揗elissa invited us and Ginger over to her house after supper tonight for a jam session. Who knows, we might even get up a country band and play here at Danny抯 Place when we抮e old enough,?Lily said.
揧ou don抰 have to be twenty-one to play in a bar梱ou only have to be that age to drink,?Wade told her.
揥ow!?Lily抯 eyes widened. 揑抳e got to go tell Daisy!?She started that way and then paused. 揌ey, Mama, can we go over to Melissa抯 tonight? She only lives about four blocks from Haley抯 place. We gave her a ride home after the tryouts. We can walk that far if you need the truck.?
揙f course you can,?Risa answered. 揇id you catch Melissa抯 last name??
揑t抯 Ginger Davis and Melissa Jones,?Daisy answered as she came out of the kitchen with a slice of date bread in her hand. 揟hey抮e cousins. Did you know anyone by that name when you lived here??
揧es, I did.?Risa felt like prayers had been answered. The girls weren抰 cheerleaders, and they had made friends with girls who had similar interests. 揗elissa抯 mom was a Davis, and Ginger抯 dad is her brother. They were both in the band. I抦 not surprised their kids are musical.?
揟hat jumping around took a lot of energy and made me hungry, too.?Lily took a few more steps toward the kitchen.
Haley moved over to sit on the floor beside Risa. 揟hey made friends that are probably more like them than the cheer squad. Do you feel better??
揙h, yeah,?Risa said with a smile.
揌ey, Mama,?Lily yelled from the kitchen. 揑 forgot to tell you that Ginger invited us to go to her church on Sunday. I want to go there so we don抰 have to deal with Granny Stella.?
揙f course you can,?Risa answered, 揵ut I抦 still going to Granny Stella抯。？
揧ou are one tough cookie,?Haley said.
揘o, just determined to show her that I抦 in control of my life,?Risa said.
Jessica stepped back from the board the guys were putting on the face of the framework and sat down on the stage. 揘ow that we抳e crossed the cheerleading bridge, what do y抋ll think about going to the all-school reunion on Friday night??
揌ow many of our class do you think will be there??Risa asked.
Wade spoke up. 揑抦 going. I抳e never been to one, and I want to see what they抮e all about.?
揥e eat some kind of chicken dinner, stand around visiting, and do some dancing to music provided by a DJ, who usually plays country,?Mary Nell said. 揑t抯 like an older-people prom. The guys slip outside to drink a beer or get a snort of whiskey. No liquor is supposed to be on the school grounds. That rule hasn抰 changed, but they hide it in their cars or trucks.?
揟hen when it抯 over at midnight, someone hosts an after-party, and the real liquor comes out,?Risa said.
揂long with the real personalities,?Jessica added. 揑 won抰 be going to any of those.?
揥hy not??Risa asked.
揝een enough drunks to last me a lifetime.?Jessica thought of the parties her teammates had after a mission, and how she抎 felt the morning after. 揂nd, for that matter, enough hangovers.?
揗e too, but then I doubt anyone invites me to one,?Wade said and went back to work.
Risa nudged Jessica on the knee and whispered, 揟hink you and Wade will dance at the reunion??
Jessica shrugged. 揥e danced together at the rodeo. He抯 pretty smooth on his feet.?
揇id I hear my name??Wade asked.
揧ep, you did,?Mary Nell said. 揥e were wondering how many women you抮e going to dance with at the reunion.?
Wade抯 eyes went immediately to Jessica. 揑 don抰 imagine many will want to be caught dancing with the biggest nerd in my huge class of eighteen graduates.?
揌ey, we only had nineteen, and we wouldn抰 have had that many if there hadn抰 been a set of triplets in the class,?Jessica told him. 揂nd I抣l be glad to dance with the biggest nerd.?
揟hank you,?Wade said with a grin and went back to work.
Risa checked the time on her phone and headed to the kitchen. It was only twenty minutes until noon, and she had soup to heat up and grilled cheese sandwiches to make. The rock in her chest had disappeared. Lily and Daisy weren抰 too disappointed. Jessica and Wade were in a wonderful place梩aking it slow and not rushing into anything. To Risa抯 way of thinking, that was a good plan. If she hadn抰 gotten in a hurry all those years ago, she might have had a very different life.
But you might not have had those two precious girls, the voice in her head said.
Chapter Eighteen
Jessica took a long bath and shaved her legs on Friday night after work. That done, she even used a curling iron to make her blonde hair a little more presentable and applied some makeup. Like Wade, she had never been to one of their class reunions, so she wasn抰 sure what to wear. She finally chose her simple little black dress梬hich was sleeveless, stopped at the knee, and fit her curves perfectly梐nd a pair of strappy sandals. She checked her reflection in the mirror and added a pair of pearl earrings, but she still felt like a giant going to a hobbit party.