The tap on her bedroom door had Jade raising one lid to glare across the room. She didn’t want to get out of bed. Couldn’t a woman just have a pity party?
She’d left Livie’s last night and driven home absolutely and utterly exhausted. There had only been two glasses of wine over the course of as many hours. The depletion of her energy had come from sobbing and ugly crying all over her friends.
Thankfully, she’d at least texted her mother before the emotional meltdown to say that going out wasn’t a good idea.
“Jade.” Her mother’s voice carried through the door as she tapped once again. “I called and we’re down for brunch at the little café in the resort. You should get up and make yourself presentable.”
Jade nearly snorted. There wouldn’t be too much she could do to hide her puffy eyes. All she wanted to do was lay in bed and be left alone. Was that seriously too much to ask?
But her mother had driven to Haven for reasons still unbeknownst to Jade. Obviously there was something she wanted to discuss because the woman hadn’t set foot back in this town since she left after Jade’s graduation.
“I’ll be ready in thirty minutes,” she grumbled with half her face pressed to her pillow.
“Darling, take an hour.”
Yes. It wouldn’t do any good for Jade to show up looking sad or depressed. Lana wouldn’t tolerate that one bit. Pretenses were positively everything.
Jade rolled to her back and threw her arm over her eyes. Lunch at Bella Vous sounded great. She loved their wraps, and Liam’s pastries were absolutely melt-in-your-mouth amazing.
She couldn’t stay in bed forever. The open house for the airport was coming up in a few days, she had classes to teach tomorrow, and she seriously needed to get back to her running routine. Maybe training for another marathon would give her something else to concentrate on.
Last night Livie and Mel had convinced Jade to reach out to Cash. At some point she would. Today was not that day.
First, Jade needed to focus on her mother. The heartache would certainly still be there after Lana’s intentions were known.
Jade couldn’t fathom what her mom could want, and Nana hadn’t known either. Nana also didn’t know anything about Cash, and until Jade had some sort of handle on the situation, she’d opted not to confide in her grandmother.
Fifteen minutes later, Jade felt somewhat human after a hot shower. Her stomach growled in protest, but that would be fixed soon enough. She dried her hair as much as she could before she grew tired of waving the dryer around. Ultimately, Jade pulled her damp hair to the side and did a fishtail braid to lay over her shoulder.
After throwing on minimal makeup, she found a comfortable green maxi dress she hoped her mother saw as fancy enough. Jade grabbed her favorite silver sandals and slid them on.
One quick side-to-side glance in the mirror and she figured this was remarkable considering how she felt.
Jade grabbed her cell from the nightstand, cursing herself for being disappointed at the lack of messages from Cash.
What did she expect? That he’d message her and suddenly ask to see her? She’d hurt him too deeply for him to be that quick to forgive—if he ever did.
No, Cash wasn’t going to come to her. If this relationship was repairable at all, she would have to go to him. She’d have to put her own pride, fear, and worry aside to get him to understand.
And even then, Jade didn’t know if he’d let her back in.
She gathered her cross-body purse, slid her phone inside, and headed downstairs.
Her mother sat on the sofa and folded her book in her lap as she met Jade’s gaze. “That was fast. Are you sure you’re ready?”
Lana McKenzie’s cami/cardigan set was just a few shades lighter than her dark pink capris. Of course, her hair had been expertly pulled back and her makeup done with precision.
Jade would rather go for comfort, and the maxi dress would allow for eating room . . . because she fully intended to not only eat a meal, she would follow it up with a flaky pastry. Carbs would be her best friend today and tomorrow she would go back to her green shakes and protein-filled meals.
“I’m all set,” Jade told her. “I can drive.”
Surprisingly, her mother didn’t say much more. The drive to Bella Vous was actually a little dreary. The gray skies and drizzle of rain seemed to match Jade’s mood, but she wasn’t going to let it ruin her day. She’d had her pity party and now it was time to woman up and fight for what she wanted.
She wanted Cash, but beyond that, she didn’t know. All she really knew was that she had to apologize, and she would likely have to grovel. He needed to understand he was never someone she was ashamed of. Just the idea that he truly believed that had Jade’s stomach tightening.
As she turned into the drive leading up the hill toward Bella Vous, Jade tried to compartmentalize her emotions. For the next hour or so, there was nothing she could do about Cash. The only thing she could do was work on her speech, figure out what the hell she’d say to him when she saw him again.
With the mock open house coming up, she had to get with him before that. There was such a fine line, though. If she went too soon, he’d still be hurt and angry and closed off—all justifiable feelings.