Page 108 of Love’s Silver Bullet

“Uh-huh.”

“I thought so,” Maggie whispered, “because that’s the only time I’ve ever seen you cry, Sher, when Jake is involved. That and the fact that Blaze just told me you and Jake have been in a secret relationship for the last year and a half.”

“What?” Aunt Libby spun to face Sheridan head-on. “Is that true?”

Sheridan nodded with a chew of her lip. “It is, Aunt Libby, and I apologize for not telling you and Maggie about it because I really, really wanted to. But Jake swore me to secrecy.”

“Because he didn’t want to lead you on in the first place, but Blaze and Dash forced him to,” Maggie added with a stern arch of her brow.

“What??” A hint of fire lit in Aunt Libby’s eyes.

Lids narrowing, Maggie pursed her mouth. “Seems my husband and his brother took it upon themselves to tamper with Sheridan’s affections using Jake as the bait, and all because Finn asked them to keep all men away until Sheridan was finished with school.”

“What??!!” Aunt Libby’s eyes bugged wide, her temper flaring along with the color in her cheeks as she glanced from Sheridan to Maggie, hand to her chest. “So, my husband and yours have been manipulating an actual romantic relationship between Sheridan and Jake to set Sheridan up for heartbreak?”

“Yep.” Maggie’s lips went as flat as her tone. “Blaze just confessed everything to me last night because he knew Jake was going to lower the boom today, and he was worried about Sher.”

Libby grunted. “A little late for that.” She shifted to face Sheridan, caressing her arm with a worried look. “When did all this happen, sweetheart?”

“Right before I left for school the first time,” she said with a melancholy sigh.

“Because Blaze and Dash heard that Clay Morgan was planning on pursuing Sheridan in New York,” Maggie explained, “but they didn’t tell Finn because you and he weren’t speaking at the time, and they didn’t want to upset him further.”

“Yes, I remember that well.” Libby’s face wrinkled in a scrunch. “And I also remember how upset Finn was over Gray Carmody, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he bullied Jake as well before you returned to school after summer vacation.”

“He did,” Sheridan said quietly, “but Jake felt so badly about leading me on, he told Blaze and Dash he planned to tell me the whole truth during this Christmas break since I only had five more months of college left.”

“The whole truth?” Maggie ducked her head to offer Sheridan a tender look.

Sheridan nodded, eyes glazing over once again. “That he’s in love with me, but he can never marry me.”

“What? Why?” Aunt Libby sat straight up.

Sheridan gave a listless shrug of her shoulders. “For a whole host of reasons beginning with me being too young for him and seeing me as a little sister—”

“Which he obviously dispelled quickly enough,” Maggie said with a rare clip to her tone, obviously as miffed over the whole situation as Aunt Libby.

A sad smile lined Sheridan’s lips. “Over and over as a matter of fact, buckling my knees every single time, and his too, from the intensity of his kisses. But he said he made a promise to Uncle Finn when I turned sixteen to keep me away from romance till I graduated—”

“Ha! Doesn’t sound like he did that too well.” Libby sat back with a firm fold of her arms.

“No, he didn’t.” Sheridan huffed out a heavy breath. “And I told him so. Every conversation, every letter, every magical kiss just made me fall deeper in love, and him as well, apparently.”

“Then I don’t understand what the problem is, Sher,” Maggie coaxed. “Especially if he’s free to pursue you in five months’ time.”

Ingesting a deep breath for strength, Sheridan forged on, filling them in on every one of Jake’s reasons—or ‘excuses’ as she saw them—from his guilt over a horrific past that she only hinted at per his request, to his concerns over the health of future children or subjecting a woman to his dangerous life as a sheriff. A shocked silence prevailed when she finished, all eyes as misty as hers had been when Jake had told her his story not three hours ago.

“Oh, poor Jake!” Maggie’s voice was raspy with pain. “Even though you haven’t given us details, no one should ever have to go through a traumatic past, especially a child.”

“No,” Sheridan agreed, heart grieving all over again for the man that she loved.

“Nor,” Aunt Libby stressed with a sudden jut of her chin, “should anyone have to go through the horror of that for the rest of their lives either.”

Sheridan looked over at her aunt. “What do you mean, Aunt Libby?”

“I mean that my heart breaks for Jake for all the pain he’s endured, and it aches for you, Sheridan, for all the pain that it’s caused. But it would ache forever for this family if we allowed evil to prevail over good, believing a lie instead of a promise from God.”

Sheridan blinked. “What promise, Aunt Libby?”