Chapter 6 #3
Robert’s smile turned triumphant. “Glad you asked. Rebecca and I are looking at property in the area. She fell in love with Otter Creek when she was here. Says it would be perfect for a vacation home.” He paused, letting that sink in.
“I’ve got appointments with some real estate agents tomorrow.
Thought I’d explore some options. If you hear of anything for sale, please let me know. ”
The message was unmistakable. Robert wasn’t just visiting; he planned to buy property here and settle in this small town where Jewel had finally found some peace.
Conrad shifted closer. “How nice for you, now leave.”
Robert headed down the porch steps, then paused at the bottom, looking back at Jewel. “Think about the condo, Jewel. You can’t hide from your real life forever. The past always catches up with you.”
He climbed into his silver BMW and started the engine. But instead of leaving right away, he sat there for a long moment, looking at the lodge, at Cole, at Jewel, as if he were memorizing the scene for future reference.
Finally, he pulled away, gravel crunching under expensive tires.
No one moved until the sound of the engine had faded completely.
Conrad was the first to speak. “Well, he’s a special kind of loser.”
Jewel took a shaky breath, wrapping her arms around herself. “I’m sorry. I should’ve known he’d try something like this.”
“Three weeks ago? You said he called you three weeks ago. About selling the condo.” Cole’s voice sounded sharper than he meant for it to.
Her gaze dropped. “Yeah.”
“How often has he been calling you?”
The silence that followed told him everything he needed to know.
“Jewel. How often?”
“A few times a week. Sometimes more.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
He felt something twist in his chest. “And you didn’t think to mention that?”
“I didn’t want to burden you with it. You already have so much going on with your mom’s surgery, and Beckett, and—”
“That’s not—” He stopped himself and took a breath.
“You’re not a burden, Jewel. But this? Your ex-husband calling you multiple times a week, harassing you about selling the condo, and now showing up here in person?
” He gestured toward where Robert’s car had disappeared.
“That’s something I should’ve known about. ”
“I was handling it.”
“Were you? Because from where I’m standing, he cornered you on my porch with his hand on your wrist.”
She flinched, and he immediately regretted his tone. But the pain was there, sharp and real. She hadn’t trusted him enough to tell him. Hadn’t thought he needed to know that she was being harassed.
Conrad cleared his throat. “I’m gonna go check on something in the barn.” He grabbed the business card and walked around the side of the lodge, clearly wanting no part of this conversation.
The silence lingered between them, interrupted only by the distant sound of horses in the pasture and the wind rustling through the pines.
“I’m sorry. You’re right. I should’ve told you.” Her voice was small.
“Why didn’t you?”
She was silent for a long moment, her arms still wrapped around herself as if trying to hold something in.
“Because every time I think about moving forward, about building something here, Robert is there reminding me of everything I left behind. Of all the ways I failed. And I didn’t want… ” She shook her head.
“Didn’t want what?”
“I didn’t want you to see me as someone who can’t even handle her ex-husband. Someone so weak that she runs away to the mountains and still can’t escape her past.” Her eyes finally met his, and in them, he saw the vulnerability, the fear. “I wanted you to see me as strong. Capable. Not…this.”
The anger drained from him, replaced by something softer and far more complicated. He understood that feeling. God, how well he understood it. Hadn’t he been doing the same thing? Keeping secrets, trying to appear innocent, scared of what she’d think if she knew the whole truth?
“Jewel—”
“And besides, you’ve got your own secrets. Your own things you don’t tell me. So maybe we’re even.”
The bracelet. She meant the bracelet, and everything else he’d kept from her.
And she was right. That hurt almost as much as discovering she’d been hiding Robert’s harassment from him.
They stood there in the afternoon sun, the lodge solid behind them, with mountains rising in the distance, and between them a gulf of unspoken words that seemed to grow wider every day despite how badly he wanted to close it.
“What are we doing, Cole?” The question was soft, almost sad.
“I don’t know.” It was the most honest answer he could give her.
She nodded as if that was the response she expected. “I should get back to the house. Beck will be wondering where I am.”
“Yeah. Okay.”
She started down the porch steps, then paused, glancing back at him. “For what it’s worth, I am sorry about not telling you.”
“I know.”
She headed toward the house, and he watched her go, this woman who had somehow become essential to his life in just a few months. This woman who he was falling for despite every reason he had to keep his distance.
This woman who didn’t trust him any more than he trusted himself.