Desiring the Enemy (10 page)

     It had been two weeks since Jenna left and he was finally putting the whole affair behind him. Thinking about her and how she had lied to him still hurt, but he could at least get some sleep now.

     One Sunday morning he was getting ready to head out when the doorbell rang. Gretchen opened the door and he heard her exclaim happily.

     “Stanley, what a surprise! I didn’t know you were coming.”

     “Hi sweetheart,” Uncle Stanley said as he lifted her in a big bear hug. “I called and told Jenna we’d be here in a couple of weeks. Well, it’s been a couple of weeks.” Stanley smiled.

     Wade remembered that day. It was the day his world had come crumbling down.

     “Hello Uncle Stanley,” he said, taking his uncle’s hand in his.

     “A handshake? Come here boy.” Uncle Stanley said as he hugged and patted him on the back. “It’s good to see you again. And where’s my girl?”

     Wade felt anger wash over him. Did he have no respect at all for Aunt Rose?

     “She’s not here,” he said curtly.

     “Oh, she’s out so early?” he said, then added, “So son, what did you think of her? She’s a real beauty, ain’t she?”

     Wade couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was his uncle boasting about his catch? He was about to tell him what he thought about the whole sordid affair when he saw Aunt Rose come in.

     “Hi honey. I’ve missed you so much.” she said, hugging and kissing him in the process.

     Wade’s head was reeling. What was Aunt Rose doing here?

     “I… I didn’t expect to see you,” he stammered.

     “We did tell Jenna that we were headed here this week, but we didn’t give her an exact date. I hope this isn’t an imposition,” Aunt Rose said. In the past they had shown up to surprise him and had been greeted with open arms, so she hadn’t even thought about calling with a specific date.

     “No, no. Of course not.”  Wade was futilely trying to make sense of what he was hearing. He thought back to what Uncle Stanley had said when he’d first come in. He said he told Jenna ‘we’d’ be here in a couple of weeks. “Aunt Rose, did you know that Jenna was coming here?”

     “Of course I did dear. Who’s idea do you think it was? You know I’m the matchmaker in this marriage,” she laughed. “So, did the two of you hit it off?” she asked expectantly.

     As those words registered in his mind he felt his legs weaken and he had to lower himself onto the couch. He sat and covered his face with shaking hands. What had he done?

     Stanley and Rose looked at each other in alarm.

     “What’s the matter honey?” Rose gingerly asked.

     “Aunt Rose, I’ve done a terrible thing.”

     “What could you have done that was so terrible?” Stanley furrowed his brow as he asked. Wade had always been an exemplary person and he couldn’t imagine him doing anything that would be so horrible.    

     “When you called me to tell me that Jenna was coming, the connection kept coming in and out and I couldn’t get everything that you were saying. All I could get was that you were sending a woman to spend the next couple of months here while you were away.”

     “That’s right. I didn’t think it would be a problem, and besides, we wanted you to get to know her. She’s such a wonderful girl, we knew that the two of you would be perfect together.”

     “I don’t think she’ll ever want to see me again.” Wade said, pain etched on his face.

     “What happened, son?” Stanley asked.

     Wade tried to explain, “I thought that you were sending your mistress. I resented being put in the position of deceiving Aunt Rose and I didn’t hide it.”

     “My mistress?! How could you think such a thing? Jenna’s young enough to be my daughter. As a matter of fact she
is
like a daughter to me,” Stanley said, horrified at the thought.

     “I’m sorry Uncle Stanley. I should’ve known that you would never do anything like that to Aunt Rose.”

     “What did you mean when you said you didn’t hide your resentment from Jenna?” Stanley asked warily.

      “I was very brusque with her when she first got here, but then slowly I began to warm up to her. She told me that her relationship was over and I assumed she meant with you.”

     “She did go through a nasty breakup. She caught her fiancée cheating on her with her best friend. Between that and losing her home she was in pretty bad shape. She’s been working for us for several years, never taking any time off, so she was due some vacation time. We thought a couple of months off would allow her to recover. Then Rose came up with the idea of sending her here and I thought that was brilliant. She could recover and maybe the two of you could hit it off. Of course we kept our matchmaking to ourselves, she would’ve never agreed otherwise.”

     Wade thought about Jenna, suffering and believing that she could find a refuge at the ranch. Instead she had found hostility and more pain.

     “When I believed that she was no longer in a relationship with you I let my guard down. I saw that she was a wonderful person and pursued a romantic relationship with her.”

     “Well, all’s well that ends well. Now you can continue your relationship with a clear conscience,” Aunt Rose said.

     “No Aunt Rose, I can’t. She’s gone.” Wade said, despair in his voice.

     “What do you mean she’s gone? Where has she gone?”

     “The other day, When Uncle Stanley called, I overheard her talking to him. She told him she missed him and that she loved him.”

     “She always tells us she loves us.” Rose interjected.

