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After the beams were replaced in the Montreau, work progressed rapidly, although, in order to replace the beams in the shortest amount of time possible and thus stay close to schedule, Jacie had asked for overtime for her crew. The owners had agreed. The beams had been swapped out in record time on the Monday and Tuesday following the Cherry Festival, the restaurant reopened for business and all was well—until Glenna and Georgia stopped by a week later to look at the second story lobby, which was being framed in.
“It’s too small,” Georgia announced and Jacie was certain she saw Glenna’s jaw tighten. “I thought we had this drawn out correctly.”
Jacie bit her tongue and showed Georgia the plans. Georgia refused to believe the plans were to scale.
“If you like, we can get a tape and measure the proportions.”
“Yes. I’d like that. And I thought we’d cleared up the issue with the beams.”
So had Jacie. “The columns are necessary.”
“Well, do they have to be right there?” She pointed to the column closest to her. “It blocks the traffic flow.”
“It stays where it is unless you want to spend a whole lot of money designing a different support system.” Jacie spoke through gritted teeth. Georgia’s obsession with columns was edging her toward the breaking point.
“And the windows.”
“We reached an agreement, remember?” Glenna said in a reasoning voice. “All the windows remain the same size in order to stay on budget?”
Georgia clamped her mouth shut. When she opened it again, it was to say to Jacie, “I happen to know that the windows could have been done within budget if you hadn’t spent the money on overtime for your workers.”
“To try to keep closer to schedule.”
“We wouldn’t have been off schedule if it wasn’t for you.”
Jacie looked at Glenna who gave her a miniscule shrug. Since there was no voice of reason to add to her own—although Georgia wouldn’t know reason if it smacked her in the face—Jacie said as calmly as possible, “I really need to get back to work.”
“Clinton said that you’d try to sidestep the issue. Avoid it until it’s a done deal. Well, I’m paying for this renovation and I get a say in it.”
Good old Clinton. “I’m good with that, but if what you want is structurally unsound...” Jacie let her voice trail off as she realized that she was wasting her breath. Georgia had made up her mind.
“Perhaps we need another owners’ meeting,” she said to Glenna.
“Perhaps we need another project engineer,” Georgia snapped before Glenna could answer.
“Perhaps you need to stop conferring with the mayor and instead confer with your fellow owners and your representative,” Jacie shot back.
Mistake.
Jacie didn’t care.
“As I understand it,” Georgia said with a tilt of her head, “you are only here for a few more weeks.” As if Jacie’s absence would clear the way for her to rid the second story of all columnar supports.
“I’ll be working out of the home office.” They’d soon hit the point in the renovation where a site engineer wasn’t necessary. Once she was back in Seattle, she’d take on other projects and make occasional site visits to Cherry Lake, advise Neil and put out fires as needed. “I’m still responsible for the project.”
“We’ll see,” Georgia warned as she headed for the stairs, leaving Jacie with a distinct WTF feeling.
Glenna drew in a breath and Jacie noticed that her chignon was not as smoothly styled as usual. In fact, Glenna looked frazzled. “I need this job,” she said. “I don’t know what’s setting her off, but I’ll try to rein her in.”
It wasn’t a ‘what’ that was setting her off, but rather a ‘who’—and there wasn’t much Glenna could do about it. Jacie waved her hand. “I understand the situation. I just hope we both survive.”
Adversity did indeed make strange bedfellows. And now she needed to determine how she was going to keep her project running smoothly, short of kidnapping Georgia and sending her on an extended sea voyage.
Brett wasn’t in his shop when Jacie picked up Darby that night, and the door was open, so she could see that the tractor was gone. Darby chattered all the way home, discussing jumps and riding bareback and Jacie was glad that she had accepted the hard fact that they were indeed going home and had decided to make the most of the time she had left here.
“We have to ride bareback because it’s dangerous to jump in a western saddle. The horn, you know.”
She knew. “How will you jump in advanced horse camp?”
