“And Kyle was the ex-fiancé?” Bennett asked.
“Yes.” Jennie turned, feeling completely in control, and moved into the kitchen. She didn’t know why, only that she didn’t want to have this conversation with him standing at the mouth of the hallway.
“And?” Bennett asked.
“I thought we were going to go get a puzzle,” she said.
“I want to know more about Kyle,” Bennett said, advancing toward her.
“Can we drive while I talk?”
“Sure.” Bennett gestured for her to go first, and Jennie walked on shaking legs outside to the truck. She took extra seconds to situate herself, buckle her seatbelt, and watch the beautiful countryside roll by as Bennett drove toward the center of town.
Wedding Row was off Main Street, but it created a second downtown area that thrived with shoppers, boutiques, and eateries that never seemed to have a single empty table.
“Kyle was the office manager at the art gallery where I was commissioned,” Jennie said, glad to have some life back in her voice. “That’s how we met. We dated for a couple of years. Were engaged for a couple more. And then he didn’t show up to the wedding.”
Jennie sighed, wishing she were back on the Memory Lane where she got to kiss Bennett at the bell tower or beneath the pier or on his back porch.
“Is that why you left San Francisco?”
“Well, I couldn’t just show up on Monday morning like nothing had happened.”
“What did you do?”
She could feel the weight of Bennett’s eyes on her, and she didn’t entirely hate it. So, progress. “I took my honeymoon.”
“By yourself?” The level of surprise in his voice caused her to turn from the landscape rolling by.
“Yes,” she said. “By myself. I mailed his engagement ring back from Cancun, and I asked my neighbor and best friend, Lisa, to go clean out my studio.” Jennie cocked her head to the side. “Now that I think about it, Lisa said I was messy too.”
Bennett did the lip-pressing again, and Jennie found it adorable and annoying at the same time. A sigh leaked past her lips and she said, “I know I’m messy. It’s just how I work.”
“It’s fine,” Bennett said. “It honestly was a joke, Jennie. Remember how I’d sneak into your bedroom and say the same thing?”
“One time,” she said quickly, her face heating. “You snuck in one time and nothing happened.”
Bennett gave her a long look. So long, she thought he’d drive them right off the road. “I kissed you while I dangled from your window. That was something.”
It definitely had been, but Jennie lifted one shoulder in a shrug as if she could barely remember it. But now that he’d said it, she remembered the way her whole body had lit up, as if someone had made her swallow a star.
She remembered how he’d held her close as they talked about his forthcoming graduation and then hers. She remembered the emotion in his voice as he explained how he was going to try out for the major league baseball team in Seattle, the Spears.
And she wanted those intimate moments with him again. Her eyes dropped to his mouth, and thankfully, he was focused on driving again and didn’t see her.
“Kyle wanted to change a lot about me,” Jennie finally said, breaking the silence between them. “I didn’t even realize who I’d become until he left, and I vowed I wouldn’t change like that again. Not for anyone.”
“Again, I’m not asking you to change.” Bennett pulled into the parking lot down on the north end of Wedding Row. They could walk anywhere from here and have an enjoyable time. He found a spot and swung the truck in, turning toward her once he’d put it in park.
“In fact, I like you just the way you are.”
Chapter Thirteen
Bennett stared at Jennie, refusing to blink or look away. He didn’t have to use a lot of words to say a lot, and he didn’t know what else to add anyway.
“I like you, too,” she finally said. “I just sort of lost my temper back there.”
Bennett nodded, glad the freaky, fiery version of Jennie had cooled pretty quickly. He’d seen her go ballistic like that before—once—when Jason had stolen her prized pink pony and used it for target practice.
She was nine-years-old, but had tiny fists of fury. At least this time it hadn’t come to blows.
“So no changing,” he said.
“Obviously, I’m going to change.” She got out of the truck, and Bennett killed the engine and joined her on the sidewalk, carefully drawing her hand into his. “It’s just…I want to decide when and what to change. I don’t want someone else to tell me how I should be or what I should do different.”
“Too old for that,” Bennett agreed. He glanced left to find all the glittery, shiny wedding shops. Rings, tuxes, flowers, photography, and party rentals. He steered Jennie away from Wedding Row, with all it’s glam and painful reminders, using his body to block her view of them, and over into the other side of the block.
This side had restaurants, bike rentals, beachwear, shops and stores, and snack stands. He went into a hat shop just to look, something he’d done with Jennie probably a half a dozen times before.
“You want another fedora?” she asked, trailing her fingers along the brim of a cowboy hat.
He shook his head. “What about this one?” He picked up a golf cap and set it on his head. Jennie laughed and shook her head, and Bennett relaxed all the way.
They browsed and looked, not buying anything, until they got to the game store. As a kid, Mitch’s Magic Emporium had truly been magical. There were board games, card games, and magic sets. Toys, and dolls, and things Bennett couldn’t get in any other store. Candy, jelly beans in every flavor, and sodas from other countries.
His parents had never allowed him to buy more than the cheapest of things here, but as he’d grown up and gotten his own jobs and earned his own money, he came and bought all those exotic treats and sweets he’d always wanted.
