“Well, you told Sam that you were just going to sayit didn’t work out,” Angie said. “And that she’d go back to Boston.”
The words hit him in the chest as he imagined them from Jenny’s point of view. He’d been saying them lightly to justify his actions to Sam.
But his feelings about Jenny and Gael going back to Boston were the heaviest thing he could imagine.
“Chin up, Cap,” Angie said with a smile. “We’ll get her back.”
Looking around at all the supportive faces of the people who he’d let down, he felt a sense of wonder. He’d thought they needed his help, but it was clear now that they were the ones helping him.
They had been here for him all along.
And he could use their help now more than ever.
19
JENNY
Jenny woke early on New Year’s Eve morning, feeling sad but calm.
Soft sunlight bled in through the gaps in the curtains. She got out of bed as quietly as she could and tiptoed across the cold floor to the bathroom.
A steaming shower warmed her up, and once she was dressed, she felt a little more like herself.
She curled up on the sofa with a book, not wanting to wake Gael.
It had been such a whirlwind since the moment they got off the plane. It was hard to believe they had only arrived a week ago.
She couldn’t help feeling dismayed that in just seven days she had catalogued so many things they would lose by leaving this place.
First and foremost were the wonderful people of Trinity Falls. From Trudy and Ward right here at the inn, to the folks at the Center, to Ana and her mother and everyone they had met in between—it was clear that this was a town that cared.
Then there were the fun activities that Gael had enjoyed so much. Driving out to explore Amish country, visiting Cassidy Farm, or just walking around the little town of Trinity Falls, had all been fun and basically free. And Gael hadn’t been bored for a moment.
Even yesterday, in all their sadness, he had still wanted to go back to Cassidy Farm to feed the animals, which they had done for hours, the cold, fresh air and the happy cries of the chickens and goats soothing their troubled minds. She had only been there twice, and she knew already that they would miss it.
And of course there was Erik.
Shaking her head at her own foolishness, she set her book down. It wasn’t going to get read—she was too distracted and ashamed to take in the words on the page.
She had honestly thought that he was going to ask them to stay. She’d been envisioning what it would be like for her relationship with Erik to grow serious, maybe to lead to a real proposal and wedding one day. The three of them would have picnics in the summer and go camping, sip cider and choose school supplieswith Gael in the fall, decorate a tree next Christmas, build a snowman…
But none of those things were going to happen.
He’d called her so many times since yesterday, a glance at her phone screen told her that much.
But she’d heard what he’d said when he didn’t know she was listening.
Things had been going well for a while—well enough that he’d asked her on a real date. But he had obviously changed his mind for some reason.
Maybe it was because of all she had shared with him at dinner. She certainly hadn’t held anything back. He knew about her feelings for Jason, and how broken she had been when she lost him. He knew that Gael was her priority over anything and everything else in the world, and that she felt he needed more than most children his age because of the circumstances he had survived.
At the time, she had thought he took those things well, accepted them and honored her feelings for Jason and her need to put Gael first.
But what man would want to love a woman who still mourned her first husband? What man wanted to play second fiddle to a nine-year-old?
Realistically, she should have realized that Erik was only being kind. Of course he still wanted her to go back to Boston when everything was done.
He wasn’t going to ask her to stay.