“Molly has three jumping saddles. We have to take turns.” Darby kicked at a rock. “I’m going to have my own jumping saddle when I get my horse.”
Jacie reached out to ruffle Darby’s bangs, but she didn’t say anything. She’d already started working through her budget and decided that she might be able to swing a horse come spring, and until then, lessons were the next best thing.
“Can we have frozen dinners?” Darby asked as they walked up the front steps.
Jacie had planned to lose herself in the simple act of cooking dinner, but if Darby wanted frozen, she was not going to argue. “Sure.” And that way she wasn’t going to have to harangue her daughter into doing the dishes.
A couple hours later, during the hundred and seventh viewing of Miracle of the White Stallions, Jacie happened to glance out the window as Brett drove his tractor into the barn. She went into the kitchen, then slipped out the back door. The light was fading as she walked to the fence and leaned on it, but it wasn’t so dim that Brett didn’t catch sight of her as he came out of the barn. Soon he was striding across the field in her direction and Jacie felt the familiar quickening of her heartbeat as he approached. Things were good between them. Almost too good. Jacie had promised to keep an open mind, and she had...but her time here was winding down and she and Brett were either going to have to say goodbye or figure out a way to continue a rather loosely defined relationship. She didn’t see how that was possible and it tore at her.
“How’d the day treat you?” Brett asked, leaning his forearms on the fence next to her.
“Not bad.” She wasn’t going to mention his nutty rich aunt having a field day with her. “How about you?”
He gave a half shrug. “Just...you know...family. Robert. But, hey—the tractor ran all day without breaking down.”
Unable to stop herself, she leaned over the fence to kiss him.
“Out in the open and everything.”
They were well out of sight of the house, hidden by the apple tree Miss Kitty had taken refuge in before their first kiss. “It’s almost dark. No one’s around.”
“Which makes me want to haul you off to bed.”
She smiled at him and took a step back. “Unfortunately for you, I have a live-in chaperone.”
“Maybe I’ll meet you for lunch in the park tomorrow? I have business in town.”
“Maybe. We’ll play it by ear.”
“I miss sleeping with you.”
She smiled in response, then started back across the field. It was practically dark when she got to her back door and let herself in.
“That you, Mom?”
“It is,” she called back.
There was no answer, which told Jacie that her girl was deep into whatever television show had caught her fancy.
Jacie stopped at the sink, washed her hands and caught sight of herself in the small mirror over the sink. Her hair was wild, a mass of loose waves. She automatically pulled an elastic off her wrist and captured it.
“Are you ready for popcorn?”
“No.”
“No? Do I need to check you for fever?” Jacie teased.
“No.” Darby scooted over on the sofa, giving her mother room to sit down. She was now watching the remake of The Parent Trap, which was older than she was. But she loved the movie and Jacie tried not to read anything into it.
Tonight, though, she didn’t have to guess what her daughter was feeling, because Darby came right out with it after the TV mom and dad rediscovered their love for one another and once again promised to become a family. “You know...” she said, carefully keeping her eyes on the TV screen during a not particularly interesting facial tissue commercial, “...I think that Brett would make a pretty good dad.”
Jacie had no idea how she kept her cool as she calmly turned to her daughter and said, “Why would you say such a thing?”
Darby shrugged, then finally looked at her. “Because I think you guys like each other.”
“Well of course we like each other.”
“I mean like,” Darby said in a worldly voice.
Jacie blew out a breath. Wow. “It’s a big jump from me liking someone to them becoming your dad.”
“I know that, but Ashley told me that women your age don’t have as many chances to get married again, so if you like somebody...” Darby wrinkled her nose a little “...you’ll probably get married.”
Thank you, Ashley.
“That might be Ashley’s experience, but it doesn’t usually work that way.”
“If you say so,” Darby said with a shrug, giving Jacie no doubts as to what Darby really believed. She thought her mother was being coy.
In order to avoid protesting-too-much syndrome, Jacie let the matter drop, but her stomach was in a hard knot by the time she and Darby went to bed. Especially when Darby made a point of saying, “No matter what, I like Brett. A lot.”
