32. Cole
COLE
“I can’t believe it,” I told Jenny on the ride home. “I’m not even sure I understand everything yet. But James said his mother was involved in the death of a woman he dated in college. That was before we became friends, but I remember hearing about her—her name was Danielle. She got into a fatal car accident. It was terrible.”
“Oh my God.” Jenny looked like she might cry. “That’s so freaking terrible .”
We were exhausted after dealing with the fallout from Celia Preston’s arrest. As we navigated the short drive from Logan to the Liberty, I was happy to be heading home and away from the terrible scene. I’d known that Celia Preston was a terrible person, but I didn’t think she was actually a terrible person . Apparently, I’d been wrong.
Amari waited for us at the door, and I was grateful to see him. “Hi, Mr. Preston, Ms. Jenny. It’s nice to have you back,” he said.
“Good to see you, Amari. We’re glad to be home—long flight,” I explained as we emerged from the Porsche, both of us pale beneath our tans and slightly off-kilter. “With a little family drama thrown in for flair.”
He nodded at me as he grabbed our bags. “Speaking of family drama,” he kept his voice low so Jenny couldn’t hear, “there’s been somebody sniffing around here. Asking questions about you and Ms. Jenny. They offered me money to talk and to let them up into your place—I didn’t do it,” he said immediately.
“Fuck,” I groaned. “But thank you for letting me know. You’re a good guy.”
“Do you think it was the Windsor sisters?” he asked. “Do you think they hired someone?”
“Could be.” I scrubbed a hand across my face. “But honestly, I’ve got some other enemies at the moment.”
“I’m sorry to spring it on you first thing,” he said apologetically. “But I wanted you to know.”
“I appreciate that.” I made a mental note to either hire Amari away or pressure the manager into giving him a six-figure raise; I wasn’t sure which.
Jenny and I dragged ourselves into the lobby, only to be accosted by the Windsor sisters. FFS. Greta and Florence sprung out at us, as though they’d been lying in wait.
“Cole? We’ve been waiting for you!”
“I don’t have time for this right now?—”
But they wouldn’t take no for an answer. The sisters fired off a machine-gun round of questions so quickly that I couldn’t tell who was asking what.
“You were with Celia Preston when she got arrested?”
“She is such a bitch! She tried to get me thrown off the board at Children’s Hospital! Did she do it? Did she kill that girl?”
“I knew she would do something like murder! Did you know the girl who died?”
“Who is James Preston’s fiancée? I didn’t know he was your best friend. Wait, is he your best friend?”
“Woah—ladies, just woah .” I gripped Jenny’s hand. She looked at the sisters with mild shock. Florence and Greta were an awful lot to handle after a long day.
“First of all,” I continued, “I thought you weren’t speaking to us. I thought you were getting me thrown out.”
Greta pulled her glasses down her nose. “John called us. He said you wanted to buy out our apartment, and it’s going to be profitable for him. Apparently, we’re the ones in danger of being forced out of the Liberty.”
I scratched my head. “And that means you’re speaking to me?”
“No, it means we know we can’t compete with your resources. So we were hoping to play nice—nicer,” Greta corrected herself.
“And find out the truth about Celia Preston!” Florence piped in. In their hearts, the Windsor sisters were terrible gossips. That might be what actually motivated them to get out of bed in the morning. “So, is it true? Did she kill her son’s girlfriend?”
“I don’t know, and I’m not going to comment,” I said wearily. “And if you two think that interrogating me when we just got home after a long trip and a challenging afternoon is in any way going to dissuade me from buying you out, you’re wrong. Good evening, ladies.”
My arm protectively around Jenny’s shoulders, I hustled us past them to the safety of the elevators.
“They need to get a life,” Jenny correctly assessed after the elevator doors closed. “Also, did they say you’re buying out their apartment?”
“Maybe. But the South End’s sounding better and better.”
“It’d be hard to find a nicer place than yours,” Jenny said.
“True,” I said as the elevator doors opened on my spectacular space. I did love the Liberty. “Maybe we don’t need to get you a South End condo. Maybe you can just stay here with me.”
