Chapter Seventeen #2
Because that kiss had been nothing short of remarkable.
Spontaneous? Absolutely. He’d invited her over on Valentine’s Day, feeling absolutely wretched.
But when she’d pressed up on her toes and kissed him, her touch made him feel like he could conquer the world.
Then he’d spent the last month trying to devise clever ways to see her again.
The anticipation of being alone with Jovi, even for a couple of minutes, had propelled him to action in a way nothing else had for months.
So why had he been foolish enough to throw all that away?
His phone pinged with an incoming DM. He glanced at the screen.
The notification offered a snippet of a message from his mother.
Burke hesitated. They’d traded voice mails and exchanged a few texts but hadn’t spoken since he’d left Charleston.
He wasn’t sure he wanted to know what was on her mind.
But he did love her. What if something unfortunate had happened?
Part of him needed to know that all was well in her world. He opened the DM.
Darling,
I hope you and Darby Jane are getting settled. I still can’t believe you moved to Alaska. Why haven’t you sent any photos yet? I’m dying to see how the two of you look, no doubt all bundled up. It’s been ages since I visited Lois, but I’ll never forget how cold it was outside. Or how dark.
That reminds me…proceed with caution regarding the family that lives down the road. I believe the woman’s name is Carol Wright. She and Lois had a terrible falling out, and if any hard feelings linger, well, I’d hate for Carol or her family to do or say something hurtful to our precious Darby Jane.
Love you to the moon and back. Send pictures, please!
Huh. Interesting timing on his mother’s part.
He’d answer her later. He put his phone on the coffee table and resumed pacing.
A few minutes later, a knock sounded at the door, and he peeked out the window.
Darby Jane and Jovi stood on the porch in the light.
They both held reusable plastic containers.
With a shaky hand, he turned the knob, then opened the door. “Hi.”
Jovi’s guarded expression increased his unease.
“We brought cookies.” Her voice lacked its usual upbeat tone. “You’re welcome to keep both boxes.”
“Oh, no thanks.” He held up his palm. “You can keep some yourself. We’ll never eat that many cookies.”
“I will so.” Darby Jane pushed past him, shoved the box at his chest, then quickly took off her coat and her boots. “Daddy, it was super fun. You have to try the cookies. They are amazing.”
Burke eyed the box. They did look good. Thick sugar cookies with swirls of pink and vanilla frosting and generous sprinkles of coarse red sugar crystals tempted him.
“She did most of the work, so maybe she can share some with friends,” Jovi suggested, her expression as ice-encrusted as the lake outside.
“Great. Thanks.” He turned to his daughter. “Darby Jane, what do you say to Miss Jovi?”
“Thank you.” Darby Jane smiled politely. Flour dotted the front of her shirt and she had a ring of something that looked like frosting around her mouth.
“She may have eaten a few too many cookies.” Jovi frowned, then turned to leave. “I wasn’t paying attention. Too distracted by your big news.”
“Jovi, wait. Please.”
She turned back.
“Daddy, did you tell Miss Jovi that you finished your book?” Darby Jane hung up her coat. “And that there’s some stuff about her in it?”
Oh, no. Darby Jane’s careless comment sent a jolt of shock through his body. Wow, Darbs, you’re two for two tonight.
All he could do was pray for mercy as Jovi stared at him with a mix of disbelief and fury.
“Seriously? I thought you wrote domestic thrillers.”
“I can explain,” he said, barely managing to squeeze the words out before she silenced him with another dark look.
“Don’t bother. I’ve heard enough.”
“But there’s a plausible explanation.”
“Not one I want to hear.” She turned and stepped outside.
He followed after her, tugging the door shut behind him. It was nearly thirty-five degrees below zero outside, but he’d suffer for a few minutes. They needed privacy. He couldn’t afford for Darby Jane to hear another word he said to Jovi.
“I really thought we had a shot at a meaningful relationship.” He gritted his teeth to resist shivering.
She paused on the cabin’s bottom step and whirled to face him. “Yeah, me too. Which makes your deception twice as painful.”
“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
“That can’t possibly be true.” Jovi shoved her hands deep into her coat pockets. “If you didn’t intend to keep secrets, then why didn’t you tell me about the recipes right away? Or that you’re writing a book about me?”
“I’m not writing a book about you,” he insisted.
“And I didn’t tell you I’d found the recipes because we don’t know who they really belong to.
