Chapter 66
At breakfast, Jake was amused by how much Mary ate.
“What? I worked up an appetite.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Can’t wait to see what you have for lunch. It could be a great afternoon.”
He signaled the waiter for another round of freshly squeezed orange juice, hot black coffee, and crispy bacon.
“Hey, do you know why Dot’s not answering Danny’s texts?”
Mary knew. But Dot had sworn her to secrecy.
“She’s not answering his texts?” Mary asked innocently.
“No. He said he knows she’s really busy, but that it isn’t like her to not respond. He said he’s worried that she’s ghosting him.”
Mary hated the thought of Danny being upset or worried. But she knew that Dot was devastated by what she’d seen in the window when he was with that other woman. She decided to test the question.
“Do you know if Danny is seeing other people while he’s dating Dot?” Mary asked.
“Danny? Dating? Hell no,” Jake said. “Who would he be dating? He’s got his eyes fully on Dot. Why?”
“Well, what if Dot might have seen him with another woman?”
“When? Where?” Jake asked, moving into investigative mode.
“Oh, Jake. Dot made me promise not to say anything. But she called us in a total panic a few nights ago,” Mary said, knowing she was revealing one of Dot’s secrets.
“That mean girl Maddy had just confronted her in a store about Danny and when she was walking home, she saw him through the window with another woman at Cocoa and Cabernet. She was devastated.”
“Wait. This isn’t right. Something else is going on here.
Danny’s not dating anyone else. And that girl, Mad—she’s been a pain since junior high.
She was friends with Sadie, but she has no business getting in between Danny and Dot.
This is crazy. I have to tell him. He has a right to know. There’s got to be a mix-up.”
“No! You can’t. At least not yet,” Mary said, trying to slow Jake down. “Let’s think about it. Maybe there’s been a huge mistake. Or maybe he’s like most guys and plays the field.”
“What do you mean like most guys? Are you including me in that?”
“No, I . . .”
“Why do you think that all guys are the same?” His face turned red. “Look, Mary, I don’t know what men are like in New York, but I sure as heck know that what you’re describing about Danny and what you’re insinuating about me is not accurate.”
“I know that. I’m sorry,” she said.
Jake set his napkin down over his plate. He’d not finished his meal. “I’m done.”
“Okay, let’s go,” she said, pushing her chair back.
“I mean, I’m done right now. I need a minute,” Jake said.
“Jake, I said I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.”
“But Mary, maybe it’s time we talked about this.”
Oh no, she thought. Was this the big talk she’d been dreading?
It was. He read her reticence and plowed ahead anyway.
“Mary, we need to talk,” Jake said. “We can’t keep avoiding it.”
She nodded. “Okay. Let’s do it. You first.”
Jake took a breath and squared his shoulders, then looked directly into Mary’s eyes.
“All right. What do you want out of this? Am I just a guy you hooked up with while on your great Midwest adventure with your cool girlfriends from the big city? Or do you actually care about me?” Then, in a softer voice, he said, “I thought we had something special here.”
“We do. I know. But I don’t know. I mean, you live here. Your entire life is here. Mine is in New York.”
“So, you’d not consider being here with me—even if I asked? And don’t worry, I’m not asking . . . yet.”
“Well, when you put it that way, I have to say that I don’t see myself being here. But I see myself being with you.”
“I can’t leave here though, Mary. My family is here. I’m a cop in Cedar Falls. Coming back from the service that was my plan.”
“And mine was to be a lawyer in New York,” she said, pounding the table a little too hard and making the dishes jump.
She caught herself before her frustration got the best of her. She sat back in her chair and sighed loudly. She brought both hands to her face and wiped the moment away.
“I didn’t even have a chance to celebrate,” she said.
“Celebrate what?”
She looked away. “I got a letter from the firm. They’re making me a senior associate when I get back and putting me on the partner track. It’s a big promotion. About two years ahead of my plan. It tells me they think I have promise.”
“Mary, that’s amazing,” Jake said, grabbing her hands. “You do have promise. This is very well deserved. Congratulations!”
“You really think so?” She felt a small surge of pride and hope.
“Yes! You’re a kick-ass lawyer. You amaze me. You know exactly what you want and go out and get it. It’s so great. And really hot.”
She rolled her eyes at that.
“You know that the job is in New York, right?” She bit her lip and said, “I’m going to have to go back home.”
Jake pulled her onto his lap. “Yeah, I know.” They were silent for a few moments. He drew one of her hands up and kissed it then said, “I guess I’ve known all along that my dream of you being here with me was just that. It’s not reality.”
“I hate reality right now.” She laughed, feeling exasperated with the difficulty of deciding what to do with Jake. Then, getting more serious, she looked at him directly and said, “I don’t want this to be over.”
They kissed deeply and the other B&B guests at breakfast pretended to ignore them. She put both arms around his neck and nuzzled her face against his.
“It doesn’t have to be over,” he said into her hair.
“But what are we going to do?” she asked.
Jake let the question hang there for a couple of seconds. “I don’t know. But I also know what my dad’s always said. Sometimes deciding not to decide is the best decision at the time. So, let’s just not think about it right now.”
He felt her ribs move up and down as her breathing matched his.
“Your dad’s a wise man.”
“Well, we are related.”
“What would your dad suggest we do now?” she asked.
“I think he’d say take that woman outside and show her how beautiful Door County is and maybe then she’ll never want to leave.”
She kissed his lips and then put her forehead to his. Jake smiled and looked around. Their PDA had cleared the breakfast nook.
“Let’s get our coats, New York.”
Her smile was bittersweet at the nickname she’d come to love.