Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter
Twenty-Three
Amariah
The next morning, I woke up feeling like a wrung-out dishrag. A night of replaying Jacob’s face in that restaurant doorway hadn’t brought me any closer to clarity, just a headache and a quiet urge to run away to a tropical island where men and misunderstandings didn’t exist.
Instead, I dragged myself to the one place in Skye Ridge guaranteed to boost my spirits through questionable budgeting choices: North Star Specialty Boutique.
Besides the large array of handmade gifts for purchase, the entire store looked as if Christmas had exploded.
Sparkling ornaments, nutcrackers, hand-carved snowflakes, Santa figurines of every shade and size, and specialty gifts galore littered the aisles.
A snow machine puffed a gentle fake flurry every few minutes as if we didn’t have our fair share of real snow outside.
And right in front of a display of gift sets stood Janelle, hands on her hips, grinning because she’d been expecting me.
We had planned to spend time together, and now seemed like no better time.
“Look who finally decided to make good on her promise!” she announced.
I huffed a laugh, stepping into her hug. “You texted me saying you needed help picking out gifts. I came for moral support. And maybe sugar cookies.”
She pulled back with a raised brow. “Mhm. And I’m sure it has nothing to do with you avoiding talking about the hot mess that is your love life.”
I froze. “What do you know?”
Janelle rolled her eyes so hard I thought she strained something. “Girl, Bryce was at Oak & Bean with Jacob, and they meet at Ridge Taproom at least once a month. You think I don’t get the play-by-play? Please.”
My stomach sank. “So, you know about Aaron showing up…and Jacob walking in on…all of that.”
“Oh, honey.” She looped her arm through mine and steered me down an aisle lined with hand-stitched blankets. “I know everything.”
Of course she did. Bryce was a vault for everyone else, but leaked like a broken faucet when it came to his wife, knowing she was a cracked dam herself.
I didn’t even blame him. He probably needed to vent about his friend’s issues to clear his mind.
Jacob and I had been through a lot in the month that I’d been back home.
Janelle picked up an intricately stitched snowflake blanket and examined it. “First things first: You’re okay, right?”
I exhaled. “Define okay.”
She set the blanket down. “So…no.”
I shook my head. “Janelle, it was a disaster. The whole thing. I never meant for Jacob to get blindsided. But in my defense, I didn’t think I had to say anything.
” When Janelle side-eyed me, I realized no one knew the entire truth.
“I broke off the engagement to Aaron months ago. That’s the part Jacob didn’t allow me to explain.
In all fairness to Aaron, I did tell him I needed space, just to smooth things over when I called it off, but I knew that our time was up.
In hindsight, when Jacob and I began growing close, I should’ve said something, but I didn’t expect Aaron to show up here. ”
“You didn’t expect it,” she repeated flatly, “or you didn’t want to deal with the fallout?”
I winced. Leave it to Janelle to yank the truth out like a loose tooth.
The answer was both. Why bring up an ex who wasn’t supposed to be a factor anymore, and I didn’t know how Jacob would feel if he knew I’d been engaged to marry another man.
I respected and cared for Jacob too much to make him feel as though he were some sloppy seconds rebound fling.
“Both,” I admitted. “Our relationship had already been complicated and messy before and—”
“And you avoided it,” she finished.
I groaned. “I did by default. Aaron never crossed my mind, honestly.”
“Ouch for Aaron,” she said, pursing her lips. “Talk about being tossed to the left.”
I side-eyed her, and she lifted her hands in apology before guiding me toward the back, where personalized trinkets were on full display.
“So here’s the thing,” Janelle said, lightly fingering an engraved flask. “Jacob saw what he saw in that restaurant with your hands in Aaron’s, and of course, he thinks you’re still with him. You can’t blame him.”
“I don’t,” I whispered. “I just hate that he walked away again without asking—without letting me explain.”
Janelle gave me a look that was half pity, half tough love. “Amariah, while I get your point, he didn’t owe you that, especially if you hadn’t completely tied up those loose strings of the past.”
I closed my eyes, the truth stinging more than I wanted to admit.
“Look,” she continued, “I know you’re hurt.
And confused. And mortified. But you’re also grown.
And if you want Jacob to understand what happened, you’re gonna have to actually tell him.
” She grabbed my hands and gave them a reassuring squeeze.
“No more hiding. No more disappearing. No more waiting for the perfect moment that doesn’t exist.”
We stood there for a moment, and I let her advice sink in.
Jacob may have blamed himself for our past fallout, but this one was on me.
Had I been clear to Aaron, he never would’ve shown up here, grasping for a relationship that I no longer wanted.
At least that’s what I believed in my heart.
Had I talked to my parents and Jacob about it, at least no one would have been caught off guard by Aaron’s presence—maybe a bit irritated, but that would’ve been on Aaron and not me.
Janelle handed me a trinket to hold while she pulled another item off the shelf.
It was a small wooden train painted in deep red and green.
I remembered Jacob telling me that he loved trains as a kid.
He used to tell me stories about spending Christmas mornings watching model trains loop around his living room.
It was his father’s favorite. At the plant, his father had been a supervisor making train parts.
A lazy smile formed on my face at the memory that didn’t match my mood inside.
“Janelle…” My voice cracked. “What if he doesn’t want to hear it?”
“Then he doesn’t,” she said gently, “but at least you’ll know you didn’t run from it.”
I swallowed hard. “That’s not my true question.” She stopped looking at the item in her hand and gave me her undivided attention. “What if my explanation doesn’t matter? What if he’s just…done—done with me?”
Janelle put the item back on the shelf and placed her hands on my shoulders, her eyes softening.
“Let me tell you something as your friend, not Bryce’s wife, who’s hearing Jacob’s side.
Jacob Gold has been madly in love with you since you two were having snowball fights at your parents’ house.
He’s upset, not indifferent, especially not when it comes to you. ”
My breath hitched. “You think so?”
She cocked her head to the side. “Girl, I’m Team Jacob for a reason.”
That made me laugh, and I was grateful for the boost in confidence.
She squeezed my shoulders. “But I’m also Team You. And Team Get Your Life Together. And Team Jacob and Amariah, which means stop pussyfooting around and talk to the man.”
I giggled and wiped a tear from the corner of my eye. “Pussyfooting? Have you been hanging out with my mother?” I teased, and she swatted my arm with a giggle. “Okay. I will. I…I’ll try.”
She hooked her arm with mine again and tugged me down the aisle.
“Good. Now help me figure out what to get Bryce that isn’t another power tool.
No offense.” She held her hands up in an apology.
“I support Luke’s Hardware, but if that man brings home one more tool, I’m filing a restraining order against y’all. ”
I bellowed out in laughter. It was the realest one that I’d had for the first time in days. Beneath the laughter, a resolve began to settle. I needed to talk to Jacob. And this time, running wasn’t an option.