If This Was a Movie (Evergreen Park #2)

Chapter 13 – Jules

THIRTEEN

JULES

“Hey babe,” Harper starts when she answers my FaceTime call, “Wait, where?—”

“Please hold, I’m only having this meltdown once,” I say, watching the icon where Ava’s face is.

“What—”

Ava pops on, and I breathe deep. “Oh, thank God,” I say, collapsing onto the loveseat in the cottage.

“Jules? What’s wrong? Wait, where are you?” Harper asks, looking past me at the unfamiliar location.

“Nate Donovan’s house.”

“Nate? Why is that name familiar?” Harper asks.

“Because it’s the NEW YEAR'S DUDE! Also, Jaime did a deeper dive, and it’s like this guy is from some magical world of perfect men. Comes from the most precious family I’ve ever read about, pays all of his bills on time, has never married, donates to an animal charity, sends his kid to a public preschool where his mom is a teacher, and, get this—he’s even a class parent.”

I blink a few times, staring at her. “How did he find that out?”

“My man is good,” she says, a smile on her lips. “Also found out two years ago, his ex-girlfriend, who he had his daughter with, decided she didn’t want to deal with the whole being a mom thing. Signed over full rights to Nate, ran off to bumfuck Montana where she’s a bartender.”

Huh. Well, that’s good to know, I suppose.

“Wait, wait, wait. Can we reverse things? Who are we talking about, and why does Ava know this and I don’t?” Harper whines.

“Technically, I don’t know anything except for the fact that Jules called me last night to talk to Jaime.”

“To talk to Jaime?”

“She needed him to run a background check, make sure the guy she’s moving in with isn’t a serial killer. You know, normal things.”

“Moving in with?”

“Oh, yeah, according to Jaime?—”

“God, that man gossips like an old lady,” I mumble under my breath.

“To be fair, I can be very convincing if I want,” Ava says with a wicked smile before continuing. “Anyway, as I was trying to say before I was rudely interrupted, according to Jaime, there was a water main break at her building, and the fire department closed it down. Word on the street was that they called the whole department there, though this guy is a contractor, so I’m not totally sure?—”

“Can I tell my own story?”

“Oh. I mean, yeah, I guess,” Ava says.

I roll my eyes before stepping in.

“My apartment flooded, and it leaked into the studio, so all of the police and firefighters showed up, shut down the entire road, and turned off the water main. I was standing outside in the winter recital costume because I was subbing in for Gina because she was sick, waiting for them to let me know when I could go in and get a few things. “

“You were standing outside in the middle of November in your leotard and tutu?” Ava asks.

“Pretty much,” I say with a laugh. “I had a sweatshirt, too, but it was also pink, so it matched.”

“What shoes were you wearing?” Harper asks like that’s a pressing statement.

“What?”

“Were you in your dance shoes or?—?”

“Uggs. I hadn’t changed into my pointe shoes yet, thank God.”

“Huh,” Harper says, probably picturing the complete fashion faux pas in her mind.

“And then you’re standing there and…?”

“A little girl comes running up to me. She grabs my hand and tells me I need to meet her dad because I’m her Christmas wish.” Eyes go wide, and I think they’re starting to put the pieces of my chaotic night together. “Yeah. Then I see a man walking up, clearly worried his daughter is gone, only to realize it’s Nate.”

“The guy with a whole-ass family you thought was the love of your life after a one-night stand?” Harper, who’s always to the point, asks. I glare at her. “Sorry! I’m just getting my facts straight.”

“It turns out the woman I saw him with that day was one of his sisters.”

“His sister? Oh, babe, that’s the oldest—” Ava starts, her face falling like she knows she’s about to break my heart all over. Though my heart is much more guarded than it was the last time I met Nate, she doesn’t have to worry this time around.

“She introduced herself to me as his sister,” I say, knowing exactly what she’s going to say. Before Jaime, Ava had just as much luck with men as I have had. “And Claire, you remember her, right? My assistant, we’ve gotten drinks with her before?”

Nods before Ava says, “Gorgeous blonde, and a great sense of humor?”

“Yeah, she’s his other sister. He has three.”

“No way! Wasn’t she trying to hook you up with her brother the last time we were out together?” I nod. “God, it’s almost poetic, you know? Like a romance book.”

“I don’t know about that,” I say with a laugh. “More like a sick and twisted thriller.”

“I’m sorry, I just don’t get how we went from him running into you to you now sleeping at his place,” Harper says.

“Did you sleep with him?” Ava shouts.

“Why didn’t you call me?” Harper asks. “You could have stayed at my place. Jeremy wouldn’t have minded.”

“The fuck he wouldn’t,” Ava says under her breath because it’s no secret Jeremy is not our biggest fan, and the feeling is so very mutual. I decided ignoring them both would be better.

“There’s an unattached cottage behind Nate’s house that Claire used to live in as his nanny, but she’s moving, so it’s empty.”

“Oh, I see where this is going,” Ava says.