So did she. But with her job being in Seattle and him being tied to the land here, there was a better than average chance that things weren’t going to work out between them; that they would indeed have a summer fling. But she didn’t want Darby to get her hopes up about getting a dad. Surely the experiences of her friend, Isabella, should have served as a cautionary tale, but no. Each new dad was better than the last as far as Izzy was concerned...then the relationship fizzled and the search was on for the next perfect guy. Jacie was half afraid that Darby was starting to think that was normal.
They would talk. Once they got safely back to Seattle. And maybe she was going to have to find a way for Darby to spend less time with Izzy.
The next day was one of the smoothest Jacie had experienced since starting the project, which was a good thing since she was busy freaking out over her daughter thinking that Brett would be a good father.
There were no small fires to put out with the contractors, no problems encountered as they continued to renovate the second floor. Even her lunch was good, since the restaurant staff was catering a birthday party and invited her over to taste test the most amazing appetizers. Darby was on the four-day break between the end of intermediate horse camp and beginning of advanced, so she was with Lil, happily volunteering at the library. When the phone rang, she expected it to be Lil asking whether Jacie wanted to eat at the Pizza Shack or head home. Instead it was Mark called from the home office.
“How are things going there?” he asked in a voice that made her gut twist.
“Pretty well, actually.”
“We finally received the owner call you told me to expect.”
“I’m not surprised.” But she was surprised at Mark’s flat tone.
“She demanded that you be removed from the project. She also demanded to speak to one of the partners.”
Jacie’s heart hit her ribs. “Because I insisted that putting in a second floor lobby with no columns won’t work?”
“Apparently you’ve been, and I quote, difficult to work with.”
“I’ve been truthful. And tactful,” she added quickly. “Which is something, considering how bullheaded that particular owner is.”
“She made a lot of noise. You know how the partners hate noise.”
Jacie was well aware. And the quality survey that followed this project probably wasn’t going to do her career any good.
“Will they pull me?”
“You’re only there for a few more weeks and the call came to me, so I’m keeping it on the down low.”
“Thank you.”
“However, be warned, she sounded determined to take this to the next level. She appeared to be very offended by your beams.”
“Columns,” Jacie said automatically, squeezing her forehead.
“On the good news side of things, we got another contract with the Ransley Group. They specifically asked for you on this project.”
“Really?” That was good news.
“Helluva workload, though, so I’m thinking of sending Phil Tanner to Cherry Lake within the next few days so that you can bring him up to speed, in case you get too overloaded to do some of the site visits.”
“And you swear this is not a way to ease me out of the project.”
“Phil has Montana Fever. He wants to work on a project there. Plus he needs the experience. He’s been studying things on this end.”
“Fine. Send Phil. And please...let me know if you get any more owner calls.”
“Will do. Just...hang in there. A couple more weeks and you’ll be back home.”
Home. Odd how Seattle didn’t seem like home at the moment.
“Thanks, Mark.” Jacie hung up the phone and went limp in the chair. Then she picked up the phone and dialed Glenna.
“I was about to call you,” she said as soon as Jacie identified herself.
“Are you aware that one of the owners just tried to get me fired from my job?”
“I knew nothing about that until a few minutes ago.” She had a brittle edge to her voice that made Jacie believe her. “I apologize.”
“Do you have a problem with my work?”
“No.”
Jacie closed her eyes as she debated. She decided against mentioning Clinton. She might respect Glenna as a professional, but at this point, she didn’t know who she could trust.
“We’ll straighten this out,” Glenna said. “It’s as much of a nightmare to me as to you.”
Jacie doubted that, but she said thank you and hung up.
Phil Tanner showed on Wednesday and dove into learning all he could about the Montreau in the short amount of time he had, so that he could effectively cover for Jacie if she had scheduling conflicts in the fall. He spent his days at the hotel and his evenings camping out. Jacie had the feeling by the time Friday rolled around that he was ready to sell his Seattle condo and settle permanently in a tent near the shores of Flathead Lake.
