Chapter 11
“Iwon’t go!” Jenna shouted until her voice was hoarse.
“You’re going, young lady, and that’s final!” her father shouted back at her.
It wasn’t final, because they’d been at this for hours.
It was past midnight and they were still at odds.
Her father was telling her over and over how he was her father and she couldn’t say ‘no’.
Jenna continued to tell her father that she was refusing to go.
They would glare at the other for several minutes and then the cycle continued.
Jenna had threatened everything from running away to getting legally emancipated but her father wasn’t budging.
The icing on the cake had been when her mom had come into the room with that smug look on her face.
Her eyes had screamed checkmate. Jenna refused to acknowledge her mom though.
No matter where she stood or what she said, Jenna ignored her as if she wasn’t in the room.
Eventually her mom claimed she was going to bed after such a stress-filled day, but Jenna knew she was just saving face.
If there was one thing her mother hated above all else, it was not being the center of attention.
Jenna was exhausted. So much had happened that day and she was physically and emotionally drained.
All she’d had to eat was one of the burgers Mr. Zarin had brought back to the hospital room that afternoon for everyone but Jack to eat.
He was on pureed food until his teeth healed and then soft foods until his eye was better.
But she was refusing to give in. She would not give her father the satisfaction of seeing her cry, or storming from the room like a child having a tantrum.
“The only way you are getting me on that plane is by force,” Jenna snapped at him. “I will not go!”
Her father threw his arms up in the air.
He was several brandies in, which Jenna was hoping would help her case.
She’d even refilled it for him once. “What the hell did I do to deserve two rebellious daughters? One was bad enough. Money, money, money… That’s all Carolyn wants from me.
But you, Jenna? You? You were my shining star!
I felt terrible about taking you out of your old academy but I thought giving you a sense of the real world would give you perspective above your peers.
I brought you here because I would have missed you too much to leave you in Seattle on your own! ”
“Yet you’ll ship me across the country?” Jenna argued back. “You are aware that Massachusetts isn’t in the same time zone, right?”
Her father’s eyes narrowed. “Jenna, I am doing this for your own good. That boy is using you—”
“That ‘boy’,” Jenna mocked, “loves me. His name is Jack Duncan, Father. You better get used to it too, because you’ll be hearing it for the rest of your life. Jack. Duncan. And whether I am in Massachusetts or Timbuktu, he will still love me and I will still love him. Nothing will change that.”
“You are made for better things, Jenna! He will only hold you back!”
“Made for what things, Father? To be some rich housewife? To have a man in my life who thinks of me only as decoration, a trophy? Something pretty he can take out and show off to his friends?” Jenna shook her head.
“That is not me, Father. I will not be saddled in a loveless life to appease your skewed view of who is ‘right’ for me.”
“Jenna, you are too smart—”
“You’re right,” she snapped, interrupting him. “I am smart. Don’t you think I know my mind and heart well enough to know what is best for me? I’m fifteen, Dad! Give me some benefit of the doubt that you raised me to know myself.”
“You will not sway me on this, Jen. You will get on that plane Tuesday morning. Groton is expecting you in class Wednesday morning and you will be there.”
Jenna leaned forward. Her father’s large mahogany desk was heavy and cost more than the average household made in a year. She placed both hands on the wood and said in a clipped but clear voice, “I. Will. Not. Go.”
Her father slammed his glass so hard onto the desk that it shattered. Glass shards went everywhere but all the liquid had already been consumed. Jenna flinched at the sound but did not look away from her father.
“Jenna, I have had enough of this! You are going and that’s final!”
“And what will you do, Dad? Tie me up and throw me into the cargo hold? Even if you got me there, what’s to keep me from coming back? Again and again. I will always come back. I will never stop coming back.”
Her father stood up. He was an imposing man, but not overly tall or muscular.
His power was metaphysical. Aware of the glass, he leaned forward without touching the desk.
“And I will send you back. Again and again. Until you get it through your thick skull that he is not right for you.” Then he sat up straighter.
“Or better yet, maybe I’ll prove it to you. ”
Jenna stood up too. She crossed her arms over her chest. “What does that mean?”
“Everyone has their price,” her father responded. “Let’s find out what Mr. Duncan’s is in the morning, shall we?”
The doctor was just leaving when a man stepped into Jack’s hospital room. He’d never met him before, but the expensive suit, haircut, and air about him clued Jack in quickly as to who he was.
