Page 92 of Valentine Nook
I’m too busy catching my breath with relief to really pay much attention to what he’s saying. For a split second, my life flashed before my eyes. The acrimony Hendricks went through with Max’s mother nearly killed him, and the prospect of working through it myself isn’t something I ever wish to experience.
But once the relief has passed, it’s followed by an unexpected pang of sadness. I’d always assumed Jeremy would have been godfather and vice versa when we had children. Now the future of Burlington lies with Max.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Wanted you to hear it from me before anyone else.”
I laugh at that. A big, heartfelt laugh because the thought of him sparing my feelings after everything that’s happened is so ridiculous it’s absurd.
I’m still chuckling when Jeremy reaches around the bar for a cloth, drops a handful of ice into it, and holds it against his eye.
“So you and the American?—”
The laughter dies on my lips. “Don’t you fucking mention her name. Don’t you eventhinkabout her.”
“Whoa, YourGrace. That’s quite the temper you’ve developed,”he taunts and moves the ice cloth down to his nose. “You want to know what I find interesting?”
“No, I really don’t, but I guess I’m going to find out.”
“Cor-rect.” This time, he gets up, walks behind the bar, and pours himself a glass of whiskey. And I don’t stop him. I’m too scared that I’ll take another swing at him, and this time, I’ll keep going. “You almost murder me because I’m sitting next to a woman you’ve known less than two months, yet your fiancée falls in love with another man right under your nose, and you don’t even notice.”
“Your point?”
“My point.Hmm.I saw a photo of you and . . . um . . . thatforeign personwho was just in here.”
I roll my eyes. “So?”
He glugs the whiskey and places his glass on the bar. I’d almost forgotten how much Jeremy loves a dramatic pause and how much they used to irritate the fuck out of me.
“In four years with Caroline, I never saw you look at her like that. But you know what?Ilook at her like that. I always did, something else you never noticed.”
I know what he means.
After Miles told me to check out the photo, I pulled it from the pile of media notices I never usually bother to read. EvenIwas surprised. But not from the way I’m looking at her—like she’s the first sunny day after a month of rain—or the way she’s laughing at me.
It’s the absence of stress and worry.
There’s a lightness to my expression. A rarity after two days of meetings and years of living up to my obligations.
Perhaps Holidayismy sunny day.
“This is why you came all this way? Because you saw a fucking photo? Or because my powers of observation aren’t up to your standard?”
He shakes his head with a scoff and gets up off the stool.Walking to the other side of the bar, he picks up a brown box, which I’d assumed was Eddie’s, and places it in front of me.
“I love Caroline, but I have to admit that for the last six months, I’ve also been wracked with guilt. I should have handled things differently, and I regret losing you as a friend, but it’s a cost I have to bear.”
I blink hard at words I never expected to hear. “Are you asking for my forgiveness?”
He shakes his head. “No.”
“Then I’ll ask again, what the fuck are you doing here?”
His chin jerks to the box. “Everything you ever gave Caroline.”
I peer at the box but don’t open it. I don’t want to look in it.
“It’s time to draw a line and start fresh. We’re having a baby now, our life is real, and I don’t want it to be funded in any way by you. Caroline would have brought it herself, but I don’t think she would have been quite as welcomed as I have.” He laughs dryly.
