Senna's Secret

by Karen Tjebben

  “You two were out there for a long time. I finally gave up waiting for you and made my way home.” With the early start every morning to prep the bakery for customers, she had to get to bed early most nights.

  Senna laughed. “Let the Inquisition begin,” she teased. “What would you say if I told you it was personal and private and that I couldn’t talk about it?”

  Dahlia’s mouth dropped open in shock and then her visage took on a ‘not going to happen’ expression. “I’d say, Hell no. You need to talk. Unless you’ve been secretly working for the CIA all these years, there is nothing you need to hide from me.”

  Senna bobbed her head back and forth. “Other than my quick stint as an FBI asset infiltrating a drug gang in inner-city Los Angeles, I guess I’m free to talk.”

  “Phew,” Dahlia dramatically swiped her hand across her forehead. “We got that out of the way. What happened last night between you and Josh?”

  Everything that happened between them was private. There was so much that she never wanted anyone to know. Practically their entire conversation. But through their intimacy on the bench, it was like their souls merged and awoke the sleeping love between them.

  Knowing she would never tell Dahlia the truth, she began, “Not a whole lot happened.” Senna tore off a bite of bear claw. “We just kind of,” she paused as she debated how to describe their time together, “chilled and caught up.”

  Dahlia raised a brow in doubt. “That’s not how it looked.” Why was Senna being so secretive? Dahlia’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What are you hiding?”

  “I know that you’re going to read so much more into us being on the bench together.” Senna replied. “We talked a little. I apologized for how things ended between us.” She lifted a shoulder nonchalantly. “He understands, and thankfully that awkwardness is over. We can now be civil and friendly to each other.”

  “Civil and friendly?” Dahlia’s voice was laced with disbelief. “You were tucked up under his arm. That was anything but civil. Civil is giving an acquaintance a wave from across the room so as to not snub them.” She mockingly moved her hand as if she was a princess at Disneyland on a parade float. “Civil is holding the door open for someone. Civil is stopping for the person in the crosswalk.”

  Senna interrupted. “I think that one is mandatory.”

  Dahlia gave Senna her ‘don’t’ mess with me’ look and continued, “What you two were doing was way beyond civil. Does he want to get back together with you?”

  Senna rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t like that. And I don’t know.” God, could she be so lucky as to have him pursue her again? Did she really want that? How had they changed over the last decade? How she remembered him in her head and heart could be so different from the man that he is today.

  Senna continued, “It was just good clearing the air between us. We were kids back then. Now we’re adults. We’ve both changed.”

  “Did he kiss you?”

  “No, we didn’t kiss,” Senna assumed Dahlia meant on the lips or a place of intimacy, so she didn’t consider her answer a lie. He had kissed her head a few times. And that action seemed so compassionate and emotion-filled that she didn’t want to share it with Dahlia. If she did, Dahlia would only wonder why he would kiss the top of her head and not her lips. That would just rouse Dahlia’s suspicions.

  Dahlia raised a brow, “At one time, I would swear he kissed you.” She narrowed her eyes.

  Senna let out a frustrated sound. “Okay, he may have kissed the top of my head.”

  “I knew it!” Dahlia cheered and then sang, “He wants you b-ack. He wants you b-ack,” while doing the Cabbage Patch dance.

  “Please stop. Your dance is burning a hole through my eyes, and your singing is like nails on a chalkboard.”

  Dahlia stopped suddenly. Her arms hung limp by her sides. She clicked her tongue and shook her head. “That’s not very nice. Mark loves it when I do the Cabbage Patch.”

  “Then Mark is your soul mate, because that was terrible.”

  “Then the real question is if Josh is your soul mate?” Dahlia replied triumphantly.

  “I don’t know,” Senna said truthfully. “Our talk was different. It wasn’t lust filled. We communicated and cleared the air between us. I have no idea if he’d ever be interested in me again.”

