by Lori Ryan
Finally his mother spoke. “I know you think you don’t have the baggage that a lot of your friends came back with, but sometimes I wonder if that’s really true, Chad.”
Chad considered himself lucky. Damn lucky. He’d come home from three tours of duty with a few scars and, yes, with horrifying memories and dreams that sometimes haunted him. But, he hadn’t been seriously injured. He didn’t suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, where the dreams followed you into the daylight, making you edgy and anxious and irritable.
And, most of all, he had his life. He had lived.
When he had first come home, he tried to isolate himself, unable to face being back in a world that functioned so differently from the one he’d become accustomed to. But, Jack and Andrew hadn’t let him hide himself away. They were there day after day, pulling him back into the world. He knew he wouldn’t have found his way back without their support.
So Chad worked with other veterans, helping them adjust to life at home. That didn’t mean, as his mom implied, that there was something wrong with him. It was with this in mind, that Chad narrowed his gaze at his mother, and challenged her preposterous assessment.
“That’s ridiculous, Mom. You came up with this theory because I happen to like a woman who I’m not willing to date, for obvious reasons.”
As far as he was concerned, as an employee he supervised, Jennie was off limits for dating and his friends and family all knew that. It was common knowledge Chad wouldn’t act on the chemistry that was evident to anyone who spent time around the pair.
“Uh, uh. Way off base, Mom.”
Chad turned back to the grill and continued to scrape. He felt his mother’s eyes watching him but he was finished talking about this. She couldn’t be more wrong about him. So, he liked Jennie? He’d liked a lot of women. Some he’d dated and others he hadn’t. Liking Jennie when he couldn’t date her didn’t mean he was damaged in some way. And it didn’t mean he wouldn’t date the next woman who came along and caught his eye.
Right?
Chad’s eyes found Jennie again, but he forced himself to look away. He really needed to make a point to start seeing someone. He needed to get Jennie out of his system, for good. His mom might be overbearing at times, but she was right about one thing. It was high time for him to get the hell past Jennie Evans. He’d let this go on way too long already.
Chapter Three
Jack and Andrew listened as their friend, Peter Mahalik, described the resort property he wanted them to evaluate for him. He was looking to purchase the property from a friend of his family. He wanted Jack’s and Andrew’s opinion of the property as an investment.
“The owner, Jonathan, has carried his nephews for years. Their father was his brother,” Peter explained as he cut into his steak. “Apparently, Jonathan’s brother and sister-in-law were killed in a car accident when the brothers were twenty and twenty-one. They were a little wild and out of control. They partied a lot, got into a mess of trouble, and brought a lot of stress on the rest of the family. Jonathan had the resort, so he sent them out there to run it. It’s never been entirely clear to me why he thought that would be a good idea. They’re not the brightest guys and I think they’re pretty damn lazy. I’m pretty sure the brothers let the managers run the place and they just party and live off their uncle,” Peter said with a shrug.
“Why is he looking to sell it now?” Jack asked.
“He’s getting older and he owns Master Blend Winery so his focus has been on wine for years. He doesn’t get out to the resort at all anymore. Seems like he wants it out of his hair. Wants the brothers closer to home. I’m pretty sure he’ll set them up with a cushy job here. But, if I’m right about them not actually doing any work, despite drawing a salary, and living on the property, then the investment would be a good one. For anyone buying the property, the brothers’ salaries would become instant profit. If the general manager wanted to live on the property, she could take over the villa the brothers share,” Peter said.
Andrew took a sip of his drink before speaking. “And you want us to look into it for you. See if it really is the great buy it looks like it will be?”
Peter nodded. “If you can. I don’t expect you to send anyone out there like you do for your own investments. I was hoping you could look over the paperwork Jonathan sent over. See what you think.”
Jack and Andrew grinned at each other.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Andrew asked Jack.
“I hope so,” Jack answered before turning to Peter. “You said this resort is mostly for honeymooners and young couples? Can you give us a few weeks to position ourselves and to get back to you?” Jack asked their friend.
