by Helen Lacey
“You’ve allowed what happened with Patrice to damage your heart, Jake. You’ve fallen for Valene and you are too afraid to admit it.”
“I’m not afraid of anything,” he said quietly. “I simply don’t believe that falling in love happens overnight. It takes time and—”
“Who are you trying to convince?” his mother queried. “The rest of the world, or yourself?”
It was a question he couldn’t answer. He only knew he hurt all over.
And had no idea what he was going to do about it.
Chapter Eleven
Val had no desire to see Jake on Saturday. But she’d promised Florrie she’d be at the shelter to help out with the fund-raiser, and she wouldn’t go back on her word. She spotted his truck in the parking lot. His new truck. Not the old Ranger he’d driven almost every time she’d seen him. Seeing the cherry-red vehicle inflamed her already fuming temper.
And her broken heart.
She’d spoken to both Schuyler and Maddie at length the night before, Schuyler pointing out Jake’s many good points, despite his obvious deception. Maddie wasn’t quite so forgiving, but even she tried to be more neutral than usual, no doubt because she knew Val was hurting so much. But Val wasn’t hearing any of it. He’d lied. End of story. Schuyler, as expected, was more flexible and suggested she talk to him. But Val wasn’t going to be manipulated any longer. She’d made her decision.
They were over.
She grabbed the gift basket she’d put together as a raffle prize and headed toward the tent near the entrance. Florrie was there, handing out instructions to the volunteers. A couple of dozen temporary pens had been erected for the dogs going up for adoption, and several cat cages had been set up underneath one of the tents. There was a face painter, some rides for the little tots and several craft stalls.
“Good morning,” Florrie greeted her with a wide grin. “I think we’re in for a busy day. I’m going to set you up in this tent to collate the adoption applications as they come in. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that Digby finds his own special family today.”
Val’s already vulnerable emotions were pushed to the edge. Poor unwanted Digby. She swallowed the lump in her throat, took a deep breath and plastered on a wide smile. “I’ll keep my fingers crossed. So, show me what to do.”
Ten minutes later Valene was set up under the tent and had another one of the volunteers, Cam, a young man in his midtwenties, for company.
People started arriving, milling around the pens and strolling past the stalls. She sold raffle tickets and gave out information leaflets, and it wasn’t long before she processed her first application for a mixed-breed puppy. She was laughing with Cam when she spotted Jake striding down past the dog pens, with a couple of large bags of dog food piled on one shoulder. He dropped the food in the tent and came around the side of the table, where he squatted beside her.
“Good morning, Valene.”
She glanced his way and shrugged. There was nothing good about being forced to spend time with him. “Hello.”
“How are you?”
“Fine.”
He moved closer. “Can we talk privately?”
She pushed back her shoulders. “I’d rather not.”
Cam clearly sensed the tension between them, because he was on his feet in a microsecond and quickly excused himself, making himself useful at the dog pens by chatting with prospective adopters and leaving her alone with Jake.
“Valene, please look at me.”
She took a breath and met his gaze. “What?”
“I wasn’t expecting you to turn up today.”
“I made a commitment to Florrie,” she said stiffly. “And I like to think of myself as someone with honor.”
It was a direct dig, and they both knew it.
Humiliation burned her skin. She’d told him she was in love with him. God, it was too embarrassing to bear thinking about.
“Would you let me explain?”
“No.”
He made an exasperated sound. “You just plan on staying mad at me?”
“Yes.”
She was being childish, but Val was too hurt to care. She wanted to cry and hate him for all eternity. She’d spent close to forty-eight hours thinking about his lies, his ex-wife, his child and every other truth he hadn’t had the decency to come clean about.
He stayed where he was for a moment and then exhaled heavily before straightening and walking off, his shoulders tight, his hands clenched at his sides. Even when she hated him, Val was still achingly attracted to every wretched inch of the man. He looked so gorgeous in his jeans, shirt and sheepskin-lined jacket.
“Never let the sun go down on an argument.”
Val turned her head and saw Florrie standing behind her, a curious expression on her face.
She shrugged. “It’s complicated.”
“Love usually is. But I’ve known Jake for a long time, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him as happy as he’s been the last few weeks. By my reckoning,” Florrie said and grinned, “that’s all your doing.”
It was a nice fairy tale. But the older woman didn’t know the details, and Val wasn’t about to admit to anything. She didn’t have a chance to respond, because Florrie spoke again.
“He had a hard time with that wife of his. She was bad news. Especially what she put him through with the baby.” The older woman sighed thoughtfully. “He really would have taken care of the child. But she knew what she was doing right from the beginning. Hateful woman. He was heartbroken for such a long time.”
Val could barely get air into her lungs. She didn’t want to hear about Jake’s ex-wife or his child or how broken his heart was. She didn’t want to feel anything. At least, she didn’t want to feel anything other than anger and rage, because that’s all that was keeping her from crying every single second of the day.
