Strictly Business (25 page)

He thought about asking his mom to furnish it, or at least
some of it, while they were in town, but he just couldn’t. Not yet. It was
still Jess’s house. He was hoping if he lived there long enough, that feeling
would start to fade. He walked through the house, seeing the cabinets that
they’d fought over, the flooring. The crazy huge front door with the stained
glass above it. He loved the house because it reminded him of her. At the same
time, he half wanted to burn it to the ground to get rid of the memories.

Jake hadn’t even made it out to buy a guest bedroom set for
his parents to sleep on until three days ago. And that had been another
nightmare altogether. He went into Evanston, driving past the Hotel Terra on
his way to the furniture store, causing an ache in his chest strong enough he’d
had to rub at it. No one told him heartbreak physically hurt. Then he’d
wandered through three stores until he found a bedroom set that he liked. It
wasn’t until they’d delivered it yesterday that he discovered that it reminded
him of Jess. It was an elegant sleigh bed set, in a dark black brown, the same
color as her hair. And the sheets and blankets he’d picked were all reds, and
purples, and blues, shot through with the same silver as her eyes. He’d made
the bed then slammed the door. He couldn’t even pick furniture without thinking
of her. So, the rest of the house would stay empty until he could pick
something he wanted, not what he thought she’d like.

Everyone, Marsha and Cody included, had been delighted to
move him in here. Apparently he wasn’t all that much fun to have around right
now. Jake chuckled softly, without any real humor. He had no idea how he was
going to pull off this party in a couple of days. He’d done his part, working
with Marsha to hire caterers, order the tables necessary, the tents, etc. The
house was empty, but it was built. And, the whole town was coming to celebrate
his parents’ thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. Everyone would be there.
Everyone except Jess. Jake headed back into the empty house. He would go to bed
and dream of her. He’d dreamed of her every night, so he’d come to expect it.
He sighed. He would play the happy go lucky bachelor at this party. And he
would apologize to Cody. When that was done, he could come back to his huge,
empty, lonely house. It was better this way.

If he told himself that often enough, maybe he’d start to
believe it.

Two days later, Jake watched the chaos on the grass,
grateful his mother was there to finalize things. He stood on the porch,
looking out at people scurrying around like they were ants building a hill. The
party started in two hours, but he knew people would show up early, anxious to
see his parents and the new house. He checked his watch again. He had time for
one beer before he showered and dressed. He ran and grabbed one out of the
fridge, seeing Cody sitting on the porch as he turned back to the front door
he’d left open. He grabbed a second beer and headed out to join him. Time to
apologize.

He handed the beer to Cody, who silently accepted it. Jake
sat down by him, neither of them speaking for long minutes.

Jake finally broke the silence. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have
taken it out on you. Especially since you were right.”

Cody looked over. “Yeah, I was right. But, not completely. I
shouldn’t have said it like that. You don’t deserve to be alone.” Cody sighed,
looking over at him. “I was pissed, Jake. You threw away everything that I’ve
ever wanted in my life. You had it in your hands, and you threw it away.”

“What you’ve wanted?”

“Yeah, what your parents have.”

Jake was shocked, two fold. “You want that? For yourself?
And what do you mean I had it?”

Cody smiled a little sadly. “Yeah, I want that. Don’t you?”

Jake looked at his mom, laughing as his father kissed her
loudly on the cheek. His hand still sliding down to her butt after all these
years. Jake smiled, even as his heart ached.
Jessica
. “Yeah, I want that
too.”

“Jake, buddy. You had it. And you let jealousy and stupidity
chase her away.”

“Cody, why was she with Mike in Evanston? You know, don’t
you? Something I don’t.”

Cody stared at him. "You really never asked her?” At
Jake’s glare, Cody answered. “They were buying a building. An office building.”
Jake was sure he still looked confused since Cody continued, slowing his speech
patterns until he sounded like he was talking to a slow witted child. “She and
Mike were going into business together. Opening an architectural firm in
Evanston. She was leaving that company she worked for in Austin.”

