Which, Jewel supposed, it wasn’t to Lea because she hadn’t had this massive discovery about a random crush that just so happened to hit her smack in the face without warning. Fear clawed at her throat. What was she supposed to say? She had to get out of this, but how could she? She’d essentially asked for it, and Lea had delivered. She’d gone out of her way to make the arrangements, to ask the favor.
“I think she does some horseback riding on trails too, but it’s calving season, so I’m not sure if she’ll have time to take us. “
Once again, Lea was having the conversation with herself, and Jewel was barely hanging on to the words slipping from her lips. One bed. One week. It was going to be a disaster. How was she supposed to get through that without letting it out that she liked Lea, and not just liked her, but liked liked her.
“I’m sure she’ll take us out on some of her chores to see the calves if we want.”
“What are we supposed to do for a week?” Jewel’s voice was so quiet she wasn’t even sure Lea had heard her.
“You said you wanted a break.”
“I-I do, trust me I do. I need one. You could use one, too. But what are we supposed to do for a week?”
“Read a book? Play music? Her partner’s a musician so I’m sure there’s instruments at the house. No work, though. I think that’s the point of a vacation.”
Jewel’s panic wasn’t going away. She still kept swinging back around to the fact that there was only one bed, that they would not only be sharing a room, which she could handle, but that there was one bed. Please let it be a king-sized bed.
“The point is to relax and get away.”
“Yeah. I know the point,” Jewel muttered. Every breath she drew in was filled with Lea’s scent. Every time she breathed out, panic stopped up her lungs. She was going to suffocate on this trip to town. “I guess that means we’re only buying food for one week then.”
“Yes. Eli’s got the meals covered, or we can drive to the city and do lunch one of the days if you want. We can go on hikes, too. It’s not too far from Cedar Bluff, so we can go there and walk around.”
“Sounds good.” The lump in her throat grew bigger. Long romantic walks—just the two of them—and nothing else to distract them. This idea was worse by the minute, and there was Lea, blathering on like nothing had changed, like nothing was different.
Jewel listened absentmindedly until they got to the shoe store. When Lea went inside, she stayed in the car and drew in a deep breath. She had to call her parents. She hadn’t told them about Brady yet, and it was a conversation they needed to have. At least now she had plans with Lea for the break so they wouldn’t feel guilty when she declined their pity invite.
Her mom answered on the second call. “Hey, baby.”
“Hey, Mom. Dad there?”
“Right here. I’ll put you on speaker.”
Jewel sucked cold air into her lungs. “I wanted to let you two know my plans for spring break have changed a bit.”
“Oh? Are you and Brady going somewhere else?”
The sharp pang in her chest wasn’t as bad as she thought it’d be. Not after Thursday. That had put him in a whole different perspective for her. “No, not really, anyway. Brady and I broke up a few weeks ago, so Lea and I are going to go to a local bed and breakfast for the week just to get away. The owner is a former student of hers.”
“That sounds nice, but I’m sorry to hear about Brady,” her mom stated.
“He was an ass,” her dad muttered, and then she heard her mom chastise him. It brought a smile to her lips.
“Anyway, so Lea said she wanted to take me someplace to relax, maybe get my mind of things, take a break from life.”
“That sounds like a really good idea. I wish you could come with us.”
There it was. Jewel clenched her jaw. “It’s fine, Mom. I’m fine. It’ll be good to go away with Lea, like I’m an adult going on a real vacation with my friends.”
“If you say so. I worry about you, though.”
“I’m fine, I promise.”
“See, Lynn? She’s fine.”
Her dad made her smile. He always managed to do that no matter what. “I really am, I promise. Breaking up with Brady was for the best. I mean, he broke up with me, but it really is for the best. It was fading toward the end anyhow.”
“I’m so sorry, honey.”