Page 71 of Unsealing Her Fate

When I turn to go ring him up, Irene stops me. She pulls out a chair next to Jack and motions for me to sit.What the hell is going on?I sit as instructed while Irene remains standing. When my gaze wanders over to Jack, I find he’s looking at her with the same confusion as I am.

“Now, hear me out before you say anything,” Irene says to Jack. “Andi has been living at that motel since she got to Fraser. She needs a more permanent solution. Semi-permanent at minimum, and the motel isn’t that.”

My eyes widen, and I squirm in my seat the second I realize what’s happening. Jack starts to speak, but Irene holds up her hand to quiet him.

“I know you have that garage apartment just sitting there empty. It would be perfect for a single woman. It would offer Andi a more comfortable and asaferalternative to that motel.”

We both stare at her, unsure if she’s finished or not. She really emphasized the word “safer,” and I wonder if Charlie told her about last night.

Jack looks at me, and my eyes widen again as I hold up my hands defensively and shake my head a few times. I hope he can tell I’m just as caught off guard by the conversation as he is. He’s clearly uncomfortable, as I expected he would be if anyone asked him, and guilt radiates through me for Irene even asking. I didn’t realize this was an ambush.

“It’s okay, Jack. I‘m okay at the motel, and it’s safe enough—”

Irene interrupts me with a scoff. “Nonsense, Andi. What could be safer than living with a detective right next door? Now, let Jack answer for himself. Maybe he likes the idea.” Her sentence ends with her eyes boring into Jack’s, no doubt imploring him to answer as she sees fit.

He doesn’t shrink under her gaze like I would. He squares his shoulders and grasps his coffee mug. “You couldn’t have put me more on the spot, Irene. No one has stayed in that apartment in I don’t know how long. It needs cleaning—”

“We’ll clean it,” Irene blurts out, interrupting Jack mid-sentence.

Deepening his already deep voice, Jack says, “I’m a single man. I’m use to things being just so. I don’t know about having someone else—”

“I won’t be any trouble.” Great. NowI’minterrupting him.

I mentally kick myself. What the heck am I even doing? Why am I fighting to move there when I’m so against it? Is it because I don’t want to disappoint Irene after she purposely cornered the poor man just to find me a place to live?

She’s trying to be a good friend and take care of me, and I know that, but I wish she would’ve told me about her plan, so I could’ve tried to talk her out of it.

He looks at me, and I can’t tell if he’s aggravated with being interrupted or by the conversation as a whole. I shrink with his beautiful blue eyes staring a hole through me.

Taking a deep breath and standing, he picks up his coffee and takes a sip. “I’ll think about it. It’s honestly nothing personal, Andi. I’ll let you know.”

I give a tight smile and nod. “I understand, really. No hard feelings if you decide against it.”

With only a single nod as his response, he stands and walks to the door, unlocking it quickly and making an escape from the intense awkwardness. A small groan sneaks out of me before I can stop it as I make a beeline for the counter.

“Damn men,” Irene mutters as the door closes behind Jack.

Checking her watch, she flips the open sign on. Her mouth set in a hard line, her eyes glance at me, but they don’t linger.

I can’t stop myself, the words spilling out before I realize it. “Did you ask him to come here early?”

“Of course, I did. Now gettowork,” she replies flatly, no room for argument in her tone.

After washing my hands, I hurry over to make the filling for the scones.

“What was that all about?” Charlie asks. The lack of genuine curiosity in her tone tells me all I need to know.

“Riiight. Like you don’t already know,” I shoot back. She glances over with a grin, and I know she’s full of it. I shake my head. “He didn’t say yes.”

“He didn’t say no, either,” she replies.

I stop working and turn to face her straight on. “Eavesdropper!” I laugh.

She shrugs. “At least I’m not a chicken! I thought you were going to crawl under the table when he stared at you for interrupting him.” She can barely speak because her voice is full of laughter.

“Well, damn, Charlie. You should’ve just pulled up a chair!” We sound like two teenagers back here with our laughter echoing off the walls.

Mercifully, we stay slammed all day, and hours pass in what feels like mere minutes. I didn’t need time to dwell on the awkward conversation with Jack.

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