“No. If he had one, she probably destroyed it.”
Minutes later, they arrived at the inn. Jenna walked around inside, touching the things Charlie had fixed, things that meant something to him. He wouldn’t want her to spend the rest of her life with her heart filled with hate. Charlie was the most loving person she’d ever known. Even though he was a generation older than her mother, it was easy to see how her mother could have an affair with him.
In some ways, Alessandro reminded her of Charlie. They were both compassionate, caring men who loved their families. She knew without a doubt that Charlie loved her, and although she and Alessandro still had some issues between them, they’d gotten past the hurt feelings from the past. He’d forgiven her or he wouldn’t have made love to her.
Uncle Charlie had always encouraged her to live her life to the fullest, and she’d never felt more alive than she did with Alessandro. She turned to face him. “Alessandro, what would you do with a million dollars?”
“Pay off the mortgage and fix up the inn. What would you do?”
A little smile played with her lips. “I think I might buy myself a toy to play with.”
“What kind of toy?”
“A boy-toy, of course. Would you teach him how to... You know.”
Al couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Teach him how to please a woman?”
She nodded.
“Honey, that’s just doing what comes naturally.”
“What about that little thing where you...” She nuzzled into his neck and whispered in his ear.
She was making him hard just talking about it, and she knew it. “Why would you want a boy-toy instead of a real man?”
“I’ve heard they have staying power. They can make you come and come and—”
“Shut up and kiss me.” She backed up and giggled like a schoolgirl, so he snatched her close and kissed her until she melted into his arms. By that time they were both breathing hard.
They were alone tonight. There were no kids to cry, no old women to demand attention, and no one to walk in on them. “I’ll show you how a real man makes love to his woman, and when I finish with you, you won’t want any stupid boy-toy.”
“Oooh, I can hardly wait.” She licked her lips and unbuttoned his shirt. “Your place or mine, big boy?”
He had her shirt and bra off an instant later, and she kicked off her shoes. He dropped to his knees and licked her nipples, and she used her foot to stroke him through his pants. He was on fire, and from the frantic way she was ripping at his clothes, she was, too. The beds upstairs were too far away, so he pulled her into Charlie’s room and they rolled on the bed, kissing and rubbing and sucking on each other. “I want you, Alessandro,” she whispered, and seconds later, he had the rest of their clothes off.
Her hand wrapped around his erection and he almost came right then. “Honey, the condoms are upstairs.”
“I don’t care. Love me, Alessandro. Please love me.”
To hell with the condoms. They’d deal with the consequences later.
She stroked his chest and reached lower to fondle him. “You’re so big.”
“That’s your fault, honey.”
Their love-making was frantic, almost primal, as the bed banged into the wall with each deep stroke. He held himself back until he felt her spasms, then let himself go. He’d dreamed of this in high school, but this wasn’t a dream. This was better than anything he could ever have dreamed.
Jenna held him tightly until her heart slowed to a more tolerable level. “That’s the first time I’ve ever done it without a condom.”
“Yeah, me, too.”
“I changed my mind. I don’t want a boy-toy. I want you.” Alessandro was more man than any she’d ever known, and not just physically. He was intelligent, considerate, and loving. What woman could ask for more?
He chuckled, a deep, rumbling sound. “Are you proposing?”
“What if I was?”
“I might think you were after something.”
“I am. Your body.” But that wasn’t what he meant, was it? He thought she was after his property.
The inn.
“I didn’t mean—”
“I know you didn’t, honey.”
The mood was broken. She cleaned up and tossed Charlie’s bedspread into the washer. Alessandro took his clothes and went upstairs.
Without her.
<>
Jenna received a check for five thousand dollars and a letter in the morning mail. It was from Phillip Collier. He’d taken control of Mattie’s legal and financial affairs, but he wanted Jenna to handle her medical and personal needs.
On her way to the bank, she stopped at Nick and Cara’s house to pick up her daughter. Katie chattered happily about getting to stay with Grandma and Aunt Cara and Sophie. Jenna smiled. Katie loved Alessandro’s family, and when Brian found out his daughter had spent the night at Cara Andrews’ house, he’d be green with envy.
After a stop at Gerry’s office to sign the paperwork to get the records of her parents’ bank and investment accounts, Jenna drove out to the inn. The sign was gone and she nearly drove on by. Alessandro had the kitchen phone off the hook, and she heard the screech of the phone all the way out to the front door. “What’s going on? Did you take the sign down?”
“A reporter called right after you left, so I pulled the sign out. When I got back to the house, there were five messages on the phone and it was still ringing, so I took it off the hook. I thought we had another day.”
So did she.
<>
Alessandro worked in his office most of the day while Jenna cleaned the bedrooms and bathrooms and did the laundry. If she was going to stay with him, the least she could do was earn her keep. Katie was worn out from her visit with Sophie, and she slept hard that afternoon, with Callie curled up beside her.
While Alessandro finished up a house plan that evening, Jenna cleaned Charlie’s room. She sorted through his clothes and bagged most of them to give to the local food bank. There was a bulge in his mattress, so she flipped it over and found a small photo album between the mattress and box springs. It was filled with pictures of her and the boy from the picture she’d found in his wallet. His children, she assumed. Mattie had confirmed that she was Charlie’s child, and Jenna assumed that the boy was also Charlie’s. Her half-brother.
After she put Katie to bed that evening, Jenna walked through the inn, thinking about Charlie and how much he’d meant to a young girl left alone by a senseless tragedy. And then she walked outside to the lip of the hill. She walked along the fence until she came to the spot where Charlie had gone over. Dropping to her knees, she stared at the rocks below.
