Page 65 of Twins For My Bestie's Brother

Jackson nods. “Yeah. It was good. My calves are on fire though. Been a while since I’ve been cross-country skiing. Is your dad busy? I brought him a decaf.”

I tilt my head to the back. “Go ahead.”

As Jackson goes to see my father at the pharmacy, Kayla gives me a look. “You’re so in love with him.”

“Is it obvious?” I ask.

“Desperately,” she replies but smiles in return.

Kayla and I chat a bit longer over our sandwiches before Jackson returns, although he’s slow as he clomps through the store in his heavy winter boots. His eyes are glued to the screen of his phone, brow furrowed. Work stuff. Always work stuff.

“If you keep frowning, your face will stay that way,” Kayla taunts.

Jackson doesn’t look up. “Whatever, Kay.”

Kayla and I exchange a look. Jackson isn’t normally so entrenched you can’t pull him away from his phone. I cock my head to the side. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine, it’s . . . ” he sighs heavily, then scratches the top of his head. “I have to head up to Banff next week.”

I scoff. “Banff? Canada? Why?”

Jackson clicks off his phone, finally bringing his attention back to the conversation. “An old partner of mine wants to discuss his new business venture and . . . ” He shrugs. “I owe the guy.”

“I thought you didn’t start new ventures anymore,” Kayla observes quietly. “That’s why you came back to Cider Bay.”

“Yeah, of course, I just owe the guy. To hear him out. Danforth invited me onto a project when I was still really green and—” Jackson holds his hands out as if to say, ‘That’s all there is to it.’

I have to admit, I’m uneasy that his way of life is just to get up and go when some random guy calls upon him. Shouldn’t there be a conversation with me at the very least?

Maybe I’m reading too much into it.

“You should at least take Lily with you. She deserves a vacation,” Kayla says.

I shake my head, embarrassed that maybe she read my mind. “No, I need to take care of the store.”

From the back, my dad shouts out, “I second that! Lily deserves a vacation.”

“Dad! Why are you listening?!”

Kayla gestures to me, the smoking gun. “Case in point.”

“You want to, Lil?” Jackson asks, a smile appearing on his face. “That would make it feel a lot less like work.”

“As long as I’m not in the way or—”

“Hell no,” Jackson replies. “I’d love that.”

The word love in any context with Jackson still makes me gooey inside.

Kayla claps her hands. “That settles it.”

I laugh, rolling my eyes. “What is it with you always inserting yourself into these situations?”

“I’m the reason you two got together, and you know it. Your firstborn child better be named after me,” Kayla says before sipping her coffee in triumph.

Jackson and I exchange a look so heated I think my face is on fire. I look away just as quickly. What the hell was that feeling? I guess I’m getting to that age where my body is getting biologically desperate. I try to make up for the weird moment by saying, “Don’t be ridiculous, Kay.”

But with how quickly everything’s been moving . . . I’m not sure how ridiculous that thought actually is.

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