Holding On Read online

“I’m sure she did,” Quinn said. Her voice sounded resigned. Since it was Jemma who brought it up, Quinn knew better than to think the subject would be dropped. Not until Jemma had discussed it and dissected it to her heart’s content.

  “You do know, don’t you?” Jemma pressed. She had her eyes narrowed at Quinn. She’d been gauging her reaction. “You know all about Luke. And how he feels about you.” She shook her head. “I told Lily I was sure that’s what Tabby and you were discussing. Right before the wedding.” She smacked Quinn playfully. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

  “I didn’t really want to talk about it,” Quinn bluntly informed her. “It seemed pointless.”

  “Pointless?” Jemma teased. “More like scandalous!”

  “No!” Quinn said with a sharp shake of her head. “Not scandalous. Not even close!”

  “Jemma,” Lily interrupted again. “I don’t really think this is something to tease Quinn about.” She turned to Quinn and gave her a sympathetic look. “I thought something seemed off with Luke at the wedding. All of these years? Who would’ve thought?”

  “Tabby,” Jemma pointed out. “I can’t believe she kept it a secret this long. Quinn…just think…You and Luke…you could’ve been together all this time.”

  Quinn tossed an annoyed look at Jemma. “Let’s not go there. Okay? Let’s just not.”

  “She’s right,” Lily said, backing her up. Then she surprised Quinn by saying, “I bet that has to be a touchy situation for him and Jake. And you and Jake.”

  “Jake and I…it’s fine. We’re fine,” Quinn told her. Then she softened and decided to tell her friends what was on her mind. It wasn’t like she felt comfortable talking to Jake about it simply because he and Luke had their own problems. “Okay, yes, you saw Luke at the wedding. He pretty much avoids me now. And him and Jake…Well, this is the first weekend they’ve done anything together in so long that I’ve honestly lost track.”

  “I just think it’s such a shame,” Jemma pressed on. “I mean, from what Tabby said it’s been years. All of that time wasted. And each of you secretly lusting after the other?” She sighed dramatically.

  “You’re worse than Carly!” Quinn exclaimed. This was not why she’d finally confided in her friends, so that they could tease her about Luke.

  Jemma perked up at that. “You told Carly! But you didn’t tell us?”

  “She’s my sister,” Quinn pointed out.

  “We’re your best friends,” Jemma reminded her.

  “Honestly? I just really didn’t want to talk about it,” Quinn admitted. She hoped that Jemma would take the hint. She hadn’t wanted to talk about it before. She still didn’t want to talk about it now.

  Her friend looked like she was ready to jump back in with more protests. Or teasing. Or both. Quinn was glad when Lily spoke up, cutting her off.

  “I’m sorry. That has to be hard,” Lily empathized. “You and Luke used to be so close.”

  “Yeah, we did,” Quinn said with a sigh.

  “And then you married his brother,” Jemma pointed out.

  “Jemma!” Lily cried.

  “Sorry,” Jemma said as she cringed. “It’s just that life…it just never goes how you expect it to go. Does it?”

  “No,” Quinn agreed with a sigh. “It really doesn’t. Now can we please talk about something else? Anything else? Jemma, how’s your love life?” she asked sweetly.

  Jemma hit her with a pillow and Quinn laughed.

  “How about if we plan your baby shower instead?” Jemma suggested.

  Quinn’s phone buzzed on the coffee table. It was a text from Jake. She mentally rolled her eyes at his impatience. Luke had gone in to pay for gas so Jake had shot off a quick text. Quinn couldn’t believe they’d actually become one of those couples. The kind of couple that just couldn’t go without some kind of interaction. She smiled nonetheless as she sent a quick text back, answering his question and telling him that yes, everything was fine!

  “You two are kind of sickening,” Jemma said as she scrunched up her face. “I always thought Lily and Nate were bad…”

  “Hey!” Lily interjected but Jemma ignored her.

  “But you and Jake, you’re worse,” she told Quinn

  Quinn grinned at her and winked at Lily. “I’m going to take that as a compliment.”