None of them were as good as he’d hoped—except the candy apple chewing gum. He swiped a package of that off the shelf by the check-out before moving further into the store to the jigsaw puzzle aisle.
“I get to pick,” Jennie reminded him.
“Fine,” he said, giving up the fight. He looked too, because there was no rule saying he couldn’t buy more than one puzzle. She’d cajole him, and tell him he had to do hers first, but she didn’t live with him and would never know. He could take one to the fire house and do one at home, just in case she ever came over.
The simple thought of having her in his house left his mouth dry and his fantasies running rampant.
“What about this one?” she asked, pointing to a color puzzle. “It’s fifteen hundred shades,” she read off the box. “Every piece is a slightly different color.”
“Fifteen hundred pieces,” he said, dreading the idea of how long it would take to complete. No pictures. Literally a color wheel, with all the shades and tints in the known universe. Fifteen hundred of them, anyway.
“If you want.” He tried to make his voice nonchalant and moved further down the aisle to another selection of puzzles. Strange as it may seem, Bennett liked the puzzles called Fairy Garden or The Enchanted Library.
They also had extremely difficult sections with brickwork that took concentration to piece together, but they were fun at the same time.
He selected A Waterfront Party, looking at the sky and the ocean that were almost identical in color. Tea lights had been strung over the wooden trellis, and people and animals alike were having a quaint picnic in the sand.
“I want this one,” he said, returning to Jennie.
She looked at the front of the box. “There’s a raccoon eating a cucumber sandwich.”
“Are you going to make me do that color one?” He gave her a stern glare, but she didn’t put the puzzle back on the shelf.
“I think so.” She scanned the very top shelf and apparently didn’t find anything worse.
She met his eye with
absolute glee in hers. “Yep. This is the one.”
Bennett rolled his eyes, not really upset, and walked away. “All right. Let’s get this stuff and get over to Mabel’s.”
He paid for the puzzles and the gum—and a deck of spam cards Jennie threw on the counter at the very last moment.
“Recipes,” she said by way of explanation.
“Do you even eat spam?”
“Sure.”
“You don’t cook.”
“I do sometimes.”
Bennett didn’t argue further, because he didn’t really cook either. A grilled cheese sandwich, maybe. Spaghetti sometimes. Easy things he didn’t have to use a recipe for.
At Magleby Mansion, evidence of construction sat out front in the form of a big dumpster, a flatbed truck, and Lauren’s company truck.
“Oh, boy.” Bennett exhaled. “Guess we better go see what’s going on.” Immediately inside the foyer, nothing was different. But upstairs, a piece of plastic drifted in the air currents, blocking what was through the door that led into the west wing.
Bennett and Jennie climbed the staircase and went to investigate. The scent of lumber met Bennett’s nose, and his whole body sighed.
“I love working with wood,” he said, suddenly yearning to get out into his shop. He hadn’t had a project for a while, and he missed the sound of the saw screeching through the wood, the precise measurements, the satisfaction when everything lined up and looked beautiful.
The west wing had been completely gutted. The wall that had separated this receiving room from the rest of the wing was gone, and Lauren stood near the window, speaking with another man.
They both turned toward Bennett and Jennie when they entered. “Hey,” Lauren acknowledged them, finished her conversation, and came over.
“This is Gene,” she said, indicating the other man. “He’s my foreman. We were just talking about you two.” She flashed them a friendly smile.
“Just here to see the progress,” Bennett said. “I guess I better get into the shop. You’ll be done with this in no time.”
Lauren chuckled. “Oh, it’ll be weeks still. We’re on schedule.” She glanced around too, her eyes coming back to them. “Not that it matters, but it kind of does. Mabel wants wood accents in each room. We—” She exchanged a glance with Gene—“Thought it would be nice if they matched your furniture.”
“Oh.” Bennett should’ve read his contract. He wasn’t even really sure how many pieces he was making. Nor out of what. Or what color the stain would be. All questions Lauren would ask.
“That would be great,” he said. “I’m in the planning stages right now.” He refused to look at Jennie. “Can I get back to you?”
Lauren shrugged like she didn’t care, but Bennett knew she had a tight construction schedule. If something or someone didn’t come through when they said they would, she’d be behind.
“I’ll text you tonight,” he added.
“That would be great,” Lauren said. “Then Gene can get the same materials and colors. Let me give you his number.”
She recited a number while Bennett typed it into his phone, and she and Gene moved further into the wing, already talking about something else.
“I’m glad I didn’t go into construction,” Bennett said.
“You like working with wood,” Jennie said. “You literally just said so.”
“Building furniture,” Bennett said. “Not walls, or dealing with flooring, lighting, all of it.”
Jennie wandered over to the window where Lauren had been standing. “You haven’t even thought about your pieces, have you?”
Bennett thought about denying it for about two seconds. Then he said, “No,” with a big sigh. “Want to come over to my shop with me and brainstorm?”
She turned from the window, a mixture of surprise, apprehension, and need on her face. She’d never been good at hiding how she felt, and Bennett had never appreciated it more.
