Chapter 8 #3
Chloe leaned into him, arms crossed and hands tucked out of sight, as she did when she didn’t want people to notice the redness and swelling.
Nikki had told Jordan about Chloe’s RA and the impact on her hands in particular.
Chloe was now overseeing the design of the McCarthy family’s new spa, which would be built over the coming winter at their hotel in North Harbor, while Cindy ran Chloe’s Curl Up & Dye salon in town.
The bond between Finn and Chloe touched Jordan every time she was with them.
From what Riley had told her, Finn had rallied to the cause by finding out everything he could about RA and how he could support her.
Like his brother, Finn was a great guy, and Jordan had been envious more than once of her sister and Chloe.
Where had men like them been when she’d been falling for a malignant narcissist?
Mason nudged her with his good elbow. “You okay?”
Jordan realized she’d spaced out of the conversation—and he’d noticed. “I’m good. Just thinking.”
“You looked sad. Are you?”
Surprised by the insightful question, she tried to decide how to answer him.
“I’m wondering what the secret is,” she said in a low tone that only he could hear as the others chatted with each other the way they did whenever they were together.
The four of them had become close, and Jordan had been happy to know that Nik had made such great friends on the island.
“The secret to what?”
She nodded toward the two happy couples. “That. What they have.”
“Ah, that secret. If I knew, I’d tell you, but I’m clueless.”
“Glad I’m not the only one.” Jordan helped herself to cheese and a cracker, which she then handed to him before getting another for herself.
“You’re definitely not the only one.”
“Do you believe that some people get lucky and others don’t?”
He appeared to give that some significant thought. “I haven’t really considered that before, but I suppose it’s possible. Why does one person find their soul mate and another never does?”
“Right, exactly. There’s an element of luck to that, wouldn’t you say? Take Nikki, for instance. She met Riley because the roof leaked, and he came to fix it. What if the roof had never leaked? Would they still have met?”
“That’s an interesting question. Perhaps the universe intended to bring them together, and if the roof hadn’t leaked, it would’ve found another way for them to meet.”
“Do you really believe that?”
“I don’t know. Like I said, I haven’t given it much thought.”
“I have. I’ve thought a lot about why some people click with each other and other people never click like that with anyone. Chloe cuts the hair of hundreds of people in a year, so what made Finn stand out the first time he came into her shop for a haircut?”
“I’m not saying I find him handsome, but from what I’ve been told, women tend to like him.”
Jordan laughed. “He’s not exactly tough on the eyes.
I’ll give you that. But I’m talking about the click.
That thing that sets him apart from every other guy she’s ever met.
That’s the intangible part that fascinates me.
Why him? Why not one of the hundreds, if not thousands, of other guys whose hair she’s cut? ”
“You didn’t have the click with your husband?”
“I thought I did. At first, but things changed and…” She shrugged as she glanced at the others.
“I didn’t have that. Not even close. And the funny thing is, until Nikki met Riley and I got to see them up close, I didn’t even fully grasp that my relationship with him wasn’t what it could’ve been. How’s that for a deep confession?”
“That’s pretty deep.”
“It’s sad. That’s what it is. I wasted years with a guy who didn’t deserve me.”
“Well, at least you know it now.”
“Yeah.” Jordan rested her head on her upturned hand. “Sorry for the deep thoughts by Jordan.”
“Don’t be sorry. You raised interesting questions.”
“You ever had the click?”
“Thought I did once, but it didn’t work out.”
Jordan wanted to ask what’d happened, but she didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. “That must’ve been tough.”
“It was a long time ago.”
Something in the way he said that indicated it might’ve been a long time ago, but the pain of it had stayed with him.
She understood that. Some things could never be outrun, no matter how much time went by.
Like the way her father had betrayed them and their mother by having a whole other family with another woman—while still married to their mother.
And then the court had given him custody over their mother, who had mental health and addiction issues.
“Everything is ready.” Nikki’s announcement burst the intimate little bubble Jordan had been in with Mason while the others carried on without them.
She’d liked being inside that bubble with him and looked forward to spending more time with him later.
Whether she ought to be anticipating more time with any guy right now was neither here nor there.
Nothing could keep her from going for a ride with the sweet, sexy firefighter who’d saved her life.