She bolted upright at the sound of fast footsteps descending the stairs and swiped at her eyes just as Archer came into view.
He stopped cold. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she cried. “Everything. Grant—” Sobs stole her voice.
Archer’s nostrils flared. His hands curled into fists, and he spoke through gritted teeth. “I’m going to kill Silver!”
He turned to leave, and Jules ran after him. She grabbed his wrist. “No! It’s me, not him!”
“Bullshit!” He tore his arm free and stormed toward the steps.
She jumped on his back. “Stop! It’s not him!”
“Damn it, Jules.” He tried to tug her off, but she clung to him like a monkey to a tree.
“Please, Archer.” Her voice cracked. “I need you.”
He froze, and she slid down his back to her feet. He turned, his angry eyes filling with worry. “What happened?”
“You can’t tell anyone!”
“Jules,” he warned. “What the hell did he do?”
“He got an offer to go back to Darkbird,” she said through her sobs.
“And you don’t want him to go,” he said flatly.
“I want him to be happy, which means going. But I love him, Archer, and it just…It hurts so bad to think about him being gone again and in danger. I have to let him go, but he’s my person, and I just…” Sobs engulfed her, and she collapsed against him.
He embraced her. “You have to tell him, Jules.”
She shook her head. “No. I won’t be the girl who holds her man back. He knows I love him, and I know he loves me, and he needs to go. I just have to get past the alien stabbing my chest.”
“Fuck.” Archer led her to the couch and sat down, pulling her against his side. He kissed her head, the silence of the next few minutes broken only by her sobs. He held her tighter. “I can make him stay,” he said angrily.
Jules smiled through her tears. “No.”
“I can, Jules,” he seethed. “I have my ways.”
She shook her head again.
“Then what can I do, damn it?”
“Just hold me.”
GRANT WAS STUCK in Christmas hell. Residents and friends had been running around Majestic Park all day singing Christmas carols as they set up food tents and lights, lined up sleds and toboggans for the kids at the top of the hill, and set up Santa’s workshop, where Mr. Steele would sit in a grand chair listening to Christmas wishes. But Grant wasn’t in the mood for cheer. His mind had been reeling all day with the offer dangling before him and thoughts of Jules, his family, the foundation and the good he could do with it, and of course, the brotherhood he’d left behind and the good he could do for them. But even with all those thoughts pummeling him, thoughts of Jules rose above all the others. He’d tried to call her twice, but she hadn’t answered. He’d thought about going by the shop to talk with her and make sure she was okay, but he didn’t want to upset her any more than he already had.
This was torture.
He tried to concentrate on setting up more tables, but an hour later his chest still felt like it was going to explode.
Fuck it.
He needed to hear her voice. He pulled out his phone to call Jules.
“Hi, Grant,” she answered anxiously. “It’s a madhouse around here. Is everything okay?”
No. I fucking hate this. “Yeah. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m fine, but the shop is so busy I had to call in both my part-timers. I hope we can close by six, but if this pace keeps up, I might be a little later. Hold on a sec.”
He heard her talking with someone and felt bad for taking her away from work.
“Sorry about that, Grant,” she said hurriedly.
“I’m sorry for calling. But this morning—”
“I meant what I said,” she interrupted. “You have my total support. I’m yours no matter what you decide.”
His heart constricted at her bittersweet promise.
“But can we please put off talking about it until the morning?” she asked. “I just want to enjoy the tree lighting together, because if you go…”
Her words were drenched with as much love as anguish, and he heard what she hadn’t said. If he went, they might not get another chance. “Absolutely. I love you, baby, and I’ll see you tonight.”
“Okay. I love you, too, big guy.”
He ended the call, a war waging in his head. He needed to end this misery for both of them and stop picking apart the decision. He knew what he wanted, and Jules had just given him the push he needed by confirming what he’d never doubted. She’d been in his corner since day one, and he knew she always would be.
He wasn’t about to give up the opportunity of a lifetime. He pulled out his phone to send Titus a message.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
JULES LOCKED UP the shop and caught a ride with Bellamy to the Christmas tree lighting. She deserved a freaking Oscar for her performance today. She’d been a sad, nervous wreck from the moment Grant had told her about his offer, and by the time she and Bellamy had closed the shop, she was holding her shit together with Scotch tape. Bellamy could tell that something was wrong, and Jules had wanted to confide in her a hundred times. But she’d kept her promise to Grant and told Bellamy she just wasn’t feeling well. She’d already told Archer the truth, which was bad enough. The poor guy had only come back to his boat because he’d forgotten his phone, but Archer being Archer, he’d stayed with Jules for two hours while she’d cried her heart out. She knew the only thing holding him back from going after Grant and insisting Grant stay on the island was Archer’s love for her.
Holiday festivities were in full swing as they hurried across the brick courtyard surrounding Silver Monument, just outside Majestic Park. The iron benches and beautiful trees were decorated with twinkling lights. In the distance, the massive community Christmas tree stood dark, save for the inground spotlights aimed up at it.
“We didn’t miss it!” Bellamy exclaimed.
Jules had bigger worries on her mind than missing the tree lighting.
Trying to push down her mounting anxiety was like trying to stop a geyser. She needed to be in Grant’s arms, to see his face, to feel his love, because if he decided to take the job, she wanted to soak up every single second they had together, without tears or heartache. She knew him well enough to know that taking the job would come with a boatload of guilt, and she was determined to ease that for him as much as she could, even if it killed her.
They ran toward the crowds, greeted by the aroma of roasting chestnuts, the sounds of children laughing as they sledded down the hill by the park offices, and the din of the residents and tourists mingling as they drank hot chocolate and cider and checked out tables of crafts and other goodies. Jules pushed through the crowd in search of Grant, with Bellamy by her side.
“Do you see him?” Bellamy asked.
“Not yet. He said he’d meet me by the tree.” As she made her way through the crowd, Jules feigned smiles and cheery greetings as she frantically searched for Grant’s handsome face.
“There he is!” Bellamy pointed past the crowd by the tree hanging ornaments to Grant talking with Jules’s mother and Ava de Messiéres. “I’m going to find Tara. I’ll catch up with you later.”