Page 58 of The Hometown Dilemma
Why did it have to be so hard?
“Do you want me to come over?” Daphne offered.
“No, Wade’s on his way.” I gulped down some wine, feeling it burn a path down my chest. “You heard about the bar, right?”
“Of course. He must be so torn up about it.”
I wished I’d been there for him when he’d heard the news. Finding out when he was alone, likely in a bad state after we’d argued, can only have been horrible. God, I was selfish for going out with Vanessa. Maybe Wade had been right all along, and I was the fake, ass-kisser he pegged me as. Choking back a small cry, I cleared my throat.
“So, if you were me, what would you do about the job?”
A prolonged period of silence followed, and I wondered whether the call had been lost.
Eventually Daphne replied. “Personally, I wouldn’t go back. You run the risk of nothing being different. Sure, you’re not working for exactly the same company, but Vanessa might still be your boss. And she was one of the reasons you left, wasn’t she?”
Despite the way Vanessa had spoken of the job with Colm, she could have been glossing over the parts where I’d be the runner or personal assistant to a more senior designer. After all, we’d had several glasses of wine and champagne by the time we’d gotten around to the nitty gritty of what the job entailed, there was every possibility nothing would be any different to the job I’d left.
I jumped at the sound of a knock on the front door, even though I was expecting Wade.
“Wade’s here. I have to go.”
“I’m not sure I’ve been any help, Jaime. I’m sorry. If you need to talk it over anymore, you know where I am.”
“Thanks, Daphne. I will.”
A second, more insistent knock this time told me to end the call. I hung up and dashed to the door, pulling it open.
Standing in front of me was a shell of a man. Black circles ringed his eyes, stubble darkened his jaw. Even though I’d seen him so recently, weeks could have passed such was the difference in his appearance.
Struck dumb, I didn’t know what to say or how to act. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and tell him everything would be okay.
We stood staring at each other like a couple of strangers, not two people who knew each other intimately, who knew which actions to take to make the other come undone.
I swallowed hard. “Do you want to come in?” He nodded and brushed past me, the action awakening the butterflies already swirling around in my stomach. I followed him into the living room, where he’d settled in one of the armchairs. “Can I get you a drink or something?”
He sucked in his bottom lip, then shook his head. “Don’t think that’s a good idea. I need a clear head for this conversation, Jaime.”
The butterflies went into a frenzy at his response. Had he already decided we were over before even talking about things? On autopilot, I reached for my glass and sat down at the end of the sofa closest to him.
“How are your mom and dad?” I asked. “Were either of them at the bar when it happened?”
“No, thankfully. Everyone had left when the fire broke out. We were lucky.” He bent his head and raked one hand through his hair. “But the place is a wreck. We’ll need to start from scratch.”
“I’m so sorry,” I breathed. “Let me know what I can do to help.”
His head snapped up and he fixed me with such an intense gaze, I could feel it penetrate right in the heart of me. “You can tell me what you’ve decided about the job.”
Oh, Wade, if only I could.
“I’ve-”
He held up a hand. “Wait, I’m sorry. Can you at least let me say some things first? Before you make your final decision.”
Biting my lip, I nodded, breathing heavily.
“I never expected to fall for you, Jaime. We’ve known each other a long time, we have that shared history, college, work. It felt right with you, more than it had with anyone else. While we might have been friends first, getting to know you all over again has been one of the best things to have ever happened to me.” He paused, taking a long inhale as if to collect his next thoughts. “The thought of you leaving hurts me right here.” Wade clutched his t-shirt covered chest. “I couldn’t bear losing you as well as my family business.”
Tears fell unheeded down my cheeks. He’d never been this vocal about his feelings before and while I knew that to a certain extent I’d forced them, hearing him speak so passionately gave me all the feels.
