Chapter 25
25
Janie
“ARE YOU REALLY sure you want to do this?” Mariah sat next to her on the floor of the bedroom, helping pack the clothes from her dresser into a moving box. “I know Moss Creek is small, but it’s not that small. You’ve been able to avoid him for almost three weeks. I bet you could avoid him forever if you really wanted to.”
She didn’t want to avoid Devon. Quite the opposite actually. It was a concentrated effort on her part not to run right back to him. To bury her face in his chest and take a deep inhale of that damn scent she’d never been able to fully identify.
But it would be a mistake.
Not for her—Devon was the best thing that had ever happened to her. It would be a mistake for him. For his daughters.
“I have to go.” She folded up a stack of the long-sleeved T-shirts she used to wear at The Baking Rack. “It’ll be easier.” She forced on a smile so her friend wouldn’t worry. “A nd I’ll be able to pay my shit off in record time.”
Mariah frowned, looking even more worried than she did before. “You don’t think it’s a little suspicious that they’re paying that much for a private chef?” She wrinkled her nose. “I’ve never seen anyone offer that much.”
“Different parts of the country have different pay scales.” Janie repeated the same explanation she’d offered Dianna when she brought up the shockingly high salary. “Things are way more expensive in some places. Food. Gas. Housing—”
“That’s another thing.” Mariah wasn’t helping pack at all now. She was just back to trying to talk her out of this move. “Are you sure you want to commit to living on-site? These people could be serial killers. Or worse.” Her eyes widened. “They might not take their shoes off at the door.”
“If they can afford a private chef, I’m sure they also spring for a housekeeper.” She finished adding the shirts to the box Mariah was supposed to be working on and stood, folding in the top flaps before writing across one corner with the Sharpie in her pocket. “And if not, then I’ll just Bird Box my way around the place.” She could survive a year. That’s all it would take to pay off everything she owed. The school loans. The credit cards. The medical bills.
It was the same goal she came to Moss Creek to achieve. Shocker—she’d failed. At least this time it was for a good reason.
One she would never regret.
Mariah’s sour expression lingered. “I don’t like this. At all.”
Janie scooted closer to her friend, wrapping one arm around the younger woman’s shoulders. “I can’t stay here. You know that.”
Mariah was the only person who came close to knowing the full story of what happened. She’d told her friend just enough for Mariah to understand her decision to find a new job in a new state, but kept a lot of what went on between her and Devon close. Something she could hold close now that she’d lost the heart and soul she’d clung to for so long.
Things might not have gone the way she wanted, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t finally found what she was looking for. She had. And then she’d learned the hard way that you can never really escape your mistakes. No matter how hard you try.
And she’d made a shit ton of them.
But loving Devon—and his daughters—with her whole heart and soul would never be one of them.
Neither would leaving them.
“Ugh.” Mariah’s head fell back. “I hate this.” She sniffed. “Who am I gonna talk to in the mornings?” She rolled her face Janie’s way. “And don’t say Maryann. That woman has the best ‘I’m disappointed in you’ face, and if she knew half the shit I did, she’d never stop giving it to me.”
She squeezed Mariah tighter. “You are under thirty with a career, great tits, and you’ve never been arrested.” She rested her head against Mariah ’s. “You are fucking killing it.” She straightened, crouching down to collect the box. “And what does she expect? You’re a single, childless woman. You should be out having the time of your life.”
A shadow of something flickered across Mariah’s face before being replaced by a smile. “Who am I going to have the time of my life with now that you’re not going to be here to be my wingwoman?” She let out another groan as she stood, lifting one of the flattened boxes off the stack. “I’m going to end up the new babysitter for the Bridge Bitches, aren’t I?”
“I think you’re in the clear. I heard Gertrude talking about how sweet Evelyn Haynes’ new assistant was the other day when she came into The Baking Rack to pick up a cake.” The smile the memory brought on slipped when she remembered that would be the last bit of gossip she heard here.
“I kinda feel bad for her. She probably has no idea what she’s getting into.” Mariah expanded the box and started sticking packing tape along the seams. “Not bad enough to drive the old birds around myself, though.”
“How long do you think it will be before they get her in trouble with the PD?” Another stab of sadness cut into her gut, but she’d done it to herself. Bringing up the Moss Creek PD sent her brain jumping straight to the officer who was almost hers.
To be fair, just about everything sent her brain jumping to the officer who was almost hers .
Cinnamon rolls. Aprons. Horses. Henleys. Period cramps. The list was never-ending.
And inescapable.
“I give her two weeks before she ends up in one of the cruisers.” Mariah’s eyes squinted as she considered. “Front seat though. They’ll feel too bad to put her in the back.” Her face split into a grin. “That’s where they’ll put Gertrude and the rest of the girls.”
Right on time, her brain settled onto the day Devon was waiting for her behind The Baking Rack. Not to lecture her on tire wear or brake lights, but—thanks to Aiden the asshole—to take her in.
Her throat got tight and tears bit at her eyes. She couldn’t start crying. If she did, she’d never stop. “I’m going to carry this out to the truck.”
