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She’d never seen anything like it. She was perfect in every way. Soft skin and fuzzy hair. A tiny button for a nose and little ears. Eyelashes that fluttered on her cheeks lightly as she slept.
“I know. They say newborns sleep for long stretches in the first one or two days. After that, we’re supposedly in for feedings every two hours and nights without a lot of sleep. I’m trying to soak up the fun stuff right now before I become a walking zombie,” Kelly said.
“Well, I’ll come over and give you a break whenever you need it. You just call.” She looked around the room for Jack. “Speaking of breaks, where is Jack?”
“He and Chad went out to get me some real food. The nurses said I can eat soon and Jack didn’t want me to have to eat hospital food. I have to admit, I was a bit relieved. I’m starving after so many hours with nothing but ice chips and popsicles. And, hospital food doesn’t exactly sound appealing.”
The two women talked about babies and the size of tiny fingernails for another few minutes.
Jennie had suspected Kelly would bring up the Florida trip and she wasn’t wrong.
“So, does Chad think you guys are in danger because of what you found in Florida?” she asked. She had a strange look on her face that Jennie couldn’t quite interpret.
“We’re not sure what’s going to happen yet. We met with Jonathan Masters to tell him what I overheard and it was awful, Kelly. The poor man was so shocked. I think he always knew his nephews were lazy but you could tell he had no idea they would do something like this. Then it hit him that they’d put his whole family at risk with this.
“The federal government will most likely seize the resort and if they try to go after the winery, the rest of the family could lose everything. His grandkids would lose their inheritance, all of it. Never mind the fact that the feds could decide to arrest Jonathan as well,” Jennie said.
“I can’t believe how selfish and stupid the nephews have been. You met them, right? What are they like?”
Jennie shook her head. “Arrogant and useless, for the most part. I can tell you one thing; I doubt they were the brains behind this. When you talk to Jonathan, it’s hard to believe they’re even related to him. He’s the sweetest man. He totally understood when Jack told him we needed to report this. He wasn’t angry at us at all. I think he was mostly just heartbroken over the whole thing.”
Kelly picked at the blanket covering her in the hospital bed. “So, you and Chad will have to testify?”
Jennie nodded. “Most likely. And, mostly me. They might not need Chad at all since it was me who heard the brothers talking. But, Chad said federal investigations take a very long time. The FBI is notorious for investigations that last as many as five years, or even more. They tie everything up in a bow and won’t go to trial until they have mountains of evidence ready to go.
“Jonathan Masters is getting his nephews a lawyer and they’re going to try to convince the nephews to turn themselves in. Chad says at that point the feds will probably send the brothers back in to feed them evidence against the building inspector and whoever else is involved. The amount of money that was going through there couldn’t be from a single inspector taking bribes. The FBI is going to want to know who they were laundering money for. They may end up not needing my testimony at all if the brothers start collecting evidence for them.” Jennie looked up to see that strange look on Kelly’s face again.
“Um, Jennie, I need to tell you––” Kelly started as the door opened and Chad and Jack walked back into the room.
“Hey, sweetheart, how are my girls?” asked Jack. He looked almost as worn out as Kelly but every bit as happy.
Jennie felt Chad’s eyes on her and then the walls seemed to be closing in as if the room were filled with too many people.
Oh, who was she kidding?
It was Chad’s presence that made the walls close in on her. Jennie suddenly felt like she’d never be able to take a deep breath again. She hated that her body responded so strongly to him—even more so, since their one night in Florida.
It was as if her body now knew what it could have and it wasn’t willing to let go, even though Jennie ordered it to forget.
“I’m going to get going, guys. Kelly, I’ll stop by tomorrow. They’ll keep you here for two days, right? I can bring lunch tomorrow if you want,” she said as she scooped up her purse and moved to the door.
She knew she was speaking just a little too quickly and she felt like everyone was staring at her, but she needed out of there. Now.
“Oh, you don’t have to go. You just got here,” Kelly said.
Jennie smiled and shook her head. “I’ll be back. I’ll come hold her while you nap tomorrow. Promise. I’ve got some errands to run now, though.”
They said good-byes and Jennie slipped from the room, finally taking a deep breath as she started down the hall.
“Jen!” Chad called from behind her.
Damn.
She turned to find Chad coming toward her, hands shoved in his pockets. He looked more uneasy than she’d ever seen him.
“Hey,” she said, smiling at him, but feeling like she couldn’t breathe again.
He towered over her and she could see the concern in his eyes. “Are we okay, Jennie? Can we go back to the way things were between us? Before?”
