Chapter 13
The sun beat down relentlessly as Jenna carried the flat of annuals to her mom. She seemed completely out of her element,
squatting over the mulch bed, wearing a pair of rubber dish gloves. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you garden, Mom.”
“I’m not gardening. I’m just planting a few flowers. Aren’t they pretty? They’ll be a nice splash of color, and I chose flowers
that don’t need a lot of care—I know my limitations.”
They’d already planted three flats, and the bright purple and yellow did look nice against the house.
Mom sat back on her haunches. “How’s your job search going?”
“I’ve put some résumés in at various places, but I haven’t heard back yet. There’s a Parks and Recreation position that might
be interesting.”
“That seems right up your alley.”
Jenna set down the flat. “It sounds fun.”
“Or . . . you could apply for a few jobs on the island, see what turns up.” Mom’s voice lilted up at the end. “It would be
great to have you close by again—not that I’m trying to pressure you into anything.”
It wasn’t as if Jenna hadn’t considered the idea.
Nothing was holding her in Alexandria anymore.
“I’m not averse to the idea. I love Chincoteague, and it would be great if we didn’t live over three hours from each other.
But there isn’t much opportunity here.” Most of the jobs were retail work, catering to tourists—not the best use of her degree.
And a lot of them didn’t pay a living wage.
In recent years real estate on the island had shot up as people from away purchased vacation homes. “I wouldn’t be able to afford a house.”
“You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want, honey.”
“Thanks, Mom, but I’m heading toward thirty—way too old to be sleeping in my childhood bedroom.” She waited for Mom to say
something about the apartment above the garage. Something to indicate it would soon be vacant and available.
“You could always use Gram’s trust fund to help you along. I think she would’ve been happy to see you return to the island.”
“I don’t want to spend that money just making ends meet. I want to invest it in something special. Something that would’ve
made Gram proud.”
Mom offered a smile. “It’s your money to do with as you wish. Gram was already proud of you.”
“I know that.”
A frown pinched Mom’s brows. “If I hadn’t let go of her house, you could’ve moved right in.”
“You can’t foretell the future, Mom. You did what you thought was best at the time. That’s all we can do.”
“Well, I’ll keep my ear to the ground for an open position. Maybe something interesting will turn up.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Jenna rose to her feet and dragged a hand over her sweaty brow. “I’m going to grab a water. Want one?”
“Could you get me one of those raspberry teas?”
The drink Gordon had introduced Mom to was quickly becoming her favorite. “Sure.”
The cool air-conditioning swept over Jenna’s skin as she entered the house. The effect Gordon was having on her mom was so weird. She was gardening now? What next—bird-watching? Jujitsu? Flame-throwing?
She reined in her sarcasm. It was good that Mom was trying new things and getting out of the house more. It just . . . wasn’t really her. Or not the mom she’d known all her life.
Jenna was reaching for the fridge door when she heard a voice. Gordon. The sound trickled in from the backyard through the
patio door, which was slightly ajar.
“I’m not sure . . . Yeah, it’s going well . . .”
As a pause drew out, Jenna crept closer to the door. His voice was low and tender. He was obviously talking to someone with
whom he was close.
“It’s beautiful here. Who knew Maine was so nice this time of year?”
Maine? Jenna frowned. Why was he lying about where he was? The potential answers stirred up a hornet’s nest in her gut. She feared
he wasn’t the man he portrayed himself to be. He was probably using her mom for financial reasons. Meanwhile she was falling
head over heels for him and would wind up heartbroken.
Jenna pressed her fingers to her temple. Maybe she should confront him. Tell him she’d heard what he said. But what if he
simply claimed she’d misunderstood? What if she stirred up trouble and Mom took his side?
“I’m glad to hear it,” Gordon said softly. “Okay . . . I miss you too.”
The call was winding down, and he would soon enter the house. What should Jenna do? She didn’t have actual proof. All she
had was hearsay, and her mother was so besotted with him, she feared Mom might believe she’d simply heard wrong.
Making a quick decision, she grabbed the drinks and scooted from the room. But not before she heard Gordon’s quiet parting words: “All right. Love you too.”
“Are you sure that’s what he said?” Tyson asked Jenna thirty minutes later.
Jenna had hunted him down at his house the first chance she got. His small home was predictably tidy, and he’d recently invested
in some nice leather furniture and gray paint. It now looked less early American dorm room and more responsible adult male.
