Sundays were usually date nights with Brittany, but she’d texted him that morning to cancel. She was sick and promised she’d make it up to him during the week. He smiled as he read the text and nearly let out a whoop of joy. Now he had the whole day to enjoy by himself. He walked the stretch of his property, all three dogs running and chasing each other as they joined him. Douglas had today off, but when he circled back around and reached the house again, he saw Jaylyn’s truck parked out back.

“She drives that?” he wondered aloud.

He hadn’t seen her vehicle up close yet. Douglas simply told him she drove a truck so he wouldn’t be surprised to see one at the house. The red paint was faded and there was rust all over the frame. She desperately needed new tires, and it looked like the two back windows were either stuck down or she forgot to roll them up. The guilt at making her lose her restaurant increased even more and he cursed, kicking at a tuft of grass by the drive.

Every time he was with her, he wanted to explain the situation, but her anger made him feel worse, and for some reason, he fell into his business mode. He sounded like Leo and hated himself for it.

Gimli’s ears perked up as the back door opened and Jaylyn stepped out. The other two dogs bolted after Gimli, racing to get to their new favorite person. She smiled and held up her hand. All three sat and Walker saw the cookies in her hand. She held one out to each dog in turn, and they took them, tails wagging, and ran off to various spots in the yard to devour them.

“Spoiled,” he mused as he joined her on the patio.

She shrugged, still smiling as she watched the dogs. Her hair wasn’t pulled back in a bandanna, yet her chestnut waves fluttered lightly in the breeze. “All dogs should be spoiled.”

“I feel the same way.” He licked his lips, trying to decide how to tell her what really happened the day everyone was fired, but the words refused to come out. He sensed anger from this woman, but there was something more underneath it. She was attractive and he wished he could see her smile more. She had a ‘don’t take any shit’ attitude he liked very much. Too bad none of the women he dated were like her.

“I wanted to speak to you about something,” she said and pulled her phone from her butt pocket. “My check went in last night, but I think there was an error.”

“No, no error,” he assured her before she opened the app on her phone.

“What? No, it has to be. It’s way more than Douglas said.”

“Starting bonus,” he explained. “I do it for all my new cooks.”

Her cheeks reddened. “Thanks. It helps.”

“Why couldn’t you find a job at another restaurant? I heard about your reputation,” he said curiously.

“I’m not sure. I applied at a few places, sent resume out, but then your ad popped up in the paper. I didn’t have months to spend looking for a job.”

He knew all about her parents’ finances, but the look on her face said there was more to it than the loans for the restaurant and their house. She dug her thumbnail into her palm hard. Without thinking, he reached out to stop her. His hand closed around hers. Her brow crinkled as she glanced up at him. He expected her to yell or yank her hand back, but she did neither. They stood like that until the dogs finished their treats and surrounded her, nosing her pockets to see if she had more.

She shook her head and pulled her hands free, readjusting her bandana. “Well, I…uh, I guess I should get going on dinner. It’s Ms. Kraus tonight, right?”

“Actually, no, she left me a message saying she was sick.”

“Oh, well…wait, if you wanted me to have today off, who would have cooked for you tonight? Douglas isn’t here either.”

“No, it’s his anniversary,” he told her. “He spends the time with his daughter.”

“So you were going to cook for her?”

Walker shoved his hands in his pockets and motioned to the swinging bench for them to sit down on. “I was going to have something catered. It’s safer.”

“You can’t be that bad at cooking.”

They leaned back in the bench and it swung gently as the dogs romped around the yard. “I’ve been known to set things on fire. I’m sure Douglas would be more than happy to share the details with you if you asked.”

“Then I’m glad you’re not cooking—at all. Ever.”

“I’m sure the insurance company is thrilled, too,” he said with a cringe.

