Still the One (Book 2 in the Four of Us Trilogy)

39 | Thankful

There are certain people you just keep coming back to

She is right in front of you

----

Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same.

-The Fray, "All at Once"

Rachel

"If you wouldn't mind just checking on the apartment once while we're gone, I'd really appreciate it," I said to Jessica as I picked up my bag and swung it over my shoulder.

She nodded. "No problem. My parents only live about twenty minutes from here, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Thanks, Jess," I said, hugging her and pushing Miles out the door. "Let's leave them alone," I murmured.

We closed the door behind us and threw our bags in the back of the Jeep. "God, I can't wait to be out of this town," I said, jumping in the passenger seat and bouncing up and down gently.

"Me either," Miles agreed, climbing in and starting the Jeep, turning on the radio.

Luke came down the stairs a few minutes later, looking slightly stressed.

"What's up, bro?" Miles asked as Luke buckled his seatbelt.

Luke sighed heavily. "I don't know... nothing?"

I turned around and stared at him. "Uh-uh. Nice try, Lucas. What's wrong?"

He huffed and sat forward a bit. "Fine. It's Jessica."

I glanced at Miles and then back at Luke. "What about her?"

"I don't know how to explain it. It's like, when I'm with her, I'm happy. She's beautiful, smart, funny, sexy, but..." He trailed off, breaking eye contact with me.

"But... what?"

"I think she likes me more than I like her... and I don't want to hurt her," he confessed.

I chewed my lip. "Oh. Well, maybe the time apart for Thanksgiving will give you some clarity?"

"Yeah, maybe. Now, can we not talk about this anymore?"

"You got it," I agreed, turning the radio up and promptly started singing along.

***

When we got to PCB, I was pretty sure Luke was ready to jump out the window from all the country music we subjected him to.

"Thank God we're here," he mumbled when we pulled into his parents' house. Jane and Adam came out the door. 

"Hi, guys!" Jane greeted us, jogging toward us with open arms.

"Hi Ma, Hi Pops," Miles greeted them, then stepping aside so Luke could say hi.

"Rachel, how are you?" Adam asked, pulling me into a hug.

I sighed. "Better now that I'm here," I said truthfully.

"Good. We invited your parents over for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow so we could all be together," he said.

My heart swelled. "Really? That's amazing, thank you."

Holidays were still tough at our house, seeing James' empty chair. This would make it a little more bearable.

"Of course," Jane said, and glanced at Adam uneasily.

"What?" Luke asked, immediately picking up on her body language.