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But when Whitney took off, it brought out the worst in him—the insecurity and jealousy and supre he could’ve learned froht there front and center Only instead of his ht, there was only Sarah Jo trying to hold down the fort with business and ho squad so would justher at the bar was any indication

At the very base of all that was the fact I wanted to save her It ith the fire I wanted to protect and rescue In my eyes, it’s what a real man did He didn’t tear people down like Ryan or use thereed fro

My wish to ride in and save Sarah Jo was pretty far-fetched though It wasn’t like there was a dragon I could slay It was beyond my power to fix her relationship with her dad and her brother or tohio—she used to be a nurse That’d take the heat off Sarah Jo if his nurse girlfriend moved in, but et thrown under the bus for my convenience Not to ested it, she’d probably throw so

After I got off ot coffee and took it to her at the lu at the office door when she caht as all outdoors at sunrise She ran up and hustled me into the office, snatched the cups to set theain All of a sudden, a lot of tension I didn’t knoas carrying just uncoiled My shoulders and neck that had been tight relaxed, and the knot in

“I missed you,” I said

“How long you been standing there? You feel cold,” she said, still s at me

“Not too long I got off a little after five-thirty”

“So like forty-fiveIt’s just cold out there”

“What can I say? I had to park two blocks away, so nobody would see me,” I joked She rolled her eyes

“Look what I got in case you cao perfect for breakfast”

“Is it sausage and biscuits and gravy?” I said, hopefully She shook her head

“It’s these!” she crowed triumphantly She brandished a cellophane packet of Hostess cupcakes, “Just like on our picnics that summer Here, have one with the coffee It’s better than a donut, I swear”

“The jelly-filled ones down at the grocery store are tough to beat,” I said dubiously

“A beautiful luas station cupcake Didn’t your mama teach you any manners?” she teased

“Thank you I have alanted one of these,” I said hed

“Very convincing Sha as a career,” she deadpanned, biting into her cupcake “And say what you will about packaged junk food, but this tastes awesome”

I leaned against the desk beside her We drank our coffee and ate our cupcakes in coain, like so close to her Her day would be hectic, and her evening would be worse She didn’t need any more pressure on top of that, so I didn’t tell her how ain, spend ti to hurry or hide For the moment, she had silence and fresh coffee and a frosted, creaood as her day was going to get I decided to give her space to enjoy that, as much as I wanted to kiss her instead

That’s what loving so for therandrandpa for forty years, and what I remember about him was he had a bad back and a worse te theoretically

“Jake Cole that’s on ht about you”

“Really? What was he saying?” she asked