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“I offered to babysit Ava tonight because I thought you might want to take her out with everyone.”
“She’s not here. She’s gone home for the holidays. Even if she were here, I doubt I would have brought her.”
“No? I thought … that night she was here, it looked like there might be something there. You and she seemed – I don’t know. She isn’t like your usual women.”
Jacob rolled his eyes and let out a short laugh. “Tell me something I don’t know. I felt – feel – like there might be something there with her. But I don’t know, Xander.”
Xander gave him a puzzled look and came back into the family room. “What don’t you know? It’s not like you to be indecisive.”
“I invited everyone back here, because I wanted her to come, and I didn’t think she’d be open to coming back here alone with me. I thought she’d feel safer as part of a crowd. But then – you saw what happened with the mistletoe. It was stupid of me. I already knew she’s not the kind of girl you rush – into anything.”
Xander smirked. “Didn’t look like you were rushing her to me. That was the perfect kiss to tell a girl that you’re into her and to leave her wanting more without making it obvious that you’re after more. We all saw it. Antonio even said that we should all hold up scorecards and that it was a perfect ten.”
Jacob blew out a sigh. “Yeah, and then you all laughed. And Becca heard you and got all embarrassed. She got it into her head that I brought her back here expecting to take her to bed. She thought the way everyone laughed when I kissed her was because you were all laughing at another dumb chick who’d come back here to get laid.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“To be fair, she’s not that far wrong – about you, at least. How many women have you brought back here in the last few years that you didn’t take to bed?”
Jacob frowned. He didn’t want to think about the answer to that.
“She was wrong on what we were laughing about, though. We were all saying that it looked like a beautiful beginning.”
“You were?”
“Yeah. You could just tell. There was something there. Did we blow it for you?”
“No. Not exactly. She made me take her home after that. But we talked a bit, and she gave me her number. She said I could call her and that she’ll go for coffee with me when she gets back.”
“Have you called her yet?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
He blew out a sigh. “Because I don’t know if I should. She’s sweet. Like you said, she’s not the kind of woman I usually date. I keep thinking of her as a girl rather than a woman – I don’t even know how old she is. I … Maybe it’s best if I just forget it.”
“Yeah. You’re right. She is too young for you. She is too nice a person. You should do yourself a favor and lose her number.”
“But … I don’t want to. She might be young, but she’s not a kid. She’s her own woman. And she is nice, but doesn’t that go in her favor? Aren’t I better off with a kind-hearted, caring woman than … my usual type?”
Xander grinned at him. “Looks like you’ve got your answer. I was just playing devil’s advocate. For what it’s worth, I think you should give her a call tonight after Ava’s gone to bed. If you said that you’d call her and you haven’t yet, she’s probably thinking that you’re not going to.”
Jacob smiled at him through pursed lips. “Well played. And thank you. Perhaps you’re right. Perhaps I will call her.”
“Good. Now you’d better get your ass moving if you’re going to get to the cottage before Slade and me. He’ll be here any second.”
~ ~ ~
Becca finished loading the dishwasher and wiped down the counters. It felt strange to be back at the farm. Strange but good. She’d lived the first eighteen years of her life in this house. She’d had a good childhood with two loving parents, three brothers, and her sister. Money had always been tight, but love and laughter had been plentiful. Nothing much had changed in that respect.
Her mom and dad were thrilled to have her home and hadn’t stopped making a fuss over her since they’d met her at the airport. All her brothers had stopped by the house to see her since she’d arrived, and her sister was coming tomorrow.
She’d been shocked at how … rundown the farm looked. Well, it wasn’t rundown, her dad took care of the place. It was just that everything, from the house itself to the barns to the fences, was old and had seen better days. She looked down at the cracked Formica top on the big kitchen table as she wiped it. She’d eaten at this table since she was a toddler.
Still. She pulled herself together and straightened up. Her mom and dad were doing okay. They were happy and mostly healthy, even if seeing them after six months away had made her aware that they were older and poorer than she’d realized.
