The Patriot A Small Town Romance - Jennifer Millikin Page 0,100

Hayden as a last name.”

It makes me think about Juliette and her boundary-crossing behavior. “It does seem like an awful lot to live up to.”

“And now you’re dating a Hayden. Who knows, maybe your last name will be Hayden one day.”

I cough on my wine and slip my left hand under the table. Last name? I hadn’t even given a thought to that. Do I want to change my last name?

“Are you okay?” Jo asks.

“Yes, yes,” I sputter. “Let’s talk about you.” I need the subject change, stat. “Are you dating anybody right now?”

“Well…” Jo pokes at some crumbs with the tines of her fork. “Not dating, no. I might’ve made a teensy mistake last weekend.”

“Spill,” I command, grateful to be out of the spotlight.

“I went down to Phoenix with a group of friends. We stayed at a resort, did the spa thing, dinner and drinks. We all had a lot to drink and I miiight have slept with someone who was in our group.” She makes a bare-teeth face. “But he doesn’t remember.” Flames of red sweep across her face.

“Don’t be embarrassed.” I touch her forearm. “Seriously. We all make mistakes. I know I have.” Colossal mistakes, in my case. “Why do you think he doesn’t remember?”

“Because I left his room after, and when I saw him at breakfast the next morning, he didn’t even look at me twice.” Her eyes fill with tears. “And when our other friend asked him how the rest of his night went, he shrugged and said he went to his room and passed out.” She dabs at her eyes with a white paper napkin.

“Do you care about this person?”

She sniffs and takes a drink. “I’ve had a crush on him for years, and I swear he never even noticed me until last weekend.”

I groan and glance out the window at the traffic on High Street. “I’m sorry, Jo. That’s terrible.”

“Thanks,” she says in a small voice, tapping her nail against the can. “I don’t think I can ever look at him again.”

“It’ll take some time, but it’ll probably get better.” I nod to her laptop. “What were you working on when I barged in on you?”

“Oh.” She blushes. “Just this idea I have. It’s probably stupid. I don’t know.” She shrugs it away, as if her idea isn’t worthy of air-time.

“I’d like to know, if you want to share.”

Her lips twist as she considers. “I guess you did come out here and start building something from scratch.”

I laugh and make a circling gesture with my hands above the table. “This is a safe place.”

Jo laughs. “Okay, fine.” She opens her notebook and shows me sketches of what appears to be some kind of ranch. “It’s a wilderness therapy camp. For troubled youth. There’s an old ranch on the outside of town that’s for sale. It hasn’t been a working ranch in a long time, and the couple who lived there are moving to a retirement home. I just thought…” She trails off, shrugging.

“I think this is amazing, Jo.”

She peeks at me nervously, but a proud smile tugs at her mouth. “Yeah?”

“Are you kidding? Yes, a thousand times over. I came here and started building a place for people to go shop, eat, and throw parties. You’re thinking of something that will help people who need it. Young people. People who could one day be functioning members of society. That’s really special, Jo.”

“Thank you.” Her pleased smile warms my heart. She spends the next ten minutes telling me more about the wilderness therapy camp. We talk like old friends.

“Oh, geez,” Jo startles when she looks at her watch. “My shift starts soon.”

“Good timing,” I remark. Our wine is gone and the lemon bar has disappeared. If I run my tongue over the roof of my mouth, I can still taste its sweet, tart flavor.

Jo and I walk back to the hotel, since we’re both headed there anyway. She pulls her apron from her purse and ties it around her middle as we walk. We part ways with a hug in front of the restaurant.

For the next few hours, I return emails and look online at restaurant supply companies. I don’t look at my phone.

Wes isn’t to blame for what his mom did today, but it’s made me think. I promised Abby I knew what I was getting into, but do I really?

34

Wes

I frown at the phone in my hand, then slip it back into my pocket. Dakota has been missing in action all evening.