want to let anyone down. And the money I know you and mom have spent. It must be a fortune,” she replied as the weight of her situation sank in.
“Let’s not worry about that, Georgiana. You know it’s not an issue for us,” he replied.
She released a tight breath. “But, still…”
She’d been so preoccupied she hadn’t even considered the cost of…of calling off a wedding.
It was too hard even to allow her mind to go there.
Howard rested his hand on her shoulder, halting the anxiety tornado inside her, as they stopped a few shops down from the candle store.
“Listen, you’re right to view your marriage as a merger. It’s the greatest merger anyone can make, and love, Georgiana, is the ultimate investment because, with love, you’re not investing money, you’re investing time. And time is a finite commodity. No amount of cash can buy you more. That’s why it’s such an important decision on who you’ll share it with.”
She held the man’s gaze—this man, who for years, she’d thought of as kind but distant. She’d never taken into account he and her mother had something special she’d never noticed.
Lorraine Vanderdinkle emerged from the candle shop—all flowing outfit and jangling jewelry. She slid on her tinted glasses, then waved to them with what Georgie used to call her mother’s drinks-at-the-club smile stretched across her face. But now, she realized her mother was truly happy and deeply in love with Howard. A relationship she’d thought had been built on brunch at the Ritz and summers in the Maldives was a partnership grounded in mutual affection.
“With the time decision,” Georgie began.
“Yes,” the man answered, his gaze fixed on her mother.
“Is your gut a good barometer on making that choice?” she continued.
Her stepfather hummed a gentle chuckle. “No, Georgie, it’s not. When it comes to that decision, it all depends on your heart.”
11
Jordan
Jordan stared at his phone, recording his every move, as his jump rope sliced through the air in quick, punishing whooshes.
“Double-unders are not for the faint of heart,” he bit out, keeping his body straight and his abs tight as the rope passed under his feet in two revolutions for each jump.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Whoosh, whoosh!
He dialed up his pace, demonstrating the CrossFit-style of jumping rope. But this video wasn’t only a tutorial for the blog. It was all he could think to do to combat the irritable buzz of nervous energy coursing through his body.
He hadn’t slept a wink all night—the night before the Shakespeare Shuffle also happened to be the night before what was supposed to be his wedding day.
A muscle twitched in his jaw. “Elbows in. Light grip. Maintain those small circles with your wrists,” he bit out, going faster.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Whoosh, whoosh!
“There is no room for mistakes. This exercise demands precision and determination. CrossFit ropes are thinner than your average rope, so if you lose focus for even a second…Dammit!” he cried as the rope whipped his shins.
So much for precision and focus.
“Son, what are you doing?” his father asked with a groggy voice.
Jordan dropped the rope and rubbed his shins.
That was a great question. What the hell was he doing?
He’d been a wreck since he’d packed a bag and left the one person he didn’t know how to live without.
A wreck, not knowing if Georgie meant their time at boot camp was over, or if they were over.
During the drive back, after they’d been booted from wilderness boot camp, anger and humiliation had consumed him. But that heated emotion wasn’t what had compelled him to leave without a word between them.
Anger and humiliation felt terrible. And yes, he’d indulged himself by spending a decent amount of time countering every one of Georgie’s lemon verbena blog posts zingers with a zinger post of his own. But they could have worked past the tit-for-tat blog clash. No, what he feared went far deeper. It might even be ingrained into his soul.
Was she right to say it was over? Did she sense something he hadn’t realized until now?
His disappointment and his unchecked ambition had made him act like the one man he never wanted to emulate again.
Deacon Perry.
His former boss.
His mentor for more than a decade.
Deacon was the man who’d changed his life. The man who trained him. Deacon showed him not only how to transform his body but his entire life.
He’d idolized the man.
But he’d been blind to his faults.
A philandering husband. And absent father. He’d almost lost Georgie in his desire to follow in his former mentor’s footsteps.
But, at his core,