“That’s completely up to you, Susannah. I don’t want to weigh in on this because…well…”
“Oh, please,” she said again. “My grandfather was closer to you than anyone–and that’s saying something because he was extremely close to Mallory.” Then she paused and considered him. “You know that’s one of the things that made him happiest, don’t you?”
He shook his head, unsure of what she was saying.
“When you and Mallory first started dating, Pops wasn’t so thrilled. He didn’t like thinking that Mallory wasn’t a little girl anymore. But as the summer wore on, he came to really like the idea of the two of you together. I think he was just as upset as the two of you when you broke up.”
“Yeah, we had talked about it after Mallory left. Zeke was pretty adamant about me going to college and not letting Mallory be a deciding factor. That was part of the conversation she overheard but didn’t understand,” he explained. “He knew how much getting an education meant to me and knew if I could do that–if I could move so far away from my family and everything I had ever known and make that dream possible–then I could do anything.” He paused with a lopsided grin. “Including taking care of his great-granddaughter.”
Susannah leaned back in the big leather chair and smiled. “I swore I wouldn’t pry and I swear this isn’t why I brought you in here…”
“I know.” He grinned. “And I want you to know your daughter means everything to me. But I broke her trust once before and I have to work a bit harder this time around to win it back.”
“She can be stubborn…”
Jake laughed out loud at that one. “That she is!”
“Right now…she’s very emotional. Losing Pops hit her so much harder than I ever imagined. So maybe the timing for the two of you…maybe you could give her some time.”
“I will, Susannah. I promise you. I don’t want to add any pressure to her and I don’t want her making a decision she’ll come to regret.”
“But…?”
He chuckled softly. “But I need to do this my way this time. I feel like that summer had a lot of pressure from all kinds of other people and our time wasn’t really our own.”
“What can I do?”
“That’s just it. I don’t want you or Sam or her cousins to do anything. Right now, if everyone starts talking to her about moving here or badgering her about our relationship, it will make her skittish–which she already is.”
Susannah nodded.
“Just know, I have big hopes for our future.”
And that seemed to please her immensely. “Okay, then.” She paused and shifted in her chair again. “Now about this bed and breakfast idea…”
It was lunchtime before Jake had time to even breathe. There were easily twenty crewmen here at the house and with two separate projects going on at the same time, things were mildly chaotic. All the permits were in place, the property was clear, but it just seemed as if everyone and their brother had questions for him. On top of that, he had four other job sites up and running all over town that were calling in with updates as well. All he wanted was an hour to himself and something to eat.
As if reading his mind, Mallory came out onto the front porch with a large cooler bag in her hand and a sweet smile on her face. She practically skipped down the steps toward where he was standing talking to his foreman, Colton.
“Hey! What’s in the bag?” he asked.
Looking at Colton, she said, “Do you mind if I borrow the boss for a lunch break?”
Colton, who had been with Coleman’s almost as long as Jake had been alive, smiled and nodded. “See you in an hour, boss.” And then he was gone.
Mallory took Jake’s hand in hers and led him around the side of the house. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see,” she said, grinning at him over her shoulder.
Two minutes later they were walking down the pier toward the boathouse. Mallory opened the door and stepped inside. The small air conditioning unit was on and the bistro table was set for two. It pleased him more than he could say that she had gone through the trouble to do this for him. If they had gone to eat in the main house, he would have been distracted by the work being done. This was the perfect reprieve from the noisy construction zone.
“I made us some chicken salad sandwiches and a fruit salad,” she said as she put the food on the table. “There are cold drinks in the mini-fridge over there so help yourself, and for dessert, I baked cookies.”
“A girl after my own heart,” he said, grabbing her and kissing her soundly. And as good as the menu sounded, he wouldn’t mind putting the food on hold so he could have her for lunch–an idea he ran by her before he let her go.
“A nooner, huh? Hmm…let me think about that.”
The next thing Jake knew, Mallory was standing beside him and unzipping her sundress that began to pool at her feet.
He loved when she wore dresses for this exact reason.
She struck a sassy pose with her hands on her hips and she was a sweet, innocent, and sexy siren all at the same time. “So you’re saying…we should put lunch on hold so we can…hmm…what would you call it?”
He was already kicking his shoes off and pulling his shirt over his head. “I’d call it time for me to devour you for making me sleep alone last night.”
After that, the only sound was Mallory’s squeal of delight as he picked her up and dropped her on the sofa. She had barely settled against the cushions when Jake was sprawled out on top of her, loving the feel of her curves under him.
“If I promise that you won’t have to sleep alone tonight, does that mean we can’t do this again tomorrow?”
Smiling against her throat, Jake gently bit her. “You already planning on doing this again tomorrow?”
Arching her back beneath him, she all but moaned his name. “I’ve got the entire week planned out if you must know.”
And just that one simple reminder of how all they had was this week was enough to make him pause. One week. He had one week to convince her to stay and give them a chance. One week to prove to her that he’s not the same man he was six years ago.
One week to convince her to fall in love with him again.
Because he sure as hell was still in love with her.
Yeah, part of him had always known it, but he thought he’d get over it–particularly after the cold shoulder she gave him for years. But once they got past that, he knew his feelings weren’t going to change. Mallory Westbrook was it for him.
She whispered his name as her nails raked their way down his back and it brought him out of his reverie.
“The whole week, huh?”
She nodded.
“You may need to pack a bigger lunch, because I plan on us using every ounce of energy we have. Every. Single. Day.”
Then he immediately went to work on doing just that on day one.
8
“WHAT?!”
All heads turned as Georgia Coleman-Bishop shrieked at the attorney in a very un-Southern belle-like way. Mallory had to stifle a giggle and beside her, she saw her brother fighting to hold on to his own composure. Even though no one had any idea what Pops had put in his will, she didn’t think anyone could have predicted this kind of reaction to anything.