Mr. Zarin must have sensed who he was too, because he moved to place himself between Jack and Mr. Scanlon. If things turned physical, there was no doubt who would win. But as Jack had learned the day before, the Scanlons didn’t fight their own battles.
Well, except for the youngest Scanlon.
Jack’s good eye looked behind Mr. Scanlon but caught no sign of Jenna.
“I came alone,” Mr. Scanlon said, guessing who Jack was looking for.
“I thought it would give us a chance to talk. Man to man,” he added.
Coming into the room, he eyed Mr. Zarin.
“You must be Arnold Zarin. I heard Jack and his little sister were staying with a family friend for the weekend.” He reached his hand out to Mr. Zarin.
“Barnaby Scanlon, but my friends call me Barry. It’s a pleasure to meet you. ”
Mr. Zarin just stared at the outstretched hand. Jack had to turn his neck so he could see Mr. Zarin’s face and the man’s expression said he was neither impressed by their visitor nor pleased about the visit.
After several tense seconds, Mr. Scanlon dropped his hand. “Very well. I suppose after yesterday I deserve some coldness. But politeness is a virtue, Mr. Zarin.” Mr. Scanlon stepped to the side so he was standing at the bottom of Jack’s bed. “And you must be Jack Duncan.”
“Must I?” Jack questioned shortly. He didn’t like that his heart rate was being projected on a monitor for Mr. Scanlon to see.
Mr. Scanlon’s eyes narrowed at Jack’s insolence but also ignored it.
After a pause, his lips twitched as if he was trying to force a smile that refused to form.
“I do want to apologize for my wife’s behavior yesterday.
As you can imagine, she was a bit distraught when she thought you were hurting our daughter.
You must forgive a mother’s instincts to protect her baby. ”
Jack bit his tongue against repeating “must I” again. Instead he just stared at Mr. Scanlon down the length of his bed.
He was sitting up slightly but not fully.
His ribs couldn’t take sitting upright just yet, but he’d needed to move.
He was stuck in this bed for the foreseeable future.
It was bad enough he had a catheter in his bladder and had had to use a bedpan the night before.
He did not like Mr. Scanlon being in his room while he was so vulnerable, but Mr. Zarin’s presence helped.
The two of them had stayed up as late as Jack could with the pain medication coursing through his system.
To Jack’s surprise, Mr. Zarin hadn’t tried to talk him out of continuing to see Jenna or even scolded him for his spontaneous proposal.
Instead, Mr. Zarin had told Jack about how he and Mrs. Zarin had met and how Mr. Zarin had bet Mrs. Zarin a whole quarter that he could get her to kiss him.
Then Mr. Zarin had kissed young Daphne Blake, who had gasped and claimed that he’d just lost the bet because he had kissed her.
Mr. Zarin had handed her a quarter and told her it was worth it.
They were seventeen at the time and married within the year. That was twenty-five years ago.
“I know the look of a man who loves a woman, Jack. Just remember that loving her is not worth losing yourself. Learn who you are as a man so you can become the man you need to be for her.”
“What is it we can do for you, Mr. Scanlon?” Mr. Zarin asked when the silence stretched on.
“Well, it’s more of what I can do for you.” Though Mr. Zarin had asked the question, it was Jack Mr. Scanlon spoke to. “I’m sure you’re aware of my offer to pay your medical expenses. After all, it’s the least I can do.”
“It truly is,” Mr. Zarin muttered under his breath. Neither Jack nor Mr. Zarin commented that it hadn’t been Mr. Scanlon’s offer that was getting him to pay Jack’s hospital bill.
“I am a powerful man, Jack. No doubt, it was that power that drew you to my daughter in the first place. You know that I can get things done, get things for you. So, here I am.” The man opened his arms wide like a preacher. “Tell me what it is you want and it’s yours.”
“I want Jenna.”
Mr. Scanlon’s eyes narrowed as he slowly lowered his arms. “Well, unfortunately, Jenna is not an option.”
Jack remained silent.
Mr. Scanlon shifted, his face twitching as if he was fighting a scowl. “Come now, son. There must be something you want. Anything.”
“I want Jenna.”
Mr. Scanlon’s nostrils flared as he squared his shoulders. “Jenna is not an option,” he repeated. Like she was a horse up for auction. “I am already writing a check for your medical expenses. Surely, I can add a little more on for you… To ease your broken heart.”
“Jen-na,” Jack repeated, saying her name in two distinct syllables.