Jasper Vale (The Edens #4)(76)

To fix this.

Yesterday in Paris had been incredible. A day I’d never forget. I didn’t want to ruin this trip with a fight.

Inside the mailbox were two magazines, both for Eloise, and a white envelope so large it had been curled in half to fit. I tucked the magazines under an arm, then inspected the envelope.

It was addressed to Eloise from Misner Family Law. Her attorney.

My stomach dropped.

I slid my finger beneath the envelope’s seal, prying it open. Eloise was already mad. She could add invasion of privacy to her list.

With a careful tug, I eased the documents from the envelope enough to read the top page.

Not that I needed to. I already knew what I’d find inside.

Divorce papers.





CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE





ELOISE





Jasper stood on the deck, coffee cup in hand. He was in jeans and a T-shirt, his feet bare. He stared at the trees.

I stared at him.

In the past two days, I’d seen more of his back than I had in all of our time together.

Whenever I came into the room, he left. At night, he’d sleep facing one wall while I stared at the other.

My entire body felt heavy. My muscles were nearly as weary as my heart. Never in my life had I felt this tired. Two sleepless nights. Two days spent fighting tears, and the battle had drained me entirely.

Jasper lifted his mug, taking a sip of coffee. He didn’t so much as glance into the house.

Was this how it would end? In silence?

The lump in my throat was as hard as a rock, but I swallowed it down. It landed in my empty stomach like a sledgehammer. With my purse slung over a shoulder, I swiped my keys from the kitchen counter and walked out of the A-frame.

My fake marriage was falling apart.

But at least I had The Eloise. My marriage to that hotel was as real as the morning sun, and for yet another day, she’d be my salvation. So I climbed in my car and drove into town.

My mental to-do list had exploded the past two days with nothing but yuck.

Search for a new rental.

Call my lawyer.

And at the top of the list, Fire Blaze.

I hated my to-do list. Couldn’t I rewind time a couple days?

On Sunday, Jasper and I had been exploring Paris. It had been, without contest, the best day of my life. As we’d walked, hand in hand, I’d actually convinced myself he cared. That he might love me.

Maybe he did. At least, maybe he loved a part of me.

Except, for better or worse, my family was the other part. My parents, my brothers and sisters, were a piece of my heart. The Edens came as a packaged deal.

Jasper couldn’t care for me and despise them.

He’d made his point on the drive home. It wasn’t fair for me to voice my dislike for his parents and expect him to keep quiet. And he’d made another point about Mom and Dad supporting me.

Yes, I was scared to lose the hotel.

But at the end of the day, I trusted them. I had faith that they loved me, that they wanted the best for my life. If they decided that I didn’t have what it took to own The Eloise Inn, I knew that decision would be painful for them to make. They’d only do it because it was the best decision. Because they knew, if that hotel failed under my control, it would be devastating.

It wasn’t a black-and-white situation. But I didn’t know how to explain that to Jasper. Not when his parents had been so . . . cold.

The only way Jasper was going to see the beauty of my family was by living it. By putting up with my brothers. By getting to know my sisters. By seeing the love my parents gave us unconditionally.

How was I ever going to show him what a family should look like when he locked them out? When he walked away?

It was over, wasn’t it?

We’d end on this horrible, heart-wrenching fight. And I hadn’t even had the chance to show Jasper why he was so wonderful. Why he deserved love.

My eyes flooded. I brushed the skin beneath my lashes. It was practically raw from how many tears I’d swept away in the past two days. Then I pulled into the alley behind The Eloise, parking beside Knox’s truck, and headed inside.

The morning was a blur of activity. Not only was I playing catch-up from being gone, but we were prepping for one of the busiest holiday weekends of the year.

Independence Day weekend in Quincy was a roller coaster, a carnival of amusement and chaos. Tourists flocked to enjoy the local festivities—a parade along Main and the county rodeo. Fireworks at dark. Dancing and ruckuses at the local bars.

The hotel was booked solid.

It would be all hands on deck this weekend for every Eden business. Talia would take the weekend off from the hospital to help Lyla at the coffee shop. Griffin and Dad would be on call to run errands to the hardware store or the grocery store for whatever anyone needed. Mom would likely bounce between Eden Coffee or Knuckles to help Knox.

And whoever wasn’t busy would be helping at the hotel.

But no matter how busy we were, we all made it a point to congregate at the fairgrounds to watch the rodeo. It was tradition.

Had Jasper ever been to a rodeo?

He’d shown me Paris, the city of my dreams. And all I wanted was to sit beside him, drink a beer and teach him the difference between saddle and bareback bronc riding.

Would he even stick around until then? Or was he packing up the A-frame? Had he accepted that job in Vegas?