Chapter 25
25
“This is Rocky. He’s going to be your horse for the lesson.”
Beth stared up at the very, very tall horse and immediately regretted her decision. She wasn’t athletic, nor was she especially coordinated. Riding was for slender young women with British accents. She was pushing forty and had never been a fan of heights.
“Is he okay with that?” she asked, her voice suddenly dry. “Doesn’t the wand choose the wizard?”
Bert, her instructor—a small, weathered man who could be anywhere from sixty to ninety-five—grinned at her. “ Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I loved those books. Great movies, too.”
He took Rocky by the bridle and eased the horse closer to her. “Say hello. Give him a soft pat on the neck and greet him by name. Horses like that you know who they are.”
She swallowed her fear and managed a faint, “Hello, Rocky. Thank you for being my horse today. I’m terrified, and I’d like very much not to fall off.”
“It’s fine if you do,” Bert told her. “He’ll just step over you. Rocky’s not the trampling sort.”
There were horses who were trampling sorts, she thought frantically.
Bert chuckled. “All righty then. Let’s get going. First we’re going to learn how to saddle Rocky here, then you’re going to ride him.”
“Or I could just saddle him this time and ride him next time.”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
“Oh, I’m not here for fun,” Beth murmured. But she dutifully followed Bert and Rocky into the barn and prepared to meet her fate.
* * *
Jana stood with her row and followed the person next to her down the aisle to stand by the stairs to the stage. There were only about two hundred graduates in her class, so they were holding the ceremony inside the large auditorium. Family and friends filled every chair and clapped loudly as names were called.
Dozens of emotions battled for dominance. Pride, of course. She’d gotten a B+ in calculus, and would graduate with a 3.75 GPA. A heady number for someone who’d started without being sure she could even complete one class. Now she was headed to nursing school. A hard road, but one she was determined to finish. She was ready for the next phase of her life.
But mingling with the pride was a sense of regret for the paths not taken. If she’d gone to college out of high school, her life would have been easier. She would be settled in her career of choice, rather than being two years from barely starting. Only without her mistakes and tangents, she wouldn’t have Linnie, and her daughter was a blessing she could never regret.
As Jana moved closer to the stage, she thought about the past few weeks and all the drama she’d endured. A couple of weeks into the breakup, she found she didn’t miss Rick at all. Knowing the real man wasn’t anyone she would want to be with had gone a long way to healing her. Yes, she felt foolish and taken advantage of, but so what? She’d been authentic—he’d been the one playing games. She regretted ever being sucked in by him, but more than that, she regretted not having Beth in her life. If she had refused to date Rick, then she and Beth could have stayed friends. Eventually Beth would have met Teddy, and the chemistry or connection or whatever they wanted to call the lightning strike that was their relationship would have happened. Without Rick in the middle, they could have still been together.
She started up the stairs, moving to the pace of the names being called. Her family had arrived early enough to be near the front, where they’d all promised to scream as loudly as possible. Jana had to admit she was looking forward to the noise.
“Jana Mead.”
As she started toward the center of the stage, she heard her family shouting.
“I love you, Mommy!”
“Way to go!”
“You’re rockin’ it, Jana.”
The last voice was Dex’s. He had professional training and could project loud enough to be heard three states over. The familiar sound should have been no big deal, but hearing him gave her a new and unexpected shiver.
The sensation was so surprising, she nearly stumbled. Jana managed to shake hands with the college president and take the diploma cover from her. She crossed the stage as the next name was called and returned to her seat.
Confusion made it impossible to watch the other graduates. She was too busy trying to figure out what had just happened. A shiver? Over Dex? What was that about? Sure, he was a funny, kind and incredibly handsome guy, but that had never mattered to her before. She’d known Dex all her life and had never once thought of him as more than Teddy’s BFF and a part of the family. He wasn’t anyone she saw as romantic.
Except ever since her brother had told her to find someone she already liked and trusted, she’d been thinking about Dex. She knew her brother would never set her up to be humiliated, which maybe meant that he knew something about how Dex felt about her. But Dex had never once hinted he had feelings, so maybe she was wrong about the whole thing. Only Dex was kind of the one guy in her life who wasn’t Teddy.
When the graduation ceremony wrapped up, she was no closer to an answer than she had been before. She made her way through the crowd to where her family and Dex waited. They all raced toward her and hugged her.
“You did great,” her brother told her while Linnie danced in place.
“I saw you, Mommy. Did you hear me?”
“I did. You were very loud. It was great!” Jana turned to Dex. “I heard you yelling, too.”
He winked. “I’ll always yell for you.”
An easy, casual statement that shouldn’t have meant anything, nor did it. Not exactly.
They drove back to the house. The late-afternoon graduation was to be followed by a barbecue. Jana was surprised to find a pile of presents waiting on the kitchen table.
“What’s all this?” she asked. “You didn’t have to do this.”
“We wanted to,” Magnolia told her. “Milestones need to be celebrated.”
