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“You’re back early, did you have fun?” she asked me the moment I walked through the door.

With a grunt, I plopped on the couch next to her, making her pause whatever show she was watching and turn to me.

“What’s going on, Jackson?”

“I saw Jacqueline. And like it seems to be our fate, we ran into each other, again. It just ended on another shit show.”

“Honestly, I know this town is small, but how do you both keep bumping into each other like that?”

“Tonight I was turning around, and she was getting to the dance floor to do whatever the man was doing.”

I paused as the mental image of her in jeans came to me. She never wore anything like that, and I couldn’t help but frown at the fact.

She looked amazing in them.

Far better than the loose outfits that she had always worn. In fact, I saw curves on her tonight that I had never seen. And though I wouldn’t say it out loud, I wouldn’t mind seeing it again at some point in time.

“Oh good, she needs to get out more. That woman is just going to waste away. The men around her wouldn’t know what to do with a woman like her.”

How true that was.

Jacqueline was a woman that was quiet, but not timid. She was flashes of small smiles, but her eyes held fire.

And why the hell was I even thinking about things like that? Or why was the thought of anyone even stepping up to her upsetting me? It wasn’t like I wanted a claim on her, because that was the furthest thing possible. I was still licking wounds from my ex.

“She wouldn’t date any of these guys anyway,” I muttered. “Or she would have by now, you know.”

“True. I know how the men around here can be. They see her size and say no. But she’s got such beauty to her.”

I slowly turned my head to look at my mom, my brow raised.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Hmm? I’m not telling you this. I’m just sharing. Don’t you agree?”

“I mean, I guess. I haven’t really talked to her. Just our run-ins and she’s far from pretty to me. Most times, she’s downright rude.”

“And you don’t think it’s warranted?”

I snapped my mouth closed because I knew there wasn’t a good answer for that, which only made my mother laugh.

“Jackson, listen to me, okay. Because I know you’re not going to like this, but I feel like you need to hear this. What Geri did to you was horrible. I know you don’t want to try and do anything, and I’ll respect that. I still feel like you should, especially since she had no right to steal everything out of the account when she didn’t put money in, but it’s neither here nor there.

“As I was saying, I know she hurt you, and I’m sorry she did baby. But you also can’t go around with the huge chip you have and bark at everyone that crosses your path or that looks at you wrong. Before you left, you had a reputation, and maybe it wasn’t all good. But now that you’re back, you’re gaining a new one.

“No one wants to talk to you because all you do is growl and grunt at them. That’s not what Maple Falls is about, and you know what. We’re a community. Sure, we talk and gossip, but we’re here for each other. We don’t put people down and we don’t put them out.

“Someday, and I hope soon, a wonderful woman is going to walk into your life. Your wounds need to start healing, and you need to start living. You can’t do that if you are upset and pissed off at everyone. Really, Jackson, you can’t go on being mad at the whole world, no matter how much you want to. The people around here won’t take it.

“And if you ask me, that nice librarian won’t either. Maybe you two are like oil and water because there’s something there you refuse to see.”

With that speech, she stood up, kissed my cheek, and went to her room, leaving me alone with my thoughts, which I didn’t like.

I had turned into a grump, far more than I had ever been, but mom was right about one thing.

I needed to start healing.

It would be a while before I trusted anyone again, but what if someone did make me want to try love again? I couldn’t be a jerk.