Jasper Vale (The Edens #4)(14)

I changed out of my jeans and boots, swapping them for sweats and tennis shoes. Then, with my earbuds in and loud music blaring, I headed outside and started running. It was at the end of Alderson Road that my phone dinged, the chime drowning out the music.

Digging it out, I kept running as I read Foster’s text.

Make it home?

I typed out a quick reply. Yep

Sorry they couldn’t get you on our flight

Yeah too bad

Foster and Talia had returned to Montana today too. When I’d told him I was flying back earlier than originally planned, he’d sent me their itinerary in the hopes I could join them.

Except I’d requested the later option, not wanting to see Foster yet. Not before I’d spoken to Eloise. Maybe because I’d known it would be hard to keep the truth to myself.

A secret? How was I supposed to keep this from him?

There were things Foster didn’t know about me. He knew I’d been married once, but I hadn’t shared those details.

No one knew what had happened.

No one but Sam.

Except this was entirely different. Eloise would be his sister-in-law before long. Of that, I had no doubt. That made us brothers by law.

My feet stopped. My heart hammered.

Not from the run, but from the reality.

Fuck, he was going to be furious. There was a chance this would end our friendship.

“Damn it.” I bent, swiped up a rock from beside the road and threw it as hard as possible into the forest. It hit a tree with a loud thwack, then dropped with a muffled thud.

Foster was one of the only people in this world I trusted wholeheartedly. He’d earned it by confiding in me his ugliest truths.

He’d told me about his history with Talia. The mistakes he’d made years ago. His desperation to win back her heart. His willingness to give up everything for her love.

Talia and I didn’t know each other well, but the fact that she’d been willing to let go of the past, to forgive Foster, well . . . not a lot of people had that strength of character.

They’d both given me their trust.

And this was how I repaid them? With a secret marriage? A secret annulment?

This was wrong.

Eloise had begged, but I shouldn’t have agreed. A secret would only make it worse.

I spun around and sprinted for the A-frame. When I reached the porch, I went straight to the shower to rinse off my run. Then I swiped my keys from the kitchen counter and drove into town, parking in an empty space on Main.

There wasn’t a lot to Quincy, Montana. I supposed for most, that was its appeal. I hadn’t decided if I liked the simplicity of this small town, or if it was the reason I felt this constant restlessness.

Downtown had become a regular hangout spot. I’d spent numerous afternoons walking up and down the blocks, peering through storefronts and office windows. There wasn’t a restaurant I hadn’t eaten in at least twice.

And in the center of it all, the tallest building in sight, stood The Eloise Inn.

I marched toward the hotel, about to open the lobby doors, when a beautiful face appeared in the glass.

“Oh.” Eloise’s eyes widened as she stepped outside. “Sorry. Uh, sir.”

“Sir?” What the fuck?

Eloise gulped. Then before I could inform her we needed to revisit this secret idea, she ducked past me and rushed away.

She practically flew down the sidewalk, reaching the corner and looking both ways before she crossed the street.

“What the fuck?”

Was she really going to pretend like I was some nameless stranger? That I hadn’t been inside her days ago?

“Hell no.” I stormed away from the hotel, following her across the street.

She walked with her head down, chin tucked and her hands pulling on the hems of her sweater, using it to cover her fingers and keep them warm.

I’d forgotten a jacket. This long-sleeved tee was too thin for the cold, but my blood was an inferno, raging hotter with every step.

Eloise headed away from Main, down a street into a residential neighborhood. We reached the end of a block, and she kept on moving.

So did I.

She was supposed to erase the bad. She was supposed to be a beautiful picture over an ugly drawing. This? Not helping.

I didn’t need two miserable experiences when it came to my ex-wives.

By the start of the second block, my long strides had closed the gap between us. I trailed her by three feet.

She heard me behind her and glanced over her shoulder, those blue eyes narrowing. But she didn’t stop walking.

So neither did I.

“Jasper,” she hissed, shooting me a glare. “People are going to see us.”

“Who?” I held out my hands, looking around the deserted street. Not a soul was out in their yard. It was too fucking cold. And no one had driven by either.

She frowned, faced forward and kept on walking.

“You could at least not run away when you see me.” Or call me sir.

“We just agreed to keep this a secret.”

“So that means I’m a fucking stranger to you now?”

She huffed, her breath a billowing cloud as she turned off the main sidewalk for a walkway. She’d changed directions so fast that I’d blown past her and had to turn around to follow her to a small, single-level house with denim-blue siding and a white door.

Eloise stopped on the stoop, bending to lift up the corner of her welcome mat and pull out a key.