Page 68 of A Heart to Find
“I love you more.”
“All the way to the candy store?”
“I’d buy you every piece. Behave for your auntie. And no more bouncing around on the couch.”
Once he returned the phone to its base, Danielle asked him if everything was okay.
“With my daughter, yes. Thank you.”
“I can give you a ride back to the lodge,” she offered.
He shook his head.
“Thanks, but I could use the walk.”
“You sure? The snow is coming down at quite a clip out there.”
He did his best to give an enthusiastic smile in response.
“Well, at the very least allow me to return the basket and blankets to the shops. Please leave them in the car so you won’t have to lug them around.”
“I’d appreciate that. Thank you. Do you know where Keira is?”
Danielle slowly shook her head, an empathetic frown furrowing her brow. “She said she had to get back to the hotel. Declined my offer for a ride, same as you.”
He nodded and turned to leave.
“Look, Jared. I’m sorry to have been the bearer of bad news. Obviously, things were going well until I showed up to find you. You two are well-matched. Things will work out.”
He had never hoped for anything more.
He thanked her again and ducked out before her well-intended reassurances pushed him off the cliff he hovered near. He needed time alone to figure out how to salvage what he had worked so hard to build with Keira.
Maybe the storm would clear his mind and tell him how to undo the damage he had done by remaining silent all this time.
Exiting the building and inhaling the harsh air on the covered porch, he startled when Keira’s voice interrupted him.
“Is your daughter all right?”
Her voice, soft and sweet, burned through his heart. Maybe he interpreted her silence and glares wrong?
“She’s fine. Her aunt thought they’d need me to okay the treatment, but turns out they happily glued her boo-boo up without needing me at all.”
Keira smiled, but her eyes were haunted.
“I’m relieved. I’m sure you were terrified.”
He nodded.
“Thank you for sticking around. I was pretty sure this bombshell drove you away for good.”
Her gaze dropped, and she twisted the sleeve of her coat.
“I couldn’t leave until I knew she was okay. Now that I know…”
“Keira, I didn’t want you to find out that way.”
She met his eyes dead on, nostrils flaring.