I had intended to buy Jenny a place of her own, but now that we were home, it seemed nuts that she would be anywhere other than right by my side. All the time. Every day. Every night. In our home.
“Because really…” I scratched my head. “Why do we need two places?”
We looked at each other. Jenny opened her mouth and then closed it. I was about to say something—being me, I had no idea what—when my phone buzzed with a call from Shirley. “It’s Shirley, I should take this. She’ll be upset by seeing Celia Preston in the news.”
Jenny nodded, heading into the bedroom to change out of her travel clothes.
“Mr. Bryson? Oh, Mr. Bryson, I’m so glad you picked up! I was so worried when I saw the news just now?—”
“We’re fine, Shirley,” I assured her. “Jenny and I just got back to the Liberty.”
“Did your father call you?” she asked.
“Not yet,” I sighed. “But I had a few messages from Kevin while I was away. What’s up? Did my father call you ?”
“Yes, and he said some terrible things.” To my horror, she sniffled, and I realized Shirley was crying. “He made some accusations about J-Jenny that were just awful. And he tried to force me to tell him what I knew about you two. Mike was so upset, he said I should quit?—”
“Sorry, who’s Mike?” I interrupted. I felt a dull headache coming on.
“My husband, Michael. You’ve met him, silly! Anyway, he said that I should quit because your father threatened me. And then I couldn’t stop crying, but I said no way, not when Mr. Bryson finally met a nice girl!” She paused to blow her nose. “But that’s the thing, your father was making up all sorts of lies about Jenny, things that were really unkind. And then he said he’d go after me if I didn’t cooperate. So I told him where to go!”
She blew her nose again. “I didn’t want to bother you when you were on your nice vacation, but I wanted to tell you as soon as you got back. I don’t know what he’s up to, but I know it’s not good.”
“Thank you, Shirley. I’m sorry you had to go through that. Take the rest of the week off, okay? You need a break. I’ll be fine.”
“Is Jenny with you? Is she okay?”
I was touched that Shirley already cared so much about my girlfriend. “Yes, she is. And don’t worry about my father. I’m handling it, okay? I’m sorry he harassed you—I won’t let that happen again.”
We hung up, and I paced for a moment. My fucking father was a lunatic. He might not be Celia-Preston-level bad, but he was still an absolute ass. I needed to deal with him, but I had to gather my thoughts first. I couldn’t believe he’d called my assistant and harassed her like that. It made me certain that the investigator sniffing around the Liberty had been hired by him, too. Part of me wanted to call him right then and there and have it out with him. But my father was shrewd, and he was always prepared. Going at him when I was off-balance and erratic wasn’t in my best interest. I needed to be calm, rested, and clear-thinking when I approached him.
There was nothing I could do tonight. Resigned, I headed for the bedroom. I found Jenny in one of my T-shirts; she’d quickly changed and was unpacking. “I have someone who can do that, you know.”
She looked confused. “Unpack? I think I can handle it.”
“I just talked to Shirley,” I sighed. I wanted to tell Jenny about my father, but I didn’t want to make her upset. So instead, I asked, “Did you know she was married?”
“Yeah, of course. She and Michael have been together for fifteen years. They met later in life. She said he’s a real good guy.” Jenny nodded.
I shook my head. “I’m an ass, you know that?”
She laughed. “No Cole, I didn’t. Watcha mean?”
“I mean, I didn’t even remember that my assistant was married. Shirley’s worked for me forever. She said I’ve met him—I’m sure I have.” I shrugged. “But when I think about Shirley, I’m never really thinking about Shirley. I’m thinking about me . What she can do for me, what she needs to do for me, etc.”
Jenny nodded. “Like I said, buy her a gift.”
“I told her to take the week off,” I said semi-defensively.
“Ooh, even better. Send her and Michael on a cruise! They love cruises.”
I watched as she separated out my clean tees from my dirty ones, put my clothes neatly back into the correct drawers, closed up the suitcase, and put it away. “How do you know that they like cruises?” I asked.
“Shirley and I were talking about vacations,” she said as she unpacked the next suitcase. “She said she and Mike like to go cruising because it’s real relaxing. You don’t have to go anywhere because you’re already somewhere, you know?”
