Kate hadn’t been this nervous since that fateful day when she’d asked Tommy to homecoming. She finished setting the table and stood back to admire the simplicity.
After the embarrassing car decorating debacle, she’d learned that sometimes subtlety was best, so no balloons or flowers or cheesy Please forgive me! signs on the table tonight. No humiliating rejection either. It would be different. She and Jaden may not have known each other long, but he seemed to get her. He would understand why she’d kept certain things from him. And once he read the article she’d written, everything would be okay.
“Right, Bella?” she asked, kneeling to give the dog some love.
Gregor had texted her early that morning to tell her he needed a draft of the article by noon or there’d be serious consequences. “Not that I care about the consequences,” she explained to Bella. Writing the article had become something bigger. She’d spent the whole morning pouring her heart into her keyboard, and the words had flowed. She’d likely get fired for writing a personal exposé on what an incredible person Jaden Alexander turned out to be instead of capturing what everyone expected, but it would be worth it.
Sure, Jaden would be surprised, but she could explain everything over dinner. It was a simple meal—lasagna and a hearty Italian salad. She liked to think of this as half an apology dinner, half a makeup dinner. Or at least she hoped they would make up after they had the inevitable conversation she’d been avoiding for a week.
“He’ll forgive me,” she murmured.
Bella licked her cheek in agreement.
“He’ll understand just like you do.” Once Jaden read her words, he would see how much she cared about him.
“Hey, gorgeous.”
Kate straightened and spun to the French doors. “Hi.” The sight of Jaden standing there in his jeans and boots sent a wave of heat crashing through her. “You’re home early.” She thought she had another half hour to prepare for this.
“We finished up ahead of schedule.” He took a step toward her but was blocked by Bella, who wanted his attention first. “The inspector was impressed,” he said, giving his dog a pat on the head.
“Well good. That’s great.” God, she already sounded guilty, and she hadn’t told him anything yet.
“I may have gone twenty over the speed limit all the way back here too.” He wrapped her in his arms and lowered his mouth to hers. Nope. Uh-uh. She couldn’t get distracted now. She had yesterday, but enough was enough. Gently, she pushed him away. “Why don’t you sit down? I’ll go see if the lasagna is ready.”
Without giving him a chance to respond, she hurried to the kitchen, opened the oven, and peeked under the tin foil. The cheese had bubbled to perfection. Okay. Whew. She was really going to do this. Kate patted her pocket where she’d stashed the printout of the article. After a quick explanation of the situation, she’d hand him that right away. Before he could even ask questions. The article would make everything okay.
When she finally carted the lasagna outside, Jaden was throwing the ball for Bella.
“Dinner’s ready,” she called, setting the casserole on the trivet she’d put out earlier.
“Looks good.” He jogged over. “But not as good as you.” His gaze slowly trailed down her body. “Maybe we should eat later…”
No, no. They had to do this now. Kate scolded him with a little smirk as she sat down. “We don’t want it to get cold.”
“Right.” Disappointment tugged at his mouth, but he sat too. “So what’d you do today—” His phone buzzed. “Sorry.” He dug it out of his back pocket. “Guess I’ll turn it off. I’ve been getting calls from weird numbers all afternoon.”
Kate paused in the middle of cutting him a generous slice of lasagna. “Calls?” Her heart glitched. Coincidence. It had to be a coincidence, right? She’d sent Gregor the article at noon, just for his opinion, but it wouldn’t go to print for a few more weeks…
“Now I got a text.” Jaden was squinting at his phone. “‘What’s your response to the Adrenaline Junkie article?’” he read. He looked up at Kate. “I had no idea Adrenaline Junkie was doing an article.”
Oh no. No, no, no. Kate couldn’t seem to move. Her body had frozen to the chair. Instead of beating, her heart was zapping in her chest. “Oh God.”
“I know.” Jaden rolled his eyes. “They’ve left me alone for a long time. Why are they all of a sudden interested again?”
