“I know it’s bad timing, Trevor, honest to God, I do, but I’m drowning here. I’m not asking you to come back full-time. I just need some help getting things back on track.”
"Sure," Trevor said quickly and, he hoped, reassuringly. The last thing he wanted to do was make Frank feel guilty. The guy had been basically running his business for him single-handedly ever since the reading of Trevor's parents' will. "I'll tell you what. Just give me a couple minutes to get things situated here, and I'll be on my way. And Frank?"
"Yeah, boss?" Frank asked, and Trevor could hear the weariness in his tone.
“You did the right thing by calling me. I’m sorry for all I’ve asked of you. I owe you a beer—or twenty—when this is all over.”
“I just might take you up on that,” Frank said with a laugh, then hung up.
For a second, Trevor just stood there, clenching his phone tightly in his fist. He knew what he had to do. He didn’t have any other choices. His company remained important, even if it had been forced into a backseat position as of late. He dialed, put the phone up to his ear, and waited for a response.
“Hey, Trevor,” Lacey said breathlessly and clearly frazzled. “I’m so sorry! I know this is taking longer than expected. I just sort of got caught up with things, and I—”
“Hey, Lacey,” he interrupted, keeping his voice soft but firm. “It’s fine. I’m not calling to complain. I’m afraid I’m calling to throw a wrench in your plans, though.”
“You are? What does that mean?” she asked sharply, plainly worried now.
"It means I just got a call from my foreman, and he said I'm needed back in Helena right away. I haven't been paying nearly enough attention to things there, and I need to take care of some things in person."
“Sure, okay,” she said, and he could almost hear the wheels in her head turning. “I know that’s true, and if anyone respects the difficulties of owning a business, it’s me.”
“Thanks,” Trevor sighed, surprised by the degree of relief he felt at her answer. “I appreciate it. Truly.”
“Please, don’t mention it,” she said. The comment was followed by an awkward silence that made Trevor squirm, reminding him that things hadn’t exactly gone the way he’d intended with Lacey. A reminder that he should have kept his hands to himself, no matter how much he’d wanted her at the time. Wanted her still.
Not to mention the fact that she had been spending less and less time at the house after their tryst. Trevor knew he didn’t have the best read on women, but he had no doubt her absence was due to what had happened between them. He’d gone and hurt her, after wanting so badly not to cross any lines, and she was trying to keep her distance, playing it safe.
"So," she said, clearing her throat and bringing him back to the acute discomfort of the situation. "I'll just head in your direction, okay? Tell Jade I'll be there to tuck her in."
“Sure thing,” Trevor said, running an agitated hand through his hair. “Believe me, she’ll be thrilled.”
“Hey, it’s okay, you know?” she said tentatively. “These kinds of things happen.”
“You’re right,” he answered, suddenly angry. “They do, and they work out just fine when there are two parents.”
“What are you—?” she asked, sounding wounded.
“I’m saying that lawyers aren’t always full of hot air. Jade needs a family with two parents, and that ain’t ever going to be me. I’m not the marrying kind.”
Trevor hung up, glad to have the conversation over and done, but instead of relaying Lacey's message, he stepped farther down the hall from where Jade sat in the kitchen. All at once, the implications of his failed evening and the call to Lacey struck him and made him feel as if he couldn't get enough breath.
He had to admit now that all the things Mr. Holloway had cited as reasons for his being a poor candidate to be Jade’s adopted father were right. Here he was, not even a day after that conversation, proving it. He’d done a rotten job of caring for Jade on his own, and that had been for only one night. Hell, he hadn’t even been able to get to bedtime without calling Lacey in for backup. Here he was, taking off on an unexpected work trip, exactly the way Holloway had known he would.
“Stupid,” he whispered, wanting to cry and put his fist through the wall at the same time. “Shouldn’t have been such a fool.”
Because that was what he’d been. He’d been living on another planet to think that he was building another life. He wasn’t meant for anything but being alone.
14
Lacey glanced nervously at Jade as she eased her Jeep into the drive in front of the bed and breakfast. The poor little thing hadn't been sleeping well for the last couple of nights, ever since Trevor had taken off to Helena. Lacey couldn't be sure why, but she thought perhaps Jade was picking up on some of the tension between the two grown-ups of the house. She could see circles under the girl's eyes, and the way Jade yawned even as she sang along quietly to her favorite country tune.
Truth be told, Lacey wasn't sleeping so well herself these days. It had been three days and three nights since Trevor had been called away to Helena. He phoned as often as he could, and Helena wasn't too terribly far off, but it was starting to feel as if he were a thousand miles away. The sense of distance only made it easier for her to obsess about their differences and over his parting words in their last conversation.
He wasn't the marrying kind. A part of her had already known that, of course, without him having to say it out loud or so bluntly. It wasn't that he'd totally blindsided her with the information. They hadn't exactly discussed marriage after that first surprising kiss, but he'd made it pretty darn clear that he didn't think he would ever be the kind of man she wanted or needed. Still, a vague reference to problems with commitment was minor league compared to his declaration of intent to remain a lifelong bachelor.
Now she knew for sure what she'd suspected almost as soon as they had broken apart. There would be no next time. No more kisses, no more late night tumbles in the sheets, and certainly no kind of discernable future for them together. It was no more than she should have expected, and yet every time she thought about it, she felt like crying.
“Lacey?” Jade asked from the passenger seat.
“Hm?” Lacey responded, still halfway entrenched in her own thoughts.
"You okay?" the child asked, her voice ever so slightly tinged with concern. Hearing that was enough to bring Lacey back to the present with a considerable amount of guilt. There was Jade, looking far more fatigued than any four-year-old had a right to, and the little thing was expending what energy she did have on Lacey's well-being, a role reversal if ever there was one, and making Lacey supremely uncomfortable.
“Of course I am, sweet girl!” she exclaimed, pulling Jade into a sideways hug over the middle console. “I just get kind of distracted sometimes. Does that ever happen to you?”
"Mamma says that's all I'm good for," Jade answered with a small frown, her eyes taking on a faraway look that made Lacey's heart ache. "Being ‘distractible'."