“You can call me a slob, if you want.” He grinned at her, glad when she shook her head and laughed before crossing the room to him and taking his hand in hers.
“I already know your shop will be spotless,” she said. “So let’s go brainstorm some furniture, but we need to talk to Mabel first.”
Bennett made it through the conversation with Mabel about the buffet without having to know a whole lot, thankfully. He felt like he was walking on clouds as he descended the steps and helped Jennie into his truck. He simply could not believe she’d come back to town, back to him. He hoped it was a permanent thing, and then he decided to ask her.
“Jennie, are you planning to stay in Hawthorne Harbor?” He cut a quick glance at her as he turned onto the road that led back down the bluff and into town.
As a second passed, and then a couple of blocks, and then a mile and she hadn’t spoken, Bennett’s heart fell like he’d pushed it out of an airplane.
Chapter Fourteen
Jennie’s mind wouldn’t settle. Bennett didn’t ask his question again, and he didn’t turn on the radio. The silence between them felt suffocating, and Jennie hated it.
But she also hated that she couldn’t answer his question easily.
“I don’t know,” she finally said. “I’m here for now, and the money from Mabel’s job will be enough for a few more months.” She looked at him, mentally begging him to understand. “But there’s not much use for me here. I’m an artist, and a high-end one at that.”
“Open a gallery,” he said.
“Here?”
“Sure. There’s that posh place on Wedding Row.”
“They do photography,” she said. “And sure, it’s expensive, but brides will pay for pictures. They don’t pay for wedding day pottery.” She looked out the window, wishing her attitude about staying in town wasn’t so fatalistic.
“Seattle has a big art scene,” he said.
She swung her gaze toward him, trying to figure out what he meant, but he didn’t elaborate.
He reached over and turned on the radio, pushing buttons until he found a station that wasn’t playing a commercial. Jennie let him retreat, because it was easier than having a difficult conversation.
He lived basically in a diagonal line from her place on the north end of town, down the street from the most popular building in Hawthorne Harbor—Duality.
No wonder he didn’t cook. Jennie smiled to herself as he pulled into the driveway of a cute little white house with one of those big, wide porches.
“I’ve always wanted a porch like that,” she said, admiring it.
“I remember that.” He gave her a tight grin and got out of the truck.
Sure enough, his lawn had been trimmed to exactly two inches high. She wondered if he knelt down and used a ruler to keep it so even. He obviously watered regularly, and did the weed and feed, probably aerated, all of it, because the grass almost looked like turf in its perfection.
The carport where he’d parked was clean, of course, and Jennie felt a twinge of disappointment that he bypassed entering the house in favor of walking into the back yard. She had the insane desire to know if the man had left his breakfast dishes in the sink or not.
His back yard was as immaculate as the front, and a large shed waited in the back corner. Easily half as big as the house, the shed had a white P painted in bright white paint on the side.
“Patterson?” she asked.
“This was my grandmother’s house,” he said. “I don’t think I ever brought you here when we dated in high school.”
Jennie suddenly remembered that he’d come here almost every weekend for Sunday meals, but no, he’d never brought her. Not even when they’d been talking about babies and diamonds.
“When did she pass away?” Jennie asked.
“Oh, at least ten years ago.” Bennett didn’t carry any pain in his voice, but Jennie knew it had to be there. Time dulled things, but Jennie knew death had a special way of stinging for a long, long while.
“And you moved here?” she asked.
“She left it to me.”
“So you have no mortgage?”
He paused at the door to the shed and looked at her. “That’s right.” He unlocked the door and went inside. “Let me get the cooler going and I can hear Gemma barking, so let me go let her out.”
Jennie startled as he entered her personal space, partly because of the quick way her heart suddenly started beating and partly because of the dog.
“She’s coming out here?”
Bennett gazed down at her, the heat between them intensifying exponentially within a single breath. “She’ll run around in the yard for about five minutes. Then she’ll come lay right under the fan.”
He didn’t move, and Jennie was very glad for the solid wall behind her to keep her standing.
She stared at his mouth before finally nodding, and that broke the spell between them, allowing him to walk away from her. Jennie watched him go, thinking it would probably be easier to kiss him and get it over with.
Her lips tingled at the very thought.
She turned away from the sight of his broad shoulders and entered the shop. It was a big space, but thankfully heat rose, and the cooler was pumping hard into the shed.
It looked very manly, with a table saw running down the middle of the space, loads of lumber, wood scraps, and sawhorses on one side, with the other wall holding a full-length counter. Various tools hung on the wall above that, not a single thing out of place.
A rush of affection for Bennett hit her with the force of a tidal wave. He was nothing if not predictable, and she ran her fingertips along the edge of the counter, trying to feel closer to him.
The woodshop emanated his spirit, his goodness, his perfectionism, and Jennie liked it all. Her heart slowed and filled with love for him, and with that, came a heavy dose of fear.
Was she ready to love someone again? Could she even love someone again?
Maybe Bennett, she thought as barking filled the sky.
She pressed into the counter as a black streak flew past the entrance to the shed. Barking, barking, barking.
Hawthorne Harbor Box Set Page 51