“Chloe, those texts—”
Her face crumpled before he said another word, tears gushing like a sudden geyser, and she gave a final, heart-stopping tap.
“I could be pregnant again, and you’re leaving again, and I hate you for it, and I hate myself because I still love you, and why did you ever have to come back here?” It was one long, startling, watery sentence.
And then she buried her face in her hands.
While the earth stopped moving around him.
“You’re pregnant?” He pulled her into his arms, holding her to his chest while she held her hands over her face, her shoulders shaking.
“Nooo,” she wailed, swatting at him and bucking to get away. When he released her, she added, “I don’t know! That’s not the point!”
“It’s an important point for me.” Because Jesus God, he wanted it to be true.
“Why, so you can leave me again? Poor Chloe,” she mocked, pointing at herself. “Poor, knocked up Chloe.”
“Okay, cupcake. C’mon, it’s okay,” he said, in his most reassuring operator voice. The one he used during long-term hostage retrievals.
Touching only her hand, he squeezed, slowly building trust. “Let’s just talk, okay? Let’s work through the issues one at a time.”
She wiped her eyes with her free hand, pulling herself together as quickly as she’d lost it. “I don’t see why it’s necessary.”
“Humor me.”
Leading her to one of the chairs in front of her desk, he sat her down, then pulled the other one directly in front of it, never letting go of her hand.
“First, are you pregnant? And before you answer, just know I would love nothing more.”
“No.” Biting her lip, she rolled her eyes. “Not that I know of because it’s only been a few weeks, and I’m on the pill. So, no.”
Bummer, but one issue down.
She pointed an accusatory finger. “But I wouldn’t put it past you to do something like that. Make a mockery of my birth control pills.”
He laughed. She could always make him laugh. “Jesus, I love you so much.”
She did a double-take. “Are you talking to me? Or Lord our God?”
And she did it again. Made him laugh.
“You, cupcake. Now, let’s cover the rest. I did not lie to you. I did have sex with you repeatedly. Hoping for more of that,” he tacked on. “I did eat your muffin. Same, hoping for more. I do love you. And lastly, I am not leaving.”
He sat back, feeling accomplished that he covered so much ground with so few words.
But then her brow furrowed. “What?”
His mouth dropped. “You want me to repeat all that?”
Sighing, she pulled her hand away and stood. “I saw the texts, Jameson. It’s okay. I’m fine now. I just needed to have my little meltdown, but all is well. You’re off the hook and free to go, no strings.”
“Is that right? You really want me to go?”
“If you want to.”
“But do you want me to?” He needed to know.
“You have to take my pride too, don’t you? First, it’s my heart. Then, my child. Now, my dignity.”
Then, her child.
Christ, he really was an asshole.
“Chloe, I am sorry I left you. I am sorry I left our son. So fucking sorry that saying I’m sorry a million goddamn times won’t cover it. What else can I do?” He held out his hands, pleading. “Tell me, and I’ll do it.”
“Don’t taunt me with baby clothes,” she said, her voice soft. “Don’t taunt me with a business I got my hopes up that you would buy. That would give you a reason to stay—beyond watching Johnny from your truck, or from behind a soda display at the grocery store.”
“You would only know I was at the grocery store that day if you were also at the grocery store that day,” he said. “But to stay on topic, I wanna show you something. Will you take a walk with me?”
He held out his hand, and she eyed it like an unpinned grenade.
“I know it’s a second location, but we’ll be on foot. It’s here in downtown East Hampton, so you can scream and run at any time.”
“You’re not leaving?” Her tone was guardedly hopeful.
“No.”
“But what about Nico’s texts?”
“I have never met Betsy. I will never meet Betsy. Not remotely interested, and never have been. I’m only interested in you.” Needing to make that crystal clear, he waited for her to nod. “As far as Nico, he does think I’m going back to Florida. I’m not, except to sell my condo. I wanna show you why, but you’ll need to take a walk with me.”
Searching his face for what he assumed was dishonesty, she finally gave in.
Allowed him to hold her hand after she locked the office door, leading her down the sidewalk toward Maine Hardware.
“Where are we going?” she asked curiously when they turned right instead of crossing the street to the hardware store. “Wait, what’s that sign?”
Chloe paused to look at the sign above Maine Hardware.
Grand Re-Opening
“It just went up today. Evergreen said we needed it.”
“Who’s Evergreen?”
“My new marketing person. Smart as a whip and doesn’t take any of my shit. You’ll get along great.”
Her brow furrowed, but she didn’t say any more. Just continued down the side street with him, a question in her eyes.
Her hand tightened in his, though.
And that small squeeze gave him faith.
“We’re here.” He stopped in front of an old building, the red brick painted white decades ago and now peeling away in huge, unsightly clumps.
Plywood sheets covered the windows, the glass long broken out by past Nor’easters and random vandals. Its saving grace was the ornate double door entry, made of scrolling iron that, once rewelded and painted the original black, would make a welcoming entrance to customers.
“It’s not much to look at right now, but with your vision and my elbow grease, it’ll be a showstopper, Chloe.”
The same went for the interior, which was in severe disrepair.
The entire building was a potential money pit but, once revitalized, would turn a tidy profit in the upper-echelon town.
She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I got very little sleep last night, thanks to the beefcake in my bed, so I’m short on brain cells today. Can you do like you did before and bullet point this for me?”
Jokes were good. It meant he was gaining ground.
“I bought the dive shop. And along with it, this decaying piece of real estate,” he added, knowing it was inhabitable.
“Wait. What?” She seemed genuinely confused. “But somebody put in an offer the day after we looked at it. They closed yesterday.”
“Yeah, I know.” When she looked at him like he had two heads, he grinned. “It was me. I made the offer. Roger accepted. There was an exchange of an asinine amount of money yesterday, for which I should have my head examined.”
While Chloe blinked, Jameson held out his hand, indicating the storefront.
“We’re now the proud owners of this beauty. Pray the building department doesn’t make us bulldoze it and start over.”