Safe Ride Home

Kyle was not the only one who brought Alex up like it was nothing. Jonathan also felt that the subject was best to be addressed as soon as possible instead of tiptoeing around my feelings. I admired them both for that, though I wished I was not having this conversation in Olive Garden with my best friend.

“So have you called Alex since we’ve been home?” Jonathan was an expert at acting casual, or maybe he was just naturally that laid back. It was hard to tell sometimes.

I frowned and dropped my eyes to my plate where I pushed around a few miniature shrimp with my fork. It took a few minutes before I finally mumbled a “no.”

“What does that mean?” He furrowed his eyebrows and I shrugged. “Adele, look at me.” He demanded from across the table and I regrettably obeyed. “I’m your best friend. Don’t I get to know what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” He smiled a little and I rolled my eyes.

“This pretty little head is empty. There’s nothing going on.” It wasn’t quite a lie but it also wasn’t a real answer to the real question he was asking.

Jonathan sighed. “Do you still have feelings for him?”

I bit my bottom lip hard. “Course.”

“That was all I wanted to know.” He held up one hand and then took a bite of his own pasta dish. I stared at him uneasily as he swallowed and then grinned some. “Okay, that’s a lie. It’s not the only thing I wanted to know. What are you going to do about your feelings?”

“I don’t know!”

“Really? You’ve been here for three months and you haven’t a clue as to what you’ll do?” He raised his eyebrows this time and looked at me skeptically.

“Not really. I mean, what happens if I go back to him now and things just blow back up because I didn’t give it enough time. I don’t want to be heartbroken again, Jon. I can’t handle it. I nearly gave up last time he hurt me.”

“I don’t want you to be heartbroken again either Dell, but sometimes you have to risk it to get the biscuit.” It was silent for a minute as we stared at each other.

“Did you really just quote Fired Up?”

“Was it lame?” He made a face and I giggled.

“It was cheesy.” I agreed and he chuckled a little too.

“Even with its cheesiness, it’s still true. You’re going to be scared to jump into this no matter how much time you let pass. Fear will eat you alive, my dear.”

“I know.” I frowned and sighed again. “I wish fate would just give me a sign.”

“Like the tabloid scandal of ’08?” Jonathan smirked as I glared hard at him.

“Perhaps a subtler sign.” I grumbled and took a sip of my lemonade just as my phone started to ring. Jonathan raised both his eyebrows again as I went to answer it. I stuck my tongue out at him before chirping a “hello?”

“Adele, I’m glad I caught you. This is Monica from Tripp’s Gallery.”

“Oh, hi Monica.” My stomach churned. I was supposed to be reporting back to work soon now that tour was over, but I wasn’t completely sure about that either.

“Hey dear. I have some very special news for you.” She laughed lightly and my stomach loosened a little.

“Yeah? What kind of news?”

“Well, remember Tripp was looking into expanding the Gallery some?”

“Mmhmm.”

“He’s finally done it. He bought two new shops that we’ll be turning into Galleries and he wants you to be his number one client slash employee.”

“Slash employee?” I was overly excited about the extra work, but confused as well as to the new job description.

“He not only wants to keep showcasing your art in the galleries but he also wants you to help operate them. The new places are both out of state and he needs someone to fly to them to get them started, if you will. Find other artists in the areas and showcase their art. You’ll be working with me to begin with, but then you can fly out on your own when he needs you. It’d be a pay raise and a great opportunity to also get your art out there some more.”

I sat dumbfounded. This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. This was like a dream. I swallowed hard and conquered the fear. “Where are the two new galleries?”

“One is in Dallas, Texas, and the other somewhere in mid-California. And of course you’d still be working here in Baltimore too. Tripp will be paying for all flight and rooming expenses.”

I smiled. “That sounds amazing.”

“I know! I’m excited myself. The new galleries are still in pretty bad shape though. We’ll have to remodel both places before we can actually start showcasing anything, but that should be fun.”

“I’m on board.” I didn’t let my mind think twice about it.

“Really? That’s great! This is going to be awesome. I’ll tell Tripp when he comes in this afternoon. Oh, and before I let you go, when should we be expecting you back? We’ve got to fly over to California next Monday to finalize papers on the new place.”

“Um, I’m not sure. I’ll call you tomorrow with a date.”

“Okay, sweetie. I’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah, bye Monica.” I closed the phone slowly and stared straight ahead into those crystal blue eyes.

“What was that?” Jonathan asked as he smoothly slid his card toward the side of the table, letting the waitress know he was paying the check.

I grinned, totally unphased by the fact that he was being too much of a gentlemanlike always. “I think that was my sign.” He looked at me weird and continued to ask questions that I refused to answer. There were still some details I had to work out for myself, but there was one thing I was already sure about.

Being wrapped in Alex’s warm arms was in my near future.