My Butterfly

Rachel.
    The den led off into the living room where Jon was sitting on the couch watching the Cards’ game with a couple of other guys.
    “Jon, where’s your fiancé?” I asked.
    I watched him try to turn his head, but it looked as if his eyes wouldn’t let him.
    “Uh, I think she’s on the front porch.”
    I took a quick glance at the score of the game and kept moving again. A room and a screen door later, my feet were planted on a row of old, wooden porch boards—the kind where the color of paint never changed only because you just couldn’t imagine it being a different color. The fan was on high above me. I instantly felt its breeze as I turned my head and spotted Rachel.
    “Rach,” I said, marching forward.
    Then, suddenly, I stopped when I noticed who was also sitting next to her.
    “Jessica,” I said, as I planted my feet.
    I knew I must have sounded surprised to see her. I watched her face turn down toward the wooden floorboards before she met my eyes again.
    “Hi, Will,” she said.
    I hadn’t seen her since our night at the diner.
    “I didn’t realize you were here,” I said.
    “I came with Jeff,” she said, softly, lifting her eyes only a moment before tossing them to the floorboards again.
    “Oh, okay,” I said, moving again.
    I pulled out a chair from along the wall and fell into it.
    “So, how have you been?” I asked Jessica.
    “Good,” she said, almost bashfully.
    I smiled and caught Rachel staring at me with a strange smirk on her face. I scrunched my eyebrows together and stared back at her with a puzzled look.
    “She came with Jeff,” Rachel said, making sure to drag out the word came as if it were important or something.
    I slowly turned my head sideways, giving her a clue that I didn’t know what the hell she was getting at. So. She was always with Jeff. I glanced over at Jessica. Was she in on this game too?
    Jessica was smiling, which wasn’t unusual, but there was still something different about her smile.
    “I’m, uh, going to go get some more tea,” Jessica said then, rising from her chair. “Rachel, you want some?”
    Rachel shook her head.
    “No, honey,” Rachel said, laughing under her breath.
    I watched Rachel’s eyes follow Jessica as Jessica disappeared behind the screen door. Then, Rachel’s gaze settled into mine.
    “Jeff and Jessica are dating now,” she rattled off.
    She had said the words so quickly I almost couldn’t process them all at one time.
    I sat there for a second as all the gears clicked.
    “So, that’s what knucklehead wanted to tell me,” I said out loud, but really to myself.
    Rachel nodded her head in slow, exaggerated nods. She was still wearing her devilish grin—that one that Julia had always warned me about.
    I sat back in my chair and let my head fall back.
    “I don’t know how he did it,” I said again, mainly to myself.
    “I know! Crazy, right?” she exclaimed. “I mean, she was crazy about you for so long.”
    Her eyes were wide, and she was shaking her head.
    “But in the end, Jeff’s really good for her,” she said. “They really fit together better, you know?”
    My head leveled back again, and before I knew it, I was staring at Rachel with a side-smile and narrowed eyes.
    “Will, you know what I mean,” she said, shoving my arm.
    “You need someone with more fight,” she said, as she drew her face closer to mine and used her hand to cover one side of her lips. “I mean, I love Jessica, but let’s face it, that girl wasn’t raised here.”
    I tossed my head back again and laughed.
    “Jon’s a lucky man, Rachel,” I said, eyeing her again with a smirk still plastered on my face.
    She shot me a confident look.
    “He knows it,” she said.
    I watched Rachel toss her gaze to somewhere off into the distance. Then, I sat up straighter in my chair and cleared my throat.
    “Uh, speaking of that, there’s something I need you to do,” I said.
    My smile had faded now. A serious expression had replaced it. Rachel returned her attention to me and drew her face even closer. Curiosity surrounded her, and I was pretty sure she was wearing that devilish grin again, but I couldn’t quite tell through the fog of her poker face.
    “Only if it involves Julia,” she said.
    Her words surprised me. My eyes grew wide, and I tried to force back a guilty grin even as I pressed on.
    “Do you think you can get her back to New Milford?” I asked.
    “When?” she asked.
    She didn’t even bother to ask why, and I