     “I assumed that she had been lying to me and that she was still seeing Uncle Stanley. I didn’t tell her I overheard and instead treated her like dirt. I told her I wanted nothing to do with her. The next morning she was gone.”

     “Oh my God, that poor girl. We have to find her. No,
you
have to find her.” Rose said to Wade, pressing her finger to his chest.

     “I have no idea where she went.”

     “Her parents are her emergency contact. Let me call the office and get their number. Maybe they know where she went.” Stanley said.  

     “I thought she had no family,” Wade remembered that she had said she had no one to turn to when he had told her to leave that first day.

     “She doesn’t have a very good relationship with them. Nothing she ever did was good enough and she felt that she was better off keeping her distance. Being around them always made her feel small.”

     So not only had she been betrayed by the people she loved, but she had nobody to go to for comfort.          

     Stanley left the room to call his office. He came back with the information and relayed it to Wade and Rose.

     “I know she’ll resent me calling her parents,” he said.

     “This is an emergency hon, we have to find her. Who knows where she’s ended up?” Rose said worriedly.

     Wade sat there, not being able to contribute anything to their plans. 

     “Wade, I know you feel terrible about what happened, but you have to snap out of it and help us out here,” Stanley said.

     “I know Uncle Stanley, but I don’t know where to begin.”

     “She never spoke of any favorite spot, any place that she longed to see?” Stanley asked.

     “I can’t remember. I don’t think so.”

     “Okay then, let me call her parents.”

     He dialed the number he had been given and Marion answered.

     “Hello Marion, this is Stanley Wilkinson, Jenna’s boss.”

     “Hello Mr. Wilkinson,
how are you?” she asked, a bit perplexed.

     “I’m doing fine dear. I’m sorry to bother you but I wonder if you’ve heard from Jenna.”

     “No, I haven’t. Is everything okay?” she asked, alarmed by his question.

     “Yes, everything’s fine. It’s just that she took a leave of absence a couple of months ago and I don’t know where to reach her. I had a question about a client and needed her input,” Stanley said. No need worrying her.

     “I didn’t even know she had taken any time off. Why didn’t she tell us? It’s just like her to go off somewhere and not even think about telling her own parents.” Marion was annoyed and didn’t try to hide it.

     Stanley knew that the last thing Jenna wanted was to have her parents be disappointed in her… again. It had often irked Stanley and Rose that they were so cold toward their daughter. She had been an exemplary student and had graduated with honors. When she went to work for them as an accountant she came highly recommended by members of their field. But that wasn’t enough for them. They had always dreamed that she would become a lawyer and anything less was unacceptable. It was a shame.

     “I’m sorry to have bothered you Marion, I’ll try to contact some of her friends.”

     “If you get in touch with her tell her to call me.”

     “Will do,” Stanley said, but he would do no such thing. With everything she had been through the last thing she needed was judgmental parents to add to the mix.

     “She doesn’t know where she is,” he said to Wade when he hung up.

     Wade had been wracking his brain, trying to remember anything that she had said about any favorite spot.

     Just then Gretchen came into the room.

     “Would you like something to drink?” she asked them.

     “No, thank you. Gretchen, did you and Jenna talk,” Rose asked.

     “Yes, we talked all the time. She didn’t know anybody around here so she would spend a lot of time with me. She even came to my house a couple of times.”

     “Did she ever mention any place that she would like to visit?” Rose asked.

     “Let me think,” Gretchen said as she sat down. After she thought for a bit she snapped her fingers, “I do remember her telling me about a beach town she loved, but never mentioned its exact location. I just know that it was south of here.”

     “Thanks Gretchen,” Rose said.

     It wasn’t much, and maybe she hadn’t even gone there, but it was a start.

     “I’ll begin doing some research.” Stanley said. 

     “I will to,” Wade said, finally snapping out of his grief. He would find her if it was the last thing he did.

     “When we find out where she is Rose and I will go see her. She’s nursing a broken heart and seeing you again may make her want to flee,” Stanley said.

     The thought of Jenna nursing a broken heart made Wade flinch. He was the source of her sorrow, how could he do this to the woman he loved?

     “No Uncle Stanley, I have to go to her,” Wade said adamantly.

     “She’ll be more receptive to us. If we explain what happened she’ll be more likely to listen.”

     “Uncle Stanley, I have to make this right.”

     Stanley thought about it. Maybe it would be best if Wade was the one to see her. “I guess you’re right.”

     Jenna walked along the beach, watching as the waves pounded the rocks. It was so beautiful out here. If only she could enjoy the beauty of it all, but her heart was too heavy.

     When she’d left the ranch she had no idea where she was going. She drove aimlessly but soon found herself heading in the direction of Sunset Cove. It was a beautiful little community just off of Port Aransas. Secluded and private it was a place no one would think of looking, a perfect place to get lost in. She thought about it and felt that yes, that was where she should go. Her family had vacationed there when she was a child and it was a place where she had experienced her happiest moments. She remembered running along the beach, collecting shells and basking in the sun. That’s what she needed right now, to feel as carefree as that child again.