  “You would,” Jemma said as she rolled her eyes at her friend.

  16

  Mmmm, he hummed the sound next to her ear. “I missed you so much. Two days without you was too much.”

  She laughed even as she leaned into him. “Come on, Jake, two days wasn’t that long.”

  “What? Are you saying you didn’t miss me as much as I missed you?” he wondered. He pulled away to give her an offended look.

  “Or course I did. But you’ve been home all week,” she teased. “Haven’t you had your fill of me by now?”

  He shook his head. “Not even close,” he moved back in to nuzzle her neck. She let him for a few minutes but then jumped up from the couch.

  “Jake, it’s Friday night. We should go do something,” Quinn said. She was dangerously close to pouting.

  “What do you want to do?” he asked. He had just gotten home from work. He was ready to just chill on the couch all night.

  “I don’t know. Nate and Lily have plans for the weekend. Carly has to work tonight. Jemma’s got a date with some new guy and didn’t sound the least bit interested in making it a double date.” Quinn took a breath. She’d called each of them earlier in the day, hoping to make plans with one of them. They were all busy and she was not looking forward to spending any more time at home. “I’m just so bored!”

  Jake tried not to laugh at her distress.

  She’d never had this much free time before. While the idea of not working was great…the reality…well, it was boring.

  “Carly had to work all week,” Quinn stated. She was sure her sister had asked for extra hours, as a distraction. “She couldn’t even get away for lunch. I think she’s already given up on the cooking lessons.” Quinn had a hunch that this had a whole lot to do with things not working out with Jesse. “Lily’s too far away to ever do anything with anymore. Jemma can almost never get away for lunch. Do you know what I did for fun today? I pulled every single item out of the kitchen cupboards so I could wipe them down. Then I put everything back. That’s what I did today.”

  Jake frowned. “Were they that dirty?”

  “No,” Quinn said. “I was just that bored. I miss getting out of the house,” she admitted. “Maybe I shouldn’t have quit work so soon. Maybe I should go back.”

  “Can’t you just join a book club or something? A gardening club? A cooking club?” he suggested. “I’m sure you can find something to do. Something besides going back to work.” He was sure she wasn’t serious about it. She was getting too close to her due date to think about going back at this point.

  She sighed. She knew she shouldn’t be bringing this up again. She should be grateful that she had this opportunity. She should be grateful that Jake had a good, stable, high paying job. She should be grateful that she didn’t need to work. She knew all of this. But she was having a hard time dealing with feeling so restless.

  “You’re bored, huh?” Jake asked. A mischievous look had just settled onto his face. “Maybe I can take care of that.”

  He got up and unexpectedly took off, leaving Quinn pouting in the living room. After a few seconds, she decided to scurry after him. She followed him down the hallway to their bedroom. She assumed she knew what he was thinking. What idea he had for curing her boredom.

  But she was wrong.

  “Jake!” Quinn laughed. He had pulled their suitcases out of the closet. He started rummaging through his drawers, pulling things out seemingly at random. “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “I had an idea last weekend,” he admitted. “You like the cabin don’t you?”

  Quinn knew he was talking about his grandparents’ cabin. The one where he’d apparently
decided she was the girl for him.

  “Yes,” she said suspiciously. “Why?”

  He grinned at her. “The other day I was thinking that we don’t have to go up there just to go fishing. I mean, yeah, it’s why Luke and I go. But there are other things to do in the area. You know my grandparents don’t go up there nearly as much as they used to. So it occurred to me that maybe you and I should go up there sometime. You know, just to get away for the weekend.”

  Quinn smiled, pleased with where she assumed this conversation was headed.

  “I hadn’t actually thought to do it this weekend, but why not?” he asked. He dropped a pair of jeans onto the bed as he walked up to her. He skimmed his hands over her hips and pulled her as close to him as her bump would allow. “It occurred to me today that it would be perfect for a weekend away. Just you…and me.”

  Quinn grinned back. “Keep talking.”

