She looked up, and I swallowed the golf ball-sized lump forming in my throat.
“Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand what you saw?”
Her arms around his neck. His arms around her waist. Her lips against his neck.
The same visual crashed back into my mind, and I shook my head. “No. I definitely saw what I saw.”
“Well he sounds pretty sincere.”
A year ago I would have believed anything Matt told me. A year ago he was a stand-up guy. The person I trusted most in this world. And then he’d gone and done what he did and blew my trust in him out of the water. Now I didn’t even recognize him anymore.
The phone rang, and she screamed and turned it toward me. Matt’s name flashed across the screen and I flew backwards and slammed against the wall. “Turn it off! Turn it off!”
Fumbling with the buttons, Jenna hit ignore and squealed until it finally powered down.
“Oh my God! He called!” She tossed the phone back at me. “He must have been trying you all morning! That phone was on for like a minute!”
My heart raced so fast I thought it might jump out of my chest. I looked down at the dark screen and wondered if he was leaving a message.
I love you. Only you. Always have, always will.
The words Jenna had read bounced around in my head. But then they collided with the image of Nikki in his arms and I swallowed down my doubt.
“Doesn’t matter. I’m not talking to him again. Matt’s not who I thought he was, and the sooner I get him out of my life the better.”
“Well, whatever you need, you know I’m here for you. You can stay as long as you’d like, and whenever you’re ready for me to start kicking some ass, just say the word.”
Exhaling a stilling breath, I nodded. “Deal.”
“But we need to make one more deal.”
“What’s that?”
“You don’t let this stop you from trying to find love. Don’t let Dad, and Matt, win. You’re a fighter, Jo. When this whole thing blows over, I want you to promise you’ll put yourself back out there and try to trust again. Try to find someone who sets your world on fire.”
I’d already found the man who lit my world on fire. Hell, he’d been scorching my world for over twenty years. Right now, the only thing I wanted to focus on was finding a fire extinguisher to finally douse his everlasting flame.
“Do we have a deal?” She arched a brow.
I didn’t want to be too scared to trust again, but I didn’t think I’d ever get past the hurt that had lived inside my soul since the day I found out my father wasn’t ever coming back. That he didn’t love me enough to stay. A father was supposed to be the person you could rely on no matter what... through thick and thin. And when he’d let me down, Matt had been my unshakeable foundation. But now, even he had cracked and crumbled beneath me, and I could feel my entire world shaking as it all fell apart.
“Jo, you have to promise to try. Don’t end up like me.”
“I can’t promise I’ll succeed, but I’ll promise to try,” I said, then stuck my finger in her face. “But only if you promise you will, too. Deal?”
Her dark eyes narrowed, and she bit her lower lip. “You suck. But deal.”
I extended my hand, and with an exaggerated shake, we made our pact.
Deep down I knew I’d never find another man who made me burn like Matt, but I also wasn’t one to go down without a fight. Men had taken so much from me, and Jenna was right that I couldn’t let fear control my life anymore. Though I didn’t know if I’d ever find someone I could trust again, I knew I at least had to try.
“I love you, Jo. You’re going to get through this.” Jenna pulled my hand into her lap. Arnold woke with a start when our hands brushed his head. His big brown eyes looked between us before he flopped his head back down and the sounds of his snores filled the room again.
“At least we’ve got Arnold and Petunia to keep us company in the meantime.” Jenna smiled as she patted her dog.
“And each other.”
And we did. As heartbroken as I was today, I knew I’d get through this with Jenna at my side. Now I just needed to get Matt the hell out of my cabin so I could move on with my life. A life without him.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
MATT
“Call Jo,” I said into the phone for the hundredth time today. It dialed her number, going straight to voicemail again. It rang only once, and when I’d heard that sweet sound I’d almost dropped it, so excited she was ready to take my call.
But two rings later it flipped back to voicemail.
Damn it.
