Page 43 of A Fall to Remember

No.

Don’t do it.

No more tears tonight.

“I appreciate it. I really do, but we should get back to the table,” she said, wiping her eyes and squaring her shoulders. “It looks like they’re getting ready to serve the main course, and I don’t want you to miss it.”

Jim firmed his lips together like he was trying to decide if he wanted to say more, but instead, he patted her shoulder and led her back to the table. “If you change your mind, text me, okay. We need a secret sign or emoji. Just give me the signal, and I’ve got you covered.”

Shelby laughed. “Right. I’ll think of something subtle, like the sobbing emoji. Nothing screams ‘emotional wreck over here’ like that.”

When they got back to her seat, Pete and Lacy were still dancing. She took a minute to compose herself. Her eyes were red and puffy. Her cheeks were streaked with tears, and her hair was messy.

Perfect.

You really are a wreck, Shelby.

She did her best to cover the streaks by dabbing her cheeks with powder and reapplying her lip gloss. There wasn’t much she could do about the red and puffy eyes, but she doubted Pete would notice anyway. He had been caught up in Lacy’s orbit and only had eyes for her.

33

JIM

Jim was stunned by Shelby’s breakdown. He hadn’t seen that coming, and he was honored that she trusted him enough to show him her vulnerability. But what was the cause? It wasn’t just Voyager. He sensed that much. He’d been concerned about her for a while. There was clearly more going on in her personal life than she was ready to talk about.

How could he support her for the remainder of this trip?

He felt protective of his younger teammate, but he also wanted to give her space. Her breakdown explained her behavior over the past few months, and why she’d suddenly seemed so intense about every single detail of their shared campaigns. He hoped that he’d done enough to make her feel seen, to put her at ease, and to keep the door open if and when she did want to talk more.

Miranda was caught up in a conversation with her seatmate when he returned to the table, so he took a minute to check on the hushpuppy post. Five hundred comments and counting.

Is it just me, or am I missing the hushpuppies?

Oh, hey, hushpuppy, uh, where you at, babes?

Is this a hush job? Not seeing any puppies but do love me some.

Hush, hush, you sneaky little puppies.

Are the hushpuppies at dinner with us?

Jim chuckled to himself as he replied to several comments and shared several of the funniest stories with Miranda. The table fell quiet as servers delivered dinner. Everyone oohed and aahed and applauded.

Miranda’s face lit up when she turned her attention back to Jim. “Isn’t this gorgeous? Every bite gets better and better. Although I don’t know how I’m possibly going to save room for dessert.” She patted her belly.

“We’ll make room,” Jim said with a wry smile. “That’s the gift of a dinner like this that stretches out for a few hours. We’ll take a break and perhaps a spin on the dance floor, or grass floor, after this. What do you say?”

Was it his imagination, or did he see a faint blush on her cheeks?

“That would be nice.” She unfolded her napkin and placed it on her lap. “Is everything okay with Shelby? I wasn’t trying to spy, but it looked like she was upset.”

Jim nodded. “I think she has some personal things that she’s dealing with.”

“Ah, I see,” Miranda said with a nod. “She’s lucky to have a friend and colleague like you.”

“I hope so. This is the first time she’s even slightly opened up to me.” Jim didn’t want to reveal any personal details about whatever it was Shelby was dealing with, but he trusted Miranda to keep this between them. “I’ve been worried about her for a while. Please don’t say this to anyone else.”

“I would never.” Miranda shook her head. She hesitated for a moment and then dropped her voice so only he could hear. “To be honest with you, I’m worried about Pete. He hasn’t been himself lately. I’ve asked him at least a dozen times if he’s okay, and he keeps blowing me off. He’s an adult, so I can’t force him to open up. I just always want to be a soft place for him to land, and I suppose I naïvely believed that once he was an adult, I wouldn’t worry anymore. In some ways, I worry more. The worries are just different now.”