“Thank you,” she told him without turning to face him. “You didn’t have to do all of this and I don’t even know where you got all this paint, but I’ll pay you back.”
“You’re not paying me back,” he demanded. “Paul was like a father to me, a grandfather to Piper. This was nothing in comparison.”
Of course her father had been close with Piper. It only made sense that if he and Jax were so tight, Piper would spend quite a bit of time around Olivia’s father.
And why wouldn’t he surround himself with Jax and Piper? The rest of his family had left. Guilt of her past actions settled in deep. What would’ve happened if she’d taken him up on one of his offers to come back? Just once in all those years . . . what could’ve happened between them without her mother’s interference?
The thought that she’d been a pawn for her mother to use in the marriage left a burning hole inside Olivia. She’d been young and impressionable, but that was no excuse. She’d made the mistake in thinking that her father was invincible and she could come back when she was ready. Unfortunately, the time she came back was for the funeral of the one man she could’ve counted on but didn’t.
Olivia glanced over her shoulder to Piper playing on the floor on her father’s phone. Jealousy settled heavy on Olivia’s heart knowing this sweet girl possibly knew Paul better than Olivia in the past few years. Why had Olivia let her mother persuade her to move? Why had Olivia believed her father loved the airport more than his family?
Because the longer Olivia stayed in Haven and learned about her father, the more she read in his journal, the more she was coming to realize he loved his family with his whole heart. He was seriously trying to hang on to his dream and provide the best way he knew how and her mother simply wanted more.
More raised voices came from the hall—this time Jade and Cash seemed to be going at it. Jax laughed and continued working.
Olivia figured they all were rubbing one another the wrong way and the sooner she and her girls left town, the better off they’d all be. Of course, there was that whole airport project they’d be working on, so they wouldn’t just cut all ties when they left.
And Olivia worried it was those ties that would keep pulling her back in whether she wanted it or not.
* * *
“When are you going to tell her you’re in love with her?”
Jax didn’t even try to dodge the question, because it was valid. He’d fallen for Olivia Daniels and his cousins were calling him on it. Bastards.
Cash rested his arm over the bar and swiped at his forehead with his other hand. They’d been spotting each other for the past thirty minutes and Cash wasn’t even winded. Clearly, Jax needed to get here more often.
“Pretty sure he’s not telling her,” Tanner chimed in as he replaced his weights on the rack.
Jax sank to the bench to gather his thoughts and to catch his breath. Cash’s workouts were brutal, not that he’d ever admit that.
“Why would I?” Jax asked. “She’s leaving, she’s got a life in Atlanta and my life is here.”
“Maybe if you told her, then she’d stay.”
Jax stared at Tanner, who clearly didn’t know women as well as he thought. “I’m not asking her to stay or playing some game where I hint at such a thing. If she wanted to be here, then she would. She’s already called Sophie Monroe to put her house on the market and she’s in Atlanta today for some damn meeting for her promotion.”
Not that he wasn’t thrilled for her. She’d worked hard in her career and should be praised and granted this promotion she so desperately wanted. But that selfish side of him kept rearing its ugly head and he wanted her to see just what she was throwing away.
There had been a change in her since coming here. She was a different person and she seemed happier. Oh, she was definitely frustrated, but overall, she’d relaxed, she’d gotten comfortable with the town, with him. Did she not see that he’d do anything for her? That he’d completely fallen for her?
“So is that why you called this session?” Cash asked with a knowing grin. “You needed to work out some frustrations.”
“Pretty much.”
Jax wasn’t going to lie. The three of them had been through too much together, but they’d always been honest.
Weights clanged across the room as another trainer assisted his client. Cash’s gym was the best in the area, but it was still rather early. The place seemed to really pick up when locals got off work.
“Is she coming back?” Cash asked.
“She never really said. I assume she was just going for the meeting.”
Plus, Melanie and Jade were still at the house. He knew this because he’d seen them running when he’d been on his way to the gym. He had no idea when Livie was coming back, perhaps tonight, tomorrow . . . next week. She never told him and he didn’t ask. He hoped like hell she was thinking of him and just as mentally frustrated as he was.
Part of him wanted her to get that promotion, to move up where she belonged, but the other part of him wanted her to come back and proclaim she’d had some epiphany while she’d been in Atlanta and she never wanted to return. Doubtful, but a guy could hope, right?
For someone who swore never to get emotionally invested again, he was a complete failure. Honestly, though, he didn’t care. Livie did something to him and he wouldn’t trade it. Even when she left for good, he’d carry her in his heart. As ridiculous as that sounded, the times he spent with her, frustrating as they were, were so much more than he’d ever had in his marriage.