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Missy heard the line go dead and knew Jake had hung up. She just stared at the phone. This conversation hadn’t gone any differently than the last ten times she had called him over the past few weeks.
She tried to go on without him and she would do well for a few days, but then she lost her resolve and called again. She knew she needed to keep trying. She had to think about her baby. Their baby.
He had broken things off with her as soon as he found out she was pregnant. She’d been stunned. Numb for weeks.
Was it really possible he could be so cruel? So brutally cold as to leave her and try to work things out with his ex-wife just when she found out she was pregnant with his child? How had she miscalculated so severely? How could she have been so wrong about the kind of person he was? About his love for her?
She slipped her phone in her pocket. She would go talk to Jill. If she told Jill about the baby and asked her to step aside, to let Missy and Jake be together for the sake of their baby, maybe she could convince him to come back to her. To his family.
She drove almost blindly to the address she had for Jill. She had seen the directions written on a notepad in Jake’s office one day. When she asked why he had Jill’s new address, he’d told her he had to take over some paperwork related to the divorce. Now she wondered if he’d been visiting Jill all along.
Missy parked a block away and walked over. She needed to gather her courage to do this.
Jill would see her as a homewrecker. As the mistress. But that wasn’t what Missy was. Not really.
She had never intended to fall for Jake. He was just so convincing. Before she knew it, she had fallen in love and there wasn’t any turning back.
But turn back was what Missy wanted to do now. She wanted to run away, but she needed to do this. She stood across from Jill’s house, hands in her pockets watching, thinking, trying to muster up the courage to walk up the driveway and ask Jill to let go of the man she loved.
Chapter Forty-Three
Andrew and Jill arrived minutes behind Chad, Jennie, Jack, and Kelly. He could tell Jill was worried. Neither of them had slept well the night before and the strain around the corner of Jill’s mouth was clear anytime he looked her way.
She was tense and had barely commented on any of the scenery during the drive. She would normally spot any wildlife and point out pretty trees or even rows of houses that were somehow unique or eye catching.
They needed the respite the cabin offered. They piled out of their cars and began to unload luggage and dogs.
Jill let Rev out of his crate in the back of Jill’s SUV and Jennie sprang Zeke and Zoe from their crates in the back of Jack’s vehicle. They all laughed as the dogs raced in circles, burning off energy after the long road trip.
As he always did, Chad took Jennie’s bag along with his and carried it into the house. Andrew shook his head. That man was in love with Jennie.
After everyone settled into their rooms, Chad, Jennie, Jack, and Kelly decided to get in a half-day of skiing.
Andrew pulled Jill onto his arms. “We’ll stay here and snuggle. I’m beat.”
Jack and Chad gave him equally lecherous smiles. “Sure, you stay here and rest,” Jack said and the others walked out the door.
In all honesty, Andrew was exhausted. He had spent half the night awake. Worrying. Watching Jill sleep. Wondering how he would survive if anything happened to her. Jarrod texted this morning to let him know that Theresa hadn’t shown up for work today. She was now officially in the wind.
Andrew was pretty sure Theresa didn’t know about the ski cabin but he didn’t want to chance leaving Jill there alone while he went skiing. He knew she would normally go out on her snowshoes and look for wildlife to photograph, but he hoped he could keep her inside.
They settled on the couch in front of the fire, her soft, warm body wrapped up in his. She fit in his arms in a way no one else had. Andrew tucked Jill’s head under his chin and held her tight.
“You okay?” She was idly tracing a path up his arm and back down with her fingers, the soft rhythm of it almost putting Andrew into a trance.
“Hmm. Just tired. I’ll be glad when this is over so I can relax.”
She continued the soothing stroke up and down his arms as, despite his best intentions, he fell asleep in front of the fire.
Jill heard Andrew’s breathing become soft and steady – the steady breathing of sleep. She carefully lifted his arm off of her stomach and slid out from under him. Ouch! Her legs had gone to sleep and Jill gritted her teeth as the pins and needles hit.
Shaking her legs out, she wandered to the kitchen to see what supplies were left from the last trip. They always had plenty of canned goods on hand and there was beer and wine in the fridge. Nothing fresh, though. They should have stopped on the way to stock up on food for the weekend.
Looking at Andrew asleep on the couch, she debated going to get groceries. Even though they didn’t think Theresa knew about the cabin, Jill figured it was better to wait for Andrew to wake up so they could go together.
She sat down and read a few chapters of a book and then worked for a bit on her laptop, cataloguing pictures for her website. An hour into the work, she was interrupted by the quiet buzz of Andrew’s phone vibrating on the kitchen counter. Jill picked it up and looked at the display: Jarrod Harmon.
“Hi Jarrod,” Jill whispered into the phone. “Andrew’s asleep. It’s Jill.”
