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Hannah sank back into one of the huge leather armchairs and rested her head back.
“Do you want a drink?” asked Jacob.
“Are you having one?”
“I am.”
“Okay, I’ll join you. But don’t go wasting the expensive stuff on me. I’m a heathen.”
A small smile played on his lips as he poured himself a Cognac and then a smaller one for her. She thanked him as she took the glass, then held it up and sniffed. “I love this stuff, but it always seems too grown up for me.”
Jacob chuckled as he lowered himself into the armchair facing her. “Maybe it’s time you grow up, then?”
She stuck her tongue out at him; she couldn’t help it. “I keep trying, but I never quite get it right.”
“If it’s any consolation, I’m glad that things didn’t work out with Nathan.”
“That’s supposed to console me? I thought consoling someone meant that you show them sympathy?”
Jacob pursed his lips. “As far as I’m concerned, breaking up with him deserves congratulations, not sympathy. You would have had my sympathy if he’d somehow managed to con you into marrying him.”
Hannah blew out a sigh. “Okay. I know you’re right. But I feel so stupid.”
“We live and learn.”
“So philosophical.”
Jacob gave her a small smile. “So, what happens now? Do you have any plans?”
“I don’t know.”
“The cottage is ready if you want to move in.”
She met his gaze. “Honestly? I’m tempted. But if I come home, it’s like admitting defeat. It’s like saying that I tried to make it on my own out in the big world – and I failed.”
“It’s not failure. I wish you wouldn’t look at everything like that. Life isn’t just a simple case of getting things right or wrong. You have to experiment before you even know what you want. You tried out living in the city. You discovered that it doesn’t suit you. You dated a few guys and you found out that smooth-talking guys in slick suits aren’t your thing. That’s not failure. That’s a few successful steps down the path of finding out what does work for you and what you do want.”
She smiled through pursed lips. “The way you can turn things around like that, you could be accused of being a smooth-talking guy in a slick suit.”
He laughed. “Nope. I’m an eloquent man in a hand-made suit.”
Hannah had to laugh with him. “I guess it’s all in the eye of the beholder.”
“It is. But at least it’s got you laughing again. Say you’ll stay, Hannah-banana?”
Her chest flooded with warmth and tears pricked behind her eyes at the sound of her childhood nickname. He hadn’t called her that in years. “Just so you can keep an eye on me and make sure that I don’t screw my life up any more than I already have?”
His eyebrows drew together. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You haven’t screwed up that badly. You built a good career that you can go back to if you want. You might have questionable taste in men, but you haven’t run off and gotten married to some deadbeat. I’m not asking you to come home to recover from your so-called screw ups; I’m asking because I’m tired of running this place all by myself. Well, that’s not true. I’m fine running the place. I enjoy it. But … it’s our family home. Our family business. But there’s no family here. The staff is great. They’re good people and we’re lucky to have them. But … call me sentimental if you will … but I miss you. I miss Xander, too, and perhaps in a few years, he’ll move home as well. You can take the cottage for now if you don’t want to stay here with me. We can build you a place if you want – select a spot and you can build whatever you want.” He stopped and took a sip of his drink. “What do you say?”
Hannah stared at him for a long moment. “Are you saying you’re lonely?”
He stared back at her. “Not exactly. I’m … you know I love running the estate. I love running the company. I’m not lonely in the traditional sense. I have as much company as I want.”
Hannah pursed her lips and tried not to look disapproving. She probably saw Jacob in the news more often than she saw him in person – and he was never without a beautiful woman on his arm.
He laughed. “I’m not weighing in on your dating life, so don’t start on mine.”
She gave him a rueful smile. “That’s fair, I suppose.”
