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Chapter Fifteen
Samantha hadn’t checked the website for updates. At 6 a.m., she rolled out of bed, slipped on cycling shorts and ambled out to sunrise yoga. The deck was deserted, but she spotted Jen curled up in a lounge chair by the pool. She waved Samantha over. ‘Class is cancelled.’
That was disappointing. After a restless night, she’d been looking forward to yoga. The daily practice helped clear her mind. Today, she had a lot of thoughts looping around her head on a carousel. They went from smart to smutty. Should she rethink the travel blog format? Should she tie Roman to the four-poster bed tonight?
She dropped down onto the chair next to Jen’s. ‘Are we the only ones who didn’t get the memo?’
‘Guess so. All the happy couples are sleeping in.’
Samantha studied Jen. Her blonde hair was gathered in a long, thin braid. Her face was still creased with sleep. It was safe to assume that she and Chris didn’t count themselves among the happy couple contingent.
‘So … how did it go last night? Naomi mentioned you and Chris were going out to dinner.’
‘It did not go well. Chris and I hit a wall. It’s more complicated than I thought.’
‘More complicated than he’s just not that into you?’ Samantha asked.
‘He’s into me,’ Jen said. ‘He made it clear. He doesn’t trust me. That’s the issue.’
‘I don’t believe it.’
Chris wouldn’t have travelled to a tiny tropical island just to be her wedding date if he didn’t trust her. All that said, trust was a tricky thing. You had to earn it and work hard to keep it. There was no way to preserve a friendship without it.
‘It’s true.’ Jen’s tone was flat. ‘Way back when we were neighbours and went to the same high school—’
‘Back when he was shy and you had a thing for bad boys?’ Samantha teased.
‘That’s pretty accurate,’ Jen said. ‘Chris had a crush on me, and I was too busy being the Hottie of Sunny Springs High to care.’
‘That’s not so unusual.’ The shy guy carrying a torch for the hot girl was the plot or subplot of every teen flick, book, mini series, or holiday special. ‘That’s no reason not to trust you.’
Jen’s jaw tightened. ‘I told him we were better off as friends. Then I turned out to be a terrible friend. I dragged him to parties and ditched him by the end of the night. I only hung out with him when I was bored and would break our plans last minute.’
‘You were … what? Sixteen?’ Samantha asked. ‘He can’t hold you accountable for poor choices made before you were old enough to vote.’
‘I was sixteen,’ Jen said. ‘He was fourteen. Chris is younger than me, by two years. His genius is the only reason we were in the same grade. He’s a math whiz and transferred into our school for advanced classes. The age gap doesn’t make much of a difference today. Back then, those two years might as well have been ten. He was a textbook nerd, painfully shy and awkward. My mom kept telling me to be careful with him. I wasn’t. I was embarrassed to be seen with him.’
Samantha tried in vain to picture Chris as a little genius. With his soft-spoken demeanour, easy smile, and mop of chestnut hair he wore loose or in a bun, it was easy to dismiss him as the quintessential hipster. She never guessed there might be a sharp mind behind those moss-green eyes. On the other hand, Jen’s pretty features told the whole story. She was hurting. Samantha wondered if she would ever forgive the girl she was at sixteen.
‘Chris isn’t a kid anymore,’ Samantha said. ‘Ask if he’s willing to give you a second chance. If the answer is no, maybe you should move on.’
‘I asked him last night,’ Jen said.
Samantha leaned forward, fully invested now. ‘What did he say?’
‘He said I shouldn’t “settle” for him. He doesn’t think he’s my type. I don’t even have a type. I go through phases, sure. But Chris has always been the one I turn to when things go sour. He’s always been my person. He calms me down. I draw him out of his shell. We balance each other out. I know how rare that is and I can appreciate it now.’
‘I have a tough question for you,’ Samantha said.
‘Go ahead,’ Jen said. ‘I don’t mind.’
Even with the green light, Samantha hesitated.
‘It’s OK,’ Jen said. ‘I dumped all this on you. It’s only fair you should get to ask questions.’
‘All right.’ Samantha straightened up. ‘In your heart of hearts, do you see a future with Chris, or are you merely trying to make up for the past?’
Samantha didn’t doubt that Jen loved Chris. But as Roman had smartly pointed out, sometimes love isn’t enough.
