Somehow Jake had to get past the hurt and adjust to the fact that his ex-wife was going to be his neighbor and nothing more.
The promises they’d made to each other in that tiny chapel had been broken. Because of fear. Because she believed her father’s word over his. And she’d never given Jake a chance to prove he could take care of her.
At least now he knew why she’d left.
Question was, could he do what it would take to keep her from walking away again?
Did he even want to try?
Could he trust her to stay, to be there to share all of his heart?
He wasn’t sure.
She didn’t believe his words—his promises—and he couldn’t trust her to stay.
And the pain she’d gone through with losing her—no, their—baby, well, he struggled to wrap his head around that.
He’d almost been a father.
One more life God had taken from him.
Jake closed his laptop and shoved it onto the coffee table. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and rubbed his eyes.
He hadn’t been able to focus on the fund-raiser notes for the past hour so why bother pretending? They had a bunch of things left to do, but honestly he was so ready to be done with the whole thing.
To get back to life before Tori returned.
But what would that look like?
Spencer’s ears perked as headlights spanned across the front of the house and tires crunched the gravel in the driveway.
“Sounds like Dad’s home, ole boy.” Jake scratched the Lab’s head.
Spencer shot off the couch as the door between the garage and the laundry room opened.
Dad appeared in the doorway wearing tan dress pants and a light blue dress shirt opened at the throat—clothes he typically wore to church.
“Nice threads. What’s the occasion?”
Dad scowled and looked at his watch. “What are you doing up? It’s past midnight.”
“Couldn’t sleep.” Jake rubbed his forehead. A dull ache pounded behind his skull.
“What’s on your mind?”
“What makes you think there’s something on my mind?”
“Well, for starters, you answered my question with a question. Plus, you’ve been moody and distracted all week. Something going on between you and Tori?”
“No.”
Absolutely nothing.
Dad wandered over to the couch and sat next to him. Spencer jumped up between them and rested his chin on Dad’s knee. Dad leaned his head against the back of the couch and looked at Jake. “Kid yourself all you want, but you can’t fool your old man.”
Jake released a sigh. “Last week when Tori and I went kayaking, we ended up at Bridal Bend. I told her I wanted what Granddad and Grandma had...with her.”
“Judging by your hound dog expression, that didn’t go over well.”
“She confessed why she’d left.” Jake pushed to his feet and moved in front of the window, staring out into the darkness punctuated by the barn lights. “When we were married, after I’d been sent overseas, Tori ended up in the hospital.”
“What happened?”
Jake’s throat thickened as tears pressed against the backs of his eyes. “She lost—” His voice cracked. Horrified at losing it in front of his father, Jake scrubbed a hand over his face and exhaled a deep sigh. “She lost our baby.”
Even now, the words still seemed so surreal.
Dad moved behind him and rested a hand on his shoulder, their reflections mirrored in the windowpane. “Son, I’m sorry. So sorry. And you just found out?”
Jake nodded, rubbing his eyes with a thumb and forefinger. He dragged a hand through his tangled hair. “After she was released from the hospital, her dad paid her a visit—Tori still doesn’t know how he found out. Basically the jerk blackmailed her into ending our marriage.”
“How so?”
Jake’s voice rose as he paced while relaying what Tori had told him a week ago.
“Sounds like she was scared and didn’t know what to do.” Dad shoved his hands in his trouser pockets and jingled his change.
“But that’s the thing, Dad, she never gave me a chance to show her. She sent those papers without even talking to me. I could’ve taken emergency leave and been there for her, fought for her.”
“Why didn’t you do it anyway?”
“My commanding officer said she’d file harassment charges if I tried.”
“Sounds like her father’s words. Not hers.”
Footsteps sounded on the stairs, and then Tucker appeared in the family room rubbing his eyes and wearing a wrinkled yellow T-shirt with a green John Deere logo and tan cargo shorts, his hair resembling a cactus. “What’s with the yelling?”
Jake dropped on Dad’s favorite recliner. “Sorry, man. Didn’t mean to wake you. Dad asked about Tori and I guess I got a little heated.”
“Don’t worry about me, but if you wake the twins, they’re all yours until you get them back to sleep.” He sat on the edge of the coffee table and batted at his brother’s knee. “What’s going on?”
Suddenly drained, Jake gave him the condensed version.
Tucker let out a low whistle and shook his head. “That’s tough. Sorry, man. What’s your next step?”
