Chapter Thirty-Seven
Carina
The more of Jackson’s family I met, the more I envied his life. His brothers were generous and seemed happy to see me there with their brother, even though they were wary of the way we’d met and how fast they thought we were moving. I laughed to myself. I had friends who had met, married, and divorced in the amount of time I’d known Jackson. I had no intention of going that route.
Rachel and Daniel offered to have me ride back to the ranch with them and spend the day there, but I was a little nervous to be there with his parents without him to run interference. Jackson jumped in before I could respond. If I went with him to Tucker’s office, Jackson had a good reason to be there. I hid my sigh of relief behind my mimosa.
Austin was nothing like I thought it would be. I’d thought we were heading into the Sahara, a vast empty desert, with craggy chasms and tumbleweeds. Instead, it was green and lush, with a wide stream running through the park across from the little restaurant where we sat outside and ate under the shade of a large umbrella. I didn’t want to admit I was so wrong in my expectations, but when Rachel started talking about the live music scene in their downtown, and a whole street that was a party almost every night, weekend or weekday, I couldn’t wait to spend more time there.
“Jackson, I really like Austin.” I whispered to him when Danny and Rachel were talking to each other about their other plans. “I want to come back here when this is all done.” He looked at me and smiled, but didn’t answer. I looked all around me, trying to figure out why on earth he would want to be anywhere else, even if that’s where Stanford was, or where I was. I felt connected to the place, like there was something special waiting for me around every corner.
“I can see you thinking,” Jackson said, poking me in the side and breaking the spell. “What’s on your mind?”
“Do we have time to just see Austin? Walk around, drive around, I don’t know how big it is, but can I see more of it before we go?”
Rachel’s eyes widened. “Sugar, how about you and me, tomorrow, go on an adventure. These are my stomping grounds, and I can show you the best shops, the best restaurants, everything.”
I nodded and glanced at Jackson.
“Hey, you don’t need my permission. I’ll just go over the bookkeeping program I was writing for Danny and make sure it’s doing its job. You girls have fun.”
“Oh, it’s a date!” Rachel clapped her hands. “I can’t wait. If you don’t mind, I’ll bring a friend, too. We don’t see as much of each other anymore, but she’s so much fun to spend money with.”
Danny groaned and Jackson rolled his eyes. “If it gets too bad, we can buy an extra suitcase for your finds,” he reminded me. I was ecstatic. The only thing that would’ve made Austin better was if Shelby and Nick were there too.
We took our time with brunch and ate far too much, but the others agreed that it was best just to pack it all in and not eat again until supper, because it was going to be more food than I’d ever seen on one table, and there were going to be hurt feelings if the matriarch and her housekeeper didn’t feel like I’d eaten enough to have enjoyed it.
Danny and Rachel took us back to George’s house, and we said goodbye after Rachel and I exchanged numbers. Jackson wanted to talk to Tucker, but after how much we’d eaten, he suggested a stroll through the park so I could look around, and he could stop feeling like he was about to deliver a food baby.
We wandered along the paths that crossed the stream, and watched people out biking, people dressed for business jobs eating their lunches on park benches, and others running the paths with their dogs, or playing with their children in the grass. Rachel had said Austin was a party town, but it seemed that there was something for every kind of person here.
“I could stream from a city like this,” I sighed. “I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around how California grabbed you, when we’re not on the beach. I mean, beach beats everything else. But, wow, this place is really, really lovely.”
Jackson laughed and rubbed his neck. “Yeah, I always liked town. The ranch, for all those thousands of acres, always seemed too confined for me. When I was at school, I was involved with everything. The studying came easy, so I had lots of free time for fun, or trouble.”
I chuckled at him. “I bet you did.” There was a question I wanted to ask, but was afraid it would pick a fight. I didn’t plan on ever asking it, but in true C.J. style, I blurted it out during another perfect moment to ruin. “How were you single when we met? There’s nothing about you that’s given me that ‘aha’ moment as to why you were available to even start talking to me.” I held my breath.
“I had been seeing someone, but I never had a girlfriend I wanted to bring around the ranch, so when summer came, I always split with them.”
“Every year?”
“Pretty much, yeah. Far as my family is concerned, you’re my first girlfriend.”
“Well, no wonder they’re all acting like you’ve gone off the deep end. Thanks a lot for nothing,” I groused. He put his arms around me and kissed my cheek, when I wouldn’t let him kiss my mouth.
“Please, in about thirty seconds, you’re going to stop being mad at me, and start gloating about how you’re the only one good enough to take home to the parents.”
I shoved him off me and punched him in the arm, making him wince. “Next step, is not boasting about how well you know me, even if you’re right.” I took the arm he offered and rubbed the spot where I’d hit him. “Got you good, didn’t I?”
“Yes, Carina, you certainly did.” Something in the way he said my name told me we weren’t talking about the same thing, but I let it go. I had managed not to ruin our moment together, and I gave myself a mental pat on the back for learning when to stop picking at things that didn’t matter. However, there was lots of time for me to still blow it, and remembering that, made my gut clench and my throat dry.
Suddenly, the sunlight didn’t seem quite so bright, and the symphony of laughter and conversations in the park seemed cacophonous and out of tune. I took Jackson’s arm and let him lead me back to his truck. All around me was a world I had never thought existed where weird people and art and individuality was celebrated and no one blinked when they saw someone who was different or creative, they just incorporated them into the whole. Jackson had worked so hard to get away from it, I wondered if he was with me, or if I was an easy excuse for leaving.