Page 47 of A Cozy Kind of Christmas
Connor had forced the issue, like it or not.
“Then why the hell is Connor coming to Bend?”
Johanna sucked in her cheeks and pressed her fingers together, closing her eyes for a second. If Connor was already on a flight, there was no point in keeping it from Meg any longer. She opened her eyes and stared at her friend, who looked perplexed. “Because of me. Connor’s coming because of me.”
“What?” Meg gasped.
Johanna nodded. “We’ve been hooking up a bit.”
What she didn’t say was that she was internally raging over the job—that Connor had gone behind her back and interviewed for the same position without telling her.
She needed time.
Time to think.
Time to strategize.
And most importantly, time to decide whether or not she was going to fight for a position she deserved, march back to the office, and demand they reconsider. Or strike out on her own.
TWENTY-NINE
JILL
When Jill woke the next morning, Owen was gone. She rolled over in bed, reaching for his pillow and breathing in the scent of his musky cologne and the remnants of the bonfire.
Was he gone for good?
He’d expertly avoided her all night, and then when they came back to the cabin, he said he was too jet-lagged to talk and crashed right away. A likely story; he’d slept on every flight. If anyone should be jet-lagged, it was her, but she was up most of the night, tossing and turning, wanting to wake him and force him to deal with it—sleep or no sleep.
She dragged herself out of bed, tied on a plush robe provided by Lucinda, along with a note saying to keep it as a token of her appreciation for making the trip to Bend. The woman hadn’t missed a single detail. In addition to the luxurious robes, a gift basket had awaited them filled with Oregon-inspired items—marionberry jam, blackberry jelly, artisan coffee, wine, crackers, and cheese. Their kitchen was stocked with fruit, eggs, cream, pastries, granola, yogurt, coffee, tea, and juice.
Jill brewed a pot of coffee and scanned the event schedule for the day. The morning and early afternoon were free to explore Bend. Lucinda had a brewery tour arranged for happy hour,and then Matt’s formal dinner party was later in the evening. Forest formal attire was encouraged. She and Owen had a good chuckle trying to decide what to pack to meet the brief for “forest formal.” Owen had landed on a green-and-yellow plaid flannel shirt, slacks, and a skinny forest green tie.
It didn’t matter now. Odds were good that she’d be attending dinner solo.
She lingered over her coffee and a bowl of yogurt with the yummiest spiced cranberry and orange granola she’d ever tasted.
Owen still hadn’t shown up by the time she’d showered and dressed for the day.
The only good sign was that his clothes were still in the closet, and his bags weren’t packed. It gave her a tiny glimmer of hope, but he could also be booking a ticket back to the U.K.
Maybe he was planning to retreat to his mom’s house off the coast in Ireland.
There was no point in wallowing in the cabin. The sun was up, and the sky was bright. She might as well get outside, get some fresh air, and explore the resort. She left Owen a note, on the off chance he was willing to hear her out at least, and went for a snowy walk.
If he freaked out about her wanting stability, how would he respond to hearing she was pregnant?
Not well.
Jill had yet to feel even the tiniest flutter in her stomach other than nerves.
She could do this alone.
She didn’t need him.
As she cut through snowy trails lined with pretty lights, she formed a new plan.
First step: Call her parents and tell them that, yes, she would take the lease in San Francisco. It was actually a perfect enoughspace to live and for her art studio. San Francisco was the art capital of the world. If she was landing back in the U.S., there was no better place to pursue her art. Raising a baby on her own was terrifying.
