I tried to hide my shock. That certainly wasn’t what I’d expected to hear him say.
“Paige called me and asked me to come back home, so I didn’t hesitate. Abby needed all of us there to support her, to help her through the tough time.”
“How is she now?”
“Much better.” His face softened and I could tell he was relieved about that. “They diagnosed her as being bipolar. She’s on medication, which made a huge difference, and she’s in counseling still. It’s been a long year.”
For some reason, I felt as though I needed to share a piece of myself with him, so I took a sip of my water, then told him the story of what had happened with Adrian. I hated rehashing it, and he was the first person I’d told about how Gavin had called and sent me over there, but it felt good to get it off my chest. However, I didn’t bother to tell him that I’d kept the secret from Gavin about the real reason. I wasn’t sure I ever wanted anyone to know.
“And you’ve had a mental block since?” he inquired.
I nodded.
“Sounds like we’re two of a kind.”
I smiled at that, not sure what to say. Jake was right, though; we did have quite a bit in common. Or we seemed to, anyway.
“I know I put you on the spot with Josie,” he noted, placing his hand over mine, “but I want you to know, I’ll gladly get a hotel room for the weekend. We don’t have to go to the cabin.”
I shook my head. “I want to go. I think it’ll be good for me.” It would possibly give me a chance to clear my head enough to draw something. I really needed to or I wasn’t going to make the deadline for the art contest. Though I’d been thinking less and less about it as the days passed.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.” I squeezed his hand and met his eyes. “I really like you, and quite frankly, I’m looking forward to it.”
Jake’s eyes heated. “I’m looking forward to having you to myself this weekend.”
Yeah, I was looking forward to that, too.
Chapter Forty-Five
Jake
Dinner had definitely been a good idea.
And now, a couple of hours later, after we’d walked through my condo and made a list of all the furniture I wanted to get rid of, after I’d packed a few things for the weekend, after I’d dug out Cat’s carrier, then manhandled him into it and grabbed his food, after we’d gone to Presley’s so she could do the same, after an hour drive, and after we had made a pit stop at the last grocery store we would pass on the way, we finally pulled down the long, winding road that led to Presley’s cabin.
Although she said no one had been there in months, I could see the lights were burning brightly from the inside, and I figured maybe she had called ahead, or perhaps she had one of those fancy phone apps that turned everything on, including the heat.
Hopefully the heat.
“This is perfect,” I said absently.
“For?”
I glanced over at her briefly, smiling. “I was just thinking that this is the type of place I’ve been thinking about buying. A place I could visit when I needed time to myself.”
“Well, it’s definitely good for that.”
I could hear the sadness in Presley’s tone and I figured she was missing her dad. I had noticed when she talked about him, she tended to get a little glassy eyed. It was nice that she had this place, though; it would give her the opportunity to get some solace as well as reminisce about her father.
“So, why haven’t you gotten a place like this?” she questioned when I pulled the car up to the front.
“Since I’ve been back from New York, I’ve put all major purchases on hold—other than my condo—until I figure out what I intend to do in the long term.”
“Oh. Are you thinking about moving back to New York?”
“No.” And that was the truth. I had no intention of leaving Abby. Although I didn’t see her every day, I fully intended to be around if she needed me. We’d spent a lot of time together in the past year, talking and having fun. I didn’t want that to stop.
“Well, maybe you’ll find you like it and get one of your own,” Presley said, grinning up at me.
She was right, this would be a test of sorts. I’d get