Page 18 of Forbidden Kisses
The twinkle in his eyes left.Usimplied her mother—which if she’d been thinking straight, she’d never have implied—and judging by the look on Jack’s face, he’d rather take a trip to hell than admit to still harboring affection for Tammy Donner.
A deep sense of regret swallowed all those bubbly feelings that had been floating around inside her chest like the carbonation in champagne a few seconds earlier. She understood a little bit about what her mother had asked her to do the other night. Her mother was tired of living with all of her regret. Grace was tired of carrying it around, too.
I can’t fix the damage,she thought, watching Jack now. It’s impossible. Unless…Her gaze flicked to the tournament flyer and the twenty-thousand-dollar prize. She’d had crazy ideas before, but trying to win a fishing tournament bordered on insanity, even though she’d had plenty of fishing experience.
Bad idea.
She turned her attention back to Jack. “Anyway, if you want to win me over, you’ll have to bring me a lot more chowder and hush puppies,” she said, trying to lift the mood back to where it’d been before introducing her mother into the conversation.
“Done.”
“I was just kidding about that, you know.”
“Well, I’d rather give it to you than have you feel like you had to take it.”
Grace drew back. “Excuse me?”
“I’m just saying, if you need anything here, just ask.”
Her lips parted. There was a hidden meaning there. Ornot-so-hiddenmeaning. “You think I’d steal from you?” she asked.
Jack was silent.
“You can’t be serious.”
“Why did you leave Dewy’s?” he asked.
Her eyes widened. “Oh my God. Youdothink I’d steal from you. I left Dewy’s because I was falsely accused.”
“Is that the truth?”
“Listen, if we don’t trust each other, this won’t work.” She pushed back from the desk like she was going to leave, but who was she kidding? She needed this job as much as her next breath. She’d thought Jack understood her better than to believe the worst about her. Evidently the damage her mother had done in her marriage to Pete Sawyer extended to Grace’s own reputation, though.
Her mom was right. Shehadto fix this rift. If not, the Donner and Sawyer families would always have distrust. If she ever had children, they’d be subject to the Sawyers’ beliefs about them. It would never end, unlesssheended it.
“Wait,” Jack said, laying a gentle hand on her wrist. “I had to ask. Sam heard what happened at Dewy’s. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Why didn’t you just ask me outright?” She settled back into her chair and took a breath. “Dewy Capps was upset because I wouldn’t sleep with him. I guess he wanted revenge.” She lifted a shoulder, tears suddenly burning behind her eyes. She wasn’t upset about being let go from Dewy’s. The fact that Jack had believed she’d stolen the register money stung, though.
“I’m sorry,” Jack whispered. He reached out and ran his hand along her shoulder. “Hey. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just…”
“You needed to know. I get it.” One tear streamed down her cheek, followed by another. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d let herself get teary eyed in front of someone. This was so embarrassing.
“His loss, my gain.” Jack grabbed a Kleenex from the box on the edge of her desk and offered it to her.
“Thank you. I guess I should’ve told you the reason I left my last job in the first place.”
“We could both work on our trust issues.”
She nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”
Jack scratched his chin. “How about we get started right now?”
She dabbed the moisture under her eyes and looked up. “What do you have in mind?”
—
Looking at Grace’s tear-dampened eyes, Jack felt like the biggest prick this side of Blushing Bay. But that title belonged to Dewy Capps.
