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Jenna gave me a sideways look. “I really think it’s for the best.”
“No, I mean he should have been the one who had to move.” Manipulative, selfish people were excellent at taking advantage of caring people like Jenna.
Jenna shrugged. “My point is that I totally get being upset and thinking love doesn’t exist rather than admitting you had terrible luck and were hurt by a bad person.”
It seemed rude to argue with her any further after she’d shared such a heartfelt story, so I nodded.
Jenna wrapped her arms around herself. “Sorry to go into all that. I’m sure you don’t really care about my love life.”
“No, it’s fine. You probably don’t care about my troubled family, either.”
“Of course I do! I’m about to cruise with them for five days.” Jenna’s wink showed she was only joking. She looked over me and out the window. “It’s probably good we had this talk because now we both know that whatever we have to do to sell this relationship to your grandma is just acting.”
I hadn’t thought about it that way. “I guess that’s true.” I sat there for a minute, wondering if I needed to explain anything else about my family. “Do you have any questions about the information I gave you?”
“I read through it a few times, but maybe you should quiz me?”
Not a bad idea. “Okay... What’s my mom’s name?”
“Beverly,” Jenna answered accurately. “She’s dating Frank, whom you’ve never met.”
“Correct.” I debated warning her that he was likely terrible, but maybe the less said about that, the better. “And my sister?”
“Nicole, who’s in grad school at Yale, working on...” Jenna closed her eyes for a second. “A combined PhD in Anthropology, Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Did I get them all?”
“Yes, very good.”
Jenna smiled at me. “She sounds brilliant. I can’t wait to meet her.”
“Yeah, she’s published quite extensively for a doctoral candidate.” I started to tell Jenna about Nicole’s prestigious co-authorship in theJournal of Anthropological Researchbut realized it wasn’t relevant to the discussion. “She’s... had a difficult time in life.” Probably best not to say more about that, either. Hopefully we wouldn’t air too much of our family’s dirty laundry on the cruise.
Jenna smiled sympathetically but didn’t press further. “And obviously, the star of the trip is your grandma, but I feel like I met her last Saturday.”
“Sorry about that.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I didn’t ask her to call.” I’d been worried Jenna thought the whole thing was staged.
“I believe you.” Jenna pulled a book out of her bag, a novel with a blurred-out photo of the ocean on the cover. “And I think I know you well enough now to guess that you’d most like to stop chatting and get on with whatever work you brought with you.”
I chuckled and tapped my phone. “Yeah, I’ve got theJIDto finish.”
Jenna settled back into her seat and opened her book to the first page, while I tried to get back into the influenza paper.
For the second time that morning, my thoughts wouldn’t stay focused on vaccines. It was unfair that someone as nice as Jenna had been so badly taken advantage of.
I stole a glance at Jenna, unable to keep my eyes on the screen. The more I got to know her, the more I admired her.
Another glance revealed Jenna leaned over her book, tucking a strand of hair behind one ear. I had the bizarre urge to put an arm around her and pull her closer.
Wonderful. I’d already noted attraction to her at our previous meetings, and now I was starting to feel attachment. But she’d made it perfectly clear why she’d never be interested in dating me.
It didn’t matter if I was attached; I could be logical under any circumstance. Attraction didn’t have to go anywhere, and attachment could create a friendship bond. It would be nice having someone like Jenna as a friend.
Feelings organized, I refreshed my phone screen and forced my attention back on the article.
As soon as we landed in Miami, my phone was hit with a barrage of encouraging texts from Ellie, hoping I was having fun and certain Adam’s family would love me. She’d been Team Adam ever since we left his apartment, gushing endlessly about the view from his balcony, his grandma, the view, the nice finishes in his kitchen, and the view.
Even if dating were on the table, I wouldn’t want a boyfriend who held such ridiculous ideas about love. Listening to him reduce love to chemical reactions in the brain reminded me of sitting through a dry lecture in nursing school. Despite his brilliant scientific mind, he’d missed the most obvious conclusion: he’d rather pretend love didn’t exist than acknowledge the pain of rejection.
When the seatbelt light went off, Adam got to his feet and wrestled my ridiculous carry-on to the floor. I tried not to ogle, but I couldn’t help noticing the way his arm muscles flexed under his t-shirt. Who knew Dr. Donaldson had that much going on under his white coat? Based on our in-flight conversation, Adam would lecture me about hormone cascades if he caught me staring.
