CHAPTER 14
The sun hadn’t been up for more than an hour, but Jack was already slumped at the kitchen table, both hands wrapped around a now cold cup of coffee.
“I have to say, this is a pretty pitiful sight.”
He looked up and saw Trey standing in the kitchen doorway, looking far too chipper for Jack’s taste. “Don’t start with me, Trey.”
“You’re really going to let her fly back to New York and never see her again?” Trey asked.
“That’s not how we left it. We agreed we’d stay in touch.” Jack glanced at the clock on the stove.
By now, Nicki’s plane had already taken off. His chest tightened as he pictured her speeding farther away from him with every passing minute.
So much of yesterday had been spent recovering from the events of the night before that he felt like they’d barely had any time together.
Nicki had immediately gotten in touch with her father to tell him she was all right. The man had chronic high blood pressure and she was afraid the stress of the last few weeks had taken a toll on his health. She wanted to see for herself he was okay and let him see she was fine too, so she’d found a direct flight to New York that left at zero-six-hundred this morning.
Jack had offered to get up early and drive her to the airport, but she’d insisted she could take a cab. Eventually he’d given in to her wishes.
It was better this way. They got their goodbyes over with here in private rather than on the curb in front of the airport.
Jack rubbed at the strange pain that had been in his chest since the night before when he’d kissed her cheek and left her alone in her apartment above the barn.
Trey dropped his gaze to the movement of Jack’s hand. “What’s wrong with your chest?”
“Heartburn or indigestion or something.” Jack pushed the mug away. “It’s probably the coffee.”
“Your mother’s coffee is as good as her pie, so I doubt it.” Trey pulled out a chair and straddled it backward, a stupid-looking grin on his face. “What color are Nicki’s eyes?”
Jack frowned. “What the hell kind of question is that?”
“Just answer it.”
“Deep blue, like the color of the ocean when you see it from really high up in a plane. Why?”
“Ha! I knew you’d know.” Trey broke out into a broad smile. “You love her.”
Jack rolled his eyes. “Just because I know what color her eyes are doesn’t mean I’m in love with her.”
“Does your heartburn hurt worse every time you think about her leaving?”
Jack rubbed his chest again, wondering why his discomfort was making Trey so happy. “I don’t know. Maybe. I guess. But so what? It’s a coincidence. I hardly know her.”
“In the short time you’ve known her, you’ve been through a whole lot of shit.”
That was true, even if Jack refused to admit it.
Trey shook his head. “You once told me I was either too stupid or too stubborn to realize I was in love with Carly. Which one are you, Jack? Are you too stupid or too stubborn to admit you have feelings for Nicki?”
The truth of his own words being turned back on him hit hard. Jack buried his face in both hands. “Both, I guess.”
“Then do something about it.”
“Do what?” Jack glared at Trey, who seemed full of love advice today but had offered no useful solution as yet.
Trey raised a brow. “Go after her, Jack. Get on a stand-by flight. Or get in that car of yours and start driving. You’ll be there before nightfall.”
“Then what?” Jack asked. “How’s this gonna work, Trey? She’s a New Yorker. She’s not gonna move down here to Pigeon Hollow and continue to shovel manure for my brother now that she’s not in hiding anymore.
Trey shook his head. “I’m betting after all that’s happened to her up there, she’s had enough of New York.”
“Who’s had enough of New York?” Jared wandered in the back door and joined the conversation uninvited. He walked over to the counter to pour a cup of coffee and then glanced back at Jack and Trey, waiting for an answer.
“Nicki. She flew back home to New York this morning to be with her father,” Trey answered.
Jared took a sip from the mug and then shook his head. “No, she didn’t. She’s outside in the yard right now.”
“What?” Jack sat bolt upright at that information.
Had Nicki missed her flight? As horrible as it seemed to be happy about that, he was still glad. All he cared about now was making sure she didn’t leave.
Before Jared or Trey could say another word, Jack was up, out of his chair and heading through the door.
~ * ~
Nicki leaned against the rail of the fence, watching the mare with her colt and feeling totally at ease for the first time in a month.
She’d probably never been safer than at this very moment. Matt and Trey, the two mysterious black-clad, military-type friends of Jack and Jimmy, were still on the property. And Jared and his barn hands had proven they could also be armed and ready for anything.
Her father had called on the phone extension in the barn late last night. Tony was all over the New York news. He’d been arrested for tax evasion and racketeering. All his files and computers had been seized. They’d denied his request for bail.
Tony had a heap of trouble to deal with now. Hopefully he’d be much too busy to remember her.
Even so, her father had said he’d feel safer with her out of New York for a little longer, so she’d happily agreed to remain where she was. Staying on the farm was no hardship. She’d come to really love it here.
Not to mention it was where Jack was.
What a difference a day made. She sighed, content. Now if only Jack would get out of bed so she could surprise him. He thought she’d flown back to New York.
“Hey, darlin’.”
As usual, she didn’t hear him until he was right behind her. She smiled as he slipped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck. She tilted her head to one side and let him kiss from her ear to her collarbone.
Groaning in pleasure, she finally managed to say, “Your family’s going to see us if you’re not careful.”
Not that she really wanted him to stop.
“I don’t care.” Jack spun her around and she saw how serious his expression was. “I’m trying to convince you not to go back to New York. To stay here and be closer to me.”
She opened her mouth to tell him she wasn’t going back. In fact, her father was talking about selling his farm in New York and retiring down here, but Jack put one finger on her lips to silence her.
“Nicki, I can’t promise you it’ll be perfect. I’m away a lot, but I’ll be with you every second I can if you’ll let me.”
She waited, and since he seemed to be done, she finally got to tell him what she’d been dying to.
“I’m not going back. I’m moving down here. My father’s coming down next week to see me and we’re going to look at a small horse property Jared told me about that’s for sale in the next town. So it looks like I’ll be around whenever you are.” She smiled at the surprise on his face.
He whooped, picked her up and spun her around until she was dizzy. She was breathless from laughing when he finally stopped spinning.
Jack didn’t put her down. She remained level with his gorgeous gold-flecked eyes.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and became very aware of the alignment of their anatomy. “Jack, I don’t think I can wait until dark for the drive-in to open tonight. What do you say we go upstairs to my apartment right now?”
“Are you sure your papa’s definitely not coming until next week?” Judging by the desire she saw in his eyes, he was tempted by her suggestion, even while trying to be respectful of her father.
She laughed. “I’m sure.”
Jack grinned. “Then I think that’s an excellent idea.”
Leaning down to press a kiss to Jack’s mouth, Nicki couldn’t agree more.