“Because you’re in love with her.”
Jack almost choked on a mouthful of water. “I’ve only known her four weeks.”
“Yet she’s had a strong, positive impact on you in such a short period of time.”
Jack couldn’t deny that. The way he’d felt with Audra compared to the way he felt now without her was as different as day and night. Audra had led him out of the shadows and back into the light.
Jack moved restlessly on his chair. “I enjoyed those four weeks with her. But they were an aberration.”
“What makes you think that?”
“She lives in L.A.”
“So?”
Jack sighed with irritation—and regret. “Those weeks weren’t real. Audra was on vacation, remember?”
Darius sipped his water. “It was a working vacation. She came here to complete her contract for three songs.”
“A working vacation is still a vacation.” Jack pushed away from the kitchen table and carried his empty glass to the dishwasher. “We live in different worlds. She’s a Grammy-winning songwriter who lives and works in L.A. I repair rental cabins in northeastern Ohio.”
Darius snorted. “Rentals that you own, in addition to the Monitor, Trinity Falls Cuisine, and the bank.”
“Owning all those things won’t make the twenty-four hundred miles between us disappear.”
“You need to speak with Quincy and Alonzo. Ask them about the years they spent apart from the women they loved. I have a feeling they’ll tell you you’re being a fool for not trying to make this relationship with Audra work.”
“How?” Jack spun to face Darius. He threw his arms up. “She has lunches with music executives and club-hops with other artists. How can I compete with that?”
“Why would you have to? Audra likes it here.”
Why was Darius so stuck on this idea? Why couldn’t he understand not every couple could have a “happily ever after”?
Jack leaned back against his kitchen counter. “She was fine here for a couple of weeks. After a couple of months, she’d start climbing the walls. Trinity Falls can’t compete with L.A.”
Darius rested his right ankle on his left knee. “What makes you so certain?”
“Kerry grew up in Trinity Falls. I thought she was happy here, until she divorced me. Ramona was born in Trinity Falls. She’s spent her entire life trying to leave.” Having examples that validated his theory didn’t make Jack feel any better.
“Ean left Trinity Falls. He came to his senses and moved back.” Darius’s voice carried the satisfaction Jack didn’t feel. “But there’s an alternative solution.”
“What?”
“You could move to L.A.”
Jack stiffened. He’d never thought of living anywhere other than Trinity Falls. This town had been home to generations of Sansburys. Could he leave?
Yes, if leaving meant spending the rest of his life with Audra. “That’s an option.”
“What are you doing here?” Audra stood in the front doorway of her Redondo Beach townhome, scowling at Jack.
Her welcome was a frigid blast of air in th
e late August heat. Jack should have expected it, though. His good-bye to her had been cool, curt, and cruel.
Jack nodded at the cab driver idling at the curb, letting him know it was OK to leave. As the vehicle merged back into traffic, he collected his courage to face Audra again. He took in her brown capris and gray Los Angeles Lakers T-shirt. Those were the darkest colors he’d ever seen her wear.
“I’d like to speak with you. May I come in?”