Chapter 9 #3
“We’d love to. He’s trying to figure out a few things at work, and then I’ll email you some dates.”
“Sounds good.”
“Let me know how you’re feeling, okay?”
“I will. I’ll text you tomorrow.”
“Love you, honey.”
“Love you, too.”
Jenny put down the phone and toyed with the idea of getting up and trying to eat something, but her stomach turned from the idea alone, so she stayed put, dozing intermittently until Syd called later that afternoon.
“Were you sleeping?” Sydney asked.
“I hate to admit that I was. Not feeling too hot. Well, that’s not true. I feel like I’m going to implode I’m so hot, but I might have a fever on top of this miserable heat wave.”
“Ugh, that doesn’t sound like fun.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. I just feel like shit. But how are you? It was good to see you out last night.”
“It was good to be out. I’m sick of looking at my own four walls.”
“You’re feeling better?”
“Still a little tired and sore, but much better than I was.”
“Glad to hear it. How long do you have to wait to test out the new plumbing?”
Sydney laughed. “Another two weeks, not that Luke is counting down or anything.”
“Aww, poor guy.”
“Poor guy will survive. We’ve been…improvising.”
“I’m sure you have,” Jenny said, amused by her friend. “You know… You two, you give me hope.”
“How so?”
“Seeing you so happy with Luke after all you’ve been through, it makes me believe it could happen to me, too.”
“It will happen for you. I know it will.”
Jenny thought of Alex and what they’d shared the night before. She wanted to tell Sydney about it but hesitated, because if she did, it wouldn’t belong just to them anymore. For now, she wanted to keep it private.
“Speaking of things happening for you, Luke ran into Mason yesterday. He said he had a really nice time with you, and he’d like to see you again.”
Jenny cringed and was grateful Sydney couldn’t see her expression. “He’s a great guy, but he’s not the great guy for me.”
“I know you said the jury was still out on Linc—”
“He’s not the great guy for me either.”
“Oh, I was so hoping… You seemed to be having a good time together last night.”
“We did. It’s just, you know, no spark.” Jenny sighed. “I must sound like the biggest princess. You guys have gone to all this trouble to arrange dates for me—”
“Stop,” Syd said gently. “If it’s not there, it’s not there. You’re not eighteen anymore. You know yourself and what you’re looking for. Please don’t feel like you owe us any explanations.”
“Still, I hope you know I appreciate the fix-ups, even if they haven’t worked out the way we hoped.”
“We know that. Let us know when you’re ready to try again. We’ve got other guys in the stable.”
Jenny laughed at the vision of hot guys lined up next to each other in stalls waiting to be found by the right woman. If only it were that easy. “Did I miss anything after I left last night?”
“Oh, you should’ve seen it! Evan played the song he recorded for release from the studio—‘My Amazing Grace.’ He brought Grace up on the stage and sang it to her. I swear, we were all bawling our heads off—no one more so than her.”
“I’m sorry I missed that.”
“It was quite something, and apparently they’ve set a wedding date. January eighteenth in Turks and Caicos.”
“A destination wedding,” Jenny said with a sigh. “How nice.”
“They thought it would be fun to get everyone out of here in the dead of winter.”
“It’s a great idea.”
“We’re getting together here this afternoon to go over the details of Tiffany’s shower. If you feel better, come on over.”
“I will as long as I’m not communicable.”
“Sounds good. Hope to see you.”
“Syd… I just want to say… You and the others have been such a godsend to me. You have no idea.”
“Oh, honey, yes, I do. The people here saved my life in every way that matters, and we love having you as part of our group.”
“Thank you. I hope to see you later.”
“We’ll be here.”
Jenny ended the call and turned on her side, snuggling into her pillow, counting her many blessings. Before she’d come to Gansett, she’d been floundering at home in North Carolina, working for a PR firm and surrounded by well-meaning people who watched her all the time for cracks in the armor.
Here, no one had known her before the great tragedy. No one had known Toby. No one had known them together. Though her friends on Gansett knew what had happened, her tragedy didn’t define her relationships here the way it had at home.
She could breathe here, and at some point during her time at the lighthouse, she’d finally healed.
The night she’d spent with Alex had shown her she was still capable of emotions she’d thought buried forever.
Part of her heart would always be broken over the loss of such a wonderful, beautiful man in the prime of his life.
But her life wasn’t over, and her time with Alex had reawakened her desire and her passion and her hope for a second chance.
Whether her second chance would be with him or not was yet to be seen, but he’d shown her it was possible to find that connection again.
And she couldn’t wait to see him.