Labor of Love (13 page)

I
couldn't believe that we'd completed our first house.

The hammers were silent, the rubbish carted away. We'd planted two spindly trees.

The house itself was painted. Inside, it was sparsely furnished. But it did have curtains hanging from the windows to give it a welcoming touch. I had bought some dolls and put them in each of the pink bedrooms.

All the many volunteers stood on the lawn, near the front porch, waiting for the residents to return.

Brady was holding my hand, but then he usually did. He knew that I wasn't going to leave him for Drew. And not only because
Drew was no longer there.

Drew had decided to go back home after only a week in the Big Easy. At least he'd helped for a while.

I couldn't say I particularly liked him, but I did know that I didn't hate him anymore.

The funny thing was—after that first day, having Drew around really didn't bother me. He was not a part of my life any longer.

Brady was.

Things between us were…well, developing. We spent most evenings together, going somewhere to listen to a band or a musician.

I was noticing everything about him. I knew he put his sunglasses on two seconds before he stepped into the sun. Always.

I noticed that he looked great in wrinkled T-shirts. And all his T-shirts were wrinkled. Even right after he washed them, because his sorting system was one pile for clean clothes, one pile for dirty clothes.

“Folding, hanging stuff up—not how I want to spend my time,” he'd told me.

Yeah, I'd been in his room a couple of times.
To watch pay-on-demand movies. And cuddle without everyone in New Orleans looking on. He never pushed, but he hinted that he was interested in seeing the bottom half of my tattoo—even though it was long gone.

I was thinking about getting another one. A permanent one. One that would be there when I was ready to share it with him.

Now, Jenna and Tank were standing near us. So were Amber and Sean. It was kind of funny that so many couples were around, that so many of us had bonded while building.

A car pulled up in front of the house, and a thrill shot through me. I couldn't believe how excited I was that the family was coming home. That we'd done what we could to ensure that they were able to come home.

John went to greet them. Holding her daughters' hands, the woman walked to the house and stepped up on the porch. She was younger than I'd expected her to be and pretty. She turned to face us, with tears in her eyes.

“Thank you,” she said. “Thank you…so much.”

We clapped and cheered, acknowledging her—that she was home again. That we were all glad.

John opened the door for her, and she walked inside. I could hear the patter of her daughters' feet as they raced through the house.

“Mama! My room is pink!” one of the girls shouted. “I love pink!”

Brady put his arm around me, hugged me. “Good choice,” he said.

My throat was tight. All I could do was nod, as tears filled my eyes. I felt a little guilty that I'd originally planned to spend my summer going to water parks. If Drew hadn't been such a jerk, that's what I would have done. And I would have missed out on this sense of accomplishment.

John stepped out on the porch and clapped his hands. “All right, people! Your job is done. Enjoy the rest of the day. We start on the next one in the morning!”

Tank, Jenna, Brady, and I walked to Tank's car. Sean and Amber were catching a ride with Sara. We seldom rode with Ms. Wynder anymore. But, then, she was usually with John.

As we were driving away, I looked out the back window and watched the mother and her daughters waving at us from the front porch. Her daughters were clutching the dolls I'd left in their rooms. I felt…happy.

Wiping the tears from my eyes, I leaned my head back on the seat. “One down, and about a thousand to go.”

“I think there's more than a thousand,” Brady said.

I rolled my head to the side and looked at him. “How many houses do you think there are that need to be rebuilt?”

He shrugged. “A lot.”

“Even after all this time?”

“Oh yeah. It takes a long time.”

Yeah, I thought, looking at him, rebuilding does take a long time. But it was worth it. It was so worth it.

 

“I am so glad we decided to spend part of our summer here,” Amber said, later that night, as we were holding our own celebration.

She, Jenna, and I were sitting on a park
bench. A jazz band was playing nearby. The guys had decided to take a walk around, do some people-watching.

I think they knew that we wanted some time alone.

“Yeah, me, too,” I said, fingering the fleurdelis on the necklace that Brady had given me. I wore it all the time.

“This has been the best summer ever,” Jenna said.

“And it's not over,” I pointed out. “We've still got another week to go.”

“Now that we know what we're doing, maybe the next house will go faster.”

“Maybe.”

“You want to hear something crazy?” Jenna asked.

Amber and I looked at her.

“I've been thinking about asking Sara if Tank and I will get married.”

“You want to marry him?” Amber asked.

Jenna lifted her shoulders. “I've thought about it.”

“And what if Sara gives you a cryptic answer
like, ‘Yes, you'll both get married'?” I asked.

Jenna scowled. “That's the only thing stopping me. I'd worry about whether that meant to each other or to someone else.”