“I can’t believe you ever left this area,” he said as he loaded his briefcase on top of the tent in the backseat of his small city-friendly car.
“I love it, too, but it’s not engineer friendly.”
Phil settled his hands on his hips and looked up at the Montreau, then out to the lake, just visible at the end of 2nd Street. Then he shook his head. “Nice area. Excellent project.”
But he hadn’t met Georgia, who’d been unavailable for the brief owners’ meeting Glenna had set up earlier that morning. The meeting in which Brian had taken her aside and asked if they could talk later that afternoon.
Jacie had no idea where this was going, although she suspected that Georgia or Clinton had wooed Brian into the Jacie-is-incompetent camp, and now he, too, had concerns to be addressed. By the time he knocked on her door she’d talked herself into a headache.
“I have a proposition for you,” he said as soon as he’d sat down and for a moment Jacie stared at him blankly. She’d prepared a defense...
“I’ve purchased a building in Kalispell. It’s in rough shape, but it formerly housed a wool processing plant and I’d like to develop it into shops or condos. I’m in the early planning stages, but...” he met her gaze dead on, “...I’d like to work with you, and Kestrelle Engineering, again.”
“That’s certainly possible,” Jacie said, feeling as if she was going to float out of the chair with relief. Bringing work to the firm was always a good thing and would definitely help make up for the crap Clinton and Georgia had pulled. In fact, it pretty much negated the validity of their complaints.
“I like what you’ve done with this place. I like how you’ve handled difficult situations. I’m impressed.”
“Thank you.”
He opened his laptop and showed her photos of the building and Jacie agreed it would be an excellent project, but there was a lot to be done.
“I have one more question,” Brian said as he closed the laptop. “Please understand, this is private.”
“Understood.”
“How much did Georgia’s antics cost us on this project? Not in materials, but in delays?”
An excellent question.
Jacie studied the man sitting on the other side of her beat-up desk, thinking that she hadn’t given him enough credit. He lived in Kalispell, so she’d assumed he wasn’t fully aware of Georgia’s antics. “I’d have to take a look at my notes. Do some calcs.”
“Please do.” He paused, then said, “I notice Calloway’s name comes up when Georgia discusses her many design changes.”
“Yes.” What else could she say? Probably a lot, but none of it was professional. She wasn’t in a position to rat one owner out to another. Sadly, she wasn’t in a position to badmouth the mayor, either.
“Are there issues between you two?”
Jacie blinked at him, not liking where this was going. “My first commitment is to this project, so no.” She wasn’t actively working against the man, so true enough.
She was waiting for Brian to dig deeper, to mention the fact that Clinton had been married to her mother, but he dropped it there. “If you could get me an estimate of delay costs, I’d appreciate it. And let’s schedule another meeting to discuss the Kalispell building.”
“Let me get my calendar.”
“Mom, about that barbecue...” Darby said as soon as they left horse camp after what felt like the longest day of Jacie’s professional career, and considering some of the days she’d had in the past, that was saying something. Georgia was trying to kick her off the project. Really?
“I haven’t decided yet.” At the moment, barbecues were pretty much the last thing she wanted to think about.
“You won’t have to do anything. Lil said she’d buy the stuff.”
“Lil’s invited, too?”
“Yes. And Molly and her brother who gave me the rope. And Brett.” Whose name she said a little too casually. Jacie wasn’t certain she liked the sound of inviting Lil and Molly’s brother, either. Did she have some kind of junior matchmaker on her hands?
“If we have a barbecue, it’ll be at the very end of the summer.”
Which wasn’t that far away.
“But, Mom...”
She managed not to say, “No buts.” Instead she put her hand on Darby’s shoulder as they walked. “Please understand that it’s not that I don’t want to have a barbecue. I just want to have it at a time when I can enjoy it.” Like when she was about to go home so that Darby didn’t commence Plan B when Plan A failed.
