Page 107 of Snowed In With the Mountain Man
Of course he’d been more concerned about her ankle. That was JJ for you. He’d never put himself first.
And yet he wants you to give up your entire life to fit in with his.
She frowned down at the table. That didn’t sound right. And he hadn’t actuallyaskedher to make any sacrifices. But that was the only way it would work, right? JJ was happy here in Aspire. He’d be miserable in the big city. So inevitably it would come down to her sacrificing everything and—
“Dahlia?” Dex’s voice was gentle. “Did I hurt you?”
She swallowed hard. The dang tears were becoming a real nuisance. She sniffed. “No, not at all.” She tugged her ankle out of his hands. “I’m fine, just… just tired.”
His gaze said he didn’t believe her, but he nodded.
She looked away from his understanding gaze. He couldn’t possibly get it.
Emma was giving her an equally painful look of sympathy. It wasn’t pity, but it was much too close.
She looked away and found Rose watching her thoughtfully.
“I’d better go check on JJ before I head back to the clinic,” Dex said, breaking what was about to become an awkward silence as everyone pretended that Dahlia wasn’t fighting back tears.
“I’ll walk you out,” Emma murmured.
When Dahlia was alone with Rose, she turned to her little sister, her heart lodged in her throat. “Can you take me to the airport?”
“Now?” Rose’s eyes widened when Dahlia nodded.
She couldn’t stay here a second longer. Not when at any moment JJ could walk through those doors. She wasn’t sure she trusted herself to have another encounter. Because if he asked her to stay…
Oh heck, she’d be so very tempted to say yes.
“But…” Rose frowned. “When’s the next flight?”
“I don’t know, but I’m just going to stay there until I can go.” Rose looked like she was about to protest, so she hurried on. “I’ll fly standby if I have to. I’ll take the next flight out to a major hub, and there’s bound to be flights leaving for New York, and…” She faltered in the face of Rose’s clear concern. “Rose, I just… I have to get home.”
Her little sister still looked like she might argue, but she clamped her lips shut with a nod. A second later, she was up and reaching for her car keys. “Let me just text Dex to tell him where I’m going.”
Dahlia nodded. “I’ll get my luggage.”
The trip home was long and miserable. It probably would have been just as bad even if she’d had a seat and didn’t have two lengthy layovers. But eventually she got home.
And her apartment had never felt lonelier.
For long hours that night, she sat up, looking out the window at all the apartment lights on the street around her. The sight used to comfort her. She was alone in a crowd, but there were people around.
Now it just made her feel more alone than ever.
She told herself that going back to work would help. She needed to get back into her routine, that was all.
But the next morning, she was exhausted thanks to the time change and a bad night’s sleep. Her coworkers greeted her politely, but she couldn’t help wondering if they were actually disappointed to have her back. Awkward smiles and polite nods abounded as she strode to her office, then went to check in with Jason and Marian.
Her bosses each made jokes about her being stranded in Nowheresville.
The jokes weren’t funny, and the way they spoke of the people in Aspire—calling them local yokels and acting like they weren’t as intelligent just because they didn’t take public transportation—it made her hackles rise.
They were talking about Rose now, she kept thinking. They were talking about Rose, and Emma, and Lizzy, and Nash…
And JJ.
They were talking about a place they’d never been and people they’d never met. But that didn’t stop them from making all kinds of assumptions.
