She beamed as she slapped the doorframe. “I knew it!”
Jonah’s easy laugher echoed through the cabin.
Chapter 21
“I have to tell her,” Jonah said to Meg the minute he returned from gassing up the boat with Lauren. The whole ride back he’d thought about Lauren and their time at the trapper’s cabin. She was opening herself to a friendship with him, and while that made him optimistic, it also made him feel guilty.
“You’ll have to be more specific.” Meg didn’t glance up from the computer screen.
“Lauren. I have to tell her she gave up that job in Boston.”
Meg’s fingers froze on the keyboard as she looked his way. “I was wondering when you’d get around to that.”
“It’s been six weeks and I have to face facts—she might never get her memory back.” Verbalizing the thought caused a physical ache in his chest.
Meg’s eyes softened. “But aren’t the two of you getting along better? Don’t you think maybe...?”
“Getting along is a far cry from where we were before.” He glanced upstairs, where he’d tucked away Lauren’s engagement ring in his parents’ safe. He’d grown tired of seeing it every time he opened his nightstand drawer.
“There’s still a chance she’ll fall in love with you again.”
“I guess. But she’s been curious lately about what happened over the summer, and she deserves to know the full truth.”
“But if she finds out she gave up that job—which is the only reason she’s here—what’s to stop her from leaving now?”
Yeah, that was the kicker. She would be devastated about that job. Over the past six weeks she’d gotten comfortable at the resort and excited about the barn renovation. But he wouldn’t kid himself. She was a city girl at heart, and without those feelings of love rooting her here, he didn’t stand a chance of keeping her till the end of the year.
Much less forever.
“I know the risks. But even though her memory’s still gone, her concussion symptoms have faded. I can’t justify keeping the truth from her any longer.”
“She’s gonna be really upset.”
“I know.” She’d probably blame him. Hate him. All the progress he’d made toward winning her over would be forfeited. He’d be back to square one—if not worse. But he couldn’t keep the truth from her any longer in the hopes her memory would return and make the disclosure unnecessary. It wasn’t fair to her.
“When are you telling her?”
He should tell her now—just get it over with. But it wouldn’t be fair to dump it on her at the start of a busy weekend when they were full up. Better to wait until her day off. “Monday.” He swallowed hard. “Do you think she’ll go back to Boston?”
“I don’t know. I mean... she won’t have a job to return to. At least she’s got this one for now.”
“True.” It wasn’t the way he wanted her to stay, but at this point he’d accept any reason that kept her here. Was that selfish? Maybe. But she’d once been happy here, happy with him. Even if she didn’t remember it.
“Heartbreak aside, if she left it would put us in a real bind around here.”
That was the least of his concerns. “I’d gladly drop my classes and take over.”
“I’m not sure Mom would agree to that.”
“Maybe Dad could persuade her. She needs to understand that this is where I want to be.”
“You only have a couple months until graduation. She agreed to let you take over at that point, and she never goes back on her word.”
“I’m counting on that.” There was precious little he could count on right now with his future so up in the air. His nerves rattled as his thoughts turned to that conversation he needed to have with Lauren on Monday.
“I’ll be praying it goes well. Is there anything else I can do?”
“Just be there for her, I guess. She probably won’t want anything to do with me after this.” He wished he’d told her sooner. But he’d been legitimately concerned about her mental health after that panic attack in the hospital. And then he’d foolishly counted on her memory returning.
