20. Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty
She’d been such a fool.
The next day, Jenna had the day off. She blamed herself for trusting Simon—for letting herself fall for his good looks and charm. She couldn’t stop thinking about him with that woman—the woman who had been kissing him.
The nauseating image kept her up most of the night. When she’d finally fallen asleep, she’d had nightmares about Simon telling her that he had a secret family.
When she’d finally awakened, her sheet was twisted around her legs, and her blanket was on the floor. The sun had barely been above the horizon when she got out of bed.
After a shower, she’d set to work doing her weekly chores, which included a couple loads of laundry and cleaning out the fridge. By eleven o’clock, her chores were complete. With nothing to do, she was climbing the walls. For once, she wished she had to go into work.
Needing something to distract herself, she reached for her phone. She was going to call Myra, but then she realized her sister was already at work. Instead, she called her older sister—who’d just gotten back from her trip.
Lily picked up on the first ring. “Hey, Jenna, what do you need?”
“What are you doing?”
“Why?” There was a note of surprise in Lily’s voice. “What do you need me to do?”
“Just tell me what you’re doing?”
“Inventorying the whole shop.”
It wasn’t what Jenna had in mind, but it was so much better than wandering aimlessly around her place and wondering what Simon was doing with his beautiful girlfriend.
“Want some help?” Jenna was already turning off the kitchen lights.
“Uh, sure.” Lily’s confusion came across loud and clear. “Just let me get this clear. You are offering to do inventory?”
“Sure. Why not?” Jenna grabbed her purse and keys. “I’ll be right there. And you can tell me how your trip went.”
“Oh. Okay. And then you can explain what’s going on with you.”
That was the one thing she hadn’t considered when creating her escape plan. But it was better than sitting around and berating herself for trusting Simon.
She climbed into her golf cart and set off for the Lily Pad.
It was the only craft shop on the island.
Jenna couldn’t help but wonder now that her sister’s art career was starting to take off how much longer Lily would keep the shop open.
But something told Jenna that Lily didn’t have an answer because selling her paintings was still new to her.
Jenna found a parking spot near the shop. She kept her head down as she made her way along the busy sidewalk. She just wasn’t up for making friendly chit-chat—not when she was hurting so much on the inside.
When she reached the Lily Pad, she was surprised to see it was open for business, even though Lily was doing inventory. She pushed the door open, and the little brass bell above the door jingled.
“Coming,” Lily called from the back room. A moment later, Lily appeared. “Oh, it’s you.”
“Why does it sound like you aren’t happy to see me?”
Lily shook her head. “It’s not that. I just didn’t think you were serious about doing inventory. Isn’t this supposed to be your day off?”
Jenna shrugged. “Maybe I just wanted to spend time with my sister.”
“Uh-huh.” Lily arched a brow. “I’m not buying it. So, what’s going on?”
Lily glanced around to see if there was anyone in the shop.
“Don’t worry,” Lily said. “We’re alone. Now spill it.”
Jenna sighed. Then she told her sister about how she’d grown close to Simon. The more she talked about him, the more she realized just how real her feelings were for him. It made his betrayal hurt all the more.
And then with great reluctance she admitted to what she’d witnessed the day before between Simon and the beautiful blonde. The scene was stuck in her mind, and the image was as clear to her in that moment as it had been when it happened right in front of her.
Her eyes misted over with unshed tears. She blinked repeatedly. She’d already shed enough tears over him.
“I can’t believe he did that to you.” Lily walked over to her and threw her arms around her. “I’m sorry. He’s such a jerk.”
Jenna hugged her sister back before she pulled away. “I don’t want to waste any more time talking about him. How was your trip?”
“Fascinating.” Lily glowed as she recounted her time in New York City.
Jenna was so happy for her sister. She watched as her sister’s eyes lit up when she told her that two of the three paintings she’d had on display at a gallery showing had sold.
Jenna gave her a hug. “I’m so happy for you. But I’m not surprised. You’re so talented.”
The color flooded Lily’s cheeks. “I don’t know about that.”
“Stop being modest. I’m your sister. I’ve seen your work and I know you’re gifted.” Before her sister could respond, Jenna said, “Don’t you have some work for me to do?”
