Chapter 45
FORTY-FIVE
The chatter of happy voices filled the living room—Kenzie’s sisters’ laughter, her father’s deep rumble as he told some story, the guys’ quiet conversations.
The scent of her mother’s beef stew still lingered in the air, rich and comforting, mixing with the woodsmoke from the fireplace.
Kenzie had no idea how Mom had pulled together a meal for this many people on such short notice, but somehow she had.
It was a gift, the way she could make anyone feel welcome, feed any number of mouths, turn chaos into warmth.
The door from the garage opened, and Delaney stepped inside carrying shopping bags. “Someone needs to tell Maine it’s spring.”
“You’ve gotten used to the weather in Virginia.” Kenzie grabbed one of the bags, weighed down with two-liter bottles of soda.
“Said the one who’s lived in the Caribbean for years.” Cici took another bag from Delaney, chose a bag of chips, and tore it open. “You’ve both gotten soft.”
“Careful, sis. I’m anything but soft.” Despite the tough response, Kenzie shivered. “But it is freezing here.” At least there was a fire crackling in the hearth. Much as she didn’t love the cold, she loved a cozy fire.
“The strangest thing just happened.” Delaney removed her jacket and hung it on a hook in the utility room. “I ran into someone I know from Driftwood at the grocery store.”
“From Virginia? That is weird,” Cici said. “Did she say what she’s doing in Shadow Cove?”
“He,” Delaney corrected. “I guess he has business nearby, but he’s a physician, so I’m not sure what kind of business.”
“He didn’t say?” Kenzie asked.
“No.” Delaney helped put away the groceries. She’d gone for a nightlight for Charlotte and ended up with a list. “As long as you’re going…”
One thing had turned into three shopping bags full of “necessities” like Mountain Dew, chips, and candy.
“I’d swear he saw me,” Delaney said, “but he looked away. I thought I’d imagined it until I ended up in line behind him.”
“Ex-boyfriend?” Noah stepped into the room and kissed Delaney. “Glad you’re back. I missed you.”
“I was gone for twenty minutes.”
“You left me with your sisters, though.” He winked at Kenzie. “I’m lucky I survived.”
Delaney shook her head, but there was no mistaking the love in her eyes. She had it bad for Jaz’s big brother.
“When you’re done making out,” Cici said, “maybe you could finish your story?”
“We weren’t…” Delaney’s cheeks pinked. She looked at Noah, then sighed. “At the grocery store, I saw Ethan.”
“You mean Dr. Wright?” His eyebrows lifted. He didn’t look amused. “I swear that guy—”
“You’re jumping to conclusions.” Delaney looked at Kenzie and Cici. “Noah has this weird idea that—”
“Why else would he be here?” Noah stepped back, his expression transforming in an instant. “He’s…he’s stalking you!”
“He’s not stalking me.” Delaney was shaking her head, clearly unconcerned. “He never even asked me out.”
“Yet every time we see him, he can’t keep his eyes off you. I’m telling you, there’s something going on with that guy. And now he’s in Shadow Cove?”
“He said he has business—”
“Sure he does.”
Kenzie didn’t know Jaz’s brother very well, but she’d never gotten the impression he was possessive.
As Noah crossed his arms, frustration clear in the way his brows gathered, he looked like the poster child for a jealous fiancé. “What business would a Virginia physician have in Maine?”
“Whatever it is, it has nothing to do with us.” Delaney seemed sorry she’d said anything.
They finished stowing the groceries, and Kenzie stepped into the living room, eager to get away from Noah and Delaney’s disagreement.
She stood at the threshold, her gaze settling on Jaz, who sat cross-legged on the floor in the far corner, a plastic teacup in one hand and a doll in the other.
“More tea, Uncle Jasper?” Charlotte held up a tiny pink teapot, her blond curls bouncing as she poured imaginary liquid into his cup.
“Why, thank you, Princess Charlotte.” He lifted the cup to his lips, pinky extended. “Delicious.”
Charlotte giggled. When she turned to serve her stuffed bear, Jaz’s smile faltered just slightly—a flicker of pain. Kenzie couldn’t imagine what it cost him to sit there, to be Uncle Jasper, to watch his daughter call another man “Dad.”
But he wasn’t the same man he’d been when he’d first learned of Charlotte’s existence.
Heck, he wasn’t the same man he’d been a week ago. And Kenzie wasn’t the same woman. They’d both been through fire, and somehow, by God’s grace, they’d come out the other side.