“But we’ll have one.”
“If at all possible, yes.”
“Can I pick a day?”
“Not yet.”
Darby kicked at the gravel in front of her. “You should probably get out more. Your job is eating you alive.”
A laugh escaped before Jacie could stop it. “Are you worried about me or you?”
“You,” Darby said with startled sincerity. “I want you to be happy.”
Jacie slid her arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “I am happy. This has been a good summer.” And they both needed to understand that it was, indeed, only a summer. “But I’m looking forward to getting back to Seattle.”
“But don’t you get lonely there?” Darby asked as they approached the house.
“I have you.”
“I know that. But I mean...”
Jace knew exactly what she meant and did her best to head it off. “Aren’t we doing okay, just the two of us?”
“Yes,” Darby said quickly, as if she was afraid she’d hurt her mom’s feelings. “But you don’t ever have boyfriends.”
“If I want a boyfriend, I’ll get one. Right now I want to be a mom.”
“My friends’ moms do both.”
“Well, I’m only going to do the mom thing for now.”
“All right...” Darby replied in a highly skeptical voice.
“It’s what I want to do, Darby. I want to focus on us. Just us.”
Her daughter shook her head. “Sounds lonely to me. At least I have my friends.”
Jacie didn’t reply that she had friends, too. She did have friends in Seattle, but not close ones like Lil. Darby would be all over that, so she kept her mouth shut and made it a point to make the rest of the evening a mother-daughter extravaganza.
They painted each other’s toenails, ate popcorn and watched one of Darby’s DVDs. For once it wasn’t The Parent Trap or Miracle of the White Stallions. Jacie hadn’t caught the title, but it involved a kid and a dog and everyone was happy in the end. As she and Darby would be happy in the end—despite what her kid thought about returning to Seattle.
When Darby got older, she’d understand why Jacie had made the choices she had. She only wished that her mother had made the same choices, because then her teen years might have been more normal. Maybe she wouldn’t still be working through stepfather-related issues.
Maybe she’d feel closer to her mom.
After Darby went to bed, Jacie stayed up thinking about childhoods, parenthoods. The many roads to disaster that a single parent—well, any parent—had to navigate. She’d been so much closer to her mom when it’d been the two of them. Now...not so much. In fact, they rarely spoke. Most of their communication was through Darby and how sad was that?
On impulse, she reached for her phone, hesitated, then dialed her mother. Bradley Adams, her mom’s husband, answered. “Jacie. Are you all right?”
The fact that he assumed there was a problem told her that she really didn’t call often enough. She was going to have to remedy that. “I am. I’m enjoying Cherry Lake.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“Is Mom around?”
“Sure.” His voice lowered to a conspiratorial level. “I have to warn you, though; she’s concerned about you and Darby being in Cherry Lake.”
“She doesn’t need to be.”
“I’ll get her.”
“Is this about Clinton?” Anne asked almost the instant she came on the line.
The fact that she asked gave Jacie pause. Anne never discussed Clinton after the divorce became final. Jacie suspected that once he was out of her life, she might have come to realize how she, who’d always feared abandonment, had in essence abandoned her daughter. So, by unspoken agreement, they’d focused on the present rather than the past.
It had worked well up until now...when Jacie had felt the urge to call. Connect. Make things better somehow.
“I didn’t call you to talk about Clinton.”
“Is he bothering you?” Anne persisted.
“We’ve...spoken.”
“But he’s not bothering you?”
“Nothing I can’t handle,” she said, trying to sound offhand. “I did live with the man for three years. I know his ways.”
Anne sucked in a breath and for a moment Jacie thought she was going to apologize for allowing Clinton to run roughshod over her, and she realized then how much she wanted to hear an apology. It wasn’t coming tonight.
“I know how he can be. He treated me...poorly after we divorced. Thankfully Bradley was there to help me through those times.”
“Why did you marry him in the first place?” The question she’d long pondered and never asked popped out of her mouth. Had her mother loved the man? Or simply needed companionship? Because Anne was insecure enough to marry so that she wouldn’t be alone.
