A phone rang close by. Walker grunted and buried his face in the pillow, but it kept ringing and ringing and ringing. A pillow whacked him in the head and he bolted upright, confused. Last night came back to him—even more exciting than the previous night—and he spied a naked Jaylyn ready to hit him again, still looking half-asleep herself.

“Phone,” she said through a yawn. “It’s like the tenth time they’ve called.”

“Who is it?”

“No idea, but I’m going back to sleep.” She tugged the comforter around her and disappeared beneath the blankets, leaving Walker to scrounge around on the floor for his jeans to find his cell. “Hello?”

“There you are,” a furious voice answered him. “Walker? What’s going on?”

Shit, I should’ve looked, he thought glumly as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Nothing, I’m fine. Georgette, why are you calling so early?” He heard the covers rustling in the bed and winced. He shouldn’t have said her name aloud.

“Why? Do you not remember what today is?”

He rubbed his face, trying to catch up to the morning, and cursed when he remembered the grand opening was today. He’d promised Georgette a private tour of the lodge and restaurant before the festivities kicked off that afternoon. “Yes, I remember. I’m slightly out of sorts, is all. It will be a very busy day.”

He heard feet hit the floor and watched as Jaylyn wrapped the sheet around her body and disappeared into the master bathroom, closing the door behind her before he could say a word. He climbed back up to sit on the edge of the bed, wishing Georgette hadn’t called him. All day yesterday, he’d thought about what to tell Jaylyn, and he could tell by the look in her eyes, she was torn, too. They had a great connection, but both teetered on the edge of not wanting to fall into each other’s arms again and get caught up in the moment. Somehow, they’d wound up back in his bedroom, forgetting about their worries and how badly this could end.

“Yes, it is. Do you still have time to pick me up or should I meet you there?”

Walker watched the bathroom door, waiting impatiently for it to open again so he could talk to Jaylyn. “Uh…meet me there if you could. I’m running behind, I’m afraid.”

“Meet you there? I wasn’t really asking, Walker.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have time. Please meet me there? I promise I’ll make it up to you today.”

“You’d better,” she muttered and hung up.

He tossed his cell on his bed and held his face in his hands, wondering what he should do. Jaylyn hadn’t come out of the bathroom yet, so he decided it was time to go in after her. The water wasn’t running when he knocked and she called for him to come in.

“Sorry, I’ll be out in a second,” she said, not even looking at him. “I know you need to get going.”

“Wait a second,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist, but she slipped from his hold. “Jaylyn.”

“No, it’s fine. The last two nights were fun,” she said brightly, but he heard the annoyance in her voice. Whether it was at herself or him, he couldn’t decide. “But we both know this is nothing more than a fling.”

It couldn’t have been worse if she sucker-punched him in the gut. “A fling?”

“Yeah. I’m bringing us back to reality. You’re an Allard and I’m your in-home cook.”

“I think you’re a bit more than that and you know it. I know you do,” he argued, but she backed away from him towards the door.

She smiled, but it failed to reach her eyes. “Look, this is fun what we have going here. I’m not saying let’s not keep this going.”

“The fling, you mean,” he said to clarify. “You want to what, be friends with bennies?”

“Why not? We’re adults,” she pointed out. “And that way, no one gets hurt. We don’t get wrapped up in emotions and then shit gets messy. It’ll be easier.” She was rambling and Walker tried to follow, but she rushed past him and out the door.

“What the bloody hell just happened?” he muttered to his confused reflection.

He showered and dressed, stuck in a daze. He was ready to fight for what he felt for Jaylyn, but she backed down from it like she was scared. Scared of what? Walker didn’t want to admit Douglas could be right and him trying to start a very complicated relationship with Jaylyn while she dealt with her father and the restaurant was too much. He had to find a way to make her understand what he was willing to risk. He knew what he’d experienced the last two days and it was far from simply lust. Since she’d worked for him, they’d grown closer as friends first, something that had happened with no other woman before her.

Once he was ready for the grand opening, he made his way downstairs, but Jaylyn wasn’t in the kitchen.

“She left,” Douglas called from the dining room.

“I thought her truck wasn’t working,” he said when he reached the man.

“She borrowed my car. Said she needed to get to the store today.”

“Sure she did,” he muttered.

“Did something happen?”

Walker didn’t have time to fill Douglas in. “No, nothing at all. I’ll see you this evening.”

“Good luck today, sir. I’m sure your father will be very proud of you.”

Walker was sure Leo would be his usual serious self, no matter what the good news was about the lodge having every room booked and the restaurant reserved both nights of the weekend already. Leo Allard wouldn’t even congratulate Walker. No, he’d wait until they were a few months in and the restaurant hadn’t fallen down around him. Then, maybe, he would tell his son what a grand job he did all on his own. A drive he’d been looking forward to yesterday now made him anxious and fighting himself on turning around to go find Jaylyn instead. She acted like she had to be strong all the time. It had to be why she wasn’t willing to try.

