Cara explained, “Kids who grow up poor often have trouble getting through that important first year of college. They haven’t read as much and their high schools are usually not be up to par with those in better neighborhoods, so they get a slow start. If they have to work their first year, they don’t have enough time to study, and they have to study harder to get up to speed with the other students. Nick said if we helped them through their first year, they’d have a better chance of getting a degree and a decent job down the road, and he was right.”
There were two projects they were discontinuing, places where people were taking advantage of the foundation instead of using it to better their lives, but there were so many success stories.
After a short break, they reviewed the proposed new projects. Cara said, “Jenna has been helping me go through these. One proposal is from a woman who asked us to clean up a polluted stream and remove the contaminated soil around it, so her kids wouldn’t get sick.”
“Oh, I remember that one,” said Mary Margaret. “I didn’t know what we could do to help them, but I feel for the poor mother.”
“Jenna suggested we check into the health services available in the area. If we test the kids for whatever is being dumped in the stream and they test positive, we might have the clout to force the government and the company responsible to clean up the area. We can also push for better health care while the clean up is being done.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.” She scribbled some notes. “I’ll get that started in the morning, and I’ll send a letter to the mother telling her what we’re doing. We may have to move the affected families out of the area temporarily.”
“Yes, if the government won’t do it. We might want to notify the politicians in that district and see if they can apply some pressure. If they won’t help, we can always take it public, but the first step is to see if anyone is getting sick as a direct result of the problem.”
Mary Margaret jotted more notes and then looked up at Jenna. “Thank you, Jenna.”
“You’re welcome.” Jenna warmed under Mary Margaret’s smile.
They moved on to the other projects Jenna had summarized for Cara. The decisions they made were, for the most part, what Jenna would have made herself.
Cara leaned forward. “Now, the question is whether or not we have the funds available to cover these projects.”
The accountant said, “If you discontinue those two projects and the projected cost of each of these new projects doesn’t increase by more than six percent or so, we should have enough in the foundation budget to cover them.”
“If not, I’ll make the necessary funds available,” said Cara. She glanced around the room. “Anything else?”
“No, that’s it,” said Mary Margaret. “This was a very productive meeting.”
It was nearly five o’clock, and they’d been sitting in the conference room most of the day.
Mary Margaret shook Jenna’s hand. “Young lady, I don’t know where Cara found you, but I’m sure glad she did.”
“So am I,” said Cara, and Jenna felt the warm glow of approval and acceptance.
She couldn’t wait to tell Alessandro.
Chapter Twelve
A
l borrowed a car from Cara’s garage and drove to Tony and Catherine’s Plantation Hotel near San Simeon. Tony had built them a home of their own on the property before their first baby was born three years ago. Now they also had a two-year-old, both boys.
Al and Tony sat in Tony’s office going over the new plans, and then Tony drove him to the building site. These homes were small compared to the homes Nick had been building in Washington. Most of the plans had two bedrooms and a small study, perfect for a retired couple.
“We can’t build them fast enough,” said Tony. “They’re selling so well I’m thinking we need to find another spot and build another batch of them.”
Inspecting one house, Al found some things that worried him. “Where are the plans for this one?” he asked. Tony produced them, and Al pointed out several places where things had been changed. “Who altered the plans?”
Tony called for his foreman, a man who had recently been hired. The guy said he’d changed a few things because it was easier to build his way.
“My name is on these plans,” said Al. “Therefore, you’ll build them the way I drew them.”
The guy gave him a dirty look and walked away.
Al shook his head. “If you make these changes in the bedroom, the door won’t fit on the bathroom, there won’t be any place to put furniture, and the room will be so chopped up it’ll look like shit. Has he been doing this on other plans?”
“Not that I know of.”
Rolling up the plans, Al said, “I want to see the other units he’d been working on.” He resented it when someone changed the plans without consulting with him first.
The next plan had also been changed slightly, just enough to change the proportions and make the bedroom less functional. “Dammit, Tony, don’t you watch what your people are doing?” He pointed out the differences between the plan and the finished house. “Arrogant bastard thinks he can do a better job of designing, let him start his own design business. My name is on this, and I want it built the way I designed it.”
“Jeez, what crawled up your ass and died?”
Al walked around inside the nearly finished house until he’d calmed down. They ran into this occasionally. Someone would measure wrong or use the wrong size lumber and then try to cover up their mistake by altering the plan. It was sloppy workmanship, and Tony shouldn’t put up with it. But it wasn’t just the change in the plan that had him upset. The phone call from Gerry this morning had left him unsettled and unsure about his relationship with Jenna.
They inspected each of the other houses that had been built since Al was last there, and they were all built according to plan. The new foreman was the problem. Experienced or not, he shouldn’t be working for
Max and Company
. “Tony, I suggest you find yourself another foreman.”
“He’ll be gone by the end of the day.”
Al’s mind wandered back to Jenna. Why hadn’t she told him about the check? Why would she hide that little piece of information unless she planned to take legal action?
After Tony took him back to the Plantation, Al drove out to the coast and stopped in a park where he could watch the waves beat against the shore. Each wave washed a tiny part of his spirit out to sea until he felt empty inside.
He’d finally found a woman he could love, and she’d made him feel like a stupid fool.
Again.
If he’d known the situation before, he might not have bought the inn, but he had, and he didn’t want to lose it. He didn’t want to lose her either, but it felt like he already had.
