If for Any Reason (Nantucket Love Story #1) - Courtney Walsh Page 0,86
we’ve got. We could get a little apartment, and I’ll get another job. Or I’ll quit school and work full-time. Whatever it takes, Bella. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
The tears started again. Listening to him, she knew it was crazy. She knew the plan wouldn’t work. She knew there were a million reasons they couldn’t get married and play house, and yet she found herself wanting exactly that. Never mind that it would be a while before she’d travel the world. Never mind that it wasn’t exactly what she’d planned. They’d be together, and that mattered more than anything else, right?
“We’ll figure it out, okay?” He pulled her into him again and held her while she cried, kissing the top of her head protectively. “It’s going to be okay.”
And for some reason—maybe naiveté—she believed him.
CHAPTER 31
HOLLIS DIDN’T MEAN TO EAVESDROP.
He stood in the entryway of the cottage, having opened the door right in the middle of Emily pounding a hammer into the wall. At first he was going to rush in, make sure she was okay, but then the pounding stopped and the conversation started.
She wasn’t alone.
Emily had always been the kind of person to share her thoughts freely. She’d always been open, saying pretty much whatever came to her mind.
But he also thought (hoped?) she was only that way with him.
He should’ve interrupted right away, made his presence known, but then Jack mentioned his name, and what was he going to do? Barge in and contradict him? Tell him he was wrong—Hollis didn’t look at Emily that way—and she was right not to get involved with anyone?
Especially Hollis.
Like Jolie said—Hollis ruined things.
So why did the words “Hollis and I are just friends” sting the way they did?
Now, standing just outside the kitchen, he heard Jack say something about the Dumpster, so he slipped back onto the front porch, where he could confront the man without Emily overhearing.
He waited for Jack to step out of the house and into the sticky summer night as the sun dipped low in the sky.
The load of debris from the house came out of the door first, positioned on Jack’s shoulder, and Hollis knew Jack couldn’t see him standing off to the side. The older man walked down the stairs and over to the Dumpster, tossed the garbage away, then glanced to where Hollis stood.
“Hey, Hollis,” he said, unruffled by his presence. “Emily’s inside. She’s demo’ing the wall in the kitchen. It already looks better.”
Hollis glared. “Don’t do that.”
Jack’s eyebrow twitched upward. “Sorry?”
“What’s your deal here, Jack?”
The older man straightened. “I’m not sure I follow.”
“First I catch you looking through the desk in Isabelle’s room; now you’re here having a conversation with Emily like you’re a long-lost family friend or something. Why do you care so much about her personal life if you’re just here to remodel the house?”
Jack locked onto his glare and didn’t back down. “I don’t do this for a living, Hollis. I like to know the people I’m working with.”
“For.”
“Sorry?”
“You work for her.”
“And she’s a great young woman.”
“The kind of woman you want to know better?” He eyed Jack for a long moment. “She’s too young for you, man. You need to keep a healthy distance from her or we’re going to have a problem.”
“You’ve got the wrong idea here, Hollis,” Jack said.
“What kind of idea should I have, then, Jack?”
“None,” Jack said. “I’m just here to do a job, to turn this house into exactly what Emily wants it to be.”
“Right,” Hollis said. “You’d be smart to remember that.”
Jack didn’t argue. Instead, he gave Hollis one stern nod, then walked to his truck, got inside, and drove off.
Whoever this guy was, Hollis didn’t trust him.
And he didn’t like the way Jack’s conversation with Emily seemed to be on repeat in his mind.
“Be cautious with your heart.”
It was a directive her mother had given her, which meant his old friend would only ever be a friend. And while he knew that was best, he also hated knowing it. Yes, he wanted to keep his promise to Jolie—had to, really, if he had any hope of winning her over. But Emily—she’d woven her way into the underside of his heart, the deep parts that most people couldn’t reach.
He shook the thought aside and walked back into the house, closing the door behind him.
“Jack, look,” Emily called out from the kitchen. “Look how much bigger the house seems now.”
Hollis walked into the kitchen and stopped at the sight of her, hair pulled