Peter looked back and forth between the two of them. “What are you guys plotting?”
Andrew and Jack smiled at him. “We know a couple that could use a fake honeymoon. I think we’ll send two of our team members over there after all. Give us time to have our people take a look. We’ll get back to you. In the meantime, can you send me all the financials Jonathan gave you? I can fax a nondisclosure over to you this afternoon,” Jack said.
The men shared a few more drinks and caught up over the rest of their meal, but Jack was already scheming in the back of his mind. He’d watched Jennie and Chad dance around each other for almost a year now. Even though they seemed happy on the outside, he knew they were both missing something in their lives. If he and Andrew could give them the push they needed to finally see if there might be more between them than great chemistry, he’d do it. An undercover assignment as honeymooners for two weeks might be just the thing to push those two over the edge.
Chapter Four
“What’s wrong, Jack? Getting too old for this?” Chad asked his cousin as Chad, Jack, and Andrew walked off the basketball court after three hours of pickup play.
“You do seem to be limping a little there, Jack,” said Andrew, earning a scowl from Jack.
“Shut it,” grumbled Jack.
Jack lowered himself onto the bleachers beside the court. All three men pulled sweatshirts over sweat-slicked Tshirts and began exchanging sweaty socks and gym sneakers for dry socks and clean shoes for the ride home. Despite the fact that they could afford fancy club memberships, all three preferred the pickup games at the local high school gym. They were a lot more fun than the games at the fancy fitness center they’d tried years ago.
“Grab lunch?” Chad asked.
Jack and Andrew both shook their heads.
“I can’t. I’m meeting Jill for lunch in an hour. I need to run home and shower,” Andrew said.
“I promised Kelly I’d bring her chicken noodle soup from the Daily Grill. She’s been craving nothing but chicken noodle soup for a month now.” Kelly’s pregnancy had been uneventful, with the exception of the cravings that had plagued her – and consequently Jack – since early on.
Jack laughed at Chad’s frown. “Hey, get yourself a wife and you won’t miss us so much.”
“Funny.” Chad scowled as the men picked up their bags and started toward the exit.
Jack and Andrew got quiet and Chad groaned inside. He knew what was coming.
Can’t everyone drop the whole Jennie and Chad thing?
He had barely managed to get the image of Jennie, in a T-shirt with no bra, out of his head for the last hour of the basketball game and now they had to put it front and center again without even mentioning her name. That sight had plagued him for two damn days and he wasn’t likely to get over it anytime soon.
“Chad, you really need to see where this thing with Jennie might go. Have you even been on a date with anyone else since you met her?” Jack asked.
They crossed the parking lot toward their cars, but it was clear Jack and Andrew were going to stay until he gave them an answer. Chad didn’t want to tell Jack the answer to that question and he didn’t want to have this conversation with Jack and Andrew again. As far as they knew, he didn’t want to date Jennie because he was her boss at Sutto
n Capital. And, that was part of it, but Chad hadn’t told anyone the truth.
He opened the door to his truck and threw his gym bag on the passenger seat before turning to face his two best friends. The parking lot was almost empty now and no one was within hearing distance of them.
“Listen guys, I know you mean well, but it’s not gonna happen with me and Jennie. It’s not just the work thing.” Chad ran his hand over the back of his neck like he did when he was stressed.
“What do you mean? I thought you didn’t want to date her because of work? What other reason could you have for staying away from a woman that you’re so clearly attracted to? Everyone knows the feeling’s mutual,” Andrew said, with a glance at Jack, who nodded.
“Listen, I’ll tell you this once and then you guys need to drop it. Got it? Drop it for good. I don’t want to keep having this conversation.”
Jack and Andrew exchanged looks but then nodded at Chad.
