanted to watch Easton interact with my family. I was in awe of his ability to make them so relaxed. I looked around and we seemed so normal. Laughing and joking like nothing bad had ever happened. I felt so grateful that my family had some sense of normalcy again. It was like a weight had lifted. We had let someone new into our home, and it was a good thing. God is good. I was humbled by the beauty of it.

Easton laughed with Caedan and teased Lily, but only about how pretty she was and how he was going to make fun of Finn. He talked to my mom about the hospital and her patients and seemed really interested in what she did. After dinner, Caedan asked Easton if he wanted to play video games with him. They had an epic battle of MX vs. ATV Alive on the Xbox. Caedan won. I watched the entire thing, and even though I couldn’t tell or prove it, I am pretty sure Easton let him win.

Yup, I was still looking for the flaw. He made sure to leave early enough for homework to get done. I walked him out to his car.

“Well, you certainly make an impression.” I was, of course, understating.

“Your family is great, Jasmine. I’m glad I got to meet them.”

I smiled at him. “Well, you definitely brought out their bright side.”

He was looking down at his feet again. “I was wondering if you would like to return the favor?”

I looked at him warily. “And how would I do that?”

He smiled for a moment, and then took a breath. Was he nervous? “As you may have heard earlier, we have a family birthday party on Sunday for the infamous Finnegan, and I wanted to know if you would come.”

Ummm… Family, wow. I mean, I didn’t invite him to meet mine. I probably would have waited or put it off as long as possible, and he wants to introduce me to his? Huh.

“So how big a party is this?” I knew he had a big extended family. Meeting everyone at the same time? Whoa. “I mean, how big is your family, anyway? There seems to be a lot of them around here.”

He laughed. “Well, I haven’t counted lately, but if everyone showed, maybe only sixty or so.” Was he joking?

“Only, huh? Just a small get-together, is it?” Even though it sounded a little intimidating, this was one of the reasons I chose the South. I’m fascinated by big families and how they all interact.

“Yeah, well, it could be worse. Some of my dad’s side won’t be there. They’ll be out of town.” The sheepish look again. Interesting. What was he hiding? Was there a chink in the armor?

“So where will they be?”

He looked up to the sky and grimaced. “I hate to even say it. It makes them sound worse than they really are.” He huffed out air, and then looked me in the eyes. “They’re going to a NASCAR race.” He looked down and shook his head.

I laughed, and then I had to cover my mouth because I couldn’t stop giggling. He gave me a long, suffering look. “Go ahead—get it all out. I know. We couldn’t be more of a stereotype if we tried.”

Tears were pouring out of my eyes. “Oh my gosh. I’m sorry. It’s just so funny. NASCAR? Really?”

He grinned. “I know, I know. I shouldn’t have told you, but they’ll have it on the TV on Sunday, I’m sure, so…” He shrugged. He was so adorable. He was even blushing a little—just a couple of red spots on his cheeks.

“Well, it’s not like I haven’t had some seriously embarrassing moments in front of you, so I’m finding it pretty hard to feel sorry for you.”

He smiled that slow smile. Holy Smokes. “You shouldn’t be embarrassed. We might not have met if Trenton hadn’t scared you at Wal-Mart. Then some other guy would have snapped you up before I got my chance.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and gave him the glare usually reserved for Caedan. “Yeah, they’re just lining up at my door. I don’t think so. Nice try, though, Mr. Charming.”

He seemed like he was trying to decide whether to say something or not. “What?” I asked.

“Jasmine, are you completely unaware of how beautiful you are?”

I felt the blush work its way up my neck. “I’m going to have to call your Aunt Bellie, because you have the charm turned all the way up tonight. You don’t need to say things like that to me—I’m already impressed.” I couldn’t look him in the eye. Sheesh. Where did this guy learn this stuff? Did he take classes or something?

He grabbed my hand and turned it palm up. He started drawing in my palm. “Jasmine, I know we haven’t known each other long, but trust me when I tell you: if I say something, I mean it. You are beautiful to the point where it is scares me. But besides being gorgeous, you are an amazing human being, and I am so glad that you have let me into your life.” He looked at me, and his smile made my heart go funny.

All those things you hear about happened. My heart was beating fast, those stupid butterflies had invited their friends for auditions of
Butterflies Got Talent
in my stomach, and I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath. Only, it was the good kind of hyperventilating this time.

“I don’t know what to say to that, but I’m glad you’re the one who caught me.” We looked into each other’s eyes for what seemed like forever but was in reality probably about thirty seconds. Was he going to kiss me? Until that moment, I hadn’t realized we were leaning toward each other. His eyes flicked toward my house, then he straightened up.

“Well, I better head home, it being a school night and all. Can I call you later?”

Why does he keep asking me that? Like I’m going to say no?

“Umm… Yeah, sure.”
I am a smooth conversationalist, I tell you what.

What did he see in me? Every time I was around him my IQ drops twenty points. He leaned in again and gave me a hug. He was so tall and solid, and he smelled so good. I felt safe and warm for that moment. I could have stood there surrounded by his warmth forever, but it was over much too fast. I watched him get in his car. He gave me a little wave and drove away.

