Page 95 of Second Time Around

Twenty-Seven

Three Weeks Later

Jenna was practically giddy when her last appointment of the evening got canceled.

“I’m outta here,” she sang to Lexie on her way out the door.

Lexie said something that Jenna didn’t hear since her mind was elsewhere. Glancing out at the parking lot, she saw Beck’s car parked next to hers and smiled. Since they’d officially become a couple, he’d starting parking there. He claimed it was for her safety, but she knew there was another reason as well. They often exchanged kisses there before and after work, and sometimes on their lunch breaks.

Tonight he was working late, preparing for Stacy’s engagement party, which was taking place tomorrow. They’d planned to meet up at his house later, but since she’d gotten out of work early, she was going to surprise him. It was after hours, so he should be the only one at the restaurant. She’d try and convince him to take a break since he’d been working so hard lately.

The holidays were just around the corner, and his business had picked up. Aside from Stacy’s party, there were Halloween parties and fall festivals, and soon there’d be Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings. She smiled again, thinking about the upcoming holidays and knowing she and Beck would be spending them together.

Lately she’d been feeling like she was floating on a blissful cloud. Everything was going wonderfully, and their lives meshed seamlessly, almost as if they’d never been apart. Sometimes she couldn’t believe that they were together again, like it was a dream that she never wanted to wake up from.

It was dark outside, and a brisk wind swirled the fallen leaves around the parking lot. She couldn’t wait to get inside with him where it was warm and cozy. When she reached the restaurant, she peered through the window and saw light emanating from the kitchen. She figured he was back there working, and she wondered if he’d locked the door. When she pulled on it, it opened, and she was glad that she’d be able to surprise him.

Before she’d left the salon, she’d exchanged her heels for Converses, orange for the fall season, so she wouldn’t alert him to her presence as she moved stealthily through the restaurant. The door to the kitchen was ajar, and she envisioned him busily arranging trays of food for the party instead of leaving it to his staff. He’d kept saying, “This is a big deal for your sister. I want everything to be perfect for her, and I don’t want to leave anything up to chance.”

His devotion to her and her family was just one of the things she loved about him. Love. Ever since she’d told him she loved him, she couldn’t stop saying it. It seemed to gush out of her, and sometimes she didn’t recognize herself. She was turning into one of those sappy women, like her mom, sister, and Kelsey! She no longer envisioned herself as the eternally single, fun-loving aunt. Crazy enough, now she could imagine herself as a wife and mother, and it was all because of Beck.

She heard a shuffling sound in the kitchen, confirming that he was there. Smiling, she crept closer to the door, but she stayed in the shadow so he wouldn’t see her first.

When he came into view, she was shocked to see that he wasn’t alone. Instead, he was locked in an intimate embrace with a woman. Jenna couldn’t see her face, but the way she was hugging him with her whole body rid her of the idea the woman was some long-lost relative.

“I love you, Beck,” the woman said.

The room spun, and Jenna immediately gripped the door jamb to keep herself upright. She waited for what felt like an eternity for his response, and then he said, “Cassie…”

Cassie? His ex-girlfriend, Cassie, from Chicago? A million thoughts flew through her mind, none of them good. The scene looked so familiar that he might as well have been hugging Kat. Suddenly she thought she was going to be sick.

Clutching her stomach, she turned and sprinted through the restaurant. She was almost to the door when she stumbled and her purse banged into a table, loudly enough for him to have heard.

She rushed to the door, shoved it open, and had just gone outside when she heard him call, “Jenna! Wait!”

It was prom night all over again, and she just kept going. She ran into the almost-empty parking lot at breakneck speed (for her), but he was the real runner, and she heard his feet eating up the ground behind her. She’d almost made it to her car when he caught up with her.

Grabbing her elbow, he tried to spin her around, but she jerked away.

“Jenna. Wait! Let me explain.”

She spun around, and breathing fire, she raged, “NO! I won’t let you do this to me again!”

“You’ve got it all wrong.”

She shook her head and glared at him. “Are you going to stand there and tell me you weren’t holding another woman? And not just any woman, but Cassie, your girlfriend from Chicago.”

He planted himself right in front of her, his chest rising and falling rapidly and his breathing ragged. “I was hugging her, but not in the way you think.”

He’d said something similar about Kat, and now she questioned the incident all over again. Had she been so enamored with him—twice—that she couldn’t see the truth? Was she really that naïve? The thought was too much to bear.

Turning away, she dug her car keys out of her purse and clicked open the lock.

“Don’t do this again, Jenna. Don’t walk away from me.”

She yanked open the door and slid into the driver’s seat, but before she could close it, he gripped it, effectively preventing her from leaving.

She stared straight ahead and refused to look at him, her lips pressed tightly together.