A Better Man(94)

"Why would you think he'd listen to me?"

"Because you two have something going on."

Lucy felt like she'd been hit with a shovel. She'd tried so hard to be careful so Nicole wouldn't know. It would make things extremely awkward between teacher and student.

"I know you tried to hide it from me," Nicole said. "But it's pretty unmistakable with the way you guys look at each other. Plus . . . I got up one night to get a glass of water and he wasn't on the sofa. I knew he was in the bedroom with you."

"Oh my God." Lucy covered her face with her hands. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." Nicole touched Lucy's shoulder. "I think it's pretty cool."

Lucy lowered her hands and peeked over her fingertips. "You do?"

Nicole nodded. "I think you're good for him. He needs someone like you in his life. And . . . I like you. Even if you make me do hard assignments in school." Nicole's grin went straight to Lucy's heart.

"Only because I know you're very smart and can ace anything you want if you'll just try."

"I aced laying a guilt trip on Jordan when he first came home. I just always thought he was gone because he didn't care about us."

"You know he does."

"I do now. But that was before I saw him doing what he loves. And I can't let him give it up because of me. I'm selfish, but I'm not that selfish. I know he wants to do what's right. But staying here out of obligation isn't right."

"I don't think he'd stay just out of obligation, Nicole. I think he loves his family and he wants to be here for you. He wants to be a part of your life. He's missed a lot over the last fifteen years."

"You can't make up for lost time," Nicole said sadly. "And if you give up something because you think that's what you need to do to try, it's wrong in too many ways to count. Before my parents died, quitting never entered his mind. Doesn't that tell you it's wrong?"

Lucy knew she was the wrong one to give out advice. Especially where a family was concerned. She didn't have one. She never really had. Her parents had quit on life way before she'd even entered high school. And for her to even try to step in and interfere with something she had no business doing scared the life out of her. But for a seventeen-­year-­old girl, Nicole made sense. And if Jordan was going to make such a gigantic decision, he couldn't do it at the risk of making everyone else feel guilty because he'd done so. 

"It tells me he should give this a lot more thought," Lucy said. "I think he's just looking at it the way he does business on the ice. Out there he slams, punches, and pushes his way to get what he wants or needs. He doesn't have time to think it over. He just makes an abrupt decision."

"Then will you please talk to him?"

How could Lucy refuse the concern in Nicole's eyes? "I'll give it my best shot."

Relief washed over Nicole's face. "Thank you." She hugged Lucy, then leaned back and wrinkled her nose. "Although you might want to wash that mask off first. You're cracking."

Lucy chuckled. "Story of my life."

The idea of taking the tiger by the tail and trying to convince Jordan he shouldn't do something he probably really thought he should do would be a challenge bar none. Lucy hated confrontation. Of any kind. So she needed to come up with a disarming way to approach the matter. Catch him a little off guard. Then hopefully he'd see reason.

Then again, she'd seen his deciphering on the ice, and Lucy knew that meant things probably wouldn't bode well for what she needed to do. And the fact that she'd never been in this type of situation before guaranteed that no one should bet on her success.

Jordan Kincade was a man with a will and a mind of his own. And that was only a part of what made him so darned sexy.

Time to step out of her comfort zone.

Again.





Chapter 16


After his talk with Nicole, Jordan spent a couple of hours with Ryan in the bottling room, learning about the new vintner arguments on corks versus screw tops. He didn't have an opinion either way. But to him, it just didn't seem right to open a bottle of Dom Pérignon with a screw top.

Nine-­year-­old Riley tagged along, scuffing her tennis shoes and sighing with boredom so often that Jordan told Ryan they'd talk about the subject another day. He needed and wanted to learn the business, but family came first. And with the circumstances what they were, Riley needed her father's attention more often. Just one more reason that solidified Jordan's decision.

No one felt like making dinner so he'd picked up burgers in town at Mr. Pickle Buns and they all ate at his parents' kitchen table.

During the course of the meal the house had been intensely quiet and the glaring absence of their parents had been painful. Ordinarily his mother would be fussing about preparing food or working on a project for one of her favorite organizations. His father would have been rambling about fixing this or that or talking about a new blend for the wines. All of them at the table felt the void but no one said a word. They all knew-­like it or not-­it was an aching emptiness they were going to have to learn to live with. The realization did nothing to ease the knot in his stomach.