I steered my truck down Jake’s gravel driveway and pulled up in front of the house. Hank came bounding around the back of the house with Cassie’s Brussels Griffon, Poppy, in tow.
“Hey, Hank!” I said as I hopped out. “Hey, Poppy!”
She hopped up and down on her back legs until I scooped her up in my arms.
“Well, what do we have here?” Cassie said as she opened the front door.
“Hey, Cassie! Welcome back!” I said between kisses from Poppy.
“Thanks! We got home last night. We had an incredible time.”
“I’m so glad you two got some time away. Is Jake home?”
“Yep. Out on the dock fishing.”
“Good. I need to talk to him. And you.”
“Yeah?” She leaned against the doorframe and pushed a piece of blonde hair back into her casual ponytail. “About what?”
“Jo. Nikki. My hellish life.”
Her eyebrows shot to her hairline. “Oh, boy. I’ll get the coffee.”
“Thanks, Cassie.” I set Poppy down and reached into the back of my truck and snagged my fishing pole.
If there was anything that could help me dig myself out of this hole, it was a little fishing therapy with Jake. I walked around the house and back to the dock he had on Kangaroo Lake. Jake stood on the edge of the dock casting into the still water.
“Welcome home, buddy!” I called as I came down the dock.
“Hey, man! What’s up?”
“Everything.” I heaved a sigh. “I need help.”
Jake arched a brow then reeled in his line before setting his pole down on the dock. “What did you do?”
“It’s what I didn’t do that has me in trouble. And I wanted to come tell you about it in person, since last time I was in this situation I didn’t come to you right away and all hell broke loose.”
“What did you do?” he asked again, then crossed his arms as Hank settled at his feet.
“Here, coffee.” Cassie came up behind me and stuck a mug in my hand.
“Thanks, Cass.”
Jake stood waiting while I shook my head. “You two can’t go out of town anymore. A lot has happened since you’ve been gone, but I’ll give you the short version. So, you know I moved in with Jo, who hated me.”
“Yep,” Jake said.
“Well, I got her to forgive me, and we got to be friends again. Which was great. But I’ve been hiding something from everyone, myself included. I’m head over heels in love with Jo.”
“No way!” Cassie slapped my shoulder.
“Yes way.” I nodded. “Like soooo in love. Like for forever.”
“And how does Jo feel?” Jake asked, then gestured for me to pick up my pole.
I set down my coffee mug, then unhooked my lure from the eye and stepped to the edge of the dock. Jake picked his pole back up again, and together we cast into the water.
“Well, I fessed up a few nights ago, and it turns out she loves me, too.”
“No way!” Cassie squealed and clapped her hands. “This is amazing!”
“Yeah, it was amazing... for about two seconds.”
“Uh oh,” Jake said. “What happened?”
“Well, this is what I wanted to come and tell you in person before it got back to you in a bad way, which is what happened with Jo.”
“What did you do?” Jake arched an eyebrow and glanced over.<
br />
“Nothing! I swear! But Nikki showed up.” Pausing, I waited for the shock. But instead he remained silent while he cranked on his reel. “I was meeting Jo out for our first official date, and while I was waiting for her at Stabbur, Nikki showed up. And she was wasted. I swear to God I tried to get away and avoid her. I would not get tangled up with her again. You’ve got to believe me on that. Okay?”
“Okay.” He kept cranking.
“But when I was getting in my truck, she showed up and blocked the door. And she was totally hammered. I tried to convince her to get away, but she stood behind my truck and blocked me from backing out. When I went to move her, her drunk ass fell, so I caught her. And that’s when Jo appeared. Right when I had Nikki in my arms.”
“Mother...” Cassie whispered. “That’s not good.”
“No. Not good at all. But you guys have to believe me. Nothing was going on. I wouldn’t do that to her or you. You’ve got to believe me, because the Door County rumor mill is going to be churning about this.”
“I believe you,” Jake said.
I heaved a sigh of relief. “You do?”
