Sprinkled with Love

He was still holding the phone in his hand when it rang. “Hello.”

“Can we talk?” Jillian asked.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He didn’t want to get involved in whatever was going on with her and Glenn. And if he saw her right now, he would tell her exactly what he had on his mind. It wouldn’t do either of them any good. “Besides, I’m headed out to check on my horse.”

“This won’t take long. I’m right outside.”

She was? He moved to the living room and glanced out the window. Her car was parked along the curb. “How long have you been sitting there?”

“I just pulled up. I kept trying to call, but your line was busy and I wanted to take care of this before work.”

“Jillian, I don’t think this is a good idea—”

“It won’t take long at all. I promise.”

It went against his better judgment but he said, “Come in.”

He propped the door open and waited for her to make her way up the walk. When she stepped up on the porch, he moved aside to allow her entrance to the house.

He closed the door and turned to her. “What can I do for you?”

“I noticed the For Sale sign is missing from the yard. Did the house sell?”

He shook his head. “I took it off the market.”

“Oh.” Her expressive blue eyes reflected the passage of varying thoughts that had crossed her mind. “I stopped by to let you know I don’t think we’re working well together. I’m sorry you didn’t win either of the first two rounds of the competition.”

“It’s not you. It’s me.”

She held up her hand, halting his explanation. “This arrangement isn’t working for either of us. But I have lined up someone to help you with the last round of the competition.”

He knew Jillian backing out of mentoring him had nothing to do with his performance at the Bake-Off and more to do with them. She was outright rejecting him, fully and completely. Avery refused to acknowledge the stab of pain that thought brought him.

He mentally chastised himself for following his heart instead of his brain and avoiding any messy emotional entanglements. Why had he gone there with Jillian? He’d opened himself up as much as he could but it wasn’t enough for her.

He drew his thoughts up short. Her reasons didn’t matter. He was fooling himself to think they would ever have worked as a couple.

“Who is this person who’s supposed to help me?” he asked, hoping it wasn’t her mother.

“It’s Suzanna. She’s even better than me in the kitchen. So she’ll be a big help to you with the cake. She’ll stop over tomorrow at six-thirty.”

Crash!

The sound of shattering glass echoed through the house. Avery turned toward the bedrooms. “I better check on that. I’ll be back.”

*

With Avery out of the room, Jillian drew her first easy breath.

She didn’t know how difficult this visit was going to be. She hadn’t even known if she was doing the right thing. But she felt awful that Avery hadn’t done very well at the Bake-Off and she blamed herself. Even if he wouldn’t admit it, he blamed her too. His temperament changed every time he was around her.

Resolute to clear the air between them, Jillian moved to the couch. As she sat down, she noticed the array of papers covering the coffee table. She shouldn’t look. It was none of her business, but as she went to turn away, her gaze strayed over the word rodeo.

At this point, she just couldn’t resist looking at the papers. There were rodeo schedules, entry forms, and instructions on closing a house for an extended period. With each word she read, her heart sunk.

The worst thing had happened—she’d fallen in love with Avery again and he was leaving town. The backs of her eyes stung, causing her to blink repeatedly. From the looks of it, he would be gone for a very long time. She knew the rodeo was in his blood. Why did she think that would ever change?

She got to her feet and headed for the door. And then reaching in her purse for the car keys, her hand strayed across the velvet jewelry box containing the jewelry he’d won at the Bake-Off that weekend.