Jaylyn laughed quietly. They sat together on the bench, swinging lightly back and forth, listening to the quiet of the woods around them. Walker had tried living in a city once a long time ago, but too many people and cars, too much construction and traffic, had driven him insane. He couldn’t hear himself think trapped in an apartment overwhelmed by so much chaos. Out in the woods, far from the city, surrounded by nothing but trees, he could simply relax and let his mind wander.

“I saw the article in the paper the other day, about the lodge having an opening date set,” she said after a while. “Is that what you were pissed off about?”

He sighed. “Yes. My father seems to think things are moving along smoothly, so he set a date without asking me first. I still have a lodge to renovate, half the staff to hire, and as far as the restaurant goes, I have no kitchen staff. None. It’s a disaster in the making and he’s placing it all on my shoulders.”

“Must be tough,” she mused, but he heard the smile in her words.

“Yes, thank you for that, because I’m not dealing with enough ridicule for what happened.” He stalked away across the patio. She couldn’t possibly understand the pressure he was under to make this project a success. This lodge being successful was his way out from under his father’s thumb. He would have his own source of income and finally get away to do something he wanted for a change. His father taught him many things, but Walker didn’t want to take over a property. He wanted to build his own and run it how he saw fit and not piss off an entire small town.

“I’m sure you are. I hear you haven’t stepped foot in Woodstock.”

“Before I even bought the place I was chased out. Why would I go there now?”

“To show the people you’re not a dickhead like your dad,” she pointed out casually as she made it to her feet. “Or are you the same as him and you’re merely putting on an act?”

“I’m nothing like him,” he insisted.

Her pursed lips said she wasn’t sure she believed him. “Then prove it. Do something to help the town or the people you fired.”

“Like giving them all jobs? I shouldn’t even have you working for me. If my father finds out, he’ll blow a gasket.”

“Do you want me to leave?” she asked, her truck keys in hand.

“No, no, I don’t want that,” he said, hurrying to block her path. “I want you to work for me here, as you’ve been doing.”

She tucked her keys away again and he sagged in relief. “Fine, but you have to do something to help all the others you fired. Help them find jobs, help them move out of state if they have to, but don’t stand by and let them suffer so your family can profit.” She shook her head. “I still don’t understand the reasoning behind firing all of us.”

“He wanted the employees to be loyal to me, or him. Not your father.”

“They were loyal to the business,” she insisted. “A lot of those people had been there since my dad opened Jaybird’s. They only cared about keeping it going and making it successful. And you…you came in and swept all that away.”

“I didn’t do that,” he finally confessed. “Or at least I didn’t want to.”

“What are you talking about?”

He rubbed his forehead and needed a drink. “When my father decided it was time for me to run my own project, he purchased the property,” he explained. “He wanted me to take over the lodge and restaurant, but I didn’t want to fire anyone.”

“You didn’t,” she stated as if she still didn’t believe him.

“No. I argued with him for days over it. Darien Wilson had a fine staff. They worked hard, they brought in a profit, and you being in charge of the menu and kitchen made Jaybird’s special. You brought in the clientele that made the experiences there so incredible.” He thought about the morning when Leo told Walker he had to go and fire everyone. He’d put his foot down and refused to budge. “I tried everything to convince him to let you keep your jobs—all of your jobs—but he wouldn’t listen. At the end of the day, he owns it all.”

“He doesn’t own you.”

He laughed bitterly as his gaze met hers. “Actually, he does.”

“You’re going to stand there and tell me you, a grown man of what—thirty—can’t tell his dear old dad off and strike out on his own? You can’t start over?”

“I would have nothing,” he argued. “No money, no home, no chance to start something.”

“Who owns this house?” she asked, waving her arms at it. “Or the expensive truck in your garage? Or your suits?”

“I do.”

“And you’re going to stand there and tell me you have nothing. Wow. Just…wow.” She crossed her arms, tapping her toe as her aggravation mounted. “You know what I think? I think you’re scared.”

