11. Chapter Eleven #2
On the short drive home, Jenna replayed the events of the evening. Once her siblings got over teasing her about Simon supposedly being her boyfriend, the evening had gone pretty well. In fact, if she was perfectly honest with herself, she’d enjoyed having Simon there with her.
He was a lot of fun to be around, and her family seemed to really like him—even if they weren’t dating.
Maybe she’d bring him around more often.
It might be what was needed to convince him to stick around Bluestar permanently.
Because the one thing she did know was that when his six-month lease was up, she wanted him and Gus to stay.
“I’m sorry if my family got to be a bit much at dinner,” she said.
“They were fine. I had a good time. Thank you for inviting me.”
The winds continued to blow as the pending storm grew closer. A plastic bag was all puffed up from the wind and looked like some sort of kite. It went sailing through the air in front of the cart. It reminded her that she still had work to do back at the duplex.
“It’s a good thing everyone left early,” Jenna said. “I still have some more stuff to do before the storm.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do.”
Simon sent her a knowing smile. “No, you don’t.”
When she pulled up to a stop sign, she looked at him. “Why do you keep saying that?”
They were only seconds away from the duplex by then. “You’ll see.”
There was still a smile on his face, as though he knew something she didn’t know. And she didn’t like being left in the dark. What was he up to?
She pulled up behind his cart. “We should move our carts into town for the duration of the storm. It’ll help protect them from the winds and debris.”
“I don’t know how I feel about ditching my only ride on the island. Does everyone do this?”
She shrugged. “People that don’t have a garage and especially those that live along the beach.”
“So, you just park them along the street in town?”
She shook her head. “No. There are designated emergency parking areas. I’ll show you. Get your cart and follow me.”
“Like right now?”
She nodded. “Let’s go before it starts to rain.”
And so, he did as she asked. The drive was just a few minutes. They parked in the church parking lot with a lot of other carts. Instead of them having to walk home, the town had shuttles set up to help people.
And so, less than a half hour later, they were back at the duplex. When they stepped onto the porch, she could hear Gus barking. She wished she had time to play with him, but she really did have to go secure the deck.
With regret for having to end their nice evening, she said, “Thank you for putting up with my family.”
He sent her a smile. “I had a good time and your family is interesting...in a good way.”
She let out a laugh. “Thanks. I think.”
She turned and headed for the door to her place. She let herself inside and closed the door behind her. She leaned back against it and closed her eyes. Immediately, Simon’s image filled her mind.
Would it have been so bad if he was her date, and she’d brought him home for her family to meet? In that moment, she didn’t think so. In fact, she liked the idea more than she was willing to admit.
After all, he was nothing like her last boyfriend. She couldn’t imagine Simon cheating on her. He struck her as a man of his word.
She ran upstairs and changed into some casual around-the-house clothes.
All the while, she had a smile on her face.
She noticed that she’d been smiling more since Simon had come into her life.
Okay. Maybe not at first but after she got to know him, she knew he was different from the other men she’d dated.
In a pair of jean shorts and T-shirt, she headed back downstairs. She opened the back door and came to a halt. Her gaze swept across the empty deck. Wait. What?
She blinked, but it was still empty of everything but the grill. How could that be?
And then she realized she’d been so caught up in her thoughts about Simon that she hadn’t paid attention when she’d walked through her house. When she retraced her steps, she found the furniture neatly stacked in her dining room. But how?
Simon.
The smile returned to her lips. Aww... That was so sweet of him.
Just then she heard a bark. It took her a moment to realize that it was coming from out back. She rushed back to the deck. And that’s when she spotted Simon and Gus out on the beach.
The wind swept her hair into her face. “Hey, Simon!”
At first, she wasn’t sure that he’d heard her, but then he stopped and turned. When his gaze met hers, a smile lifted the corners of his lips.
She rushed down the steps. When she reached him, she said, “I can’t believe you moved all of my stuff. Thank you.”
“No problem. I knew you had a busy schedule today, so I cleared your deck before I took care of my own.”
“I appreciate it. I owe you.”
There was no sunset that evening. The sky was gray. It was windy, and the ocean was churning.
It wasn’t exactly walking weather, but she didn’t have anything else she wanted to do at the moment. So, when Gus noticed her and ran up to her, she fussed over him. Then Simon handed her Gus’s red ball. She sent it sailing down the beach.
Simon had to raise his voice to be heard over the sound of the ocean and the gusty wind. “Even though Gus is two, he acts like he’s still a puppy.”
“He’s really cute.”
“The thing is that he knows he’s cute so he gets away with a lot.”
“Are you saying that you spoil him?”
“Hmm… Maybe. Just a little.”
She grinned. “A lot.”
He shrugged as Gus ran up to him and dropped the ball at his feet. Simon bent over and picked it up. He threw it a long distance down the beach. Gus took off racing after the ball.
The evening was quickly giving way to the darkness. And then in the distance, she noticed a flash of lightning. It took a moment or two, but then the rumble of thunder reached their ears.
“I guess that’s as far as we go,” Simon said. “Gus! Time to go home.”
The dog headed toward them at a run. The ball was firmly clutched in his mouth.
“So, what are you going to do this evening?” She was honestly curious about what keeps him busy.
“I have some notes from my editor that I’m going to work on. What about you?”
“I was thinking that I’d work on writing some notes for my presentation to my brother.”
Simon’s brows lifted. “You’re that confident that we’re going to win the trivia challenge.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, but I want to be prepared.”
“Can I ask why he hasn’t heard your idea?”
“I don’t know for sure, but if I had to guess I’d say he’s trying to preserve the market the same way that our father left it. I know that he misses our dad. We all do. But if our father was still here, I know he’d at least consider my idea.”
Simon nodded. “So what you’re saying is that it’s complicated.”
“Yes. Exactly. Isn’t it always that way with family?”
Simon nodded. “You’ve got this. You just have to get him to hear you out.”
By then they reached the bottom of the two sets of stairs that led to their homes. She paused, not ready to say goodnight to him.
But before she could say a word, big raindrops started to fall. They pounded down on them. And then the heavens opened up, and it was a deluge.
“Bye.” She ran for her set of stairs. Careful to hold on so she didn’t slip, she ran up to them.
Once she was inside her duplex, she grabbed a paper towel and ran it over her face. If that was an appetizer to the main storm, they were in for a wild ride.