Shelby didn’t have words for Jake on the ride home. What could she say? She hadn’t meant to kiss him in the pool. It started from a place of desperation and jealousy, but moved into something else. She could still feel the way his lips moved against hers. Everything about that brief minute or two seemed like something heavier than a kiss. The way her body woke at his touch felt new, but it was deeper than chemistry. The draw she had toward him now felt like a tie between them, like their kisses somehow made a larger, unspoken commitment.

But now, headed back to her house in Matt’s Jeep with Jake at the wheel, she felt shy and unsure of anything at all. Had Jake felt the same way? He hadn’t said a word. She didn’t know if it was because he was upset or because he was shy or because he didn’t really feel the same way and didn’t want to humiliate her.

Then there were the questions she had about the rest of the evening: why had Jake been shaking hands with Mayor McClure?

Jake’s phone rang and he answered without looking at the screen. There was no way to not listen to a side of a conversation while you were trapped in a car with them, but Shelby at least tried to look disinterested, staring out the window. What she was really doing was trying to piece together the conversation.

“Yep. Fine. No, I’m not.”

She could see his reflection in the window, lit up by his cell phone as he glanced over at her. He listened for another minute or so. The voice on the other end sounded agitated but Shelby couldn’t make out the words.

“He said that? I didn’t think that it should be dependent on that or I wouldn’t have—yeah, I know you wouldn’t either. Is he mad? Did that change things?”

Jake made an angry sound in his throat. “No one should be using their daughter to—yeah.”

Daughter? He had to be speaking about Daisy and her father. She didn’t know much about Jake and his work, but hated the idea of anything that would require working with McClure. He was so slimy and seemed nothing like Jake.

Jake continued on. “Okay. I’m definitely not, but you can talk to him. I’m sorry. Yeah, I’m on my way back. It’s already there? Shouldn’t be a problem. Yep. Later.”

He threw the phone down in the console and ran a hand through his hair. Shelby leaned her back against the door and turned to Jake.

“Everything okay?”

Jake blew out a breath. “Work stuff.”

“Yeah. I got that part. What is McClure using Daisy for, exactly, that has to do with you and your work stuff? You never explained what it is you do.”

His head shot towards here, then back to the road and he took a moment to answer.

“Shelby, I…” He glanced at her, longer this time, and she was surprised at the emotion in his face before he turned back to the wheel. “I can’t talk much about my work. It’s delicate and has to be kind of under wraps right now.”

“Are you a spy?” Jake laughed then and the sound and weight of it filled the car, lifting the tension that had been there. She giggled. “It’s a valid question,” she said. “You’re being very mysterious.”

“I’m hardly smooth enough to pull off a career like that, if you hadn’t noticed.”

“Oh, I think you’re quite smooth,” she said. “A regular James Bond.”

Shaking his head, he said, “Not even close. Not with the spy stuff, and definitely not with the ladies.”

“I have trouble believing that,” Shelby said. She watched for the blush she knew would hit his cheeks and smiled when it did. “You sell yourself short, Jake. That’s something you should stop.”

She loved the grin that took over his face. Loved that she could put it there with a few kind words. They hadn’t talked much about his past other than the fact that he had been picked on for being overweight, something that clearly stayed with him. She wondered if he had family, if they were kind. These were all things she wanted to find out. If there was time.

He reached across for her hand and she placed it in his. Lacing their fingers together, he sighed, as though he could now relax. She loved the feel of her small hand in his. Strong fingers, warm and secure. His thumb moved gently over the skin of her hand, the small gesture making her feel breathless.

“I can’t talk about work, but I can say that Mayor McClure was hoping that working with me would have other benefits. One of which was apparently marrying his daughter. What is with everyone trying to marry everyone in this town? Is that a Lucky thing? You’ve been proposed to a million times and I come for a few days and the mayor tries to marry me off to his daughter.” She sucked in her breath. He squeezed her hand. “Hey. Just so we’re clear, that’s not happening for all kinds of reasons. The first of which is that she’s awful. Also, I just met her. That would be ridiculous to start a relationship with someone that soon.”

Her stomach dropped and she pulled her hand back, leaning farther away toward the door. Shelby wished she could massage the pain from her aching heart at those words. “Yeah, ridiculous.”

“Hey, Shelby. I didn’t mean—”

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not. You and I—”

Before he could say the next words that would surely shatter her heart even more completely, Shelby caught sight of a black SUV in front of her house. “Who’s that?”

