They talked a bit about their trip and Stanley filled her in on what was happening at the firm, then they said their goodbyes.
***
Each day Wade felt his love for Jenna grow. He knew it was soon, but he could see a future with her. She was sweet and loving, and made him feel happier than anyone had ever done before.
This particular day he had finished work early and eagerly rushed to the house to see her. He went in through the kitchen and found Gretchen cleaning up.
“Oh, I’m glad you’re back. Your Uncle Stanley’s on the phone. He’s talking to Jenna.”
He felt himself stiffen. Uncle Stanley was talking to Jenna, had she told him about them? He hoped not, he didn’t want his uncle finding out about them over the phone. He knew this day would come, it was inevitable, but he felt unprepared to have this conversation just yet, he wanted to tell him face to face.
“Thanks Gretchen.”
He went into the living room and heard Jenna speaking.
“I love you too, and I can’t wait to see you. I’ve missed you so much.”
He felt as if he had been sucker punched in the stomach. The lying bitch! She never ended the relationship with Uncle Stanley, she was telling him she loved him! She had duped him just like she had duped his uncle. They were such fools.
He saw her hang up and head upstairs and felt as if the anger would consume him. She would pay for making him believe in love again. He went up the stairs, taking two steps at a time, and quickly reached her bedroom. She turned and gave him such a beautiful smile that he almost forgot what kind of person she really was.
“Hi sweetheart, I didn’t hear you come in.”
“I just got in.”
She went toward him, putting her arms around his neck and kissing him softly. His heart ached at her touch. How could she be so manipulative, and how had he been so naïve?
He pulled her hands away, giving her a look of such loathing that she gasped.
“What’s wrong honey?”
He wouldn’t let her know what he heard. If she wanted to act like a whore he’d treat her like a whore. He grabbed her and crushed her against him, taking her mouth so harshly that she cried out.
“Wade, what are you doing? You’re hurting me.” She pushed against him but he held her tight.
“What do you mean, what am I doing? I have a few minutes and I needed to release some tension. Now take your clothes off and get on the bed. Hurry up and spread your legs, I don’t have much time.”
He saw the look of devastation and confusion in her eyes but didn’t care, he knew it was just a façade.
“Why are you talking to me that way?” Her lower lip trembled as she recoiled from him.
“Don’t play innocent with me. If you’re going to continue staying here you have to pay, just like you’ve been doing. I know how you use that pretty little pussy to get what you want, and I’ll gladly accept it in lieu of cash.”
He felt the slap on his face and flinched at the intensity of it.
“How dare you talk to me that way?!” Jenna fumed.
He stroked his cheek, then smiled a smile meant to enrage her.
“Let’s stop all the pretense, okay? The only reason I’m letting you stay here is for the sex. You’re pretty good at it, and I am a red blooded American male after all. Besides, it was so easy to get it from you, you must do this often.”
“Get out! Get out of this room!” Jenna raged.
“Okay, I guess I can wait. But when I come back you better be ready to get on your knees, do I make myself clear?” He heard her gasp and gave her a slow smile as he left the room.
***
Jenna watched him walk out and slammed the door behind him. She threw herself on the bed, her gut wrenching sobs could be heard throughout the house. What had happened to turn him into this vicious animal? When she had first arrived he had been indifferent to her, maybe a bit rude, but never disrespectful. From the beginning their attraction had been mutual, she was sure of that. When they had finally made love it was after he came to her, she never tried to seduce him. So why was he treating her like a common whore, as if she had offered herself to him as payment? It didn’t make sense. Just last night they had lain in each other’s arms, basking in the afterglow of their sweet lovemaking and cherishing the moment. Something happened between last night and today, but what?
***
Driving around aimlessly Wade slammed his fist on the steering wheel. Why, why, why? He asked himself over and over again. How could he have been such a fool? She had batted her pretty eyes and he had fallen under her spell. Is that what she had done to Uncle Stanley? All of a sudden the anger he felt toward his uncle dissipated. He now saw how easily a man could fall under Jenna’s spell.
He stopped at the local bar and nursed a beer for several hours, wanting to regain control of his emotions before he headed back to the house. Slowly anger was replaced by repulsion and he stepped off the bar stool, purposefully walking to the car. He began driving, an eerie serenity taking over his body.
Once home he went looking for Jenna, ignoring Gretchen’s look of concern as he walked past her and up the stairs. He found her in her room, sitting on the bed, clutching a pillow to her chest.
“We need to talk,” he said without feeling.
“Yes we do. What happened this afternoon? Why did you want to hurt me?”
He looked at her tear stained face, more tears threatening to spill from her wounded eyes, and his protective nature almost betrayed him again. He started to go toward her then stopped himself. No, she would never fool him again.
“I know I promised you a place to stay while Uncle Stanley was away, and I intend to keep that promise. But please keep your distance from me, I don’t want to have anything to do with you from this point forward.”
“Can you tell me why you’re so angry at me?”