Wow. Did that really happen? I felt like jumping up and down and squealing. I controlled myself and walked back up to the house. I realized we had probably been watched the entire time we were outside. Would he have kissed me if my whole family hadn’t been staring out the window? Hmmm. Something to think about when I’m alone.

Contrary to what was probably happening just moments before, Mom and Lily were sitting on the couch with their backs to the window reading, and Caedan was at the desk working on what looked like math.

“Did you all have a nice view from the window?” I asked snarkily. Caedan didn’t even look up from his work, but he was smirking.

My mom looked up from their book. “Jasmine, I don’t know what you are talking about. Do you have any homework you need to get done?”

I sighed and sat down on the couch. “No, I finished in study hall. So he’s a total creep, huh?” Now I was smirking.

My mother looked at me with her eyes narrowed. “There’s no need for sass. He’s a very polite young man, which is more than I can say for you at the moment.”

Lily chose this moment to put her two cents in. “Abby says he’s the best. He’s her favorite cousin, but not because of the ice cream. She really loves all her cousins, even Finn, but she says Easton is the nicest of her boy cousins and has never teased her or put frogs in her bed or held her upside down like all of the rest of them have.” She went back to reading.

My mom looked over at me. “Well, he definitely leaves an impression, doesn’t he? And he’s got more than his share in the looks and manners department. He seems sweet, Jasmine. I think he likes you a lot. I’ve never heard of a boy bringing an information packet to meet someone’s parent.”

“What about the rules?” I asked nervously.

“Ah, that. I went over them with him already.” Of course she did. I held my eye roll, just in case Easton didn’t like bald girls.

“Your curfew is eleven thirty on the weekends. He may visit here during the week, as long as I am home and he’s not keeping you from your homework. If he takes you anywhere in his car, you’ll need to clear it with me. Also, when you’re out, you’ll need to text when you arrive where you’re going and when you’re on your way home. If you’re late for your curfew, you’ll be grounded a week for every ten minutes you make me worry, and we will also revisit how much time you can spend with Easton. If your grades dip, weeknight visits will be over. And for any change of plans, while you are already out of the house, you’ll need to ask first. Is that clear enough for you?”

I just nodded. It was actually pretty fair. Better than expected. I excused myself to go upstairs and process everything.

When I was lying in bed thinking, I realized life was, for the first time in a long time, really starting to look up. There was a gorgeous boy who liked me, my family was starting to heal, and I hadn’t gotten any more flowers or weird calls. That had to mean good things in the future, didn’t it?

The beginning of the week went smoothly. I went to class, had lunch with the girls, and did homework. Some things did change, but for the better, which was unusual in itself. Easton actually found me each day and walked me to a couple of classes. We spoke on the phone every day, but not for very long. We both had pretty heavy course loads this year, and homework was starting to take up a lot of time.

I had decided to try out for cross-country. I really loved to run. I used to run track in junior high and was going to try out in high school until Daisy was taken. Until now, it had been out of the question. No sports that would require us to be in the public eye unless the Monster was caught. I had to run on the treadmill at home, and although I ran every day no matter what, I really loved to run outside. My mother felt very differently about this subject and was not okay with me running outside with or without people around. I had discussed it with her before we moved. She assured me that when we moved that would be something I could do again. Not by myself, mind you, but with a group of people. I didn’t even ask about running with Easton since she was being so cool about the rules. I didn’t want to jinx it. Besides, I would probably be too self-conscious anyway. So, treadmill at home or outside with a group at school. That was at least something.

Today was tryouts. I was pretty nervous. I showed up at the track and was surprised that there was a pretty big group waiting. The coach gathered us up, and I noticed we would be running on the track while the football players practiced on the field. Fabulous. I saw Easton and Chase throwing the ball to each other, but I looked away quickly. I hadn’t told him I was going to try out, in case I didn’t make it. I hadn’t run track in over two years. It really is totally different than the treadmill. I might not even be able to keep up at all. Maybe he wouldn’t notice me.

Right. This was not the time to get distracted. I decided to focus on what the coach was saying. He seemed nice, but you never knew about coaches until the season got going.

We did some stretching and conditioning exercises, and then he told us to run. He would let us know when to quit. So I did. The first twenty minutes sucked. They always do. No matter what. Anyone who tells you differently is lying. But after that, I got into this place in my head and it was freeing. I felt like I could run forever, and everything I worried about went away. It sounds totally weird, but I felt very in sync with my body. More so than at any other time, I felt like I was in control. All the noise in my head just stopped. I know it’s the endorphins, but I didn’t really care why. It just felt great to be running outside again. I was so completely in the zone, I was surprised when the coach whistled. We were done, and it had been an hour. I had forgotten how lost I could get while I was running.

I stopped to catch my breath for a few and get some water, when I heard my name. I looked up, and Easton was jogging over to me from the football field. How is it that he looked amazing all sweaty? I probably looked completely disgusting. On top of it, I wasn’t sure if it would be awkward that I hadn’t told him I was trying out.