Page 26

CHAPTER 26

Dee

I t was bad enough that Jax Caldwell was still in Ballybeg, but now he was staying on the family farm with Ronan, who had apparently decided to become the President of the Jax Caldwell Fan Club.

I kicked him out of the pub, but of course, I did. The next thing I know, Ronan offers him my room in my childhood home. Jax is happy as a clam. When I told him the whole house had only one bathroom and it was old, he said he’d be fine.

Imagining this wealthy man living at the pub was already a stretch; now, he was staying in my rundown old farmhouse, and that was beyond my imagination.

“Fair play to him, Dee,” Ronan said over breakfast the day after Jax came back as if I’d asked for his opinion. “He’s not running away with his tail between his legs, and you’ve done your best to make it impossible for him.”

“Good,” I snapped, slamming the butter knife down onto the counter. “I want him gone. And I’m very angry with you for offering him a place to stay in my home.”

“It’s currently my home. In any case, Paddy offered. Seamus offered, though I don’t know if Jax wanted to go there…you know, because of Fergus,” Ronan said thoughtfully. “Even Noreen said he could stay with her.”

My eyes widened. “Noreen has the one bedroom.”

Ronan smirked, the smug bastard. “I think she was offering him her bed as well.”

“That brazen hoor .”

“You dumped his arse, which means he’s a free agent. And Noreen is a nice-looking lass. Body made for sin and all that.”

Ronan was having way too much fun baiting me.

“He’s not interested in Noreen.”

“Oh, I know that, and so does she, but I don’t understand why it’s making you jealous. You don’t still want the man, do you?” He grinned widely.

Arsehole !

“No, I don’t want the man,” I lied. “I just don’t understand why he wants to stay. I thought he’d be running back to America or wherever.”

“He said something about helping you save Ballybeg.”

“The nerve that man has,” I growled and left the kitchen before I hurt myself with the effort it was taking for me not to scream.

As the days passed, things only got worse.

Ronan, it seemed, wasn’t the only one in Ballybeg who appeared to be on Jax’s side. In fact, everyone had something positive to say.

“Jax Caldwell’s been out fixing the fences with Paddy,” Mrs. Nolan informed me—as if I needed to know. “He’s got a good head for work, that one. Not like some of those useless blow-ins.”

“Caught him buying paint at the hardware shop,” Liam Ryan said as I pulled him a pint. “Said he was sprucing up your old barn. It’s about time someone did.”

By the time I closed up the pub at night, I was ready to scream.

Who did Jax think he was, striding around Ballybeg like he belonged here, winning people over with that damn Southern charm of his? Didn’t anyone remember that he was a liar? That he was practically in bed with the developers who were trying to destroy everything we loved?

But deep down, I knew the real reason I was angry.

It wasn’t because Jax was staying. It wasn’t even because the whole village seemed to have taken his side.

It was because I couldn’t stop thinking about him—couldn’t stop loving him.

I knew in my heart that Jax had nothing to do with the developers. He wouldn’t. Why would he? As he’d told me before, he had a lot of money, and this was just peanuts. He was right when he said I saw an opportunity to push him away, and I took it. I missed him so much, and I wanted him back. I didn’t know how to apologize and ask him to come back. I felt like a fool.

On Monday, instead of going for a walk and visiting Maggie, I sat down at my desk in my room. The county vote was less than a month away. We were running out of time. Hell, we’d already done so. After the vote, we had to deal with the reality that Ballybeg would never be the same. The pub, the fields, the land my family had fought so hard to keep—it would all be gone.

I couldn’t save anything. It was those damn taxes.

I’d been putting it off, hoping for some kind of miracle, but I knew I couldn’t avoid it any longer. The letter from the revenue office was sitting on my desk, glaring at me like a challenge.

I had tried to get a loan but the bank wasn’t any help.

“We’d love to help you, Dee,” Keegan Ahren, the loan officer, said kindly. “But given your financial history and the state of your business, we can’t approve a loan at this time.”

“Come on, Keegan, you know I’m good for it.”

“If this were my bank, I’d do it, you know that. But we got rules in place, Dee. Your father defaulted on two loans.”

“I paid them off,” I protested.

