by Amy Gamet
Gabe had been the one positive force in Jed’s life since he returned. His brother had been a welcome addition to Trainor Enterprises, surprising Jed by asking for a job when he got back to town. But Gabe’s presence was also a constant reminder to Jed of everything he’d lost by not believing in Tori, and thinking she was still hung up on the other man.
He rubbed soap over his arms and shoulders.
Gabe can run the company, while I go back to Moon Lake.
It wasn’t the first time he thought about it. If he believed for a minute he could win Tori back, he would do it in a heartbeat. But she’d hit the nail on the head when she said he wasn’t capable of love, didn’t know what to do with it when it was freely given to him. And he didn’t have the first idea how to fix that.
He fastened his cufflinks, tied his tie at his neck, pulled on his suit jacket, and stared at himself in the mirror. One minute passed, then two. He pulled at the cuffs of his shirt, his eye catching on the mother-of-pearl inlay, the words of the treasure hunt clue floating back on his memory.
~~~
Pearls glow like moonlight, as if from within
Long prized for their beauty these baubles have been
Like beacons that show the way home in the night
Cross slow moving waters with far reaching sight
~~~
He was back in her studio, his hands on her shapely shoulders, surrounded by her tools, the scent of her on the air, and he physically staggered.
Work.
Yes, he had to go to work, though the details of his calendar were suddenly fuzzy. He knew he was busy. He knew it was supposed to be important. But all he could see was the road back to Moon Lake, the rise of Tori’s Treasures on the horizon calling him home.
“She doesn’t want you,” he said to his reflection. He picked up his keys and headed for his car, the words of the riddle still taunting his mind.
He drove with his eyes straight ahead. He couldn’t remember the rest of the clue, the missing verses seeming more important with each passing mile. Arriving at the office, he was joined by Gabe for a meeting with the board of directors.
The poem haunted him as he worked, the words he could remember waiting eagerly to fill his mind in the quiet moments of the day.
A knock on his office door.
“Come in.”
Gabe poked his head in. “Got a minute?”
“Sure.”
He took a seat, rubbing his palms on his pant legs. “I have something to ask you. It’s important, and it’s going to make you mad, but you have to hear me out.”
Jed put his pen down and leaned back in his chair, giving Gabe his full attention. “Go on.”
“I’m in love with a very special woman.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I think I’ve been in love with her for years, only at first I didn’t even realize it.”
A horrible fist grabbed hold of Jed’s insides.
Gabe looked like he was going to be sick. “And then when I figured it out, I thought it would hurt you, that it would jeopardize our relationship as brothers.”
Had they been seeing each other this whole time?
Every day and night while Jed was drenched in thoughts of Tori, was Gabe carrying on with her behind his back?
“So I tried to let her go. I left Moon Lake and I came here to work with you. And you’re my family, Jed. I care about you. But I just can’t get her out of my mind. I was a fool to think I could.”
A fool.
The rest of the words of the treasure hunt riddle came back to him in a rush.
~~~
A fool cannot tell true treasures from fakes
A wren from an eagle, a pond from a lake
And so it has been since the first dawn of time
Not all can see when love’s genuine
~~~
He was such a fool. He thought Tori’s love was real. The one true treasure of his life, even if he wasn’t man enough to claim it. The pain seeped through him like some kind of smoke, ubiquitous and thick.
Gabe was still talking, and Jed wanted to block it out, make the other man and his ugly truth disappear. “Clearly, you belong together,” he heard himself say. The phone on the desk began to ring like some surreal sort of siren.
“I want your permission, Jed. She’s important to me, but you are, too.”
“You’re a grown man, Gabriel. You don’t need my permission for anything that you do.”
“I want you and Evelyn in my life, not one or the other.”
Jed held his breath, comprehension beginning to dawn. “What did you say?”
“I want you both. Please don’t make me choose. I have to try. I know she was pretty torn up when things didn’t work out between you two. But she’s a good woman. The best. We’ve been friends for years, and there’s something between us. I think this could be the real thing.”
“You and Evelyn.”
“Yes.”
Jed started to laugh. He got louder and louder, dropping his head between his knees with one loud hoot.
Bridget walked in the door. “Your four o’clock is here, Mr. Trainor.”
He looked up with a clownish smile. “Cancel it.”
“What?” asked Bridget and Gabe in unison. “Or better yet, you take it,” he said to Gabe. “I don’t care anymore. I’ve got to go.”
Gabe stood. “What about Evelyn?”
“I wish you all the best, brother-boy. You have my blessing.”
“That’s it? You don’t mind at all?”
“Nope.” He shrugged on his coat. “I’m in love with Tori.” He was flying high, the words freeing him like a kite in a storm. “I’m in love with Tori!” he shouted.
Gabe chuckled. “I know, and it’s about time you admitted it. You’ve been a miserable son of a gun since you came back.”
“Well, now I’ll be a miserable fool, crawling back to her on my hands and knees. You think she’ll have me?”
