Hearts Collide (Canyon Cove Book 4) (17 page)

“He kissed her,” I said. “No one should be allowed to treat you like that.”

“Why would I care who he kisses?” she asked.

“Because you love him,” I said between clenched teeth.

It was the hardest thing I ever had to say.

“Love him? Where would you get that idea from?” she asked. “And what would you care anyway? You stood me up.”

“Stood you up?” I asked. “What are you talking about?”

Dennis started to get to his feet.

“I think I should get home,” he said.

I shoved him back onto the floor as I started to piece things together.

“You’re not going anywhere,” I said, glaring at him. “Tell her.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dennis said. “You’re just some fucking asshole who punched me for no reason.”

“I’m the fucking asshole who punched you because you told me you two were in a relationship. You said you’ve been together for years and that she said you were the love of her life. Is that true?”

“You said that?” Jackie asked Dennis with her arms wrapped tightly around herself. “When did this happen? When did you talk to Brent?”

“Christmas Eve,” I said. “When I came to your apartment to pick you up for dinner.”

“You came? I didn’t know. Dennis never told me,” she said before turning to face Dennis as he rose to his feet again. “Why would you do that?”

“I know guys like him,” Dennis said. “I was just protecting you. I–”

I interrupted Dennis before he could say anything more.

“The night of Sam and Drake’s wedding, was it you who answered the phone?”

“You called?” she asked.

“I know it’s not cool or whatever, but I couldn’t wait to talk to you again so I called right away,” I said.

Jackie glared at Dennis.

“A man answered the phone and said he was your boyfriend,” I said. “He said you like fucking with guy’s heads just to see if you can get them to call. He said he didn’t care because you always came home to him.”

“How could you do this? I was trying to help you out and you lied to me,” she snapped at Dennis. “You know how I feel about being stood up. You knew everything it would bring up. I thought we were friends. How could you do something as nice as fill up my car with gas and drop it off for me but then turn around and do something like this?”

“That was me,” I said. “You’re talking about the day you left your keys in the car, right? I filled your tank and then dropped off the car for you.”

“You let me think that was you,” she said as her eyes narrowed at Dennis. “You selfish, egotistical asshole! You let me feel sorry for myself. You let me feel like shit.”

Jackie’s fist flew out and hit Dennis in the stomach. As he buckled over, he looked up towards the blonde who shook her head and walked away.

“No wonder you love her,” Gunnar said. “Nothing like a girl with a good right hook.”

Gunnar grabbed Dennis by the arm and yanked him towards the door, then pushed him out. His two girlfriends hooked their arms through his and smiled up at him.

“I guess I’ll have to keep these two ladies entertained all by myself,” Gunnar said as he left.

Jackie stared up at me with her one eyebrow raised.

“You love me?” she asked.

“Gunnar has a big mouth,” I said.

“Answer the question.”

I put my arm around her, like I had so many other times, and led her outside. The air was crisp, reminding me of snow. No one else was on the street but us. We walked to a bench next to an old-fashioned street lamp and sat down.

“I’ve never hated you,” I said. “From that first moment I met you, I knew there was something special about you. I don’t know if it was Sam pushing us together so much or just the way that blue dress hugged your body, but I couldn’t get you out of my mind.”

“But–”

“Let me finish,” I said. “I’ve been lying to you all this time. I never wanted you just for sex. I just wanted whatever I could have with you. Whatever time I could get with you, that’s what I wanted. I didn’t understand why you hated me so much. I didn’t know why you were screwing around with me when you had Dennis at home, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to be with you.”

“Dennis and I haven’t been together in over a year,” she said. “I was just helping him out.”

“You don’t need to explain anything to me,” I said. “I just wish I was honest with you sooner. We’ve been spending all this time together and all I had to do was ask you about Dennis or tell you that I called that night and things would have been different. Instead I let you continue thinking that I didn’t like you when that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

“And what Gunnar said?” she asked.

“It’s true. I love you. I’ve had feelings for you for a while, but I think that day when you saw Marc and opened up was it for me.”

“That was such a bad day,” she said, her face softening. “But there you were, the man I hated for no reason at all, and...I don’t know, but that was that day that I realized I couldn’t be without you.”

“That’s why I asked you to Ashley and Xander’s Christmas party. I was done with our charade. I was going to tell you everything that night, but when I arrived at your house, Dennis told me you didn’t want to see me anymore. I was an idiot to believe him, but he confirmed what I believed already.”

Jackie looked at her watch.

“It’s almost midnight,” she said. “Do you ever make any resolutions?”

I pulled out my phone and found a site with Times Square live. As I slipped my arm around her shoulders, I slid closer to her.

“I do,” I said. “Every year I promise myself I’m going to do more to help those who can’t help themselves. It’s not your traditional resolution, but it keeps me grounded.”

