Page 10 of Promised Summer
Hurting Jones was just another one of my many regrets.
I reluctantly pulled away from his embrace and put some distance between us. Jones reached out to wipe my cheeks. I hadn’t even known they were wet.
He was so damn caring, and kind, and still the most fucking perfect person in the world. Too bad he wasn’t mine anymore, and I had nobody but myself to blame for that.
“But to answer your earlier question, yes, that’s the reason we moved here. After the accident, Karla didn’t do well when I was out of her sight, so I found a remote job that’ll let me be with her, and I thought being around family would be good for her, and heaven knows I need the help,” I joked.
Plus, I hoped Karla could make happy memories in the place where I’d had my happiest ones, though I didn’t say that out loud.
Jones tilted his head in contemplation, eyes meeting mine. There were so many unspoken words between us, but before either of us could say anything, the little patter of feet broke our moment. Karla ran to my side and tugged my shirt, asking to be picked up.
“Does your arm still hurt?” I asked while lifting her up. She shook her head and rested her head on me, ear pressed against my chest, the way she often did. I secretly wondered if she did this to confirm my heart was still beating and that I was still alive, though I shook those thoughts away. She was too young to even know what a heartbeat was.
Jones watched us with a soft look before clearing histhroat and saying, “We should get you back to your car. I’m sure Karla wants to go home and get cleaned up to rest.”
He turned after he finished speaking, leaving me with no choice but to follow him while wondering if I’d ever see him again after this.
Chapter Six
JONES
My heart drummed through my chest the entire ride to Ryan’s car. He sat in the back of the truck with Karla on his lap since I didn’t have a booster seat for her.
My idiotic brain told me I needed to remedy that right away. Never mind the fact that Ryan may up and disappear once more after I dropped him at his car, then I’d never see him or Karla again.
I kept glancing in the rear view mirror to look at him. Fuck, why did he have to be so hot? Seeing him again would have been a lot easier if he’d grown up to be a troll, or an evil villain like I’d sometimes imagined him to be to make myself feel better about being ghosted.
But he was neither of those things. Instead, he was still so dangerously handsome, and such a kind and patient papa to his daughter. Ugh, fuck. Why couldn’t he be the horrible dad I was mentally cursing when I’d found Karla alone in the woods?
Instead, I was driving as slowly and safely as possible just to prolong the time I could breathe the same air as him. When we inevitably made it to his car parked by the main trail Karla had gotten lost from, they hopped out of my truck, and my breath caught.
Would this be the last time I saw him? Sure, we’d probably bump into each other, since the town was only so big, but that wasn’t the same. Those would be brief greetings that would only leave me longing for more time with him.
I hated how I still cared about him after all this time, after what he did…
Ryan carried Karla and stopped by my open window.
“Thank you again for today.”
“You’ve thanked me enough today to last a lifetime,” I replied with a rumble. All this gratitude made me feel like an outsider…which I guess I was an outsider to him now.
“I just want you to know I really am grateful for your help.”
I nodded, my hand tightening on the wheel. Now that he’d thanked me for the billionth time today, I figured the conversation was over and it was time to go our separate ways, no matter how much I loathed the idea of that.
But he didn’t leave, his eyes still locked on mine, and mouth slightly parted like he wanted to say something but was holding himself back. That look had a bit of thescared, lost child he was when we first met, which was why I found myself taking the lead and blurting out, “I’m getting a dog—I mean I want to adopt one and was thinking about going to the closest animal shelter tomorrow. I was wondering if maybe Karla wants to come and see the puppies too?”
As soon as Karla heard the word ‘puppy’ her head lifted from Ryan’s chest, eyes big with excitement as she looked at her daddy.
I laughed, amused at how obvious she made her love of dogs.
“You just had to go and say the magic words,” Ryan said with a laugh and a shake of his head, but he didn’t sound mad. His eyes sparkled, and my stomach did backflips like it was an Olympic champion.
“You two should come tomorrow,” I found myself saying again, even though this was probably a terrible idea.
I knew what would happen when I let someone in. My ex betraying me was a prime example of that, and this wasn’t justanyone. This was the person who’d shattered my heart in a way I never wanted to experience again.
I’d managed to pick up the pieces the first time, but could I handle it if he broke me again?
