Jack went inside the house he’d purchased only a month after Madelaine left, before he’d understood she wasn’t coming back.
She was supposed to be gone for two years. He figured he’d have quite a bit of sweat equity built up in the place by the time she returned. He’d planned to ask her to marry him on the front porch and surprise her with the front door key.
That had not worked out.
When Jack received the package with all the unopened letters Madelaine had returned—sent to his parents’ house, of course—he’d slowed down on his sweat equity for a while.
Eventually, he used working on the “unique fixer-upper” as a salve to his wounded soul. He worked doubly hard to get it up to code and livable for himself all alone.
Jack liked his house. He’d made it exactly whathewanted it to be without any tips or help from anyone, not even his family. The process had helped him get over Madelaine.
Well, he’d been over her until he saw her in the shadows of her Alienn rental house while she was on Earth to do an important errand or whatever.
That he was over Madelaine was a huge lie he’d been telling himself for years, because one look at her and it was like five long years of sadness and pain had disappeared in a single blink. He was a fool, no doubt about it.
The house was quiet as he moved through it. Jack didn’t have any pets, though it was something he’d been thinking about adding to his life. A furry animal to keep him company seemed like a good idea.
He went into his bedroom, opened the door to the small walk-in closet and grabbed the bag he kept tucked in the corner, packed and ready to go with everything he’d need for five days away from home.
In the hall, he stopped and adjusted the temperature control for his absence, then ensured all the doors and windows were locked.
Jack saw the landline phone as he headed for the front door, the one that had come with the house. He ignored it. He didn’t need to call anyone. And he figured the best approach to a surprise visit to the Secret Keeper in Minnesota was just that—a surprise. Maybe shock and awe was a better definition for the madness of this trip.
He’d show up, plead for mercy and a quick conversation and hope for the best.
The hard part would be the next sixteen hours in a car with Madelaine and his still broken heart. And that would just be the trip there.
Stop it.Don’t be bitter.
Chapter Five
Madelaine kept her eyes on the road, hands steady on the wheel even as, two hours in, everything inside her felt anything but solid. Fourteen hours left in a car with Jack Grey.
What had she been thinking?
Five years ago, she would have called it a dream. Now it felt like a test she wasn’t sure she could pass.
Beside her, Jack shifted, one arm braced against the door, long legs stretched out as much as the luxury sedan allowed. He’d said hardly anything since they’d left Alienn, just given directions when needed, like this was any ordinary road trip.
It wasn’t. Nothing about this was ordinary.
“You always grip the wheel like that?” he asked abruptly.
She blinked. “Like what?”
“Like you’re about to outrun something.”
Her fingers loosened slightly. “Old habit.”
“From?”
She hesitated.
“From…traveling alone,” she said, carefully neutral. “You learn to stay alert.”
Jack hummed, obviously unconvinced.
