Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
“I can’t believe it!” Hallie ground out, pacing.
Faith and Sammie watched her pace back and forth outside of Sal’s Diner. They’d been gone for three hours already and still, Hallie hadn’t managed to cool off.
In front of Jacob, she’d sworn to herself that she’d remain calm and kind. He needed to have someone solid he could count on, to lean on. But when she’d seen him snap at the friends who were only trying to be nice, she’d lost it.
No, she didn’t know what he was going through. Not really.
But she knew that he was hurting.
From the outside, she’d told herself over and over that he was going to be fine. He’d get through this. The fractures could have been so much worse.
But the longer she spent in his company, the more she realized how wrong she’d been.
Jacob wasn’t going to get through this as easily as she’d hoped. For some reason he wasn’t bouncing back. He wasn’t looking at the bright side.
“Has he talked to you?” Faith asked quietly.
Sammie nodded. “Yeah, is he talking about his feelings?”
Hallie snorted so hard that it turned into a coughing fit when a little bit of spittle went down her airway.
She coughed several times then sucked in a deep breath and stopped to stare at each of them.
“Are we talking about the same Jacob Hines? The man is a fortress. He never talks about his feelings. He’s always a go-getter.
When he wants something, he does whatever is necessary.
I’ve never heard him utter a single critical thought. Have you?”
They glanced at each other. “To be fair,” Faith whispered, “we don’t really know him. Not like you do.”
“Well, take my word for it. Jacob isn’t a well of readily available emotion. He’s bottling that stuff up tight and there’s no getting to it.”
“That’s probably why he lashed out,” Sammie admitted. “Some guys are like that. They don’t know how to talk about what they’re going through, so they let it fester. It’s a wound that’s going to get infected and either someone will have to dig it out of them, or it will slowly kill them.”
Hallie paused her pacing and wrapped her arms around her middle. “You don’t think he’ll get depressed, do you?”
“It’s a possibility. I mean, from what you told me, he’s got a good shot at maintaining his lifestyle. The chance that he’ll be able to return to work is good. Really good.”
“I know! That’s just it, though. I don’t think he’s even giving himself a chance to see that.” Hallie shook her head, her fury returning. “And I don’t know what to do.”
Her friends continued to stare at her and she stared right back.
“Well?”
“Well, what?” Faith asked.
“What do I do?” Hallie moved to the side of the building and leaned against the brick, letting her head fall back against the wall. “It’s so frustrating. Because it’s all my fault.”
“Whoa, hold up. No, it’s not!” Sammie snapped, moving closer. “None of this is your fault. He made a choice. And yeah, it turned out bad for him, but—”
“He saved my life, Sammie. He jumped in front of that animal. I could have been killed.”
Sammie slammed her mouth shut.
Hallie sighed, tears fighting to spring free. “I shouldn’t have been in that field in the first place.”
“Why were you there, anyway?” Faith asked.
Hallie stiffened. She glanced between her friends then away. “I wanted to get a better look at that tree. You know the one. With yellow flowers…”
Faith nodded with understanding. “That is a pretty tree.” There was something in her voice that gave Hallie pause. Or maybe it was the way she cut a quick look at Sammie. Hallie didn’t have a chance to demand to know what they were thinking between themselves before Sammie spoke up.
“Are you saying you think he’s holding this against you?” Sammie asked.
Hallie’s lower lip puckered. She couldn’t say that for certain.
And part of her wondered if Jacob’s attitude had something to do with her confessing her feelings for him.
She was still so mortified over the whole thing that she hadn’t told her friends about it.
The pitiful look she knew they’d give her when they found out he turned her down would shatter what little self-respect she still had.
“Hallie?” Sammie pressed.
Shaking her head, Hallie sighed. “I don’t think his mood is because he blames me per se. I think he’s just having a hard time coping with his current situation. He went from being independent to having to take it easy. That would be hard on any of us.”
Faith nodded. “Agreed.”
Sammie pressed her lips into a thin line. “Then I think the best thing you can do is to be there for him. You guys are so close. I swear you’re probably his best friend.”
Hallie flinched inwardly. If they were at one point, they weren’t anymore. Based on the way he was treating her, Jacob was likely counting down the days until she was out of his house. “Yeah,” she murmured noncommittally. “I can do that.”