  Part of Senna didn’t want to even think about him being interested in her. She was transitioning to life in Avenel again, and she didn’t want to fall into old patterns just because it was easier than carving out a new life for herself. But, then again, the man could light her up inside.

  “You watch,” Dahlia began, “He’s going to dump that other woman so he can go after you.”

  Senna’s cheeks flushed. “Actually, they’re ‘taking a break’ right now.”

  Dahlia’s mouth dropped open. “Seriously?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s fabulous news. It’s already begun,” Dahlia crooned and let out an evil laugh while maniacally rubbing her hands together like a nefarious villain from the cartoons.

  “What has?” Senna asked.

  Dahlia held her hands out in front of her in an obvious ‘duh’ position. “Operation Capture Senna’s Heart. The man wants you back,” Dahlia exclaimed.

  Was that true? Senna’s heart raced at the idea that Josh could be interested in her again. “Do you really think so?”

  “Yes,” Dahlia bobbed her head up and down. “Why would I lie about that? Did he text you today?”

  “Yes,” Senna whispered. “But it was nothing significant. He thanked me for meeting with him last night.”

  “What did you reply back?”

  “I gave him a thumbs up.” She bit her bottom lip in concern and did a half-hearted shrug.

  Dahlia’s mouth gaped in disappointment. “Your past love reaches out to you, and you gave him a thumbs up?” She shook her head in disbelief. “You need so much help.”

  “I figured it was a courtesy text. I didn’t want to make it into something that it wasn’t. I didn’t want to be that girl who takes an innocent gesture and turns in into a big deal.”

  “Hopefully you didn’t turn him off,” Dahlia muttered and rolled her eyes. “Here’s what you do. Send him a joke or some stupid meme that he’ll think is funny. You can open the line of communication between the two of you without seeming desperate or worried.”

  “I don’t think I’m ready for this,” Senna said. She rubbed her fingers across her forehead.

  “You are ready for this,” Dahlia cheered. “How awesome would it be if I marry Mark, and then you and Josh get married?”

  Senna raised a brow. “Wow, you went from a text to married in record time. Do not mention any of this Mark or Josh. They will freak.”

  “I’m just saying, wouldn’t it be cool if we all ended up together. Like Fate.”

  “Serendipity?” Senna mocked.

  “Yes,” Dahlia cheered. “Destiny.”

  Senna wasn’t sure she believed in Destiny or Fate, but she was willing to see where her relationship with Josh would go.

  19

  Senna checked her cell again. He hadn’t replied. She’d taken Dahlia’s advice and sent Josh a cute text of a cat before bed last night. It was now pushing lunch time the following day. He still hadn’t replied.

  Was he working? Busy? Or ignoring her?

  God, why did she listen to Dahlia? She shouldn’t have sent Josh a text or anything. She should have given him time to make a move if he was going to.

  Did she look desperate? Like she was trying to get him back? Argh, why did relationships have to be so hard?

  She eased out of her chair and tiptoed up to the privacy screen. She knew she looked ridiculous. If someone had told her a month ago that she’d be creeping around her office desk and hiding behind a Shoji screen, she wouldn’t have believed them. But here she was, standing at the edge of the screen and wondering if it was safe to peek around. Would Martin be staring in her direction?

  Her
heart thrummed with nervous energy. If their eyes met, she’d have to think of something to say. He could possibly ask her when she was going to eat. There were way too many variables for her to not get nervous whenever she popped out from behind the screen.

  She’d started to mix up her lunch times because he always managed to be in the kitchen at the same time she was. If she ate early, he ate early. If she ate late, he ate late.

  Was he literally stalking her so they could eat lunch together? She hoped the paranoia was unfounded and that he wasn’t truly matching his lunch to hers.

  Even though they didn’t talk much while in the kitchen, it was still weird. He would stare at her. And when she stared back, he’d smile, completely missing the fact that he should realize that he was staring and should look away. It was unnerving.

