His lids flew open, the vision of Brynn asleep and okay the only thing that slowed his frenzied breaths. He listened to her soft exhalations, letting them lull his own into sync with her rhythm. He didn’t have to pretend everything was fine anymore in order to protect her. She would be okay, but things between them were far from fine.
He’d only ever wanted Brynn to want him back, and when that finally became a reality when they were seventeen, all he could think about was how much it would suck to lose her. Yes, his parents’ split rocked his world. He wouldn’t deny that. But what rocked it even more was the thought of something like that happening to him and Brynn.
Then there was the other guy. How could she go from being so convinced Spencer was the guy to being sure she wanted him? It was easy back then to blame the divorce for his reluctance to change their status from friendship to something more, but he could never shake the feeling of being Brynn’s consolation prize. And here they were again in the same position, but this time Brynn knew how he felt—how he had felt for ten years. Yet he had deceived her about his intentions with this trip. And she had kept secret Spencer’s request for her to spend the night.
The way he saw it, any hesitation to be honest with each other was hesitation about each other, and Jamie saw only one way to fix that.
“Be right back,” he whispered and kissed her lightly on the cheek.
“Mkay,” she said dreamily, then rolled to her other side.
Remembering a McDonald’s a mile or so down the road, he quickly dressed and grabbed his bag to sneak out and bring back coffee, a peace offering, he hoped. But when he put the key in the ignition and attempted to start the engine, he got nothing. Not a chug, not one turnover.
Mr. Level-Headed was about to lose his cool now because he had to get to L.A. Today. He hadn’t told Brynn about the business portion of his trip, even though she’d been the inspiration for it. He was so bent on putting L.A. out of his mind until they actually got there that he’d ignored the part of this weekend he was actually looking forward to, the unveiling of his newest brew, the one that was always for her. After Amarillo he decided telling her would only make him look and feel like more of an ass than he already did. Still, even if she didn’t know it, he had her to thank for convincing him the trip would do him good. When he’d found out they had an extra tent after another brewer dropped out, well, he just figured it was a sign.
That’s right. A sign. And the one he was getting right now was far from promising.
He tried the truck again. Nothing. Shit. So much for the tune-up he got before they left, not to mention the flat tire that was supposed to mean they’d gotten the car trouble portion of the trip out of the way.
He popped his head back in the wigwam. Brynn was still asleep. Then he went to the front office to find out about a mechanic.
“Closest one doesn’t open for another hour, but I can give you a jumpstart and see if that does the trick.”
Jamie nodded emphatically. “God, yes. Please,” he said to the man at the front desk. At least if it was the battery it was easily replaced. It was just a matter of someone getting here with one as soon as humanly possible.
Phil, the front desk guy, pulled his car around to Jamie’s wigwam and hooked up the jumper cables. When it was time for Jamie to start ’er up, Phil gave him the thumbs-up and—nothing. Nada. Not even a sputter.
Shit.
“Still could be the battery. Or maybe your starter. Mickey’ll be in the shop soon, and I’ll give him a call. He’ll get one of his guys to tow you over there. They’re real good, should have you on your way by lunchtime the latest if it’s nothing major.”
Phil headed back to the office, and Jamie told the man he’d be there soon to figure out the whole mechanic situation with Mickey. He crossed his fingers that Mickey didn’t have a busy morning, because he was banking on being his first customer of the day.
Lunchtime would put Jamie half a day off course. He’d pretended like this week was a leisurely tour because they were making perfect time. They were poised to get into town with hours to spare. But now, if he didn’t check in by seven o’clock this evening, he would lose his spot in the new brewers tents, and it would go to someone else on the waiting list.
He called Jeremy, who answered on the first ring.
“What’s up, boss?” He was awake and alert, which hopefully meant Jeremy had made his flight last night without incident.
“Hey, Jer. Tell me you’re at the hotel already.”
“Uh-oh,” he said, and Jamie’s heart sank. If Jeremy hadn’t made his flight, he was fucked.
“What do you mean, uh-oh? I got you a first-class ticket, man. Tell me you didn’t miss the damn flight!”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, dude. No reason to Hulk out. I made my flight. I’m just not exactly in my hotel. See, I met this girl on the plane, and she was staying…”
Jamie blew out a breath and then cut him off. “Okay, okay. I don’t need details. You’re in L.A., yes?”
“Yes. And you will be soon, right?”