Forever This Time (39 page)

 

Chapter 39

“Diana, I think we need to talk about hiring someone else to work in the office.” Ethan paced his office at the park, practicing his speech, the latest crisis handled and averted. He'd tried to reach Josie, but her phone was turned off. “Diana, I know this isn't really the time to talk about this, but I'm wondering what you might think of me hiring an assistant.”

He ran his hands through his hair. Christ, the woman's husband was still in the hospital. How could he ask a question that would make her think he was convinced Andy wasn't ever coming back?

But he had to. He
never
wanted to leave Josie like that again—never wanted to see that bleak look on her face as he'd put on his coat. He might be CFO of the park, but he was determined not to let Snowflake Village own him.

Josie'd spent her life coming in second place to this damn park. He squeezed his eyes shut. And he'd just demonstrated, in crystal-clear fashion, that she still did.

He tried her phone again. Straight to voice mail. Again.

The office phone rang, startling him. He picked it up without looking at the readout, and was surprised to hear Diana's voice on the other end of the line.

“Ethan? I was just calling to leave you a message. What are you doing there at the park? I thought you were with Josie.”

“I was. Something came up here, and I had to come back.”

“I see.” The silence hung in the air, making him think again of Josie's face as he'd left her sitting by the Christmas tree.

“I've actually been meaning to talk to you about something,” he started.

“That's good, because I've been meaning to talk to you as well.”

“Do you want to go first?”

“I think we need to hire you an assistant.”

“Wha—”

Diana bulldozed forward. “I do. I've been thinking about it for days. Andy's getting better, but this isn't going to be a short journey, and we can't have you collapsing from exhaustion while we wait. And maybe … maybe he'll never come back to the park. We don't know yet.

“Ethan, you've been burning both ends of the candle for so long I don't even think you realize you're doing it anymore, but as the de facto boss of Camp Ho-Ho, I'm officially telling you to cut your hours. Starting next week.”

Ethan chuckled. “De facto boss of Camp Ho-Ho? Has Josie heard you call it that?”

“Sounds rather pompous, doesn't it? I'm serious, though. I've been giving it a lot of thought, and if Andy isn't going to be back to one hundred percent, then I need to learn this business so we can keep the park running. I'm going to start coming in next week, and you can show me the ropes.”

“
You're
going to be the assistant?”

“No. We're
also
going to hire an assistant. But I'm going to try to learn as much of Andy's job as possible so you can go back to owning just the financials instead of the entire operation. Then you can concentrate on where your heart is … at Avery's House.”

She paused. “And if I can be bold, maybe with Josie.”

“Wow.”

“How was Josie when you left?”

“Fine. Good.” He winced, picturing her face. “Quiet.”

“Ethan, I am definitely not the person to give
anybody
advice, and we both know it, but I'm going to, anyway.”

“Should I sit down?”

“No. You should listen to me while you're getting in your truck and driving back to see my daughter.”

He sat.

“You know what'll send Josie straight back to Boston?”

“Honestly? A lot of things.”

“True. And you can't control some of them. But you
can
control others. Do you still love her, Ethan?”

He spun to look out the window at a park that hadn't been the same since she'd left ten years ago. Then he looked at the lacy sweater she'd started hanging on her dad's chair for when the AC went wonky. He looked at the happy-face mug and the bright pens and the sparkly mouse on Andy's desk, and he liked it.

He liked it a lot.

He braced himself. “Yeah. I do, Diana. I didn't think I would, didn't think I
could
 … but I do.”

“Then you need to show her that a life with you isn't going to mirror the life she saw Andy and I have back then. We made terrible choices, and we paid the biggest price—losing our daughter.”

Diana paused. “Don't let her go back to Boston. Don't lose her again, Ethan.”

*   *   *

“Hey, Ike! How's my Jeep?” Josie stepped into the open garage bay, finding Ike's legs sticking out from under a late-model Lexus, even though it was Sunday afternoon.

He rolled the rest of his body out from under the car and peered up at her. “Why? You going somewhere?”

Yeah. Boston, as a matter of fact.
“Maybe. Is it done yet?”

Ike nodded, groaning as he pushed himself awkwardly off the rolling cart and stood upright. “Damn old bones.” He wiped his hands on a red rag and motioned toward her Jeep out in the back parking lot. “She's done. I put in the new ignition switch yesterday and got her all shined up today for you. New oil, new washer fluid, pumped up your tires.”

“I really appreciate it. What do I owe you?” Josie took her wallet out of her purse, anxious to get out of town.

Ike stood there silent for so long she thought he might have fallen asleep on his feet. Finally, he waved away her wallet and turned toward his little office. “I'm not taking your money, Josie.”

“Ike, I fully expect to pay you. You spent hours working on the car, ordered parts…” She glanced back at the Jeep. “It's shinier now than when I bought it. Did you
wax
it?”

He shrugged as he turned back toward her. “Maybe.”

Josie opened her wallet. “I insist on paying you. How much did the switch cost?”

“Eh, I had one lying around.”

“You've been telling me for a week that you were waiting for it to arrive.”

“Dunno. Memory's not so good these days.”

“Liar.”

His mouth crept up at the corners. “Tell ya what. Give me five bucks I can pass on to my grandson. He helped with the waxing.”

“Ike, listen—”

Ike put his hands on his hips. “Y'know what? I think you're maybe the one that needs to listen right now, missy. Your cheeks are flaming like they used to when you were good 'n' mad, and I can see you're itching to get on the road. I don't know what happened just now, but whatever it was, stop and think before you take off again.”

“No offense, but honestly, Ike. You have no idea.”

“Maybe. But I know some things.”

Oh, for God's sake.

“What are you talking about?” She looked at her watch pointedly. She had to be gone before Ethan realized she wasn't coming to the Hospital Hero dinner. Gone before Mom realized she'd finally packed her suitcase and had it ready to go.

