Page 78 of Redeeming Melodies

"Someone's at your door, Dad!" Tommy's excitement crackled through the phone. "Maybe it's a neighbor bringing cookies like in those movies."

"Maybe." But my heart was already racing because I knew that truck in the driveway. Knew those broad shoulders visible through my fancy new security cameras that Zayn had insisted on installing.

Jake stood on my porch looking like every small-town fantasy I'd been trying not to have. Worn jeans that fit exactly right, flannel rolled up to his elbows, dust on his boots like he'd just stepped off a ranch. His smile hit me like a physical thing - warm and steady and maybe a little uncertain.

"Sheriff Jake!" Tommy's voice split the tension before it could fully form. "Dad, turn the phone so I can see him properly!"

Jake's eyes lit up at Tommy's voice, and something in my chest cracked open. "Hey buddy. Giving your dad the grand tour?"

"He's got my jersey on the wall!" Tommy practically vibrated with excitement. "And we're building a treehouse with a telescope spot and everything!"

"That right?" Jake's eyes met mine over the phone, so much understanding in that look it made my throat tight. "Sounds pretty amazing."

I should have said something. Should have explained why I ran, why I came back, why I'd been avoiding him for weeks. But watching him make faces at my kid through FaceTime, drawing out that pure Tommy-laugh I'd missed so much, words felt impossible.

"Sheriff Jake, are you gonna help build the treehouse?" Tommy's question hit like a sucker punch. "Dad's good at racing but maybe not so much at building stuff."

"Hey now." But I was smiling despite myself, watching Jake try not to laugh.

"We'll see, buddy." Jake's voice went soft in that way that did things to my insides. "Though your dad might surprise you. Hear he's been doing pretty good with this house."

Tommy was about to respond when a voice off-screen called his name. The tutor, right on schedule because heaven forbid Vanessa let our kid have one unstructured moment.

"Gotta go." His disappointment carried clear through the screen. "But Sheriff Jake? You'll stay and make sure Dad doesn't mess up the house more?"

"Promise." Jake's answer came quick and sure, like keeping promises to my kid was the most natural thing in the world.

Once the call ended, silence settled heavy between us. Jake was still on the porch, hands in his pockets, looking at me like he was trying to figure something out.

"Want to come in?" The words came out rough. "Since you're apparently on house inspection duty now."

His laugh felt like forgiveness I wasn't sure I deserved. "Tommy's orders. Can't disobey those."

The house felt different with Jake in it. Like it had been waiting for this moment, holding its breath to see what happened when the sheriff of Oakwood Grove stepped into the space I'd been hiding in.

"You did good work." Jake moved through the living room, taking in details with that careful attention he gave everything. "Place has character now. Soul."

"Yeah.It is all Zayn. My friend from the city." My voice caught watching Jake run a hand along the kitchen island - the one I'd picked imagining morning coffees and shared silences. "He's got a gift for seeing what things could be."

Jake turned then, caught me staring. The hardness in his eyes knocked the breath from my lungs. "Things or people?"

The question hit like an accusation. "Both, maybe."

He nodded, jaw tight, continuing his slow circuit of my kitchen. Every step brought him closer, until I could smell sawdust and leather and something uniquely Jake that made my heart forget its rhythm. The silence stretched dangerous between us.

"Three weeks." His voice came low, controlled. Too controlled. "Three weeks of nothing. Not even a goddamn text."

"Been busy." The excuse tasted like ash. "House needed work and?—"

"Could've let me know." Jake's hands clenched at his sides. "Left me wondering if—" He stopped, like he was catching himself. "Hell, I didn't even have a way to reach you."

Right. We'd never exchanged numbers. That night had gone from wine under the stars to his kiss to me running before we'd even gotten to basic contact information.

"You kissed me." The words came out before I could stop them. "That night. Under the stars. You kissed me and I?—"

"And you ran." His voice carried no judgment, just a hurt that made my chest ache. "Guess I read things wrong."

"No." Moved closer before I could think better of it. "God no, Jake. You didn't read anything wrong. That kiss was..." Struggled for words that could capture how it had turned my world upside down. "It was everything I didn't know I was waiting for."

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