“I’m fine.” I pointed with my spoon toward the dessert. “By the way, Kinsley, your new creation gets an A+.”
Kinsley set her yummy dessert to the side. She rested her hands on my legs and got nose to nose with me. “You need to own your feelings for a change.”
I leaned away and pulled my knees up to my chest. Feelings were dangerous. They meant you could get hurt.
Dani leaned back with me, not letting me off the hook, no matter what my body language was saying. She forced my head to lay on her shoulder. Kinsley moved to the couch and sat on my other side, taking my hand.
“Jonah asked Brock about you—a lot,” Dani hesitated to say.
“Really? Why?”
“Why do you think?” Dani stroked my hair.
“Curiosity,” I guessed.
Kinsley and Dani laughed.
“He mentioned to Brock that he had proposed to you once upon a time. Is that true?” Dani’s voice was strained, indicating she was hurt that I had never told her.
I leaned forward to rest my head on my legs and turned toward Dani. “I begged him not to.”
Dani pressed her lips together, shaking her head. “It’s a shame.”
“Why?”
“Because,” Kinsley jumped in, “you were good for each other.”
I sat up straight and ran a hand through my hair, undoing the loose bun it was in. “No. He deserved better.”
“You’re right,” Dani said.
Ouch. I grabbed my stomach.
Dani put her arm around me. “You’re taking that wrong. I meant he would have been happier with you.”
My head snapped toward her. “I saw the pictures and read the Christmas letters he sent every year. I’ve never seen a happier family.” He was part of a successful practice and his wife was some high-power corporate consultant type, teaching companies how to be more productive and create better relationships between employees and management. She traveled all over the world and the letters made it sound like Jonah and their daughter at times traveled with her.
“You saw what you wanted to see,” Dani disagreed with me. “Did you ever notice his eyes?”
I hadn’t. I couldn’t afford to get lost in those green jewels. They weren’t mine to own. I shook my head.
Dani nodded as if she understood. “Had you, you would have seen that the light had gone out of them.”
I rubbed my face in my hands. “I don’t understand.”
Kinsley petted my head like I was a lost puppy.
“Ariana,” Dani drew my attention back to her, “Jonah was living the life his family thought he should lead.”
That wasn’t too surprising. His parents were less than impressed by my lifestyle, not to mention the lack of proper upbringing. “He wouldn’t marry someone he didn’t love. And what about his little girl?”
“Of course Jonah loved Eliza. And Whitney will be living with him,” Dani informed me.
“Did he cheat?” Isn’t that how it always went? Though if I was honest, I didn’t see Jonah cheating, but that’s how men got you. They were all wonderful upfront and then boom, you’re going to the jewelry store to get your engagement ring sized and you walk out single, feeling like the world’s biggest fool.
“Ugh,” they grunted in unison.
“What? That’s what always happens.”
Kinsley threw her hands up in the air. “That’s not what always happens. Grandma and Grandpa are still together and neither have had an affair.”
“But,” I interjected, “Grandma told me that she almost divorced him after my mom was born because he was a selfish jerk.”
“But she didn’t.” Dani turned so she could shake my shoulders. “You know why?” She didn’t wait for my reply. “Because she saw something worth saving. And aren’t you glad?”
I looked up at the steel beamed ceiling. “Of course I am,” I whispered.
“All right then.” Dani sat back and sighed. “Jonah’s wife left him. She wanted to focus on her career.”
Oh. I bit my lip. “That’s awful.”
Dani shrugged. “Brock said Jonah seems to be taking it well.”
“So, why did he move back here?”
Kinsley and Dani leaned forward to look at one another, deliberating about what they should say.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
They both sat back and fidgeted for a bit.
Kinsley eventually took my hand. “Well . . . the truth is, the happiest he’s ever been in his life was when he lived in Pine Falls.”
“No,” Dani disagreed, “the happiest he’s ever been in his life was when he was with you, Ariana.” Dani’s eyes and words hit me like a freight train.
“Oh,” I squeaked.Chapter ThreeI decided the best way to deal with Jonah being back in town was to avoid him at all costs. Which meant never hanging out with Dani and Kinsley in a social setting. I was onto them. “Let’s meet for dinner at the new eatery,” Dani had suggested last week. “Will anyone be joining us?” I’d asked. Her olive cheeks had pinked.
If Jonah really wanted to see me, he knew where I worked. The glass art studio was where it had always been at, the old mill near the river.