Jasper Vale (The Edens)

“Can I get you anything, sir?” the flight attendant asked.

“No.” I shook my head, keeping my voice low.

She looked to Eloise, curled into a ball and asleep on my lap, and smiled. Then she went to the row behind ours, moving on to the next passenger in the first-class cabin.

I relaxed my head against the seat. We were on the final leg of the trip home, and sleep had been sporadic since we’d left Italy.

I’d managed to catch a few hours at the hotel in Paris, but because we’d changed our flight to depart from France rather than Italy, we’d had to be at the airport early this morning. Eloise had slept some on the flight across the Atlantic, but I’d never been great about sleep on airplanes.

Just a few more hours, then we’d be home. Another hour of flying, the two-hour drive from Missoula to Quincy, then I’d crash in my own damn bed.

We could both use a solid night’s sleep.

Eloise had fallen asleep not long after we’d taken off on this final flight, but she’d kept jolting herself awake, until finally, she’d climbed over the console between us and curled up in my lap. She’d been dead to the world ever since.

I yawned. Exhaustion should have won out—it had been a damn long few days—but I couldn’t seem to shut off my mind. I couldn’t stop replaying what Ashley had told me at the wedding during that short dance.

It had been a load of bullshit about how Samantha would always love me. How it wasn’t too late for us.

I almost felt bad for Sam’s new husband.

Almost.

Clearly, Sam hadn’t married for love.

Did she even know what love was? Did I? What Sam and I’d shared had seemed like love. A bond. Attention. When stacked side by side with my parents, what Sam had given me, especially in the beginning, had resembled love. Once, long ago, I’d been so damn sure that what I’d felt for Samantha was love.

Now . . .

I wasn’t sure. I’d learned more about love from the woman drooling on my shoulder in months than I had from years with Samantha.

With the arm not trapped beneath Eloise, I plucked my phone from the cup. We’d loaded Wi-Fi onto both our phones in case we wanted to watch a movie, but nothing had held my interest, so I checked to see if there were any missed texts or emails.

No surprise, there was nothing from my parents. No text asking if we were still meeting for brunch. They’d probably arrived at the restaurant and completely forgotten they’d even invited Eloise and me to tag along.

Or maybe they’d been relieved when we hadn’t shown up.

It stung. Would it always? Would there ever come a time when I could see them and not hope that they’d care? Not even meeting my wife could spark their interest. They’d been happier talking to their friends last night than their son and new daughter-in-law.

It was one thing for them to dismiss me. But Eloise?

She looked so young today, her face without makeup and her hair pulled up. She was in a pair of gray sweats and a matching sweatshirt with sleeves that fell to her fingertips.

Maybe this anger toward my parents had nothing to do with me. Maybe it was for Eloise.

She deserved better than they’d offered.

We both did.

I pressed a kiss to her forehead, then went back to my phone, scrolling to the email that I’d been ignoring since Friday.

It was from the fighter I’d met with in Vegas. He needed an answer about the job offer.

So with one hand, I typed out my reply.

Eloise stirred the moment I hit send, like she’d felt the weight of that decision. “Hi.” Her eyelids were too heavy to open. So she let them fall closed and snuggled deeper, curling her hands beneath her chin. “How much longer?”

“Not long.”

She sighed and, this time, opened her eyes for good, sitting up straight and climbing off my lap.

I shook out the arm that had been behind her. It had fallen asleep five minutes after she had.

On a yawn, Eloise snagged her phone from the backpack at her feet. Whatever she read on the screen made her gasp.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh my God.” She answered by handing it over.

There was a text open from Taylor. I hadn’t met her but Eloise had talked about the girl enough I knew she worked at the hotel desk.

I’m so sorry to bother you on vacation but Blaze came in to the hotel today even though he wasn’t scheduled to work. He would hardly leave the front desk and every time I told him I was working and couldn’t talk, he’d just ignore me.

“Who is Blaze?” I asked.

“My mom’s college roommate moved to Quincy. Her name is Lydia. Blaze is her seventeen-year-old son. Mom asked if I’d give him a job. I guess he was struggling and Lydia thought a job might do him some good.”

So Anne had asked for a favor. “That’s the kid you were training last weekend?”

Eloise nodded, pinching the bridge of her nose.

She’d gone to work all weekend to train a new housekeeper, but I hadn’t asked for details. When she’d come home, she’d been exhausted. I’d assumed it was because she’d been working so hard to get ready for the trip.

Taylor’s text was broken into two so I kept on scrolling, reading the second message.

While he was talking, a bird hit one of the front windows. He went out to get it and even though it wasn’t dead he brought it inside anyway. When it tried to fly away, he broke its neck. I started crying and called my mom. She said that if he keeps working at the hotel, then I’ll have to find a different job. Blaze finally left when Mateo came in but I wanted you to know. I’m sorry.

“What the hell?” Blaze had killed a bird? In front of a teenage girl? “That’s fucked up.”

“Yep.” Eloise took the phone, typing out a reply to Taylor. She hit send, then tucked it in her backpack. “He’s fired. I hate firing people but I don’t think I’ll mind this time.”

“I don’t want you doing it alone.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll take care of it.”