Leaving Mariah in the bedroom she’d never sleep in again, Janie cut through the trailer, stepping into her boots but leaving them unlaced, the large box balanced in her hands as she stepped out into the frigid air. Closing her eyes and tipping her head toward the sky, she pulled in a deep breath, willing the surge of emotion to get its shit together. There was no time for breakdowns. No time for broken hearts. No time for—
“You shouldn’t leave that door open. Your heating bill will be astronomical.”
Her head snapped down, eyes flying open to fix on where Devon stood at the base of the stairs leading to her porch. “What are you doing here?”
“Right now?” He took the first step. “Lecturing you on the importance of proper home care and the effects it can have on your energy usage.” He took another step. “Later, I’m thinking I’ll drive that truck to my place and unload everything inside it into my house. Where it belongs.”
She swallowed hard, struggling to keep herself upright. A moment like this had been both her dream and her nightmare. “I don’t belong there, Devon.” She said it with as much conviction as she could muster up, hoping it was enough to send him away before she lost the last bit of self-sacrifice she was clinging to.
“I know you think that.” He kept coming closer, taking the box in her arms and setting it onto the wood planks before stealing the last bit of distance between them. “But you’re wrong, J. You absolutely belong there.”
Sucking in a breath, she blinked hard, fighting the tears that had been trying to break free for weeks. “No.” She shook her head. “I don’t want to be with you.” The lie was just as sour today as it was the last time she said it. Hurt just as much coming out.
But this time, Devon didn’t flinch when she said it. He actually smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he stared down at her. “That’s why you belong there, J. With me. With my girls.” He smoothed his hands down her arms, rubbing away the cold sinking into her cotton shirt. “I know what happened. I know why you left.”
She swallowed hard, keeping her mouth shut because she didn’t trust herself to keep saying what she needed to say.
“And I want to ask you something?” His hands rested on her shoulders, eyes pinning her in place. “Do you really think I would ever want one o f my daughters to keep doing something that made them miserable?”
It was easy to see where he was going with this and she had to shut it down before he talked her into believing him. “I’m not the kind of person your daughters should be listening to. I’m—”
“You are exactly the type of person I want my daughters to listen to.” His hands slid up her neck to curve around her face. “You are hardworking and independent and determined and you fight for what you want.” His lips quirked. “Usually.”
“But Riley—”
“But Riley pumped the brakes on something she knew was wrong because someone she respected and cared for gave her the courage to do it.” His eyes fixed on hers as he leaned down. “And now she’s in hair school and if she hates that, I’ll tell her to quit that too. Life’s too short to be somewhere you don’t want to be, J.” His thumbs moved over her cheeks. “No one knows that better than me.” He tipped his head toward the small moving truck she’d rented. “That’s why that truck is coming to my house instead of wherever you thought you were taking it. Because the only place you should be is with me.”
“I’m a mess, Devon. Your girls—”
“My girls will be lucky to have someone who is willing to sacrifice so much for them.” His eyes moved over her face. “And I don’t give a shit if they go through five hundred different careers and a million different jobs. As long as they’re happy.” He dropped his forehead to hers. “And I want the same thin g for you, J. So if you can tell me, honestly, that you won’t be happy with me, then I’ll leave and you can go on whatever little adventure you had planned.” He lifted his head, gaze intense. “It’s up to you.” His hands dropped from her face and she nearly stumbled at the loss. He backed toward the steps. “If I don’t see you again, good luck. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”
She watched as he turned and went to his truck, backing away, leaving her to face everything he dropped at her feet.
“What’s taking so lo—” Mariah came out the still open front door as Devon drove out of sight, her eyes widening. “Was that…”
Janie nodded because she couldn’t do much else. She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t blink. She could barely breathe.
“Did he come here to ask you to stay?” Mariah asked the question carefully.
Janie nodded again.
“Wow.” Mariah blew out a breath. “I did not have ‘Devon shows up at the eleventh hour’ on my BINGO card.” She looked from the moving truck to the trailer to where Janie still stood frozen in place. “What are you going to do?”
That was a very good question. One she was not prepared to answer. “I’m going to finish packing.” Crouching down, she hefted up the box Devon took, carrying it down the steps he was just on, flinching a little when his scent hung in the air .
Once the box was in place, she marched back inside, putting all her attention on the task at hand. She was moving. She had a new job in a new place all lined up. The pay was excellent. So were the benefits.
And if she didn’t go she would be quitting before she even started. A new record. Even for her.
Since most of her stuff was already packed, it only took another hour for her and Mariah to load everything into the truck. When it was done and her friend was gone, Janie stood at the front door, giving her little home one last look. “Bye, house.”
It was never this hard to move on. She was well-versed in leaving things behind. Hell. She’d practically made a career out of it.
Guess she had one after all.
After locking up the door, she slipped the key into the lock box Sharon’s realtor had secured over the knob. She turned to face the box truck and the trailer hauling her car behind it, hooked up and ready to carry her straight into her new life.
Taking a deep breath and straightening her shoulders, she lifted her chin, ready to tackle what was in front of her. “Here goes nothing.”