Jake shot him a look. “Next step for what?”
“Getting Tori back, of course.”
“What makes you think I want her back? Did you hear what I told you?”
“Dude, you’ve been moping since that kayak trip. I get how it feels when life punches you in the gut, but now you have a choice to make—allow the past to keep you from having the future you want or get up and fight for it. I’m sorry she hurt you. It stinks. Really, it does, but it’s in the past. You can’t change it. Learn from it, forgive her and move forward.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“And you’re complicating it like a fifteen-year-old. Dial down the drama.”
“This is more than a high school crush, you jerk. She was my wife.” Jake punched his brother in the shoulder.
Tucker slugged him back. “Then man up and fight for her. Talk to her. Listen to her. Show her you want her in your life. Chicks dig that kind of stuff.”
“Have plenty of experience with chicks, do you?”
Tucker held up his left hand where his ring remained despite the years since his wife’s passing. “Hey, Rayne and I celebrated ten years before I lost her. How many anniversaries have you had?”
“Low blow.” Jake tossed a throw pillow at Tucker’s head.
He ducked and caught it one-handed, then dropped it on the couch, barely missing Spencer. “If you want it, make it happen. Back me up, Dad.” Then, as if noticing Dad’s dress clothes for the first time, Tucker whistled. “Yo, Pops, what’s up with the Sunday threads on a Thursday night?”
“I went out. You got a problem with that?”
Tucker held up his hands in mock surrender. “Nope, not at all.” He belly flopped onto the couch, folded his hands under his chin and fluttered his eyelashes. “Where’d you go? Who were you with? How’d it go? Tell me all the deets.”
Dad laughed and pushed him off the couch. “You’re such an idiot at times, you know that?”
“Of course. But this family could use a little more of my idiocy. And more laughter.” Tuck sat up and stretched out on the other end of the couch, folded his hands behind his head, and crossed his feet at the ankles on the coffee table. He looked at Jake and smirked. “Hey, Jake, know who has a great laugh?”
“Who, Tuck?”
“Claudia. Claudia Gaines has a great laugh. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Jake grinned at the redness tinging Dad’s ears. “Why yes, I would. What about you, Dad? Do you think Claudia has a great laugh?”
“Knock it off. Both of you.” Dad wagged his finger at the two of them, then snapped off the lamp next to the couch, leaving only the moonlight streaming through the open bay window to light the room. “I’m going to bed. You two clowns can lock up and turn out the rest of the lights.”
“I saw you two. Kissing. A couple of weeks ago.” Jake’s words bounced off Dad’s retreating back.
Thrusting his hands in his pockets and with his back to them, Dad laughed quietly and shook his head. He turned to face them. “And here we thought we were being so careful.”
“What can I say? I have the skills of a ninja.” Jake stood and shrugged.
Dad leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms over his chest. “So instead of saying something to me, you blabbed to your brother.”
Grinning, Jake shook his head. “Nah, he was working. So I told Tori. Then I told Tuck.”
“Awesome. Why not just post it on Facebook?”
Jake stroked his chin. “I considered it but I couldn’t find the right emoji for ‘my dad’s having a secret fling and won’t tell his family about it.’”
“It’s not a fling.” Dad shot them a direct no-nonsense look.
Jake’s smile faded. “Then what is it? Is it serious?”
“Serious enough for this.” Dad reached into his pocket, pulled out a box and tossed it to Jake.
He opened the small rose-colored velvet box and stared at the solitaire diamond seated in the ivory-colored cushion. He turned to show it to Tucker.
“Whoa, Dad.” Tucker patted the couch. “I think you need to share a few more details.”
“What’s to tell? She’s been one of my closest friends for over thirty years. She was an amazing friend after I lost your mother. Then after Dennis died, we grew closer. Things just kind of happened.”
“How long have things ‘just kind of happened’?” Jake made air quotes over his father’s words.
“About six months.”
“Six months?” Jake and Tucker spoke in unison.
Dad chuckled. “Apparently you’re not the only stealthy one.”
“Sneaky’s more like it.” Tucker pushed to his feet. “And right under our noses.”
“I picked up the ring tonight and planned to talk to you guys before I proposed.”
Jake and Tucker looked at each other, then Jake wagged a finger between them. “You don’t need our permission.”
“Your blessing would be nice.”
“You don’t need that either. Claudia’s cool. She’s been like a second mom to us since we were kids. But this is your life.”