“I don’t know. But here’s to hoping the Trainor brothers can work some magic and convince these women they can’t live without us, because we sure as hell can’t live without them.”
~~~
Chapter 13
The leaves on the trees were orange and yellow, making Jed realize how long he’d been gone. It was the dog days of summer the last time he drove on this road, fleeing in the opposite direction from the one person who mattered most.
He’d spent the better part of today’s drive berating himself, and the last bit getting nervous about what he would find. Would Tori be happy to see him, or angry, or worse yet, not even care?
She must still love him—he had to believe that. The alternative was too awful to consider.
It was dusk when he finally rounded the south end of Moon Lake, the small town already far more empty than he was used to seeing it in the summer months. He liked it better now, if that was even possible. Or maybe he was just glad to be back.
He started up the hill and saw Tori’s house silhouetted against the darkening sky, just as he’d imagined, and a genuine smile lit his face for the first time in months.
It looked like no one was home. He pulled into the parking lot and turned off the car, the sound of his blood pounding in his ears the only noise to be heard.
Stepping out of the car into the warm night, he took a deep breath of the autumn air and walked up to the porch.
Something was different.
The bench was gone.
Hadn’t there been planters, too? Or something? Now it was just empty, and an eerie feeling settled into Jed’s bones. He stepped to the door and peered through the glass. White sheets covered everything like ghostly masses, and he leaned back quickly, as if he’d been burned.
He turned questioning eyes back toward the town. Where had she gone? What happened to the business she tried so hard to save?
You weren’t here to help her. Did you expect her to wait for you forever, on the off-chance you’d return?
Melanie would know where
she was, he was sure. But where would he find Melanie? He didn’t even know where she lived.
He stepped slowly down the stairs, sitting down abruptly on the bottom step with a sigh. For the first time since Henry threatened to take over the company, Jed had no idea what to do next.
~~~
“Dinner was awesome. Thanks for having me over,” said Tori.
Melanie picked up their plates and put them in the sink. “I know it can’t be easy trying to feed yourself while you’re packing up the kitchen. Have you found an apartment yet?”
Tori nodded. “I sign the lease tomorrow. It’s right off Lincoln, near the park, with two bedrooms and a big balcony.”
“Sounds nice. Did you figure out what to do with the inventory?”
“Actually, yes.” She smiled and bit her lip. “I’m taking the shop online, Mel.”
“What?”
“I started taking some classes on setting up an online retail platform, and I’m using a little of the money from the sale of the house to hire a website design firm. And the publicity from the orphanage is going to help a lot. I have an interview with People magazine right after the site goes live.”
Melanie gave her a tight squeeze. “That’s wonderful! I didn’t even know you were considering something like this.”
Tori chuckled. “I wasn’t ready to announce it to the whole town just yet.”
“But it’s okay if I tell people now, right?”
“Sure.”
Melanie fingered the filigree at her ear. She was rarely without the earrings anymore. “I still wonder who found the treasure. Figures, I finally get an admirer and he won’t even show his face.”
“Maybe he will. Give him time.”
“Hmm. Maybe. So, what made you think of going online?”
Jed.
He had gotten her to look at her business in a whole new way, and she owed him a debt of gratitude for that, at least. Still, she had no desire to give Melanie more ammunition in her campaign to convince Tori to keep Jed in her life. She shrugged. “This place is seasonal. It’s totally dependent on the tourist traffic to stay afloat, and I’m only getting real jewelry design business from the locals. By taking it online, there aren’t any limits to how far I can go. I’ve already started drawing up a business plan.”
“Who are you, and what did you do with Tori?”
She smirked. “I’m still here. Just time to grow up and set my sights on the things that matter to me.”
“I’m proud of you.”
Tori hugged her friend, squeezing tightly. “I’m pretty proud of myself, too.”
Now she just had to make her dreams a reality.
Her mother was lending her some money to make it happen, but somehow that no longer seemed like the end of the world. Instead of Bonnie pointing out what Tori was doing wrong, she was supportive of everything Tori was trying to accomplish.
Because this time, Tori knew, she was doing it the right way. She had her business plan, and the money from the sale of the house was more than enough to cover her debts and give her a good financial start for the new company. Funny how it all snapped into place, as soon as she was willing to let the house go.
Her dream house.
Sometimes, your dreams have to change.
“I’m going to head home, Mel. It’s my last night to sleep there.”
“I understand.” Melanie hugged her. “Thanks for coming over.”
Tori drove home, her thoughts focused on the sweet old Victorian she’d gotten to call home. She’d already decided to put a painting of the house as the backdrop for her website, which she would also call Tori’s Treasures.
All that was really changing was her address.
A favorite love song came on the radio, the words instantly pulling at her heartstrings.
Don’t do it.
Don’t even think about him.
