“I’m fine. I’m just ...”
Jeremy kicked at a nail sticking out of the weathered plank at his feet. “Has Joe been kissing Mrs.Lassiter again?”
She exhaled with a groan. “Who knows? I never know what he’s doing when he comes home late after work. Whenever I ask, he says something about you and turns the tables on me, puts me on the defensive.”
Something caught in Jeremy’s chest.
“Why would he mention me?”
She still couldn’t meet his gaze. “Because he knows how close we are, and he’s jealous. But I won’t ever apologize for our friendship. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Jeremy looked around, scanning for people who might be watching them and report back to Joe. “If escape is what you want,” he said in aquieter voice, “I’d take you anywhere. I could find a place for us to live in Juneau, and I’d get a job and marry you.”
She laughed. “I’m already married.”
“You could get a divorce.” It wouldn’t matter. He’d love her no matter what, under any circumstances.
“I can’t do that,” Angie said, suddenly bewildered and sounding a little shocked by Jeremy’s offer. “Joe is Ethan’s father.”
“We could sneak away and hide,” Jeremy said, taking her hand and leading her closer to the side of the warehouse. “We could go to a place where he would never find us.”
“Like where?”
“Europe.”
“Europe! How would we afford that?”
“I’d work. We could go to Norway. I’d get a fishing boat. Joe would never find us there.”
Angie looked at him with a mixture of confusion and concern. “Why Norway?”
“It’s like Alaska. It has fish and whales.”
She stared at him for a moment, and he wondered if she would ever take him seriously. Then she reached for his hand.
His whole body caught fire.
“That’s a lovely dream, Jeremy. But you know it’s not possible.”
The sky above them hung low with thick gray clouds. The winter chill touched his cheeks. “Why do you say that? You know I’d do anything for you. I’d protect you no matter what. Ethan too. As long as we’re together, we’d be happy. If I had you, I’d never look at another woman.”
He felt frantic with love and longing. Desperate to convince her to choose him over Joe. He wanted to hold her close and kiss her and feel her warm skin against his and make more babies with her.
Angie looked at him with affection but also with a note of apology. She never liked to see him hurt.
In that moment, he knew that she was never going to leave Joe. She wouldn’t run away with him to Juneau or Norway. Like she’d said, it was a lovely dream, nothing more.
The cold seeped under his jacket, and he shivered.
Angie shivered too. Then she bent to check on Ethan in the carriage.
Jeremy watched her tuck the blanket around him. She was such a loving mother. He’d always known she would be.
How could he ever stop loving her?
Or maybe one day ... if he waited long enough ...
Anything could happen, couldn’t it?
