Chapter 18
A funny feeling gnawed at Tyson’s stomach as he headed home from work. He was meeting Jenna there to research Gordon. He was
running late because he’d had trouble starting the Weed Eater, so he’d sent Jenna a text. But that wasn’t why his stomach
quivered.
It was because he was seeing Jenna again.
Since when did seeing his best friend rattle him? And why had he relived that kiss on his cheek a hundred times in the past
twenty-four hours?
He already knew the answer to that question.
But these feelings had to be nipped in the bud. Jenna and him as a couple? Bad idea. What if they got together and things
didn’t work out? He didn’t want to ruin their friendship. Not to mention he wasn’t ready for a romantic relationship with
anyone. His marital heartbreak was still in his rearview mirror, reminding him of the gut-wrenching loss and rejection he’d
suffered. When someone who was supposed to love you discarded you so easily, it left a mark.
It had taken him months to see that Britt’s leaving had picked at the emotional scars from his father’s abandonment. Had left
him feeling unworthy. He’d dealt by distracting himself. But that wasn’t a fix. He had to work on himself. And he needed to
be single for that.
Also, he wasn’t in a hurry to go through that kind of pain again.
He just needed to ignore these weird feelings for Jenna and keep things as normal as possible. Just because they were both
single and available for the first time in years didn’t mean he should be thinking of her this way. Maybe his season of dating
around was responsible for this sudden attraction. He’d gotten into a routine of noticing and appreciating women, and now
he’d turned that attention on Jenna.
If that was true, it was a bad habit he needed to break. So no more gazing into her eyes. No more vulnerable revelations that
stirred her empathy and resulted in comforting touches.
No more touches period.
He pulled into his driveway and exited his Silverado. He was glad he’d arrived before Jenna at least. As he rounded his vehicle
he spotted an irregularity on his passenger-side door and stepped closer. Probably just a bit of dirt. But he was soon corrected
of that assumption. He frowned as he ran his finger over the half-inch divot in the door.
Jenna pulled in beside him. Her smile fell as she exited her car. “What’s wrong?”
“Looks like someone opened their door into mine and dinged it pretty good.”
“Where’d that happen?”
He shrugged. “Not sure. Could’ve been at the B and B. Or maybe it didn’t even happen today. Might’ve been a day or two ago
and I’m just now seeing it.”
“I’m sorry.” She followed him up the walkway to his house.
“It’s probably not even worth getting insurance involved.”
“Probably not. Hopefully it won’t be too expensive to fix.”
“I have a buddy at a repair shop. He’ll give me a good deal. It’s just the fact that someone had to know they did it and didn’t say anything.” Islanders were generally respectful and considerate.
“It would be nice if people always did the right thing.”
“Right there.” Jenna’s finger shook as she pointed to the laptop screen where was open. “‘Gordon Smith, sixty-one
years.’ Has to be him, right?”
“We’re about to find out.” Ty clicked on the link and a page opened, full of basic information. “There’s his address, and
a few relatives are listed.”
“None of them live in DC, which is where he said his daughter lives.”
“But this Joe Smith lives in Detroit.”
Jenna perked up. “Has to be his son. This is definitely the right Gordon then.”
“We’re making progress.” Ty clicked a button that read View Two Background Records, which opened another screen: Unlock Gordon’s Full Report. When he clicked he got a list of plans and their prices. “It’s only twelve dollars—a literal bargain.”
“I’ll pay you back.” Jenna’s leg jittered against the sofa seat as Ty went through the payment process using Apple Pay. How
would her mom react if Gordon had a criminal record? What if even that didn’t dissuade her? What if Mom confronted him and
he just fed her some flimsy explanation and she believed him? Anxiety snaked through Jenna’s system at the thought.
She shook her head as the program downloaded the results of the search. She was getting way ahead of herself.
Tyson set his hand on her knee. “Settle down. It’ll be okay.”
She hardly heard what he said because the heat of his palm burned into her bare skin. Her heart gave a few hard knocks against her ribs before he cut her an awkward glance and withdrew his hand. There was that awareness again. The one she’d committed to squashing.
But the memory of that kiss on the cheek resurfaced even as the scent of his cologne wafted over her. In her attempts to see
the screen she’d moved in close. Her upper arm was flush with his, and their legs . . .
The warm press of his thigh was suddenly the only thing she could think about. That point of contact usurped every brain cell.
She glanced down at his muscular legs, nicely tanned, just a sprinkling of dark hair.
“Here it is.”
Jenna blinked away the thoughts and focused on the results of Gordon’s background check. Ty slowly scrolled through Work History,
Education, Credit History, and finally reached Criminal History.
A big fat zero sat beside the last listing.
Jenna’s heart sank. That was not what she’d expected. “There’s nothing here.”
He scrolled back up for a closer look at the other sections. But there was nothing of substance. “Doesn’t seem to be.”
“Are these things even accurate? How do we know they’re complete?”
“I guess we can’t be 100 percent sure. But just because someone doesn’t have a record doesn’t mean they’re not a criminal.
It just means they haven’t been caught.”
“I thought for sure we’d find something.
” Jenna fell back into the sofa, feeling heavier than ever.
She’d been depending on this to give her proof.
Proof that the new man in Mom’s life was a bad guy.
She flung her hand over her face. “I was actually hoping he was a criminal. I’m a terrible person. What is wrong with me?”
“Hey. Nothing’s wrong with you. You weren’t hoping he’s a criminal. It just feels like something’s off, and you’re worried
about your mom and trying to protect her.”
Jenna gestured to the screen. “But I seem to be protecting her from a perfectly nice person.”
“Your suspicions didn’t appear out of nowhere, Jenna. There are plenty of red flags here. He came to live with your mom after
meeting her on a one-week cruise. Your mom is footing the bill for everything they do. He supposedly doesn’t have a credit
card. And he told someone on the phone he’s in Maine.”
Okay, maybe she wasn’t a terrible person. Maybe she should trust her gut. “Thank you. I needed to hear that. But where do we go from here? In my mind this was my big plan, and it turned
out to be a nothing burger.”
He gave her a sympathetic look. “It’s not nothing. We have a lot of information here. Let’s think about how we can leverage
it.”