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She shrugged. “I will always love Jonah, but I loved him enough to let him go. Please do not make me regret that.”
My brows skyrocketed. “I don’t know what you know about me, but the odds for Jonah and me ending up together are slim.”
She squeezed my hand. “I probably know more about you than you would like. But this I know for sure, Jonah is a patient man and he loves you,” she stuttered. “He always has.”
I squirmed and pulled, but she wouldn’t let go. “It is okay that he does. He never treated me less because of it. You did not hang over our marriage. I did. Please,” she begged, “try for him. Do what I could not do.”
I stood in shock for several seconds. This little powwow was more than I had bargained for. The tears in her eyes got to me. Jonah got to me. “I’ll try,” I whispered.
“Thank you.” She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tight. “Will you do me a favor?”
What more could she want? She had already asked me to face my greatest fear by trying to strike up a relationship with her ex-husband. Did that sound odd to anyone else? “Um, what do you want?” I asked.
“Please share yourself with Whitney. She needs someone like you.”
I leaned away from her. “I’m not sure if that’s true. She’s way smarter than me, and I’m pretty sure I disturbed her by the amount of whipped cream I put on my pie.”
Eliza laughed. “It is good for her. You will be good for her. She told me about the stained glass umbrella you helped her make. Thank you for helping her come out of her shell.”
“I just got her to break some glass.”
“You do not know what an accomplishment that is for her.”
“It’s not that I don’t like Whitney—I do—but I don’t know if it’s a good idea for me to try and get to know her when I’m so unsure about not only Jonah, but myself.”
Eliza took a moment to think. “Whitney and Jonah are a package. Jonah loves her more than anyone. To know and love one is to know and love the other. And maybe,” she paused, “you will find yourself by helping Whitney discover who she is.”
I wanted to say that was her job, not mine, but I think she knew that. And, like she said, she had made her choice.
She hugged me once more. “I hope we will become good friends.”
“Uh.” Insert awkward pause.
“It is all right. I know I can be a lot.” She let go of me.
I studied her for a moment. I admired her honesty, but she was right. She was a lot. A lot different than I thought she would be. “If we’re going to be friends, I’m going to need you to start using contractions when we talk.”
Her laughter pealed through the night air. “I will . . . I mean, I’ll try.”
So would I.
We walked back in together to the stares of everyone. I didn’t make eye contact or offer any explanations to what I was doing out there with Eliza. I was too numb from the cold and the promise I had made to Eliza. I headed straight for the fireplace to warm up. Not surprisingly, Jonah joined me.
“You look overwhelmed. Everything okay?” he asked.
“Not yet.”
“Anything I can help with?”
“You mind staying away from me?” I half teased.
“Yes,” he wasn’t teasing at all.
“That’s what I figured.” I held my hands out in front of the fire, hoping to get some feeling back in them.
He nudged me. “I guess that means we’re going to be hide-and-go-seek partners tonight.”
“Actually, I was going to see if Eliza wanted to be my partner.”
He wrapped his strong arm around me and whispered in my ear, “That’s a pity. Eliza is taking Whitney home. She wants to spend some time with her before she heads out tomorrow. And before you try to choose anyone else, they all have partners already.”
“So you’re saying we’re stuck together?”
“Like glue, baby.”
Looks like things were going to get sticky.Chapter TenEach pair in each car had ten minutes to hide anywhere within Pine Falls’ city limits. Grandma and Grandpa were the seekers this go-around. I loved that they still wanted to play my ridiculous games. Every pair was supposed to message the group chat when they were in their hiding spot and give two clues to where they could be hiding.
Jonah and I were in his car. His boring, safety-rated Volvo, I might add. I missed his old Mustang, which only had lap belts and seats that leaned way back. He suggested we hide behind the grocery store, the first and last hiding spot we had chosen together. The first place we kissed.
“It will be too obvious,” I objected. And I didn’t need any more reasons to want to kiss him tonight. I was planning on keeping my lips to myself until I figured myself out.