  “Well,” he said, “I happen to know they won’t be using it this weekend. I called Gramma earlier in the week to ask if they would mind if we used it sometime. She said they don’t plan on using it again for a while. I didn’t mention it when I got home because I thought this weekend might be too soon. But maybe it’s not?”

  “It’s not,” Quinn agreed. “It’s perfect.” She wiggled out of Jake’s grip and he laughed. Her suitcase was on the bed next to his. “I didn’t start dinner because I thought we could go out. But this is so much better!” she said. She was already rifling through her dresser.

  Jake laughed at her. “If I knew you’d be this excited, I would’ve planned this weeks ago. If we get moving, we can make a stop somewhere along the way for a nice dinner and still get there at a reasonable hour.”

  “Sounds perfect!” Quinn said with a huge smile.

  *~*~*

  “This weekend is seriously one of the best ideas you have ever had,” Quinn told Jake.

  It was pure coincidence that the small town of River’s Bend, where the cabin was located, was holding a fall festival down at the riverfront.

  “You’re only saying that because you love funnel cakes,” Jake said with a laugh.

  They’d found a bench on the river’s edge and they were each enjoying their own powdered-sugar sprinkled pastry.

  “I’m saying it because it’s been an amazing day,” Quinn honestly told him. “Everything has been so perfect.”

  The ride up to River’s Bend the night before had been beautiful. The leaves were beginning to change so it was the perfect time of year for a long drive. They’d stopped for a nice dinner and had gotten to the cabin at a decent enough hour. They’d gone for a boat ride earlier in the morning.

  “It’s lucky we came through town last night,” Jake said, “instead of going around.” There had been banners everywhere, advertising the event.

  Quinn glanced over her shoulder, checking out the crowd. There were vending booths set up all along the riverbank. Dozens of them with their handmade crafts. Everything from blown glass, chain saw sculptures, handmade jewelry and creatively crafted items Quinn had never seen before. Live music was floating through the air from somewhere. They’d been there most of the afternoon, shopping and snacking and walking along the river’s edge. The crowd was just starting to thin out.

  “You know,” Jake said as he glanced up toward the sky, “maybe we should think about heading out.”

  Quinn was surprised to see that black clouds were quickly spilling out across the sky. Almost immediately she noticed a sharp drop in temperature. “I suppose we should,” she said. She popped her last bite into her mouth.

  Jake stood and pulled Quinn to her feet. Right into his arms. He leaned over and kissed her forehead as she wrapped her arms around him in a quick hug.

  “Looks like the perfect day is about to end,” he admitted. He released her but took her hand firmly in his. He swerved through the crowds at the edge of the booths, trying to find the quickest path to the truck. They were already well on their way before other people started to notice a change in the weather. When they did, the crowd started to thicken.

  “I don’t think we’re going to make it,” Quinn said as they reached the sidewalk. She was looking up at the sky. It was nearly black and she couldn’t believe the speed with which the clouds had rolled in. Jake’s truck was parked several blocks down. It had just started to sprinkle. She held her free hand out to catch a few drops.

  Jake grinned at her as a crowd rushed by. He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her waist instead. “You don’t want to make a run for it?”

  “Um, no,” she said with a decisive laugh. She was in no condition to run. “A little bit of water never hurt anyone.”

  As though she were tempting fate with her words, the rain seemed to dump from the sky at that moment. She simply laughed as she and Jake hurried along, splashing through puddles as they rushed through the deluge. Jake kept his arm firmly around her, guiding her along.

  They were drenched by the time they reached his truck. He opened the passenger door for her and she scrambled inside.

  “Are you okay?” he asked Quinn after he hoisted himself inside.

  She shrugged and she was smiling. “Yeah, I’m fine. I love a good storm.”

  She said she was fine but Jake noticed her teeth were starting to chatter. He turned the heat on high.

  “I knew we were in for some rain but they said it would be a lot later tonight,” he told her. “I’m sorry about the music.”

  “It’s fine Jake,” Quinn said. She had asked if they could stay to listen to the music playing under the tents. But now that they were drenched, that was obviously not an appealing option. “I’m ready to get back to the cabin.”