“Good,” Sammie said, her voice chipper. “Just be there for him. Be empathetic. Upbeat. Patient. He’ll come around.”
Nodding, Hallie forced a smile.
“And the best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. So how about we pick up his favorite food from Sal’s? That should cheer him up. You know what he likes, right?” Sammie wagged her brows and nodded toward the building. “We’ll get lunch. Then grab him something to eat.”
“Yeah, okay. That sounds good.”
All through lunch, Hallie couldn’t stop wondering if Jacob’s mood had more to do with having to live with a girl he wanted nothing to do with. She continued to fidget in her seat as Faith updated Sammie on her engagement.
Faith was practically glowing. Everything between her and Brent had worked out perfectly even though they’d started out on rocky ground.
Jealousy flared to life in Hallie’s chest though she had no right to it. She’d been friends with Jacob for a long time and there had only been brief moments when he’d shown even an inkling of interest in her.
And those moments? They could be all in her head. Maybe she’d seen something when there hadn’t been anything at all. Her thoughts shifted to the night when she’d told Jacob she had feelings for him and her skin heated with embarrassment.
“Hallie?”
Startling, Hallie glanced toward Sammie. “Yeah?”
“You okay? You’re really red.”
The fact that her emotions were so easily read on her face made the heat sear even hotter.
Hallie ducked her head as she grabbed her glass of water and took a sip.
“I’m good.” The crack in her voice betrayed her further.
Based on the way her two friends had gone quiet, Hallie knew they weren’t going to let this go all that easily.
Slowly, she lifted her eyes to meet Sammie’s. This was so embarrassing. “Okay, no. I’m not okay.”
They continued to stare at her expectantly, but they didn’t press her.
Groaning, Hallie returned her glass of water to the table then put her face into her hands.
“I might have told Jacob that I had a crush on him.” She peeked through her fingers at the two seated at her table.
They didn’t appear to be surprised, even though she’d never told them she liked him as more than a friend.
“Well? Aren’t you going to say something? ”
Faith shifted in her seat, her expression blank. But Sammie’s eyes sparkled. “Really?” she whispered, excitement in her voice. “And what did he say?”
This was where the mortification started. “He said he’s not interested. He doesn’t feel the same.”
Sammie frowned. “But…”
“Did you expect something else? He’s married to his job. And he’s never shown me any affection beyond the friendship we have.”
“That’s not true—”
“Oh, it is, I can assure you.” Hallie attempted a laugh to break the tension her confession had invited. “It’s fine. Totally fine. I’m good. It’s just… a little awkward right now.”
The empathy shining in Faith’s eyes was painful to say the least.
But Sammie didn’t seem to be deterred. “Do you think it could change?”
“What? His feelings?” Hallie scoffed. “No. Absolutely not. The man is a fortress. He’s not interested in me.
Heck, he’s probably blaming me for what happened to him.
If I had to bet, I’d say he wants me out of his house more than anything.
He’s just stuck with me because he doesn’t have any family.
” Come to think of it, she couldn’t think of a single conversation when he’d discussed his family since they’d met. Maybe he truly was alone.
“Hallie,” Sammie started softly, but Hallie cut her off with a shake of her head, refusing to let her friend make this into something it wasn’t.
Or something uncomfortable she couldn’t avoid.
“Like I said, I’m fine. Don’t go feeling bad for me. Things are… weird… but we’ll get over it.” She said it more to convince herself than to convince her friends. It was all too easy to accept the blame, to put fall victim to the guilt of spilling a secret she’d sworn to keep.
“Well, if anything changes and you need someone to talk to…” Sammie offered.
Faith nodded in agreement. “If you need somewhere to hide away when things get rough, you know where you can go.”
Hallie smiled weakly at them. She picked up her phone and sighed. “I should probably get back. I assured him I’d get lunch on the table.”
Hallie entered the quiet cabin, but Jacob wasn’t anywhere in sight. It felt almost too quiet. Like he wasn’t even here.
Immediately, that set her heart into overdrive and the hairs on the back of her neck rose.
She put the to-go boxes on the counter and started a sweep through the cabin.
His truck was here, so at least she knew if he’d gone somewhere, he was with someone.
But if he’d gone somewhere without the truck, that could indicate something bad.
Jacob was known to overdo things when he shouldn’t. If he felt cooped up, she wouldn’t have been surprised to find out that he was wandering the property.