Page 49 of Wistful in Wyoming
This time however, Willow’s voice rang out almost immediately. “Come in!”
A small snort escaped him as he remembered when she’d first moved to the Rock and had been appalled most residents didn’t keep their doors locked during the day—something that apparently wasn’t the case back in Philadelphia. Such was life in a small Wyoming town. However, after last night’s threat, you could be damn sure Jeremiah would be locking his doors whether he was home or not for the foreseeable future.
Turning the knob, he pushed the door open, entered, then closed it again before striding down the hallway to the kitchen after noticing the living room was empty.
“Jeremiah? Since when do you knock? What’s up?” Willow was sitting at the table and turned back to continue feeding Shannon who was in her highchair and wearing more of the mashed-up sweet potatoes than was probably in her stomach. The baby drew a smile from him, as his goddaughter always managed to do. Her presence would keep what he had to say on the more civil side at least.
When he didn’t answer her, Willow glanced back over her shoulder and took in his stiff posture and sour expression, her own face falling. “What’s wrong?”
“Where’s my sister?” he asked, only wanting to have this conversation once.
“Um. She’s, uh, in the bathroom.”
Jenna had mentioned that morning that she was coming over to hang out with Willow and Shannon for the afternoon while Nathan ran some errands. Jeremiah had waited until he saw Nathan’s truck leave before heading over. He doubted the man would appreciate him confronting his wife this way, but he felt it needed to be done—for him and for the sake of their friendship.
“Jeremiah, is everything okay?”
“No, it’s not, but I want to talk to you and Jenna together.”
Willow’s eyes narrowed, and the corners of her mouth pulled downward. “You’re scaring me.” She picked up a wet washcloth and cleaned off Shannon’s face, before lifting her from the highchair and setting her down to play.
From down the hall, he heard a door open and moments later his sister joined them in the kitchen. When she spotted him and noticed the tension in the room, she glanced at Willow before settling her gaze on him. “Jeremiah, what are you doing here? Something wrong?”
“Sit down. Both of you.” He pointed to the kitchen table, waited until they sat down, then took a seat himself. “I have something to say, and you’re both going to listen. Understand?”
Willow twisted her fingers together, anxiety distorting her pretty face. “Okay, but is Nathan okay? You’re really scaring me.”
He shook his head. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you. Nathan is fine. This is about you two and the lie you told me. You said Dale was quittin’ and movin’ away. He wasn’t—in fact, according to him, as pissed as he was at me, the thought never crossed his mind. While I appreciate you were both trying to help me, the way you went about it was underhanded and unacceptable. I’m a grown man—older than both of you—and you treated me like a child who’s easily manipulated into doing your bidding.”
“Oh, Jeremiah,” Jenna began, but he held up his hand, halting her words.
“Yes, things worked out between Dale and me. We’re together now and committed to one another. I’m happier than I’ve ever been. In part, I suppose I do have you two to thank for that, but I’m telling you this, if you ever pull that sh—crap on me again, we’re going to have a serious problem.” He’d stopped himself from swearing just in time. He was really trying to clean up his language in front of Shannon, and there was no reason not to start getting in the habit early.
Willow reached a hand across the table to him, but he ignored it as she pleaded, “Jeremiah, please forgive us. We’re so sorry, but we just wanted you to be happy and couldn’t think of anything else to help get you and Dale back together. In Jenna’s defense, it was my idea. Please, don’t be mad at her.”
He huffed out a breath. “I’m not mad—I’m hurt and disappointed.”
“Oh, God, that’s so much worse.” Jenna dropped her forehead into her open hands and groaned. “Mom’s been using that line on us since we were little, and dammit, it always works.” She gave him a wry look. “I’m sorry, big brother. You have to know what we did came from a place of love, I swear. We didn’t want you to lose the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”
He nodded. “I know that, sis. But can you imagine how I felt? I thought the man I was falling in love with was so pissed and disgusted with me that he was going tomove away. Forever. It very nearly broke me. To think I’d finally found someone that made me feel brave enough to come out, who was worth all the fear and uncertainty, then to think he was going to leave.” Shaking his head, he swallowed, trying to force down his emotions.
“Fuck, Jeremiah, I’m so sorry,” Willow cried as fat tears ran down her cheeks.
This time, when she reached for him, he took her hand in his and squeezed it gently. “I forgive you, sweetheart. You’re my best friend, I’ll always forgive you.” He made eye contact with Jenna. “And you’re my favorite sister, so same goes.”
“I’m your only sister.” She stood, stepped behind him, and wrapped her arms around his neck before kissing the top of his head. “I’m sorry too, big bro. I really am. It just broke my heart to see you so sad. All I’ve ever wanted was for you to have the happiness you deserve.”
Patting her hands, he let a moment of silence fall over the room before clearing his throat. “Okay, enough of this. I got everything off my chest and accepted your apologies. It’s done. Now,” he glanced over his shoulder, “I want to know what’s going on with you and my foreman, Jenna.”
His sister’s face turned a deep scarlet, and she let go of him and snapped, “Nothing. Nothing is fucking going on between me and that ... that ... that heathen.”
Frowning, she huffed and flopped back onto her chair, ignoring Jeremiah’s and Willow’s amused and curious expressions. Recalling the conversation he’d had with Jenna about her moving back to the Rock, he decided to drop the subject. Whatever was going on between her and Anthony was none of his business, just as he’d pointed out to the two women moments ago that they needed to stay out of his own relationship issues.
Instead, he pointed to the glass jar on the counter across the room. “Now, that’s two dollars in the swear jar, one from each of you—yes, I was keeping track.” He grinned as they grumbled and dug cash out of their pockets. At this rate, Shannon’s college fund would be fat and happy by the time she graduated from high school.
A few minutes later, after helping himself to a cup of coffee, Jeremiah sat back down and prepared for the next conversation he needed to have with the two women. Since Jenna was currently staying with him, and Willow was his best friend and immediate neighbor, Nathan and they all needed to be aware of the threat against him and Dale. Taking a deep breath, he blew it out slowly. “All right. There’s something else I need to talk to you both about. You might want to get your money back out because I have a feeling you’ll be adding more to the swear jar before I’m done.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
