Page 27 of Lonely Hearts Day

I shrugged. “I want our party to be the best.” It felt like the only thing I had right now. I needed people taking pictures at our party. Posting about our party.

I stepped out of the car and looked both ways before crossing the street. There were no cars in front of the house but they had a four-car garage so that didn’t mean nobody was home. I kept that in mind as I tried to casually make my way to the side of the house. Unlike mine, their yard was fully fenced in with white vinyl fencing. I stood on a retaining wall and was able to reach over and unlock the gate just as Jack came up behind me.

“Seriously?” he asked, making me jump.

“You scared me,” I said, swinging open the gate.

“You should be scared.”

I grabbed his hand and led him into the backyard.

“If the police come, I’m throwing you under the bus.”

“And leave me there, too,” I said.

He squeezed my hand. “Scarlett,” he said in a voice of chastisement.

“I’m just kidding.” We reached the edge of the house, and I peered around the corner. I was right; this was where the party tonight would take place. It was immaculate. There were long tables topped with pink and red heart décor. There were chaffing dishes set out, waiting to be filled with food. In the distance I could see a fire pit, wood stacked nearby to keep it fueled. Lights were strung everywhere. “It is going to be hard to compete with this.”

“It’s not a competition,” Jack said. “Come on. Let’s go.” This time he led the way back toward the gate, holding my hand. I tried not to think about the fact that I liked it.

We’d almost made it to the car when the revving of an engine stopped us on the sidewalk. I watched in horror as Micah pulled up to the house. I quickly dropped Jack’s hand. Micah didn’t need more to gossip about.

He stepped out of the car laughing. “You’re a little early. Come back at seven.”

“Come on,” I said to Jack, not wanting to engage. I took several steps toward my car, but Jack didn’t move.

I turned to witness a stare-off between the two of them.

“Actually,” Micah said. “You better not come, you’ll feel out of place. Scarlett, you’re always welcome, though.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me.

“Maybe you should come to ours. It’s going to be way more fun than the party you have set up for forty-year-olds in the back.” I reclaimed Jack’s hand and pulled him to the car. When we were inside and driving away, I said, “Let’s have a bonfire tonight. A big one.”

Chapter 11

I studied the label on a container of frosting in the grocery store aisle. I didn’t have time to make cookies this year and I was trying to decide if I could live with the store-bought alternatives. It had taken Jack several minutes to speak to me again after coming face-to-face with Micah. When he did, he’d said, “Can we agree that in the future, we won’t be breaking into yards? Especially the yards of our enemies?”

I could tell he was half-joking, half-serious with that comment, but I’d said, “Only if the need arises again.”

“Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett,” Jack said now.

I plopped the frosting into our cart, knowing sacrifices in food quality had to be made in the interest of time. After seeing that yard, decorating had to take precedence. “I guess by the end.”

“Luke and Lorelei?” he asked.

“They were soooo grumpy. Too grumpy.”

He let out a frustrated sigh. “Your past Valentine’s Day parties may have been celebrating singleness, but I think you’ve rounded the corner to anti-love now.”

“No way,” I insisted, even though I had admitted that very thing to myself not an hour ago. I didn’t want it to be true. I was clinging to my flame of hope so hard I was choking it.

“The bloody cookies you plan to make and the game ofpin the knife on the heartwould like to take the stand to testify.”

I added a second tub of frosting to our basket that already contained Jack’s vegetable tray, heart-shaped sugar cookies, bags of chips, and various other supplies we’d gathered on our walk through the store.

“Scarlett,” he said.

I stopped pushing the cart and looked at him.