Thankfully, Cam returned with a family looking to adopt one of the older dogs. Not Digby, unfortunately, and after a couple of hours Val walked to his pen and spent some time with the dog. He was such a sweet-natured little thing and clearly adored company. She was closing the door to his pen when she heard Jake’s voice.
“I see no one is interested in him.”
She glanced sideways and wrapped her arms around herself. “No.”
Jake reached into the pen and picked the dog up. “He’ll find the right family one day.”
The pooch licked Jake’s face and he laughed, the sound sending goose bumps across Val’s skin. “Not everyone gets their happily-ever-after.”
“That’s a grim view of things,” he said and petted the dog’s ears.
“I guess I’m in one of those moods.”
“Can I call you later?”
Val’s mouth flattened. “No.”
His brows rose. “Can I text you?”
“No.”
“Can I send a raven?” he suggested and smiled, using a line from Game of Thrones, one of her favorite television series.
Val planted her hands on her hips. “No calls, no texts, no ravens. I told you that we were over, Jake,” she said and realized that just saying his name hurt.
“You said you were in love with me,” he reminded her. “Did you mean it?”
“Of course not,” she refuted, hating that he’d brought her admission into the conversation. “I was confused and angry and—”
“You can avoid me, Valene,” he said, cutting her off, “if that’s what you really want to do.”
“That’s exactly what I want.”
“I don’t believe you.”
She glared at him. “I don’t lie, Jake. That’s your department.”
Then she walked off.
* * *
“Mom said you screwed up big-time.”
Jake glared at his sister. Cassidy had the bad habit of saying whate
ver was on her mind, whenever the mood took her. And all her attention had been focused on him for the last ten minutes. She’d arrived at the ranch half an hour before and met him at the top of the stairs in the main house.
“Just leave it alone, okay?”
She shrugged. “Have you tried talking to her?”
He’d tried. Several times. He’d sent flowers. He’d sent text messages. And nothing. It was as though she’d wiped him from her memory.
“I wish you and Mom would stop gossiping.”
“Can’t help it. But I can help you,” Cassidy said and grinned. “Let’s have a look at your profile on the dating app and—”
“Forget it,” Jake said, holding up his hands. “No more dating apps, no more dates, no more interfering in my life, okay? Next time I want a date, I’ll find one the old-fashioned way.”
Cassidy made a face. “Jake, you’re so old-school and out of touch. This is how people meet each other these days. We’re all busy, we’re all trying to juggle careers and school and home life and friends and family. Things like this app simply speed up the process, that’s all. Stop being such a stick-in-the-mud about it. If we set your profile back up on Perfect Match, soon you’ll have—”
“I don’t want to date anyone else, okay?”
“Anyone else?” she queried. “You mean, anyone other than Valene?”
Busted. His sister was too smart for her own good. “I’m not ready.”
Cassidy’s expression softened. “You really like her?”
Jake nodded. “I do.”
“Is she ever going to forgive you?”
He shrugged. “It doesn’t seem likely.”
“I’m sorry, Jake.”
“Yeah, kid, me too.”
It was almost a week later, on Friday afternoon, when Jake headed into Houston to meet with his accountant. He’d been planning for some time to expand the business into Austin, and after spending all week crunching numbers, he decided he could certainly afford to take the chance now. After a productive meeting, he drove directly to the Fortunado Real Estate building.
“Jake?”
Maddie Fortunado-McCarter greeted him in the reception area a few minutes after he’d asked to see either her or Zach McCarter.
“Hello, Maddie.”
She looked as guarded as always. “Val’s not here. She’s doing an open house and then going home afterward.”
“It’s you I’m here to see,” he said swiftly. “Business.”
One brow rose, and he remembered how Valene did exactly the same thing. In Maddie’s office, twenty minutes later—after a conversation with Maddie and her husband—Jake nodded in agreement.
“Okay, sounds good.”
“Val isn’t going to be happy about this,” Maddie remarked and keyed a few more notes into the laptop on her desk. “She hates you at the moment. With good reason,” she added.
Jake wasn’t about to get into a conversation about his and Valene’s relationship with any of her relatives—as least, not until he spoke to her first. “It’s business.”
“Are you sure?” Zach asked.
“Do you mean am I sure I would have walked through the door of this building and not one of your competitors’ had I not known Valene?” He shrugged. “I think so. Your company has a good reputation. And if you can get me what I want, where I want, for the price I want, then we have a deal.”
The other man nodded and shook his hand. “I’ll get right on it.”
When Jake left, he stopped by Toscano’s and ordered some takeout and then drove to Valene’s condo, hoping she was home. She was. But she clearly had no intention of letting him in. Or having dinner with him.
“I have a date tonight,” she said through the speaker system at the gate. “Go away.”
“Please, Valene, I’d like to talk to you. Just talk. And after that, if you want to end things, then I will respect your decision.”
