Chapter 21 #2
Quinn put his arm around her and kissed her temple. “I was looking for you the whole time.”
Moved by them, Mason smiled. “You guys give me hope.”
“If you love her, don’t let her get away. That’s all I wanted to say.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, and tell her we’d be happy to have her at the center if she wants to be our activities director. No interview required.”
“You’re just like your father, you know that?”
Mallory stared at him, seeming shocked. “Really?”
Mason nodded. “He can be like a dog with a bone when he gets ahold of something, too.” To his great horror, Mallory’s eyes filled with tears. “What? I meant that as a compliment.”
She waved her hand in front of her face, making an effort to pull herself together.
Alarmed, he looked to Quinn for help. “What did I say?”
“If I had to guess, my sweet girl hasn’t often been told that she’s just like the father she only recently found out she had.”
Mallory used her thumb to point to Quinn and nodded. “That.” She used a paper napkin to dab at her tears.
“Well, I mean it in the best possible way.”
“I know,” she said. “You made my day by comparing me to him. Thank you for that.”
“It was the least I could do after all the ‘help’ you’ve given me.”
The three of them shared a good laugh, and by the time they parted company, Mason was determined to talk to Jordan about their options when he got home from work.
And he would leave on time tonight, barring catastrophe.
Maybe he would take her out to dinner. Yes, that’s what they would do. A real date.
And when the time was right, he’d tell her he wanted them to stay together, even if that meant he had to relocate to be with her.
Did he want to live in LA? No, but he wanted her, and he had to believe he could find a job as a firefighter or EMT with one of the many fire departments in the LA area.
It might be nice to return to the ranks and leave the headaches of administration behind.
If the fire service didn’t work out, he could always bartend like he had in college.
The thought of staying with her, of being with her, of making a real go of this thing with her buoyed his spirits all day.
And when Dermot came in to tell him that Jordan was at the barn looking for him, he didn’t even try to hide his pleasure from the colleague who would certainly bust his balls about it later.
“Send her in.”
Jordan had forced herself not to cry on the way to the barn to see Mason. Under normal circumstances, she’d never disturb him at work, but these circumstances weren’t normal, and she couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to the man who’d come to mean so much to her.
When Dermot showed her to Mason’s office, the first thing she noticed was how happy he was to see her. His handsome face lit up with pleasure that reminded her that he was the first man she’d ever cared about who had given back more than she could ever give him.
But his smile faded quickly when he saw that she was upset. Of course he noticed. He always did. “Thanks, Dermot,” he said without taking his gaze off her.
Dermot closed the door, leaving her alone with the man she’d fallen in love with. What a hell of a time to realize that for certain.
“What’s wrong?”
“I have to go back to LA. Today.”
He didn’t even try to hide his disappointment, which was just another reason to love him. He never tried to hide from her, never played games or made her wonder if she had his full attention. “Why?”
“The network is threatening to sue me if I’m not at a meeting tomorrow.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. So, Gigi says I need to get my ass back to LA. She’s sending a plane for me because it was too late to book commercial.” Why was she babbling to him about logistics? What did any of that matter?”
“You want me to come with you?”
“What? No, you have work and, well, everything. I don’t know how long I’ll need to be there, and I don’t want to mess things up for you any more than I already have.”
“You haven’t messed up anything for me. This has been so awesome.”
“For me, too. I’m so sorry about this.”
Mason took a few steps to close the distance between them and drew her into his embrace. He bent his head to breathe in the scent of her hair, wanting to commit every detail of her to memory—as if he wouldn’t remember forever every second of the time he’d spent with her.
Only when her shoulders shook did he realize she was crying.
“Aww, sweetheart, don’t cry. Go do what you’ve got to do and come back. I’ll be right here.”
“I may have to do the full season there. That’d be months.”
“I’ll wait.”
“I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You’re not asking. I’m telling you I’ll wait as long as it takes until you’re free and clear and can come back or until you ask me to come there.”
“You’d do that?”
He pulled back and looked down at her. “I’d do that.”
“But this is your busy season.”
“So?”
“Mason, you can’t—”
He kissed her until she forgot what she was going to say. “I can do whatever I want whenever I want. And if you want me to come to LA, all you have to do is say so, and I’ll be on the next plane.”
She dropped her forehead to his chest.
He smoothed his hand over her soft, silky hair. “What did Gigi say about the divorce?”
“She can’t find him to serve him, but she’s got an investigator trying to locate him.”
“Is he intentionally dodging the server?”
“Probably.”
“What can you do about that?”
She looked up at him. “Take his call. See what it will take.”
“I don’t want you anywhere near him out there, Jordan. I mean it. He may be sober, but he’s still the same guy who hurt you the last time you saw him.”
“I know.”
“Promise me you won’t go see him alone, no matter what.”
“I promise.”
For the longest time, they stood there looking at each other as if trying to memorize every detail.
“Mason, I want you to know—”
He placed a finger over her lips. “Let’s not say anything that makes this harder than it already is. Get your stuff taken care of, and then we’ll talk. Okay?”
She nodded. “Thank you for saving my life and then showing me it was worth going through all the shit to get to the good stuff.”
“Plenty more good stuff to come.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
“I really hope you do.” He hugged her as tightly as he ever had. “Take your inhaler. Just in case.”
“I will. Don’t get hurt while I’m gone.”
“I’ll try not to.”
“Will you call me?”
“Every day. Just tell me when you’re free.”
Filled with irrational fear that she might never see him again, she held on for a long time, letting go only when the alarm sounded outside his office and the dispatcher’s voice had them pulling apart.
“I’ve got to go,” he said when he released her.
Jordan nodded and forced herself to smile. “See you soon.”
“Yes, you will. One way or the other.” He kissed her and left the room.
Jordan followed him and watched the apparatus leave the station with a wail of sirens and flashing lights, off to provide assistance to someone in need. He loved this job. She could never ask him to risk it or give it up for her.
That couldn’t happen.