Jake was stunned. “But, one hotel room? Why?”

Cody looked over at him, disappointment clear in his face.
“First, you should’ve trusted her and never called the damn hotel. And if you
were going to check up, you should’ve done a better job of it. She reserved the
room, so it was in her name. But, did you know that the Hotel Terra has three
room suites? Hotel rooms with three separate bedrooms in them. One room, three
bedrooms.”

The shock was turning to guilt. “By the way, since you seem
to know so little about her, you might want to Google Wythe. Specifically in
Virginia.” Cody shook his head. “You haven’t gotten back with that viper,
Bethany, have you?”

Horrified at the thought, Jake grimaced at Cody.

Nodding, he said, “Better late than never, I guess. Since
she’s coming today, and you know Jess didn’t cheat on you, she’ll probably try
to bring up the money thing too. I know Karen was only after your money. So
does Bethany. You may want to check Jess out before Bethany convinces you she
was after your cash too.” With that, Cody pushed up, swung over the porch rail
and went to help Jake's parents.

Jake stood up, all but running to his computer. What the
hell was Cody talking about? Virginia? Jess was from Texas. She was an
architect from Texas. Okay, so when she got mad, she got a very icy, proper
tone to her voice, a tone that
could
possibly
be east coast, but
that was just anger. As he Googled the name, he saw a picture of a very
elegant, well dressed man, with a beautiful woman, mid fifties, on his arm. The
blurb next to it read, “Virginia’s next Governor?”

As Jake scanned the article about Jonathon Wythe, it came to
his attention that Jess had never mentioned her parents’ names. He knew she had
a sister named Dana who was pregnant. No, who would’ve had her baby last month.
But that was it. He kept skimming until he saw it.
“Daughter Jessica Wythe
is a highly successful architect based out of Austin, Texas.”
It went on to
talk about her educational background, and the prestige of both the firm and
her career.

Jake leaned back in his chair. He already knew he’d been
wrong. Wrong about Mike. Wrong for listening to Bethany. It was no excuse, but
the situation had hit on his worst fears. He’d been played a fool once. He was
never going to let it happen again. And then Jess had snuck in. She’d gotten
past all his carefully erected defenses, touched his heart and made him yearn.
Not just physically, although he wasn’t sure it was possible for him to ever
get enough of her, but she’d made him dream of a future again. A future with
her. And he hadn’t even known her. Not really.

Even as he had that thought, he discarded it. He
had
known her. She’d been more herself with him than she was with her family. Okay,
so he didn’t know her dad was running for Governor, but he knew her. Inside and
out. He should’ve trusted her. Should’ve known there was nothing going on.
Should’ve known that Bethany had lied. Jake paced around, cussing a blue streak
a mile wide. He was an idiot. A damn fool, just like Cody had called him. He
deserved whatever pain he suffered.

Even as Jake acknowledged his mistake, he heard a voice in
the back of his head telling him it was too little, too late. He’d let his own
fears, his own pride, chase away the woman he loved. The woman he needed to
complete his life. He hadn’t just chased her away, he had tossed her out the
door, kicking her just for good measure. He’d lost her, and there was nothing
he could do to repair the damage. He thought about the look in her eyes just
before she’d walked out. He’d never seen anything that cold, that angry. Ice
over steel, he thought again. He ran his hands over his face, surprised to find
wetness on his cheeks. He headed to the shower, knowing she would never forgive
him. And he would never get over her.

Jess looked around her new office. She was happy, she really
was. So, she wasn’t smiling foolishly like Cindy and Mike were, but she was
just as happy. Or, she would be. Someday. Right now, she was trying not to
think about the party going on just over an hour away. The party where she was
supposed to show off her new house. Jess sighed.

Luckily they’d finished that back road out there, so she’d
been out to the house, overseeing the final steps, getting photos of the
finished product. They couldn’t take potential clients to see the house itself,
not with Jake now living in it. So, before he’d moved in, Cindy and Jess had taken
about a million photos of the entire property, including the landscaping,
although there was still work to be done outside. Cindy had taken the pictures
of the kitchen. Jess couldn’t even walk into that room. Mike had hired someone
to finish the backsplash, put on the knobs. All the little final touches Jess
had planned to do herself.

