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She blinked up at him. Tears rushed past her dark lashes and her lip trembled. “I believe you,” she whispered.
He loved the trust in those three words.
Then she backed up and gave a little cry. “I have to go.”
“Okay.” He stepped back. Then he let her go.
She turned and ran through the sliding doors, the suitcase wobbling violently behind her on its wheels.
Jace watched until he couldn’t see her through the glass any longer. He’d let her go. It sucked. She said she believed him, though, and he’d promised to find a way to be together. What did that mean? If she wasn’t willing to stay, that meant long distance, him going to see her when the resort was slow or her coming for the weekend. He couldn’t leave his family, his valley, his friends, and his ski resort that he and his brother had built and dedicated their lives to. He couldn’t do that to Ammon again.
He and Ayla had a more whirlwind romance than even he and Iluminada had. He probably needed to slow down. Get a decent night’s sleep. Pray. Talk to his parents, his brother, his friends, and Pastor Sam. Maybe he just needed to hit the mountain and ski until things got clearer.
Ayla. He could see her blue eyes and that bright, infectious smile. He could hear her lilting voice, and feel her lips on his, her trusting and loving him.
No matter what happened, Jace would never squander her hard-earned trust. He loved her.
Now he had to figure out how to prove that to her.
ChapterFifteen
Ayla had a raging headache by the time she arrived in Barstow. It could’ve been lack of sleep, all the tears she’d silently cried on the flight, her seat companion giving her odd looks, skipping dinner last night and breakfast this morning, or simply that she was in love … and she’d left him and already missed him.
It wasn’t fair that Jace had to figure it out, but it meant the world to her that he’d volunteered to. He hadn’t made her feel guilty or pressured her. He’d simply earned her trust and her love and had done all he could to protect her, make her smile, and light up her world with his kisses.
Her parents were waiting in their old Chevy truck when she walked out of the airport. She hugged them both tightly and asked them to take her to see her grandma. She didn’t know if she was selfish or self-sacrificing. If she told them the entire story, she knew they would never expect her to stay in Barstow for them, but they adored her and with Shayna gone … how could she leave them?
The visit to her grandmother was pretty good, considering. Grandma was hurting but so happy to see her. The facility and staff were nice, clean, respectful, and committed to the best care for her grandma.
And very soon, Ayla would be unable to afford it.
After they left the facility, they went to lunch at Lola’s Kitchen, a Mexican restaurant they all loved. She’d given them scant details of the craziness of her weekend, but it all spilled out at lunch. Her dad got more quiet and her mom more verbose as she shared every detail—well, except forallthe kisses with Jace. Though she admitted to kissing him and liking it a lot. Her parents kept exchanging meaningful glances and her mom asked question after question.
After lunch, she had her parents take her to her condo. She needed to rest, pray, meditate, make spreadsheets of pros and cons of driving straight back to Colorado, look online for jobs, there was a long list of things she needed to do.
Her dad stopped the truck in front of her condo. She looked around at the barren, ugly landscape. Barstow had always been home, but she didn’t want to be here. It reminded her of Tim, of losing Shayna, and of crushing debt and responsibility.
She needed to call Taryn. They’d go for a run in the morning and chat, and Taryn would have some great suggestions. If Ayla actually implemented any of them would be another story. She could imagine Taryn would push her to fly, drive, or literally run back to Jace if she had to.
“Thanks,” she told her parents. “I missed you both and love you very much.”
“Love you,” her dad grunted out, always the gruff farmer but such a good guy.
She put her hand on the door handle.
“Ayla,” her mom said, stopping her.
“Yeah?”
“You’ve told us a lot about this Jace. He sounds like an incredible man.”
“He is.” Would he really figure out a way to make them work? If only she could take that job he’d offered her. Traveling back and forth or FaceTiming didn’t seem like near enough.
She looked at her parents’ faces. They were sun worn from all the hours of working outside, scraping a living from this dry land, and heartbroken over losing their daughter, both of her dad’s parents and her mom’s dad, and two of her uncles. So much loss. So much responsibility and burden. What did they have to look forward to in life besides time with her?
“Why’d you leave him?” her dad blurted out.
“Excuse me?” She looked from her mom’s blue eyes to her dad’s green. “I had to be here for you. For grandma. Taryn’s here, my home is here,” she gestured to her condo, it wasn’t fancy or Christmas-perfection like Jace’s cabin and valley, but it was hers, “my job … well, okay, I have to find a new job, but …”
