A Wildflower Summer by Caroline Flynn

Author:Caroline Flynn [Flynn, Caroline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2021-06-11T12:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Jason

There was a domino effect to everything in life; Jason believed that, deep in his gut. It was impossible to know which event or action was to blame for the next sometimes, just as it was futile to try to think of how things might have been different if he had simply knocked over a different domino from the beginning.

Call it confusion or just a plain thick skull, but he couldn’t figure out how fixing a white Corolla with one wheel in the grave had led to uncovering his grandfather’s car, which led to offering up some of Carlie’s belongings because he knew money was tight, which then led to sneaking an offer to come to a drive-in movie past the oversized ears of Sonya Ritter and coming so close to kissing Lily that he could still feel the faint brush of her breath against his cheek.

What in the world had he been thinking?

From the start, he knew Port Landon was only a stop in her journey. He knew it when she stared at him for the first time as the headlights of his truck highlighted the disappointment in her eyes. He knew it when she took the job at the coffeehouse so she would make money quicker with the hopes of leaving town faster. And he knew it when he sent that text message, using Carlie’s budding friendship with Eden as an excuse to invite Lily along to the movie.

He knew it, but it didn’t mean he fully realized the expiry date on their friendship. Now, it was all he could think about.

Well, that, and the kiss that never happened.

Something happened, though. There was no other way to explain how he could have let his guard down and spoken about Natalie to her as though he had known Lily for years instead of days. He felt the difference, the shift that had unsteadied the foundation of his defenses. Obviously, he wore that difference like a brand-new baseball cap, because his eagle-eyed mother seemed to see it as well.

‘What’s gotten into you?’ Bettina Forrester could rival the likes of Sonya and Nancy when it came to her shrewd observation. She didn’t miss a thing, but unlike the two overbearing sisters, Jason’s mother only spoke of her thoughts and feelings when asked. And when they involved her son. ‘You seem … distracted.’

Jason felt distracted. Setting another place at the oak dining table in his parents’ cramped kitchen, a heady disconnect flooded his body, like the part of him that was moving was completely separate from the part that was overrun by his thoughts. He had never been an overthinker. Now, it felt like that was all he did.

‘Just thinking about Carlie.’ It was a low blow, but he knew that mentioning his daughter would ease Bettina’s insistent chatter.

The Sunday evening dinners at his mom and dad’s apartment were just as much a part of his routine as the drive to and drop off at Natalie’s place in North Springs. Fridays were good days for him—he was gifted the entire weekend to be with his daughter.

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