He’d suck it up and get through the day, but when he saw her again, he wouldn’t let her walk out on him, not until he told her exactly how he felt.

* * *

“How does the food look? Nothing’s been sent back, right?”

“Will you calm down,” Hannah said through the phone. “John is doing a great job and it’s packed.”

“Walker did Frankie a favor for helping me move,” she explained, pacing anxiously around the kitchen. “Y’all are sure everything’s going well? Nothing’s on fire or something and you’re just trying to keep me sane?”

Hannah sighed. “I thought you wanted it to do well.”

“I do,” she confessed, thinking of how confused and almost hurt Walker appeared that morning when she hurried out of the bathroom. She had to get out of the house and clear her head. She intended to check on her parents, but after texting her mom, found they were not at home and walking through the park up north instead. She’d driven around for another hour, filled Douglas’ car up with gas, and finally deemed it safe to return to the house. “Can you see him at all?”

“Who?”

“Who do you think, Hannah?”

“All right, you don’t have to be so testy.” She hummed under her breath, and Jaylyn tried not to picture him walking around her restaurant with that woman on his arm instead of her. Her stomach ached, remembering how warm and perfect it was to have his arm around her, and imagining that arm around Georgette. She didn’t even know the real Walker. None of them did.

“Are you sure he’s here?” she said, but her voice was higher pitched than normal and Frankie muttered something in the background.

“Hannah, I love you, but don’t lie to me.”

She mumbled something Jaylyn didn’t catch and suddenly, Frankie’s voice came through. “He’s here and he’s with that Tindal woman.”

“And do they look like they’re having a good time?”

“He’s smiling, but it’s fake. I can tell that from a mile away. Why do you care so much if they’re happy?” he asked sharply. “Is there something you need to tell us?”

“Nope, nothing at all.”

“Uh huh. Right, keep telling yourself that,” Frankie muttered. There were muffled sounds and then Hannah was back on the line.

“Do you want me to be obnoxious?”

“No. As long as the restaurant’s doing well, that’s all I care about.”

Hannah sighed. “Yes, it’s doing great. Are you going to be all right? Do you want me to stop by sometime?”

“No, just have a fun date night with Frankie. I’ll talk to you guys later.” She hung up and forced herself to sit down in the living room to watch a movie, but the only ones available that night were romantic comedies. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

She grunted and tossed the remote aside, giving up trying to find something that had nothing to do with two people falling in love. That wasn’t what happened with her and Walker. She was not in love with him. They spent two incredible days together, but thankfully, reality came knocking that morning and she was reminded why it could never happen. He was back with Georgette and she would have to accept it. Her focus needed to be on her dad and the restaurant, not having the happily ever after playing on the TV.

* * *

Walker set his empty glass on the bar and checked his watch.

“Is there somewhere you need to be?” Georgette asked, sitting beside him at the bar.

“If you’re about to scold me for being distracted, I could get onto you for the same thing,” he pointed out, nodding to her cell in her hand. “That thing’s been going off all night. If you need to leave, please feel free to go.”

She tucked her cell in her purse, her fingers tapping anxiously on the bar. “No, I don’t need to leave.”

Walker frowned. “Who keeps texting you?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Look, if we’re supposed to get along and potentially marry one day, it might be good if we actually started talking like we like each other, as friends if nothing else.”

She hung her head. “It’s my ex-boyfriend. He…uh, he broke up with me a few months before all of this started. He couldn’t exactly stand my family so he dumped me and now he keeps texting, saying he wishes he never had.”

Walker ordered two more drinks for them. “Do you want him back?” he asked quietly.

She sighed heavily, and for the first time since meeting Georgette, he felt like he stared at who she really was and not the face she put on every time they got together. “Sometimes, but I can’t exactly change my family, you know?”

“Oh, I know.”

“I’m sorry, that was wrong. I shouldn’t tell you that.”

“No, I would like us to be friends and be honest with each other.”

She tilted her head as she studied his face. “There’s someone you wish you could be with, isn’t there?” she stated. “I knew it. You’ve changed recently, and I knew it had to be a woman.”

He tried not to smile but couldn’t help it, thinking of Jaylyn. “It is, but I’m in the same boat you are. It’s quite complicated and she has quite a bit on her plate at the moment, too, so I don’t think it will work out the way I hope.”

She patted his arm and lifted her glass. “To the loves we can’t have, eh?”

He clinked his glass against hers. “To the ones we wish we could be with.” He shot back his drink and set the glass down on the bar. His mind racing with the knowledge that Georgette was trapped in the exact same situation as he was, he wondered if he could use that to his advantage somewhere down the line. One thing he did realize after this night was if he had to marry any of these three women, it would be Georgette. Tonight changed how he saw her and he realized they could be friends if nothing else.