“That’s my ride,” he said slowly.

Shelby whipped her head toward him. “Your ride to where?”

He pulled the Jeep up in front of her house and parked. Turning toward her, he said, “I’m leaving tonight, Shelby. I’ve got to get to L’Auberge. For work.”

She stared at him. “Sure you do.”

“I do. I wish…”

“Please don’t finish that sentence.” Shelby tried to channel her anger. It was a much more familiar and comfortable emotion than heartbreak and she leaned into it, grateful for the relief it brought.

“Can I just—”

“No.” She held up both hands. “Don’t. Whatever you were going to say, it doesn’t matter. Because you’re leaving. Just go.”

She threw open the door to the Jeep and marched up to her front porch.

“Shelby, wait!”

She spun around, almost to the door. “No! You don’t get to talk to me. You waltz in here and make me feel things and let me kiss you and then say it would be ridiculous to start something with someone you just met. Leaving is exactly what you should do. Live up your secret Chicago business life, Jake.”

She would have loved to slam the door, but she didn’t want to alert her daddy to her emotional state. The last thing she needed was to have a conversation about this.

On the other side of the front door, when she desperately tried to suck back in the tears that were overflowing, Shelby considered that she was overreacting. Just a bit. Like, a lot of a little bit. This was a preemptive strike to guard her heart as he left. She felt small and humiliated. What was ridiculous was Shelby thinking that she meant something to him. She wasn’t enough to make him stay.

A few minutes later she heard the crunch of gravel as the dark SUV rolled away.

He was always going to leave. You knew that.

But the knowing didn’t soften the reality. Not enough. She pressed her knuckles to her lips and focused on breathing.

When Shelby felt sure that she could speak in coherent sentences without crumbling, she walked into the family room where her father was asleep in his chair. He stirred as she set down a fresh glass of water.

“What time is it?” he asked.

“Still early. Is this a late nap or early bedtime, Daddy?”

“Bit of both. How was your day? Want to sit and talk to your old man?”

Her heart squeezed at this question. It had been a long time since he’d asked her to sit and talk. They talked every day, of course, but not like in a sit down and share-your-life kind of way. Of course he’d pick today.

“I’d love to sit with you. Talk? Ask me tomorrow. Or in a week.”

He grabbed her hand as she sat on the nearby couch. “Something wrong? Do I need to get my gun?”

She sighed. “No, Daddy. Be cool.”

“It’s that red-headed fool out in the trailer. I shoulda known when he tried to swim with T-Ball that there was something wrong with him.”

A choked laugh came from her throat. “Jake didn’t do anything, Daddy. He just left.”

Shelby thought all her tears had been spent in the few minutes she sat in the front hallway with her back against the door. Now they threatened again, only worse, because she was in front of her daddy.

“Sweet girl.” He stood up, unsteady on one leg, and used his prosthetic as a crutch as he hopped over to sit beside her on the couch, pulling her close so his chin rested on the top of her head.

This sent the tears over the top of the dam. Her daddy loved her. She had never doubted it. But she did not remember the last time he had held her close like this and been her protector. This had been her role for the last number of years, or at least, she had felt like it had to be. Maybe she took on too much there too.

Shelby was starting to feel like the life she had built here for the last ten years had been nothing but a façade. In the last three days, layer by layer had peeled away and she didn’t know how much more she could take.

“Thank you, Daddy.”

“Darlin, you don’t need to thank me. Not for one thing. I’m just doing what a Daddy should do. And I’m sorry—”

“If I can’t say thank you, you can’t say sorry.”

He laughed and she smiled at the sound of it, hugging him tighter. “Fair enough.”

A knocking at the door startled them both. One thought sprang forth so hopeful in her mind: Jake!

Would he really have come back? Already? At all?

The knocking continued. Daddy shifted, but Shelby put a hand on his chest and stood. “I’m younger and faster. You just sit.”

Her heart felt like a mess of galloping feet as she walked toward the door, hoping and praying to see a handsome redhead on the other side with apology in his eyes. Shelby shouted toward the insistent knocking. “Hold your horses. You don’t have to beat down the door.”

A tremor shook her belly as she put her hand on the knob. With all her earlier anger and her pride, she knew that she would take him back in an instant. Or return any kiss should he give one.

Shelby swung open the door and stood, her mouth wide open. It was not Jake.

“Mama?”