“I believe you misrepresented yourself to me. You pretended to be sweet and respectable, but what you really are is a gold-digging slut, sleeping with anyone who’ll get you ahead. You fooled me once, but I swear to you that it will never happen again.”
Why was he saying these things to her? Just because she had allowed him to make love to her? How dare he?
“If that’s what you think of me there’s not much that I can say to defend myself, is there?”
“No, there isn’t. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to bed.”
“Good night,” Jenna said as he retreated to his bedroom.
How could she have been so wrong? Why was it that she was so clueless when it came to men? The more she thought about what he had said the angrier she became. Fuck him! She would pack her bags and leave early tomorrow.
***
Wade thought about what had just transpired. Why did he allow her to get to him the way she did? She had looked like a wounded animal when he told her what he thought of her. Even as he tried to harden his heart he felt himself soften when he saw her stricken eyes. He would not allow himself to be manipulated. From tomorrow on forward he would make sure he didn’t look at her scheming face again.
***
The next morning Jenna heard him leave the house and quickly put the bags in her car, wanting to be well on her way by the time he came back home. She went to the kitchen and found Gretchen.
“Hi Gretchen. I just wanted to let you know that I’m leaving today.”
“You’re leaving? But I thought you were staying for another couple of weeks?
“Something came up and I have to leave now. I just wanted to thank you for being so kind to me during my stay. It was nice having another woman to commiserate with,” she said as tears welled in her eyes.
Gretchen knew something big had happened. She had heard Jenna’s wails the day before and had seen Wade storm out of the house. She thought it was a lover’s spat, but obviously it was more than that.
“It was nice for me having you here too. I’m going to miss you.” Gretchen said as she gave her a hug. “I hope you
don’t mind me saying this but this comes as a bit of a surprise, I thought you and Wade were getting close. Will you be coming back?”
“It didn’t work out between us, so I don’t think I’ll be returning.” She saw Gretchen’s eyes cloud. “But maybe once I’m settled you and I can keep in touch?”
“That would be nice.” Gretchen said.
She felt her eyes well again and decided to leave before the tears started flowing.
“I guess this is goodbye,” Jenna said as she gave her one last hug.
“Goodbye. Take care of yourself.”
“I will.” With that she picked up her purse and headed toward her car. She drove away, looking through her rearview mirror as the house faded from view. She thought she had found love there, but she had been so wrong. She would go away and try to forget she ever set eyes on Wade Wilkinson.
***
Wade got home that evening and started up the stairs. He heard Gretchen call out to him and stopped, surprised that she was still there, usually by that time she would be on her way home.
“Hi Gretch. Why are you still here?”
“I wanted to talk to you.”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“Did you know that Jenna left this morning?”
He tried to ignore the emptiness he suddenly felt. He should be glad she left, she was no good for him.
“Did she say where she was headed?” he couldn’t help asking.
“No. She did seem extremely sad.” Gretchen said, remembering the tears that had threatened to spill when she said goodbye. “Wade, I hope you don’t think me too forward, but what happened? The two of you seemed to have been hitting it off of late.”
“I know you mean well, but I’d really rather not talk about it.”
“Okay. But if you ever need an ear, please know that I’m here to listen.”
“Thanks Gretchen.”
“Well, I better head home. Mike is probably wondering where I am.”
“Sure. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.”
When she left he sat in the living room, thinking about what had happened. Of course Jenna leaving was the best thing for him, he would never have to look into her lying eyes again. Then why did he feel so alone? She hadn’t been there that long, he couldn’t have fallen so desperately in love with her in such a short time. Or could he? It didn’t matter, even if he was in love he knew that it wasn’t reciprocated. He headed upstairs to bed.
***
Sleep had been fitful. Jenna kept creeping into his dreams, making him want to have her in his arms again. He could see her beautiful green eyes, looking at him with love and making him feel like the luckiest man alive. He could feel her body, soft and yielding to him, making all his dreams come true. Then he would suddenly wake up, realizing that it was all a lie, and his heart would break all over again.
The next morning he went off to work. If he spent every waking moment working he might be able to get Jenna out of his mind.
He did just that, exhausting himself in the process, but it was better than the alternative. He had hoped that taxing his body this way would allow him to get some decent sleep, but he was deluding himself. As soon as his head hit the pillow Jenna’s face would take over his mind and sleep would again be fleeting.
Chapter twelve
It had been two weeks since Jenna left and he was finally putting the whole affair behind him. Thinking about her and how she had lied to him still hurt, but he could at least get some sleep now.
One Sunday morning he was getting ready to head out when the doorbell rang. Gretchen opened the door and he heard her exclaim happily.
“Stanley, what a surprise! I didn’t know you were coming.”
“Hi sweetheart,” Uncle Stanley said as he lifted her in a big bear hug. “I called and told Jenna we’d be here in a couple of weeks. Well, it’s been a couple of weeks.” Stanley smiled.
Wade remembered that day. It was the day his world had come crumbling down.
“Hello Uncle Stanley,” he said, taking his uncle’s hand in his.
