And Glenna’s already fragile ability to trust had just taken a fatal hit.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Jeannie sagged back against the hospital vending machine, cradling a cup of coffee. Needing the caffeine, the warmth. And knowing it wouldn’t come close to heating the chill inside her while she waited for Glenna to finish her meeting with the doctors. Broderick had left, his face stormy.
How would this family ever heal now? She hadn’t even told them about her breakup with Jack. So much had been going on with the baby. Plus, she and Jack needed to talk practically about the merger plans that had already started…
Such a tangle.
Her heart ached for all of them. Her daughter’s husband had cheated. God, that was such a betrayal, and there was no recourse to fix things since he was dead. This situation would have been so much easier if Broderick had been the father.
But he wasn’t. And they had to deal with that.
The child was a part of their family.
Her family.
But Jack’s?
Broderick said he still loved the child, but she and Jack had split and life was such a mess. She’d thought her heart couldn’t hurt this much again.
She was wrong.
Heavy footfalls pulled her from her thoughts, familiar steps, steady and sure. Jack’s. Her eyes closed as she drew in the scent of him and waited for him to speak.
“Jeannie, we need to talk.”
Biting her bottom lip, she glanced down the hall toward the doctor’s office. “Glenna—”
Jack held out her coat. “Her siblings are waiting. I told them to call you the minute she’s done. Let’s walk, outside. Please. I may be a businessman, but my thoughts work better out in the open. In my Alaska.”
As much as she wanted to challenge him for taking over, she also saw the heartbreak in his eyes. She dropped her coffee into the trash and slid her arms into her parka. “How did you know I was feeling restless and in need of a walk?”
“It was a guess,” he said, as he led her toward the small courtyard, with a path and benches cleared of snow. “We share so much in common with how we embrace this home of ours. Am I wrong?”
“Of course you’re not,” she answered as the doors closed behind them. A brisk wind churned flurries and she shivered.
“You don’t have to make that sound like a bad thing.” He looped an arm around her and pulled her to his side, warming her through and through. “I happen to think it’s very good. I like who you are—a boardroom goddess and an earthy woman all at once.”
“Things haven’t changed for the better with the news today. If anything, they’ve gotten more complicated.” She’d missed talking to him, working problems through. She valued his feedback, as she knew he valued hers.
Had she been wrong to break things off between them? Even now, it seemed impossible to pull away from the warmth of his touch. The comfort of his embrace. How had she walked away from him the first time?
“I suspect that will be the case more times than we can count. Yes, things are complicated for us. But there’s only one way around those problems.”
She glanced up at him, his wind-ruddied face so handsome her teeth hurt. “What way would that be?”
He stopped and clasped her shoulders. “Together.”
Her heart swelled to hear those words and she knew she had to pull back before she caved.
“Jack—”
“Jeannie, hold on. Listen, please. I’m not dismissing your concerns. God knows, the thought of having one of my kids walk away forever scares the hell out of me.” His exhalation was full of emotion, swirling between them in a white cloud. “I know they’re as stubborn as their old man. But I also know they’re the amazing people they are, in great part, because Mary and I didn’t compromise our principles. I suspect the same was true with how you brought up your brood.”
She nodded, unable to deny it. And also unable to deny how much sense he was making. Could she trust him to put her fears to rest?
“Then you know, my dear, if you love me even half as much as I love you, we have to stay the course.” He brushed a snowflake from her nose, then stroked her cheek, his gloves scratchy, but his touch gentle. “I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I believe you feel the same. You love me so much you were willing to give me up because in some convoluted way you thought that would make me happier.”
She blinked back tears. “I can’t bear the thought of causing you hurt.”
“Jeannie, love. Being with you makes me happy.” His words rang with certainty. “The thought of my life without you by my side is unbearable.”
“And you are sure?” She had to ask again. Or maybe she just wanted to hear it, the truth that made her heart sing and gave her such joy and hope.