“You know, Jenna, it doesn't really matter what she sees. You have to decide what's best for you. Even though she saw things, we were the ones who made them happen,” I said. “You were crazy about Tank before you saw the dragon. Amber's reasons for coming back had nothing to do with Sara's predictions. She came back because she wanted to do good things. Have some purpose. And I'm with Brady because I want to be. Not because he has a red hat.”

“Are you saying we'd be where we are, even if we hadn't had a reading?” Jenna asked.

“Yeah, I think so. It was fun, but we didn't make any of our decisions because we thought we had to make what Sara saw happen. We determine our destinies.”

“That is so corny,” Jenna said. “As corny as what Tank said that first night. But I like it. I like it a lot.”

I looked up and saw the guys walking toward us.

I grabbed Jenna's and Amber's hands and closed my eyes. “I see a night on Bourbon Street in our future.”

They laughed.

“That was an easy prediction,” Jenna said. “It's Friday night!”

We got up from the bench.

“We thought we'd head on over to Bourbon Street,” Tank said when they got to us. “See what's happening there.”

Jenna smiled. “We figured.”

I kept myself nestled against Brady's side as we walked along the now-familiar street. We strolled slowly, listening to bands, watching the people, and celebrating the completion of the house.

“You know what you need?” Brady asked.

I laughed, because I knew where this was going. Sara had definitely rubbed off on me.

“Beads,” he said.

He grabbed my hand, and I let him drag me farther into the craziness that's Bourbon Street.

I
t was our last night in New Orleans. We'd finished gutting another house and were halfway completed with its rebuilding. I wanted to stay and finish it, but we needed to get home, needed to start getting ready for school to begin. Another group of volunteers was going to finish the house. John said he'd let us know when the job was completed, in case we wanted to come back and welcome the family home.

I thought I probably would.

John and Sara had arranged for us to have an all-night party on a riverboat, their way of thanking us for the help we'd given them over the past six weeks. Even though none of us thought thanks were needed, we weren't
going to say no to a party.

Brady and I were standing by the railing on the upper deck watching one of the paddle-wheels churn through the water of the Mississippi. There was a romantic element to it, but then, New Orleans is a city of romance. Since I'd been here, I'd come to appreciate what it had to offer: its history, its ghosts, its food, its music…its love of life.

Sometimes I think it takes almost losing something to realize how very precious it is.

Like what happened with Brady. I almost lost him. And in the losing, I'd finally discovered what I'd found. During the last few weeks, we'd grown closer, but I felt like I still had so much to tell him, so much he needed to know.

I needed—wanted—to tell him everything tonight, because tomorrow we'd be going our separate ways.

“Feeling better?” Brady asked.

We'd been down below with the other volunteers when I'd started to feel a little seasick. Who knew you could feel seasick on a river? But I guess moving on water is moving on water,
regardless of what you call it. So we came up top. I was fine as long as I had plenty of fresh air to breathe. I guessed that was why the swamp hadn't bothered me. We hadn't been enclosed.

“Yeah, I'm okay now.”

“Then let's go get something to eat,” he said. “I'm starving.”

He always was. Still, I nodded. The moment wasn't right for what I wanted to say. Or maybe a small part of me was still afraid—afraid of being hurt again.

But being hurt is part of life. And you learn to rebuild.

New Orleans had taught me that. I figured there would be other storms…more rebuilding. The city would shift, reshape, and change, but the heart of it would remain the same.

With Brady holding my hand, we walked past some benches and said hey to the volunteers who were sitting there. Then we went down the stairs that led into the dining room. Jenna, Tank, Amber, and Sean waved at us from a cloth-covered table near a window.

Jenna and Tank—they were tighter than
ever. Definitely in love. They were going to keep seeing each other when we got back to Houston. Jenna was going to apply to Rice, so she could go there next year after she graduated. And if Rice didn't accept her—it had pretty tough academic requirements—well, there was another university in Houston and there were community colleges. They'd find a way to be together. I had a feeling Tank was it for Jenna. The real deal. Forever.

I wasn't quite as sure about Amber and Sean, but then neither was she. She didn't know if he was the college love that Sara had predicted. What she did know was that meeting Sean had shown her that Chad wasn't the right one. And maybe Sean wasn't, either. Time would tell. But I had a feeling there was someone else in Amber's future.

After all, Sara had said Amber wouldn't find love this summer.

Not that I believe in all that mumbo jumbo.

Well, okay, maybe I did a little. It was hard not to after everything that had happened.
Even if I did believe we were in charge of our own destinies.

“Wow. They've got quite a spread,” Brady said.

And they did. Red crawfish—piled high on a platter and on Brady's plate. Plus there was gumbo, étouffée, fried alligator, an assortment of shrimp and fish and chicken. I went with the fried shrimp and a bowl of étouffée.

We carried our plates and bowls over to the table where our friends were waiting.