But it was too late, her thoughts already filled with his scent, his husky laugh, the way he stood with his hands in his pockets to keep from touching her skin. Oh, and what a wonderful touch it was…
She didn’t know her heart could break so many times, one more crack for every memory that plagued her. It didn’t matter that she’d made the right decision by sending him away. Most days, she couldn’t even remember why that was true.
She drove through the quiet, nighttime streets of Moon Lake, sighing out loud as she rounded the final bend in the road. Man, how she loved that house.
Was that a car at her place?
Suddenly nervous, she slowed to a crawl, stopping in the road before her parking lot.
There’s a man sleeping on my steps!
She’d have to go and get the sheriff. No way was she getting out of this car. She backed up to do a three-point turn, her lights shining on the intruder, and froze.
It can’t be.
Swallowing hard, she turned into the parking lot, keeping her headlights trained on the man as her tires crunched on the gravel beneath them.
Jed opened his eyes, and she let out a little sob of joy.
He was on her porch! Jed was sleeping on her porch, and she’d thought he was a madman, and why the heck was Jed sleeping on her porch? She threw the car into park and unfastened her seat belt, rushing to open her door, lights still shining.
“Tori?”
She wanted to launch herself into his arms. She wanted to kiss him and squeeze him and weep that he’d come back to her. She wanted to shout her love, loud enough for the stars and the moon to hear her.
But what if he’d come back for some other reason, not to see her at all?
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I had to see you.”
Her heart began to melt.
He walked closer, stopping just to the side of the lights, casting his face into shadow. “I’ve been such a fool, Tori. Can you forgive me? You told me you loved me, and you were right, I didn’t know what to do with that. But you know what? I think the only thing I can do is tell you how much I love you back, because I do. And show you, every chance I get, how much I mean it.”
Tori felt a tear roll down her face. “Really?”
He nodded. “I missed you so much.”
He closed the distance between them, his arms wrapping tightly around her, holding her to him.
“I missed you, too,” she whispered into his neck. Every day.”
He leaned back, and took her face in his hands. “When I came back here and saw you were gone, I thought I’d missed my chance to tell you.”
“I’m still here.”
“I see that.” He smiled and kissed her deeply. “And the business?”
“The physical building won’t be mine anymore, but Tori’s Treasures will live on, online.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “You made me believe in myself. Believe that I could do it.”
“You’re going to be fantastic,” he said.
She linked her hands behind his neck. “You know what would be really fantastic? If you came upstairs and spent my last night in this house with me.”
He smiled. “I’d like that, Tori. I’d like that a lot.”
Together they walked up the stairs to her apartment. They reached the top floor and she turned to him. “Wait a minute. I have something for you.” She picked up a box, wrapped in brown paper with a green insurance sticker, and handed it to him.
“It’s addressed to me.”
She shrugged. “It’s been sitting here like that for months. I meant to get it back to you sooner, but I was upset, and I didn’t want to give it to you. Then I forgot about it until I packed up the things in the safe yesterday.”
He ripped the paper and opened the box. Inside was his mother’s engagement ring, just as he remembered it, sapphire and all. He frowned and met her eyes. “You know what this means to me.”
Pleasure spread through her at his reaction. “It’s not the same stone, though. I put the original in my mother’s ring.” She pointed to the ring in hi
s hands. “That’s a color-changing sapphire. If you take it outside, the stone will look green. I’ve had it forever.”
“And you’re giving it to me?”
She shrugged. “It was the perfect size. When you were gone, I thought about replacing it with a blue sapphire, but I just couldn’t do it. It’s like that stone belongs in that ring somehow.”
He slipped the ring over the tip of his finger and took her face in his hands. “Like you and I belong together.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” She lifted her lips to his, and kissed him.
~~~
Jed arched his back and stretched out his neck, taking in the view of the newly planted grapevines with no small amount of pride. Rafael had helped with the planning, but it had taken Jed more than a week of hard labor to plant them all. He insisted on doing by hand, just as Tori’s father had done it so many years before.
He liked to think these vines would grow and thrive while his life with Tori played out alongside them, just as the vines at her parents’ house had done. It was a heady idea for the boy whose roots had always felt grounded in sand.
Tori walked up behind him and handed him a glass of sweet tea. “Nice work.”
“Thanks.”
“Our parents are going to be here soon, if you want to grab a quick shower.”
“In a minute, I will.” His eyes went back to the field of tiny plants sticking up along rows of strung cable they would one day climb. “I just want to look at it some more.” He wrapped one arm around her waist. “We should get married right here. Soon.”
“Here?”
“Unless you want something fancy.”
She smiled. “Are you kidding? I love my house.”
“Our house. So, when do I get to make an honest woman out of you?”
“Your father’s responding well to the new treatment. We have time if you want it, Jed.”
He dipped her backwards over his arm. “Maybe I don’t want anymore time. Maybe I want to make you my wife before you come to your senses and change your mind.” He kissed her and she opened to him with a tender passion that made him wild with desire.
She touched his face. “Never happen.”