They all gathered around the table and watched as she opened her gifts. There was a beautiful gold heart necklace with her name and Linnie’s engraved on it. Her daughter climbed in her lap as she put it on.
“That’s you and me,” Linnie told her.
Jana’s heart squeezed tight from all the love. “It is us, isn’t it?” She looked at her brother. “Thank you.”
“Wasn’t me,” he said with a grin. “Your daughter picked it out.”
Teddy and his kids gave her a folding laptop table for her bed, a bedside shelf that tucked between the mattress and box spring, and a fluffy robe.
“For all the homework,” Atlas said. “Dad told us you’d have even more than you have now. So you can study in bed, then take a nap and study some more.”
“Very thoughtful. Thank you.”
She hugged all three children, then turned to what was obviously a couple of bottles of wine. The label had been customized to read, “Pairs well with graduation.” There was a bottle of red and a bottle of white.
“Those will be fun,” she told her brother. “Thank you.”
“I expect you to share.”
“I’m happy to.”
The last gift was from Dex. Jana fumbled a little as she tore the wrapping paper on the six-by-nine-inch box. When she opened it, she found a card.
“Good for one spa weekend away, including treatments, meals and drinks. Take a girlfriend. Babysitting included.” Underneath was a slender brochure for a very exclusive spa up in Santa Barbara.
She’d never been to the spa but knew the name, of course. It was the kind of place the rich and famous went to, with fancy skin treatments and gourmet food.
“You can’t give me this,” she told Dex. “It’s too much.”
“I want you to have it.”
“But…”
He shook his head. “Be gracious and say thank you.”
“Thank you,” she breathed, not sure what the generous gift meant. Was he celebrating the moment or sending her a message? She supposed the only way to find out was to ask, although she should probably wait for a more private moment.
Magnolia took charge, telling the younger kids to clean up while she started setting the outside table. Teddy collected the food, including the burgers he would barbecue. Dex opened a bottle of champagne and another of sparkling apple cider. Very fancy plastic champagne flutes were put on the table.
“I’m feeling quite special,” Jana told everyone. “Can we do this every day?”
Linnie hugged her. “We can if that’s what you want, Mommy.”
“You’re a sweet girl.”
Jana got out the Bluetooth speakers and hooked up the music system. The kids went off to play. Dex followed to do his pushing duty on the swings. She walked over to where Teddy was heating the grill.
“Thank you,” she told him. “The party is great.”
He hugged her. “Congratulations. You worked hard for this. We’re all proud.”
She studied him, taking in the hint of sadness in his eyes. While she knew she wasn’t responsible for what had happened, she couldn’t help feeling guilty.
She’d already told him about Beth’s apology, so she didn’t bother mentioning that. Instead she said, “She never tried to ask me about you. When we spoke? She could have tried to play on my sympathies.”
“I’m ignoring you,” he said as he walked back into the kitchen.
“And I’m following you.” She grabbed his arm, forcing him to a stop. “Teddy, come on. Why are you being so stubborn? In her position, you would have done the same thing.”
He stared past her, neither denying nor agreeing. “She hurt you.”
“Rick hurt me. Rick was the jerk. Beth was the sister who loved her brother.”
“She made a choice.”
“Given the circumstances, it wasn’t the wrong one.”
He glanced at her. “You’ve forgiven her?”
“I think I have to. I miss my friend.” She touched his arm. “If you and I weren’t so tight, it might be harder for me to understand, but I would do anything for you, so I get what she was up against. She was just as misled as I was. She wasn’t mean or deliberately cruel. She was trapped.”
She wished she could shake him and make him see. “You’re in love with her, Teddy. And you’re the kind of man who doesn’t unlove very easily. I appreciate that you’ve been so supportive, but it’s time to think about whether or not you want to be happy for the rest of your life.”
He shook his head. “We’re done.”
“You’re a fool.”
He shrugged. “Maybe, but this is how it has to be.”
Later, after dinner, when the kids were gathered around the fire pit with their dad, Jana and Dex cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher.
“I don’t get it,” she said when they were done and she’d filled him in on her conversation with her brother. “I know he’s hurting. Why is he so stubborn?”
“It’s his nature. He’s loyal, and Beth betrayed his trust, something he never thought could happen. He can’t just get over that.”
“But they love each other, and he won’t forgive her and move on.”
Dex watched her. “You obviously have.”
“I miss her, and I want her to be my friend again.”
“Do you trust her?” he asked.
A question that required a moment of thought. What Beth had done was wrong, and Jana had been on the receiving end of the pain. And yet…
“I understand why she did what she did. She’s sorry for what happened.” She looked at Dex. “I’m over him and I’ll be fine, but Beth lost her brother.”
“She didn’t lose him. He was never what she thought. The difference is, now she knows that.”
“Which puts her in a worse position.”
Jana thought about all the questions she had about Dex and what her brother had said, then tried to figure out how to ask if he had feelings for her. If only there was an easy way to slide into that particular topic.
