The Truest Thing - Hart's Boardwalk

He was the person I wanted to trust completely. The person I wanted to tell everything to. I’d been ready to that morning.

I still wasn’t sure if Jack had pushed me away to protect me like he had Cooper, or if he was telling the truth when he said he didn’t want me permanently. My heart said it was the former. My hurt clung to the latter. Especially seeing him continue to sleep around with tourists like the brunette at his side.

Either way, Jack hadn’t wanted me enough to even try, and I was done.

“Emery, what are you staring at so hard?” Jessica asked.

Afraid of being caught, I pulled my attention from Jack. “Nothing,” I mumbled.

“What are you looking at?” Vaughn asked.

I glanced up, thinking he was insisting upon Jess’s query, but he was talking to Bailey. She shot me a knowing, excited look that made me want to disappear. Then Dahlia nudged her, glowering, and Bailey glared back.

Oh no.

Did my friends suspect I had feelings for Jack?

Suddenly, the carnival held no appeal for me. I didn’t want to see Jack here with another woman. Moreover, Bailey was a good friend, but she lacked subtlety. And the last thing I wanted was for Vaughn or Cooper to know about my crush on Jack Devlin. I’d never had male friends before, and I may have once been willing to lose their friendship over Jack, but not anymore. If Jack didn’t want to fight for what was between us, then I certainly wouldn’t jeopardize hard-won friendships for it.

Glum, I said, “I … uh … I think I’m going to call it a day.”

“Oh, don’t go,” Bailey replied.

“She can go if she wants to,” Dahlia argued.

“I don’t want her to go.”

“It doesn’t matter what you want, especially when your head is in cloud cuckoo land.”

Dammit. They did know. And reading between the lines, Bailey was for my crush on Jack, and Dahlia was not.

Mortified, I backed away from the stall. No one was paying attention. They were too busy wondering what on earth was going on between Bailey and Dahlia.

Seeing my chance to escape, I turned and hurried through the crowds.

I was so focused on trying to maneuver through people as quickly as I could that I didn’t see him coming.

At once, Jack was there, and I stumbled into him. His hands curled around my arms as my palms fell against his chest.

I pushed away as if burned, but he didn’t release me.

“Em, are you okay?” He bent his head to mine, eyes dark with concern.

I glanced at his side and saw the brunette was nowhere to be seen.

Heat flashed through me, being this close to him, heat I resented that in turn caused me to resent him. I attempted to pull out of his grip but he held on. “I’m fine, Jack. Let me go.”

He scowled and reluctantly released me.

We shared a wary look before I moved past him, disappearing onto the boards.

* * *

A few days later …

There was a lot to be said for living in a tourist town. There was a lot more to be said for living in a coastal town during low season. I loved walking along the quiet beach at sunset. Yeah, it was breezy, but I liked the wind whipping around my legs. And I loved the feel of the cold, wet, mushy sand sinking beneath my feet and squishing between my toes.

To avoid being whipped in the face by my own hair, I’d piled the mass of blond waves onto the top of my head, and I held my oversized sweater closed with my arms wrapped around myself.

Usually I was content here. But for a while now, I’d felt a disquiet. A dissatisfaction I didn’t understand, considering mine was a pretty good life.

Not to mention the events in town lately were more than a little unsettling.

Even though I shouldn’t be, even though he’d hurt me, I was worried about Jack.

We’d all known that Deputy Freddie Jackson was a bad egg. He used his position as a police officer to intimidate people, specifically for the Devlin family.

Yes, Jack had hurt me. Yet that didn’t change the fact that his eldest brother had just been murdered by Freddie Jackson.

I wondered how Jack was feeling. He didn’t get along with his brother. He’d laid him out a few times in the past. He’d helped trap Jack into a life he didn’t want. There were moments when I’m sure Jack hated his brother. But Stu was his brother.

And he’d been murdered.

I couldn’t even imagine the mess Jack’s emotions were right now.

My chest felt tight with pain for him.

And suddenly he was there.

Catching sight of the lone figure standing on the beach, staring out at the ocean, my steps faltered. He was wearing running clothes, including a hoodie with the hood up, and yet I knew it was him.