And she needed to tell Jacob, straight out, but for the upcoming weekend, there would be no time to talk, and barely time to breathe.
He’d hate her.
Ginger’s parents would hate her.
And Addie...
She firmed her jaw, having made her decision.
Addie would never know because she had no intention of telling her. This wasn’t Addie’s fault, and she shouldn’t bear fallout from the actions of foolish adults.
Once again she would put Addie first. She had to tell Jacob, especially if the adoption agency was examining records. After messing up the first time around, she was certain they’d be more careful now. Better he hear it from her than them.
But then the Weatherlys would leave, Josie would stay and Addie would have the sweet, normal life her mother had promised her in utero.
Her chest tightened as she choked back emotion. It put a vise grip on her aching heart, but she’d gone through heartache before and mustered up. She’d do the same now, because Addie was worth the sacrifice. But in the background she wanted that agency to take responsibility for its error because surrendering a child wasn’t a casual affair. Following through on the proper home vetting the agency professionals promised birth mothers shouldn’t be casual, either.
“Are you ready for the big day?”
Jacob. Here. Now.
She swiped a hand to her face, but there was no way to hide the tears.
“Josie, hey.” He crossed the short space between them in an instant and drew her into his arms. “Hey, hey, it’s all right. I know it’s crazy, but it will be fine, I promise. I’ve been through lots of these, and we haven’t lost a chef yet.”
He thought she was suffering an attack of nerves because of the grand opening, and he wanted to comfort her. Hold her. How she wished she could stay right there, in the circle of this good man’s arms and just be herself.
She couldn’t. And when he learned the truth, he wouldn’t be offering any more of those kind, loving hugs.
She stepped back.
He offered her a hanky from his suit pocket, but she refused it and used a scrub cloth instead. “I am not getting your clean pocket square messy two hours before we officially open the doors.” She tossed the dirty cloth into the laundry tote inside the kitchen and grabbed tissues. “I’m fine, just a little overwhelmed for the moment. But with so much to do, it will be fine. Just fine.”
“It will.” He set his hands on her shoulders and smiled, but the smile didn’t quite erase the concern in his eyes. “When things settle down, I’d like to have time to just sit and talk together. Wouldn’t that be nice, Josie? Just you and me and some good coffee? Away from all of this?”
It didn’t just sound nice.
It sounded amazing. But it wouldn’t happen because it couldn’t happen once he knew the truth. “It sounds marvelous, but right now I’ve got to get my head back in the game. With coffee.” She popped a pod into her brewing system and grabbed cream and sugar. “And please, don’t let this worry you.” She waved toward the smoker area, where he’d surprised her. “I’m fine and the restaurant will be fine.”
“I wasn’t worried about that. I know you’ve got it covered.” He touched her cheek with his right hand, a whisper of a touch, calming. Soothing. “I was just worried about you.”
His eyes, so blue, a shade that darkened when he worried and brightened in the sun. His hair, a fresh trim for opening day, crisp and sharp. Today he’d stand with other prominent figures, movers and shakers from Carrington Hotels and town officials, with all the pomp and circumstance of a multimillion-dollar endeavor being successfully launched on the Eastern shore...
He belonged there, among the more gilded.
She didn’t.
Oh, she didn’t hate herself for her earlier mistakes. God had forgiven her, and she’d forgiven herself, but she’d learned something about Josie Gallagher in the ensuing years.
She wasn’t a front-door person. She was a back-door gal, the kind of woman who did well out of the limelight. The kitchen suited her. So did the casual “dive” appeal they’d layered into the Bayou decor. It fit.
And when she saw Jacob in the grand lobby two hours later, surrounded by all kinds of designer suits, made for the occasion, and his parents right there, with Addie, dressed in a simple and quite expensive sailor girl outfit...
She saw how well they all fit together.
She was the outsider, first by choice, now by timing, but as long as Addie was beloved and happy, Josie could live with that.
* * *
Cruz leaned forward as Kate Gallagher set down a pitcher of sweet tea and several glasses the following evening. “Time’s running out, Josie.”
The ticking of Aunt Kate’s mantel clock added weight to his words. She looked at her mother, then Kimberly and Aunt Kate and sighed.
He tapped the folder in front of him. “If the agency is calling you, they’re likely to have their lawyer get a hold of Jacob soon, once they feel like they’ve got a solid argument on their side. Although he’s an innocent party, the agency’s legal team would be foolish not to bring him on board, and that could happen at any moment.”
That had been her worry from the moment she saw the agency name on her phone display. “I realized that when they first called me on Thursday, but I figured I’d have through the weekend. I’ll tell him on Monday, Cruz.”
Cruz grimaced instantly, but Josie raised a hand to halt his argument. “It’s crazy at the resort right now. His time is winding down, and he’ll be moving on to the next job. And once he knows I’m not going to try and regain custody—”
“Are you sure about that, Josie?” Cissy slipped an arm around Josie’s shoulders. “Because if you do, you know we’ll support you, one hundred percent.”
