He unwound his scarf but didn’t take off his jacket. He wasn’t sure he’d be staying long enough to enjoy the warmth of her home.
The sweet scent of cinnamon and vanilla wafted through the entryway. “Are you baking?”
Jackie nodded. “I’m making cookies for the opening of the store. Paris and Andrea are baking some as well. Between us, we should have enough for everyone who visits.”
Aidan stuck his hands in his pockets. Even before they’d started dating, Jackie had never looked so unsure about talking to him. “I like the decorations on the outside of your home. I’d almost forgotten Christmas is only a few weeks away.”
“Allan Terry and Pastor John saw how busy I was and thought it would make me smile when I saw the twinkling lights when I came home each night.”
A beeping sound came from the kitchen.
Jackie frowned. “The next batch of cookie dough’s ready to come out of the refrigerator. Do you want to come into the kitchen?”
“That’d be great. If you need a hand to roll out the dough, I’m happy to help.”
She sent him a flicker of a smile. “Thanks.”
While she unwrapped the dough and found another rolling pin, he took off his jacket and looked at the pile of cookies she’d baked. “You’ve been busy.”
“It’s the last thing I have to do. The store’s ready and all the knitting and other products I was expecting are sitting on the shelves.”
“Did you find more of the homespun wool you were looking for?”
Jackie nodded. “A family from Bozeman produces an amazing selection of wool on their ranch. They were excited about supplying my store with their yarn.” She placed a ball of cookie dough and a rolling pin on the counter. “Roll this to the same thickness as the sheet I was working on. Before you start, sprinkle a little flour on the counter to stop the dough from sticking.”
He washed his hands and stood beside her. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help get the last things ready for the store,” Aidan began, trying to bridge the distance between them. “I didn’t mean to leave so abruptly.”
Jackie shrugged. “It’s okay, I managed. Andrea and Paris helped me, and Shona was great too.”
Aidan rolled out the dough. He was glad she’d had support from her friends in Sapphire Bay. “How are you finding not working at The Flower Cottage?”
“I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to miss it.” She sighed, wiping her hands on a nearby dish towel. “I guess it won’t be until after A Stitch in Time opens that I’ll know how it really feels. Would you like a cup of coffee or a drink of hot chocolate?”
“Hot chocolate sounds good,” Aidan replied. When she poured hot water into his cup, her hands shook. The vulnerability in that small gesture stirred something inside him, and he knew he had to talk about what was happening between them.
“I’ll be in Sapphire Bay until the day after the gala,” he began, his eyes searching hers for understanding. “Then I’m flying back to New York City. I have another three weeks to decide whether I’ll accept the job in Miami, but I can’t stay here for that long. There’s an issue with a project my team’s working on and I need to be in Manhattan.”
She looked down at her coffee mug, her grip tightening around its warmth. “It sounds as though you’ll be gone for a while.”
“It could take a few weeks. If I accept the job in Miami, I’ll start in the new year.”
Jackie’s eyes misted over with tears. “Is it what you really want to do?”
Aidan left the rolling pin on the counter. “I’m excited about what the company’s doing. They’re helping people live normal lives.”
Her sad smile made his heart ache. “That sounds like what you’re doing at BioTech.”
He let her words settled inside him. She was right. It was similar. “That’s one of the reasons my decision’s so difficult. I’d be letting a lot of people down if I left BioTech. But it’s you I’m most worried about.”
Jackie put down her mug. “If you don’t take the job because of me, you might regret it. I don’t want that to happen.”
“I still want to be part of your life,” Aidan said as he held her hands. “What if I spent some weekends in Sapphire Bay? You could visit me in Miami.”
Her eyes lifted up meet his, uncertainty clouding their depths.
His heart ached at the sight, knowing that in a few words, she could end any chance of them spending the rest of their lives together.
“I won’t have time to leave Sapphire Bay,” Jackie said sadly. “My store will be open six days a week. When it’s closed, I’ll be catching up on all the marketing and financial side of things. And you’ll be busy, too.”
