truth.
I had feelings for him, and I didn’t want this to end.
I wanted there to be a way for us.
Was it out of the question? People dated long distance all the time, didn’t they? Two hours was practically nothing! I could work from anywhere most of the time, and I liked this little town. It didn’t have designer shops or three-star restaurants or glamorous salons, but Main Street was charming, the beach was uncrowded, and the farms were beautiful. I could even start riding again! Being with the horses the other day reminded me how much I’d missed it.
As I waited for highway traffic to clear so I could cross, I thought about an even bigger problem than distance: Jack didn’t want to get married again. Didn’t think he could love someone again. Didn’t want to let go of his past. Part of me thought I was crazy to even worry about getting married, since I’d met the guy less than a week ago, but another part of me insisted.
Look how intense things were between us after just five days. What if we started dating, and things continued to go well? Did I really want to invest time and energy and feelings in someone who didn’t want what I wanted in the end? And I was almost thirty—I didn’t want to wait that much longer to start a family. If there was no chance of that, what was the point?
As I hurried across the two lanes and started up Pete and Georgia’s drive, I saw that wedding band on Jack’s finger, heard his voice in my head.
I know what I had. And it doesn’t happen twice.
My heart dropped. How on earth could I argue with that?
Jack was right about the Oliver house in many ways—it needed a lot of work, including a new roof, but Brad was right, too. Like all aging beauties, it had great bones beneath layers of dust, mold, peeling wallpaper, flaking paint, smelly carpet, and rot. It would take time and money and loving care, but it could be restored.
Georgia was beside herself as we walked back. “I knew it. I knew I’d love it that much.” Brad and Pete were up ahead, Cooper in his dad’s arms.
I smiled at her. “It could be great. And so easy to bump out the back wall, extend the kitchen.”
“Pete and I have been talking about making it a bed and breakfast in addition to a restaurant,” she said.
“A B and B, I love it! And it totally makes sense if you host weddings on the property.”
“Exactly. And if we bumped out the back wall for an extended kitchen, we could put living space for us above. That would leave the five bedrooms in the old part of the house for guests.”
Her enthusiasm was contagious, and I found myself brimming with new energy. “Yes! Oh, Georgia, that’s perfect. Just imagine decorating that place—it could be so beautiful.”
“I know!” Her eyes lit up. “Antique beds, a big old table in the dining room, vintage dishes and silver pieces…” Then she sighed. “But that takes money. And we haven’t got it.”
“What about selling your current house?” I asked.
Georgia shook her head. “We couldn’t. It’s been in the family too long. Plus it’s mortgaged with the farm, which is owned equally by Pete, Brad, and Jack. Any money we got for it would technically have to be split between the three of them.”
“Would Jack move into it if you left?” I wondered where he was working this morning and if he was thinking about last night as much as I was. “Maybe he’d buy you out.”
“I don’t think so. He doesn’t have the cash, and he loves that damn cabin.”
“You’d think he might want to leave, though, given the chance. Aren’t the memories kind of painful there?” As soon as I said it, I realized that it wouldn’t matter—staying in that cabin was one of the ways he prevented himself from letting go of his past.
“Yeah.” She sighed as we reached the path leading to their front porch. The others had gone inside already. “He baffles me sometimes, you know? The way he refuses to move on? He chooses to be unhappy, and I don’t know why.”
I dropped my eyes to the ground. I knew why, but Jack trusted me with his feelings. I couldn’t betray him.
“I mean, Steph’s clothes are still in the closet.”
I gasped and met her eyes again. That was a detail he hadn’t mentioned. “Wow.”
She shook her head.