The Path to Sunshine Cove (Cape Sanctuary #2) - RaeAnne Thayne Page 0,105
when she heard a vehicle drive up to the house and saw Nate’s truck pull in alongside hers.
Oh. If only she had left five minutes earlier, she could have missed him completely.
As soon as he stopped, Sophie rushed out of the passenger side of the vehicle. She wore a coral-colored dress with a white sweater and an expression of dismay.
“Your trailer is all hooked up.” She glared at Jess and then at the hitch.
“Yes. It’s time for me to go, especially since you and I finished everything at the house the other day.”
“Already? Can’t you stay a little longer?”
“I have a long drive and don’t want to arrive home too late. I thought you would be in school.”
“I came home after the awards ceremony so I could be with Gram this afternoon, since we weren’t really doing anything at school. You were going to leave without saying goodbye?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t get back from Redwood National Park with my sister until late last night. I didn’t want to wake you up last night. I tried to see you this morning but I waited too long and you were gone.”
Sophie looked as if she wanted to cry, ripping off a few more layers around Jess’s heart.
“I don’t want you to go.”
To her shock, Sophie threw her arms around her. As she hugged her back, Jess realized she hadn’t only fallen for Nate. She had fallen for Sophie, too. And of course, for Eleanor.
She loved all of them.
“It’s not forever,” she said gently. “My sister and her family still live in town. I’ll be through again. Next time I’m here in Cape Sanctuary to see them, I’ll call you and we can meet up. Maybe we can build another sandcastle or go beachcombing.”
Sophie sniffled and pulled away. “That would be good. It won’t be the same, though.”
“You have my phone and my email. You can reach out anytime. In fact, I insist you let me know if you ever get that delivery of postcards and the gift from Japan.”
“I will. I’m going to miss you so much.”
“I’ll miss you, too, Sophie. Take care of your grandmother for me, okay? And your dad.”
She hadn’t looked at Nate once. She couldn’t.
At that, Nate finally stepped forward. He had on a gray dress shirt and darker gray tie, which he must have worn for Sophie’s awards ceremony. It was the first time she had seen him dressed so formally and she had to swallow.
“Why don’t you go in and check on your grandmother?” Nate said to his daughter.
Sophie sighed. “Okay. Bye, Jess. Drive safe.”
“Goodbye, honey.”
The girl hurried into the house, leaving Jess and Nate alone. Jess wanted to call her back, needing the buffer. She hated having to say goodbye to Nate.
Why, oh why, hadn’t she left five minutes earlier? Was it possible she had been subconsciously dragging her feet so she could see them one more time?
“So where are you headed next?” he asked.
“Back to my place in Mission Hills for a few days to take care of administrative stuff before I drive to Las Vegas to help clean out a house for a couple who are going into assisted living.”
“Fun.”
“Not very. He has Alzheimer’s and doesn’t want to leave their house but she can’t care for him there anymore. I have to help her figure out how to condense a five-bedroom home where they have lived for decades to a two-bedroom assisted-living apartment.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks. After that, I’m going to St. George, Utah, where a widow is moving in with her son in Salt Lake City and needs help getting her house cleared out and staged to sell. I’ve got other jobs lined up all summer.”
She loved her job and knew she did important work, helping people. She still didn’t want to leave.
“They’re all lucky to have you,” Nate said gruffly.
“Thanks.”
“What you did for my mother. I still have no idea how to thank you.”
“It was my pleasure, Nate. Really. I loved working on Whitaker House.”
“I meant saving her life. But the work you did on the house was terrific, too.”
“I hope Eleanor is able to spend many more years enjoying it.”
“She will. I’m sure of it.”
He loved his mother, which was one of the things she found most endearing about him.
Okay, she found everything about him endearing.
“I will miss you.”
The words seemed to have been dragged out of him. They hovered between them, stark and honest.
Stunned by the intensity of them, she didn’t know how to answer.