Chapter 5 – Jennie
On Friday nights, I meet my girlfriends—Ruth, Maggie, Hannah, Maya, and Gabrielle—at Ruth’s Tavern for dinner and drinks. They’re my girl posse. My family.
Hannah McIntyre and her husband, Killian Devereaux, own McIntyre Wilderness Excursion Lodge, located on the outskirts of town.
The Lodge offers outdoor activities for tourists who come from all around the world to ride horses, camp outdoors, fly fish, hike, learn how to climb rocks, and flirt with the local men.
Proceeds from running the Lodge fund their true passion—McIntyre Search and Rescue.
Maya McKendrick works as a rock climbing instructor at the Lodge. She’s also a member of the search and rescue team. Gabrielle Hunter is manager of the Lodge restaurant.
When I walk into the tavern tonight, I spot Robyn working as a server.
Ruth and her significant other, Jack Merchant, are manning the bar.
The guys—Micah, along with Maggie’s husband, Owen, and Hannah’s husband, Killian—are seated at a booth.
John Burke, Gabrielle’s grumpier half, is there, too, along with Travis Hicks, who also teaches rock climbing at the Lodge.
I wonder if we can legitimately call it Girls Night Out when all the significant others are sitting just a few yards away.
The only person missing at the moment is Chris, but I’m sure he’ll be along soon.
“Jennie!” Maggie waves me over to an available seat next to her.
We’re at one of the big tables that seats six. It looks like I’m the last to arrive.
As soon as I’m seated, Maggie puts her arm across my shoulders for a one-armed hug. “How’s it going?”
“Good.”
“Any more sightings of your ex?” she whispers.
“No, thank God.”
There’s already a pitcher of beer on our table, so I pour myself a glass. I notice Maggie is drinking a Coke tonight instead of beer. “What’s with the soft drink?”
Her expression transforms instantly into a huge grin, dimples flashing as her cheeks deepen in color. “Why do you think?”
“Oh, my God! Are you serious?”
She nods. “We just found out this morning. I think I’m about six weeks along.”
I lean in to hug her. “Owen must be over the moon!”
“He is.” Maggie and Owen have one child between them, a one-year-old daughter named Claire.
Maggie has two teenage sons, Riley and Brendan, from a previous abusive marriage.
“He’s been hoping we’d have another one.
I told him not to hold his breath. Not at my age anyway.
I told him we were lucky to have conceived Claire.
I certainly didn’t expect to luck out twice. ”
I bump shoulders with her. “Forty-three is not too old.”
Ruth joins us then, bringing a party platter filled with all sorts of hot appetizers—boneless wings, mozzarella sticks, potato skins, fried pickles, pretzel bites with cheddar cheese sauce for dipping.
The works. “I guess Maggie told you the news,” she says, noticing my smile.
“I just found out a few minutes ago. Tonight, we’re celebrating. ”
We all raise our glasses and toast to Maggie and her new bundle of joy. The guys notice what we’re doing, and they raise their glasses, too.
A few minutes later, Chris walks into the tavern.
Clearly, he’s off duty as he’s dressed in blue jeans and a dark gray plaid shirt, open at the neck.
He’s got a white T-shirt on underneath. It’s not often I see him out of uniform.
My pulse speeds up at the sight of him, and for a moment, I allow myself to look my fill.
His sleeves are rolled up, and I can see quite a bit of the tattoos decorating his right arm, as well as his sexy forearms.
Chris immediately scans our table, and when he spots me, he smiles and waves. As I return the gesture, I do my best to ignore the butterflies in my belly. I watch as he joins the guys at their table.
Maggie leans close to whisper, “All that boy needs is a little encouragement from you, missy.”
I snap my attention back to our table, to Maya who’s telling us about one of the guests she took rock climbing this morning.
“Or, rather I tried to,” she says. “Turns out this woman’s afraid of heights and hadn’t bothered to tell us.
When she was about ten feet off the ground, she totally panicked and practically threw herself off the wall.
If Travis hadn’t been belaying her, she could have hit the ground and broken her neck.
” Maya raises her glass toward the guys’ table.
“Kudos to Travis, the tourist wrangler!” she calls out loud enough to be heard over the music.
Upon hearing his name, Travis turns his attention our way. I doubt he heard exactly what Maya said, but he raises his glass anyway.
The night progresses like it always does, with lots of conversation and laughter.
We play pool and throw darts. We’re on our second pitcher of beer when the door opens and two women walk in.
I’m facing the entrance, so of course I spot them immediately.
It’s not hard to recognize Aria, the curvy brunette who was flirting with Chris at the diner the other day and her red-haired friend.
As soon as the two women walk into the tavern, they scan the interior. They start walking toward the bar, but as they pass the guys’ table, Aria stops short as she notices Chris.
“Sheriff!” Aria says loudly enough we can hear her from our table. “What a surprise, running into you again.”
Chris nods to her. He says something, but I can’t hear what.
“Oh, my God, that’s her!” Maya says as she nods toward Aria. “The lady who’s afraid of heights.” Her dark eyes narrow as she observes Aria fawning over Chris. “What the hell is she doing?”
Aria says something to Chris. He smiles politely and shakes his head.
“Probably asking him to dance,” I say, trying not to sound petty and snarky.
“No way,” Maya says. “Chris has better taste than that. She’s such a drama queen.”
