“Do you think there’s any way to get the money back?” Danny asked in a small voice.

Mia hesitated. “I don’t know. We’ll go to the bank tomorrow and talk to the idiot who signed off on it. Your account is set up so that both of our signatures are required in order to make any major changes. Anything you do on your own is restricted to withdrawals and deposits. I don’t give a shit if Brenda told him she was your mother—the manager shouldn’t have approved your request. And believe me, I’m going to have his job for this.”

Danny smiled weakly. “Maybe we should bring Jackson. You know, so he can scare the manager with all his muscles.”

Her heart clenched. God, she’d completely forgotten about Jackson. About the way she’d deserted him in Texas and scurried back to San Diego like a petrified animal.

“He came back with you, right?”

She avoided her brother’s eyes. “No, he’s still in Texas.”

“How come?”

Mia shrugged.

“Seriously, why?” Danny pushed.

A few seconds ticked by, and then Mia let out a sheepish breath. “Let’s just say you’re not the only one who screwed up.”

“Oh, crap. What did you do, dum-dum?”

She and Danny didn’t usually discuss each other’s love lives, but Mia found herself blurting out everything that had happened in Abbott Creek. Confiding in Danny probably wasn’t the best idea, but it was past two in the morning, she felt battered and exhausted, and words just kept popping out of her mouth before she could stop them.

When she finished, Danny was staring at her as if she’d just told him she’d joined the circus and was leaving tomorrow.

“What is the matter with you?”

Her brow puckered. “What do you mean?”

“Why don’t you want to be with him? Jackson is, like, the coolest guy on the planet,” Danny announced. “And for some reason, he actually loves you.”

“Ha-ha,” she muttered.

“I’m serious, Mia, you’re being so dumb right now. He loves you, you love him. So what’s the problem? And PS, that was a dick move, leaving without saying goodbye to him.”

She swallowed. “I know.”

“Oh, and PPS—I don’t think you should be scared. You’re not like Mom.” Danny’s tone turned ferocious. “You’re nothing like her. You’re strong and caring and you put everyone’s needs ahead of yours. She’s selfish and spoiled and doesn’t care about anyone but herself. So are you really surprised that all her stupid marriages failed? She can’t stay in love with anyone because the only person she loves is herself.”

He finished in a thundering rush, daring her with his eyes to disagree.

But she couldn’t. She couldn’t argue a single thing he’d said because he was absolutely right. Brenda hadn’t gotten her happy ending not because forever didn’t exist, but because she was a flawed, self-absorbed woman doomed to destroy every relationship in her life. But happily ever after did exist—all of Jackson’s friends had found it. Kurt and Arlene were living it.

So why couldn’t Mia?

“You’re too frickin’ smart for your own good,” she told her brother.

“Um? Mia?” Danny pointed at his own chest. “Guy that just had ten grand stolen from him?”

Laughter was probably not the most appropriate of reactions, but Mia couldn’t help but break out in a hearty wave of it.

“Good point,” she blurted between giggles. “Obviously you’re as dumb as I am.”

Danny started laughing too, and suddenly they were both crying again, but this time because of the ridiculous hilarity of the situation. Eventually they hauled their asses off the couch and drifted side-by-side toward the hallway, pausing in front of Danny’s bedroom door to exchange another long hug.

“We’ll try and straighten everything out in the morning,” she assured him as she ruffled his hair.

“Thanks, Mia.” He paused. “And you’re going to straighten things out with Jackson, too. Right?”

“Don’t worry, I have every intention of fixing what I broke.” A ripple of worry tugged on her stomach. “I just hope Jackson is able to forgive me.”

It was nine in the morning when Jackson let himself into Mia’s apartment with the key she’d given him weeks ago. He knew he was probably abusing his key privileges by sneaking into her place without warning, but he didn’t give a shit. He was tired, hungry, mad and worried, a four-way punch that made it impossible to care about etiquette at the moment.

In fact, there wasn’t a single trace of Southern gentleman in him as he threw open the door to Mia’s bedroom and stormed inside.

“Wake up, sugar.”

Her dark head popped up, those beautiful green eyes more alert than he’d expected them to be.

He realized then that she hadn’t been sleeping. Wasn’t even lying under the covers. She was fully dressed and sitting on the bed, almost as if she’d been waiting for him.

Mia’s next words confirmed his thoughts. “Took you long enough.” She sighed. “I checked the airline website and it said the next flight out of Dallas was at five o’clock this morning.”

“It got delayed ’til seven.” He approached the bed with wary strides. “You knew I’d come, huh?”

“Of course.”