Chapter 12 #2
Sunlight was streaming through the window when Jenna woke the next morning, dressed in Jack’s t-shirt and sweats, spread-eagled in the middle of a very comfortable bed, feeling pleasantly groggy and thankfully not hungover.
She took a breath—and inhaled one of the best morning smells, that of fresh coffee and frying bacon.
Bliss.
For a few seconds, she simply lay there, enjoying everything about the moment—the sunlight streaming through the window, the luxurious comfort of the huge bed, the smell of bacon and the knowledge that it was an attractive and interesting man who was frying it for her.
There really was just so much to enjoy about this.
Jenna lay in bed for a few more minutes, simply savoring every aspect of the experience, and then, feeling a sudden burst of energy, she jumped out of bed.
She couldn’t resist the walk-in shower, but she kept it quick, conscious that Jack had to be waiting downstairs.
Wearing the same clothes from last night wasn’t ideal, but it could have been worse.
When she stepped out into the hallway, she saw he’d left a new toothbrush and tube of toothpaste outside her door, and she smiled before quickly making use of both.
As she headed downstairs, her stomach leapt with a pleasant sense of anticipation. She was looking forward to both coffee and bacon… and seeing Jack. Even if she still felt confused about… well, basically everything.
As she stepped into the kitchen, she saw he was standing at the stovetop, freshly showered and wearing new-looking jeans and a plaid flannel shirt.
“Are those your country clothes?” she teased, and then worried that she’d sounded snarky when she really hadn’t meant to be.
Jack glanced down at himself before laughing wryly. “Do I look the part?”
“I think they need to be a little more well-worn.” She slid onto a bar stool at the huge marble island. “Maybe go outside and roll around in the dirt for a few minutes?”
He grimaced good-naturedly. “I think I’ll pass and just own my newbie, city slicker status. Coffee?”
“Yes, please.” Jenna propped her chin in her hands as he poured her a giant mug from the coffeemaker. This all felt surprisingly un awkward, considering the fair few floundering missteps of last night. “And is that bacon I smell?” she asked as he handed her the mug.
“It is, indeed.”
“I would have thought bacon wasn’t on your approved list of foods, post-heart attack,” Jenna remarked as she took a sip of coffee.
“It isn’t, but my doctor said I could have a little of what I love, so…” He shrugged, giving her an abashed smile that was pretty endearing. “It might seem like a small thing, but I really love bacon.”
“I understand completely,” Jenna assured him. “We’re talking about bacon, after all.”
“Everything’s better with bacon,” Jack agreed, and for a second they just smiled at each other.
“Has it been very hard?” Jenna asked as she put down her mug. “I mean, recovery? It seems like it required a major lifestyle shift.”
“It certainly did. Complete one-eighty.” He sighed as he raked a hand through his hair. “I really fought against it at first, which is why I was so grumpy that day in the store, trying to find something I was actually allowed to eat?—”
Jenna held up a hand to forestall him. “Clean slate, remember?”
“Right.” He gave her a rueful smile of acknowledgment. “Anyway, I was resisting having to change anything about my life for a long time. My doctor told me if I went back to work, the stress would kill me before I was fifty. He was serious, but I didn’t want to believe it, although I knew I should.”
“Goodness.” Jenna shook her head slowly.
“What’s so crazy is that I would have kept going even if it cost me my health, my life .
But…” He sighed. “I’d lost my mojo,” he confessed.
“That world is so ruthless. One hint of weakness, any kind of weakness, and investors lose faith. People immediately start looking elsewhere. And your credibility crashes. When that happens, it’s basically over, and so I decided to walk away before I was booted.
But I wasn’t happy about it. Not by a long shot. ”
“I don’t blame you,” Jenna replied feelingly. “That sounds so tough.”
“It was.” He paused before continuing briskly, “Well, I know there’s nothing more boring than someone talking about that kind of stuff, so I’ll shut up.
But let’s just say that with the ulcer on top of the heart attack, and having to have two separate surgeries…
I finally got the wake-up call I needed.
I’m choosing to live differently… even if I don’t always like what that has to look like right now. I know I need it.”
“And what does it look like?” Jenna asked, intrigued.
Jack turned back to the stove to flip the bacon.
“Boring,” he replied succinctly and then, almost to himself, “Lonely.” He turned back to her, shaking his head slowly, almost as if in wonder.