Dad looped his arms around Jake’s and Tucker’s shoulders. “Thanks. Losing Lily was the hardest thing I’ve had to go through, and she will always have a place in my heart, but I can’t stop living because she’s gone. Claudia and me...well, we’re good together. And I love her.”
“There you go. That’s the only reason you need.”
“I know you boys can have your second chances, too.”
Tuck held up his hands and took a step back. “Don’t look at me. I have my hands full with work, the twins and watching out for my older brother.”
Dad raised an eyebrow and gave a little shake of his head. “You never know, Tuck. When the right woman comes along...”
“Yeah, well, let’s get you married off and then figure out how to prevent Jake and Tori’s stupidity from keeping them apart before we even think about me.”
“Let’s call it a night.” Dad whistled for Spencer, who shot off the couch to follow him up the stairs.
Behind him, Tuck started to sing, “Dad and Claudia sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G...”
“Knock it off. Or you’re going to be bunking in the barn.”
“Hey, camping in the hayloft like we did when we were kids.”
Jake laughed, but Dad’s words about not living in the past replayed through his head. If his father could find love again after everything he had lost, then what was holding Jake back?
Keeping a smile in place was going to be Tori’s toughest job of the day.
Sitting on one of the blush-colored upholstered armless chairs in the showroom at Emily’s Bridal did little to soothe her wounded heart.
She was thrilled for Aunt Claudia. She was. And she’d do whatever it took to make her day with Chuck special.
They deserved it.
But the thought of spending the day talking flowers, trying on dresses and sampling wedding cakes...well, that carved an ache in Tori’s chest.
Recessed lighting and glittering chandeliers reflected off the floor-to-ceiling mirrors to capture the beauty of the satin and beading of the wedding gowns positioned on mannequins lining the cream-colored walls.
She hadn’t been a typical bride when she and Jake had made the rash decision to elope. No dress fittings, addressing invitations, choosing a menu for the reception. None of it.
She’d worn a simple but lovely white sundress with a light blue bolero sweater borrowed from her sister and earrings that had been her mother’s—a gift her father had given her for her sixteenth birthday. Jake had stopped at a flower shop near the base and bought her a small hand-tied bouquet of white rosebuds, baby’s breath and blue forget-me-nots, claiming every bride needed flowers.
She’d been so happy that she hadn’t cared about not having a “real” wedding.
If only that happiness had lasted.
Since their recent kayaking disaster, her communication with Jake had taken place via email or texting. Even though fund-raiser plans were coming together, she wanted to review some things face-to-face. But that was kind of tough when every time she stopped by the farm he was on the tractor out in the field, at the feed store or simply mysteriously out of sight. With the fund-raiser only a couple of weeks away, she was running out of time.
Thing was, she missed him.
Simple as that.
And there wasn’t anything she could do until he was ready to talk in person.
Her eyes strayed to an oversize print of four men in suits hanging above the tuxedo rental section.
Or could she?
What if...
Tori pulled out her phone and made a few notes.
“What do you think?”
Tori looked up at the sound of Aunt Claudia’s voice and sucked in a breath. “You look...incredible.”
Her aunt stood on the circular platform in front of a trio of mirrors wearing a sleeveless A-line dress with a lacy beaded bodice and layers of chiffon over satin that fell past Claudia’s knees in a layered handkerchief hem.
Aunt Claudia looked over her shoulder and admired the back of the dress in the mirror, then she turned to face Tori, her eyes glistening. “When Dennis and I got married, we had a huge wedding. This time, I want something smaller, simpler. But this dress...”
Tori rose to her feet and reached for Claudia’s hand. “It’s perfect. You can still have a lovely wedding in Chuck’s backyard with the apple trees in the background like you want. With your hair up, a pair of dangly diamonds and strappy sandals with rhinestones, you’ll take Chuck’s breath away.”
Aunt Claudia winked. “That’s the whole point, isn’t it?”
Tori’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m so happy for you. Both of you.”
“He’s a good man.” Claudia stepped off the platform and reached for a tissue to dab the tear trailing down Tori’s cheek. “Jake’s a good man, too. I’ve loved those boys from the time they were born. Give him time, sweetheart. He’ll come around.”
“I don’t know. I hurt him pretty badly.”
“With prayer and time—sometimes a whole lot of both—hurts will heal.”
A seed of hope bloomed in Tori’s chest. She wanted to hold on to Claudia’s words and cling to them, but part of her wondered if she wasn’t setting herself up for major disappointment. Especially after Jake’s absence the past week.