Walker’s palms were sweating and he tried to look away from her piercing gaze, but her words hit him hard. Was he scared? “No, I’m not scared.”

“Bullshit. You are scared of being away from daddy dearest.”

“Don’t talk to me like I’m five,” he snapped.

“Then don’t act like you’re five!” she fired back. “You stand there and talk to me like I’ve never had to deal with any hardships in my life.” She paced away from him, and he saw her hands move together in front of her. When she turned back to face him, her thumbnail dug into her palm. “You and your father caused me to lose my job, my career…my entire future. And on top of that, I’m dealing with a sick father. We have no money, nothing to fall back on, and you…you stand there whining because you’re too scared to go out on your own. Don’t you dare act like the weight on your shoulders should make me feel sorry for you.”

Walker was at a loss for words. He didn’t want to admit she was right, but she was. If he really wanted to walk away from the business, he could. His father could keep the money because there were other ways to get money. He’d stolen her job and her future at running her dad’s restaurant. And he was sick.

“I didn’t know he was still sick,” he told her quietly as she fumed at him. “I’m sorry, truly I am.”

“Wow, that’s really all you can think to say, huh? Just, wow.” She flipped him off and stormed past him. He stepped into her path, and as she attempted to walk around him, he reached out and caught her arm. “Let me go, bastard.”

“Let me help you,” he pleaded. “Please, what does your father have? Or I can give you a raise?”

“You think everything comes back to the money.” She yanked her arm from his hand and opened her truck door. “I want my future back, my dad’s restaurant back. That’s what I want. I want my respect back,” she muttered, climbing up behind the wheel and slamming the door.

He couldn’t do any of that even if he wanted to. At least not yet. If there was a way—any way—he could get the restaurant out of his father’s control and give it to her, he would. Wouldn’t he? She was the life of that place.

She cursed and smacked her hand on the steering wheel of the truck, drawing his attention to the fact it wouldn’t start.

“Wait,” he exclaimed and held onto the truck door through the open window. “Wait, please. I’m not my father, Jaylyn.”

She stopped trying to start the truck and glared at him. “Really? Prove it.”

“I’m trying to,” he said, and she looked confused. “Right now, Jaybird’s and the lodge are under my father’s name.”

“But you said this is your project.”

“Yes, but his name is on everything important. He won’t relinquish power to me until it’s up and running for six months, successfully, and….and I take care of another matter I’ve put off,” he mumbled, wondering if he was ready to embrace his fate if he could help one person, if it would help Jaylyn. The cold voice in his head that sounded more and more like his father these days told him not to be an idiot, but the old Walker rose and told that voice to go to hell. His father ruined people’s lives. Walker wouldn’t let him ruin Jaylyn’s.

“What’s the other matter?”

He grimaced. “Listen, do you want my help or not? I don’t want to tell you about it.”

Her hands slipped from the wheel to her lap as she scrutinized him. His hands trembled. Why was he so damn nervous to hear her reply? She was a good cook and he’d hate for her to leave his employ, but it was more than that. She was strong-willed and passionate and damned attractive, even when she was pissed.

“I do, but I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying.”

“Give me a year,” he requested. “No, sorry, nine months. Give me nine months, and if everything goes as planned, when I officially take over the restaurant and the lodge, I’ll put you and your family back in charge.”

“And your dad?”

“Won’t be in the picture. Next year, he’s moving himself further south. He won’t be here to complain, and if he does…well, if he does, I’ll deal with it.”

“How can I trust you?”

He removed his hands and gave her the most genuine smile he could muster. “You can’t, but I’m a man of my word. Nine months max, and as soon as Leo Allard is out of the picture, the Jaybird is yours again.” He saw the thoughts racing in her mind as her eyes narrowed. He could pull it off. All he needed was her to give him the time.

Your father will eat you alive for this, he warned himself. Why do you care so much about her?

