Page 57 of I'll Carry You

Of course. Because why wouldn’t he be? He held his breath momentarily. It wouldn’t help to lie about this. “Cavanaugh Metals.”

“Really?” Bob drew his face back. “I’ve met Tom Cavanaugh before.” He gave a brief chuckle. “He’s a tough son of a bitch. Good businessman.”

The chances of Jen’s father having met his grandfather. The skin on the back of his neck prickled, and Jason’s smile was tight. “He actually passed away a couple of months ago.” Before the conversation could continue, he lifted the canvas bag and set his gaze on Jen. “I checked us in. They said we need to be over by the baking center in ten minutes.”

Was that relief on her face? She slipped her arm into his. “See you later, Mom and Dad.” Then she kissed Colby’s cheek. “Behave, okay?”

Colby threw his arms around Jen, and she squatted to hug him. “I love you, Mommy.”

Jen kissed his cheek. “I love you, too, bud. Maybe if you’re lucky, Mom-Mom will buy you a candy cane.”

Colby gave a wide grin. “Two candy canes!”

“Don’t push your luck.” She kissed him again, then stood. “Afterthe show is done,” she murmured to her mom in a low voice that Jason barely heard.

As her parents and Colby walked away, Jen turned to him. “I told them we’ve been together on and off for a while but that we finally made our relationship official. I didn’t want them thinking I’ve lost my head with a guy I just met, especially right after I just asked them if I could move back in.”

“Got it,” Jason said. Her face looked pale. “Everything okay?”

Her gaze followed the direction her parents and Colby had gone. “I was just worried you might not be here when we showed up.”

Jason bent his head toward hers and kissed her. “Of course I’m here.” He interlaced their fingers, tugging her deeper into the store. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“It’s just that”—she kept her gaze low—“I didn’t hear from you all day. I mean, even after I texted you the instructions for tonight, all you answered was ‘OKAY.’ And I-I didn’t know if things were okay.”

He paused mid-stride.Crap.

He’d been out of the dating game too long. And when he’d taken women back home recently, they knew better than to expect a message. They didn’t even get his phone number in the first place.

Jason had spent the entire day thinking of her and the situation with her and everything to do with her.

And he hadn’t let her know.

None of that would make for a good explanation, though. He reached across his chest, rubbing his opposite shoulder with his free hand. “They fired me this morning. So I had a lot on my mind.” He took both her hands, pulling her closer. “I promise, all I dreamed about today was you. And I won’t let it happen again.” He kissed her as though they weren’t in the middle of a crowded store.

“You got fired?” She pulled away, her eyes wide. “Are you okay? What happened? I’m so sorry, I had no idea.”

“It’s fine. The company hired a CEO a few years ago that I don’t get along with too well, so I’ve been expecting it.” That was putting the whole thing mildly. All the half truths made him shift with discomfort. None of this was straightforward anymore, and he’d started to feel like he was drowning while trying to keep up with the lies. “The good news is that I can stretch my visit out here to Brandywood longer.”

“I don’t love the reason for it, but that makes me happy, at least.” She gave him another kiss, enough to send his pulse racing, and a man bumped into them.

“Get a room,” the man muttered, stalking past.

Jen pulled away, then covered her mouth with a gasp. “Oh my God.” Her eyes were wide but gleeful as she looked at Jason. “That wasBrad.”

“As in the idiot who dumped you the other night for kissing me?”

She nodded, her cheeks reddening. “He’s going to think I was totally cheating on him.”

Jason wrapped his arms around her, then kissed her jaw. “I’m more than happy to confirm his worst suspicions.”

“Stop. My parents are over in the audience.” She pointed toward the middle of the room, where a large section of the store was corded off. About ten rows of folding chairs had been provided, but they were full, and there was standing room only.

Beyond the folding chairs was an elevated area—not as high as a stage, only about one stair step up. But wide enough to accommodate what looked like a full, well-stocked kitchen. Ten small but stocked kitchen islands had been set up across the space, each with a stand mixer. “The guy who owns this place, Peter Yardley, got a deal with the Happy Home Channel to make a cooking show. He built this to accommodate his filming schedule.”

Jason frowned at the large cluster of contestants in the contestant holding area beside the stage. “There are more contestants than stand mixers.”

“I think they said they’re going to do a few rounds of quizzes to eliminate people before anyone gets to cook.”

---