Tori’s phone rang. She picked it up and frowned. She didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”
“Victoria Lerner, my dear girl, what on earth are you doing holing up in the boonies?”
The raspy voice could belong only to Sophie Mays, her former employer, and the closest she had to a mother until being reunited with Aunt Claudia.
“Sophie! So great to hear from you. I didn’t recognize your number. How are you?”
“Dreadful, darling, simply dreadful.”
Tori smiled at Sophie’s flair for drama. She could imagine her friend pacing and throwing her hands in the air. “What’s wrong?”
“Kiki and I have parted ways.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
Aunt Claudia motioned she was returning to the dressing room. Tori nodded, mouthed an apology for the phone call and returned to her chair.
“Oh, don’t be. It’s all good. Actually, the little minx ran off and got married. Eloped! Can you imagine?”
Actually, she could.
“So, anyway, I’m calling because I want you to come back and work with me. Partners. Fifty-fifty. People are wondering where you disappeared to.”
“You know I needed to come to Shelby Lake to take care of family business.”
“I know, love, I know. But I’m desperate.”
Somehow she couldn’t see herself returning to Pittsburgh and calling it home. In the two months she’d been in Shelby Lake, she’d come to love the small-town pace. And now that she’d gotten to know her aunt again, did she really want to leave?
And there was Jake.
If she left, then they wouldn’t have a chance. Jake wasn’t willing to leave his farm. Especially now with his veterans project getting started.
And she had Annabeth to think about.
“Hello? Did I put you to sleep, darling?”
“No, sorry. I was thinking about your offer.”
“More like trying to think of a gentle way to let me down, aren’t you? What’d you do—rope yourself a hunky country boy?”
Tori laughed. “A lot of reasons are keeping me here, but Jake... Well, let’s just say that’s one of the best reasons to get me to leave. If things were different, Sophie, I would jump at the chance to work with you. But I can’t leave right now. I’m committed to a project and I must see it through. Besides, my aunt is getting married. In fact, I’m at the bridal salon with her right now.”
“Darling, why didn’t you say something sooner? Listen, you go be with your aunt, but promise me you’ll call later. I won’t take no for an answer. And I want to hear more about—”
Tori cut her off before she could ask anything further. “I’ll call you later. I promise, Sophie.”
“Talk to you soon.”
The call ended before Tori could reply. Leave it to Sophie to get in the last word.
Tori stowed her phone in her purse and returned her attention to her aunt, who had changed into her yellow sundress and leather sandals and was paying for her wedding dress.
“Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to ignore you, but I needed to take that call.”
“No worries. Everything okay?”
“Yes, that was Sophie Mays.”
“Your former boss?”
“Yes, she called to offer me a promotion, sort of. She wants me to be her partner in the company.”
“Wow, Tori. That’s a big deal. Are you going to take it?”
“I told her I had other commitments right now, but she made me promise to call her later.”
“So you didn’t say no.”
“It’s difficult to tell Sophie no, but I’ll call later and hear her out. But my home is now here.”
Claudia wrapped an arm around her. “Good. Call me selfish, but I’m not ready to lose you again.”
“Dad was wrong in the way he handled things.”
“I should’ve been more assertive, insisted to see you girls more often, but your father held a grudge about something that seems so silly now. But that’s in the past. We can’t change our mistakes. We can only learn from them and work hard not to repeat them.” Claudia took the satin garment bag from the bridal consultant and threaded her arm through Tori’s. “Let’s grab some lunch at Cuppa Josie’s before we head to the flower shop.”
They left the air-conditioned boutique and stepped out into the blazing sunshine. Tori slid her sunglasses on her face. As she glanced down the sidewalk, her heart jammed between her ribs.
Jake.
And he wasn’t alone.
He laughed, then wrapped an arm around the shoulders of a petite brunette outside Cuppa Josie’s.
No wonder she hadn’t heard from him all week. He’d been occupied with someone else.
Tears flooded her eyes, but she forced her practiced smile in place, thankful for her sunglasses to shield her pain. This was Claudia’s day and she wasn’t going to be a downer even if it meant spending time later stitching the pieces of her broken heart back together.
Maybe Sophie’s timing was perfect.
If Jake was interested in someone else, then perhaps she should consider seeing what Sophie had to offer because living next to him while he saw someone else would be torture.
And how could she recover from that?