“Uh.” Lily looked caught off-guard by the sudden change of subject. “As a matter of fact, I do. Right this way.” Lily led her to the shop’s back room. “I thought you might want work back here, away from the customers. You know, so you don’t have to deal with any of the gossips.”
Jenna nodded. “Good idea. Thank you.”
Lily handed her a pen and a clipboard and gave her a brief rundown of what she needed to do. It seemed straightforward to Jenna so she got to work.
Every time Simon slipped into her thoughts, she worked faster. Counting items really helped to focus her thoughts away from her broken heart.
His anger had been brewing all night.
Simon analyzed the information The Gossiper had reported and realized Gwen wouldn’t have had the photos from the hospital. But Jenna could have taken the photos when he wasn’t paying attention. The thought weighed heavy on him.
He couldn’t believe Jenna had betrayed him in the worst way. The fact that he’d previously told Jenna how much his ex had hurt him when she’d sold him out to the tabloids and then to have Jenna turn around and do the exact same thing, it was...
Well, it just wasn’t right. And he wasn’t going to stand for it.
He hadn’t gotten anything done that morning, except for doom scrolling on his phone, waiting for another devastating headline about his life or his books.
To his relief, there wasn’t anything new.
Did that mean they’d run out of things to print about him? He could only hope so.
Still, he couldn’t just leave things like this.
He was going to confront Jenna and let her know that this wasn’t all right.
And then he was going to demand his flash drive back.
Even though he would toss out that beginning to the book and have to come up with something new, something no one else had read—he still wanted his words back. She had no right to them.
The throbbing pain in his arm distracted him from his anger. He looked down at the white gauze pad covering his stitches. He could see angry red skin sticking out from the edge of the pad.
He hadn’t changed the bandage that morning. Maybe he should do that now. He headed upstairs to the bathroom, where he kept his new collection of medical supplies.
He started off slowly removing the medical tape that held the pad in place, but tape kept pulling on his arm hair, and it hurt. A lot.
So, he decided to get it over with at once. He gripped the tape, and then he yanked. A groan escaped his lips. He found the pad was still partially stuck to his skin.
He ripped off another strip of tape. This time it peeled completely away from his skin. When he looked down, he didn’t expect to see it so inflamed or oozing gross stuff. It certainly hadn’t looked that bad the night before.
He’d been taking great pains to keep it dry and clean. Obviously, that hadn’t been enough. He gritted his teeth as he pressed a clean pad to the wound and attempted to tape it with one hand.
As he headed downstairs, his thoughts returned to Jenna and his book.
The fact that he had to ditch the beginning of his book didn’t sit right with him.
He had finally come to the point where the hero was speaking to him and sharing his story with him.
It wasn’t an easy stage in the creative process to achieve, at least not for him. It felt wrong to throw it all away.
But now that Jenna knew about the book, he couldn’t have her selling his ideas before he’d even had a chance to write: The End.
Fired up after thinking of all the time he’d wasted on a book he wouldn’t finish writing, he headed out the front door. Gus was hot on his heels.
Simon knocked on Jenna’s door and waited. He knew that Thursday was her day off from the market so she should be home.
He knocked again. “Jenna, open up! We need to talk!”
He waited, but there were no sounds coming from inside. It was only then that he got the idea to look for her cart. When he scanned the road, he didn’t see it. In fact, what he did see was an empty parking spot where she normally parked.
He expelled a frustrated sigh. Without Jenna home, he might as well go see the doc about his arm. It was really starting to bother him.
He put Gus back into the house and then drove back to the hospital. He didn’t even make it in the ER door when he saw the doctor who had treated him. Simon detoured toward the doctor. A few long, quick strides and he caught up to him.
“Excuse me.” Simon couldn’t remember the doctor’s name.
The guy stopped and looked at him. “I’m sorry, but it’s been a really long day. I’m done and heading for home, but they can help you inside.”
Simon nodded. “Okay. It’s just you saw me the other day, and you said to come back if I had any problems.”
The doctor stared at him for a moment, as though trying to place him. “Remind me, what is your name?”
“Simon Bennett.”
The doctor’s eyes widened. He made an about face. “Seems I’m not done for the day after all.”
He followed the doctor back into the hospital. In no time at all, he was shown into an exam room. The doctor had disappeared, but a nurse came to get his information and to uncover his wound.
When the doctor returned, he had on his white coat with a name tag that read Dr. Grant Turner, M.D.