Ridley clapped her hands. “Great. This is so exciting! I can’t wait to tell Katie. We talked a lot today and she’s a lot of fun. She gave me some great ideas for my column, too.”

“Your column?”

Ridley hugged herself, so overcome with excitement she could almost burst. “I’ve decided to do a column about gardening on the “Legs” blog. It was really rewarding to teach the kids about plants and their life cycles. They get so excited about things.”

It was something that Raina had been trying to convince her to do for years. She’d always said no because she didn’t want people thinking she was using her sister’s success. But Jackson had given her a new perspective on things. A column would give her a chance to try out some of her new design ideas and reach more people than she could on her own.

“That’s great, Ridley!”

“What you said about accepting help really changed my way of thinking. It doesn’t matter if people only read my column in the beginning because of the fashion side. They’ll keep reading it because they like it.”

Jackson leaned across the booth and tugged on a lock of her hair. Warmth arrowed straight down to her core. What would it be like to have him look at her like that all the time? To have the right to lean across the table and kiss him right now? She looked down at the table and clenched her fists in her lap.

“Speaking of news, I have some for you, too. About your friend David.”

Ridley looked up, her earlier excitement draining away. “About David? What about him?”

“Remember I told you I was going to ask my brother Eli to look into things?” At her nod, he continued, “Well, he got copies of part of David’s FBI file. He didn’t get the whole thing, so he’s still going to do his own background check but he got some of the surveillance photos of him meeting with the Morenos. They go back for more than a year.”

“Oh my god.” Ridley suddenly felt sick.

“No, this is a good thing.” Jackson grabbed her hands.

“How is it good? I thought he was nice and just got caught up in something by accident. If he’s been meeting up with them for that long, then that means he was some kind of criminal!”

“It also means that whatever he was doing with the Morenos had nothing to do with you. You didn’t know him that long, right?”

Ridley let out a slow breath. “You’re right. I didn’t even think about that. I only met him a few months ago. So, that means he didn’t suspect Moreno of being my father. He probably never had any leads at all. It was just a lie so he could keep charging me.”

“Probably. But either way, you can relax a little now. It’s too bad that you can’t get your money back, but at least it’s over with.”

“You’re right. And hopefully my column will do well. It’s something I can do anywhere, you know? It’ll be easy for me to keep it up even after I go back.”

The thought didn’t sound nearly as appealing as it had just a week ago. Technically, she didn’t really even need to be in hiding anymore. She could just enjoy a little vacation time with her sister and then go back to her life. She was surprised to find that the idea didn’t make her as happy as it should, as happy as it would have just a few days ago.

“Go back?”

“Yeah. When I go back to Florida.”

“Right.” A flash of something crossed his face as he looked at her. “We should probably go. I have a lot of stuff I need to work on tonight.” He nodded curtly and left the booth, calling out to the kids.

Ridley folded her arms around herself again, this time to stop herself from trembling.

She’d always thought it was a nice change when she moved on. It was like wiping the slate clean of all her screw-ups and starting over. But this time, she didn’t think she’d be moving on to something better.

This time, walking away seemed more like a cop out than a fresh start. 

Chapter Thirteen

JACKSON STOOD OVER the chair and watched Ridley’s chest rise and fall as she slept. He had come downstairs with every intention of apologizing for his attitude since they’d left the pizza place.

His carefully thought out speech had deserted him when he came across her sprawled in one of the armchairs in the family room, her head thrown back against the armrest, her hair wild around her shoulders. She was beautiful even when she was sleeping.

He’d been such an ass. She’d tried to make conversation on the way home but he’d barely spoken two words to her in reply. She’d finally given up and gone upstairs alone when they reached the house. He picked up the remote and turned the television off. After he’d put the boys to bed, he’d gone into his own room and shut the door. She must have come down sometime after that.

It had taken him by surprise when she’d mentioned going back to Florida so casually. As if she couldn’t wait to leave. Just the idea of her not being around anymore made him feel panicky. She owned a house here so surely she’d come back sometime, right? He’d only known her a few days but the idea of not seeing her every day just seemed crazy.

Unfathomable.

“What are you doing to me?” He trailed a finger over her cheek and she shifted in her sleep.

“Jackson?” She turned over in the chair and would have fallen out if he wasn’t there to catch her. Her arms twined around his neck as he lifted her into his.

“What are you doing?” she mumbled sleepily.