“Deal,” she said finally and stuck her hand out for him to shake. He took it and she clasped it hard. “If you fuck this up for me, if you go back on your word, you’ll regret it.”

He believed every word she said. “I won’t, you have my word.”

She released his hand and tried to start her truck again as he stepped back. He wanted her to stay, maybe talk with her some more, but if her dad was sick, he might need her. It took a few long minutes for the engine to turn over, and she backed down the drive to the turnaround spot and left. Walker watched the smoke spewing from her exhaust and wondered how much she would hate him if he bought her a bonus on top of the extra he’d paid her.

Strider bumped his leg and barked. A tennis ball was at Walker’s feet, and he bent to pick it up. “Ready to run, boy?”

Strider barked excitedly and Walker chucked the ball across the lawn. Nine months. He had nine months to get the lodge and restaurant up and running and find himself a damn wife to present at the ball on New Year’s Eve. He’d be hitching himself to one of three ladies he could barely handle an evening with, let alone the rest of his life. Hopefully, if he suffered through a few years of marriage, he could get a divorce and be finished with the situation. Either way, he had to throw himself into these renovations and hiring people; otherwise, his plan would go to shit before he managed to get anywhere at all.

* * *

The next week passed in an exhausted blur. Walker rose early in the morning to reach the lodge and speak with his contractors and see how training was coming along for the new staff. The main lobby still needed to be completely torn apart, and he was running out of time. March would be over in two weeks, which brought that damn opening date that much closer. He loathed Leo for forcing his hand, but Walker held on to the notion that he would win this one in the end.

Jaylyn would get her restaurant back, no matter what.

But by the end of the first week, though he’d managed to staff the whole lodge, there was still no cook willing to take on the kitchen at Jaybird’s. No applicants. Nothing at all. He parked his truck in the drive and slumped over the steering wheel. The reason no one would work there escaped him. Was it possible all the local cooks and chefs he considered knew Jaylyn or Darien personally and were boycotting the restaurant? He didn’t want to go to Jaylyn and ask her to find someone to take her job, but he was desperate.

He needed a full kitchen staff so they could figure out a good summer menu. Orders would need to be placed in advance to ensure they had product when they needed it.

“Just ask her,” he muttered to himself as he climbed out of his truck and trudged inside.

“Good evening,” Douglas said, greeting him as always, no matter how late in the evening it was.

“Don’t you ever get tired of being here?” He handed over his suit jacket and crouched to pet his dogs as they swarmed him. “I never expect you to stay so late.”

“I’m not the only one here late, sir,” he explained with an arched brow.

“Jaylyn?” He checked his watch. “It’s after nine. I don’t have a date tonight.”

“She said she had things to work on for this weekends’ meals and she’s making a larger batch of food for the dogs.”

He ran his hands down his thighs then stood. “Yes, well, I guess this is a good thing.”

“You have something to discuss with her?” Douglas asked, intrigued.

“That I do, but it’s nothing too exciting, so off with you. No eavesdropping, unless you truly want to hear then you can simply follow.”

Douglas’ blank face broke into a grin immediately. “I do love my gossip.”

Rock music trickled out from the kitchen as Walker neared. He pushed the door open quietly to see inside. Jaylyn was mixing something at the counter, her back to him. Her chef’s shirt was tossed over a chair and she stood in her snug jeans and a sleeveless black shirt that hugged her body. Her arms were well-toned, and when she turned, flour decorated her cheek and her dark hair was pulled back in a bright pink bandanna. It was like a punch to the gut. He hadn’t had the chance to watch her work for long, but spying on her now, when she thought she was alone, so lost in her element, the true beauty of this woman was revealed. She smiled to herself as she mixed and added ingredients, moving with the music. A screaming, head-banging song came on that he utterly despised, but she smirked and banged her head lightly a few times along with the beat.

“Do you plan on staying here all night, sir?” Douglas asked behind him and Walker cursed.