Yes, it appears Carol and Lois had a short-lived partnership selling candy.
But we don’t know exactly what happened or how their business dissolved.
There’s nothing wrong with looking out for my family’s best interests.
Part of me hoped that if I figured out what had really happened, maybe our families would call a truce. Then we’d be able to…”
He trailed off. She glared icicles at him, her breath leaving little puffs of white clouds in the cold night air. His porch light illuminated half her face in a yellow glow, hinting at her barely contained rage.
“Why did you move here, Burke? To root out dysfunction and save us from our petty small-town drama?”
He gritted his teeth. “You know why I moved here.”
“I’m wondering if the real reason you’re here is because you’re still running from a scandal you’ve tried your best to conceal.”
“How dare you.” The words rumbled low in his throat, his anger threatening to boil over. How could she accuse him of such a thing?
“I’m just saying, it seems like a convenient coincidence that you move to Alaska, settle into your aunt’s cabin, all under the guise of making a fresh start. Especially given the well-documented scandal you left behind in Charleston.”
Burke took a step closer. “What are you trying to say? Not too long ago, you acted empathetic. Told me people should be rooting for me. So what changed?”
Scoffing, Jovi bit her lip and looked away. “You’re really something, you know that? You’ve been lying and manipulating me this whole time. How did I not see it?”
“I haven’t been manipulating anything,” Burke protested.
“Really? Because it seems like you had no intention of telling me about the contents of your book or the recipes you found until Darby Jane revealed all your secrets.”
“That’s not true. I was just waiting for the right time.”
“When exactly was the right time? After I fell for you?”
He reeled back. Her words stung. “No, that’s not it at all.” Burke forced himself to calm down. He didn’t want to fight with Jovi, but her accusations were unfair.
“Then what is it?” Jovi challenged, stepping closer to him again.
He took a deep breath, trying to control his temper before he said something he would regret.
The silence between them thickened as they stood facing each other in the freezing cold. Finally, he broke the tense stillness.
“I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. I just want answers.”
“And you’re willing to betray my trust to get them?”
“Betrayal’s a bit strong, isn’t it? There’s no harm in protecting my family. Isn’t that what you’re doing?”
“Oh, how clever you are, Burke, twisting words to justify your selfish behavior.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm.
“I applaud your efforts. You almost succeeded in charming me and making me look like a fool. This is the third time a man I cared about chose not to tell me the truth. I’m sick of it, and I’m done falling for men who lie. ”
He winced. Man, he hated that she’d been betrayed twice before. Or that she’d lumped him in with her exes. “Jovi, I—” He reached out to touch her arm, but she shook him off.
“Leave me alone.” She stormed down the driveway and into the darkness.
Despite the freezing temperature, sweat beaded on Burke’s forehead. His breath came in short gasps, and his heart pounded against his rib cage. He clenched his jaw, trying to calm himself down.
Jovi’s harsh words cut deep. He’d truly believed they had something special. Until she’d called him a liar. Just like the last two men who’d broken her heart. He had to make things right. His actions had been for the good of his family, but she couldn’t see that. She probably never would.
* * *
“You are never gonna believe this.” Jovi slipped off her boots, hung her coat up, then padded across Isabel and Mason’s living room and flopped in the overstuffed chair beside the fire.
Her sister reclined on the sofa, her feet propped up, and her giant water bottle tucked in close to her side. “Oh, I don’t know.” Isabel stifled a yawn. “I’ve heard some pretty wild things lately.”
“Darby Jane asked if she could come over. She wanted to tell me about the school play she’d auditioned for.
So I asked her to help me make cookies. Burke came too, and he was eating a piece of chocolate and enjoying his coffee when Darby Jane lets it slip that they found a dollhouse in Mac and Lois’s shed. Inside was a whole stack of recipes.”
Isabel sat up. “You’re kidding.”
“I wish I was.” She frowned. “Our conversation got a little heated.”
Now that she’d had time to think about it, she wasn’t exactly proud of the way she’d spoken to him. But she just couldn’t look beyond the evidence: Burke had intentionally concealed the truth. What else was he not telling her?
“Are these recipes for products we sell at the candy company?”
“Darby Jane said the recipes are for candy. Burke said the ingredients on the recipe cards are likely some of the traditional ingredients we still use today.”
Isabel sat forward, her eyes gleaming. “Do you think Burke has the salted caramel chew recipe?”