“Sounds fun.” He couldn’t miss her dry tone. “It’s Friday night. Why don’t you go down to Old Glory and have a drink with your friends? Maybe talk to a pretty woman and buy her a drink?” she suggested, and he could hear the smile in her voice.
“Is that a hint?” he returned, tone just as dry.
She sighed. “I moved out nine months ago. I was sort of hoping by now…” Her voice trailed off.
“Hoping what?”
“Well, now that you have the house all to yourself, I thought you might try to meet someone special. I just…worry about you.”
“I’m fine,” he automatically replied. “You have a wedding to plan and your old man should be the last thing on your mind.”
“Dad…”
The tone in her voice made him sit up straighter. “Is something wrong?”
“There’s something I have to tell you.” Steeling himself, his mind instantly going to pregnancy, he waited. “Brett has a job interview in New York next week.”
As her words sank in, he didn’t dare try to decipher what they might mean. The idea of Emma moving to the other side of the country was something he couldn’t wrap his head around.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity at a brand-new restaurant and he’d be sous chef. It’d be a dream come true, and we all know there just aren’t opportunities like that around here.”
Jayson closed his eyes. Swallowed hard.I’d rather she was pregnant,he thought glumly. Eventually, when she does have a baby, she’ll be thousands of miles away.And what kind of grandpa does that make me? One a grandkid never sees or knows.
He struggled to find something positive to say, and ended up choking out, “Okay.”
“We wouldn’t leave for another month—”
“A month?” he echoed in disbelief. “So soon?”
“This is a good thing, Dad,” she said, voice soft.
“What about the wedding?”
“We’ll come back and still get married here. That’s the plan, anyway.”
Yeah, but plans changed all the time. And his gut told him this one would, too.
“I didn’t know you wanted to leave Cielo Springs. Your horses are here.”I’m here.“I thought you liked it here.”
“I do.” She sighed. “I love it here, and I don’t want to leave, but Brett is going to be my husband, and I want to support him. I’ve lived my whole life here, and I’m not saying we wouldn’t come back some day. It would be an adventure. You know all about those, but I haven’t had any yet.”
Be happy for her.He dug deep and forced his voice to sound lighter than he felt. “Yeah, I do, and now it’s your time, honey. I’m just going to miss you. But I get it. Your life is just beginning and I’m so happy for you. Truly.”
“Thanks, Dad. And you can come visit us in New York. How fun will that be?”
He fucking hated the city. “Yeah, fun.”
“It’ll all work out. Promise. Okay, I gotta go. Brett and I are meeting some friends for dinner. I’ll call you later. Love you.”
“Love you, too, honey.”
She hung up and he continued to hold the phone against his ear. Heartbroken couldn’t even begin to describe what he was feeling. Emma was his everything. It had been hard enough watching her move out, but watching her move across the country?
It would fucking crush him.
He blew out a breath and swiped a hand through his hair. “You gotta let her go, Jay,” he told himself. His beautiful, kind, vibrant little girl had turned into a lovely young woman who deserved to spread her wings and experience life. And he’d support her, no matter what.
God, he needed a distraction. Something to take his mind off Emma possibly leaving. Of course, nothing was definite. Not yet, at least. And no matter what happened, she’d always be his little girl. Nothing would change that—not a husband or distance or—
