“Maybe it does, but talking about regrets … I can’t help thinking that I should have gotten him some kind of justice. Or I should have looked out for him so he wasn’t hurt at all, and would have been at the top of his game. I failed him all the way around, Jess, and I can’t stop thinking about it.”
She wrapped her arms around his middle. “You can’t do that to yourself, Rick. I’m sure he would understand…”
But he pushed her away. “I don’t understand. And the hand thing? Yeah, it’s a pain in the ass, but the drinking? I see his face at night, Jess. When I’m sleeping. When I was drinking, I’d go to sleep and not see anything. Of course the hangover was a bitch, but I could forget for just a little while.”
“But you stopped.” She smiled encouragingly.
“Because my mom made me promise. It’s pretty hard to deny your dying mother anything. And I started painting more instead. At night when I couldn’t sleep. Anything to think about something other than his face. Jesus, he was just a boy.”
He’d lost so much. It wasn’t much wonder he’d been an emotional wreck. Jess’s heart went out to him, sitting with his elbows on his knees in the darkness. He’d come a long way, too. He’d found a job, looked after his mom, stayed off the bottle, and he’d become someone Jess could rely on. All the while being all alone, with no support system to speak of beyond Tom and Josh. Rick was so much stronger than she had given him credit for.
They sat together for a long while, letting the night settle around them. The heating was turned down for night and the temperature outside began to dip, and Jess gave a little shudder as she started to chill.
“Come upstairs,” Rick suggested. “We’ll crawl under the covers and stay warm. It’s silly to stay down here.”
“Maybe I should go. My big sale starts tomorrow and I need to be in the shop early…”
“I’ll set the alarm and get you there in lots of time. Promise.”
The idea of being wrapped in Rick’s arms all night was alluring. Things were moving forward in a big way. It did seem like they were heading into relationship territory.
“Jess?”
She put her hand in his. “Okay. But you have to set your alarm for early. I mean it. Like six o’clock.”
He chuckled. “I’m usually up by then anyway. Old habits.”
They got up and she followed him to the stairs. Before long they were under the quilts, snuggled in against the cold. It felt so surreal, being here, being in his room, in his arms. Like she belonged.
That was perhaps the scariest thing of all, and at the same time the most exciting.
* * *
Rick stared at the dark ceiling for a long time after Jess’s breathing evened out. God, what a day. When he’d agreed to go to Sarah’s for dinner he’d pictured food and football. Instead he’d been put through the wringer.
Mike didn’t scare him, but he sure as hell scared Jess and that made Rick see red. It had taken all his self-control to not beat the man to a pulp, but he’d held back knowing how much it would distress Jess. All except that one punch. It had been smart, sending Jess inside for a few minutes. Because Rick had taken that time to make it very clear what would happen if Mike came within a hundred yards of Jess.
Not that Mike would listen. He was too full of himself for that. Too used to getting his way and using intimidation to ensure it. Of course, he didn’t think Rick would follow through. And that was Mike’s biggest mistake.
Rick would protect Jess no matter what. Tomorrow Josh, Tom, and Bryce would be getting phone calls. As long as Mike was in town, he didn’t want Jess alone.
Which was why he’d asked her in tonight. He just hadn’t expected it to end in a baring of souls. Part of him felt better, finally talking about Kyle.
But other parts of him were scared shitless. It wasn’t just sex with Jess. It was more. It always would have been. But damn, she had a way of getting too close. In the past he would have backed away and let her go home. But not tonight. Not after everything that had happened today, so he’d brought her back upstairs and held her close and wondered how the hell he’d managed to get caught up in this mess.
CHAPTER 18
By eleven o’clock, Jess’s store was packed.
Whoever said Black Friday sales were limited to department stores and online giants had never been on Jewell Cove’s Main Street the day after Thanksgiving. Sure, some ventured into the bigger shopping areas and outlet stores for major deals, but one thing was for certain: the residents of the cove turned out to support their local businesses.
Jess was run off her feet already, and she took a moment to gather her hair up in a loose topknot just to keep the warm weight of it off the back of her neck. Her Christmas stock was going fast, but so was her supply of jewelry, candles, and yarn. If customers weren’t decorating for Christmas, they were buying presents or planning knit and crochet projects. Best of all, Rick’s items were flying off the shelves.
“Jess, have you got any more of those peppermint-scented pillar candles?” Georgia McKinnon, the new fourth-grade teacher, looked up hopefully. “I love those candles.”
Jess did a quick check and discovered the spot on the shelf was empty. “You hold on a minute, and I’ll check the back,” Jess assured her. She glanced at her mother, who was tidying the yarn shelf for the third time that morning. “Mom, will you watch the register?”
Meggie gave her the thumbs-up and Jess disappeared into the back—only to come face-to-face with Rick.