and he found out about Scott. Bad, then good, then trying to be professional—” She spilled the whole story to her friend. The portraits. The hiding from his family. The makeup Christmas in his house once Jonas had discovered that she’d cut her own holiday short for the job. The growing bond between father and son. All of it, up to this morning—what she’d overheard, and how she’d left. “It’s just—I can’t avoid him.” Her throat went tight with emotion. “I can’t avoid him forever, and I won’t prevent a man from seeing his son, but I can’t stay here. I’m leaving early.”
“Yeah,” said Annabeth. “I can see why you’d want to do that.”
“I want my own space,” Rachel burst out. “I want to be able to negotiate with him from a position of strength. Not from the middle of his family’s resort—a place he controls, I might add.”
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” pointed out Annabeth. “Is he being—Rachel, be honest. Is he threatening? Too pushy?”
Rachel closed her mouth and closed her eyes, thinking back over the past several days. He’d been nervous, yes. Shocked, yes. Thrown off-balance, yes. “He’s been high-handed at times,” she said slowly. “He’s used to managing things, but no, never domineering, threatening, or insulting. He loves Scott.” The truth dropped from her lips so easily that it shocked her. She opened her eyes and looked in the rearview mirror at her son, who was still playing with the ball from Jonas, utterly content.
“Does he?” Annabeth asked softly.
“He really does,” Rachel admitted.
“How do you feel about that?”
“Good,” she said slowly. “I feel good about it. They’ve spent more time together these past few days than I would have expected, and he’s—Scott loves him, too. They have a connection.”
Annabeth sighed, and it was like the two of them were back in her hometown bedroom, sharing secrets about the school day. “Rachel, you know I love you.”
“I know you do,” she said.
“And that’s why I feel compelled to say that you can’t punish everyone for Daniel’s mistakes.”
Rachel scoffed. “Those weren’t mistakes. He was a jerk.”
“I’d argue that being a jerk is a long-term mistake,” Annabeth countered. “Look, I know you’ve been burned before, but if you never give anyone a chance because they might be like him, then it’ll be a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
“Ugh.” Rachel didn’t like how right Annabeth was at that moment. “Maybe you’re right. I guess the only way to find out if Jonas is trustworthy is to trust him. At least a little bit.”
“Haven’t you already trusted him a little bit?” wheedled Annabeth. “Just a little?”
“I’m ending this conversation now,” Rachel said, laughing. “I have to get some work done.”
“Do the right thing,” Annabeth said, getting in the last word before she ended the call.
Jonas had to see her. Couldn’t let her leave this way. He’d tried everything in his power to let her make the decision. He’d gone to his office and pretended to work. Walked the halls of the Elk Lodge, looking for anything that needed his attention. And walked the empty halls of his home.
Nothing helped.
The more he pictured them driving away without a final goodbye, the more his gut twisted into knots. And yes, it would call attention to their situation if the two of them stayed at his house, but he couldn’t let them leave without offering. Not now.
He went up to her suite and stood outside the door, trying to calm himself. Rushing into this like a desperate fool wouldn’t help matters, even if he was a desperate fool.
Jonas knocked. There was no sound coming from inside, and he worried for one heart-stopping moment that he was too late.
The door swung open, and Rachel answered with a finger to her lips. “He’s finishing up his nap,” she whispered.
Jonas stepped into the room and shut the door with care. The desperation rose again in the quiet. He could take her hand right now, and the three of them could go up to his grandmother’s apartment and tell her the truth. Jonas’s eyes landed on the scrapbook that lay open to a half-finished page. “Do you think you could take a break from work?”
She raised her eyebrows. “A break?”
“Don’t leave quite yet.” He motioned to the windows. “It’s a beautiful day. I thought we could take Scott sledding. He has snow clothes, and I have sleds.”
“Mama,” called Scott from the bedroom.
Rachel left the room to get him.
Jonas’s heart had never beat so fast or hard