As much as even seeing the pictures hurt, she knew she
needed them to round out their resume. Most of Jess’s buildings had been
industrial, and with the smaller town, smaller area, they wanted to take on
more personal residences as well. So far, they had four personal residences
scheduled, and one small office complex. Her reputation had preceded her.

She hadn’t wanted to use her name for the business name, not
because she was above using her family’s reputation, but because the business
belonged to all of them. Cindy and Mike had insisted. So, on the front of their
new office was a sign saying “Wythe and Company Designs.” They still needed to
find a good landscape architect to round out the firm, but they were officially
in business.

Living this close to Jake was hard, but it was worth it. She
loved Wyoming. So, she just made a concentrated effort to forget he was only an
hour or so away. Most days it worked. Today…not so much. But it would get
better with time.

Jess thought back to the incredulous looks on her bosses’
faces when she’d walked in and quit. She’d told them she was going to Wyoming
and they’d laughed at her. Brundel had ultimately admitted that she would be missed.
Greatly missed. And they were glad she would be far enough away not to pull any
of their business. That was a huge compliment coming from him.

Jess, who had always lived conservatively much to her
parents’ consternation, had spared no expense on this office. This was her
business, worth every penny it cost to set it up and set it up right. And,
after the party at the ranch today, they were hoping to bring in lots of
clients. She’d asked Mike to attend, representing the company and bringing
business cards. Brundel and Schein had pitched a fit until they realized that,
as they had never even seen the plans, they really couldn’t take credit for the
design in any way. Also, she’d agreed to give up her commission as long as she
could advertise it as her build. They had agreed.

Jess headed back into her office. They each had personal
offices although, as they had yet to hire a secretary, one of them usually
stayed at the front desk. The offices were as lushly appointed as was the
front. Jess wanted the full experience for the clients. The building exterior
was fairly neutral, blending in with the offices around them. But, the interior
was breath-taking. All three of them had pitched in. Using a lot of Cindy’s
creativity, and a lot of sweat, they’d gotten the interior done in just over a
month. And it was perfection. Probably a little over the top for Evanston, but
so worth it.

She sat at her desk: dark wood, warm, rich tones. It was
huge, masculine even. As she looked around, she knew what she’d used as her
inspiration, but she refused to acknowledge it. He’d never see it anyway, so it
didn’t matter that her office was a carbon copy of Jake’s. She leaned back in
her chair, put her feet up on her desk and looked out the window. The view was
worth it. The office building backed up to the woods. They were on the fifth
floor, the top floor of the building. To make sure no one could cancel their
lease, or cause any problems, Jess had bought the building. And taken the
entire top floor as their offices. And behind their building was a wildlife
preserve. She would always have a view of the trees she loved, the green that
had pulled her here, even as it pained her broken heart.

* * * * *

Jake saw Mike, dressed in a suit and looking every inch the
professional, talking and chatting with everyone that looked at the house. He
wasn’t upset to see him, he’d invited him, actually both Jess and Mike. They’d
done an amazing job and deserved to take the credit. He hadn’t thought Jess
would come, but she’d always been the consummate professional, so maybe. He
headed to Mike, hoping against hope she was here.

Mike glanced up and saw Jake walking toward him. Something
must have shown in his face because Mike shook his head before Jake even
reached him. His heart fell, but he still headed over to shake Mike's hand and
say hello.

“Hey, how’s it going? I’ve heard nothing but good things
about the house. You can be proud of this place.”

“Thanks, just glad to hear you like it.”

“So, how is…everything?” Jake couldn’t bring himself to say
her name, but he was hoping Mike would get the drift.

“Good.” He waited a beat. “She’s fine, Jake.”

Jake nodded. As much as he'd like to know she missed him, he
was glad she wasn't as miserable as he was. “She didn’t come?”