“That makes me feel like my resolution is stupid,” she said with a small laugh.

“Whatever your resolution is, I’m sure it’s not stupid. As long as it means something to you, it’s important.”

She nodded slowly and I could see that she was thinking.

I turned the volume of my phone up as the countdown began. As the ball reached the bottom, the restaurant erupted with noisemakers and cheers. I leaned closer and kissed Jackie’s forehead.

“Happy New Year,” I said.

“Happy New Year, Brent.”

She smiled at me and I knew I would do anything to make her happy for the rest of her life.

“
I have a new proposition for you,” I said.

Epilogue

Six Months Later

Jackie

It was a perfect June day in Canyon Cove. The sun was beginning to set into the Pacific Ocean and one of my best friends was sitting on a lounge chair beside me, holding my hand. Things couldn’t be better.

We were in matching chairs, on the sand, the orange haze of the sun glittered perfectly off the calm blue water. Dressed in shorts, we decided to take a break after a long walk on the beach. A year ago I felt empty, but that was a long time ago.

Shade hopped onto the long portion of my chair and curled himself into a tight ball.

“He really has no idea how large he is,” I said as I tried to figure out where to put my legs.

“What are you talking about? Look at how small he is,” Brent said. “Right, Shade?”

Shade wagged his thick tail excitedly, causing a faint thud every time his tail hit my thigh.

“I’m pretty sure this is abuse,” I said, laughing.

“Take it up with him. I didn’t do a thing.”

In the distance a couple stood facing each other, the breeze gently tousling their hair. They held each other’s hands as they exchanged wedding vows on the pier. Brent pointed over to them.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“A happy couple getting married. I think that should be us.”

My phone buzzed in my bag before I could say anything.

“You should check that,” Brent said. “I’ve been hearing it buzzing all afternoon. It could be something important.”

“It’s nothing important,” I said. “It’s probably someone trying to get me to fill in for them at the last minute.”

I pulled my phone out of my bag and saw several texts messages from hours ago.

Becca:
Where are you?

Ashley:
Are you running late? We’re waiting for you. Sam is looking hangry though lol!

I read Ashley’s text to Brent and he laughed.

“Hangry? Hungry
and
angry? You don’t want to be near Sam when she’s like that,” he said, laughing.

Samantha:
We’re at Mirabella’s, where are you? I thought you were coming.

I felt bad about forgetting about our Mirabella’s lunch, but I knew there would be others. It had been a long time since I missed one of the Mirabella lunches. They were fine without me.

After I graduated in May, Brent finally convinced me to move in with him. It was a strange thing for me after being on my own for so long, but since we made it official, I rarely slept at my apartment anyway.

I was busy apologizing to my friends for missing the lunch when Brent leaned closer and peeked at my phone.

“Did you get any other texts?” Brent asked.

“Mmm hmm. I just haven’t gotten to it yet.”

“Who’s it from?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” I said, looking at the unfamiliar number in my message list. “Let me check.”

I tapped the message and it opened to a photo of Shade. He was wearing the same bandana around his neck that Brent put on him that morning.

“That’s odd,” I said. “Why would someone send me a picture of Shade?”

“Maybe they’re trying to tell you something,” he said. “Look closer at the picture.”

“Did you do this? This is just weird,” I murmured as I looked at the photo.

Shade smiled in the picture with his tongue dangling out of his mouth. His warm brown eyes looked happy like always. I had no idea what I was supposed to be looking at.

“Did you take this?” I asked. “This isn’t your number.”

Brent sighed impatiently.

“Wait a minute,” I mumbled before enlarging the picture. “Is there something on his bandana?”

Brent’s face was blank, but as I looked at him the edges of his mouth tugged into a grin.

“It’s been there all day,” he said. “I thought for sure you were going to see it when you were petting him earlier.”

“There’s something on his bandana? You put something on there?”

I tried to make out what it was in the picture, but it was too blurry. All I could see was something blue that reflected the light.

“Come here, Shade,” I said, holding my arms out to him. “Turn around, buddy.”

He wagged his tail again but didn’t budge.

“Let’s go, come on, come just a little closer,” I said, reaching for his bandana.

Shade wiggled as his tail beat faster against my leg. He touched his nose against my hand and I reached out for the bandana and lifted it off his head.

I spun the bandana around, looking for whatever was attached to it. Out of the corner of my eye, Brent waited impatiently.

Nearby, a large seagull dove towards a table the couple had set up with food. It cackled loudly until it got a response in the distance. As the bird waddled along the pier, he was joined by a smaller one.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.

“You’re killing me, you know that?” Brent grabbed the bandana and held up a deep blue sapphire ring with channel set diamonds.

I knew what it was as soon as I recognized something was glittering in the picture, but sometimes I just enjoyed driving Brent crazy.

I smiled as I took the ring from him, then reached down to pet Shade.