They sat at his well-lit island over glasses of water because that was the only beverage he had on hand.
“I heard every word,” Jenna said. “Do you think he’s got another woman stashed away somewhere?”
“There’s a limited number of people you say ‘I love you’ to.”
“It could be his son or daughter, I guess. From his tone, it seemed he was speaking with a woman. But it still could’ve been
a female relative.”
Ty frowned. “But why would he lie to a relative about where he was?”
“Good question.” For that very reason Jenna didn’t believe it had been a relative at all.
Ty stood and retrieved his laptop from the coffee table. “I think it’s time we did a little research on this guy.”
She followed him to the sofa. “He’s not on social media. I already checked.”
“There are other ways of investigating people.”
“Oh, you’ve stalked someone before, then?”
He clacked away at the keyboard. “We’re not stalking. We’re just digging a little.”
“Potatoes, po-tah-toes. Oh, put in Washington, DC. That’s where he’s from.”
A screen opened up with a list of Gordon Smiths living in DC. Her hopes sank. “There are fifty-two of them?”
He pointed to the screen. “Yeah, but the listings include the ages. Do you know how old he is?”
“Around sixty, I’d say.”
He began clicking on all the Gordons ranging from fifty-five to sixty-five. The complete listings included people related
to each Gordon as well as associated phone numbers and addresses.
Jenna soon became overwhelmed by all the information. “That didn’t narrow it down much.”
“We need more information so we can refine the search. You said he was twice divorced, right?”
“Once divorced and once widowed. Or widowered? But who knows if it’s the truth. We don’t even know for sure that’s his real
name. I mean, Smith. Really?”
“He would’ve had to provide proof of identity for the cruise. Surely your mom saw his key card, which would’ve had his name
on it.”
“True. That’s something, I guess. We’ll assume it’s his real name for now.”
“He has two grown kids and he was an accountant?” Ty asked.
“As far as I know. I haven’t learned very much about him. He really doesn’t talk about himself much, so I have to ask questions.”
“And it’s hard not to sound like you’re suspicious.”
“I am suspicious.”
Ty nodded. “Me too. I don’t like that he’s letting your mom pay for everything. That’s odd.”
“And then there’s the mysterious person on the other end of his ‘I love you.’”
“If you could find out his address or his exact age, we could narrow this down a lot.”
“That’s true.” Jenna sagged against the sofa. This was so frustrating, knowing the man might be taking advantage of her mother
and feeling so helpless to fix it. Her mom had already been hurt so badly when Dad died. It was a rough few years for both
of them. The last thing Mom deserved was some con man scamming her.
Jenna’s heart pinched at the thought of the pain this would cause.
Ty touched her arm. “Hey, you okay? Having second thoughts about this?”
“No, I just . . . I don’t want to see Mom get hurt again.” She pressed a palm to the pinch in her chest. Funny how you could
love someone so much that you could actually feel their pain as your own. “She’s already falling for him, Ty. You should see
the way she looks at him. It reminds me of . . .”
“What?”
“The way she used to look at my dad. I can’t believe this has progressed so quickly, and I can’t help but think it’s because
Gordon’s manipulating her.”
His eyes softened. “I’ll do whatever I can to help. You know that, right?”
“Thanks. You’re always there when I need you.”
He bumped her shoulder. “That goes both ways.”
He’d been so supportive when she and Jason parted ways. Ty had always been supportive. Back when she’d left for college and
was missing home, he stayed in close contact. When she’d struggled with her statistics class, he even came up several times
to study with her. He was a true-blue friend. It meant a lot, especially after the way she’d lost most of her Alexandria “friends”
when she and Jason broke up.
The reminder of Jason stirred some thoughts she’d been struggling with lately. Thoughts about their relationship and her own part in what had happened.
Tyson’s gaze sharpened on her. “There something else bothering you?”
Should she share the concerns she’d been having lately? She took in Ty’s warm and caring expression. If not with Ty, then
with who? “I’ve been thinking about my relationship with Jason and processing what went wrong.”
Ty gave a droll smile. “Ah, the postmortem. I’m familiar. And as I recall, I did a fair amount of that processing with you.”
He’d had plenty to sort out when Britt left him for another man. “Right. I just can’t help but think . . . that maybe I didn’t
love Jason the way I was supposed to. I mean, I got over him so quickly. So that can’t be love, right? I thought I was in
love, but there must’ve been some reason I was putting off marriage. Some reason I couldn’t say yes when he proposed. Maybe