“Look at me,” I ordered, waiting until I had those blues. “Not alone, Eloise. Call me. Call your dad. Call one of your brothers. But you don’t talk to this kid alone. Please.”

She sighed. “I’ll have to change the schedule. I don’t want Taylor at the front desk alone anymore.”

“I don’t want you there alone either.”

“Well, that’s not an option,” she muttered. “I never should have hired him. What a mess.”

“Your mother’s mess. She put you in this position.”

“I know. But I could have told her no.”

“And how would that have gone over?”

Eloise fiddled with her fingers in her lap. “She probably would have been upset.”

“Exactly.” My molars ground together. “Your parents get mad because you’re too close to your employees. Yet your mom pressures you to hire her friend’s kid. How is this different?”

“Well, hopefully this time we won’t get sued.”

I huffed. “Make your mother fire him.”

“She didn’t hire him. I did. Ultimately, it’s my responsibility. So I’ll deal with it.”

“But you shouldn’t have to. She shouldn’t have asked you to do this in the first place.”

“I know, Jasper.” She wrapped her arms around her waist, her shoulders curling forward.

The seat belt light turned on above us, followed by a chime that filled the plane’s cabin. Then the pilot came on the intercom, announcing we’d be starting our descent.

There was more to say about her parents, about this situation with Blaze, but I bit my tongue, waiting until we were off the plane and leaving the airport to drive home.

The moment we were on the highway, I stretched a hand across the console, covering her knee. “When I said I don’t want you to fire Blaze alone, it’s not because I don’t think you can do it. I don’t trust that kid.”

“It’s not that.” She waved it off. “It’s my parents. You’re so quick to criticize Mom.”

My jaw clenched. “You agreed. Your mother shouldn’t have asked you to hire this kid, especially if she knew he had problems.”

“I don’t think she knew. Trust me, when she finds out about this, she’s going to be ten times more upset than I am. And like I said, I could have—should have—told her no.”

I pulled my hand away, wrapping it around the steering wheel so I had something to squeeze. “But you didn’t. Because you didn’t want to cause trouble, right? Because they hold that hotel over your head like a goddamn string and you’re their puppet.”

Eloise flinched. “Jasper.”

“Tell me I’m wrong.”

The heavy silence that filled the cab was answer enough.

“Your dream is that hotel,” I said. “You work your ass off. They want you to be this hard-ass person instead of who you really are. You give it everything you have, and it’s still not good enough for your parents.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Isn’t it?” I scoffed. “We stayed married because you were terrified they’d take it away from you. That they’d think less of you. Because deep down, they have made you afraid that they’ll give that hotel to someone else.”

Eloise shook her head. “You’re twisting this around. They support me.”

“They have a strange fucking way of showing it,” I muttered. “Have they ever said congratulations after we got married?”

“Is this why you were acting so strange at the ranch? Why you avoid them? Because you think they don’t support me or that they aren’t happy for me?”

“I’m not going to pretend I like your parents.”

“Jasper.” Her mouth parted. “Don’t say that.”

I shot her a flat look. “So you can say you hate my parents but I can’t take issue with yours?”

Eloise winced. Then her eyes flooded with tears.

Fuck. Too far. I’d taken it too far.

She had every right to dislike my parents. Hell, I disliked my parents. But she loved hers. And I’d just put her in the position to choose.

Her family. Or me.

Tension settled thick and sweltering in the cab. The whirl of the tires on pavement was the only sound for miles. Eloise kept her gaze pointed out the passenger window as I focused on the road.

It should have been a relief to see the A-frame. It wasn’t.

“YOU’RE RIGHT,” she whispered as I parked. “All of it. But I love my parents anyway.”

That was who she was.

Eloise loved.

Without conditions. Without hesitation. Even when some people might not deserve it. Like me. Did I deserve it?

“Their hearts are in the right place,” she said.

“Are they?” Fuck, I was being a dick. Why couldn’t I just drop this subject?

“You said it was okay if my family hated you.” Her chin quivered. “That it would be easier that way. But what you really meant was it was okay if you hated them. That it would be easier for you.”

The nail drove straight through my chest.

Yes, it would be easier.

To walk away. To cut ties.

Eloise sniffled, wiping under her eyes before a tear could fall. “That, right there, is the reason I hate your parents. Why I hate Samantha, despite how much you claim to love her. You don’t get to tell me I’m scared, Jasper. Not when you’re just as afraid. You’ve built a fortress around yourself because you’re so scared that you’ll love someone and they’ll leave you. You push everyone away before they even have the chance to get close.”

My chest twisted.

“El—”

She shoved out of the car, then hauled out her bags, taking them inside before I could help.

I dragged a hand through my hair, tipping my head to the Yukon’s roof. “Fuck.”

She was right. So damn right. But between the wedding, seeing Sam, the trip to Paris, I was coming apart at the seams. Eloise and I needed to talk, except at the moment, I didn’t trust myself to articulate my feelings. To say it right. So I shut it all down, focusing on a single task.

Getting the mail.

I shoved out of the Yukon and walked down the driveway. The clean, mountain air didn’t do a damn thing to loosen the pressure in my chest. Every step felt heavier and heavier. But I kept on walking. By the time I returned to the cabin, maybe I’d have a clue about what to say.

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.