"It's a big deal," Kevin said nodding. "I will be around for Mila and Little Kevin, don't worry. By the way, the balcony door in the master bedroom was left unlocked again last night. That is the second time this week. Tell the girls to be more careful."
Josh frowned. "I double-checked the balcony door myself last night since I knew you were leaving it open to air out the paint fumes. It was locked when Jenny and I left. Could the lock be broken?"
"I'll double check," said Kevin, going upstairs with Josh following. He checked the locking mechanism and found it working properly. "Someone either came in this way with a key or left this way." He walked out onto the balcony and looked over the side. "There are prints in the snow going away from the house, not toward it. Someone left this way and, by the size of those prints, it looks to be a man."
Josh looked around. "Someone must have broken in through another entrance."
Kevin walked back through the house checking each entry door and window for evidence of forced entry. "None of these doors or windows looks as if they have been jimmied or forced. I'm not an expert, but I can generally tell by the damage around the frame. If someone left through this patio door, they came in using a key or were damn good at picking the lock. I tried to learn how to do that when I was a kid and wanted to be a spy, but I never did figure it out."
"You think someone has a key, and is coming in and out?" Josh asked looking around. "Why?"
"I don't have an answer. The only things of value are our tools, Jenny's art, and your computer equipment. None of my men reported any tools missing, and I have not heard either one of you complaining about missing stuff. Let's do a second walkthrough," Kevin suggested.
The two men inspected the house, slowly surveying each room and work area. They had already removed ninety percent of the household furnishings, only keeping items Jenny thought she might be able to reuse. The only rooms in use were Josh's office, Jenny's studio, and the library. Josh locked his office whenever he was not there. Jenny locked her door when she was working inside the house alone. The library was an open floor plan.
Mila and Jenny were still in the process of packing the thousands of volumes of books into boxes. It was there the men found evidence of an intruder. The boxes Mila and Jenny had carefully packed were misaligned and the tops opened.
Josh called the Sheriff's department.
"Someone is looking for something, this is the second time," Kevin said ominously. While they waited for the law to make an appearance, he went around again to all the windows and doors making sure they were locked. Josh went to the guesthouse and explained what was happening, so Jenny and Mila would not be concerned when the police arrived.
Sheriff Hollis Leonard came nearly an hour later. He walked through the house, checking locks and windows but agreed there was no sign of forced entry and nothing was missing. He suggested new locks, wrote his report, and left.
"I will be back later," Kevin said grimly. "I'll pick up new locksets for all the entrance doors, so the only people who have keys will be us." He looked over at Josh. "Sorry, I am making assumptions. That's provided you want to give me a key. My nose won't be put out of joint if you don't, but it will be an inconvenience."
"I trust you," Josh said gruffly. "Can you keep it to yourself though? I don't want to be snarky, but I don't know your men."
"It's not snarky, it's smart. However, I know my employees and vouch for them. Hell, half of them are relatives. We will keep it to four keys." He looked over at Jenny who had joined them. "We are assuming someone used a key to get in, but there might be another way in we don't know about. It's a big place. You shouldn't be working in here by yourself."
"This sucks," Jenny grumbled. "Wasn't this place empty for months before we arrived? Why didn't whoever is doing this now, search before we got here?"
* * *
Jenny loved her new life. She had found a balance at last. She had time for her husband, her children, and her art. Her art pieces were flying out of Julia Scarlett's hands for top-dollar, not only to tourists, but also to art dealers in San Francisco, New York, and Chicago. Julia was selling pieces through an open-bid process on her gallery website. Mila spent several evenings a week at the guesthouse allowing Jenny more to time to create. She had even created a play space for the kids in her workroom. Constructive playtime and naptime for them was work time for her. Everything was perfect—except for her continued strained relations with her mother.
Denise Marsden was a sore spot for both Josh and Mila. Mila had literally closed their mother out of her life altogether. Jenny couldn't do it. There were many times in her life when she had wanted to, but she could not bring herself to cut her mother out entirely.
Unfortunately, Jenny's relationship with her mother was more strained than ever. Denise had been sharp-tongued and condescending ever since Mila had taken a call pretending to be Jenny and refusing to return to Waterbury for her surgery. She demanded information from Jenny about things that were none of her business, such as how much Josh received in his settlements, what he was doing for a living. In one conversation, she shocked Jenny by demanding she send a piece of her artwork to Denise.
Her demand hurt Jenny deeply. Over the years, she had given her mother many pieces of her art, but she had never seen any of them displayed in her mother's home. She finally stopped giving them to Denise after she found a piece of her art at a consignment shop and bought it back. The owner of the store said she had found it at a yard sale. She kindly traced it back to an address and a name Jenny recognized as one of her mother's maids. Whether Denise had given or thrown it away, Jenny had never asked. It was one of the pieces now hanging in a designer's home and featured in Home Beautiful magazine.
Jenny made an excuse, but she did not intend to give any more of her art to her mother. She knew the reason for her mother's sudden demand. Since Jenny's name had appeared in Home Beautiful, her pieces were demanding high prices. Her mother had not thought her daughter's art worthy of being hung in her home before. Now she wanted to claim credit for it. She had witnessed her mother playing such games before, praising Jenny's art to her socialite friends and then slamming her in private for wasting her efforts making homemade items.