She shifted her attention to her mother. “I’d love the chance to be her mother, but I can’t do that to her. She’s happy and stable, and Jacob is, well—” She raised her shoulders in a shrug as Kimberly patted baby Elizabeth’s back for a burp. “He’s wonderful. He’s a good, kind man and he wants what’s best for Addie. I can’t disrupt the peaceful life she has. I know I set certain parameters for her adoption. I really wanted a two-parent family because it’s good for kids to have a mom and a dad. But Jacob is marvelous with her, even though it can’t be easy being a single parent. How could I live with myself if I were to selfishly wrench her away from the joy she’s already only known for such a short time?”
“You’ve got courage, kid. I’m not offering advice one way or another,” Kimberly told her, “but I can’t imagine how hard this has been. Still, I believe you’re doing the right thing, and maybe once the agency realizes that, they’ll back off.”
“But if they think I won’t press, they might not put better safeguards in place,” Josie explained. “If I back off now, they skate free and maybe they improve, maybe they don’t. But if they’re scared of being called out—”
“Which they should be!” declared Cissy.
Josie hugged her mother’s arm. “Then maybe we can make some good out of all this. My schedule is packed full for tomorrow. Come Monday, I’ll face the music.”
“Do you want me there, darling?” Cissy leaned her head against Josie’s. “I’ll happily stand by your side.”
“Great.” Josie angled a doubtful look her way. “Then you’ll cry and I’ll cry and we’ll have a total mess on our hands.” She hugged her mother but shook her head. “I’m doing this one alone. Face-to-face, the way I should have done when Addie came strolling out of that car.”
“You didn’t know where you stood or what kind of man Jacob was back then,” Drew reminded her as he took the baby from his wife. “Now we know. Now we move forward.”
“Thank you.” Josie stood. She’d staved off tears because she’d shed far too many of them the past few weeks.
Sh
e wasn’t a crier in general, but seeing Addie, getting to know Jacob and realizing what she could have gained if things had been different...
But things weren’t different, and that was the truth of the matter. “Thanks, guys. I appreciate all the love and the support and the legal stuff you’ve done for me.”
“We’ve got your back, Josie.” Drew kissed his baby Elizabeth’s forehead as he paced the floor, hoping to ease her belly discomfort. “Always.”
“I know that now.” She raised her shoulders and sighed. “And I should have known back then. So...” She moved toward the door and raised a hand. “I’ll let you guys know how things go on Monday, all right?”
“Yes. Are you coming to church with us in the morning?” her mother asked. Her mother and two aunts on the Morgan side of the family attended the same church service every week, without fail. Josie caught church when she could, where she could, but for this week, she thought it might be real nice to sit in the pew with her mother. “Yes. I’ll come straight from work, and head straight back. See you then.”
“Okay.”
She didn’t go right back to the carriage house apartment she was renting from her aunt and uncle. She walked toward the beach instead, letting her thoughts take hold.
No matter what happened on Monday, she would tell Jacob the truth, the whole truth.
And then she’d walk away, at least as far as she could with a major responsibility under the Eastern Shore roof.
His time in Grace Haven was drawing to a close. She could stay out of his way, and out of Addie’s life, for those last few days. She’d hate it, but she’d do it because it was the right thing to do.
* * *
“Addie has fallen in love with this place,” Bob Weatherly noted on Saturday night.
“She reminds me of that on a regular basis,” Jacob replied. “What she doesn’t know is that I’ve gotten two firm offers, one in Austin and one outside of Knoxville, Tennessee. And they’re both companies where I can hang my hat for the duration.”
“Which is how long?”
“However long it takes to raise a little girl on my own,” Jacob said softly. “I want her to feel like she’s part of a community. A school, a church, a neighborhood. The chance to play soccer or baseball or any of the things kids do when they’re being raised in a normal American setting. Carrington is offering me a whole lot of money to stay on for the Outer Banks proposal, but then we’d be done in eighteen months and moving again. I want more for her than that.”
“She hasn’t suffered from your work,” his father noted. “She’s about the best-adjusted kid I’ve ever met.”
“Exactly why I need to do this now,” Jacob acknowledged, “to help her stay that way. It was okay to bounce around for preschools, but now she needs something more solid and stable.”
“Have you considered Florida?” his mother asked while Addie finished decorating a fairly complicated coloring page for a six-year-old in the cool breeze of the lakeside porch.
“My recruiter looked around, but there wasn’t anything that appealed to me. And frankly, Mom, I know you like it, but that hot and humid air is tough on me and the kid.” He smiled in Addie’s direction. “Texas is probably out because of that, too, even though it’s a drier heat. And Knoxville?” He made a face. “I wanted to stay close enough to you guys that we can visit regularly. And I’m still waiting to hear on a probable offer outside of Raleigh. I think we could both handle North Carolina, and maybe Addie would reclaim her drawl.”
His mother arched a brow in mock disapproval. “She sounds like a Yankee, Jacob. There’s precious little Southern in her now. I had to instruct her how to draw out her words, proper-like.”
Sheila spoke up so Addie would hear that last part. Addie laughed at her table. So did Jacob. “She picked up the Yankee twang real quick, that’s for certain. Either way, I’ll make a decision in the next week or so. And we’ll move on.”
