Chapter 18
CHAPTER 18
B everly welcomed Nash as he came in for his usual breakfast. He smiled briefly, but went and took a table without his usual morning banter. She brought him over a cup of coffee, studying him with a touch of concern. Nash was normally so chatty and upbeat. Something seemed off today.
“We’ve got those peach scones you like,” she offered, hoping to coax a more cheerful response from him.
“Think I’ll just have biscuits and gravy this morning.” He reached for the mug, his gaze distant.
“Sure thing. It will be up in a sec.” She turned away to greet another customer coming in, but her thoughts lingered on Nash.
When she returned with his breakfast, she set it on the table, then asked him, “How’s the repair work going on Jenna’s cottage? Haven’t seen her in a bit. She doing okay?”
“Repairs are going fine. Hope to finish up soon.” Nash’s response was curt, almost evasive.
She noticed he didn’t say how Jenna was doing. Come to think of it, no one had mentioned seeing Nash and Jenna together around town recently. Maybe they’d just been busy. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to the story. She’d known Nash since he was a boy, and it wasn’t like him to be so withdrawn.
As she moved back behind the counter, Beverly promised herself that she would keep an eye on the situation. If something had happened between Nash and Jenna, she wanted to be there to support them. In a small town like Magnolia Key, folks looked out for each other. And right now, it seemed like Nash might need a friend to lean on, whether he realized it or not.
She bustled around the coffee shop, tending to the morning rush. She refilled coffee mugs and greeted regulars. Frowning, she noticed Nash was gone. There was cash on the table for his bill. It wasn’t like him to leave without saying goodbye or at least giving a friendly wave.
Just then, Jenna came into the coffee shop. She took a table near the window. Beverly hurried over with the coffeepot. “Coffee?”
“Please.”
“You just missed Nash.” Beverly paused and frowned. “He sure wasn’t acting himself.”
“Oh?” Jenna didn’t look surprised.
“No, he was… quiet. A bit withdrawn.” She shrugged. “Maybe he just has a lot going on right now.”
“Maybe,” Jenna answered, her gaze fixed on the swirling coffee in her mug.
She studied Jenna’s face, noting the subtle signs of sadness around her eyes. “You too still seeing each other?”
Jenna let out a long sigh. “Just when he’s there working on the cottage. We’re not… dating… if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I thought you two had really hit it off.”
“I just have a lot going on right now. It’s not really the right time to start dating someone.”
Beverly could sense there was more to the story, but she held back from prying further. Instead, she offered a sympathetic smile. “That’s too bad. I thought the two of you were a good fit, but sometimes we meet the right person at the wrong time.”
She was certainly proof of that. Only… she’d thought that Cliff was the right person at the right time. He’d just decided it was the wrong time. Without really telling her. He’d just left her. But that was in the past, and she rarely thought about it. Usually. She pushed the thoughts away.
“You having any more luck figuring out who wrote those letters you found?”
“I… I’ve decided to quit looking. They must have had a good reason for hiding them. And, like I said, I’m really busy.”
Jenna’s gaze drifted to the chalkboard, her eyes scanning the day’s specials without really seeing them. Her shoulders were tense, and her fingers fidgeted with the napkin on the table. It was clear that something was bothering her, but Beverly knew better than to push.
“I’ll have the yogurt parfait and a glass of orange juice,” Jenna said, finally looking up and giving her a slight smile.
“I’ll bring that right out.” She hurried away, sure she wasn’t getting the whole story about Nash and Jenna, or the letters.
The morning rush soon swept Beverly up in a whirlwind of orders and conversations, the cafe filling with the chatter of locals. She moved between tables with practiced ease, refilling mugs and delivering plates of steaming breakfast fare. It wasn’t until the crowd began to thin that she realized Jenna had slipped away unnoticed.
Maxine walked by, balancing a tray on her hip. Beverly stopped her. “Did you see Jenna leave?”
“A bit ago,” Maxine replied, nodding toward the register. “I rang her out. She seemed like she had a lot on her mind.”
“Wonder what’s up with her and Nash. Neither one of them seemed like themselves this morning. They sure seemed to be a bit smitten with each other. Now, even though each of them insists nothing is wrong, I’m sure there is.”
“I wonder if it has something to do with Nash’s uncle? Well, I think it was his something like his great-great-uncle? Maybe three greats?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Dale said that when he and Jenna were looking into those letters and that photo she found in her cottage, that they came across some information. One of the lighthouse keepers was Nash’s relative.”
“Really? That’s interesting.”
“And it appears he had something to do with the letters. The courier between the letter writers or something like that.”
“That’s strange, because Jenna said she wasn’t looking into the letters anymore. That she was too busy.”
Maxine shook her head. “Beats me.”
Beverly turned to go back to work, now positive she wasn’t getting the whole story. But she was going to keep an eye on Jenna and Nash. After all, she was nothing if not persistent when it came to looking out for her friends.
Jenna ran errands after breakfast, anything to keep from heading back to the cottage. She just wasn’t ready to face Nash again. She wandered the aisles of the grocery store, picking up items she didn’t really need, until she couldn’t delay any longer. The ice cream she had impulsively bought would soon melt if she didn’t get it into the freezer. She returned home and saw Nash’s truck in the drive, but no sigh of him out front. Maybe she could just sneak inside with her groceries.
The coast seemed clear as she put the groceries away, peeking out the window every so often to check for any movement outside. Just as she was beginning to relax, a knock sounded at the door, shattering the temporary illusion of solitude. Steeling herself, she headed to answer it.
Nash stood there looking incredibly handsome and… distant. “Thought I’d take a look at that wall you want torn down.”
She stood there awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot. Now was the time to confess. “I… I changed my mind. I think I’ll leave it. After looking at the numbers again, I don’t think now is a good time.”
He looked at her in exasperation. “You sure about that? This is your final decision?”
“I’m sure,” she said it more sharply than she’d intended. Jenna immediately regretted her tone, but the tension between them was like a solid concrete wall.
He stared at her, his blue eyes piercing and unwavering. “Fine. If that’s how you want it.” He paused, his jaw clenching slightly before he continued. “I need access to your circuit board. Got to throw a circuit to rewire the ceiling fan on your front porch. May I come in?”
Jenna stepped aside, feeling the frigid rift between them as he entered the cottage. The air seemed to grow colder with each step he took, and she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to ward off the chill that had settled in her bones. Nash headed back to the small storeroom where the circuit board was located, his footsteps echoing in the silence that stretched between them.
He returned moments later, his face an unreadable mask as he walked past her and out the door without saying a word. The click of the latch as the door closed behind him sounded like a final, definitive statement, and Jenna felt her heart sink.
She’d not only missed out on having a good friend here on Magnolia Key, but she’d also shut the door on any possibility of their friendship becoming something more. The realization hit her like a physical blow, and she walked over and sank down onto the couch, her head in her hands. But she was doing the right thing, she reminded herself. She would not dig into his family’s past, no matter how much her curiosity gnawed at her. She’d learned that lesson the hard way, and she wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
If pushing Nash away was the only way to protect him from anyone probing into his family’s history, then that’s what she would do. Even if it meant sacrificing their friendship and any chance of a future together. Jenna sighed, the weight of her decision settling heavily on her shoulders as she looked around the empty cottage, feeling more alone than ever before.