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“Will do. And what do I tell Leon?”
Right. I’m supposed to decide whether to keep him or fire him.
I take a moment to think.
“Dax?”
“Tell him I gave him a chance and he screwed up so he has to go. I can’t trust him anymore.”
I can’t trust anyone. Look at what happened with Jenna. I trusted her and she deceived me. She was the one who was being dishonest all along.
“Understood.”
“I’ll call you if there’s anything else.”
I end the call and pour myself a glass of water to drink. The cool liquid feels good down my warm throat, but I need something more to help me clear my head.
Coffee.
Hopefully I can get some in this goddamned town before I leave.
~
I have my driver stop by the first diner I see. I go in and sit in a booth in the corner. I assumed that and my sunglasses would send a message for others to leave me alone, but I’ve just taken my first sip of coffee when I hear a voice.
“Mind if I join you?” Emily asks me.
Emily, Jenna’s friend. She and I talked a bit last night, though she evaded most of my questions.
I consider saying no. I don’t really know her and I don’t owe her anything, especially now that Jenna and I have broken up. But I guess I’ve sobered up enough to regain some manners.
I gesture to the empty seat across from me. Jenna slides into it.
“What gave me away?” I ask her curiously.
“Well, the fact that no one in this town has a physique or a face as distinct as yours.” She leans forward and points to my glasses. “You can wear the most expensive glasses and they still won’t hide those chiseled features. Not from me, anyway.”
So I take them off.
“And the fact that you’re still wearing the same clothes as last night.”
I look down at the midnight blue shirt beneath my bomber jacket and realize she’s right.
“Rough night?” Jenna asks me.
I take another sip of coffee. “You have no idea.”
“I think I do.”
She calls the waitress to order her own cup of coffee, then sits back.
“So why are you still in town?”
I lift my cup. “Just getting coffee.”
I take another sip and set it down.
“Then I’ll be out of your hair. Don’t worry.”
“But I am worried,” Emily says. “For Jenna. You’re leaving just like that?”
“We already broke up,” I answer. “There’s no reason for me to stay. In fact, I should have already left.”
“So you’re not even going to try and talk sense into her?” Emily asks me. “You’re okay with the two of you breaking up even though you tried so hard to get her back?”
I shrug. “You heard what she said. She wants me to leave her alone.”
“Because she was upset,” Emily tells me. “Last night, Jenna was over at the police station because the person responsible for the accident that killed her mother and her sister showed up.”
My eyebrows furrow. What?
“Well, not the person, because he had already died, but the person’s wife. Anyway, yeah, this woman showed up. Can you imagine how hard that must have been for Jenna? Can you imagine coming face to face with the wife of the man who killed your family? Can you imagine how hard it must have been to hear her apologize a hundred times even though she knew what her husband did and didn’t do anything about it while he was still alive?”
No. I can’t. I’ve been through a lot of things, but not that. No wonder Jenna was already upset when she entered the house.
“I agree it wasn’t the best timing,” I say. “But – ”
I stop as the waitress approaches the table with Emily’s coffee. Emily thanks her and she leaves. I continue.
“But she could have picked the timing. She could have told me what was going on with her sooner. She should have.”
I thought we had an agreement not to keep any more secrets from each other.
Emily nods. “I agree. I urged Jenna to tell you the truth.”
“But she didn’t,” I point out.
“She wanted to. Believe me, she did. But she was scared. She was so scared of losing you again.”
I scoff. Excuses.
I lift my mug to my lips and throw my gaze out the window.
Emily draws a breath. “Jenna was afraid that if you found out she didn’t finish college and she wasn’t working at NASA, you’d be disappointed in her. She knew how highly you thought of her, and she wanted you to keep doing that even when she still wasn’t sure she wanted to take you back.”
I admit I am disappointed, especially since one of the reasons I left her behind was because I wanted her to finish school and work at NASA. I wanted her to be able to fulfill her dreams even if it meant she had to do it without me.