“Of course, I do. You fucked up once and I know you wouldn’t do it again. And that sounds exactly like something Nikki would do. She has a way of bringing drama with her everywhere she goes.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, she does. So, here’s the dilemma. I can’t find Jo. When she saw us together, she bolted, obviously, and then Nikki and her pals were so wasted I couldn’t leave them wandering around in that state, so Aaron, Tony, and I had to drive them up to their hotel. By the time I got back to our cabin, Jo was gone.”
“She must be so heartbroken,” Cassie said, and I turned to see her hugging Poppy to her chest.
“Yeah. I’m sick about it. Not only did she see Nikki in my arms, but Aaron’s dumbass assumed the same thing and as she was running away from me, he told her to have a talk with me about not dating Nikki.”
“Shit,” Jake mumbled. “Jo’s gotta be wild. I’m surprised you’re still alive, to be honest.”
“She won’t take my calls and she said she’s going out of town for a few days. Can you two try calling her? Maybe she’ll pick up for you?”
“Of course,” Cassie said, then pulled her phone out of her jean shorts pocket. I held my breath while she dialed, but after pressing the phone to her ear, she shook her head. “Straight to voicemail.”
“Damn,” I grumbled. “I love her so much you guys. I’ve always loved her, and it turns out she’s the freaking reason I got myself mixed up with Nikki. Years of trying to convince myself I wasn’t in love with Jo led to the whole shitshow last year. And the worst part? Turns out Jo’s been in love with me all these years, too. All these years we could have been together, but we were both too stubborn and scared to admit it.”
“Matt, this is awful.” Cassie stepped forward and rubbed my shoulder while I cranked on my reel. “We’ll fix it.”
“We have to. I can’t lose her, guys. I can’t.”
“It’s Jo,” Jake said, then cast his line again. “She runs hot, and she runs... like away.”
“Yeah, don’t I know it. My whole goal was to never give her a reason to doubt me ever, and it lasted all of twelve hours.”
Jake shook his head. “Well, she may be able to avoid your calls, but she can’t avoid you forever. You just need to push your way back in and force her to listen.”
“She’s stubborn as hell,” Cassie added, “but she’s also not crazy. She’ll listen. Just stalk her at the cabin and JJ’s until you can make her listen. You two love each other, and there’s no way we’re letting Nikki blow up another relationship.”
“You think I should just wait around at JJ’s and catch her at work?”
“Yep.” Cassie nodded. “Go there every night and look for her. I had to force this guy to listen to me last year, and I’m so glad I was persistent.”
The two of them exchanged a smile, and I hoped that someday Jo and I would share the same love they had.
If only I could find her.
“Thanks for listening, guys. I just needed to let you know to ignore any rumors you hear about me and Nikki and get your advice on Jo. I can’t believe I fucked this all up.”
“You didn’t fuck it all up,” Jake said. “She’ll forgive you. She has to. You and Jo are meant to be. I’m surprised it took you two this long to figure it out.”
“You knew?” I spun to look at him.
“No, I didn’t know, but I suspected. More like, wondered why you two didn’t get together. You’re perfect for each other.”
“You are perfect for each other,” Cassie added.
“Well, let’s hope I can convince her of the same thing.”
I pulled in the last of my line and hooked my bait back onto the eye to keep it from swinging.
“Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help.” Jake gave me a smile. “We’ve got your back.”
“You guys are the best. And seriously. No going out of town anymore. I was totally lost without you both.”
Cassie laughed and tossed an arm around my shoulder. “Don’t worry, Matt. It’s going to be fine. Just get out there and go find your girl. Then tell her to call me when you’re all patched up because I want to hear all the details about how you finally confessed your love for her.” She waggled her eyebrows, and I burst into laughter.
“I’m sure she’ll tell you all about it. That is if I can fix this.”
“You will.” Cassie kissed my cheek. “Good luck, Matt.”
“Jake, I’ll call you later.”
“Keep me posted, buddy. Good luck.”
