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He wanted to ask her about the traveling she’d be doing over the next year but thought better of it. “I’m sure she’d love that.”
Shrugging, she kept her gaze lowered as she nodded. “It’s at least something to discuss. It would mean I’d never have to return to Wishing Well.”
Jack wasn’t sure how many times he’d been slugged in the gut either by joking around, being tackled, or a myriad of other ways guys goofed around, but Jo’s statement winded him. “Never?” The word came out as breathless as he felt.
Her head lifted, and their gazes connected. “Well…”
He quickly recovered. “I mean, that would be great for you. All those bad memories and stuff. Never having to deal with those again.” Inside, he was shredded and being shredded with every word.
“Right.” She nodded to her car. “Well, I should get back so I can finish helping Lucy.”
“Sure. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He went to shut the door and paused.
Yes, she had horrible memories of her mom, but weren’t the great memories of her and her grandma enough to cover the others? When they’d talked about their high school experience, it wasn’t terrible. She wasn’t a homecoming queen, but she wasn’t an outcast either. Why was she so bent on leaving and never coming back? Why did the negative outweigh the good?
He debated with himself a second and then took a few quick strides to catch her. “Jo.”
She turned. “Yeah?”
“Nothing. I can tell you tomorrow.” Yeah, he was a big, fat chicken. What if he said all of that and made her angry? If Charlie accepted that offer, how long would Jo be in town? The wedding was just about over. The article would be written, and he’d be in her rearview mirror. Was he ready to risk losing her before she even left town? No.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, it’s nothing. I probably should get this ice cream in the freezer.”
“Okay. See you later.”
“Night, Jo,” he said.
Once she was in the car and driving away, he walked into the house, shut the door, and leaned his back against it.
Jo Stewart was going to be his undoing. He’d cared about Natalie, and if he’d been asked at the time, he would even said that he loved her. It wasn’t even a drop in the bucket to what he already felt for Jo. He was absolutely falling for her.
Losing Natalie was hard. Losing Jo… had the potential to hurt worse than the injury to his leg. He’d recovered from that. Would he recover from this? At the moment, he didn’t have an answer.
CHAPTER 20
Jo
“Come on in, Craig, and have a seat.” Grandma stepped back, allowing Jo’s ex to enter. “I’ve got sweet tea and water. If you want, I can even?—”
“Sweet tea works, Mrs. Stewart.”
He’d ditched his suit once again to appear approachable and relatable. A five-digit piece of clothing was a good way to turn people off, especially people he was trying to persuade. She knew because he’d discussed his tactics ad nauseam when they were dating.
She needed to stop that. He’d apologized, and she’d agreed that the relationship was over. No, they hadn’t outright said as much, but having dinner every other week, if that, wasn’t a relationship. It was dinner with a friend. If she were honest with herself, she was relieved she found out. It’d forced her to confront what she already knew: she wasn’t in love with him any more than he was in love with her.
Their small-town relationship was a casualty of growing up, growing apart, and discovering they no longer had anything in common.
“New York hasn’t changed that, huh?”
“No ma’am.”
She grinned at Jo. “I told you he’d want sweet tea.”
