揇o you think we抣l ever get over the dreams??she asked.
揑 hope so.?Wade laid a hand on her shoulder. 揂ccording to therapists and army shrinks, talking about it with someone helps, but until now, I抳e not met anyone who understood.?
揥ell, I understand.?Jessica patted his hand. 揟hank you, Wade, for being there for me, and for not being dead.?
揧ou are so welcome.?He removed his hand and picked up his mug. 揥e can help each other get through this, but why do you think you dreamed that I was dead??
揑 think it抯 out of fear that something will happen because I抦 so happy,?she answered.
揑抦 right here, and it抣l take more than a nightmare to kill me. Evidently, I抳e got a little blonde-haired girl in my future,?he said.
And I hope that she looks exactly like you, he thought.
Chapter Fifteen
Jessica relived the kiss that she had almost shared with Wade every night when she went to bed. Some of the time she blamed it on her fragile state when she came out of that horrible nightmare. Other times she wished that it had happened so she wouldn抰 have to wonder how the kiss would have affected her every time she looked at him梐nd that was often.
There had been no more threatening notes tacked on the porch posts, and when they抎 gone to church the past few Sundays, Stella had given them dirty looks but kept her mouth shut. That evening Jessica carried all the condiments for hot dogs out to the table that had been set up behind the church for their big Fourth of July celebration. A big bowl of scooped-out watermelon balls was already there, covered with a towel to keep the flies from helping themselves to it, and Oscar was busy cooking hot dogs in the new firepit he had built for them.
揑ndependence Day means more to me this year than ever before,?Mary Nell said as she and the twins set up chairs. 揥e are all free this year, kind of like that song that Martina McBride sang years ago.?
揂men,?Jessica said, but she thought again of that kiss and wondered if she was really free or if she was yearning for something that could ruin an important friendship.
揥ant us to sing that tonight??Lily asked.
揃ut not until we have our fireworks.?Daisy popped open the last chair and sat down in it.
揧es!?Lily pumped her fist in the air. 揟his will be our first holiday in Texas, and we抮e celebrating with a whole sparkly show.?
Jessica sat down beside Mary Nell and asked, 揝o, did you ever in your wildest dreams think you would be celebrating Independence Day with all of us at this old church? That you抎 be leaving Nashville, and Haley would be pregnant and leaving Alabama??
揘ope,?Mary Nell said, 搊r that you and Wade Granger would be putting in a bar together, either, but it feels right and good. And I抦 glad to be where I am. I didn抰 realize how unhappy I was with Kevin until tonight. A year ago on this holiday, I was in Nashville at the fireworks show. I was miserable. I was trying to shape my whole life around what he needed, what he wanted, and trying to please him.?
揥hy tonight??Jessica asked. Then she pointed and squealed. 揕ook, everyone! There抯 a shooting star!?
揧ou saw it first, so you get to make the wish,?Wade said as he came outside.
Jessica glanced over at Mary Nell for an answer before she made her wish.
揑t抯 a feeling that抯 hard to explain, but I抦 glad I抦 here and not still there,?Mary Nell answered. 揘ow, make your wish.?
Jessica closed her eyes and wished for a real, honest-to-goodness kiss from Wade. Maybe then she would stop thinking about it.
Last year, Mary Nell and Kevin, along with some of his friends, had watched the fireworks show in Nashville at Riverfront Park. Like always, it had been spectacular, but Mary Nell hadn抰 known just how tense and strained their relationship had become by then, not until she came to Texas. As her mother often told her, she had finally put some distance between her and the forest she had been living in. The fireworks package that Oscar had bought for the twins was pretty meager compared to the tens of thousands of dollars that had been spent on the big show in Tennessee. But the laughter and the feeling she had that evening outshone every moment of the big show the previous year.
揂nd here goes the last one,?Lily yelled. 揈njoy it, everyone.?
A brilliant blast of red sparkles lit up the dark sky, and everyone applauded.
揋ood job, ladies,?Mary Nell told them. 揘ow what do we do??
揑抦 having another hot dog, and a bowl of watermelon,?Daisy declared. 揗aybe next year we抣l have made some friends, and we can invite them to our show.?
揗aybe even the cheerleaders, and Mama can talk Jessica, Mary Nell, and Haley into doing cheers for us, too,?Lily teased.
揟hey can do cheers,?Mary Nell said with a laugh. 揇arlin? if I could find my cheerleading outfit, I couldn抰 fit into it. You抎 think working three jobs would jerk the weight right off me, but it didn抰。？