Charlotte suddenly spotted Delaney across the room and abandoned her tea party. She raced over with the energy only a five-year-old possessed.
Jaz watched her go.
Kenzie crossed the room and sank down beside him, tucking her legs beneath her. “You okay?”
When he looked at her, there was something in his eyes she hadn’t seen before. Peace, maybe. Or at least the beginning of it.
“Yeah.” He said it softly, like he was testing the truth of it. “I think I am.”
“Good. I have to say…” She nodded toward the abandoned tea set. “You really commit to a role. That pinky extension was convincing.”
He picked up the doll Charlotte had left behind, a blond princess with a sparkly gown. “Why, thank you.” He affected a high-pitched voice and exaggerated his Southern accent. “I’ve had extensive training in the art of teatime etiquette.”
Kenzie laughed, bumping his shoulder. It felt good to laugh. It felt good to sit here in her parents’ living room, a cozy fire crackling in the hearth, warm and safe, with this man who’d saved her life and stolen a piece of her heart in the process.
“So.” He set the doll down and shifted to face her. “What’s next for you?”
It was the question she’d been asking herself all day. “I don’t know. I can’t imagine giving up sailing.”
“Back to St. Barts?”
“No.” The answer came quickly, definitively. “My business is gone, and I’m not rebuilding it. The islands will never feel like home again.” She gazed around the familiar space and admitted the truth. “It never felt like home, honestly. I love to sail, but I need…”
“Family.” He nodded, looking at all of hers. “I’m not going back either. I’m done with that life.”
“Will you go to Virginia? Be close to Charlotte?”
Pain flickered across his face, and he looked at his daughter across the room.
“Noah and Charlotte and Delaney—they need space to become a family without Uncle Jasper getting in the way.” He took a breath and focused on her.
“It’s hard, you know? Seeing them together.
Someday, maybe, I can be a bigger part of her life. But not now.”
Kenzie took his hand, threading her fingers through his. “I can’t imagine.”
“I’ll be okay.” He squeezed her hand. “Will you stay in Maine?”
“For now.” She looked around the room—at her family, at the life she’d run from years ago. It didn’t seem so bad. Actually, it seemed pretty wonderful. “I need to figure out who I am now. Who God wants me to be.”
“Yeah, I feel the same. I need to figure out this God you keep telling me about.”
“All you have to do is look up, Jaz. He’s right there.”
“Yeah, Jesus Girl. I think you might be right.” He bumped her shoulder. “What would you think if I stayed too?” The words were spoken quietly. “Until I figure it out.”
She tried to keep her expression neutral even as her heart did a little flip. “In Maine? You’d stay?”
“See, there’s this girl.” He met her eyes, and the intensity in them made her breath catch. “Someone I’d really like to take on a date.”
“A date?” The idea seemed both thrilling and absurd. They’d spent a week together dodging bullets and drug smugglers. They’d shared hotel rooms, told each other their darkest secrets, trusted each other with their lives. And now they were going to date?
“I know.” He chuckled softly, reading her thoughts. “It’s weird. We’ve been through this huge thing together, faced death, and survived impossible odds. And now I’m asking you out like we’re teenagers.”
“It does seem like a step back.”
“Yeah.” He nodded slowly. “I think we need to take a step back.” He shifted to sit across from her, still holding her hand. “We need to take it slowly, figure out who we are in our new lives—separately and together. Build a foundation that isn’t just adrenaline and survival.”
The firelight caught the gold in his hair. He looked nothing like the playboy she’d first met in St. Barts. The walls were down now. The mask was gone. This was just Jasper—broken and healing, like her.
“You’re exactly what I always wanted.” He leaned in, speaking close to her ear. “I’m not sure I can be the man you need. Not yet.”
She shifted, near enough that she could feel his breath when he exhaled. “I have a good feeling about you, Jasper Aylett.”
He stroked her cheek with his fingers, the touch gentle. “You sure about that, Jesus girl?”
“I’m sure.”
He moved closer, giving her time to pull away, but she didn’t want to. She met him, their lips touching in a kiss that was soft and sweet and full of promise. She wanted the kiss to go on and on, but Jaz backed up, casting a glance at the family gathered far too close.
“We’re going to be okay,” he whispered.
“Yeah.” She smiled. “We are.”
Kenzie snuggled up to him and closed her eyes, breathing in the moment—the warmth of the fire, the scent of home, Jaz’s solid presence beside her.
They hadn’t made any promises, but she knew that whatever came next, whatever storms they faced, they’d face them together.
When the time was right.