Home is Where the Heart is(48)

Cassie sank down into a chair, put her head in her hands, and began the long and tiring waiting game. She and Jordan knew it was going to be a very long night for the both of them.





An hour went by, but to Cassie and Jordan, it felt like an eternity. Brielle had gone off almost twenty minutes ago to try and find them all some decent coffee.

When Brielle returned with the coffees, she spotted Cassie leaning in toward Jordan with her head resting on his strong shoulder, while Jordan had an arm slung around her shoulders and his own head near hers as they dozed together.

She was beginning to see things very clearly now. She understood why Jordan couldn’t see a relationship in his future; he was obviously still very much in love with Cassie, and she wondered why they weren’t together already. She hoped it wasn’t because of her. Although she wanted to be more than just friends with benefits with Jordan, she also didn’t want to be the one to stand between two people getting back together if they had a chance to be a proper family. She was a believer in finding your one true love and living happily ever after, and she dreamed of one day walking down the aisle in a pretty white dress where the man of her dreams would be waiting for her, but now she realized Jordan wasn’t him. His true love wasn’t her. He didn’t belong with her. She could see that now, especially when it was blatantly staring her in the face.

Brielle hated to disturb them from what looked like a peaceful slumber, but she wanted to talk to Jordan and it couldn’t wait another day. She had coffee in her hands, which she knew wouldn’t matter if they went cold or not—hospital coffee, or any kind of coffee in Yellow Valley, wouldn’t be as good as the kind you would find in Miami.

Brielle stepped forward, standing in front of the chairs where Jordan and Cassie were sitting. She cleared her throat quietly, which startled Jordan, his eyes opening wide as he looked up and noticed Brielle. In a split second, he remembered where he was as his whole body straightened carefully so he wouldn’t wake up Cassie. He placed his hands gently on either side of her face, and slowly tilted her head back against the wall they were sitting along.

Jordan took the tray of coffee from Brielle and set them down on the chair next to him.

“Can we talk for a moment?” she asked him in a low tone.

Jordan ran a hand through his short black hair, looking back at a sleeping Cassie and then back to Brielle. “Yeah, sure,” he mumbled.

They walked to a cozy little spot outside the hospital, which was probably used for moments like these when loved ones of patients were awaiting the results of a surgery. Jordan didn’t know how much longer he could possibly last before he would burst. He didn’t know how some people could do this all the time, and he thanked his lucky stars that his son didn’t have some other life-threatening shit that would make him a constant visitor to hospital.

They stood together for a moment in silence so both could recollect their individual thoughts. Jordan swayed back and forth on his feet, tucking his hands into the front pockets of his dress pants.

Brielle knew he was making this harder than it needed to be. He was damn sexy, and she hated to tell him they couldn’t do what they used to anymore, that it needed to stop right away because her feelings were growing stronger for him, and despite what he thought he felt for her, she knew deep down he really couldn’t care about her as much as she wanted him to. His heart already chose someone else to love unconditionally, and it wasn’t her.

“So, um…” she began, running a hand through her hair, which was still in a perfect up-do, “…I guess what I wanted to tell you is I don’t think it’s going to work out between you and me.”

Jordan’s eyes grew wide, almost as if he was shocked by her outright honesty.

“It isn’t? But I thought this was what you wanted to happen. Look, I know that our date didn’t exactly go as planned tonight, but I couldn’t just not show up to the hospital when my son’s not well. He’s my kid. I had to be here for him, as well as Cassie. They needed me.”

Brielle’s eyes showed empathy. “I know. I wasn’t expecting you to not come here. Of course you need to be here for your little boy and Cassie. That’s what I’m talking about. It’s why I think I need to go back to Miami.”

Jordan showed her a half-dazed look. He really didn’t understand her. She needed to explain faster.

She took his hand in hers, her fingers gently gliding over his. Anyone would think they were a perfect match, their hands fitting perfectly with each other, but Brielle knew he was meant for someone else entirely. Jordan wasn’t made for her.