“What?” he asked. “You have the strangest look on your face.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it, hoping for some kind of inspiration. The only thing that occurred to her was the truth.
“Are you in love with me?”
Despite how some people dismissed Dex as simply a brainless action hero, he was actually a gifted actor. In that moment, as silence filled the room, nothing about him changed, and she had no idea what he was thinking. That realization was followed by the horrific thought that maybe she’d gotten it all completely wrong, and he only ever thought of her as Teddy’s baby sister.
“Yes.”
Wait, what? She blinked. “You’re in love with me.”
His dark gaze locked with hers. “Yes.”
“You never said anything. I don’t understand. When did this happen?”
One corner of his mouth turned up. “I wasn’t thinking I should send an announcement.”
“Why not? It would have been helpful.”
“Because you don’t see me that way.”
He had a point there, she thought. At least, she never had before.
“As to the when, it was when you came back pregnant with Linnie. I took one look at you and knew.”
Her mouth dropped open. She consciously closed it. “But that was five years ago.”
His expression turned rueful. “Tell me about it.”
“But you could have hinted or flirted.”
“I was giving you time to settle into being a new mom. Then you got busy with school. Just when I was about to say something, you started dating Paul.”
Ugh. And that had gone on for months. “After that I swore off men,” she said, more to herself than him. “And then there was Rick.”
“No offense, but you have horrible taste in men.”
“I know.”
Dex was in love with her. Dex. She was going to have to take a minute and think that through. She’d thought maybe he would say he liked her or had wondered about them dating. But love was a whole different thing.
“I’m going to need a moment,” she told him.
“No problem. Take all the time you want. I’m used to waiting for you.”
* * *
Jana sat in her car outside the urgent care center. This was the third time she’d driven over and parked. Previously she’d ended up driving away without going inside, but today she was determined to actually speak to Galaxy.
She’d gone around and around, trying to figure out the right thing to do. She didn’t want to be vindictive. Instead she wanted to give the other woman information. If the situation were reversed, she would want Galaxy to come see her and tell her the truth about the man she was in love with.
She grabbed her bag and got out of her car, then walked inside and went to the reception desk. She smiled at the young man standing there.
“Hi. Is Galaxy working today? I need to speak to her. It’s personal, by the way. My name is Jana Mead.”
He frowned. “She is. Are you a friend?”
“I know her boyfriend and his sister.” Jana kept her body language open, her expression relaxed. She didn’t want to come across as scary or make anyone think she was going to be a problem.
“Okay. Let me see if she’s available. You’re Jenny?”
“Jana.”
“Oh, right.” He pointed to the waiting area. “Have a seat.”
Jana did as he’d requested. About two minutes later, he was back at his station.
“She’ll be right out.”
“Thank you.”
Suddenly, what had seemed to make sense when she was safely in her car had her doubting herself and her stomach writhing. None of this was her business, she thought. She wasn’t responsible for Galaxy or her relationship with Rick. Only before she could leave, a tall, stunning redhead in dark green scrubs walked into the reception area. The guy at the desk pointed at Jana.
“I’m Galaxy,” the green-eyed beauty said, sounding confused. “Can I help you?”
Jana rose. “Is there somewhere we can talk?”
Galaxy led her into one of the treatment rooms. She shut the door and faced her. “What’s going on?”
Jana swallowed against nerves and ignored the need to run for her car. She cleared her throat and then offered what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
“My name is Jana. I’m friends with Beth and I, ah, know Rick.” She paused, searching for a way to make herself believable. “What Beth can do with a sandwich is practically an art form.”
Galaxy relaxed a little. “She’s very talented.”
“I work in medical billing. Rick’s surgical practice is in that building, too.”
“Yes, he has two locations. Look, I have to get back to work. Can you get to the point?”
Oh, God. Jana sucked in a breath. “Three months ago, he asked me out, and I said yes. We were dating until about four weeks ago.” She pulled her phone out of her bag and unlocked her photographs. “That weekend you went out of town, he and I went away.”
Galaxy took a step back, then another. Her eyes were big, her skin pale. She started shaking her head. “No. You’re lying. I don’t know what sick game this is, but no. He’s not dating you. I see him all the time. We’ve been together ten months. We’re in love.”
Jana showed her the phone with the selfie of her and Rick out by the hotel room’s fire pit. She scrolled through several more.
“I didn’t know,” Jana told her flatly. “I don’t date men involved with other women. He lied about everything.”
Galaxy stared at the phone. She continued to shake her head. “It can’t be true. He loves me.”
Jana thought about saying she didn’t think Rick was capable of loving anyone, then decided there was no point in that. Galaxy wouldn’t believe her.
“I know how I felt when I found out the truth,” she said instead. “I thought you’d want to know what had happened. If you didn’t, then I’m sorry.”
She put her phone in her bag, stepped around Galaxy and left.