Tears flooded her vision as she stared at him wide-eyed. “I’m sorry. Jaden, I’m so sorry.” Regret burned through her, thawing the shock, letting her move. She got out her phone and went to Adrenaline Junkie’s website. Sure enough, her article had been posted on the blog, and it already had 14,253 shares on social media.
When she looked up, he was staring at her. “Why?” His voice hollowed as though he was afraid to know. “Why are you sorry?”
“I wanted to help.” She dug the folded papers out of her pocket. “To tell your side of the story.”
“Wait.” His eyes narrowed into that distrustful glare she recognized from before. Before he knew her. Before he’d kissed her. Before they’d made love. “You sent them an article about me?”
“No.” Don’t cry. She couldn’t let herself cry. “I work for them. I’m a senior editor there.”
“What the fuck?” He pushed away from the table and stood. His eyes had hardened like he didn’t want her to see the pain behind his anger.
Kate stood too. “I printed out the article so you could read it. I was going to show you tonight. I had no idea they’d post it today. It wasn’t supposed to go to print for a couple of weeks.” As if that made any of this better.
Hand trembling, she handed him the papers, but he ripped them into pieces and tossed them into the wind. “I can’t believe this. You played me. You never told me you worked for Adrenaline Junkie.”
“I was afraid to.” She eased a few steps closer to him, but he backed away. “I knew you wouldn’t even talk to me if I told you where I worked.”
Jaden shook his head. Closed his eyes. When he opened them, the anger had been replaced with indifference. “Go. Get out.”
“Wait. No.” He hadn’t even read the article yet…
“You got what you wanted out of me.” His jaw went rigid. “Now you can go.”
“I’m not like that.” He knew her. He knew the real Kate Livingston almost better than anyone else. “I don’t use sex to get stories.” She inhaled, calming the desperation in her voice. “I really feel something for you, Jaden. And I think you feel something for me too.”
“I don’t.” His tone was as dull as his eyes. “I feel nothing for you.”
The apathy in his gaze tempted her to look away, but she refused to give in. “Nothing? Really? Because you said all that stuff. About me changing things for you…about wanting to trust someone again.”
“And you proved I can’t trust anyone.”
No. She’d proved that he could get back on his board. That he could come out of hiding. That he could feel something again. He just needed to remember that connection they’d built. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Adrenaline Junkie. I should have. But spending time with you wasn’t only about the story for me.”
He studied her for a minute, as though trying to judge her sincerity. “Why did you offer to watch my dog?” he finally asked. “Did you know who I was when we met on the street that day?”
Before she even answered, she knew she would lose him. But she couldn’t lie. “Yes.”
“And you saw an opportunity to use my trauma to your advantage.”
“No,” she whispered. “I didn’t know…” How deeply he’d been wounded by all of it. How it haunted him so much. “I never meant to hurt you. I only wanted to help. If you would just read the article—”
“You’re the fakest person I’ve ever met.” Anger simmered beneath the words. “You’re worse than the reporters who ambushed me on the streets.” Jaden turned and strode down the deck stairs, heading for a trail worn into the tall grass at the edge of the forest. “Bella, come.” The dog looked at Kate and whined.
“Come, Bella,” he commanded again.
Head down, the dog trotted across the yard to follow him.
Kate wanted to follow him, to force him to read what she’d written about him. She’d put her heart into that article. But it was too late. She’d lost him.
Before Jaden disappeared into the trees, he glanced at her over his shoulder once more. “You need to be gone when we get back.”
* * *
If Kate had learned one thing about the women of Topaz Falls, it was that they were always prepared.
When she pulled up at Everly’s adorable café on the outskirts of town, Jessa, Naomi, Darla, and Everly were all there to greet her. They ushered her into the old converted farmhouse where they’d already claimed a booth, and they were armed with enough comfort food to feed a whole cast of brokenhearted rejects from The Bachelor.
“We’ve got chocolate and scones and muffins and wine and brick-oven pizza,” Darla announced.
“We wanted to cover all our bases,” Jessa added, patting the open seat next to her.
