He sighed. “I always had my doubts.”
“See? Clever you and stupid me.”
“Hey, don’t say that about yourself.”
“I don’t know how I could ever think I could be a matchmaker when I couldn’t even see the obvious. Him and Gwen, all this time. I felt like such a fool.”
“Time will heal the wound, Emma-Jane.”
She nodded, then realised what he’d said. “You called me Emma-Jane. Not EJ.”
“I’ve heard that’s what you prefer these days.”
“I … I felt like that’s what God called me. Emma-Jane. So I’m trying to do what He wants. More of Him, less of me.” She sighed. “I’m still a work in progress, though.”
“Aren’t we all?”
Hardly. He seemed perfect. Mr. Right. “So we’re okay? You and me? Even though I seem to have been doomed to blindness?”
He smiled. “You’re not doomed to anything if you’re a child of God.”
Tears pricked. He was so good to remind her. “So, you mean that? You forgive me?”
“Of course I do.” His lips tilted to one side. “We’re best friends, remember? That means we’ve got each other’s backs and can see past the current challenges to see the big picture.”
“And what big picture is that?” she murmured.Please God, let him see the same big picture I do.A future where they were together, not just friends, but a couple. With a family. A farm. With a dog and a couple of donkeys or Highland cows, even.
His lips tweaked. “That … that we’re always friends.”
Always friends? Uncertainty smacked her. Had she read this wrong? Did he really not want to be anything more than friends, after all?
He shifted suddenly, then shook his head. “This is all wrong.”
What? What did he mean? He didn’t want her? Her heart panged savagely. “What is?”
He sighed, then gestured to where the others were. “We’re supposed to be here celebrating Liv and Liam, and—”
“You want to rejoin them? Okay.” Humiliation washed over her. Oh, she’d broken things forever. Things would never be the same now!
“No.” He drew close again and grasped her cold hands. “Let me finish.”
“Sorry.”
His teeth glimmered as he gave a brief smile. “No, it’s okay. Except it’s not. Because we’re meant to be celebrating them, and instead, I’m here feeling envious.”
Envious? Of what? That Liam was marrying the good Bennett girl, and Jordan-the-good wished that he was with her instead?
“You’re not asking me what is the point of my envy.”
Her heart felt fragile, like a faint breeze could knock it down. If he wasn’t holding her hands, she’d run away, brave woman that she was.
“Well, I cannot be so wise.” He sighed. “I must tell you what you will not ask, though I may wish it unsaid the next moment.”
“Jordan, I’m your friend. Of course you can say anything.”
“Your friend?” He shook his head. “Very well.” He eyed her, then drew her closer, then pressed her hand against his heart. “It’s you, Emma-Jane. It’s always been you.”
As his friend?
