Page 18 of You Wish
Rachel didn’t look convinced. Not that he blamed her.
She was the one who helped him pick up his life and put it back together after Georgia ghosted him. Rachel got him refocused on his career, which was a big enough distraction to get over the heartache. And within three weeks of Georgia being back in his life, he’d made some pretty stupid decisions.
“I’ll talk to her this weekend.”
Rachel was silent for a full beat. She finally said in her best lioness tone, “This weekend? What the hell is going on this weekend?”
He gripped the back of his neck and squeezed the vertebrae at the base of his head to release some of the tension. It didn’t help. He hated being on the receiving end of his sister’sI’m disappointedstare. It made him feel like a jackass.
Rachel could have gone into any industry she wanted. With her BA from Oxford and her MBA from Harvard, she’d had options—multiple seven-figure-a-year options—but she’d chosen to represent him and steer his career to where it was now. He’d never forget that. Which was why he hated keeping things from her or making her life more difficult.
“Georgia and I are going to Pine Village for a week to do the shoot and get the PR rolling for the new campaign.”
“And she’s going, why?”
If he told Rachel he’d demanded it, she’d flip her lid. Then she’d castrate him.
“I need someone from the foundation to help me navigate all the events, and since this is her project she was the natural fit.”
“There is nothing natural about you spending Christmas with the one person who nearly destroyed your life. Not to mention your career. I was the one who had to piece you back together last time. I don’t want to have to do that again. Your pain broke my heart, Jake. And it nearly broke you.”
What she didn’t know was that part of him was still broken. He’d tried dating, but every time things looked as if they might turn serious, he backed off. He was tired of being alone, wanted to have that same connection he’d once had with Georgia. Which was why he needed closure so he could have all his heart back—especially the piece Georgia stole.
Jake reached out to take Rachel’s hand. She immediately took his back. “It’s different this time. I promise.”
“I don’t know if you’re lying to me or yourself. But you’re choosing to spend Christmas with her instead of spending it with Mom and Dad.”
Jake nearly snorted. At no point was “spending” the holidays with his parents on any list. Ever. But he didn’t want to upset Rachel. She’d been trying to mend what had been broken when Jake was sent to live with his grandparents. What she didn’t understand was that, as the kid left behind, he didn’t want to fix things. He liked them exactly how they were. A continent separating them.
“I’m spending it with Meemaw and Grandpa, who I know would love to have you come. It would make Grandma’s year.”
“I want to, I really do, but Tom really wants to spend Christmas in Europe this year,” she said, referring to the bag of dicks she was dating.
Tom was a hanger-on-er. One of those guys who peaked in college and rode the coattails of his family to the top. He had zero drive, zero work ethic, and zero aspirations—besides locking Rachel down and living off her hard work.
“If you get to comment on my dating life, then I get to comment on yours.”
Jake realized what had come out of his mouth the second his sister went stock still and took a long, hot beat. “I didn’t realize youhada dating life. Especially one that involves a woman who, you just told me, was a strictly professional relationship.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just saying, maybe handle the rocks carefully when your house is see-through. And it is professional. I needed someone?—”
“—to help you manage all the events. Anyone at the charity could handle that. I’m just saying that Georgia shouldn’t be that anybody.”
As far as Jake was concerned, Georgia was theonlybody he wanted.
“At least tell me that you’re going to work on Meemaw’s wedding chapel,” she asked, referring to the project he and his grandpa had been working on for the past nine years.
With his grandparents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary coming up, they’d made a plan to repurpose the old barn on the property into a wedding and events venue. Only, nearly a decade later, the project was far from done. In fact, Joy and Nic were staring down the big five-O and Jake hadn’t been inside the barn in years.
When they’d come up with the idea he’d been head over heels for Georgia, believing romantic love was within reach for him.
When it came to Jake’s parents’ love for him, it had been a commodity, doled out when it favored them. Rachel, on the other hand, was the “chosen one.” Ten years older than Jack, she was just like their dad, always in it for the personal gain. This left a young Jake with a confusing idea of how love worked. And made him wonder if he was eligible for something other people found so easily.
Then again, he’d found it once before; he just prayed he’d find it again.
7
Monday couldn’t come soon enough. Jake’s mental countdown clock activated the second Georgia agreed to be his escort. They’d agreed to meet in Pine Village, but he had other plans. Plans that included her locked in his car while he peppered her with questions. With the distance they’d have to drive, he’d get the answers he was looking for.