“He was charming and caring,” she said. “And you needed a father.”
Not that badly. Jacie’s head bowed as she fought to keep the words from coming out. “What about when he started going ballistic over small matters? What then?” Because she really wanted an answer to that question. What had her mother been thinking?
There was a long silence. “At the time I believed that he had your best interests at heart. We used to talk at night and he’d explain why he got so upset with you. It all came down to caring. Worrying about the repercussions of poor choices on you.” There was note of bitterness in her mother’s voice. “He was very convincing. And I was too lenient. You know I was. He pointed that out. Often.”
“Caring? He called me a little cu—” Jacie broke off. The word was offensive and Anne didn’t need her beating up on her. “He was over the top.”
“My father was very strict and easy to set off. Clinton’s behavior seemed normal.”
“I didn’t know that. About your father, I mean.” They hadn’t talked much about her mother’s family. She’d been orphaned as a teen, then Jacie’s father had taken off when Jacie was five, leaving Anne on her own with a daughter to raise. Money hadn’t been a problem, but other kinds of security had been.
“I’m sorry for what I didn’t see at the time, Jacie. I didn’t want to be alone and I wanted you to have a father.”
And there it was. The apology. The funny thing was that after waiting so long to hear it, it just made her feel sad.
“I thought I loved him,” she continued. “I really did. And that two parents were better than one. I thought he wanted the best for you.”
Wow. Talk about being off base. Clinton had wanted hero worship and money—which he got from Anne—and he wanted Jacie to be the perfect showpiece daughter. A Stepford daughter, which she was not.
“Leaving Clinton was the hardest thing I ever did.”
The simple sentence brought Jacie’s head up.
“I had convinced myself that he was a good man, but when he refused to let me see Darby...well, I started to realize that he was controlling parts of my life he had no business controlling. And not long after that I realized how vindictive he could be.”
Jacie pressed a palm against her forehead. Really? She’d been married to the guy for four years and she hadn’t seen his vindictive side? Although, to be fair, his worst times had been when her mom was out of the house.
“That’s why I’m concerned about you returning.”
“I’m fine.”
“How much longer will you be there?”
“Three weeks. Mom, everything is fine. I appreciate talking about Clinton.” Finally. “But maybe we can talk about something else now? Like your plans for the next few months. I thought maybe we could meet for a shopping weekend somewhere.”
Her mother cleared her throat, but her voice was still a touch husky when she said, “Bradley and I are taking the train from Sandpoint to Chicago. We were wondering if Darby would like to join us. It’d be a week before classes start and we could buy her school clothes.”
“What dates would that be?”
Anne told her and Jacie jotted them down. Maybe this was what Darby needed—some grandparent time to ease her back into real life.
“I honestly called to say hello, but...I’m glad we talked.”
“Are you going to want to talk about this again?”
There was enough caution in her mom’s voice to make her smile. “No. I’m good. Now tell me about this trip...”
Jacie barely slept that night and suffered for it the next day. Her mother had apologized and she seemed to recognize the truth now, but the long overdue conversation had Jacie too keyed up to sleep.
That and the fact that Darby was doing some serious thinking about her mom’s private life.
Shortly after noon, while she was pouring her fourth keep-from-falling-asleep-at-her-desk cup of coffee, Lil called with the happy news that Darby had won a pizza gift certificate at the library Friday drawing. They would be spending it today if she was on board.
Jacie was on board. She needed to relax and some nice cheesy pizza would not go amiss either. She just hoped she could stay awake.
Darby and Lil were already in the pizzeria when Jacie walked in the door. And, to her surprise, so was Brett, sitting at the table next to Darby who was in the process of talking his ear off, gesturing elaborately as she spoke to him. Jacie’s stomach sank.
Dear heavens.
They looked up at her simultaneously. Darby’s eyes were dancing and Brett gave her that I-can’t-wait-for-later look that usually melted her. Today it scared the crap out of her.