  She leaned over and ran her hands through his rain drenched hair. Then she pulled him in for a kiss. She laughed and broke the kiss short when her chattering teeth interfered.

  “Okay,” Jake said. He shook his head at her and smiled as he headed out of the parking lot.

  The deluge kept up the entire drive home. Lightening split across the sky and the tires splashed their way through streams of water that had already formed rivers across the blacktop.

  When Jake parked at the cabin, the two of them darted out into the rain. They had only barely started to dry with the heat from the truck blowing on them. But they were fully drenched once again by the time they got inside.

  “I think the rain is supposed to keep up throughout the day tomorrow. This isn’t exactly what I’d wanted for the weekend,” he admitted as they stepped inside. “I was hoping for more of a mini-vacation. Not being trapped inside my grandparents’ cabin.”

  “I kind of like it,” Quinn admitted. The cabin was gorgeous. Really, Quinn thought, it was more of a summer home than an actual cabin.

  It was log-sided with knotty pine interior. It had a bedroom on the main floor and a loft that was separated into two bedrooms. It was expertly decorated with a warm, cozy outdoor theme.

  Jake’s grandma was used to the comforts of home. The kitchen was top of the line with beautiful appliances. The furniture throughout was relatively new and chosen in deep colors that maintained the outdoor theme.

  “I think I might actually like this more than the bed and breakfast,” Quinn admitted. She loved the complete and total privacy the cabin provided. “I’ll like it even more if you start a fire,” she told Jake as they walked through the living room.

  “I can do that,” he said. “If you go get out of those wet clothes.”

  “Done!” Quinn told him as she headed to the bedroom.

  The cabin was used primarily during the warmer months. The only heat source it had was a fireplace. It was double sided, set into a wall. One side faced the living room, the other the master bedroom. As soon as Jake had the fire blazing, it cast enough of a glow into the master bedroom that Quinn didn’t need to turn a light on.

  She peeled off her wet clothes and hung them in the bathroom as Jake continued to build the fire up. She peeled back the covers and crawled into bed to
wait for him. He followed not much later. Having taken her lead, he’d stripped out of his wet clothes. He’d left them hanging in the bathroom.

  When Jake appeared, Quinn couldn’t keep the smile off of her face. She loved every inch of his gorgeous body. He smiled back at her and her heart took off in her chest. She wondered if there would ever be a time when her body stopped reacting to him that way. She hoped not.

  She flipped the covers back and he scooted into bed next to her. He wrapped her into a hug as he nuzzled her neck.

  “Oh my gosh,” she groaned as his bare skin pressed against hers. “You are so cold!”

  “So are you, baby,” he said with a laugh. He rubbed his hand across her arms, trying to warm her with a bit of friction. “Sorry about that. I knew it was supposed to rain. I should’ve paid more attention to the weather.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I like this,” Quinn murmured. “All I wanted was to get out of the house. I just needed a change of scenery. This is perfect and I couldn’t ask for anything more romantic.”

  Jake lay back on his pillow and Quinn curled up next to him. “It is kind of romantic, isn’t it?” he asked. He sounded surprised.

  “I love it, actually,” she assured him as she burrowed a little deeper under the warm covers. “It’s like our own little slice of heaven.”

  The flames were dancing across the walls. They could hear the crackle of the fire and the pounding of the rain on the roof.

  “We’ll have to try to get up here a few more time before the baby comes,” Jake told her.

  “You know,” Quinn said as she drew circles across Jake’s bare chest, “you never really told me how things went with Luke when you two were here.”

  She felt him shrug. “They went okay. I mean…it was good.”

  “Yeah, you said that,” she pointed out. “You told me you had a good weekend. What you didn’t say was if you talked things out.”

  Jake laughed quietly. “No. We didn’t talk. We just fished. Had a few beers. Went into town both nights and had a good steak…”

  “Oh,” Quinn said. She realized then that maybe she shouldn’t be surprised. It wasn’t like guys talked out things the way girls did.