Chapter 38
JACQUELINE
The week after Jesse had left felt strange.
Quiet but not peaceful. Hubert helped a lot, following me everywhere like he was making up for lost time.
He curled up at my feet when I was at home, nudged my arm when I stopped petting him for more than thirty seconds at any given time, and insisted on being involved in every part of my day if I wasn’t at the office.
We took walks and went exploring, spent a ton of time cuddling on the couch, and settled into life together now that he was back with me. I loved every second of it, but I was also grateful that it gave me something to focus on that wasn’t him.
When I wasn’t occupying my time with Hubert, I threw myself into work. Early mornings, late nights, and back-to-back meetings, taking on anything that would keep my mind from drifting.
On Wednesday afternoon, however, I opened my inbox and saw an email that made my entire body go still.
From: Huntley and Associates - London
Subject: Request for Meeting – Westwood Estate Matters
Dear Ms. Calhoun,
We would like to request a Zoom meeting at your earliest convenience to discuss matters pertaining to the estate of the late Mr. ZSC Westwood.
My breath caught and I stopped reading, already knowing this meant that Alex had actually done it. He’d pulled so many strings that I was now being contacted by a London-based attorney and they wanted to meet with me.
For a long second, I just sat there, staring at the screen, unable to believe that someone actually wanted to talk to me about this.
I swallowed hard, taking a second to gather my thoughts.
This was the thing. That one thing that had been following my family around for years.
That thing that had shaped not only the way we viewed ourselves but our role within my mother’s so-called family.
We’d tried for years to address it and now it was being fixed because of Jesse. I really couldn’t get my head wrapped around the fact that he hadn’t only gotten my dog back, but he was now handling something I hadn’t even let myself hope would ever change.
The more I thought about him and everything he’d done for me, the more my throat started aching. Hell, not even everything he’d done, but everything he was still doing even though I’d made it pretty clear that he and I could never work.
I stared at the email for another second before closing the tab. Honestly, I didn’t know what to do with it. I didn’t know how to move forward when it felt like the world as I’d always known it was shifting under my feet.
Mercifully, Miranda saved me from myself when she appeared like magic in my office door. “Hey, Jacque. I have a question for you.”
“Let’s hope I have an answer for you,” I said.
She chuckled as she walked in and dropped into the chair across from me. “The firm got invited to this thing in New York this weekend, but I can’t go. I’ve got court on Monday and I need the weekend to prep.”
I leaned back in my chair and arched an eyebrow at her. “Do you need help with the prep?”
“I need help with the New York thing, actually. I was wondering if you might be willing to go in my place.”
After considering it for less than a minute, I nodded and smiled at her. “I’ll do it.”
New York was a different city with a very different energy. I’d never spent much time there, but I’d always wanted to, and besides, it’d get me away from here for a minute, which would be great. A change of scenery was as good as a holiday after all.
Miranda grinned. “I knew you’d say yes.”
“On one condition,” I said, reaching for the picture of Hubert on my desk and turning it toward her. “You’ll have to babysit for the weekend.”
Her eyes lit up. “This just keeps getting better and better. I’d be honored to watch him for you.”
“Then it’s done.” I smiled down at the picture for a beat myself, exhaling slowly as I imagined leaving him again, but at least it would only be for a couple days. “I’ll bring him over to your place before I head for the airport.”
“I can’t wait.” She stood up, giving me a softer smile as she paused in my doorway. “This is going to be good for you, Jacqueline. I can feel it in my bones.”
I snorted trying to hold back a laugh. “Alright, that’s quite enough of that. You and your bones need to get back to work.”
She let out a long-suffering sigh. “Isn’t that just the story of my life?”
Sweeping out of my office with her hand pressed to her forehead like a damsel in distress, she pulled the door shut behind her and I chuckled, shaking my head at her theatrics. Gosh, she’s got to be the best boss in the whole bloody world, I swear.
The rest of the day felt lighter after my exchange with her, the promise of a trip to New York City giving me something incredible to look forward to. When I got home that evening, I was planning on getting a head start on packing, but Hubert came barreling toward me the second I opened the door.
“Hi,” I said, laughing softly as I crouched down to greet him. “Did you miss me or are you just ready for your walk?”
He licked my chin in response and I laughed again before I stood. “I’ll take that as a yes. On both counts. Let me just go change, alright?”
Sticking close to my side as I headed down the hall, he kept letting out these happy, excited little yaps that made me move just a bit faster. Once I was done changing, I grabbed his leash by the door and clipped it onto his collar.
“Come on, then,” I said. “Let’s go for a walk, big boy. I was actually wondering if you’d be up for it after our run this morning, but I suppose I’ve got my answer.”
He perked up immediately when I opened the door, practically dragging me down the hall.
I tightened my grip on his leash and kept up, but I was going to have to look into finding a new place now that he was here.
Something with a yard would be ideal, even if I would probably have to move to a different neighborhood to be able to afford it.