“Hey,” she said as she approached the table, her voice sounding brittle. Brett frowned as he reached out to pull out a chair for her. She hung her purse on the back and sat down. “Long day,” ahe said when she realized everyone at the table was staring at her.
Brett poured Coke from the pitcher into the one empty glass on the table and pushed it toward her. She accepted it with a brief nod of thanks, but didn’t drink.
“Thanks for inviting me,” Brett said with that crooked smile she loved so much. Darby’s cheeks instantly went pink.
“Glad you could come,” Jacie replied, shooting her kid another look. Darby’s cheeks were still flushed, but now she had that stubborn look on her face. The one she wore when she was certain her plan was the best plan.
“He’s going to the movies with us, too,” Darby said with a slightly defiant note in her voice.
“How nice,” Jacie said in what she hoped was a normal voice, but one quick look at Lil told her it wasn’t.
The conversation continued with Darby telling about her day in an overly bright voice and Brett’s expression becoming more bemused with each passing second.
“Hey,” Brett said. “I forgot...I have something out in the truck to show you.” He slid out of his chair. “I think you might be interested in it for the Montreau. Do you want to see it now or later?”
“Now.” She turned to Darby. “Be right back.”
“What are you going to look at?” she asked.
“I’ll tell you later,” she promised, sending Lil a quick glance before following Brett out the door as far as the corner of the building, where he turned to face her.
“So what’s up?”
Jacie made no effort to hedge. “Darby. She’s figured out that you and I are...not indifferent to one another.”
“Not indifferent?” He was half smiling, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. As in he appeared borderline insulted, but was going to give her a chance to explain.
Instead of explaining she sighed. “She’s plotting to get us together. This...” she gestured at the pizzeria “...is one of those schemes. And she told me that you would make a great dad.”
“I would.” She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off. “I would make a great dad after the proper length of time.”
“I know you would.”
He studied her, then his mouth flattened, as if he’d just come to terms with the inevitable. “I’m not going to have an opportunity, am I?”
Jacie wasn’t going to lie about that, even though the thought of telling the truth was ripping her up. “I have to protect Darby.”
“From me.” He spoke flatly.
“No. From getting her hopes up, getting attached to a guy, thinking she’s going to get a father and then nothing comes of it.” Because Brett would be the kind of father that couldn’t be replaced.
His eyes narrowed slightly. “You’re so certain it’ll work out that way?”
“No. I’m so afraid it’ll work out that way. Even the best relationships can fail. Breaking my heart is one thing. Breaking Darby’s is another.”
“Could I break your heart?”
“I think you could,” she replied honestly.
“But you won’t let me get close enough to do that, will you? It’s like you can’t take that final step toward trusting me.”
She ran her palms down the sides of her face in frustration. “I’m only doing what I wish my mom had done.”
For a long moment he stared at her, his expression darkening with each passing second. “You’re comparing me to Calloway?”
“No.” She closed her eyes, tried to make sense of what was happening. They’d both known going in that this was temporary, even though she’d promised to keep an open mind. How permanent could something be when you were sneaking around behind your kid’s back?
“I’m stepping back. I have to. I can’t have Darby working out schemes to make you her father.”
“Whatever, Jacie.” He’d gone from angry to stone-faced in a matter of seconds.
“I’m not trying to hurt you. I’m trying to protect my kid.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I understand. I truly do.” He spoke with weary acceptance, as if he’d been expecting this moment and it had finally arrived. “It’s been nice, Jacie.” He turned and walked back around the corner of the building. Jacie stood stock still, listening to the sound of his footsteps on gravel as he headed to where he was parked. She was doing the right thing. The only thing.
She’d known going in that this was temporary. They’d both known that. She’d been clear. Brett was changing the rules and acting pissed off because she couldn’t agree to the change. That wasn’t her fault.
But that didn’t make her feel one bit better.
And it didn’t make it one bit easier to go back into the Pizza Shack and pretend nothing at all had happened.