Silence stretched between them like brittle elastic. Then she spoke. “Just talk?”
“Yes,” he said quickly. “And eat dinner. I picked up Toscano’s and I thought – ”
“You thought wrong,” she said frostily. “Go away.”
Jake took a long and steady breath. “Please, Valene?”
Her heard her sigh, feeling her unhappiness through to the marrow in his bones. Then she spoke. “Okay.”
Minutes later he was standing on her doorstep.
He held out the food as he crossed the threshold and Bruce came racing down the hallway.
“Make it quick,” she said, taking the bag and heading to the kitchen. She placed the food on the countertop and crossed her arms tightly. “Talk.”
Jake managed a smile. “You don’t want to eat?”
“I told you I had a date.”
His gut clenched. “Seriously?”
She nodded. “I didn’t realize I needed your permission.”
“You don’t,” he replied and swallowed the ache constricting his throat. “I just thought...”
“What?” she shot back. “That I would sit around moping? Wishing things were different? Pining after you?”
“I’ve missed you this week,” he admitted.
“You mean you missed your weekly sleepover?”
“This isn’t about sex,” he retorted. “I miss talking to you. I miss our friendship.”
“Friends don’t lie to each other,” she said hotly. “Friends don’t make each other feel like a fool.”
“If I did that, it wasn’t my intention.”
She didn’t look convinced. “I must have sounded like an entitled snob to you—asking you if you had a suit, making comments about your old truck, acting as though I had any kind of clue what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck. What a joke I must have been to you. I insulted you every time I opened my mouth and I didn’t even know it. But you did. That’s quite the power play, Jake. I bet you play a good game of poker.”
Even angry with him, she looked so passionate, so beautiful. It was everything he liked about her. Everything he loved about her.
Because he did love her.
Maybe it was too soon. Maybe he was crazy for allowing himself to feel something so intense after such a short time. But he didn’t care.
And she deserved his truth, even if she didn’t want to hear it.
Jake walked into the living room and sat down, pressing his hands onto his knees. He waited for her, hoping she’d sit beside him, but she chose a seat across the room. Finally, he spoke.
“Nothing about our relationship is a joke to me, Valene.”
“I don’t know how to believe anything you say.”
“You can,” he assured her. “Because you know me.”
She looked uncertain. “Do I?”
“All right, you want the truth, here it goes. I was married,” he said heavily. “For a few years. Her name was Patrice. I knew her in high school, but back then she never looked in my direction. I was working class, blue collar, and her father was a lawyer and she was part of the it crowd. But I noticed her. I was young and she was beautiful...but sort of cold, like one of those mannequins in a department store. When school ended I went to college and put all thought of Patrice out of my mind. And then my dad died,” he said and let out a long and painful breath, “and I had to go home. The people who owned the ranch would have made my mom and Cassidy leave.”
He paused, sensing she wanted to say something.
“That seems harsh.”
“Just the way things are.” He shrugged. “I came home and started working as a ranch hand, and in a year or so I was made foreman. My dad had left an insurance policy, which my mom invested and I worked a second job packing shelves at a store not far from the ranch. I studied for my degree and waited for the opportunity I sensed was coming. It happened when the owners said they
were selling. I knew my mom didn’t want to leave, and Cassidy was still in school. So I got a mortgage and with Mom’s help I bought a ranch at a ridiculously low price because it had pretty much been insolvent for the previous decade.”
“That’s quite a risk,” she said quietly.
Jake shrugged. “I had to try. My family was at stake.”
“And the business?”
“I got lucky. I made a few good decisions and found a place in the market for a high-end product. I invested well, and in a couple of years the ranch was financially viable.”
It was a gross understatement. Jake had made his first million within two short years.
“And then?” she asked.
“Patrice came back into my life,” he supplied. “Only now I was successful enough to get her attention. But the marriage was a disaster, and neither of us was ever happy. It turned out that her father had a gambling problem, and I bailed him out more than once. And Patrice had her own demons. She demanded we renovate the house, so I agreed. Frankly, at that point I was prepared to do whatever I could to help salvage our marriage. But nothing was ever good enough. She went through money like it was water.”
“Is that why you divorced her?”
He sighed. “I divorced her because I found her in bed with one of the contractors I’d hired to renovate the house.”
Valene gasped and placed her hand to her mouth for a moment. “How despicable.”
The pain and memory from those days had lessened with time, but the muscles between Jake’s shoulders still twitched. “Like I said, Patrice had her troubles.”
Silence stretched between them, and Jake forced himself to remain on the couch. He wanted to touch her so badly, to hold her in his arms and feel the tonic of her touch through to his very soul.
“And your child?”
A sharper, more intense pain twisted in his chest. “Not mine.”
“Then why did Florrie tell me you would have raised the baby?”
“Patrice told me she was pregnant after we separated,” he explained. “I’m certain she hoped it would mean a reconciliation.”
“But that’s not what you wanted?”
