“The realtor’s waiting to hear whether she’ll up her offer,” he told Ethan and Ryan. “He’s given her until five p.m. tomorrow.”
***
Jessica opened her eyes, blinking to bring the room into focus. Her mouth was dry, and her brain was foggy, but she felt…better. Slowly, she sat up in bed and stretched, relieved to find that, for the first time in three days, her headache had subsided and her fever seemed to have broken. “Hallelujah,” she muttered as she climbed out of bed.
Her limbs protested the movement, stiff and creaky as if she hadn’t moved in months. Grimacing, she checked her phone to make sure she hadn’t somehow been unconscious for days, but no, it was just past ten on Wednesday morning, and she couldn’t believe how much better she felt. Honestly, she hadn’t expected to bounce back from the flu this quickly.
After a nice, long shower, she was feeling even better. She heated a big bowl of her mom’s homemade soup—yes, for breakfast because, why not?—and chased it with one of Mark’s Popsicles for good measure.
Mark.
She closed her eyes, remembering his handsome face in her doorway on Monday, the intensity of his gaze, the heat of his smile. No, the spark between them had never completely faded, not for her anyway. It seemed her body was just chemically programmed to respond to his. And now that he’d come back into her life, a tiny part of her wanted to know more about his time in the Army. The things he’d seen and done. How had it changed him? Were there other scars?
But that was ridiculous. She was overly curious, that’s all. This week was the first time she and Mark had really spoken since they broke up all those years ago. She supposed it was natural to be curious about what his life had been like since.
But it didn’t matter. What mattered was that he and his business partners wanted her land, and speaking of the land…
She checked her phone and found a voice mail message from the realtor. According to Gordon’s message, the guys had come in ahead of her with their initial bid, but just barely. She stared at the phone in her hands. She’d offered the full asking price, and that had already maxed out her budget.
But…maybe they had maxed out their budget as well. Surely she could squeeze out a few more dollars to counteroffer. This had been her dream for so long, and it would needle her every damn day if she had to look outside and see people mountain biking behind the spa instead of her resort cabins.
She dialed the realtor.
“Gordon McDermott,” he answered on the first ring.
“Hi, Gordon. It’s Jessica Flynn.”
“Jessica! I was hoping to hear from you today. Would you like to counteroffer?”
“I can go up ten thousand,” she said. That would put her five grand ahead of the guys, and hopefully that would be enough because she couldn’t keep playing this game. It wasn’t worth it to put herself hopelessly into debt chasing a dream when she already had a profitable business she loved.
She and Gordon talked over the particulars, and he promised to send the documents for her to e-sign shortly. In the meantime, she walked to the living room to boot up her laptop. Her left knee was really painful when she walked on it. Had she twisted it while she was sick? She must have, maybe while she was running away from bears with Mark, and she had been feeling too lousy to notice at the time.
Her phone dinged with a new text message.Tomorrow at 6 at the Oak Branch Trail.
It was her friend Mandy. Jessica, Mandy, Gabby, and Carly would be competing in the upcoming Adrenaline Rush obstacle course race as Team Flower Power, and they’d been getting together a couple of times a week to jog and train together.
I’m going to miss this one,Jessica replied.Getting over the flu. Catch you ladies next time!
Yuck. Feel better soon!Mandy answered.
Someone knocked on Jessica’s front door.
She walked to answer it, wincing at the pain in her knee. Seriously, only she could manage to sprain her knee while she had the flu. Her mom stood on the other side of the door, smiling brightly as Jessica pulled it open.
“Hey there, sweetie. Just came to check in and see how you were feeling.” Paula Flynn wore her brown hair in a loose ponytail. Her pink scrubs meant she had stopped by on her way to work.
“Much better today, thanks.” Jessica walked back toward the couch with her mom beside her. “My fever’s gone. I’m still pretty tired and achy, but I think I’m officially on the mend.”
“Have you been keeping up on your fluids?” her mom asked, going into full nurse mode.
She nodded. “I just finished a bowl of your soup and one of the Popsicles Mark brought.”
“Mark?” Paula’s eyes narrowed. “Why was he here?”
Jessica shook her head, wishing she could take the words back. It was insignificant that Mark had been here, and she wouldn’t have blurted it out if her mind wasn’t still a little sluggish. “I saw him on Sunday so he knew I was sick. He was just being friendly.”
“Well, be careful around that man. I’d hate to see you get hurt again.”