Hubert trotted happily beside me once we reached the street, completely content now that we were outside.
I turned toward the park, grateful for all the green spaces within easy walking distance of my apartment.
They were really saving my behind with Hubert.
He kept his nose plastered to the ground the entire way there, evidently fascinated by every smell in this new city.
It took us a few minutes to get to the park, but as soon as we walked into it, my entire world tilted. I stopped so abruptly that Hubert took another two steps before he even realized I wasn’t moving anymore.
Jesse and Alex were right there, only just ahead of me, with Cameron racing around in front of them. Both men were watching him, but their heads were bent together, clearly talking to one another even as they kept an eye on the joyful toddler.
My heart slammed against my ribs. No. No, no, no.
I ducked back behind the corner so fast that I nearly tripped over my own feet, pressing myself against the brick wall like that would somehow make me invisible.
Hubert looked up at me, clearly confused and straining to go back the other way.
Fun was happening without him in the park and Hubert was not having it.
“Shh,” I whispered, afraid he might announce our presence to the entire world while all I really wanted was to disappear.
I knew how ridiculous it was that I was hiding. I shouldn’t be. I wasn’t doing anything wrong and we all lived in the same neighborhood in the same city. Naturally, we were going to run into each other from time to time, but I felt like I’d been caught doing something I shouldn’t.
Finally convincing myself to risk a glance around the corner, I let out a quiet groan when I saw they were still there.
Jesse’s hands were in his pockets, his posture relaxed in that effortless way he had, like nothing in the world could really shake him.
I pulled back again, pressing my head lightly against the wall.
What is wrong with me? Seriously. What the actual hell is wrong with me? I mean, look at him.
Why couldn’t I just accept him? Why couldn’t I just believe what he’d told me and accept that my feelings—our feelings—were good?
I so, so badly wanted to do just that, but no. Instead, I’d dissected everything between us into oblivion, overanalyzing what could go wrong and putting so much stock into every possible scenario where this ended badly that I’d ended it. Badly.
All that despite the fact that his actions had very much spoken otherwise. He’d literally flown across the world and risked arrest to get my dog back, and I’d still gone ahead and questioned his feelings for me.
“This is insane,” I muttered under my breath. “I should not be hiding.”
Frankly, I needed either a therapist or a breakdown, the latter being the option that felt more likely at this point. It was probably imminent if I didn’t get my shit together, so I exhaled slowly and forced myself to move, turning away from the corner and heading in the opposite direction.
“Come on,” I said quietly to Hubert. “We’ll take the long way home.”
He whined but followed without question. In the end, we went for a jog, winding up at another park and spending some time there before we went back to the apartment. As soon as I’d unclipped his leash and kicked off my shoes, I headed straight for my bedroom to start packing.
At least that would give me something productive to do. Something other than think about Jesse and start spiraling all over again.
Hubert flopped down on the bed, immediately making himself comfortable while I pulled out my suitcase and tossed it onto the mattress beside him. “You are not helping.”
He blinked at me and I shook my head. “Don’t judge me. I can feel you judging me, big boy. I know you saw him too and I realize you might’ve liked to say hi, but we couldn’t. I couldn’t. It’s too soon. You understand, right?”
He yawned and I let out a quiet laugh, acknowledging that I was fully descending into insanity if I was mildly offended by my dog yawning at me in response to that question. Finally, I spun away from him and started pulling clothes from my closet.
I was halfway through deciding between two dresses for the party itself when the front door buzzer went off. For one quick, irrational second, I thought it might be Jesse, but I snuffed that hope in the bud before it could take root.
It wouldn’t be him. I’d seen to that.
Hubert lifted his head, his ears perking as he looked over at me.
“I don’t know who it is, boy, but I doubt it’s anything to get excited about,” I said, already heading for the door. “Just stay here, alright? I’ll be right back.”
Obviously, he did not stay. He trotted beside me until I reached the intercom, then sat down dutifully at my feet when I pressed the button. “Hello?”
“Good evening, ma’am,” a polite voice said. “I have a delivery for Jacqueline Calhoun.”
I frowned but pressed the button to let them in. I headed downstairs, confused as heck about what this might be. To the best of my memory, I hadn’t ordered anything that was due to be delivered, but when I reached the lobby, a man in a uniform stood waiting with a sleek envelope in his hand.
“Ms. Calhoun?” he asked.
“That’s me.”
“This is for you, then.” He handed over the envelope. “Have a good evening, ma’am.”
He didn’t even ask me to sign anything before he was gone, leaving me with the heavy, expensive-looking envelope in my hands. I took it back upstairs before I opened it, my heart pounding for some reason as I slid a finger under the seal.
It turned out my gut instinct to be nervous about it was right, however. Inside was an elegant invitation to Alex and Jane Westwood’s Gala. My stomach swooped as I stared at it, wondering why on earth they’d invite me—and how on earth I was going to get away with saying no.