“You know, I was never lonely in the city. I was too busy. I had meetings all the time and when I didn’t have meetings, I was still doing something productive—going to the gym, reading the news, keeping up with everyone and everything.
I didn’t have a moment to think, except when I went sailing, and then I enjoyed the peace and quiet because I had so little of it in my life, and it was an active kind of thinking, anyway.
You’re pretty busy when you’re sailing solo.
” He blew out his cheeks in a gust of a sigh, shaking his head once more.
“Not so much now, I guess?” Jenna filled in softly. She felt sorry for him; it sounded like he’d had a very full life, and just about all of it had been taken away from him. She knew what that felt like, even if her experience had been about heartbreak rather than health.
Jack’s gaze moved to the view outside the huge window with its endless vista of lake and sky, sunlight sparkling on water.
“I’m not about to complain,” he told her, nodding toward the window.
“I know I’m one seriously lucky guy, in all sorts of ways.
But… I miss having a purpose, even if that purpose ended up being not so great for my mental or physical health, which I didn’t even realize until I was in ICU, being prepped for surgery. Talk about needing a wake-up call.”
“So you feel like you need a new purpose now?” Jenna clarified, and he cocked his head, as if waiting for more.
“Well…” She felt as if she were edging out onto a diving board, high above the water, about to do a swan dive when she barely knew how to swim.
“I could help with that,” she offered uncertainly, already half-regretting putting herself out there.
Jack raised his eyebrows. “You could?”
“I can’t pay the big bucks, or even any bucks at all, but you don’t seem like you’re hurting for money.
” He nodded his acceptance, looking intrigued, waiting for more.
“You could be the consultant on my store revamp,” Jenna explained a little stiltedly, because she felt so nervous.
What if he shot her down? Uh, thanks, but I’m not that bored …
“You’ve already given me good advice, but I know I’ll need some help putting it into practice.
A lot of help.” Especially since she took everything about the store so personally.
She really needed to get over that. Now that Jack had so helpfully pointed it out to her, hopefully she would…
with some continued guidance. “That might not be the kind of thing you had in mind,” she backtracked when he still hadn’t spoken.
“To help out a Podunk store in a Podunk town.”
“No, it’s not that…” he said quickly before clarifying, “I mean, it’s not what I was expecting, but that’s not a bad thing.
At all.” He gave a little laugh, although Jenna still couldn’t tell what he really thought about her idea.
“I’m honored you’d want me to be a consultant,” he told her.
“I… I get the feeling that the store isn’t just you, it’s also like your baby. ”
“Ye-es,” Jenna acknowledged. “And it’s struggling. A baby in distress.” She tried to smile. “So I know I need help, serious help… and here you are, an expert on everything?—”
“Hardly—” Jack began to scoff.
“I mean that sincerely,” Jenna told him.
“I’d be stupid not to ask for your help…
that is, if you were willing to give it.
” As she said the words, she realized how true they were.
Jack Wexler was a goldmine of information and experience.
No, he didn’t have a lot of history with Starr’s Fall or even small towns, but Jenna had come to realize that he had the acuity and intuition to understand both the town’s—and the store’s—needs and challenges.
And at the base of all this pragmatic problem-solving was the exciting and uncomfortable knowledge that really she just wanted to spend time with him.
Was he aware of that?
Whether he was or not… he still hadn’t spoken.
He was just looking at her thoughtfully, and a sudden, scorching mortification swept over her.
“Sorry, I realize how this must sound,” Jenna blurted, horrified by what she was sure he must think.
“I just basically asked you to work for me for free and then acted like I was doing you a favor.” She shook her head, briefly closing her eyes in intense mortification.
Here he was, a millionaire businessman, and she was offering to let him paint shelves. “Forget I said anything, please.”
“I don’t want to forget you said anything,” Jack replied, a smile in his voice as well as his eyes.
“I like the idea. A lot. In fact… I’d been thinking of something similar myself.
And I’d like to work with you. Not for you,” he clarified with a wry grin.
“I think that would be difficult for both of us. But… if you want someone to help you with a vision of what Miller’s Mercantile could be, and help you achieve that… then, maybe I could be your man.”
Your man . The words went through her with a pleasantly thrilling ripple of awareness. Of course, Jack Wexler wasn’t her man, not in any sense of those two words. But she still liked hearing him say it.
“Okay,” Jenna told him, a smile spreading across her face like warm butter. “It sounds like it’s a deal.”