Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 145823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“But she said yes,” I assumed. I hadn’t taken him for a coast guard guy, but I guess it made sense. The coast guard probably employed tons of oceanographers. It didn’t stop the tiny piece of panic from rising in my throat, though. The coast guard was still the military, but he was a scientist, not one of the front-line guys.
“She said yes,” he confirmed. “It was the happiest day of my life.”
“I found another one!” Finley shouted, waving a shell above her head.
“Good job, honey!” Jackson answered.
Without coming to show us her treasure, Finley continued her hunt.
“She’s a big bottle of joy, isn’t she?” I asked, watching her fight with her hair.
“She’s Claire. A little bit of my recklessness, sure, but that crazy optimism? All her mother.” His voice trailed off, but then he took a deep breath. “She left us when Fin was about four months old. Got an offer for a pilot in L.A. and said she’d come back as soon as they finished filming.”
“But she didn’t?” I guessed. That look in his eyes…he was still in love with her. It was the same look Will got when he’d talk about Peyton—all wistful but resigned.
He shook his head. “Claire’s always been easily distracted by shiny things, and there are a lot of stars to shine out there. But who knows? Maybe one day…” He shrugged.
My heart sank. Even if she hadn’t really loved Jackson, how could any mother walk away from her child and never come back? “And you became a single father with a baby.”
He nodded, watching Fin with the rapt look of an adoring parent. It was the same way Paisley looked at her son, the way my mama looked at me. “My parents were already gone, and Vivian loves Fin desperately, so I moved here—to the only family we had left.”
“You’re one of the really good ones, aren’t you?” I asked before I could stop myself.
His slight laugh was anything but funny. “No. That’s the kicker. I’m not. Anything I am that resembles good is because of her.” He nodded toward Finley. “I’ve always been an asshole. Selfish, careless, impetuous, you name it. But for her, I’ll be anything she needs. I’ll rip the world apart to keep her safe, and I’ll make damn sure I don’t give her anything to be embarrassed about when it comes to me.”
“And you do it without any help. I can’t even imagine.” I could barely take care of myself, let alone another person.
“I have Sarah—our nanny—and Vivian. She keeps Fin one weekend a month, and she used to take care of Fin while I was at work. I wouldn’t have made it through her baby years without Vivian. Brie helps, too. I’ve never been alone when it comes to Finley.”
“Brie was the redhead at the party, right? The pretty one with the black suit?”
“Yeah. I try to include her in what I can.”
His words jogged my memory. “Oh wow, she’s the other fifth-grade teacher at the elementary school.”
“She is. She recognized you.”
I watched Finley brush off another shell and add it to her collection. “Does she get to see Claire?”
Jackson’s jaw clenched, and I immediately regretted asking.
“She sees her about once a year if Claire decides to visit for Christmas, and she calls, but Claire has never been good about consistency. She’ll call once a day for a week and then go another three months without a peep.” He shrugged as we followed Finley, who was already at the top of the dune. “That’s Claire.”
There wasn’t any condemnation in his tone. Had I been in that situation, I wouldn’t have been able to say the same. Was he still waiting for Claire to come back?
My cell phone rang as we crested the dune, which kept me from asking that very personal, very not-my-business question.
“Hello?” I answered, plugging my ear to hear over the sound of the drills as we neared the house.
My insurance agent started at a million miles an hour, ending with, “So we’ll need the VIN and registration to add it to your policy now that it’s out of storage.”
Right. The truck.
We reached Jackson’s backyard, and I examined the truck from a distance. I could open the door and grab everything from the glove box. Easy. It wasn’t like I was driving the damned thing.
“Sure, give me a second, and I’ll get it,” I said to my agent as Steve waved from his command center.
“I just need to grab something out of the truck,” I told Jackson, covering the mouthpiece as we closed in on Steve.
Jackson nodded as Finley took his hand, pulling him toward the book of color swatches.
My heart rate spiked as I drew closer to the truck, but I shook it off. Dr. Circe said that part of the protocol would be addressing the things I avoided because they triggered my thoughts of Will. That particular part was supposed to start in five more weeks, but I could jump ahead a little, right?