“A handshake? Come here boy.” Uncle Stanley said as he hugged and patted him on the back. “It’s good to see you again. And where’s my girl?”
Wade felt anger wash over him. Did he have no respect at all for Aunt Rose?
“She’s not here,” he said curtly.
“Oh, she’s out so early?” he said, then added, “So son, what did you think of her? She’s a real beauty, ain’t she?”
Wade couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was his uncle boasting about his catch? He was about to tell him what he thought about the whole sordid affair when he saw Aunt Rose come in.
“Hi honey. I’ve missed you so much.” she said, hugging and kissing him in the process.
Wade’s head was reeling. What was Aunt Rose doing here?
“I… I didn’t expect to see you,” he stammered.
“We did tell Jenna that we were headed here this week, but we didn’t give her an exact date. I hope this isn’t an imposition,” Aunt Rose said. In the past they had shown up to surprise him and had been greeted with open arms, so she hadn’t even thought about calling with a specific date.
“No, no. Of course not.” Wade was futilely trying to make sense of what he was hearing. He thought back to what Uncle Stanley had said when he’d first come in. He said he told Jenna ‘we’d’ be here in a couple of weeks. “Aunt Rose, did you know that Jenna was coming here?”
“Of course I did dear. Who’s idea do you think it was? You know I’m the matchmaker in this marriage,” she laughed. “So, did the two of you hit it off?” she asked expectantly.
As those words registered in his mind he felt his legs weaken and he had to lower himself onto the couch. He sat and covered his face with shaking hands. What had he done?
Stanley and Rose looked at each other in alarm.
“What’s the matter honey?” Rose gingerly asked.
“Aunt Rose, I’ve done a terrible thing.”
“What could you have done that was so terrible?” Stanley furrowed his brow as he asked. Wade had always been an exemplary person and he couldn’t imagine him doing anything that would be so horrible.
“When you called me to tell me that Jenna was coming, the connection kept coming in and out and I couldn’t get everything that you were saying. All I could get was that you were sending a woman to spend the next couple of months here while you were away.”
“That’s right. I didn’t think it would be a problem, and besides, we wanted you to get to know her. She’s such a wonderful girl, we knew that the two of you would be perfect together.”
“I don’t think she’ll ever want to see me again.” Wade said, pain etched on his face.
“What happened, son?” Stanley asked.
Wade tried to explain, “I thought that you were sending your mistress. I resented being put in the position of deceiving Aunt Rose and I didn’t hide it.”
“My mistress?! How could you think such a thing? Jenna’s young enough to be my daughter. As a matter of fact she is like a daughter to me,” Stanley said, horrified at the thought.
“I’m sorry Uncle Stanley. I should’ve known that you would never do anything like that to Aunt Rose.”
“What did you mean when you said you didn’t hide your resentment from Jenna?” Stanley asked warily.
“I was very brusque with her when she first got here, but then slowly I began to warm up to her. She told me that her relationship was over and I assumed she meant with you.”
“She did go through a nasty breakup. She caught her fiancée cheating on her with her best friend. Between that and losing her home she was in pretty bad shape. She’s been working for us for several years, never taking any time off, so she was due some vacation time. We thought a couple of months off would allow her to recover. Then Rose came up with the idea of sending her here and I thought that was brilliant. She could recover and maybe the two of you could hit it
off. Of course we kept our matchmaking to ourselves, she would’ve never agreed otherwise.”
Wade thought about Jenna, suffering and believing that she could find a refuge at the ranch. Instead she had found hostility and more pain.
“When I believed that she was no longer in a relationship with you I let my guard down. I saw that she was a wonderful person and pursued a romantic relationship with her.”
“Well, all’s well that ends well. Now you can continue your relationship with a clear conscience,” Aunt Rose said.
“No Aunt Rose, I can’t. She’s gone.” Wade said, despair in his voice.
“What do you mean she’s gone? Where has she gone?”
“The other day, When Uncle Stanley called, I overheard her talking to him. She told him she missed him and that she loved him.”
“She always tells us she loves us.” Rose interjected.
“I assumed that she had been lying to me and that she was still seeing Uncle Stanley. I didn’t tell her I overheard and instead treated her like dirt. I told her I wanted nothing to do with her. The next morning she was gone.”
“Oh my God, that poor girl. We have to find her. No, you have to find her.” Rose said to Wade, pressing her finger to his chest.
“I have no idea where she went.”
“Her parents are her emergency contact. Let me call the office and get their number. Maybe they know where she went.” Stanley said.
“I thought she had no family,” Wade remembered that she had said she had no one to turn to when he had told her to leave that first day.
“She doesn’t have a very good relationship with them. Nothing she ever did was good enough and she felt that she was better off keeping her distance. Being around them always made her feel small.”
So not only had she been betrayed by the people she loved, but she had nobody to go to for comfort.
Stanley left the room to call his office. He came back with the information and relayed it to Wade and Rose.
“I know she’ll resent me calling her parents,” he said.
“This is an emergency hon, we have to find her. Who knows where she’s ended up?” Rose said worriedly.
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