Forbidden Attraction [The Callens 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (17 page)

Jackson dropping out of college after two years would put him in jeopardy of finding a real job should his bar close. As for his electronics talent, how many bands needed their guitars to catch on fire? Perhaps the biggest disappointment was their willingness to live in the back of a bar so they could save money. What did that tell her about their financial security? She prayed they weren’t with her because they thought she was their ticket to wealth.

The tears streamed down her face, and she couldn’t wipe them away fast enough. She’d actually believed that she loved them. She was willing to overlook the fact that Taylor had no backup plan for his life, but since he’d done well financially, he probably was secure. Come to find out, he was only house-sitting. Withholding that information added one more lie to the pile.

There was no way she was going to continue working at the Raging Bull Saloon. She couldn’t look Jackson in the eye any longer and not feel betrayed.

A knock sounded on her door. “Jenny. Open the door.” It was her mom.

She couldn’t exactly keep her own mother out of a room in her house. She got off the bed and let her in.

Her mom planted her hands on her hips. “What is wrong with you?”

That’s not what she expected her to say.

“Your two men left after your tantrum. I’d like you to explain yourself.” When her mother’s lips pursed, she knew she’d have to explain.

“They lied to me.” She went into detail about who she thought they were and who they really were.

“They didn’t exactly lie. They didn’t fill you in.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Whose side are you on?”

“The right side.”

“What does that mean?”

Her mom led her over to the bed and made her sit. She scooted next to her. “You know I love you and want what’s best for you, but I am quite disappointed in you. You’re being childish and quite immature.”

“You’d have reacted the same way if it happened to you.” The second she voiced her opinion, she realized that her words had been unkind. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about me. Tell me this. Do you love these men?”

“I thought I did.”

“Is it worth giving up on them because they didn’t want to tell you about their background? Jackson told us after you so rudely stomped off that he knew that if he’d mentioned he’d only had two years of schooling that you’d never have gone out with him in the first place.”

“That’s true.” Maybe she was shallow and unreasonable.

“He wanted you to fall in love with who he was on the inside. From what he explained, he has quite the entrepreneurial spirit. In fact, he has two jobs. I say that’s worth something.”

His work ethic was never in question. “What happens if the bar closes?”

“I’m sure he’ll find something else to do.”

Her mom was being highly logical, but the hurt didn’t go away. “And Taylor? He tried to convince me that he lived in this mega mansion. He even took me up in an airplane, acting all rich and everything.”

“Jenny Callen. We didn’t raise you to be so prejudiced.”

“Yes, you did. You always told me to marry someone who was my equal. Don’t you think both of them will be intimidated when I have a medical degree while Taylor only graduated from high school?” Her mother had used this same argument.

“Taylor didn’t act like anything intimidated him. Not even you.”

She was getting nowhere with her mother. “Do you mind if I sleep on this?”

“After you eat some dinner. It’s getting cold.”

“You sure the men left?”

“Yes, but I made them take a good-sized care package home. Once you disappeared, they were quite upset. I’m not even sure they understood why you flew out of the room in a tizzy.”

She almost smiled. Her mom hated anyone going hungry. “All right, but I’m not changing my mind.” If she did, it would take a lot of soul searching, and she wasn’t ready to open the wound just yet. They headed back downstairs. “What does Dad think about all this?”

She shrugged. “He’s outside smoking a cigar.”

That meant he was upset. Well, too bad. He’d raised her to be picky.

* * * *

She called Tara and told her to tell Jackson that she wouldn’t be coming into work today. She would have told her to tell Jackson that she didn’t plan on coming in any day, but to have a friend deliver that message would be unfair.

Tara asked her a few questions, but Jenny said she had to go and disconnected. Then she turned off her phone. Both Jackson and Taylor had called numerous times since the disastrous dinner, but she wasn’t ready to speak with them. In truth, she wasn’t sure what upset her more, the lie or the fact they weren’t who they said they were. She really did try to think things through more maturely but failed. The hurt ran too deep.

Throughout the day, more doubt crept into her reasoning. Did it really matter if they had that piece of paper? Was she afraid that her snooty doctor friends would shun her because her men weren’t as
good
as them? Surely, she wasn’t
that
shallow. Or was she? Her stomach soured thinking maybe she was the problem and not her men.

She knew for a fact that her dad had said to marry her equal, but she’d never questioned exactly what he meant by that. She dropped her head in her hands and dragged her fingers down her wet cheeks.

The study group had met yesterday and they kept asking her what was wrong. She didn’t even have the heart to tell them.

She got off the bed. Without her job at the saloon, she’d have to find something else to bring in money. She remembered Taylor’s stockbroker, David something, had said he volunteered at the YMCA teaching people to read. If she recalled, he said there were some employees there, too. While she had no experience teaching, she bet she could work with people who really wanted to learn.

With renewed energy, she washed her teary face and headed out. Fortunately, her dad was in his den and her mom was nowhere around. The day was warm and bright, and the breeze refreshing. She could do this.

While it was the middle of the day, there were quite a few people in the Y. She wasn’t sure who to speak with, so she spoke to the girl at the desk.

“I’m interested in your
learning to read
program.”

She smiled. “We have a lot of great tutors.” She opened her drawer and pulled out a pad. “When would be a good time to come in?”

Does she think I need help?
“I want to be a tutor. I could volunteer at first, but I really need a job.”

