Chapter Thirty-Three
As the days passed, they spent most of their free time together. He wanted to learn everything he could about her and asked questions when it seemed like the right time.
One cool night, lying in bed after they made love, they talked about their childhoods, fears, and dreams. He felt sick when she told him about her abusive parents, which he understood firsthand.
He held her back against his chest in bed as she talked. He choked back a tide of fury and was glad she couldn’t see his face when she told him her father had thrown her out of the house at the age of fifteen.
Grant’s stomach twisted at the cold, desolate tone of her voice.
Her father had reached the bottom and was desperate.
He wanted to use her to make money because he needed more for his habits, and she guessed he owed money to the wrong people.
Jennifer had threatened to go to the cops if he tried.
Grant had almost lost it at the thought of her father wanting to turn his daughter into a prostitute.
He’d thought his parents were bad, but Jesus, hers took the prize for Most Horrible Parents.
She told him she ended up in one foster home after another until she turned eighteen.
Grant was so proud of the woman she had become.
She’d come from a tragic childhood, worked her butt off to get some scholarships, worked two jobs to pay for the rest of college, then made the enormous decision to change majors because of a lack of funds and ended up as director of an animal shelter.
Not many people he knew were strong enough to make a successful life for themselves against so many odds.
He was the only other one he knew who came from poverty and became successful against massive odds. Grant had hesitated to tell her about his childhood, afraid of how she’d feel about him. After Jennifer had told him about her past, his past hadn’t seemed as bad.
He’d been lucky to have the same home his whole childhood with two parents.
They had been extremely poor and never made it a full week without going hungry at least once.
It hadn’t helped that his father was sometimes abusive toward him, his sister, and his mother when he was drunk.
It was only when Grant had become bigger than his dad that he stopped.
His dad died from cancer, and his mom from a car wreck.
His sister had disappeared with her boyfriend before graduating from high school.
He’d found her once and saw she was living with another guy in a little town in Alabama with three children.
He’d given her his information if she ever wanted to connect with him, but she never had.
He’d done some things after college that might be construed as barely legal.
He wasn’t a criminal, but he’d crossed some lines with ethics.
He’d pissed off a lot of people as his business grew, and unfortunately, some people had lost jobs.
As far as the Good Knight Society, there had been a few times that things could have gone south, but he managed to finish his assignment without killing anyone, or himself.
Grant could tell he made Jennifer happy, and she cared about him very much, but sometimes she got a look in her eye that scared the shit out of him.
He couldn’t explain it. It went deeper than insecurity.
He had done everything he could to give her confidence in their relationship, but decided time was the only thing that would prove she had nothing to worry about.
****
Jennifer
Time passed, and her feelings for him grew.
Sometimes, a hardball of dread would fill her, making her question everything.
Deep down, she still thought of herself as not worthy, and everything she prayed for would be ripped from her, and she didn’t know if she could survive.
She knew the feelings were remnants from her childhood.
But when a child’s been told and shown she doesn’t matter, her very soul is damaged beyond repair.
As hard as she tried to let go of her past, things would happen that would remind her that she wasn’t worthy and there was no future for her and Grant.
A shiver of unease ran down Jennifer’s spine when she answered her phone at work. “Hello?”
“Hey, Jen, it’s Madlyn.”
“Hi, Madlyn. What can I do for you?” she asked and tried to keep her voice warm.
“I wanted to see how you were doing, honey?”
Jennifer pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers. “Okay, I’ll bite. Why?”
“No one told me it hadn’t worked out between you and Grant until I saw him out with another woman.”
“Oh, when was this?”
“A Thursday night a few weeks ago? Her name was Vanessa.”
A ball of misery started to grow. They hadn’t been together that Thursday night because of a meeting. Grant was still trying to get his business where he wanted it, and he admitted it was taking longer than he suspected.
“We’ve all been so busy, and I haven’t talked to Tessa lately.
I didn’t like the woman he was with. You know the type.
Beautiful, tall, blonde, and model thin.
But the best news is she didn’t last either, and now I’ve got him.
I have to tell you, Grant is one of the most wonderful men I’ve ever met, and if it had worked out with the two of you, I would have never had a chance at him.
I really think he’s the one for me. He’s so generous, and that man can kiss, among other things, but you know that, don’t you? ”
A suffocating sensation tightened Jennifer’s throat, making a wild little sound escape from her as she exhaled.