Jaylyn turned the music down and squinted at the door. “Douglas? That you?”

“And me,” Walker said, having no choice but to step inside. “You know you’re not required to be here this late.”

“I do, but I like to be prepped for the weekend. Habit.”

“A good one, I’m sure,” Walker said and rapped his knuckles on the island counter.

Jaylyn continued to mix whatever was in the bowl. “Did you need something? Oh, besides your dinner. It’s in the oven, warming.” She turned to grab hot-pads and pulled out a small casserole dish.

Walker moved closer, building up the nerve to ask his extremely difficult favor. The mixture in the bowl looked good, and as he thought over exactly what to say, he stuck his finger in it to get a scoop and ate it. “What is this? It’s fantastic,” he mused and dipped his other finger in for one more bite.

Jaylyn set down the casserole on the stovetop and burst out laughing. She bent over double, wiping tears from her eyes as Walker looked on, confused. “You realize…what you’re eating…right?”

Douglas chuckled behind him as well.

“What did I miss? What is this?” He mulled the last bite over in his mouth, but it tasted fine.

“That would be your dogs’ dinners,” Jaylyn informed him, struggling to keep a straight face and failing miserably as Walker wiped his finger on his slacks and coughed. “Oh, don’t look so horrified. If you can’t eat it then your dogs shouldn’t eat it either.”

“A fair point, but strange all the same.” He retrieved a glass of water to wash it down, and when the taste was gone from his mouth, he turned back to see her still smiling and Douglas looking on in amusement. “I wanted to ask you a question, and you may feel the need to either hit me or throw something at me,” he started. She turned to him, swinging the towel up over her shoulder, and crossed her arms. “I want you to know I am prepared to face whatever the consequence of me speaking may be.”

“Uh huh,” she muttered. “Go on.”

“I appear to be in need of a chef for Jaybird’s. Actually,” he admitted with a defeated sigh, “I need an entire kitchen staff.”

“Still,” she stated. “You still need a kitchen staff.”

“Yes, yes, I do.”

“Walker, you open in two months. How do you not have a kitchen staff?”

“I have tried, believe me I have, but no one has applied and those I send inquiries out to I never hear back from.”

“Who have you tried?” she asked, taking this situation much better than he anticipated, which only made him more worried she was saving up her anger to lash out him when he least expected it.

He found his phone in his pocket and rattled off the names. “Do you know them, by chance?”

“Yeah, and I’m not the only one. That idiot,” she snapped and chucked the towel in the sink. “That damn, stubborn ass idiot! I’m going to kill him!”

“Who are you going to kill, and is it me so I can get a head start?” Walker asked.

“No, not you. Give me the weekend and come Monday morning, you’ll have a kitchen staff.”

“Just like that? How?”

“Trust me.” She grumbled a few other curses at whomever she seemed to think was responsible for Walker’s lack of kitchen staff. He picked up his dinner and carried it to the kitchen table to eat. Douglas joined him and they watched Jaylyn finish her prep work. She turned the music back up a little, and when she was finished, placed the food in the fridge and plopped down beside Douglas. “For the record, I did not tell them to do this.”

Walker swallowed his mouthful of food. “Do what?”

“Turn down any job offers coming from you for the restaurant.”

“They are boycotting Jaybird’s?”

“I’m not sure yet, but I have a feeling that’s what’s going on.”

“So who were you cursing?” She held his gaze and it clicked. “Your father.”

“Yes, my sick, aggravating, annoying father.” She rested her head in her hands, tearing off the bandanna and shaking her hair out messily. “He thinks he’s going to hit you where it hurts, but I’m not going to let him destroy what he built out of spite.”

“Jaylyn,” he said, “do your parents realize what your new job is?” Instantly, he saw her dig her thumbnail into her palm.

“Of course they do. What kind of daughter would I be if I lied to their faces about working for the enemy.”

“So that’d be a no,” he muttered and she sagged. “You might want to tell them.”

