Page 46 of Second Time Around

Jenna laughed. “Do you like it?”

“Like it? I absolutely love it!”

“I’m glad,” Jenna said, warmed by the compliment. She didn’t doubt Barb’s sincerity for even a second, unlike her son’s…

“Jim isn’t going to recognize me. I feel like a new woman!”

Jenna had managed to cover Barb’s grays without veering too far from her natural hair color. As a result, Barb looked younger than when she’d walked in. Once she regained some weight, she’d look just like Jenna remembered her.

“A trip to the salon will do that,” Jenna replied humbly.

“My previous hairdresser never made me look this good,” Barb said. Then she glanced around the salon as if her old stylist might suddenly appear.

Jenna chuckled. “Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.”

“Thank you, sweetheart. You made my day.”

Thinking back on it, Barb hadn’t specifically said anything about Jenna and Beck getting back together. However, she’d taken every opportunity to mention his good qualities, such as his work ethic and loyalty to his family.

Too bad he wasn’t loyal to me, Jenna thought, but she would never say that to his mom. It wasn’t Barb’s fault that he’d betrayed her. In fact, Jenna wondered if his family knew what had really happened. She doubted he’d told them the whole story, as it would have made him look bad. She’d never know, though, because she didn’t intend to ever bring it up. However much he pushed her to talk about that night, she had no interest in rehashing it. There was no point since they were NEVER getting back together, unlike the characters in her book.

Thinking of her book, she reopened it and forced thoughts of Beck aside so she could finish it. She’d have to conduct the meeting tomorrow, and she wanted to be prepared. At least she wouldn’t have to prepare the food, because Beck had volunteered to do that.

Stacy and Kelsey had offered to bring the wine, so the only thing left to do was straighten the house. She glanced around the living room and realized there wasn’t much to do. She lived alone, and between work and her social life, she wasn’t home that much. At most, she’d have to tidy the kitchen, and she could simply shut her bedroom door so Stacy couldn’t see inside.

Jenna wasn’t nearly as fastidious as her sister. Stacy would never leave her clothes strewn about or a stack of unread mail on the counter. She was one of those people who thrived on organization, even going so far as to color-code her closet. Who had time for that? And even if they did, why would they want to? Jenna would much rather spend time doing things she enjoyed, like combing the sale racks at her favorite stores, reading, or getting together with friends.

She barely had time left over to go on dates, although she used to make more of an effort in that regard. Come to think of it, she hadn’t been on a date since Beck had come back. That night at the pool with Mitch the dentist didn’t count because she hadn’t followed through.

Oh, she’d wanted to, or so she’d thought, but when they’d arrived at his house, she hadn’t even gotten out of the car. Instead, she’d kept it idling and rolled down her window to give him the bad news.

“You’re not coming in?” he said, sounding disappointed and a bit surprised.

“Sorry, but I’m just not up to it. Please don’t take it personally.”

He smiled then, and she almost changed her mind.

“So, is this one of those ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ situations?”

She nodded. “I enjoyed meeting you, though. Maybe we’ll bump into each other again sometime.”

“Maybe,” he said, “But I doubt it.”

It was her turn to look surprised.

“Women like you don’t stay single for long. Some lucky guy is bound to scoop you up. Quite honestly, I’m surprised you haven’t been scooped up already.”

“Maybe I haven’t wanted to be,” she teased. She still enjoyed flirting with him even if she had no intention of taking it any further.

“I envy the guy, whoever he is. It was nice meeting you, Jenna.”

“You too,” she said, and they shook hands out the window.

She watched him saunter up to his house and felt a twinge of remorse.

Mitch the dentist had seemed like a genuinely nice guy. Not only that, he was seriously hot! Why then hadn’t she been able to go through with it? She knew the answer even as she thought it—Beckett Montgomery.