     When Wade had said those horrible things to her he had made her feel like nothing. Yes, she had slept with him, but it wasn’t a one night stand. She felt that they were becoming close and that was the natural next step. She never imagined that in this day and age he would see that as a character flaw worthy of contempt. She had decided when she left that she would not allow him to diminish her as a human being. She had done nothing wrong.

     When she’d arrived at Sunset Cove she had looked for a motel to stay in for the next couple of weeks, she would decide what she’d do in that time. She needed to stay away from everyone for a while, needed time to regroup. While at the ranch she’d been able to save the money Stanley had deposited into her account. At least she wasn’t completely destitute.

***

     That evening as she sat at the local diner she pondered her future. She must have looked melancholy to the waitress because she gave her a sympathetic smile as she approached her table.

     “Hi sweetie, can I get you something to drink?”

     “I’ll take a cup of coffee, please.”

     “One cup of coffee, coming up.”

     Jenna watched as the waitress went behind the counter and spoke to the big, burly guy taking the orders. She grabbed a coffee carafe and headed back to Jenna.

     “There you go, I brought you milk but if you’d prefer creamer I’ll go fetch it.”

     “Milk is fine, thank you.”

     The woman lingered at the table, then finally said “Bubba tells me you’re staying at the Brown Pelican.”

     “Yes, I am. How did you know?”

     “This is a small town, everyone knows everyone and nothing stays secret for long,” the woman said as she laughed a deep, throaty laugh. “I’m Carol, by the way,” she said, extending a slender hand out to Jenna.

     Jenna shook her hand. “I’m Jenna, nice to meet you.”

     “Nice to meet you too. When did you get here?” Carol asked.

     “I moved in a couple of weeks ago. I’ve eaten here a few of times but this is the first time I’ve seen you.”

     “I’ve been away. I tell you, you leave for three weeks and you’re completely out of the loop when you get back,” she said, again laughing that wonderful laugh. Jenna liked her immediately. “How long are you staying with us?”

     “A few months, probably. I’m looking for a more permanent place but I just started really looking today.”

     “Is it just you?”

     “Yeah, just me,” Jenna answered softly, feeling so alone she wanted to cry.    

     “Why don’t you try George’s Bungalows by the beach? They’re really affordable and you’d have an ocean view. They’re small but cute and cozy, I rent one myself. I think you’d like it there,” Carol said excitedly.

     “The only problem is that I can’t sign a long term lease, I don’t know exactly how long I’m staying.”

     “George rents by the month if that’s your preference. He really is an easygoing guy.”

     “That sounds really good Carol, thanks. I’ll go see him tomorrow.”

     “Good. Now let me take your order and get back to work before Bubba has a cow.” She smiled as she pulled out her pad and proceeded to take Jenna’s order.

***

      Jenna found the idea of a cozy bungalow very attractive and the next day went to see George.

     She arrived at George’s Place and was enchanted by the view. Small blue bungalows were lined along the beach, each with a small front and rear patio. She could picture herself sitting on a rocker, enjoying the breeze as she sipped her iced tea. She approached the bungalow with the hanging sign that read ‘manager’ and knocked on the door. A jolly old man answered and gave her a huge smile. He had completely white hair and a beard, looking as close to Santa as anyone could.

     “Hello little lady, I’m guessing you’re Jenna,” he said as he led her into the office.

     “Yes I am. How do you do?”

     “I’m fine, thanks for asking. Have a seat, would you like some iced tea?”

     “I would love some iced tea,” Jenna smiled, thinking of her fantasy of just a few minutes before.

     George returned with the iced tea and sat next to her.

     “Carol told me you’re looking for temporary shelter. Is that right?”

     “Yes it is. I’m only planning on staying a few months so I can’t sign a long term lease, I hope that’s okay,” Jenna said hopefully.

     Staying here would do wonders for her, she thought. She knew that she was again running away from her problems but the idea of going back home now did not appeal to her in the least. Having to see Stanley and Rose and explain what had happened would be humiliating to her, and she’d rather give herself a little time to get her act together. She was sure that they would have her job waiting for her when she decided to go back, they would understand her reluctance to return once they learned what had transpired. She had gone to the ranch to forget about John and Heather’s betrayal and now she’d come here to forget about Wade. She felt like a coward.

     “That would be fine. Let me show you the apartment.”

     George picked up a set of keys and led her to one of the bungalows at the end of the street.

     “This one here is just like all the others. It has one bedroom, an eat-in-kitchen, a nice size living room, and it comes furnished. The rent would be due on the first of each month and I would need one month’s security,” George said as he walked her through.

     The living room and the bedroom had large windows overlooking the water. Jenna looked around, loving what she saw. This would be perfect for her.

     “I’ll take it. When can I move in?”

     “Whenever you want. I’ll just need a check for the first month’s rent and the security.”

     Jenna wrote him a check on the spot.

     “Well, that was fast,” George said as he laughed heartily, again reminding Jenna of Old Saint Nick.