Serena reached for the note she’d written him and finally snatched it out of his hand. “Now that we’ve cleared the air. You should go.”
She didn’t need him to stay and make this worse. There was no way she could compete with a ghost. The ghost would win every time because he could switch up his memories to make his late wife perfect.
And Serena was anything but perfect. Hence, the misguided note in her hand. She clenched her fingers, crunching up the paper.
“Please don’t take this personally.” Jackson’s voice was low. He took a step toward her. “Your note, it was the sweetest, most generous gesture that anyone has ever done for me. Someday you’ll find the right man to share that note with. I’m sorry it wasn’t me.”
Her heart clenched in her chest as she shook her head. “Don’t say any more. You’re making it worse. Just go.”
“You want me to leave now?”
“Yes.” She wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep her emotions in check. She’d made such a mess of everything.
“Serena, we don’t have to end things like this.”
“I don’t want to work this out. It’s not like we’re in love. We need to go our separate ways. Now.” And then, because she didn’t trust herself to keep her rising emotions in check, she said, “I’ll be in the kitchen until you’re gone.”
Gizmo, as though sensing her distress, had moved to sit at her feet. She bent over and scooped him into her arms. With her head held high, she walked away. After all, she was a Winston—Winstons knew how to maintain their composure—even when their dignity and their hearts had been shredded.
Once in the kitchen with the door shut, she set Gizmo down on the floor. There were no happy barks and no tail wagging. He moved over to the table where Jackson’s chair was still pulled out. He settled on the chair and stared at her with those sad puppy eyes.
“Stop looking at me like that,” she whispered, feeling guilty for the mess she’d made of all their lives. “Jackson was never going to stay anyway.”
Gizmo whined and covered his head with his paw.
Great. Now even the dog was upset with her. You’d think Gizmo belonged to Jackson instead of her. It looked like she wasn’t the only one to let down her defenses and fall for the sexy New Yorker.
Serena moved to the window and stared out at the sunny day. The cheeriness of the weather mocked her black mood. She clung to her dark and stormy emotions. It was so much easier to be angry with Jackson than to deal with her broken heart.
She didn’t know how much time had passed when she finally plunked down in a chair opposite Gizmo. By then, the pup had dozed off. She was thankful. She didn’t think she could take any more of his sad face.
Her phone buzzed. Certain that it was just a friend wishing her a merry Christmas, she leaned over and retrieved it from the kitchen counter. The screen showed that she had four new emails.
Two from friends, one from her agent and one from Jackson—that was strange. What would he send her?
She checked the time stamp, finding the email from Jackson had been sent some time ago—before she’d made an utter fool of herself. What could it be?
And then she recalled him mentioning something about a Christmas gift. Could this have something to do with it?
She hesitated before opening her email. Maybe it would be best to get it over with now. But when she went to click on the email from him, the screen jumped as more graphics loaded. Instead of Jackson’s email, the email from her agent opened. Before she could close it, her gaze skimmed over Jackson’s name. How would her agent know anything about Jackson being here with her?
The more she read, the worse she felt. Her stomach churned when she got to the end of the email. Jackson had broken his word and had used her interview to further his career. Here she was throwing herself at a man who felt nothing for her and, worse, had lied to her. Once again, her poor judgment had led her into trouble.
She rushed out of the kitchen to confront Jackson, but he was nowhere to be found. When she moved to the window, she saw his rental car pulling out of the driveway.
She told herself it was for the best. There was no way he could undo the fiasco with the video. Right now, it was out there for all the world to see. But even worse than that was the fact that she was in love with a man who didn’t love her back.
So much for a merry Christmas...
CHAPTER NINETEEN
THE OUTLINE OF the cabin filled his rearview mirror.
Jackson turned onto the mountain road and headed for the nearby village, hoping that there would be a vacancy. It was Christmas Eve. The village might be full of people visiting for the holidays. If so, he’d keep driving. There was nothing keeping him here.
He told himself he would be fine, even though he felt anything but fine. After all, he hadn’t come to Austria to start a relationship. How dare she accuse him of leading her on? He hadn’t. He wouldn’t. He had made his situation clear to her. Hadn’t he? Suddenly he wasn’t so sure those words had made it from his thoughts to his lips. When he held Serena in his arms, it was so easy to forget about everything but kissing her.
Just then his phone rang. It was his agent. He didn’t really want to talk to him, but it would be best to tell him that the deal with the interview was off. He put the man on speakerphone.