  20

  Martin had been watching the clock. Lunch was approaching, and that meant Senna would come out from behind the screen. If she thought the screen gave her privacy, she was wrong. All it did was heighten his interest. They played a little game. A grown-up version of hide and seek. When he heard movement on her side of the room, his heart picked up its pace in anticipation of her presence.

  She stepped out from behind the screen with her head down and marched to the restroom.

  “Are you going to lunch?” Martin called out.

  Dammit. Senna took in a steadying breath and then looked over her shoulder. “In a little. I’ll be right back.” She headed into the bathroom.

  Sharing the office space with Martin made her feel like a child in a classroom. She wasn’t sure she could keep doing this, but breaking out on her own, opening her own accounting firm would be a huge responsibility. And she’d signed that damn non-compete clause. If she did set up her own business, she’d have to be based out of another town on The Hidden Banks. Avenel was a no-go. In a few years, she could probably snag some of his clients, but she didn’t know if she could get enough work to support herself before then.

  Martin watched as she closed the restroom door behind her. He glanced at his watch. He would go to the recording with that timestamp on it tonight. She may hide behind her screen, but she couldn’t hide from him forever.

  A faint ding came from her side of the room. He eased out of his seat and crept behind her obscene screen. Her cell lay on top of her desk. He caught sight of the text right before it disappeared.

  Dahlia: Did you take my advice? Go get him, girl.

  Martin’s brain whirled. He’d met Dahlia, but he had no idea who Senna was supposed to get? What did that even mean? Was Senna supposed to get the man she had a crush on? The one Senna had alluded to the other day in the kitchen?

  Could the man be him?

  Relationships were so difficult. All the different layers. Words didn’t always mean what you thought they meant. Body language just confused the hell out of him. Besides, what the hell was body language? How did one’s body talk?

  The sound of the toilet flushing sent a rush of adrenaline though Martin’s veins. He rushed back to his side of the room and made it into his seat just as the restroom door opened.

  He made eye contact with her as soon as she exited the restroom. She smiled back as she shuffled towards her desk and then disappeared behind her screen.

  Senna shook her head in amazement. Martin was the weirdest man she’d ever met. She hated to think this way, but if she found out that he was a serial killer, she wouldn’t be surprised. She’d be the coworker telling the news anchor that he was always a little ‘off’. Heck, everyone in Avenel knew he was a little ‘off’.

  She lifted her cell to see if Josh had texted her while she was gone. She spotted Dahlia’s text and cringed. Picking up her cell she texted back.

  Senna: Ha, ha. You’re hilarious.

  That would have to do for now. No way was she telling her that she’d texted Josh and he’d ghosted her. She may have her secrets, but she also had her pride.

  21

  Josh stood in the middle of the Sand Castle Design Experts office with irritation burning a hole through his chest. His cell phone was missing. All day he’d missed that thing. Here it was, pushing quitting time, and he still hadn’t found it. When he checked the location app on the cell, he knew it was at the business location. It was here. Somewhere.

  Several years back, when he started the business, he’d bought a small house in an older section of town to use as his business address. The house was a square-shaped, two-bedroom, one bath place. It was perfect as a base location for the landscaping company. He could even shower if he needed to.

  He’d turned one of the bedrooms into the office. It had a desk and a computer. The desk was a mess. A pile of paperwork needed to be processed and filed. He really needed to find someone to help him organize that part of the business.

  He flipped through the paperwork on the desk, hoping the cell had slid between the pages. It hadn’t.

  After going through the office, he went back into the main room. For a family, this space would be their living room. For him, it was the place where he stored the ‘clean’ odds and ends for his business. The garage housed the larger, dirtier tools and equipment that he used.

  He’d already done a cursory search of the room. This time he’d have to be more thorough. He stood in the center of the room with his hands on his hips. He thought back to when he’d last used the cell.

  Where the hell was it?

  Until misplacing it, he hadn’t realized how dependent he was on his cell phone. It had his calendar, contacts, and was the easiest way to communicate quickly with his workers. At one house, he had to ask the owner if he could borrow their phone so he could call Dalton Motley, his foreman.

