Chapter Twenty-Two
“Oh, sweet pea! I’ve been searching for you since dinner!”
Janie looked down from her tower, narrowing her eyes. “I thought Archer told you I didn’t want to see you.”
Her father shrugged. “I thought Archer would have called you. Things changed after dinner.”
What could he be talking about? Why would anything change? “Archer talked to you during your dinner?” They must have dined at Paradise Point. Did that mean Archer had to deal with Carrie. He was probably frustrated about that!
Frederick nodded. “Sure did, and Archer joined us since it was his lunchbreak and Carrie’s father made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.”
“What do you mean?” Janie tried to push away the uneasy flutter that started in her stomach.
Her father glanced up at her tower, frowning. “He really didn’t tell you this himself?”
“I haven’t talked to Archer since we left for work.”
“Oh, sweet pea…” Frederick heaved a sigh. “I don’t want to be the person to tell you this. I think you should call Archer.”
Now, he had her anxiety level raised, and Janie glared at him. “Just tell me whatever the hell you think I need to know.”
Frederick paused for a few beats longer, before nodding. “I guess that’s for the best. Even if you’re upset with me, we’re still family, right? I mean, heck, you are a wonderful girl who is getting tested to give me a kidney. That means we still have something between us, doesn’t it?”
“Sure,” Janie agreed in a half-hearted manner.
“Carrie’s parents upped the stakes, trying to get Archer to agree to marry her and take over their business.” Frederick sighed again. “I’m sorry, sweet pea, but they made him an offer that would be hard for anyone to refuse.”
Ignoring the sudden stab of pain in her chest at that thought, Janie tried to push away any doubts about Archer. He wasn’t interested in Carrie, no matter what they offered. “I don’t believe you.”
“I get that, and maybe Archer will think about it and turn them down, but this is such a good opportunity.”
Despite herself, Janie was curious. “What did they offer?”
“Not only will he become a share holder and heir to the company when Douglas retires, but Douglas is going to fund any sort of restaurant Archer wants to own, letting him spend the majority of the time managing and running his own kitchen as the boss. In his downtime, he’ll learn Douglas’s job, but he will also be able to have his own dreams. He won’t just be a chef in someone else’s kitchen, he’ll be the one in charge. He seemed pretty excited by that prospect, said it was what he’d always dreamed of.”
Janie’s breath came out in harsh, labored bursts. It would be a hard opportunity to let pass, Frederick wasn’t wrong about that. She didn’t want to stand in Archer’s way if he could bypass all the years it would take to get his own restaurant, but she also couldn’t just give him to Carrie.
He’d assured her over and over that he loved her, not Carrie, but she’d just thought to herself last night how he had so much more history with her, while they’d been together only a short time and just admitted they loved each other.
“Are you okay?” Frederick asked.
She snorted. “Like you care? I’m not listening to anything you say until I talk to Archer.”
He nodded. “Sure. I don’t blame you. I just want you to think about things, sweet pea. Your mom’s illness tied us both down and pretty much ruined our lives. It took away all my dreams. I loved your mother, but I also resented her. Do you want to be the type of woman who hangs onto Archer and steals his dreams?”
Damn, but he was right! Even if her dad was a prick who left her mom in a time of need, Janie would like to believe that there was a reason he did so. Did he really end up giving up dreams to be with her mother? Would Archer end up resenting her if she told him not to take this opportunity and stay with her?
“I can’t talk about this with you, Frederick.”
Pulling out her cell phone, she quickly sent a message to the lifeguard on duty at the station next to her, saying she needed a bathroom break. Jumping down to the sandy beach below, she forced a smile. “I have to use the restroom. Thanks for telling me.” She forced a laugh, although as choked up as she was, she knew it wasn’t convincing. “I’ll think about what you said.”
“I’m sorry. Maybe I should have minded my own business.” Frederick made a move as if to hug Janie, and she dodged his arms, racing toward the restroom without looking back.
Once inside, she locked herself in a stall and sat down on the toilet, grabbing some tissue from the dispenser and using it to muffle the sudden sobs that ripped from her throat.
Why, Archer? Why make me fall in love with you and get me to give myself to you completely last night if you were just going back to her? I know it might be what’s best for you, but what do I do now?
***
The steak Shane had sent home with Archer was top quality. While he cooked dinner for Janie, Archer tried to experiment with the side dishes rather than doing anything more than salt and pepper and a good basting of butter to the steak. It was too good quality to possibly mess up.
Instead, he’d made small carafes of potatoes baked in the oven with a touch of sweetness. The salad was acidic to help balance the meal. Maybe not culinary genius, but he was more interested in feeding his woman tonight than coming up with a prize-winning recipe. Shane didn’t seem in a rush for new ideas, so Archer just had fun with it.
Today had been stressful, especially having to continually repeat himself while eating with Carrie and her family. In Frederick’s defense, the man did seem to want to help him out of the situation, but the more Carrie and her father talked, the more Frederick started agreeing that they could make his dreams come true and he should consider their offer.
Bah! It was too much to think about. All he wanted right now was to see Janie and let her help soothe away his troubles.
As he packed up the food into an insulated bag, he couldn’t stop smiling. Parting from her before work had been difficult. He was so glad that he’d get to see her again. He couldn’t wait to see her beautiful face and kiss her luscious lips.
Damn! He was so in love already. It was as though she had been made for him. He already knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. It was only a matter of time before he told her. He just needed to wait until she was ready to hear it.
He reached her room’s door and tapped out ‘Shave and a Hair Cut,” waiting anxiously for her to answer. After a few minutes there was no response, and he knocked again, louder and in a normal fashion this time.
After a time without her answering, Archer set the food on the floor and pulled out his phone. He tapped the icon to call her, hoping nothing bad had happened at work. Maybe someone had been in trouble in the ocean and she was dealing with that. He knew how seriously she took saving lives. If it was something like that, he hoped she was able to save them. He hadn’t thought about how awful it would be if there was someone she couldn’t save, or how horrible that would be on Janie.
Well, if that time ever came, he’d be right there to prop her up and help her deal with it. No sense worrying about that now. Maybe she wasn’t home yet because she was caught up in something else. He couldn’t jump to the worst scenario just because he worried about her so much.
After a few rings, her voice mail picked up. Archer waited for the beep. “Hey, Angel. I’m standing at your door with food in hand, and you aren’t home. What’s up? I hope everything’s okay. I’ll head to my room and wait for you. Call as soon as you can. I want to talk with you. It’s been a long day. I love you.”
There was nothing he could do except wait and worry. Maybe it was nothing to do with an island guest. Maybe her dad cornered her again. She’d decided to get tested, but that didn’t mean she wanted to speak with him.
Troubled, Archer returned to his room, wondering if he should try calling Larissa to see if she knew where Janie was. He shook his head as he entered his room, setting the food aside and flopping down onto his bed. He was being too overprotective. He knew that, but it didn’t stop him from wanting to save Janie from anything bad happening to her ever again.
He’d wait patiently for her. He had to trust that she loved and needed him. She’d call as soon as she could. He had faith in her, had faith in their love.
The nagging feeling that something was wrong wouldn’t leave, but Archer did his best to ignore it while he sat there and stared at his phone, willing it to ring.