“Now I don’t have a choice.”

“And you didn’t tell them about the deal, either?”

“No, I didn’t.”

Walker shouldn’t have said anything else and let it go, but during the last week with Jaylyn, they’d warmed up to each other more. They talked and joked in the few minutes they would see each other before he headed off to work or she left for the day. “Now who’s scared?”

His words hung in the air, and for a second, he thought she would leave. Quit right there and he’d be screwed. Instead, she stood up, walked to the counter where a freshly made cream pie sat, picked it up, and stalked towards him.

“Oh, now, come on, I was only joking!” he insisted, trying to get to his feet and away, but she was too fast. The pie slammed into his face, and he heard Douglas chuckling uncontrollably as Jaylyn joined him. He pulled the pan from his face and swiped away the pie enough to see them both bent over with laughter.

He stood, pie dripping from his face to the floor. He scooped a handful off his face and chucked it at Jaylyn. She gasped as it smacked wetly into her face, and he giggled like a kid as he did the same to Douglas. Vanilla orange mousse and whipped cream flew across the kitchen as the three dove into the food fight whole-heartedly. Walker hadn’t laughed this hard in far too long, and the notion that this moment would give Leo a heart attack if he saw it only made it that much better. When most of the pie was gone and they had to clean up—with the help of the dogs, of course—Jaylyn wiped off her face and sighed.

“All right, I’m going home. See you in the morning, hopefully with good news.”

“Thank you, Jaylyn,” Walker said sincerely.

“Hey, if you’re going to make good on this promise, I’m not letting my family’s restaurant be dragged down into the mud. My dad will have to swallow his pride and get over it.”

Walker watched her leave and leaned against the counter. “Douglas?”

“Yes?”

The question died on his tongue, and he told him to forget about it. Douglas went home for the night, and Walker and his three dogs went to bed, all four dreaming of flying pies and an amazing woman he knew would get him into trouble.

* * *

Jaylyn expected her parents to be in bed like always when she got home, smiling from the food fight in the kitchen, but the lights were on in the house. Worried something was wrong with Darien, she sprinted inside and found them both sitting at the kitchen table, a stack of papers between them.

“Guys?” she asked. “What’s going on?”

“Sit down, Lyn,” Mariah said, patting the chair beside her. “We weren’t sure when you’d be home tonight but wanted to tell you what was going on.”

“You could’ve texted. I would’ve left earlier. Dad?”

He was pale, so much paler than before. “We’ve decided…well, it’s more like your mother is dragging me to the hospital for treatment.”

“Good. It’s about time.”

Mariah nodded, but she didn’t seem happy about it. “The medical bills will bury us and we’re already behind on so much… we have to sell the house, Lyn. We can’t afford this place if your father starts treatment.”

Jaylyn tried to swallow around the lump in her throat. “The money I gave you? It’s not helping?”

Her parents exchanged a glance. “That’s another issue we wanted to talk to you about,” Darien said. “Who exactly did you say you’re working for?”

Jaylyn couldn’t meet his gaze when she replied. “I told you. Some rich guy who lives not far away. He pays really well and I hoped you could use it to help with the house.”

“No in-home cook makes that much money without doing something on the side.” Mariah reached for her daughter’s hand. “Are you doing things for this man? Sleeping with him? Is something else going on we don’t know about?”

Jaylyn’s jaw dropped. “What? Are you seriously asking me that? Jesus Christ, Mom! I’m a chef, not a prostitute!” She jumped up from her chair to grab a glass of water.

“Then who do you work for? Why don’t you talk about your job?” Darien insisted.

She gulped her water and refilled the glass, watching the clear liquid as she thought frantically of the best way to explain her current situation. “Look, you’re not going to like it so I’m just going to tell you, but you can’t say a damn word until I’m finished, got it? Neither of you.”

They agreed, but she knew the moment she said Walker’s name, Darien would lose it.

