She gave me a small, shaky smile. “I will.”
I backed toward the door, every movement feeling heavy, but I pushed through anyway. “Goodbye, Jacqueline.”
“I’ll see you later,” she said. “Thanks again, Jesse.”
“Yeah.” I reached for the door, pausing for half a second before opening it. I really wasn’t ready to do that, but I did it anyway.
She’d made her choice and I had to respect that, so I finally reached for it and pulled it open. I stepped out into the hallway and shut it behind me.
After everything, it was hard to believe that it was over just like that, but at least she had Hubert back. At least I’d done that for her and I’d do it again. All of it, a million times over, as long as I got to see her smile the way she had when that dog had launched himself at her.
Tonight, Jacque was happy, and as long as that was true, I could live with it.
CHAPTER 38
JACQUELINE
The week after Jesse had left felt strange. Quiet but not peaceful. Hubert helped a lot, following me everywhere like he was making up for lost time. He curled up at my feet when I was at home, nudged my arm when I stopped petting him for more than thirty seconds at any given time, and insisted on being involved in every part of my day if I wasn’t at the office.
We took walks and went exploring, spent a ton of time cuddling on the couch, and settled into life together now that he was back with me. I loved every second of it, but I was also grateful that it gave me something to focus on that wasn’thim.
When I wasn’t occupying my time with Hubert, I threw myself into work. Early mornings, late nights, and back-to-back meetings, taking on anything that would keep my mind from drifting.
On Wednesday afternoon, however, I opened my inbox and saw an email that made my entire body go still.
From: Huntley and Associates - London
Subject: Request for Meeting – Westwood Estate Matters
Dear Ms. Calhoun,
We would like to request a Zoom meeting at your earliest convenience to discuss matters pertaining to the estate of the late Mr. ZSC Westwood.
My breath caught and I stopped reading, already knowing this meant that Alex had actually done it. He’d pulled so many strings that I was now being contacted by a London-based attorney and they wanted to meet with me.
For a long second, I just sat there, staring at the screen, unable to believe that someone actually wanted to talk to me about this. I swallowed hard, taking a second to gather my thoughts. This wasthething. That one thing that had been following my family around for years. That thing that had shaped not only the way we viewed ourselves but our role within my mother’s so-called family.
We’d tried for years to address it and now it was being fixed because of Jesse. I really couldn’t get my head wrapped around the fact that he hadn’t only gotten my dog back, but he was now handling something I hadn’t even let myself hope would ever change.
The more I thought about him and everything he’d done for me, the more my throat started aching. Hell, not even everything he’d done, but everything he wasstilldoing even though I’d made it pretty clear that he and I could never work.
I stared at the email for another second before closing the tab. Honestly, I didn’t know what to do with it. I didn’t know how to move forward when it felt like the world as I’d always known it was shifting under my feet.
Mercifully, Miranda saved me from myself when she appeared like magic in my office door. “Hey, Jacque. I have a question for you.”
“Let’s hope I have an answer for you,” I said.
She chuckled as she walked in and dropped into the chair across from me. “The firm got invited to this thing in New Yorkthis weekend, but I can’t go. I’ve got court on Monday and I need the weekend to prep.”
I leaned back in my chair and arched an eyebrow at her. “Do you need help with the prep?”
“I need help with the New York thing, actually. I was wondering if you might be willing to go in my place.”
After considering it for less than a minute, I nodded and smiled at her. “I’ll do it.”
New York was a different city with a very different energy. I’d never spent much time there, but I’d always wanted to, and besides, it’d get me away from here for a minute, which would be great. A change of scenery was as good as a holiday after all.
Miranda grinned. “I knew you’d say yes.”