She set our toiletries down carefully, then set the collection of shells she’d amassed on the dresser.
“Jenny, have I told you that I love you?” I asked.
She beamed at me as she folded and re-folded one of her bikinis. “Yeah, you have. And I’m real glad, because I love you, too. Now buy Shirley a cruise, will you? It’s the least you can do for forgetting that she has a life outside work.”
“I’m an ass,” I said again.
“Nah,” Jenny said with a grin. “You were doing your best. But now you can do better, right? So do it.”
“Yes, Jenny. I will.” I vowed, right then and there, to do better in all areas of my life.
But especially in the area she occupied, front and center.
I may never have been in love before, but I was sophisticated enough to know the real thing when I found it.
I had another one of my employees book a trip for Michael and Shirley. The trip, as Jenny said, was “wicked nice.” The Ritz-Carlton cruise left from Boston and sailed to ports in Bermuda, Turks and Caicos, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. I had Jenny call her and deliver the good news. Even though I was in the kitchen, I could hear Shirley screaming through the phone.
“You did good with that cruise, Cole,” Jenny said as we snuggled under the covers that night. “I even told Shirley it was your idea.”
“Did she believe you?”
“Nah,” Jenny laughed. “But she was so happy. She said Michael’s eyes filled with tears because he was so glad she was bein’ recognized for all her hard work.”
“Ah, that’s nice.” I should’ve done it sooner.
As if she could hear my thoughts, Jenny patted me on the shoulder. “You could make it an annual thing, you know? Sending them on a nice trip? They’d probably never accept it, but you could still offer.”
“She did get you those thong bikinis,” I reasoned.
“Yeah, she did.” Jenny yawned. “Shirley’s the best, you know?”
“I know.” I kissed the top of her head. “And you don’t let the best things in life go.”
“True.” She snuggled against me and murmured, “Love you.”
My heart swelled. Despite the drama with Celia Preston and my father, I’d never been so happy in my life. “I love you, too.”
I waited until she was asleep, then I crawled out of bed, padded out to the kitchen, and called my father. I’d planned on waiting, but I’d waited long enough. I was calm. I’d thought it through. Much like Shirley’s vacation, the conversation was long overdue.
It was time for me to step up.
It was late, and he’d already be getting to bed, but I wanted to get this over with. Dad picked up after one ring. “What the hell do you want?” he snarled. “It’s ten o’clock!”
“I wanted to talk to you,” I said, “after my girlfriend was asleep.”
“She’s not your girlfriend. She’s your hooker ,” he spat.
“Not anymore, Dad. I bought out her contract.” I paused for a beat. “She’s a civilian now. No more ties to the agency.”
“Being a prostitute is like being a lawyer—you’re always one, no matter what,” he said. “I’ve looked into this girl. She has a background, son. She’s not good for you.”
“Everybody has a story, Dad,” I sighed. “And you don’t end up working at an agency like AccommoDating unless you’ve had a rough go of it. That doesn’t make her a bad person. That doesn’t make her bad for me .”
“I think you need to hear me out on this. You know how strongly I feel,” Dad warned.
“I’ll meet with you to talk about it.” He might change his tune when he saw I was sincere in my feelings for Jenny. I doubted it, but it was worth a shot—an appeal to any remaining decency was all I had.
“That’s a good start. But I need you to know that I was serious about your inheritance,” my father said. “What happens to our family legacy is not a joke.”
I wanted to say that threatening to leave his money to my failed hockey coach and bitchy neighbors was, in fact, the real joke. But instead, I said, “Fine. In the interim, I’d like to ask that you stop threatening my staff and the people who work at my building. Harassment isn’t a good look, Dad. Since you’re so concerned with appearances, you might want to look in the mirror.”
“Isuggest that you worry about yourself,” he countered. “You’ve never been in a relationship, son. You might think you’re sophisticated, but have you considered that maybe you don’t know what the hell you’re doing?”
“Bye, Dad.”
He didn’t return the formality. He simply hung up.
I headed back to bed. I didn’t feel much better, but at least I’d done something. I climbed under the covers next to Jenny’s warm body, refusing to give my father another thought until absolutely necessary.