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Brett’s house stood dark, as did her little rental house across the pasture, but even though it was close to eleven p.m., the lights were on in the shop. Jacie parked her car behind Brett’s truck and carefully made her way across the gravel drive in her too-tall heels. The door was ajar, so she pushed it the rest of the way open and was hit by a blast of heat from the propane blower that stood next to the antique truck that Brett was sprawled half under.
“Does anything you own actually run?” she asked in a low voice.
His head jerked up so fast that he hit it on the fender. Jacie’s eye widened but she stayed where she was by the door.
“Back for the unveiling?” Brett asked, pushing himself to a sitting position and rubbing his head.
“Well, I did do the majority of the work.”
“Before you left.”
She sauntered a few steps forward, then, her skirt swishing around her legs. “Before I left.” She stopped a few feet away from him, noted that his gaze seemed to be fixed onto her ankles. “Big mistake. Leaving.”
His gaze rose to her face. “You didn’t seem to think you had any other choice.”
“I was scared.”
“I know.”
She sank down to sit beside him on the cold stained concrete, ignoring the surprised look on his face. Wrapping her arms on knees, she said, “Funny how the two times I’ve been most frightened, you were involved. Three if you count my re-introduction into the pleasures of the flesh.”
They weren’t touching, but they were close enough that she felt him give a small shrug in reply. She didn’t dare look at him. She was afraid if she did that he would send her on her way before she’d said what she came to say.
She focused on the opposite wall, hugging her knees even closer. “I’m a problem solver. Problem comes up, I look at it from all angles. I calmly analyze it. Formulate a solution—several if the situation calls for it.” She gave her head a shake. “But not with you. With you I ran. Twice.”
He didn’t answer and she still couldn’t bring herself to look at him. But she could feel him, his warmth. The solidness of his body. The deep regret of never giving them a chance, even though her reason was solid.
“I was afraid to take the chance. Both times. Too damned scared.”
“I’ll give you a pass on the first time.”
“And the second time?” Now she screwed up her courage and met his eyes. She almost wished she hadn’t, his gaze was so intense, making it both impossible to look away, yet impossible not to.
“I think we could have talked more the second time. You never gave me a chance.”
“No.” She looked down, then her nerves jumped as he gently touched her chin. She looked at him sideways. “I didn’t.”
“What are your plans now?”
“Well,” she said, “my work here is done.”
“Months ago actually.”
“So I applied for a government job in Polson.”
His hand fell away, grazing her thigh. “What?”
She met his gaze full on and said calmly, “I applied for a government job in Polson. It’s a pay cut, but the cost of living is lower and if I get it, I can raise Darby in a place where she’ll thrive and be able to do all the stuff I did growing up.”
“You’re moving back?”
“I can sell my house in Seattle for a nice profit. My neighborhood is being revitalized so I accidentally bought well.”
“Accidentally?”
“Well, I thought it was a good investment, looking at the trends in nearby neighborhoods.”
He gave his head a small shake, as if clearing it, then he, too, studied the wall opposite. The mood had shifted—for the positive, if Jacie wasn’t mistaken, which in turn gave her a flicker of hope. Maybe he’d done some thinking, too.
Or maybe it was the fact that she wasn’t squeezing him out—that she was discussing coming back instead of running.
“I’ve done a lot of thinking over the past few months,” she explained. “So much so that I kind of felt as if I was neglecting my job.”
“I bet you weren’t.” He reached out and took her hand, laced his fingers through hers and set it on his knee. Her heart quivered a little at the contact. She’d wanted to be able to touch him again for so long now that it was hard to accept that it was happening. That he was next to her, her hand firmly ensconced in his.
“You’re right. But I didn’t sleep a lot.”
“I’ve thought a lot, too, over the past months.”
Jacie closed her eyes, willed herself to believe that things could turn out all right. But he didn’t say anything else. Neither did she. But she squeezed his fingers and he squeezed back.
And her heart lightened.
“It was hell having that empty house on the other side of the pasture. Looking at it. Remembering...”
He let go of her hand then and put an arm around her, pulling her close to him as they leaned back against the tire. “You’re going to ruin your dress.”
“Don’t care so much about the dress. In the big picture, it doesn’t matter.” She settled her head on his shoulder. For the moment she wasn’t into solving problems, making things right or controlling her future. Or even being careful. She was about being with a guy that she suspected she was deeply in love with.
“I’d like to try to build something, if it’s not too late.” She practically whispered the words.
He pressed his lips against her hair. “It doesn’t feel too late.”
“I’ll still be nuts about protecting Darby, of course.”
“So will I.”
And that was the perfect thing to say. She pulled back a little so that she could look at him. “I’m sorry I lumped you in with Clinton.”
“I heard you finally got your revenge. My grandfather talked about it for days.”
“Someone had to pound him,” she said.
“I still wish it would have been me.”
He leaned forward and gently took her lips, then he hauled her into his lap, her skirt tangling around her legs. She framed his face between her palms, holding him, kissing him, making up for all the time they’d been apart.
“I missed you so much,” she murmured against his lips before kissing him again.
“You need to believe that I’m as much into protecting Darby as you. If you move back—”
“When I move back.”
“We’ll take things slowly. Talk. Figure things out.”
“As opposed to me cutting and running when I get scared?”
He touched his forehead to hers. “Pretty much.”
She slid her hands up around his neck, kissed him again because she didn’t seem to be able to get enough of him. “Brett Jackson, I can’t promise you that things will go smoothly, because it’s been my experience that life is rarely like that...but I can promise you that my running days are over.”