“All right, I’m working at the home of Walker Allard,” she explained. “He put an ad in the paper and no one else contacted me, so I interviewed and have been cooking for him the past three weeks.”

Darien’s face went from pale to bright red in a shot. “You are working for that bastard’s son? The man who stole everything from this family?”

“I thought you said you wouldn’t interrupt,” she reminded him.

“You can’t work for him. I forbid it,” he raged. “What is wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with me?” she yelled back. “You’ve been sick for how long and you refuse to get treatment because you’re a stubborn ass man. We lost our restaurant, but I’m working on a way to get it back. I’m doing something about it, I’m fighting for it. For us.”

“You don’t think I am?” he argued.

“No,” she said slamming the glass down. “I know what you did. You called every cook you thought he might try to bring into Jaybird’s and told them to boycott.”

“I see nothing wrong with that.”

“Well, I do. I have a chance to win our dream back, Dad, and you’re going to fuck everything up.”

Mariah stood quickly. “Both of you need to calm down, right this second, and Lyn, you don’t speak to your father like that.”

Jaylyn wanted to tear her hair out but kept her hands firmly planted on her hips. “I have talked to Walker, Dad. He was impressed by my reputation, by the restaurant’s reputation. If he can’t open this summer, it will never be the same and you know it.”

“I will not have our life’s work run by that rich, hoity-toity son of a bitch.”

“It won’t be if you would shut up and listen.” She took a deep breath and waited to see if he would keep yelling or give her a chance to speak. “In nine months, when Walker can prove the lodge is a success, his father will hand it over to him completely. After that happens,” she said, holding up her hand when Darien opened his mouth. “After that happens, he will put us back in charge of it. It will be ours again. We only have to ride the next nine months out and ensure it does well.”

Darien’s eyes widened as Mariah asked, surprised, “He’s doing this for us? Why?”

“Because he’s not his father. I thought he was just as bad at first, I did,” she confessed. “But he’s not. He’s a nice guy who’s stuck in a shitty situation. He didn’t even want to fire everyone. That’s why he wasn’t there that day.”

“I don’t trust him,” Darien swore. “I don’t trust him and I don’t like it.”

“We don’t have a choice,” Jaylyn reminded him. “We’ll never have the money needed to buy him out. This is our best chance to get the restaurant back. Please, Dad, call off the dogs. Tell your friends you need a trusted colleague to take over and hold down the fort.”

Mariah looked to her husband. “Well?”

“Well what?” Darien snapped.

“Your daughter has a plan. You’re going to listen to her and you’re going to do it.”

Darien’s eyes darkened, but Jaylyn felt his resolve crumbling. “I’ll do it,” he announced finally, “but if he goes back on this deal—if he messes up—I’ll find a way to get back at him.”

Jaylyn hurried around the table to hug him. “I already warned him of that. Thank you, Dad.”

“Are you sure you can’t work for anyone else?”

“No. I have a good position, and this way, I can keep an eye on him and the deal. I’ll survive.”

“I’m sorry we’re making you move out,” Mariah told her as she hugged her daughter. “I’m not sure what we’ll be able to afford, and your dad needs treatment.” Tears wet Jaylyn’s shoulder as she comforted her mom.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll think of something.”

All the money she’d made so far had gone to bills, so she had nothing saved. She’d get paid this weekend and could use it to find an apartment but wasn’t sure that was her best option. Treatments would be expensive and her parents would need the extra income. In the morning, she’d figure out her next move, but for tonight, she wanted to be with her parents. They popped in an old movie and piled onto the couch to watch it together, just like old times.

Jaylyn clung to the closeness of her parents, the sound of their laughter and the warmth of their love. A shadow growing in the back of her mind told her everything would not be all right. She tried to shake the feeling all night long, but when her head hit the pillow later and she drifted off to sleep, the shadow grew larger and her dreams turned into nightmares.