Jenny walked across the deck looking out at what she considered perfection. She dialed her mother's cell number, but it went straight to voicemail. This was the third time she had not been able to get through. She dialed the home number where she reached a maid who told her Mrs. Marsden was away. She had not given her staff a return date.
Jenny returned to the guesthouse where Mila gave her a look with a raised eyebrow of inquiry.
"Mom's out of town, and not answering her cell."
"Good, you can enjoy your holiday," Mila exclaimed. "Don't worry, Jen. I doubt Mom has given any thought to Christmas except what she wants for herself. You have too much to do to give her any more consideration than she has given you or her grandchildren."
There was a lot of truth in Mila's bitter statement, Jenny realized.
* * *
After she had told Josh about the opportunity to do her own show in Denver, he encouraged her to go ahead with it. He helped her schedule several webcam meetings with Julia and the representative of the Denver Arts Dealer. Her art would be part of a four-city tour, traveling from Denver to Chicago, to Washington, D.C., and finally New York City. The Denver show would be over the first two weeks of July and go on to the other galleries until the Labor Day opening in New York City. She had six months to create twenty accepted pieces.
Josh and Mila both assured her they would be with her at her shows in all four cities. This was her chance to make a statement in the art world.
* * *
Once they decorated the Christmas tree, the challenge was to keep it decorated. Jenny baked dozens of cookies and bought candies to stick onto the branches. She chased Emmie around reminding her to brush her teeth several times a day to counteract the sugar. She tackled Adam's teeth herself, as the lower limbs of
the tree were suspiciously empty most of the time. She had also seen Buddy walking around with sugar crystals of bright colors around his mouth. Once she could have sworn the dog smiled at her.
If her children were a little more hyperactive and energetic than usual, she shrugged it off, as it was Christmastime. She wanted their memories to be happy ones. She did discover small clusters of grapes, tangerines, and crackers disappeared as quickly as the candy and cookies, so she substituted those for sweets. It made for a strange looking tree, but they did not care.
Their evening entertainment was watching old Christmas movies—cartoons for the children and classics for the adults. Mila and Kevin joined them some evenings, other evenings they stayed at her place as part of Kevin's renovations included a fifty-inch flat screen.
Skype had become a routine with Josh's parents, and his brothers and sisters. Plans were in progress for the big family reunion at Vail in February, and everyone was coming.
Josh and Jenny explained to Emmy the concept of giving away a chosen gift. They had taken her shopping and let her select a toy she wanted but she would not keep. Instead, she would give it to a less fortunate child. They let her pick one for Adam too. They had put the gifts in a collection box at their church, along with donations of food.
They had discussed and agreed to the five present rule, in theory. In actuality, it had been hard for both Josh and Jenny to stick to it. Still, Christmas morning was less lavish than usual. However, it did not seem to dampen the spirits of Emmie and Adam. They got into the spirit quickly enough, ripping and tearing through the packages. Adam did not seem particularly interested in his toys after the fun of tearing off the brightly colored paper. When all the excitement was over, they found him playing with the crumpled wads of paper and the empty boxes.
They had noticed how Emmie loved playing with her little dishes, what she called her Mommy toys. Josh spent hours with Kevin's help, building her a miniature kitchen set, and even more hours painting it. It was a condensed child-sized version of the kitchen in the guesthouse. They had specifically built it to fit into an alcove just past the kitchen where he removed a small desk. Emmie could play safely while out of harm's way from the real dangers in a kitchen. Their daughter had made a dozen trips up and down the stairs from her shared bedroom to bring down all her Mommy toys. She spent hours putting everything away in her miniature kitchen.
Josh's gifts to his wife were of a more personal nature. He gave her a simple necklace with two hearts to represent their children. He gave her a sizable gift certificate to Julia Scarlett's craft store for art supplies, and a gift certificate to the salon she liked in Durango. He also gave Jenny several presents to open later in the privacy of their bedroom.
Jenny's gifts to her husband included an art piece she made especially for his office, and a La Perla lingerie gift that sent his pulse racing. She also gave him a gift certificate for a ski shop in Vail to use when they were there in February. Her most creative gift to him, though, was the return of his watch. She had spent days tracking down the Rolex he had won in college and sacrificed to try get them out of debt. She knew what the watch represented to him and hated he had felt forced to sell it. She called every jewelry store and pawn shop in Waterbury. She finally found it in an exclusive estate jewelry store and repurchased it for him. It had nearly wiped out all the money she had earned from her artwork so far but was worth it to see the look of pure delight on his face.
Mila spent Christmas morning with her sister and brother-in-law. Kevin came by mid-morning and she celebrated a second time with him. Kevin said he wanted to take her to his family dinner, but with the amount of people there, it might be overwhelming for both her and Little Kevin. For once, they were in total agreement. She agreed to visit his family while Jenny and Josh were in Montrose for Josh's big presentation. She had met some of his family members briefly after she had the baby, and she had liked them.