“Thanks.” Kate slumped into the booth, unable to look any of them in the eyes. She’d given them the gist of what had happened with Jaden via text so she wouldn’t have to relay the story in person.
“It’s a great article,” Everly said, pushing a plate across the table. “Very heartfelt.”
“Has he read it?” Naomi asked quietly. Her baby girl was sleeping contentedly in a wrap secured around her shoulders, and she obviously didn’t want to wake her.
“No. I printed it out for him but he ripped it up.” Kate winced at the sting the memory brought.
“Well that’s dramatic.” Darla popped a truffle into her mouth.
“I’m sure he’ll calm down when he reads it,” Jessa offered.
“I don’t know.” His eyes had been cold and dull. Not full of feeling like they were when he’d looked at her before. “He has every right to hate me.” Though she hadn’t exactly meant to, she’d tricked him. He was right. She’d seen an opportunity, and she’d selfishly pursued it, never considering how it might hurt him. Or her. “I should’ve told him a long time ago.” Like her new friends had recommended. They could all be sitting there saying I told you so.
“It seems like people are really connecting with the article, though.” Everly glanced at her phone. “Up to 24,953 shares already. It’s going viral.”
Yeah, she’d heard. On her way over, she’d called Gregor to have a few words with the man about posting something before she’d approved it, but he’d been too busy counting hits on their website to care much.
“So what are you going to do now?” Jessa asked, cutting a slice of pizza into petite bites. “Head back to L.A.?”
“I don’t have much to go back to. I quit my job.” She hadn’t planned to, but when she was talking to Gregor, Jaden’s words had echoed back in her head. You’re the fakest person I’ve ever met. He was right. She didn’t want to be a fake anymore. Even if it meant she had to slink home with her tail between her legs and move back into her parents’ basement for a while.
“In that case, you can stay in Topaz Falls.” Naomi’s excitement woke the baby. She quickly stood to sway Charlotte back to sleep.
“Yes!” Everly, Jessa, and Darla whispered in unison.
“Stay?” She had a feeling there weren’t a ton of jobs for unemployed writers in a small town like Topaz Falls. “But I have to work.”
Darla’s face brightened. “I’ve been thinking about hiring a manager so I can have a little more freedom to pursue my hobbies.”
Everly grinned. “She means so she can have more time to date.”
Darla ignored the snickers. “You’d be perfect management material,” she said to Kate. “You’re friendly, a good communicator, detail oriented…”
“Not to mention gorgeous,” Jessa added. “That’ll be good for business.”
Kate looked from face to face with another round of tears brewing. “It sounds incredible.” She had never fit anywhere. Not really. Not in her scholarly, overachieving family, not in her job. And here were these women she’d met only a week ago making a place for her.
“We’re not fully booked until July.” With Charlotte back to sleep, Naomi slid into the booth across from Kate again. “So you can stay at the inn for another month until you find your own place.”
“And if you need more time, I’ve got an extra bedroom,” Everly chimed in.
“Wow.” A job, a place to live. But more importantly than either of those things, it came with the most generous, lively, compassionate friends she’d ever met. “Okay. I’d love to stay.”
Excited squeals woke the baby again. Naomi stood and swayed while Darla poured everyone a celebratory round of prosecco.
“Cheers!” Jessa held up her glass, and they all clinked away.
“I can’t believe I’m moving to Colorado.” Maybe Jaden would stay too. Maybe after time, he would give her another chance to prove to him that he could trust her with his heart.
“And you won’t have any problem building a freelance writing career now,” Jessa pointed out. “Not after the article goes viral.”
That was true. With all of the exposure the article was getting in the mainstream media, she’d have a more recognizable name. “But that’s not why I did it.”
“Of course not.” Everly reached over and squeezed her hand. “But maybe now you can focus on the kinds of things you’ve always wanted to write. You’d be great at profile pieces. Diving past the surface to really capture someone’s heart.”
Gratitude welled up in Kate’s eyes once more. “Maybe I’ll start with a profile on the extraordinary women of Topaz Falls.”