“Sara's over there doing readings,” Jenna said once Brady and I were settled. “Twenty dollars a pop. The money goes toward the rebuilding efforts.”

I glanced over my shoulder. Sara was in a corner with a large window behind her. The sun was setting and the river visible through the window almost glowed red.

She was also holding Ms. Wynder's hand. I could see Sara talking, but of course she was too far away for me to hear what she was saying.

“Think she's telling her that curly red hair is a permanent part of her future?” Jenna asked.

Watching and grinning, John was sitting
beside Ms. Wynder. They were always together. Ms. Wynder had even stopped doing bed checks. I think maybe it was because she wasn't always back in the dorm on time to make them. Not that I was going to tell my mom that. She might not let me come back next summer if she thought there was “craziness” going on.

But then how could there not be? This was New Orleans.

“Maybe,” I said.

“That wouldn't be much of a prediction,” Amber said. “Ms. Wynder already told me that she's going to organize a group to come back over winter break.”

“I think there is definitely something going on with those two,” I said.

“That is just so…I don't know what it is.” Jenna sighed. “But I just don't think of older people as falling in love.”

“She's not that old,” I said.

“Still. She's a…teacher.”

I laughed. “Teachers fall in love. I think it's terrific. I just wish Sara had ended up with someone.”

“Do you think she's seen him? Do you think
she knows who he is?” Jenna asked.

We all looked at Sean. He was the one who had spent the most time with her—before Amber had come back.

“What are you looking at?” he asked.

“Did she ever say anything? About her future, about her falling in love?” I asked.

He cracked open a crab claw. “She's married.”

I was sure my eyes grew as wide as Amber's and Jenna's. “
What
? But you and she—”

“Friends. That's all. She's fun. Interesting.”

“And her husband didn't mind?” Jenna asked.

“He's in the military, overseas.” He held up a hand. “But she sees him on their porch, playing with a little boy, and they don't have kids yet, so—” He shrugged.

For the first time, I really, really,
really
hoped there
was
something to what she could see.

“So are we going to ask for another reading before we leave?” I asked.

“No way,” Amber said.

“Uh-uh,” Jenna emphasized. “From now
on life is a surprise.”

“‘A box of chocolates,'” Amber quoted. “It's the only way.”

On the top deck, a small jazz band—friends of John's—was playing, and the music drifted down to us. It kept everything festive and fun. I was going to miss all this when we left.

I was going to miss Brady most of all.

We danced some, visited with the other volunteers, and said good-bye to the numerous friends we'd made. We all promised to keep in touch, but I didn't know if we would. Maybe at first. But then we'd all get busy. And we'd all just become memories.

That's what was going to happen with Brady.

It was our pact, our understanding, our agreement. We were together only as long as we were in New Orleans. And our time here was ticking away much faster than I wanted it to.

It was getting close to dawn as we stood on the top deck of the riverboat and watched the lights of New Orleans drift past. He'd had his arm around me a good part of the night.

But right now he was leaning forward, his
elbows on the railing, his hands clasped, as the riverboat began heading back to the dock.

“So…I guess this is it,” he finally said. “The end of our arrangement.”

“About that…”

He turned his head around and met my gaze…and waited.

And waited.

While I tried to figure out if I was willing to risk having my heart broken again. Because I'd fallen for him—hard. And it could break—easily. And this time, it would hurt worse than before. So much worse. Hard to imagine, but I knew it was true.

“I was wondering…,” I began.

“Yeah?”

“You were really patient with me in the beginning, when I was so guy shy.”

He shrugged.

“Did the psychic see more than life is good?”

“Maybe.”

“Tell me.”

“What does it matter?”

“It doesn't. I'm just curious.”

He sighed. “‘I see life is good, but I see hurt. You're trying to rebuild something, but don't build too fast or it'll crumble.' So I decided to go slow.”

“But you told me you didn't believe in psychic stuff.”

“I don't. But when I met you, I thought, why risk it?”

So he'd gone slow, and been patient, and been understanding. Maybe he'd thought he was rebuilding a house.

But he'd rebuilt my heart.

And maybe I'd helped, just a little, to rebuild his.

“I want to keep seeing you,” I blurted. “When we get home.”

A slow smile eased across his face. “Okay.”

That was all he said, but it was everything.

And then he was kissing me. And that was definitely
everything
. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my body against his. It felt so right. It all felt so incredibly right.

Brady drew back, kissed my nose, my chin,
my forehead. Then he turned me around, put his arms around my waist, and held me close while we watched the sun easing over the horizon in the distance.

Sara had told me that she didn't see how things would end for us. But the truth was that she
had
seen the ending. It was the very first thing she'd seen when she took my hand.

With Brady kissing my neck, I watched as the last of Saraphina's predictions came true. That morning, the sunrise was indeed…spectacular.

It always is, when you're in love.