Jenny tried to call her mother, but her calls went straight through to voicemail, on both her mother's cell and home phone. Either Denise was still away on her trip or she was angry with her daughter, refusing to take her calls. It was bothersome to Jenny, but she had finally realized she could not change her mother. Denise would be Denise regardless of what Jenny did. Jenny could not allow her mother's negativity to affect her life and happiness.
Chapter 17
Josh and Jenny sat cuddled together in the darkness looking at their little tree with its glowing colored lights.
"This is our Christmas Story moment," Jenny said referencing one of their favorite seasonal movies.
"It was a good day," said Josh glancing out the window. "The one day it should have snowed, it didn't. Other than that, it was perfect."
"What happens when the house is finished?" Jenny asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Where do we go?" Jenny asked turning to him. "I love it so much here. Will we move to Montrose so you can be closer to Peak Designs?
Josh gave a sigh and looked into Jenny's worried and fearful eyes. He had planned and schemed, but he could no longer hide the facts in the face of Jenny's increasing anxiety.
"We stay here."
"As the caretakers?"
"No, as the owners," Josh admitted.
Jenny turned to face him, "Owners?"
"Owners," Josh repeated. "Sit back, sweetheart. I have a wild and nearly unbelievable tale to tell you."
Jenny did not sit back, Josh sounded serious. She crossed her legs in a half-lotus pose and faced him. He took her hands in his telling her everything. She never interrupted. She let him talk and explain while different emotions played over her face. Shock, surprise, incredulity, anger—he saw them all. Then calm settled over her, which worried him more.
"Say something," Josh said.
Jenny looked at him with anger in her eyes. She slowly got to her feet, began to walk away, and then turned back to stop him when he rose. "I need time to think. Don't follow me!"
Josh waited and waited. He paced for a while, and then listened outside their bedroom door. He would not invade her space after she requested time to think. There was sometimes a need to invade her privacy, but this was not one of those times. He heard no sounds of crying, no sounds of muttering or fuming, which worried him. Jenny stewed on things, she let problems build, stewed some more, and then exploded, usually at him. Had he let it go too long? Should he have told her even while she was still struggling to get out from under her mother's influence? He didn't know, and it was too late to change anything. He had made his decisions and had to live with the consequences. He went back to pacing the floor.
Jenny sat in the middle of their bed trying to calm herself. Her mind was going in too many directions at once. Her emotions were out of control, but the one she kept coming back to was hurt. Josh had known for six months. He had held onto his secret while she worried about bills and having enough to pay for groceries. For over half a year, he had not trusted her.
She sat still for a long time before sliding off the bed to start, and complete, a calming yoga routine in the quiet confines of their bedroom. A full routine was a luxury she rarely managed. She was always busy with the children, taking care of her family, working on her art. Physical workouts in their bedroom usually constituted lovemaking. Hours later, Jenny lay prone on the carpet. Suddenly, she had a light-bulb moment and she slowly looked around the room with new eyes. This was not their furniture, yet it was exactly what she would have selected, as was the bedding and the carpet. In fact, the entire guesthouse was newly furnished and decorated in her favorite colors and styles while the rest of the property had been in a horrible mess. Instantly, she knew Josh had done this for her and for the comfort of their family. Yes, he had kept secrets, but now she was gaining some insight of his point of view.
Jenny silently returned downstairs in her bare feet. As she glanced at the hall clock, she realized she had been worrying and sulking alone for four hours. It did not seem possible. There was Josh slumped back a
gainst the couch cushions, hugging a throw pillow to his chest. That was so like him, always hugging something, usually her or their kids. For a child who had experienced abandonment and been in the foster-care system for his first ten years of life, he was a remarkably stable and loving man. His sat so still with his eyes closed. She reached out to touch him gently and he immediately leaped to his feet.
"Can you ever forgive me?" he whispered in a choked voice.
"Yes," Jenny said as he gathered her into his arms in a tight hug. "You did what you thought was best."
"I thought so then, but it doesn't make it right," Josh admitted.
"No, and I was upset." She pulled away slightly to look directly into his eyes. "I was especially angry because you didn't trust me."
"Jenny…"
"No, you had your say, now it's my turn," she said quietly. "You didn't trust me, which hurt and offended me. But, after I thought about it, I realized I didn't have a right to be hurt, not after all the hurtful things I have done in the past.
"You didn't trust me because of my history of lying. I dragged our marriage through hell for years, and for what reason. For the approval of a woman who will never love me unless there is a price tag attached to it. Have you forgiven me, Josh?"
"I love you."
"I know you love me," Jenny said. "I didn't ask if you loved me. I asked if you have forgiven me, which is different. I took us down the wrong path by talking you into moving to Waterbury. I piled lie upon lie, and debt upon debt, trying to buy my mother's love. I took money from her for the house down payment. I know you never entirely forgave me for doing so. I need to know if you have really forgiven me now."
"Yes, I have."
"Thank you. Six months ago, we had only begun to put the pieces of our marriage back together. Six months ago, I would have thought the money could solve all our problems even though it couldn't. I know I have apologized before, but I am truly sorry for dragging us into such a financial pit. I am sorry for lies and the deceptions.
Broken Vows (Domestic Discipline Romance) Page 26