“Aye, but it put you on the blacklist when it comes to loans.”

There was a blacklist? The feckers!

Now, the only thing left was for me to beg the revenue people to give me a break. I drove to the county revenue office in Ennis, my stomach churning the whole way. The thought of walking in there, cap in hand, wasn’t exactly appealing, but I didn’t have a choice.

Thankfully, they didn’t make me wait. I was taken to an office, and the manager spoke nicely to me. When I explained why I was there, she nodded and took my details. She then typed on her computer and looked at her screen with concern. I could see that not all was well—hell, I knew that.

“I’d like to request an extension,” I said, forcing my voice to stay calm. “Or maybe set up a payment plan. I just need a little more time.”

She frowned, typing some more. “One moment, please.”

I sat staring at the worn tile floor, knowing that this was my last chance…my only. After this…it was over.

“Ms. Gallagher,” she finally said, looking up at me. “There’s no need for an extension. Your account is already settled.”

I blinked. “What?”

She turned the screen toward me, pointing at the glowing numbers. “Your taxes have been paid in full. As of three days ago.”

My stomach flipped. “That’s not possible. I didn’t?—”

She gave me a patient smile. “It’s been paid, Ms. Gallagher. There’s no balance owing.”

I left the office in a daze, my mind racing. The taxes were paid. Someone had paid them for me. And there was only one person who could’ve done it.

When I got back to the pub, I found Ronan leaning against the bar, chatting with Seamus.

“Dee,” Ronan said, straightening up when he saw me. “You look like you’re ready to kill a bear with your bare hands.”

“Where the feck is he?” I demanded, ignoring the curious looks from the regulars.

“Who?”

“You know who,” I snapped. “Jax. Where is he?”

Ronan raised an eyebrow, clearly fighting back a smirk. “He’s out at the farm. Probably fixing the barn door or something equally heroic.”

I glared at him, my heart pounding as I turned and stormed out.

I got into my old truck and drove to the farm. It was midday, and a blanket of clouds hid the sun. I parked and walked around, feeling a pang. I hadn’t been here in months, and now, I realized I missed the place, the familiar smells, and the way it made me remember the good things more than the bad appeared, at least for now.

I found Jax near the barn, holding a paintbrush and a smear of white paint on his forearm. He looked up when he saw me, his expression wary but calm.

“Dee. What do I owe this pleasure?” He set the brush down, looking as cocky as ever.

“You paid my taxes.” I crossed my arms.

He didn’t even try to deny it. “I did,” he said simply.

“Why?”

“Because you needed help.” He took a step toward me, and then when he saw I wasn’t pulling away, he took another and then another. “And because I love you, whether you want to believe it or not.”

We were toe to toe, and my throat felt tight at his closeness. “You had no business doing that, Jax. That was my responsibility.”

“And now it’s taken care of,” he drawled. “You’ve got enough to worry about, Dee. Let me take some of the weight off your shoulders.”

I wanted to yell at him, telling him he had no right to swoop in and try to fix everything, but the words wouldn’t come.

Instead, my anger melted. He’d been right. I’d been trying to push him away, and his actions told me that he wasn’t going anywhere. No one in my life had cared more for me the way Jax seemed to in just a few short weeks. If this wasn’t love, I didn’t know what was.

“Thank you,” I said finally, my voice barely above a whisper.

Jax smiled, his blue eyes warm and unwavering. “Ah…can you repeat that? I couldn’t hear you.”

I rolled my eyes. “I said thank you.”

“Did you?” He winked at me and made me blush. “Where I come from, we say thank you with a kiss.”

He turned his face and tapped his cheek.

I went on tiptoe and brushed my lips against him, relishing his scent. Before I could step away, he pulled me into his arms. “Now, give me a proper kiss, Dee Gallagher, ‘cause I’ve missed you something fierce.”

I grabbed his arms and slammed my mouth onto his. It had been way too long since we’d been together, way too long since I’d had the freedom to feel the way he made me feel, only Jax.

By the time we pulled apart, we were both breathing hard. I licked my lips, and he groaned. I couldn’t believe that I’d gone ahead and kissed him.

Before he could say anything, I ran as fast as my legs could take me, got into my truck, and drove back to The Banshee’s Rest.