Regardless of Levi, she felt zero desire for this man anymore. Nothing. Not even anger. But she couldn’t help being curious.
“Why now? It’s been almost five years since I came home.” Her phone buzzed in her back pocket.
“I always hated that you continued to call that place home. You never let yourself truly adapt to Pittsburgh. To my world.”
Folding her hands on the table, she leaned in, keeping her voice low. The waitress stopped by their table.
“Sorry about that. What can I get you two?”
Andrew gestured to her. She shook her head. “I’m not staying. I don’t want anything.”
Andrew gave her a patronizingly amused glance then looked at the waitress. “I’ll have your brunch special, eggs over easy, multigrain toast, and a coffee, please.”
The waitress nodded and walked away. Andrew returned his gaze to Jillian’s. She spoke before he could.
“Smile is my home. Even when I was fully immersed in your world, holding dinner parties and having brunch dates with your colleagues’ wives while taking online college courses and raising our daughter, it was my home. It’s Ollie’s home. Who, by the way, since you haven’t mentioned her once so far, is doing wonderfully. She’s an amazing, kind, wonderful little girl.” She waited, a small part of her hoping to see a softening in his features. Didn’t he want to see pictures? Know every little thing about her? Didn’t he want to know what her favorite book was? Why she hated pistachio ice cream? What she was scared of and all of the things she wanted to be when she grew up?
“So, nothing like me,” he said, laughing at his own joke.
“What do you want, Andrew?”
He reached for her hand. She snapped both of hers back, put them in her lap.
“I’ve reconnected with an old friend. Do you remember Harold Banks?” He didn’t wait for her to confirm that she did. “He’s running a fairly successful company and is considering bringing me on. It’s entry level, somewhat beneath me, but it won’t take long to move up. We’ve been chatting quite a bit. Lunches here and there. He remembers you. Fondly. Remember, we spent many evenings together with him and his wife. She liked you as well. Anyway, he started asking about us all getting together. His wife would like that, and do you want to join her book club, all that sort of thing. You know how it works. The schmoozing and mingling go along with the money-making. He hadn’t actually heard about our divorce, which worked in my favor. He’s invited us to the Hamptons for a week this month. I told him we’d love to come.”
His coffee came but the waitress said nothing as she dropped it off.
Jillian didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know this man. Maybe because she’d grown up and this Jillian wouldn’t have found one thing attractive about him. Young Jilly had been so eager for love and connection—outside her family and all the people who adored her simply for being a Keller—for someone to see past the shy girl who stood on the sidelines. Andrew had made her feel special, wanted. Needed. He didn’t like her because she was a Keller or because their families were friends. She’d mistaken his charm, intelligence, and quick wit for something he’d never possess: integrity. She’d mistaken his attraction for her as love.
Jillian grabbed her keys as she slid out of the booth and stood up. He looked up at her, confusion all over his face.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m goinghome.If you want to see Ollie, get that lawyer. Start the paperwork. Because until I have it on paper that I’m legally obligated to share her with you, or she, herself, asks to visit with you, you won’t ever see her. I want nothing to do with you, just like you’ve wanted nothing to do with us for years. I’m not a kid anymore, Andrew. I was so worried about being seen by you, I didn’tsee you.I don’t like what I see. You know my parents’ address. You can forward all communications there. I’ll be blocking you the second I get back on the ferry.”
She didn’t wait for him to respond or turn when he called her name, loudly, from his seat. She hurried to her car, got in, and pulled out of the parking spot. Pride and sadness warred inside of her. She’d done it. She’d told him what she thought, she’d stood up for herself and her daughter and taken control of her life. Ollie didn’t need Andrew. And Jilly sure as hell didn’t want him.
On the ferry ride home, she did what she promised and blocked him. Then she looked up a few lawyers just in case. She didn’t know how she would pay for it, but that was a worry for another day. By the time she pulled into her parents’ driveway, she was exhausted. Which was why she didn’t notice the For Sale sign immediately.
When she did, it actually knocked her back a step. She stared at it, her mind spinning, her heart racing. Her parents’ car was gone, the lights were out.
Getting back in the car—she needed to get stuff over to the lodge—she went to the bike shop to grab Ollie.
When she went in, Beckett was behind the counter. “Hey, Jilly. Whoa. You okay?” He came around the counter. The space had once been an auto shop, which made it a perfect fit for Beck. They’d even kept the bay door that retracted into the ceiling, and though it was currently closed, the streetlights and rising moonshone through the multi-paneled glass. The outside walls of the building had been painted a pale green while the metal around the window panels on the door were painted white. It was an amazing space with a perfect vibe for what Beckett wanted. Both of her brothers had achieved their dreams. Her parents were finding theirs. And Jilly was having a panic attack over having to move out of her childhood home at thirty. Had she thought she was the mature one of the siblings?
She shook her head, the keys jingling in her shaky hands. “I just saw the For Sale sign in Mom and Dad’s yard.”
Beckett’s lips firmed, his gaze filling with empathy. “I know. I’m sorry.”
He knew. It wouldn’t impact him. He didn’t rely on them, live with them, feel comforted by the fact that they were right there. Despite being thirty years old, she hadn’t rushed out of her parents’ home because in truth, she loved it there. She loved hanging out with them and living in her childhood home, but more than that, she loved that Ollie got so much time with them.You knew this was coming.
Tears burned her eyes. Beckett stepped closer like he might hug her. She held up her hand. “Where’s Ollie? I have stuff for the lodge. I need to get over there. Is she ready to go?”
Beckett eyed her warily, concern etched in his dark eyes. “She’s already there.”
“Oh.” Okay. That made it easier.
“She wanted to go over with Levi, so he took her for the day.”