“Jos, I know you think that this whole damn town is stuck in time—that nothing ever changes here, but it's not true.”

“I know that.”

“I know you
think
you know that, but I'm not convinced you
really
know that. I also don't think you have any idea how many people in this town loved you then, and would love you now if you'd let them get attached to the woman you've become. Especially one particular man who's never forgotten you—or loved anyone else.”

“Ike, seriously.”

“Oh, I'm being dead serious. You spent a lot of hellish years trying to pretend everything was fine, trying to convince us all you were just fine, but honey, we knew.”

“No. Stop it.” Josie put up her hand, backing away.

“Think about it, Josie. Why do you think Mama Bellini had you at the restaurant so much?”

“She needed help!” Even as she said the words, Josie knew it wasn't true. Had known it in her heart all along.

“She didn't need help any more than I needed somebody to organize my wrenches on Friday nights, Josie.”

“But they were always a mess…” Josie heard her voice fade as she spoke.

Ike sighed. “Honey, I messed them up at three o'clock every Friday so you'd have something to do besides go home.”

“No.”

“Yeah, I did.” He stepped toward her, putting an arm gingerly around her shoulders. “We all knew what you were living, Josie. And we all did what we could, but obviously it wasn't enough, because you still had to go. But we got it. Even Ethan, though it took him an awful lot longer to be able to admit it.”

“Stop.” Josie put her hand up slowly, trying to stem his words.

“I don't think I will. I don't know what happened to put you in this state, but somebody needs to say this, and since you've got two wheels on the road already, I guess I'm elected. I know you came back two weeks ago thinking you'd just put in your time till your daddy's better. Well, that's gonna be a long road, and that means you've got some deciding to do. Are you going back to Boston and leave your mom here alone? Leave Ethan and Molly and Josh to do the good work they're doing, without you? Is that what you really, truly want?”

He threw his rag into a pile by the door. “You going to ditch the love of your life and try to forget him … again?”

“You have no idea what you're talking about, Ike.”

“Wrong. I know exactly what I'm talking about, because I had a chance forty years ago to make the same choice, and my grandpa took me by the collar and asked me the one question that made it all clear. He said, ‘Son, where does your
heart
live?'”

Ike let his arm drop from her shoulders as he backed up three steps. “I'll get your keys, but you think about this, Josie, and you think hard.

“Where does
your
heart live?”

 

Chapter 40

“Ethan! Check security camera nine! Quick!” Molly blew into his office, face flaming. He only had an hour until he needed to leave for the hospital dinner, and still hadn't been able to get hold of Josie. Yes, she'd said she'd see him there, but his gut clenched when he remembered how she'd looked, sitting there on the living room floor.

And now Molly was here with another emergency. Yeah, he definitely needed an assistant.

He spun in his chair, clicking the Polar Plunge camera to life. “What's the matter? What happened?”

Molly leaned over his shoulder. “Right there! Look!” She pointed at a strikingly Italian-looking guy lounging against the ride, guzzling a bottled water.

“What am I looking at, Mols? Did he do something?”

She spun his chair around, then grabbed her chest dramatically. “I think I found true love.”

He spun back to take another look at the guy, then faced Molly again. “True love? What?”

“Isn't he gorgeous?” She looked over his shoulder, practically drooling.

“I'm not the right gender to appreciate his assets, sorry. Where did you meet this guy? Oh God, Mols. Tell me he's not from that Italian dating site.”

She laughed. “Funny story, actually. No, he's not. But I was out on another disastrous Italian Match date the other night with some guy who called himself Mario, and when the slime ball went to the bathroom, I spotted this guy at a table by himself.”

“So … you're on a date with … Mario … and he goes to the bathroom, so you make the moves on a single guy at a different table? Do we need to talk about dating etiquette, Mols?”

Molly leveled an annoyed look his way. “No. We don't.
Mario
never came back. And Michael here—” She pointed at the computer. “Michael came over and asked if he could sit down, and we got to talking, and, well, wow!”

“Molly.”

“Oh, Ethan, don't go all dad-ish on me. It's fine. I'm a big girl. He's a really, really nice guy.”

“And you know this after one evening together? Any guy can be
really, really nice
for one night.”

“I'm twenty-eight years old. I've figured that one out, thank you.”

“I—I don't even know what to say.”

“Say you're happy for me.”

“I am, but you have to admit. It's a little out of the blue.”

“Sometimes that's how it happens.” She fanned her face. “I just never thought it would happen to
me
.”

“One date, Mols. Or—half a date, I guess.”

“I like him, Ethan.”

“I can see that.”

“Don't be a killjoy. Josie's back. You should be all—I don't know—hopped up on love again, shouldn't you?”

He looked at her. “You've been calling me a moron for two weeks now.”

“I know.” She looked at the camera again. “Maybe I needed a perspective adjustment.”

“I see. So now that you're madly in lust, the rest of the world has permission to be happy?”

“Something like that.” She smiled. “Plus, Josie and I talked the other day when she was at Avery's House. She said some things, I said some things … and I'm finding it harder to hate her now.”

“That's … good.”

“I know. Weird, though. I was seriously good at—the hating.”

Ethan sobered.
Weren't we both …

“So, speaking of Josie…”

“Were we?”

His gut tightened. She still hadn't turned on her phone. Should he go back over to her house? He should, right? Yes. But first, flowers. A big bouquet of daisies. Where could you get flowers on a Sunday, anyway?

“Focus, Ethan.” Molly spun his chair to face her. “Here's the thing. I know I pulled a hissy fit when you suggested that Josie work at Avery's House, but … you're right. She does belong there. It's her someday-house, for God's sake. She always dreamed of living there, and you bought her that house.”