Page 58 of Elevating Eve

“I’d rather get my own drink if that’s okay.” It wasn’t a challenge. Just a simple statement of preference.

Resisting the urge to insist he pay for her coffee, he swept an arm toward the counter, letting her go first. He stood behind her, not saying a word as she ordered a medium salted caramel latte to go and paid for her drink. With no choice but to follow her lead, he ordered his iced coffee to go, as well.

A couple of minutes later, they sat at a small, round table by the front windows of the little shop, their untouched drinks sitting between them. Eve watched him with a guarded expression, clearly waiting for him to speak first.

He opened his mouth with every intention of pouring his heart out to her. “I heard through the grapevine that Frank took a plea deal,” came out instead, and he resisted the urge to cringe.

Eve arched her eyebrows, but chose not to call him out on his crap. “A five thousand dollar fine,” she said with a disappointed shrug. “They gave him the maximum fine, but no jail time since it was technically his first offense.”

“That’s bullshit,” Jonathan said, even though he already knew these details. Zach had told him earlier that morning. Apparently he and Eve still texted every day.

With another, smaller shrug, she said, “Yeah, I’m not thrilled. But at least that guilty plea will be on his record from now on. I’ll have to console myself with that.” She peered at him over the lid of her cup as she took a sip. “But I don’t think that’s why you’re here.”

Okay, enough stalling. “You’re right, it’s not.” Gathering up his shaky courage, he launched into the apology he so carefully prepared the last few days. “First of all, I want you to know that I heard everything you said, and I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting. I know now that it was a trauma response to my dad passing, which amplified my naturally controlling tendencies. It was an incredibly unhealthy way to act, and I?—”

“Okay, therapist Jonathan, calm down,” she interrupted, voice caught somewhere between amusement and disbelief. “If we’re going to talk, we’re going toreallytalk. None of this prepared speech crap.”

He gaped at her for a few seconds, then huffed out a small laugh. “Fair enough.” Maybe he had gone a little overboard with the therapy speech. “I’ve been talking to Nell about what happened. She’s in the graduate counseling program at the University of Vermont.”

The amusement won, and she cracked a smile. “And the world makes sense again.”

“She also helped me research grief counselors,” he added, needing her to know this part. “I have my first appointment next Monday.”

Her smile turned wobbly, and her eyes softened for the first time since she walked out the inn door. “That’s great, Jonathan,” she said, reaching across the table to squeeze his hand. “I’m really proud of you.”

“Did you have any therapy after your dad died?” he asked, curious.

With a little sigh, she shook her head. “I wish. I probably would’ve done a lot of things differently if I had.”

His heart ached at the regret in her voice. “You’re only thirty-five,” he said, flipping his hand around so he could thread his fingers through hers. “You’ve got the rest of your life to do things differently.”

She squeezed his hand again and didn’t pull away. Taking that as a positive sign, he moved on to the next part of his plan. “I have something I want to give you, if you’ll let me,” he said. “Without agenda or ulterior motive.”

“Sounds ominous,” she joked, a small smile twitching at the corners of her mouth. “Or like something out of that scene inLove Actuallywhere the guy holds up all the signs for Kiera Knightly.”

Chuckling, he said, “Nothing ominous. Though I guess it’s kind of like that second one.”

“He didn’t get the girl,” Eve reminded him. “Kiera stayed with the other guy.”

“And if you don’t want to get back together with me, that’s okay,” he assured her. “I mean it—I’m not doing this to get you back. I’m doing it because I love you, and it’s the right thing to do, no matter what.”

Eve drew in a sharp breath when he said he loved her. Her eyes searched his—for what, he didn’t know.

“I also said that without hope or agenda,” he said, hoping he got the wording from theLove Actuallyscene right. Olivia made them all watch that movie at their Christmas party for the last three years. Though he’d never admit it to her, he’d started to look forward to it almost as much asIt’s a Wonderful Life.

For a second, it looked like she would say something. But then she pressed her lips together, like she wanted to keep the words trapped inside. Eyes glistening with unshed tears, she finally pulled her hand out from under his and motioned for him to continue.

Slipping a hand into the inside pocket of his jacket, he pinched the small object there between forefinger and thumb. The pocket’s silk lining brushed against his skin like water as he withdrew his hand. Not saying a word, he placed the surprise on the table between them.

She stared at the new ring, confused. “I don’t understand.”

“I found your emerald, and I took it to a jeweler I know. I told him what you do for work, and he said even after what happened with your dad’s ring, a bezel setting is still best.” Platinum surrounded the stone on all four sides, holding the emerald securely in place. “The prongs in a more traditional solitaire setting could easily get caught and pry away while you’re working, and the last thing I wanted was for you to lose the stone again. As long as you have a jeweler look at it every now and then, they can fix the setting if it starts to wear away.”

“Jonathan...” Whatever it was she wanted to say, she couldn’t seem to find the words. Her gaze stayed glued to the ring on the table.

“He asked me about a thousand questions about you, your personality, your style—everything. Since you hate the only piece of jewelry I’ve seen you wear, we had to do a lot of guess work on the design.”

He’d almost called off the idea right there in the shop, afraidhe’d make the already disastrous situation even worse. But the idea of her putting the stone back in the clunky yellow gold ring made it worth the chance. He couldn’t let her keep suffering like that.

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