“Long story short, we’ve come to a bit of a…pact. I’m staying in the guest house, babysitting occasionally when he needs it, and helping to convince his daughter that Christmas miracles do happen. In exchange, he’s giving me a place to stay and helping me fix my place.”

Neither of them say anything, which is both a relief and a bit of a surprise. While Ava loves to jump into chaos and, pre-Jaime, would absolutely have done something like this, Harper is logical. At the very least, I expected her to have a few more questions.

“So what now?” Ava says.

“Well…” I start. “Well, I guess I have to unblock him first.”

“You’re living in his house, and he’s blocked?” Harper asks, and Ava just laughs.

“God, so typical,” Ava adds through her laughter.

“Jules, you need to unblock him,” Harper insists.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know.”

“Like, now.” Harper’s mom voice comes into play, and I groan before tapping at the screen of my phone and scrolling to where the contact Nate with a pink heart is.

I don’t know why I didn’t delete the contact or why I simply blocked him and left it that way, but I never looked at that too closely. Now, I guess I can be grateful for that small oversight. I tap on the screen a few times until I see unblock and hesitate.

“Did you do it?” Ava asks. I shake my head. “Why not?”

“I’m…nervous?

“You’re living in his house and agreed to watch his kid, Jules. I think we’re a bit past being nervous to unblock him,” Ava says.

Taking a deep breath, I press the unblock button, then stare at my phone, waiting as if something magical is going to happen instantly.

“Did you do it?”

“Yeah,” I say, and a moment later, a new message pops up.

Nate

Did you unblock me yet?

Finally.

I smile at the screen, and Ava laughs. Harper shouts, asking what happened. “He texted me,” I say, panicking a bit.

“What did he say?” Ava asks.

“And why are you smiling like that?” Harper asks.

“He asked if I unblocked him yet.”

“That was quick,” Harper says with a smile directed at Ava.

That was quick.

Again, he replies almost instantly.

“Oh my god, he already answered me.”

Both of my best friends squeal with excitement.

“What did he say?!”

I’ve been texting you every twenty minutes to see if you’d unblocked me yet.

I read it out loud, and Ava cackles. “Every twenty minutes! Oh, girl, he’s down bad!”

Only once every twenty minutes? Not very diligent.

“You know, if this was a movie…” Ava starts, and I roll my eyes.

“Stop it, this is not a movie. It’s just a shitty string of events leading to a very strange circumstance,” I say, justifying.

“Isn’t that how all rom-coms start?” Harper asks.

“Oh, definitely. I mean, look at me. I literally joined a pageant for shits and giggles and ended up with Jaime.” That did happen.

“You’re in a once-in-a-lifetime situation, Ava,” I inform her.

“And you’re not?”

I shake my head. “I’ve sworn off men,” I remind them.

“Does Nate know that?” Harper asks.

“What does it matter?”

“Because from what I can tell, he likes you. You like him, but you’re being too stubborn to do anything about it. I just want to make sure you’re both on the same page.”

“You know, I think you should just go for it,” Ava says with a giggle.

“What?”

“Go for it! Lean into it. It could be fun.”

“Go for what?” I ask.

“Nate. The magic of finding him again. Lean into the whole Christmas miracle thing for his kid, but do it for you, too, Jules.”

I sigh and shake my head, knowing that just isn’t an option. Not if I want to stay sane.

“I’ve sworn off love, Ava,” I repeat, hoping this time it sticks. For us both.

“Again, because you thought a guy fucked you over. Now we know differently, and the world has dropped the movie-worthy chaotic adventure in your lap. Just do it! If not for love, do it for the story of it.” I pause, taking in her words and wondering what that would be like, leaning into it. Playing house with Nate for the month. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Well, for one, she could get hurt,” Harper says. “I think you’re forgetting what a mess she was after everything in January.”

Ava rolls her eyes and groans. “Isn’t that exactly why we should be encouraging her to go for it? You don’t get that upset over some random hookup.”

“And after?” Harper asks.

“After?”

“What happens after Christmas when her place is fixed, and he doesn’t need her to play this game with him?” she says, speaking my nerves aloud. I know how torn apart I felt the first time when we’d barely spent two days together. What happens if I have time to become attached, not only to Nate but his daughter, and it goes bad? “Then what?”

“I don’t know, but we won’t find out if she doesn’t try.”

“Jesus, Ava—” Harper starts, but I hear it then, Ava stepping onto her soapbox.

“Who says it has to end in January? You told us last year you’d felt it—that instant, once-in-a-lifetime feeling. Now we know he wasn’t a douchebag. Why not give it a shot?”

“I’m scared,” I whisper my confession.

“Well, duh. It wouldn’t be worth it if you weren’t scared. That’s the fun part, Jules. Grab hold of that man’s hand and jump in.” She smiles at her words, as if they bring back a happy memory, and I love that for her.

I want that for me, but I don’t know if I’m brave enough.

“You’re the brave one,” I say. Her smile goes wider.

“Anyone can be brave if they want it bad enough, Jules. You know what I say: Shoulder back, tits out, bitch. You were born for big things.”

And then we all dissolve into giggles.