Lake Magic (9 page)

Jared watched her stomp away. Was she for real? Did she really think she was going to get away with this? He’d seen the state of the business. If he walked away and came back in four months, there’d be nothing left. She might not give a damn that she was sinking her own financial future, but he sure as hell gave a damn about his. Thanks to the military, that money was all he had left, and there was no way he was going to let her flush his dream down the drain with hers.

He almost laughed again then realized there was nothing to laugh about. She had as much business sense as a bird.

As he watched her continue to make her way down the uneven shore, she stumbled, then immediately righted herself, but not before one of her shoes fell out of her hands and onto the sand. Leave it to her to come to the beach in high heels.

As she bent down to pick up her shoe, he couldn’t help but admire how her skirt stretched across her butt. It wasn’t hard to imagine a big fluffy white bunny tail on that tight little ass.

He’d seen a lot of gorgeous women in his time, but he had to give Jenny Beckinsale points for perfection. Cotton Tail might not have a head for business, but she sure as hell had a body for sin.

He had no doubt that most men fell at her feet, eager to grant her every wish—but not him. Maybe once, a long time ago. But he’d learned his lesson the hard way, and since then, he’d done his damnedest to avoid pitfalls like her: gorgeous women who made him forget his past and believe he was a guy who could fit, could be the type of steadfast man they wanted. There was only one thing that mattered to him right now, and it had Mexico written all over it.

Jenny was nearing the opening to the path. With each ass-swinging, sand-flying step she took, he could feel his money disappearing. He told himself to let her go. To let her walk away. Getting tangled up with her would be the worst thing he could do.

But what choice did he have?

“Son of a bitch.”

He caught up with her before she’d taken another step. He blocked her path, forcing her to stop. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers. “Tomorrow, oh seven hundred. I’ll see you at the office. And, Cotton Tail, make room for my desk.”

 

 

 

 

Night settled on Hidden Lake. In the darkness, Jenny sat on her front porch, staring out across the moonlit water. Most nights she found an inner peace sitting out here, a peace she couldn’t find anywhere else. In the quiet darkness, the lake possessed a serenity that was lost in the bright light of day. But tonight, no matter how hard she tried, the tranquillity she craved was nowhere to be found.

The wind rustled through the trees, and she drew her legs up, wrapping the afghan her grandmother had made around her. The rocking chair swayed at her movement. She rested her chin on her bent knees, wondering not for the first time how her whole life could be turned upside down in one short day.

She looked down at her left hand, to the diamond ring she still wore.
Steven
. . . But instead of the memories that usually filled her when she thought of him, tonight, she was full of questions. Why hadn’t he told her about that loan? But before she finished the thought, she knew the real question wasn’t why hadn’t he told her, it was why she hadn’t asked. She had access to all the books, to the business records and documents. There had been nothing preventing her from gaining full knowledge of Blue Sky’s financial obligations. So why hadn’t she?

Because it had been easier to leave it all in Steven’s hands, to let him make the tough decisions. She had been an equal partner on paper but not in truth. And that reality was a hard pill to swallow. But Steven had seemed to prefer it that way. And so had she. While he’d been building Blue Sky, she’d been building their life. She had ideas for the business, but there were more important things, like dreaming of
soon
.
Soon
they’d be married.
Soon
they’d start a family. But
soon
had turned out to be as far away as the moon and just as unattainable.

A car pulled off the main road and made its way down her driveway. Headlights arced across the yard, momentarily illuminating the still lake before the car parked and the lights were doused.

On any other night, Jenny would have been surprised by a late-night visitor. She knew that by avoiding her mother’s calls ever since the scene in the restaurant, it was only a matter of time before someone from her family showed up. Her only question was which one of her family members it would be. Her bet was on Dad. The peacemaker.

But it wasn’t her dad, Jenny noted a few moments later as her sister made her way up the stairs. The porch was dimly lit, but even in the faint light, Jenny could see that Anna was as impeccably dressed as always. Only her sister could work a fifteen-hour day at the hospital and still look like she’d just stepped out of the pages of a high fashion magazine. Only Anna and their mother.

Anna’s high heels clicked against the wooden porch as she made her way toward Jenny.

“Hey,” Jenny said, trying hard not to tense.

Just for a day, she wondered what it would be like to be her sister, to be someone for whom everything came easily. Marriage. Career. Raising her son. All Anna had to do was want something, and it was hers.

Her sister sat down in the rocking chair nearest Jenny. With only a small table and a couple of feet separating them, it was easy to see the perpetual look of disapproval and disappointment on Anna’s face. “Hello, Jenny.”

“Are you hungry?” she asked quickly, before Anna could start firing questions at her. Jenny wanted to turn the conversation far away from the topic her sister had undoubtedly been sent here to discuss. “There’s some leftover dinner on the stove.”

“You cooked?” Her sister didn’t bother to hide her surprise or her alarm.

“Soup. From a can.”

“Thank God,” Anna said with a solemnity that bordered on hysterical. “The last time I ate your cooking, I was sick for a week.”

“It wasn’t a week.” Only a sister could say something like that and get away with it.

“You’re right; it was four days.”

Jenny couldn’t help it, she laughed. It was well-known—and a well-trotted-out joke at each family gathering—that she was a bad cook. No, not bad, horrid. She’d never given cooking much thought until after she and Steven had gotten engaged. Wanting to be the best wife she could possibly be, she’d set out to learn. The third time the fire department had shown up at her house, she grudgingly accepted defeat. Or, almost. Every once in a while she mustered up the nerve to give it another try. And each time she was met with the same disastrous results. It was humiliating, but at least now she was humiliated in private.