The evening wore on and Georgette told him she was heading out for the night. She kissed his cheek warmly, as a friend would, and left him at the bar. His father had left a half hour before, so there was no reason for Walker to stick around. He waved to the bartender and checked in with the kitchen to let John know he did a great job for the opening and he’d be by to see them all in the morning. The drive home was better than the drive there as Walker’s mind shifted from one idea to the next on how to make Jaylyn see they could be together and that Georgette might be the key to it all. He parked his truck in the garage and hurried inside, where he heard steps flying down the stairs. Worried something was wrong, he rushed through the kitchen and ran into Jaylyn struggling to pull a sweater on and hold her purse at the same time.

“Shit!” she yelled when they collided and he caught her before she fell. “Sorry, I have to go.”

“Go where? It’s after nine.”

“Dad—he’s in the hospital,” she sputtered and ran past him out the back door.

Walker followed and watched, confused, as she climbed into her truck. “Your truck doesn’t work.”

“I don’t have any other vehicle. If it doesn’t start, I’ll call a cab.”

“No, you won’t. Get in my truck. I’ll drive you.”

She didn’t argue like he expected and hopped out of the truck to follow him to the garage. He asked which hospital and she told him as he backed down the long drive, turned around, and hit the road. Jaylyn’s leg bounced and she held her head in her hand, glaring out the window.

“What happened?” Walker asked ten minutes into the drive when she still hadn’t spoken.

“I don’t know. Mom texted and said she was rushing him there.”

“He’ll be all right,” he said and reached over for her hand, holding it firmly. He expected her to pull away, but she squeezed it back and fell silent again. He drove faster and cursed mentally as his plans for him and Jaylyn would have to be put on hold again. But her father was more important. They made it to the hospital forty-five minutes later, and he followed her inside, headed up two floors, and found a woman who looked remarkably like Jaylyn except older pacing the hall.

“Mom!”

“Oh, Lyn!” The woman ran to meet her daughter, and they clung to each other as she mumbled to Jaylyn what had happened. “He collapsed. He couldn’t breathe. I don’t know what’s happening.”

“Have they said anything?” Jaylyn asked.

“He’ll make it through the night, but they have to take new images to see how far the cancer spread. That stupid ass man. This is what happens when he doesn’t get treatment like he’s supposed to.”

Walker shoved his hands in his pocket and hung back, not wanting to interrupt. Jaylyn turned, wiping tears from her eyes. “Mom, this is Walker Allard. He was nice enough to give me a ride.”

The woman held out her hand. “Mariah Wilson. Jaylyn’s told me great things about you.”

Walker didn’t take her hand; he wrapped her in a hug and she hugged him back. “If you need anything at all—I’ve told Jaylyn, but I want you to know too—anything, please let me know. It’s the least I can do for you and your family.”

“Thank you,” Mariah told him. “We appreciate it, we do.” She smiled softly as she patted his cheek. “You are certainly nothing like your father.”

“So I’ve been told. Jaylyn? Mind if I talk to you for a moment?”

She walked down the hall with him. “Thank you for getting me here.”

“Listen, your mom needs you right now and so does your dad,” he said. “I want you to take some time off and stay with them. Just until you see how your dad’s doing.”

She shook her head. “No, I need to be at the house. What about your dates? And the restaurant. I have to be around in case anything goes wrong and they need help. Or you need help.”

He laid his hands on her shoulders and bent so their faces were level. “Your parents need you more. I’ll survive for a few weeks.” She shoved her thumbnail into her palm, but he caught her hands quickly to stop her. “Take as much time as you need. The job will be yours and you will still get paid. Think of it as paid vacation,” he told her. “All right?”

“Mom would be happy to have me around to help,” she admitted, giving in.

“Good. I’ll have Douglas bring you some clothes tomorrow and you take your time, as much time as you need. I’ll check in with you.” He wanted to kiss her, wanted to take her in his arms and promise everything would be all right and he had a plan to work their complicated lives out, but he had no plan. And kissing her now might make matters worse. She might say what they had was no better than a fling, but they both new the truth. Now was not the time and place to push the issue.

She hugged him and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Walker.”

He wanted to keep holding her, but he had to let her go. She hustled back to Mariah’s side, and he forced his feet to turn around and take him back to his truck. He didn’t want to go back to an empty house, and even the dogs seemed sad as he climbed upstairs to bed. They stopped at Jaylyn’s door, wagging their tails and waiting for her to appear.

“She’s not coming back today, boys,” he said and whistled. “Come along.”

But the dogs didn’t move. Walker gave them each a scratch behind the ears and gave in, opening the bedroom door. They charged in and jumped on her bed, sniffing madly and looking for her in every corner of the room. When they came back to him with no Jaylyn found, Strider barked.

“What? I can’t help it,” he told the dog.

Strider barked again and growled at him, his tail wagging and ears up.

“I know, boy. I’m going to miss her, too. But she’ll be back, you’ll see.”

The dogs finally joined him in his room and curled up in his bed with him. He closed his eyes, his hand resting on the furry body of one of the dogs, and ignored the growing worry in the back of his mind that he had lost his chance with Jaylyn and she might never come back.