“When have you seen him?” Jennifer asked, even though she dreaded the answer.
“We’ve been out a few times this week. I can’t remember which days for sure, but I could look at my calendar.”
Jennifer tried hard to swallow back the agonizing cry trapped in her throat.
Madlyn heard. “You and everyone else knew he wasn’t the right man for you.
You’re a too-small town, and he’s a big city.
Look at him, then look at yourself in the mirror.
There was no way a man like that would stay with a woman like you.
He needs a woman he can take to business events and be able to socialize.
” Madlyn laughed. “Well, we both know you’re not right for that.
Maybe we’ll see you out and about. And hey, if I find a man who would be good for you, I’ll give him your number. Okay? Take care, sweetie.”
A click sounded in Jennifer’s ear, and every ounce of feeling seemed to leach out of her, leaving her nothing but a walking corpse. This is what she’d been waiting for and dreading. The phone slid to her desk, and she sat there, too hurt to cry, too stunned to absorb it.
A big, sensible part of her believed Madlyn was lying, wanting to cause problems. The other, the less sensible, more emotional part of her, had been waiting for this all along.
Madlyn knew where he was two weeks ago and had seen him that week, making it hard to forget her words, since Grant had been away for a few nights.
He’d been gone more often than usual. And the name Vanessa seemed too perfect not to be true.
Jennifer had known deep inside that she wasn’t good enough for Grant, and eventually he would find someone who suited him better and they would break up. She just didn’t think it would hurt so much.
She couldn’t imagine staying together a few more months and their feelings deepening. Then something would happen, and they’d break up. It was tearing her apart now. Later, it would kill her. She would never recover from losing him. Now, she might have a chance.
She knew the pain would come, but she was holding it off as long as she could so she could get away from people.
Like a wild animal, she wanted to find the nearest secluded hole to bury herself in until the pain lessened enough for her to breathe.
She stood, grabbed her purse and phone, then left her office.
Kari did a double-take when she caught sight of a deathly pale Jennifer. “What the hell, Jen? What happened?” Kari’s voice was filled with concern.
Jennifer swallowed and shook her head. “Nothing, I’m just not feeling well. Can you take over for me today, and I’ll see you on Monday?”
****
Kari
Kari just nodded and cringed at the sorrow-filled tone of Jennifer’s voice and her pale face, bleak with grief. She watched her boss and friend leave, clearly devastated, and wanted to pull her back inside. She didn’t think driving that upset was a good idea, but she kept quiet.
It had to have been that call because Jennifer had been fine a few minutes ago.
She rifled through her call log to find the name.
Madlyn Stephenson. Kari didn’t think she knew her.
She’d never heard Jen talk about someone with that name.
Maybe someone she cared for died? She continued to think about the situation as the afternoon passed. A little before five, Grant called.
“I’ve been trying to get Jennifer on her cell, but she probably forgot to plug it in again. Let me talk to her.”
“Sorry, Mr. Batali, she’s not here. She started feeling unwell and went home.”
“At what time was that?” His voice softened and grew cool.
Her grip on the phone tightened. “Around noon, I think.”
“I see.”
Kari shivered at the coldness of his voice.
She wouldn’t want to piss someone like him off.
The way he looked at a person was intense.
It was like he knew what you were thinking, was waiting for you to attack, and was ready for you.
The first few times she’d been around him, she’d been so intimidated she stayed as far away from him as possible.
Now, she could at least stay in the same room and even converse with him.
“Look, Mr. Batali, it might not be an illness. She received a call right before she left. She was fine before she went into her office. When she came out a few minutes later, she looked awful like she might have been hit with a virus, but that suddenly?”
At first, she thought he’d hung up.
“Tell me who the call was from?”
Kari hesitated. “I’m not supposed to give—”
“Kari, I’m not asking.”
His voice was emotionless, and it chilled her, sending a shiver up her spine.
“Oh, um, okay, I guess. It was a woman. Her name was Madlyn Stephenson.”
“Who the hell is that?” His voice lashed through the phone, making Kari cringe.
“I don’t know, sir. I’ve never heard of her.”
There was another pause. “Thank you, Kari.” He hung up.
God, she didn’t want to be in that woman’s shoes when Grant found her.