Page 20 of Until I Find You

He folds his hands and sets them on top of the table, leaning forward. “Look, I told you I’m not good at this.”

“You seem to actually care. I had no idea from the way you were acting. I thought you were just a rich guy who wanted to start a business because he could.”

Jack’s jaw tightens.

“I didn’t mean to offend you.” I ought to be more careful. Just yesterday we were coming to blows over a trip to Hawaii.

“You didn’t. To be honest with you, I always thought opening a coffee shop was a bit silly. Compared to being a floor trader, you know, it lacks the gravitas I feel I’m supposed to have.”

I shake my head. “That’s silly.”

“See?”

“No, that thought! Not the shop. The thought is silly. You have money, you can do whatever you want. Why not do what you love? And clearly you love coffee.”

Jack’s lips twitch into a boyish smile. “I do love coffee.”

His smile is contagious. I try to temper it by focusing on breaking off a piece of warm chocolate and cherry scone. “Then why don’t you want to go to Hawaii? It’s not just a shop. You want your business to be all parts of production, so why aren’t you interested in getting involved?”

Jack rubs his chin. “Don’t give me shit, okay?”

“I might, but that’s only because you’re not technically my boss.” I pop the scone into my mouth. Why I feel this need to be a brat to him I do not know.

Jack narrows his eyes. “Yet.”

The word is so assertive and low in his chest I swallow my scone without tasting.

Jack takes a moment to collect his thoughts. “My mother and her family live in Hawi on the Big Island. It’s only about an hour from Kona.”

I keep silent. I know how complicated family can be.

“We aren’t…close,” Jack says. “I’m her first born, but it wasn’t planned, and she wasn’t with my father very long after I was born. Once she met her new husband, they had a bunch of kids and–”

He shakes his head. “Anyway, if I go down there, I’m going to feel compelled to visit even if it’s not good for me.”

I nod. “I understand. That must be complicated.”

He shrugs. “It’s…silly.”

“You have to get that word out of your vocabulary, Jack.”

He lets out a laugh through his nose.

“The way you feel about things isn’t silly. You love coffee, you want to start a business, you do it. That’s not silly. You want to see your mom but it’s complicated. That’s not silly either.”

Jack lifts his gaze to mine.

My chest warms.

I don’t know what it is, but I’m connected to him in some way. Now that he’s pulled back the curtain and shown me he’s a person with actual feelings, I want to see him succeed.

We’ll see how long that feeling lasts.

“Well, thank you, Camilla. I don’t feel what you’re saying, but I hear it, and I’ll try to…” He touches his chest and rubs his hand against it for a moment. “Anyway, you were right to question my judgment. If it’s my company, I should be involved.”

I raise an eyebrow. “So, that means you’re going to go down to Hawaii?”

“I will,” he says with a tentativeness in his voice. “That is if you agree to go with me. As my...”

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