  With regret, once he was holding the owner’s phone, he realized that he hadn’t memorized Dalton’s number. He usually just typed in Dalton’s name and hit call. Since he couldn’t do that, he resorted to calling his mom to get Dalton’s mom’s number in order to ask her for Dalton’s number. And of course, the homeowner stood there with a smile on his face the whole time.

  The humiliation was real.

  He promised himself that he would never have to do that again.

  Josh’s brows pulled together when he spotted the dinged up tool box on the floor in the corner. He seldom used that box, but he’d dug around in it last night after his meeting with Senna.

  With determined steps, he crossed the floor and knelt by the box. The heavy metal box squeaked against the linoleum when he pulled it close. He unlatched the top and lifted the lid. Tucked in the box on its side, the cell phone was safe between the wall of the tool box and a temperature gauge.

  “Yes,” Josh exclaimed. He gripped it in his hand. The screen stayed dark. “Of course, the battery is dead,” he mumbled. Standing, he went into the office and plugged the cell into the charger. He’d give it a few minutes and then see what he’d missed.

  Going to his desk, he figured he could chip away at the mountain of paperwork. This was the part of owning a business that he hated. When he was outside, working under the sun with the breeze at his back, work was paradise, but being surrounded by ‘paperwork’, whether literal paper or managing invoices, receipts, and payments on the computer, felt like an inner circle of Hell.

  When he finished going through half the papers, he went back to his cell and turned it on. He let out a hiss when he noticed Senna’s text from the morning. She probably thought he’d ignored her. He had to make that right. The sweat and grit of the day still clung to him. He’d shower and then get over to Senna’s.

  The truth was, he needed her.

  22

  Senna couldn’t get her goodbye with Josh out of her head. After walking her to her car, he’d cupped her face in his hands and pressed an innocent kiss to her forehead. It had been intimate yet innocent at the same time.

  Then she sent him the text, which he’d completely ignored.

  She’d spent the day hovering by her cell in order to reply as soon as he made contact. She had no idea what
she would’ve said, but at least it would be continuing their conversation. She prayed his empathy hadn’t turned to anger now that he had time to think about everything.

  And now, here it was, six o’clock and she still hadn’t heard a thing from him. With a pit in her stomach, she went into the kitchen to see what she’d scrounge up for dinner. Pulling the fridge door open, she spotted the container of eggs on the middle shelf and the bacon tucked into the cheese drawer. Tonight was definitely a breakfast for dinner kind of night.

  Just as she pulled open the cheese drawer to get the bacon, her cell chimed. Slamming the fridge door closed, she popped over to her cell on the counter. When she saw his text, everything was right in the world again.

  Josh: Can I bring dinner over?

  “Yes, yes you can,” Senna practically sang as she typed out a message.

  Senna: Yes! I’m hungry.

  She didn’t hit send. She reread the text. Did it sound rude? Like she was demanding him to bring her food? She deleted the text and tried again.

  Senna: That would be great. Thanks.

  She stared at it again, bringing her fingers to her lips as she reread it. She was going to drive herself crazy if she overthought everything. She added a smiley face, hit send, and waited for his reply.

  Josh: See you soon.

  Thankfully the condo was already clean, but she needed a refresher. She hurried to the bathroom to touch up her makeup and changed out of her work clothes into something more comfortable.

  Within thirty minutes, her doorbell chimed. She rushed across the room but slowed at the door. Taking a moment to collect herself, she took in a breath and then pulled open the door.

  And there he was, all six-feet of him with his wavy hair and green eyes. How could she have thought she could live in Avenel with him and not be drawn into his orbit? His pull on her was undeniable.

  She was helpless to his charms. Always had been.

  “Hey, smells good,” she said, her eyes growing bigger as she spotted the brown bag. She tilted her head to the side to motion him inside. “Come on in. You can set that down on the kitchen table.”