Chapter 20
JACQUELINE
“Jacque?” Miranda asked, her voice filtering into my thoughts. “What are you doing here?”
I glanced up to find her leaning against my office door with her arms crossed and one perfectly sculpted eyebrow arched as she looked at me with questions in her eyes.
“I work here,” I said. “Jeez, I didn’t know you guys had such short memories. I was only gone for a few days.”
Her lips curved into a smile and she shook her head as she pushed off the doorframe. “Oh, I remember you, alright. I also remember that you’re supposed to be on paid time off.”
“I was,” I corrected lightly. “Past tense. I’m back now.”
“I can see that.” She took a step into the office and closed my door behind her with a soft click. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” I said, but the look she gave me in return told me that she knew I was full of it.
She crossed toward my desk, gracefully lowering herself down in the chair across from me and folding her hands on her lap. Then she just sat there, looking like she was waiting patiently for something to happen.
I frowned. “What?”
“Start talking,” she said calmly, as if she was my therapist and it was a foregone conclusion that we would be having this conversation. “What’s going on, Jacqueline? Youe were scheduled for at least a couple more days off.”
I looked back at her, picking through my thoughts and feelings for a beat before I realized that if I truly did want to start making friends here, then at some point, I had to let someone in.
While it hadn’t gone very well to have let that someone be Jesse initially, I couldn’t let him stop me from seeking true connection.
All my so-called friends in London were gone and I was starting from scratch, which meant I probably had to suck up my pride and take her up on the offer to talk. I simply wasn’t sure where to begin.
“When your father first offered me this job, I was engaged to a man named Thomas,” I said finally. “He’s an archaeologist.”
To her credit, Miranda didn’t react dramatically to that bit of news. She just nodded slowly and then let out a quiet, “Okay.”
“He was very much opposed to moving here,” I explained. “Positions aren’t easy to come by in his profession and he always said that if he did move again, it would be back home to France.”
“So that’s why you didn’t give us an immediate answer,” she concluded with a soft, sympathetic smile on her lips. “Yet here you are, so what happened?”
“I got home after a wedding and he was gone,” I said. “After almost a decade together, he disappeared without even telling me in person that it was over. He left a note, took my dog, and that was it.”
Her eyes widened. “I’m sorry. He stole your dog?”
“Yes, he did,” I said, happy that she, too, was more upset about that than anything else. “I bought and paid for Hubert, raised him, trained him, and bought him ridiculous little toys he never played with, but Thomas took him anyway.”
Miranda scoffed. “Well, it’s official. I hate him. That’s potentially one of the most awful things I’ve ever heard.”
“Thank you,” I replied, deeply satisfied with her reaction. Talking to her had definitely been the right decision, even if that had been the easier part. “Stealing a dog simply to be spiteful genuinely feels like the kind of detail that should be included in a criminal profile, don’t you think?”
“It really does.” She let out a soft laugh, tilting her head at me as it subsided. “How are you actually doing with it all?”
“I’m mostly fine,” I said, wincing a little.
“I mean, that’s odd, isn’t it? I know I should be more upset, but I’m really just annoyed that he took Hubert.
Things weren’t working out between us. I won’t deny that, but why steal the dog when you know how much someone else loves him, while you don’t really care much at all?
If I’d done something wrong, then I suppose it might’ve made sense, but I didn’t.
Things just fizzled out between us. There was no reason to be cruel. ”
Miranda shook her head. “I don’t think it’s odd to be focused on that or not to be totally devastated about the breakup.
You’re a practical person and you obviously feel passionate about justice.
The fact that he took your dog is unjust, and therefore, you need to make that right before you’ll be able to process everything else. ”
“Excellent,” I said. “So we’re in agreement that I’m emotionally stunted.”
“I prefer logical and compartmentalized,” she teased gently. “Seriously, though. If things had been fizzling out for a long time, it’s not such a big surprise that you’re not that upset. It might even just feel more like a relief.”
I felt a surprised smile form on my lips. “How did you know that?”
“I might have a bit of experience with relationships not working out. It doesn’t always have to end with a bang, sister.
Sometimes, it’s over with a whisper and that’s okay too.
” She shrugged, returning my smile as she finally leaned back in the chair and slid her elbows casually to the armrests.