I handed Cassie back my coffee mug and gave Poppy a scratch on the head before marching back up to my truck. When I climbed inside, I dialed Jo again.
Voicemail. Damn it.
With a new sense of hope, I pulled out and drove back to Sister Bay. Her Jeep wasn’t at the cabin when I got there, but Cassie and Jake were right. She may have told me to get out, but I wasn’t going anywhere until I got a chance to talk to her and set things straight. And if that meant sitting all day in this cabin and ambushing her at JJ’s, then that’s exactly what I would do.
CHAPTER TWENTY
JO
I felt like a zombie while I went through the motions at JJ’s. Just yesterday at work I’d been floating behind this bar like I had clouds beneath my shoes. Tonight it felt more like someone strapped cinderblocks to my feet. Every step took more effort than the last, but fighting the tears took the most effort of all.
Being a girl who rarely cried, fighting the desire to flop down on the floor and sob a sea of tears felt foreign to me.
Tears were for weak people. People who weren’t strong enough to push through whatever shit life threw at them. I never cried because it fixed nothing. Crying didn’t change a shitty situation, and it sure as hell didn’t make anything better. Yet here I was struggling to contain the tears begging to burst free.
It turns out having a broken heart could crack open the dam of tears even for people like me.
Don’t cry.
“You sure you’re okay?” Hanson asked as I stared blankly at the row of tequila bottles on the shelf, blinking hard to contain the flood of tears.
“Yeah. Fine,” I lied.
No, I wasn’t okay. I was as far from okay as I’d ever been. Yesterday Matt and I were heading for happily ever after. Today I was trying to process that not only had that future been snatched from me, but the future where he was my best friend was gone, too. In my new future, Matt had no place in it.
“If you want to talk about something, just let me know,” Hanson said, and I nodded.
“Thanks. I’m okay.”
The drink printer beeped, and I heaved a heavy sigh then walked over to see what drinks were waiting to be made.
Two margaritas and a rum and coke. Easy enough.
While I stumbled through the motions, memories of Matt in my arms kept invading my mind. But they were quickly replace
d with visions of him in Nikki’s arms and then... that photo on Instagram flashed back into my mind.
This morning Jenna had gone stalking Nikki’s Instagram account today for any proof to exonerate Matt and prove her superpower was still intact. Instead we’d found proof of the exact opposite.
I almost threw up when I saw it on Jenna’s phone this afternoon, and just thinking about it brought the same gag reflex that had kept me from eating a single bite of food today. Not only had I caught Matt in Nikki’s arms last night, but instead of coming after me, it turned out he’d gone back to her hotel with her. One of her friends had posted a photo of her in bed with him, pounding the final nail on the coffin of his guilt. And the final nail of the wall I had quickly resurrected around my heart.
“Jo? I think it’s full.” Hanson pressed a hand on my shoulder.
“What?” I looked down to see the glass overflowing with Coke, my finger still pressing the button on the gun. “Oh shit.”
“If you need to take a night off and go home, I’ll totally cover for you. You saved my ass yesterday. I owe you.”
I dumped the drink out down the drain and turned back to face him. He pressed his glasses up on his nose and gave me a sympathetic smile.
“Hanson, I really appreciate it, but I don’t want to go home.”
Home was where Matt likely was.
Home was filled with memories of him.
Home was the last place I wanted to be.
“Just let me know if you change your mind.”
“You’re the best. Thank you. But it’s getting busy and I’m not going to leave you in the lurch.”
Get it together, Jo.
I’d survived worse, my own father leaving, and even though it didn’t feel like it, I knew I’d get through this, too.
I refilled the rum and coke and carried it over to the waitress station. One by one the stools filled up, and I welcomed the distraction. Hanson and I flew into gear like a well-oiled machine, and soon my memories of Matt were overrun by drink orders, food orders, and the bar of people three-deep all vying for my attention.
The Other Room (Door Peninsula Passions Book 2) Page 21