Page 339 of A Merry Mountain Christmas

And he just turned and left, leaving Maisie with her dogs and the heaviness of knowing he might not be coming back.

In a minute, she’d put herself together. Leave for the shelter so she could put in a few hours with the dogs, get their stockings together. Iris had helped her gather all the elements for them. But right now, she lowered herself where she stood, in front of the tree sparkling in lights he’d put there, and let the tears fall.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Jack couldn’t remember ever being this miserable. Not from anything Prescott or Genevieve had done. Not even from the realization that his problems in Chicago had very much followed him to Asheville. It struck him as odd that a woman he barely knew could make him hurt so badly. But that wasn’t true. He knew her, and that was why he hurt so badly. She was the last person he’d expected to hurt him.

But as he stomped away from her house, realizing that she had driven him here and his car was parked several miles away at the Buchanan house, he told himself he had to put all of the emotions twisting inside of him away for now. His family disaster was still unfolding, after all, and as unbelievable as it was, he was supposed to be putting on Georgie and River’s engagement party tonight.

Shit.

River.

Lee.

Jack had to make sure Adalia and Georgie knew about their father. Would Lee tell them? Where had he even gone? He didn’t have a car either.

Maisie had accused Jack of running away, and maybe there was some truth to that, but this was how he’d learned to process anger. Any obvious shows of emotion had been like blood in the water with Genevieve, but she would occasionally cave if he went to her calmly and explained his side. So he had learned to internalize his anger and let it simmer until he could sort through the facts logically. If Maisie couldn’t deal with that, then this was never going to work. If it was going to work at all.

Part of him wanted to say to hell with it all. How was he supposed to face River now? It felt stupid and petty, and yes, a little unfair, but he was jealous of the history they shared. Maisie had been in love with River for almost a decade, until she was forced to confront the fact that he loved someone else. Now Jack was supposed to believe she wantedhim? He’d spent his entire life as his mother’s consolation prize, and he wasn’t playing that roleeveragain.

He’d walked about a half mile before realizing it was stupid to think he could walk the rest of the way. He had to get home, shower, then head to the brewery to set up for the engagement party. If the party was still happening. It was inconceivable to imagine it would, yet he didn’t want to disappoint Georgie.

Damn, he really didn’t want to break the Prescott news to his sisters. Maybe Lee had gone to tell them. Regardless, he needed to find out what was going on, sooner rather than later. He considered ordering an Uber, but he’d have to wait for it by the side of the road. Calling Iris was out. He’d get the third degree.

It wasn’t like he had a lot of friends in Asheville, so he called the only person he knew who wouldn’t make him feel worse.

“Hey,” Finn said when he answered. “We missed you guys last night. We got kicked out of Libations after Lurch tried to start a conga line. And, get this, he and Stella got back together by the end of the night. Apparently, she told him she didn’t wantto break up with him after all. She wanted them to be part of a thruple with the fireman.”

“Yeah, well…” Jack trailed off because he didn’t really know what to do with that, then took a deep breath. “I need to ask a favor, man.”

“Sure,” Finn said, perking up. “Shoot.”

“Can you pick me up? I’m kind of stranded, and I need to deal with a situation before I set up for the party tonight.”

“Yeah, of course. Where are you?”

Jack scrubbed the back of his neck as he looked around. “About a half mile from Maisie’s house. I’ll send you a pin of my location.”

“Did your car break down?”

“No.”

“Did Maisie have to go to the shelter?”

He swallowed. “No. I don’t want to get into it right now. Can you pick me up anyway?”

“Yeah,” Finn said, sounding confused. But he didn’t press him, and he didn’t ask the dozens of questions that were probably lining up to leave his mouth. “Of course. I’m on my way.”

When they hung up, Jack sent him his location but continued walking, planning to intercept Finn on the way.

About ten minutes later, Finn’s Range Rover appeared around a curve, and he pulled to the side of the road when he saw Jack.

Jack climbed into the passenger seat. “Thanks, Finn, I really appreciate it.” He grimaced. “Sorry if I came across as rude or abrupt on the phone.”

“No problem,” Finn said, making a U-turn and heading back toward their neighborhood.

They rode in silence for a few minutes, Finn squirming in his seat before he finally said, “I love Maisie to death, but she’s not always an easy person to get along with.”

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