“So, is it true that you’re dating Jesse Westwood now? ”
Oh. Oh no. I blinked at her rapidly, knowing that there were several ways this could go and at least half of them ended with me unemployed.
“Am I about to get in trouble?” I asked cautiously.
Miranda’s eyebrows pulled together. “For dating someone?”
“For dating a Westwood,” I clarified, lowering my voice like they—whoever that was—might somehow hear me through the walls.
She stared at me for a second, then burst out laughing. “No. You’re not in trouble. Why would you be?”
I shrugged but blew out a breath of relief when some of the tension eased deep inside my being. “They’re clients. I just thought that maybe you’d be uncomfortable with it, or worse, that there’d be a rule against it.”
“Nah.” She waved me off, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “We don’t handle any of Jesse’s personal affairs and we’ll make sure to keep you off of any W&S matters where he might be involved. He’s operations, right?”
I nodded. “Yes, I believe so.”
“Well, then. It shouldn’t be a problem. His brother, Will, held that position for years and we very rarely had anything to do with him professionally.
It’s mostly Alex and Nate, the CEO and CFO, that we deal with.
You still haven’t answered my question, though.
Are you dating him, and should I be impressed or concerned? ”
“Why would you be concerned?”
“Because anyone with an internet connection knows you were in Hawaii with him, looking pretty cozy on the beach, I might add. Now suddenly, you’re back early and not looking particularly happy about it. Plus, Jesse Westwood has a bit of a reputation.”
“We’re not dating.” I shook my head. “It’s complicated.”
She groaned. “It always is when those boys are involved, but for what it’s worth, they’re good people.
Don’t be fooled by the money and the fame, Jacque.
I’ve spent a fair amount of time, with Alex in particular since he’s married to a friend, but I’ve met them all and their hearts have always seemed to be in the right place. ”
I almost scoffed. “Really?”
She nodded, smiling like she didn’t have a care in the world. “They have a reputation, obviously, but they take care of their own. They’re loyal. Strategic. A little intense, sure, but they’re not what people make them out to be.”
Well, that doesn’t match my personal views of them at all. Except the taking care of their own bit. All my life, I’d been told they were basically the devil, but now here she was, talking about them like they were saints instead.
“That’s funny,” I said. “From what I’ve heard, they’re power-hungry, ruthless, and entitled.”
Miranda’s lips twitched. “Every powerful family gets that label at some point.”
“Yes, but in their case, I’ve experienced it.”
She tilted her head. “With your mom?”
I nodded.
She considered it for a moment before she shrugged lightly. “Obviously, I’ve never met the Westwoods that you’re part of, on the other side of the pond, but around here, they’re really not that bad.”
“Perhaps.”
She grinned. “Besides, family dynamics are never objective, but that’s especially true when distance and time are involved.”
I leaned back again, thinking about how different a picture she was painting from what I’d been raised to believe. And if they weren’t the villains I’d always imagined, then what, exactly, had I been holding on to all this time?
Dropping my gaze to my desk, I picked up a pen and started tapping it absently against the surface. “I think I might’ve fumbled the ball.”
She didn’t miss a beat. “With Jesse?”
“Yes.”
Slowly standing up after checking her watch, she smoothed her blazer and smiled at me.
“Well, luckily, you’re a lawyer, which means that you’re very good at fixing complicated situations.
I have a meeting to get to, but try not to sweat it too much, okay?
Whatever happened, I’m sure that if you decide to, you’ll be able to make it right. ”
Leaving me alone with the very uncomfortable realization that she might be right, I exhaled a long breath and tried to get back to work.
All day long, however, I kept mulling over everything she’d said, knowing that my personal experience with the Chicago Westwoods, at least, lined up perfectly with her opinion of them.
Even Will and Eliza had been kind and welcoming back at the estate that day. When I’d briefly met Alex at the investor dinner, he’d seemed more suspicious of Jesse than judgy about me, and Jesse himself? Well, he was something else entirely.
The rest of the week dragged painfully slowly, like time itself had decided to make me suffer a little bit. I checked my phone enough times to consider treatment for addiction, and when I still hadn’t heard from him by the weekend, I had to admit that I was hurt.