When it’s clear Aria bombed with Chris, she turns her attention to Travis.
Maya shoots out of her seat. “Oh, hell, no! She’s not getting her claws in that boy!” She stalks over to the guys’ table.
“This should be good,” Maggie says as she reaches for a mozzarella stick.
The rest of us watch to see what’s about to happen. There’s no telling with Maya. She’s a twenty-six-year-old Korean-American pistol with no filter. When she reaches their table, Maya grabs Travis’s collar and literally pulls him out of his seat. He’s laughing as she hauls him to the dance floor.
The remaining guys seated at the table—Owen, Micah, Killian, and John—quickly shut Aria and her friend down. They’re all happily taken.
With a frown on her pretty face, Aria and her friend head to the bar. Heaven help them if they try to flirt with Jack. Ruth will read them the riot act and kick them out of her tavern.
Owen walks up behind Maggie’s chair and puts his hands on her shoulders. “Do you feel up to a dance, babe?” he asks as he bends down to kiss her cheek.
Maggie pops the last of her cheese stick into her mouth, wipes her hands on a napkin, and rises. “I’d love to.”
A moment later, Killian and John approach our table to claim their partners for a dance. That leaves just me seated at the girls’ table. I glance over at the guys’ table to see Chris looking at me. He smiles as he rises and walks my way.
“Looks like it’s just you and me,” he says as he takes the empty seat beside mine.
“Did that woman ask you to dance?”
He nods.
“What did you say?”
“I said, ‘No, thank you, ma’am.’”
“Why didn’t you dance with her? I mean, she’s pretty. And she’s obviously into you.”
He shrugs. “She’s not my type.”
That doesn’t make much sense to me because, if I’m being honest, Aria is probably every man’s type. She’s gorgeous and curvy in all the right places. I want to ask him what his type is, but I don’t see how it’s any of my business. I lost that right a long time ago.
Chris nods toward the dance floor, where all of our friends are partnered up, swaying to a nice, sedate slow song. “We might as well join them.” He offers me his hand. “What do you say?”
I look at his hand—long fingers, clean blunt nails, no rings. There are sexy veins visible beneath his tanned skin and a light dusting of brown hair on his forearm. My belly quivers at the thought of those fingers touching me in a non-platonic way, those strong arms around me.
“Jennie?”
I realize I’m still staring at his hand.
He gives me a gentle smile. “Come on. It’s not right that the prettiest girl in the place is sitting this one out.”
I think about all those dances he asked me to when we were in school.
All the times I told him no. But, I never told anyone else yes.
Instead, I stayed home and watched TV with my grandparents.
I didn’t say no to him because I didn’t want him.
I was trying to protect him from all the bullying that came my way.
I rarely dance, so why is he asking me now?
He squeezes my hand gently. “There’s nothing wrong with friends dancing, is there? Look at Maya and Travis.”
I’m too old to have butterflies in my belly just because a cute boy asks me to dance, so I ignore them and chalk the sensation up to the little bit of alcohol I’ve had tonight. I nod and try to sound nonchalant. “Sure, okay.”
The next minute, I’m on my feet, and he’s leading me to the dance floor.
It’s a Friday night, so of course the tavern is crowded with both locals and tourists, like Aria and her friend.
That means the dance floor is packed. Chris pulls me close and settles one hand on my waist. His other hand holds mine.
Not knowing where to place my other hand, I end up resting it on his broad shoulder.
That seems like the safest option. Around his neck would feel too intimate.
We’re standing only inches apart when he starts to move.
“It’s busy tonight,” he says as he scans the dance floor.
I nod, not trusting myself to speak.
We sway easily to the slow song, Chris moving us effortlessly. I feel his shoulder muscles flex as we change direction. He’s taller than I am, so I end up staring at the strong column of his throat. His skin is tanned from exposure, and I see a hint of dark chest hair.
His Adam’s apple moves as he talks. “I heard the big news.”
“What?” I force myself to focus on what he’s saying.
“Maggie and Owen, expecting again. Owen is thrilled. It’s all he can talk about tonight. He wants Claire to have a sibling close to her own age. Maggie’s boys love her, but they’re practically adults, and Claire’s still a baby.”
I nod. “Maggie’s happy, too. I think she’s genuinely surprised she was able to conceive.”
“I don’t think forty-three is that old to be having a baby, is it?”
I’m not sure how to answer. I really wouldn’t know. My mom was just twenty when she got pregnant with me.
I glance at Chris and find him watching me, and suddenly I’m hyper aware of the fact his arm is around me. We’re standing close enough that I can feel the heat of his body and smell his scent—a mix of man, faint cologne, and fresh laundry. My belly quivers in response, and I want so much more.
The hair tucked behind my ear falls forward into my face, and Chris reaches out to fix it. Automatically, I flinch and pull away, out of his reach.
He frowns, obviously confused. “Jennie? What’s wrong?”
Embarrassed by my knee-jerk reaction, I freeze. It’s been years. Surely, I’d stop reacting to every little thing.
My heart lodges in my throat. “I’m sorry. It’s nothing.” But I feel stupid. I thought I was past this. But sometimes the memories return unexpectedly, and like a tsunami, they are wild and beyond my control.
“Excuse me. I need to—” I take a few steps back until I reach the edge of the dance floor before I turn and head for the ladies room so I can hide my shame in private.
Even after all these years, David still impacts my life like a malignant shadow that won’t go away.