“I did try to see where it would go once. I kissed her. And, it was… It was amazing, just like I knew it would be. But, then I looked in her eyes and all I saw was sorrow. The kind of sorrow that rips you up inside. It killed me to see that look on her face, especially knowing I put it there when I kissed her. I walked away and we haven’t talked about it. And we won’t. Ever.” Chad didn’t look at his friends. Just kept his eyes on the ground as he leaned on his truck and waited for Jack and Andrew to say something.
“That’s ridiculous. Jennie’s one of the happiest people I know,” Jack said.
Chad understood what Jack meant. They all saw Jennie the way she wanted them to see her. She was brash and saucy and didn’t take crap from anyone. She was also always there with a smile or a joke when you needed one.
“I know how she acts, but I know what I saw. I don’t ever want to put that look on her face again and I’m not going to. So drop it, guys, it really won’t ever happen with me and Jennie.”
The day he’d kissed Jennie he had known. She wasn’t over her husband. Chad wasn’t supposed to know about the husband, but he did. He ran the background checks for all of Sutton Capital employees before hiring. He’d been stunned when Jennie’s security check had shown she was a widow at such a young age.
He hadn’t ever asked her about it and he hadn’t shared that part of the report with Jack or Andrew; there hadn’t been any reason to. But he suspected the look in her eyes the day he kissed her had a lot to do with her late husband.
***
Jack and Andrew watched Chad pull out of the lot and they stood without speaking for a long, drawn out moment. It was Andrew who broke the silence first.
“I think we fucked up,” Andrew said.
Jack didn’t have to ask what Andrew was talking about. He knew.
Jack was going to spring the undercover resort job on Chad and Jennie on Monday morning, explaining that the two of them were set up to go undercover as newlyweds for two weeks.
Jack knew that Andrew was wondering the same thing he was. Was it really smart to send those two into something like that given what Chad had told them?
“I’ll ask Kelly about it. She’ll know if it’s a good idea or not. We’ll leave it up to her. If we need to, I can cancel the plan and just go over the papers Peter sent.”
Chapter Five
Jennie hopped out of her car, grabbed Zeke’s leash, and cut across the lawn to her parents’ front door. Since she lived an hour and a half away from them now, Jennie didn’t make the trip home every week, but she tried to get there once a month or so.
She let herself in the front door, slipped off Zeke’s leash, and called out.
“Mom? Dad? You home?”
Jennie heard a muffled answer from the backyard and made her way through the house and out through the screen door. There she found not just one set of parents, but two. Kyle’s parents, the Evans, still lived next door to Jennie’s parents and she still considered them her family. She’d kept Kyle’s name after he died so she shared their last name now rather than Davies, her maiden name.
Within minutes, she was surrounded by four pairs of hugging arms pulling her in tight.
Kyle’s mother, Anna, spoke first. “We didn’t know you were coming! What are you doing here?”
Jennie shrugged and grinned. “Just thought I’d surprise you guys. Maybe stay for the weekend.” The truth was, seeing Kelly so close to delivering her baby and Andrew and Jill so happily married had begun to hurt more than Jennie realized it would. She was happy for her friends, but she needed to escape for a bit. She needed to regroup.
Jennie’s mom grabbed her in another hug as she spoke to Jennie’s dad. “Phil, grab another burger for my baby.” To Jennie she said, “We’re having burgers and fresh corn on the cob. You picked a perfect night to come home.”
Kyle’s dad, Brian, rubbed his round stomach. “And Anna made her peach cobbler.”
“Mmmm.” Jennie wanted to rub her own tummy at that news. She sat on one of the Adirondack chairs and tucked her feet up under her. It felt good to be home as the two older couples went back to their neighborhood gossip. Who was going to what schools in the fall, and who bought a new ride-on lawnmower. Jennie sat back and let the chatter about hometown suburbia wash over her like a salve.
She sipped the iced tea her mom gave her and watched her dad cook the corn and the burgers on the grill. She didn’t have to ask if her mom had made potato salad. Her mother’s delicious potato salad was a staple that accompanied anything cooked on the grill in their home. Jennie’s mouth watered at the thought of the perfectly cooked red potatoes with bits of diced hardboiled egg and just the right seasonings. She’d tried to make it herself but it never compared to her mom’s.