“Except only one of us wants to move on.” Addie didn’t get up, but she aimed a look his way. “One of us really likes this town, Daddy. I don’t see why we don’t at least look for a job here. We’re both happy in this place and that should be the most important thing of all.”
“Have you looked, son?” Bob kept his voice soft so Addie wouldn’t hear.
“I did, and there’s not a lot up here right now. There’s expansion over in Victor. It’s a pretty town that’s become a shopping hub, and in some of the eastside towns surrounding Rochester, but nothing that needs a major player on board. Addie—” he stood and tapped his watch “—we’ve got to head home. There’s church in the morning.”
“Which one?”
“I thought we’d go to the Grace Haven Community tomorrow. We haven’t been to that one in a while.”
“I love those big, pretty windows!” Addie tucked the crayons into their sack and set them on top of the coloring books. “Do you guys want to come with us?” She crossed the room and grabbed her grandparents’ hands. “It would be really special if you do.”
Would his parents meet them at church for Addie? They’d fallen out of the church habit when Jacob was a boy and weekend life got crazy busy.
“Not this time, dear.” His mother patted Addie’s cheek but didn’t cave, even when Addie offered her best and brightest smile. “We’ll see you afterward and maybe we can go to breakfast together while Daddy works. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
Addie hugged his mother. “I always like to be with you, Memaw. Before church or after church or during church, I just always love to be near you guys.”
His mother’s eyes filled. She hugged Addie, then moved to the kitchen of the lake house, pretending there was something to do. “We’ll see you both in the morning, then?”
“Sounds good.” He got Addie back to the apartment and tucked into bed as the sun sank low on the western horizon.
He didn’t want to think about leaving. He’d realized that on Thursday, when he found Josie upset.
He didn’t want to walk away from her.
Was he being silly or shortsighted? He didn’t think so, but he couldn’t stay up north when the job offers were coming in down south.
Or could he? Could he trust in God enough to believe things would work out?
He winced because he knew the answer to that question. He didn’t do chancy things because he didn’t like risk, especially where Addie was concerned. A good job, a normal home, a solid life: he owed her that much.
As he was thinking that, his recruiter messaged him a bite—a good bite—a job offer with a large-scale local developer.
He drew up the offer on his laptop and studied it.
It was a substantial chance, and the opportunity to stay here in Central New York.
I’ll look this over, but I’m interested, he messaged back. Definitely interested.
He hit Send and went to bed reconsidering his choices.
It wasn’t close to his parents. That was a drawback. But the airport was only thirty minutes west, and they could get flights to Florida for key vacation weeks. It wasn’t perfect. He knew that. But to stay here, to have the opportunity to get to know Josie better, and maybe even make some serious changes in his life?
Yeah.
He smiled as he settled into his pillow.
He could definitely live with that.
Chapter Twelve
“Dad! I see Josie over there!” Addie grabbed his arm and pointed to the right side of the small stone church. “Can we sit with her? Please?”
“Sure.”
He waited as Addie slid into the pew, then followed.
She hugged Josie, then reached around and hugged Josie’s mother, too. “Good morning, Mrs. Gallagher.” She hissed the whisper that wasn’t all that much of a whisper.
“Addie. Good morning, darling girl.” Josie’s mother smiled wide and noted Addi
e’s outfit. “I love your dress. And those sandals are very popular right now.”
“Thank you!” Addie preened, then leaned into Josie’s arm as if meant to be there. “I’m so excited we get to sit together in church! Dad and I like to go to different churches, to see what’s going on.”
“Plus my daughter likes to meet new people,” Jacob added softly.
“I do that, too.” Josie patted Addie’s arm. “I like hearing the different preachers and appreciating the different settings.”
“Dad, see what I mean? Josie likes the same things we do. I think that’s really, really nice, don’t you?”
He did think it was nice, and when Josie lifted those hazel eyes to his, he was pretty sure doing anything with Josie Gallagher would be the nicest thing of all. “I concur. But, shh.” He indicated the organist with a glance. “Time to pay attention.”
When the service ended, Jacob waited a few moments for Addie to light a candle.
She loved lighting candles in churches; it had become a thing with her when they’d moved here. She’d make a donation, light a candle, then kneel and say a prayer. To Addie, it didn’t matter what kind of church she was in. If it had a bank of votives, she made sure to light one.
When they stepped outside a few minutes later, it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the bright, sunlit day. When they did, he looked around.
No Josie.
Her mother was standing at the edge of the walkway, though, with two women. One of the women poked Cissy Gallagher and pointed to Addie. “Cissy, that little one looks enough like you to be your twin when you were that age. Do you see that, Jillian? Same hair, same eyes.”
“You’re being silly,” Cissy told her as Jacob and Addie drew closer, but not in a normal mode of speech. She looked nervous, as if the other woman’s words meant something.
“I expect it’s the accidents of color, but Audrey’s right.” The third woman smiled their way. “She looks way more like you than any of your children did.”
“And I expect Addie is complimented by the thought of looking like you, Mrs. Gallagher.” Jacob palmed Addie’s head. “I have to admit, I think she’s pretty darned cute myself.”
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