Her face colored a bit at the misunderstanding. “Oh, sorry. You’ll have to speak to the person in charge of the tutoring.” She looked into the gym area. “If you go through that door, the second door on your left is the man in charge. Maybe he can help you.”

“Thanks.”

So far so good.
She followed the directions and knocked.

“Come in.”

When she opened the door, she was surprised to see Taylor’s stockbroker sitting with an older man. “Excuse me. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“Jenny, is it?”

Damn, she was hoping he wouldn’t recognize her. “Yes.”

The older gentleman stood. “We were finished anyway.” He turned back to David. “Same time next week?”

“Yes.”

The man nodded to her on his way out, and David motioned she take the man’s empty seat.

“Tell me what I can do for you.”

She explained about her need for a job.

“I’m afraid money is really tight. The city is cutting back, but we’d love for you to volunteer.”

“I would like that, but at the moment, I need money to live.” He cocked a brow. “My folks only pay for my education. I’m trying to get into med school, but I do need to eat, and I won’t want to live at home until I’m thirty.”

His lips pressed together. “I wish I could help you. I trust neither Taylor or Jackson have any suggestions.”

“We aren’t together anymore.”

He nodded, acting as if he knew the whole story. “Let me tell you about myself.”

She wasn’t sure she needed to hear his memoir, but she didn’t want to be rude. “Sure.”

“I don’t think the fact I was born prematurely had much to do with anything, but at two pounds at birth, I was a handful. Not only did I have to stay in the neo-natal extensive care for weeks, but the cost nearly killed my mom. I’m sure some of my learning disabilities came from that. Short story, when I was seven, my mom died of cancer. My dad had to work two jobs to support us. He was a laborer and ended up in trouble. When I was thirteen, he was arrested. He still has ten years to go before he’ll be released.”

She couldn’t believe this man ended up a stockbroker. “Go on.”

“Because of my disabilities, my reading sucked. I did poorly in school. I was in foster care from fourteen to eighteen.” He ran a hand through his neatly cut hair, and that messed it up a bit. “Once I left the system, I couldn’t get a good job. Figuring I needed more education, I got a tutor at the Y and learned to read well. That skill allowed me to get a two-year junior-college degree. I realized that was quite good at math and business. From there I got a job at an investment firm.”

“Wow. That’s impressive.”

He learned forward. “I didn’t tell you that because I want you to feel sorry for me. I’m telling you because I am now rich, and I don’t have a four-year degree.”

Her face heated up. Did the world know about her hang-ups? She felt about one foot tall. “Thanks for telling me.” She stood. “If I can’t find a job, I’ll be sure to volunteer.” She shook his hand and raced out, embarrassed at her shallowness.

Not wanting to go home, she drove to the Eatery for a rich cup of coffee. She needed something soothing, like a chocolate chip cookie. Here she thought she had her whole life figured out, and at one dinner, her life seemed to collapse. She always knew she wanted to be a doctor. She thought she’d marry a surgeon or maybe the CEO of some big corporation. But she fell in love with two men who worked hard for a living.

She took a big bite out of the cookie, and the sugar actually calmed her nerves. She looked around, but she fortunately didn’t recognize anyone. She needed time and space to figure things out. The one thing she realized was that she’d been a fool.

“What else did she say?” Jackson wanted to pry the information out of Tara, but apparently she didn’t know more than what she’d been told.

“Nothing. I swear. As soon as she delivered the message, she hung up.”

He’d tried Jenny’s phone for two days and hadn’t been able to get a hold of her. He and Taylor had wanted to rush over to her and explain that they hadn’t been trying to deceive her, but they decided she needed time to come to grips with her real issues. She might claim it was about them not having a degree or that she feared they couldn’t support her, but her real issue stemmed from something deeper. In the meantime, he wasn’t a particularly nice person to be around.

The timing couldn’t have been worse. Now that Taylor’s parents were coming home, he and Taylor had been putting some things in storage and trying to arrange the back room to accommodate them until they found a house. He wished Jenny had stayed at the table long enough to let them explain what they meant about needing to save money.

As Taylor kept saying last night, if she really loved them, she’d come back. Jackson didn’t know how long his heart could stay broken.

Throughout the night, he kept glancing in the crowd, hoping maybe she’d stop by and apologize. Not that he needed her to say she was wrong, only that she wanted to be with them. He didn’t care what she said. He just needed to see her.

Knowing Jenny, she’d be crying her eyes out, and for that, he felt terrible. He and Taylor had barely spoken to each other. Each thought she left because of what the other one had said. Now, he was a complete mess.

Taylor was still at the house, but when Jackson closed the bar, he decided to stay in the back. They’d hooked up a makeshift shower in the bathroom. They had two very small rooms and a sitting room. The liquor had to be stored along the side wall, and the glasses and extra tables and chairs in a storage unit out back. Even if Jenny walked in right now and said she’d take them back, this arrangement wouldn’t work. Maybe the two of them should discuss renting an apartment until a home became available.

Shit
.

Just when his life was great, he had to tell her the truth. The only bright side was that at least now all the skeletons were out of the closet. What good did it do if Jenny wasn’t in his life?

He had Tuesday off and decided to continue removing his gear from Taylor’s parents’ home. The band asked for some changes in the designs for the upcoming show, so he couldn’t spend too much time drowning in sorrow.

To his surprise, Taylor was at the house.

“Hey.”

Taylor carried a box to the front door and placed it on the ground. “Any news?”

“No.”

“What are we going to do?” Taylor hadn’t shaved today, and his clothes looked like he’d slept in them.