Page 91 of Dump and Chase

“You look unhappy,” Jim said without much emotion.

“I’m tired. And frustrated.”

“With which guy?”

“Ethan.”

“You’re taking on Kodiaks now?”

“You meant work life, and I meant my private life.”

“I see,” he said, sitting down and pulling the head off his blueberry muffin. “Who are the two guys?”

Like I’d tell Jim. The whole city of Vancouver would know by the end of the day, but I had brought it up. Not a smart move on my part. “You don’t have a great history of keeping secrets.”

He nodded. “That’s because people don’t specifically ask me to keep a secret. If you ask me to keep a secret, it will be a secret. You have no idea what I’ve got stored up here,” he said, pointing to his head.

“All right,” I said, playing along. “I would like you to keep this a secret.”

“Done.”

We’d see about that. I just wouldn’t give him any names and see if he still spilled his guts. “I’m torn between the guy I’ve loved all my life and whether I should move on to someone else.”

“Grant and Warde. Go on.”

I gasped. “I didn’t say it was them.”

“Fine, let’s pretend it’s them. It gives me a visual.”

He was such a shit, but over the last few months he’d grown on me. But I couldn’t tell if he was lying or not, so I went with it. “The first guy, Ethan, since you need a visual, has been through a lot. He was recently dumped by his fiancée and even though he says he loves me, I’m not sure he’s ready and able to love me. My concern is that he’s giving me lip service.”

“I met Brandi once. The Ravens and Kodiaks were doing a charity golf tournament. She ignored me. He’s better off without her.”

I gave Jim the sternest of looks, but he didn’t seem to notice. “The other guy, Warde, again, a visual for you, is sweet to me, kind, and doesn’t appear to have any baggage. But I have to wonder if he’s ready for a girlfriend with a kid.”

“Probably not, although he’s good with kids. Always the first to volunteer in any event to do with kids.”

“Do you see my dilemma?”

“Actually, no.”

I leaned in closer to him as he sipped his coffee. “No?”

“It seems crystal clear to me.”

But he didn’t elaborate, so I motioned with my hand so he’d continue.

“Grant is the father of your kid?”

“Maybe. Yes, for the sake of this conversation,” I quickly added. “But I don’t want to get back together with him just because he’s the father of my baby. He did ask me to marry him, but did he do that because he wanted to do, or because he feels obligated to?”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Jim said, popping some muffin into his mouth.

“But you’re not saying anything at all!” For a guy who aired everyone’s dirty laundry, he was being a little cagey right now.

He swallowed his mouthful and sighed heavily. “You could have gotten a job anywhere, but you came here because he’s here. He could have said nothing about the job, but not only did he tell you about it, he put in a good word for you. You have to ask yourself, would a guy who was engaged to someone he didn’t want to marry really rush into another marriage proposal with someone else he didn’t want to marry?”

“Does everyone know I was the Ravens third choice?”

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