Anna’s question brought Jennie out of her quiet thoughts.
“Are you seeing anyone, Jennie?” Anna asked gently.
Jennie’s eyes went round. Her parents had given up asking her that long ago but she’d never had the conversation with Kyle’s parents. She definitely wasn’t prepared for it.
“No! I mean… I don’t… No, I’m not.” Oh God. Jennie swallowed and looked to her mom, hoping for help. Her mom threw her under the bus instead.
“It’s probably time, Jennie.” Her mom’s voice was soft but the words cut deeply.
Her father and Kyle’s dad stood still, watching but not adding to the conversation as Jennie shook her head at the two women – one her natural mother, one her mother by marriage.
Jennie lowered her head and stared at the patio stones beneath her chair.
How do I explain that it won’t ever be time? Kyle is dead. There won’t be a time when that changes and there won’t be a time when I’m ready to replace him. Ever.
Jennie could practically feel the looks they were all exchanging but she couldn’t bring herself to look at them. She didn’t want to see the expectation there. Didn’t want to see the shock. Naturally, after four years, anyone would expect her to move on. Even her husband’s own parents.
They didn’t understand. They couldn’t. She couldn’t do that to anyone else. Couldn’t take that chance. No one but Jennie knew the real reason why Kyle had died. And no one ever would.
Jennie kept her head down and waited. Eventually, the chatter began again and the topic was dropped. For now. But, Jennie had a feeling her biggest source of respite, her source of comfort and understanding, was about to be lost. How could she hide here, when the pain followed her home?
Chapter Six
Jack stood in the doorway to the living room watching Kelly sleep. Watching the movement of her chest as it rose and fell with each breath. Whether awake or asleep, the sight of his wife stole Jack’s breath and made him want to sink to his knees. How close he’d come to losing her…and now, not only did he have her, but they had their daughter on the way… Jack didn’t know how the hell he’d gotten so damn lucky, but he’d never be complacent. He thanked whatever powers were watching over them every day, for Kelly and their baby.
She wasn’t sleeping well at nigh
t anymore. The doctor said that was normal this late in a pregnancy but it killed Jack to see her so worn out. He turned from the doorway, planning to let her rest but she called to him.
Jack turned to find Kelly’s eyes on him and a sleepy smile on her face.
He crossed to her and sat on the edge of the couch with her. “I didn’t mean to wake you, Sweetheart. You should sleep.” Jack ran the back of his hand down the soft skin on Kelly’s face.
“It’s okay. I’ve been asleep for a few hours. If I sleep any longer, I’ll be up all night for sure.” Lately, Kelly was only sleeping for a few hours at night before Jack heard her climb out of bed and haunt the lower floors of the house.
Jack laid a hand on his wife’s rounded belly. “How’s our girl today?”
They hadn’t agreed on a name yet. In the mix were Madeleine, Lacey and Hadley. But, the mix tended to change daily.
Kelly pulled herself up and Jack propped a few pillows behind her on the couch. Once she was settled in, Jack figured it was as good a time as any to bring up the subject of Jennie and Chad.
Jack wasn’t sure how to ask his wife about her best friend. “Hey, Kelly? Did um, did something ever happen to Jennie that would make…um, that would make her not want to date Chad? I mean, aside from the whole boss thing.”
“What? What do you mean?” Kelly asked, looking genuinely confused.
“Andrew and I were trying to talk to Chad about Jennie again and he got pretty angry. He told us he had kissed her once and she got a really sad look on her face, so he never tried anything again. I always thought it was only the work thing keeping them apart, but he says there’s more to it.”
“Oh, no.” Jack knew by the tone in Kelly’s voice that she must have figured out what Chad’s story meant. “Oh, God. I had no idea anything had happened between them. She never said anything.”