He thought he’d gotten past the trouble in high school, but there were so many similarities, it all came flooding back. His family didn’t have much money, so he wore hand-me-down clothes from his brothers. The pants were too short, and some of the girls teased him about his high-water pants. But not Jenna. He’d fallen in love with her sweet smile in the ninth grade, but he was too shy to talk with her.
Things seemed better in the tenth grade, or they did at first. Tony and Nick took him out and bought him new clothes, and Angelo had just gotten out of barber college, so he started cutting Al’s hair. Al thought he was looking pretty good in the tenth grade, but in March, the floor caved in under him.
Jenna had started hanging around with Brian and his buddies, a group of four boys and four girls. They were always pulling dirty tricks on someone, and that spring they started in on him. Jenna sidled up close to him at the lockers one day and asked, “Do you want to kiss me?”
Sure he wanted to kiss her, but the hall was filled with kids. Brian and several other people were watching them.
“Brian said you were too chicken to kiss me.”
Al felt his face get hot just remembering. Jenna Madison was the prettiest girl in school, and she wanted to kiss him, but not because she liked him. She wanted to do it because Brian Baxter had dared her.
“Then it’s true,” she’d said. “You’re gay.”
By then everyone was watching, and Al’s face burned with humiliation. Before he could say anything, Brian said, “How ’bout kissing me instead?” He made smacking sounds, and a bunch of people laughed.
The bell rang and as everyone went to class, Brian’s friends pointed at him and laughed. Al felt like he didn’t have a friend left in the world. He skipped PE class that day. He felt like skipping school entirely, but if he did, Ma would have made him feel worse.
He never told anyone in his family what happened, but Angelo’s friend, who had a younger sister in high school, told him about it. Angelo offered to help him beat up Brian Baxter, but Al said he’d handle it himself. But he didn’t know what to do. If he hit Brian, Brian’s friends would jump him, and it would just make things worse. He prayed it would die down and go away, but Brian didn’t let it die down.
And then one morning before English class, Jenna asked him to a party. He declined, and she told everyone it was true. Al Donatelli was gay. From that point on, his high school social life, what there was of it, was dead. Jenna had set him up and made fun of him to please Brian, and it hurt deeply, because he still had a crush on her.
Now he’d let himself love her, and she was doing it to him again. She’d wanted the inn since the day she found out Mattie had sold it to him, and all those hours she’d spent in the attic and the night she’d spent in the inn’s office had been for one purpose. To find proof that the inn was half hers.
Why didn’t she tell him she’d found that proof?
He sat in the car, watching the sun dip below the horizon and sink out of sight. And still he didn’t move. He couldn’t face Jenna tonight, and he didn’t know what to do with all these feelings churning inside him.
He waited until after ten to begin his drive back, and it was after midnight when he arrived at the estate. Jenna was sleeping soundly, so he gathered his things and found himself another room.
And then he went downstairs to the gym.
He needed to hit something.
<>
Jenna woke in the morning and found the closet open. Alessandro’s clothes were gone, and his shaving kit was gone from the bathroom. He’d moved out of the room they’d been sharing. Was he angry about something? Why couldn’t he talk with her about it instead of leaving without saying a word?
The girls were up, so she took them to the bathroom and got them dressed before she showered. Cara had a visit to the museum scheduled for this morning, and Tamara and the kids were going with them. Jenna thought Alessandro would be going along, but now she didn’t know if he was or not.
Alessandro didn’t come down for breakfast. If they weren’t leaving in twenty minutes, she’d go look for him. Or maybe not. If he wanted to be found, he would have slept with her last night instead of sneaking out of the room they’d shared.
The girls were excited about going out today. Sophie had been there before, but Katie had never been to a museum. Jenna hadn’t been to more than two or three herself, and she was curious. Cara’s grandfather had been a collector, and Tamara had explained that all the art from the house had been moved to the museum and replaced with copies. Jenna couldn’t tell the difference. She would have been satisfied with the copies.
They took the limo, with Johnny’s stroller in the trunk. Cara cautioned all three little ones about being on their best behavior in the museum.
The building housing the museum was a work of art. It was built around a courtyard filled with sculptures and lush plants. A huge glass dome crowned the courtyard, only Jenna was sure it wasn’t really glass. Not in earthquake country.
Jenna knew little about art, but she had to admit that some of the pieces were breathtakingly beautiful. She especially liked the more traditional pieces.
Cara pointed to one painting. “That was my mother’s favorite.” A minute later, she point out another one. “This one used to hang in my grandfather’s library.”
Malcolm Moore greeted them and pointed out the new acquisitions that Cara hadn’t yet seen. It was an interesting place, but Jenna couldn’t get her mind off Alessandro. Something was wrong, but what?
While the others were busy, Jenna found a quiet corner and called Alessandro’s cell phone number. He answered on the first ring. “Alessandro, do you want to tell me what’s wrong, or am I supposed to guess?”
“Gerry called yesterday. Why didn’t you tell me about the check on your parents’ account? Didn’t you think it was important enough to mention?”
She heard rage beneath the surface in his voice. “I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d react like this.”
“The inn is mine. If you’re hanging around expecting a share, you can forget it.”
Stung by his bitterness, she disconnected. Did he really think that little of her? As soon as they got home, she was moving out. Let him think she’d fight him for the inn. Let him think she didn’t love him. It didn’t matter, because she was finished with him.
She heard the kids chattering and Cara talking to her, but she turned away. A second later, Cara’s arm came around her shoulders. “Whatever it is, it couldn’t be that bad.”