“If you won’t eat my cooking, how about a glass of wine? Even I can’t screw that up.”

Anna smiled. “Sounds great.”

Jenny disappeared inside the house and was back outside a few moments later, wine bottle and glass in hand. She handed Anna the glass of chardonnay.

“Thanks,” her sister said, watching as Jenny refilled her own near-empty glass, which was sitting on the small table between them.

“Rough day?” Anna asked when Jenny took her seat.

“You have to ask?”

“No.” Anna took a sip of wine. “Mom’s worried about you.”

“She doesn’t need to be.”

“Grow up, Jenny. She worries about you so much she doesn’t have time to think about anyone else.”

The reproach in her sister’s tone was nothing new, but it stung nonetheless. “That’s not true.”

“Yes, it is.”

Jenny fell silent. No matter what she said, her sister would find fault. But this time she knew there was fault to be found. She had a partner—one she had known nothing about. Revealing that to anyone was humiliating; admitting it to her perfect sister was unthinkable.

But Jenny knew she wouldn’t have to admit anything. No doubt her whole family knew the entire story by now, thanks to her mother and brother.

Jenny sipped her wine. She knew her sister was expecting a recap of all the events from the moment
Jared Worth
had walked into her mother’s restaurant and announced he was her partner to five minutes before Anna showed up. But Jenny wasn’t in the mood to rehash all the mortifying details. If her sister wanted to know something, she was going to have to ask.

An uneasy silence descended between them. In the near distance, shallow waves washed against the wooden pilings, an owl hooted, and the widening distance between two sisters who’d once been so close became all the more clear.

“Jenny, I only have a half an hour,” her sister said finally, breaking the silence.

“So go.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

She could, but she wouldn’t. Jenny wrapped the afghan back around her, still hurting from her sister’s earlier comment. When she spoke, she lashed out. “How is my nephew? Flunked out of any other classes lately?”

“He didn’t flunk.”

“I thought a B minus was as good as failing in your house.”

“Refusing to live up to your potential is as good as failing. Cody understands this. Learning to work hard from an early age is the only way to achieve success. What do you think Phillip and I should do? Wait until he’s fifteen? Twenty?” Anna’s gaze turned hard and direct. “Twenty-five?”

“I’m twenty-six.”

Her sister’s look said it all.

Jenny should just shut up and drop the subject. What did she know about raising kids? But lately her nephew had turned into a little monster, a fact only she seemed to notice. The one time she’d tried saying something to her mother, Mom had gotten so upset that Jenny would even suggest such a thing, Jenny had quickly and permanently dropped the subject.

“I went to Cody’s last baseball game,” Jenny said. “Mom told me he was going to be the starting pitcher, but he wasn’t there.”

For a moment, Jenny thought her sister looked rattled, but when she continued in her same condescending tone, Jenny was sure she must have imagined it.

“Cody had a prior school commitment and had to miss the game. But discussing my son is not the reason I am here; you know that. This is about you, Jenny. And your business. Success is not something that just happens. You have to be willing to work hard.”

“And you think I don’t?”

“No,” her sister said with a brutal honesty. “I don’t.”

She should have been prepared for her sister’s answer. Should have, but wasn’t.

“Mom’s upset you haven’t returned her calls.”

Jenny took another drink of her wine seeking fortification, finding none. “I’ve been busy.”

“So I’ve heard. Just who is this Jared Worth?”

“I’m sure Paul told all of you exactly who he is.”

“Of course he did,” Anna said without the slightest pause. Discussing Jenny’s life was a favorite pastime with her family. “But I’d like to hear it from you.”

“There’s nothing to say.”

“That’s not what I heard.”

Of course it wasn’t
.

“When you and Steven started the business, you took out a loan from him?”

Jenny eyed the front door, wondering if she could make her escape. But she knew even if she made it inside, her sister would just follow. Anna hadn’t become one of the country’s leading neonatal obstetricians by backing down. Giving into the inevitable, and hoping it meant her sister would leave all that much sooner, Jenny answered. “Yes.”

“And a condition of this loan was that he was made a partner?”

“Silent partner,” Jenny amended, feeling a small bit of satisfaction.

“It doesn’t sound like he’s silent any longer,” her sister pointed out, and what tiny bit of triumph Jenny had felt instantly evaporated.

“So, Jennifer, what are you going to do?”

Jennifer
. Like she was two years old. And when was that damn wine going to kick in? “Anna, I just learned about the loan. I think I’m allowed a day or two to mull things over.”

Her sister sat all the way back in the rocker and crossed her legs. “That’s always been your problem, Jenny. You think and dwell but never act. You can’t go through life sitting in the bleachers.”

“Blue Sky Air is not some sideline hobby.”

“So then, you have the money to repay this loan.”

They both knew she didn’t. Anna, being Anna, was just making her point. “I will,” Jenny said with as much conviction as she could summon.

“Jenny,” her sister said softly, “your record on running a
profitable
business is far from stellar. How many times have Mom and Dad had to bail—”

“Not this time,” she interrupted, remembering her failed vintage clothing shop, the coffee stand that had gone bust almost before it got started, and the secretarial job she’d lost because she’d misfiled a petition and the delay it caused had been costly. “Blue Sky Air is different. Besides, I have four months until the loan is due. I spoke with Mr. Howard at the bank, and everything is arranged. In a few months, when I show him how profits are up, I’ll be able to get a loan and repay Jared Worth.” She prayed she sounded more confident than she felt.