Tears filled her eyes and spilled over. Charlie wasn’t her uncle. He was her father, and he’d been a better father than the man she’d called Dad. In a matter of seconds, a drunken driver had left her a grieving orphan, and Uncle Charlie had held her together. He’d guided her through the rough teenage years and protected her from Aunt Mattie’s temper tantrums. And this was how he died, murdered by his own wife.
She choked on a sob. Knowing how he died was like losing him all over again.
Alessandro lifted her to her feet. “Don’t do this to yourself, Jenna.”
“She took the life of the one person I could always rely on. I want her to rot in hell.” She wanted the wind to whip around and the sky to protest Charlie’s death with thunder and lightning, but the sun was painting the sky with glorious colors as it set, and there was no wind.
Alessandro pulled her close and rubbed her back, and she sobbed into his shirt. Jenna cried for her parents as she couldn’t cry when they died, and she grieved for Uncle Charlie as Aunt Mattie wouldn’t let her grieve when he died. And she cried for herself, because the one thing she’d held onto after she lost her parents was the knowledge that the inn would always be her home.
Chapter Nine
D
eputy Coker came by the inn one evening to speak with Jenna and Alessandro again. “Mattie Worthington has confessed to helping her husband commit suicide. She said he was depressed about his increasingly poor health. He wasn’t strong enough to do it himself, so he asked her to help him.”
“Oh, please,” said Jenna. Charlie wasn’t depressed. Every time Jenna saw him, he smiled and laughed and hugged her tightly. When she spoke with him on the phone, he sounded glad to hear her voice. “She’s lying. Don’t let the poor little old lady with the big white bandage on her arm fool you, deputy. She’s a witch, and she’s capable of anything where the inn is concerned. She’ll probably haunt this place after she dies.”
Alessandro shook his head. “Don’t say that.”
<>
The next day, Mattie Worthington was sent back to the nursing home to recuperate. Jenna refused to go see her. She called the nurse every day or so to check on her, but she had no desire to go down there to get yelled at. Every time she called the nursing home, they said Mattie was asking to go home, and Jenna always told them that she could no longer care for her aunt. It wasn’t the physical demands as much as the emotional stress. Knowing she’d killed Charlie made it so much worse.
She’d been through Charlie’s room, the inn’s financial records, and the boxes in the attic. There was nothing else here or she would have found it by now. It was time to move on. She hated to leave Alessandro, but she couldn’t find a job here. Gig Harbor was growing quickly, but it was still, in many ways, a small town. She might be able to find a job in Tacoma, but that meant heavy traffic, bridge tolls, and a whole lot of frustration. That was one thing she liked about her apartment in Seattle. It was close to work.
Jenna packed some of her parents’ things, threw some away, and took the clothes to the food bank. Charlie’s wallet and the photo album went into the box of things to keep. One of these days, she’d find out who the boy was and where he lived. If she had a brother somewhere, she wanted to know him.
Al stared at the box Jenna was packing. He couldn’t believe she was leaving him. Women didn’t leave him. It was the other way around. He left them. “Where are you going?” Surely she wasn’t going back to Brian Baxter.
“Back to Seattle. I have a better chance of finding a decent job in the city.”
“What if I found you a job right here in Gig Harbor? Would you stay?”
She looked up. “A job doing what?”
“I don’t know yet. Nick said—”
“I don’t need your family’s charity, Alessandro. I can take care of myself.” She tossed another toy into the box.
“I know you can, honey.” He had too much pride to beg her to stay, although at that moment he felt like dropping to his knees and giving it his best. “When are you planning to leave?”
“As soon as I figure out a way to move my boxes. I could call Brian, I suppose, but I don’t especially want him around. I haven’t heard from him since the night I took Katie to Urgent Care.”
“I’ll help you move if you’re sure that’s what you want to do.”
“I’m sure. Would it be all right if we take Callie with us?”
“Sure. You want a few more?”
“You’d better keep some for yourself. Cat fur is the mortar that holds this place together.”
How could she joke when his insides were being torn out? “Can you hold off on the move until the weekend?” That might give him time to find her a job and a place to live in Gig Harbor.
If
she’d stay. He’d call Nick and see what they could come up with.
While Jenna cooked dinner and Katie played with her kitties, Al went upstairs and called Nick. “If I can’t find her a job in Gig Harbor, she’s moving back to Seattle.”
“I told you to call me.”
“I
am
calling you, Nick, but Jenna doesn’t want my family thinking she’s a charity case, so we have to be careful how we handle it.”
“Okay. What can she do?”
“Her degree is in business. She’d been doing office work and low level tech support.” He plowed a hand through his hair. “I’m sure she can do other things, but I don’t have a copy of her resume.”
“I’ll talk with Cara and get back to you. If you want her here, we’ll find a way to keep her here.” Nick chuckled. “Aunt Sophia is sure she’s the girl for you.”
Al was beginning to think that way, too. The only way he could be sure was to spend more time with her, but that would be nearly impossible if he was working here and she was living and working in Seattle. With light traffic it was over an hour each way, and traffic was always heavy.
“Katie is a cute kid,” said Nick. “Sophie talks about her all the time. Now she’s asking for a kitten, and Max wants a puppy. As if we needed something else to potty train or housebreak or whatever. We barely get one out of diapers before the next one comes along, but hey, I’m not complaining.”
Al didn’t like discussing women with his family, but he wanted to know. “Nick, how did you know Cara was the one?”
Nick drew in a deep breath and blew it out. “Our lives were so different I didn’t think it would work, but when it came right down to it, I couldn’t picture my life without her in it.”