20. Chapter Twenty #2
The doc sat on a stool and rolled over to him.
“I was planning to call you, but since you’re here, I need to disclose to you that a person at the hospital took your personal information and sold it to a tabloid.
I need to make it clear that even though she dressed similar to our orderlies, she isn’t an employee of the hospital.
We haven’t been able to prove it, but we think she may have been drug seeking. ”
Simon’s mind stuttered. He replayed the doctor’s words in his mind. It wasn’t Jenna who had betrayed him?
And then he recalled the young woman that had been lurking outside his exam room. That must have been her. Instead of anger, he felt sorry for her. She was much too young to ruin her life with drugs.
Simon looked directly at the doctor. “What’s her name?”
After the doctor told him the name, it didn’t ring any bells for Simon.
“She’s a teenager on vacation with her parents. She is in a world of trouble with her parents. I can’t even imagine what you’ve gone through having your personal information shared with the world.”
Simon took a moment digesting everything he was being told. He couldn’t believe he’d thought it was Jenna who had betrayed him. He felt awful for jumping to the wrong conclusion. Would she ever forgive him?
~
It wasn’t helping.
No matter how much Jenna worked, she couldn’t stop thinking about Simon. Why did she keep picking the wrong guy?
But she wasn’t going to be the bigger person this time and just walk away quietly. She was going to tell Simon exactly what she thought of him.
She grabbed the clipboard and headed for the front of the Lily Pad.
She quietly waited while her sister checked out a young woman who had purchased one of the wall-hangings from the consignment section of the shop.
Local artists displayed their work at the shop and then split the proceeds with Lily.
It helped the Lily Pad as well as the island’s artist community.
After the customer walked away, Jenna approached her sister. She handed over the clipboard. “Everything is done in the back.”
Lily’s eyes widened. “Everything?”
Jenna nodded. “Now I have to go. There’s something I need to do.”
Before Lily had a chance to say anything, Jenna rushed out the door. She practically ran into Agnes Dewey.
Jenna stumbled back a couple of steps. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see you.”
Agnes paused and stared at her for a moment. “So, it’s true.”
“What?” Jenna had absolutely no idea what the woman was talking about.
“The horoscope. It was right.”
“How...how do you know?”
“Simon was spotted in town with a beautiful woman. And I heard he was kissing her too.” Agnes said it as a matter of fact.
For Jenna, it felt like a stab in the heart.
But she refused to let on just how much the horoscope coming true had really hurt her.
She forced a smile to her lips. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but Simon and I are just neighbors.
Nothing more.” The words felt like shards of glass in her mouth, but she kept going.
“But I’m happy he has someone special in his life. ”
Agnes’s eyes widened behind her big rimmed glasses. Then her gaze narrowed in on her, as though trying to read her mind or something. “I need to go.”
Jenna was relieved to see Agnes walk away. She didn’t know how much longer she could keep the fake smile on her face. The backs of her eyes burned, but she would not give in to the tears.
Before she’d made it back to her cart, she’d had to smile a few more times to fellow Bluestar residents. After exchanging greetings, they would follow it up with a “Poor dear.” It appeared the gossip chain had made quick work of spreading the news of Simon and his mystery woman.
Ugh! Jenna did not want their pity. She was fine. It wasn’t like she was in love with him or anything.
When she arrived back at the duplex, she found Simon’s cart parked out front. Good. She was getting this over with because she refused to let him get away with flirting with her while having a girlfriend or wife.
She marched up the stairs and then strode to his door. She fisted her hand and gave the door a solid series of knocks.
Gus let out a couple of barks. Dear sweet Gus. She was going to miss spending time with him. Two-timing Simon was lucky to have such a special dog.
The door opened, and Gus rushed out to greet her. It was tough to stay angry when Gus was nosing the back of her hand. She ran her hand over Gus’s head.
“Jenna, come in.”
She peered past him to see if he was alone. Not that it mattered. She was going to have her say whether his girlfriend overheard her or not. She should know the type of man she was involved with.
She didn’t see the woman inside, but that didn’t mean anything. The woman could have been in the kitchen or upstairs.
She turned her attention back to Simon. “That won’t be necessary. This won’t take long. I was so wrong about you. I thought you were one of the good guys, but I guess you had me fooled.”
His brows scrunched together. “Jenna, slow down. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Her gaze narrowed on him. “Don’t go acting all innocent.” With each word uttered, her voice rose. “It’s too late for that.”
Simon glanced around, as though checking to see if she had been overheard, but the beach house was set too far back from the road. However, the neighboring houses were a different story.
“Why don’t you come inside?”
She shook her head. “We’re going to have this out right here and now. I can’t believe you lied to me. Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?”
“Jenna, slow down. Let me explain.”
“It’s too late for that now. I saw you kissing her.” There she’d said it, and it hadn’t killed her, although the heartache felt as though it might.
His eyes widened. “You saw me with Gwen?”
She nodded. “Does she know that you’re cheating on her? Wait. Does that make me the other woman?” The thought utterly horrified her. She reached out and slapped at his arm. “You made me the other woman.”
He reached out and caught her wrist before she could slap him again. “You are not the other woman.” When she looked at him in disbelief, he said, “You are the only woman in my life.”
Her heart wanted to believe him, but her mind reminded her to believe what she’d seen with her own two eyes. “Don’t lie to me. You’ve done enough of that already. If you wanted to keep your relationship a secret, you shouldn’t have been kissing that woman in front of the duplex.”
The color drained from his face. At last, he knew he wasn’t going to squirm out of this. Good.
“Jenna—”
She held up her palm, stopping his words. “I don’t want to hear it. In fact, I don’t want to see you again. When your lease is up, I’d appreciate if you’d move and until then stick to your side, and I’ll stick to mine.”
“Jenna, let me explain.”
“No.” She turned on her heel and walked away.
It wasn’t until she closed the door and then leaned back against it that she was able to take her first full breath since she’d confronted him. Now it was over. Completely and utterly over. And it didn’t make her feel any better. In fact, she felt worse.
Buzz.
She reached for her phone, which was in her back pocket. She didn’t want to talk to anyone, but that didn’t keep her from checking the caller ID.
It was Neil. That was strange. He rarely called her. It was either about work or something was wrong. Was something wrong with their mother?
With a resigned sigh, she pressed the phone to her ear. “Hey, Neil, what’s up?”
“I don’t see you yet at the High Tide. You haven’t changed your mind, have you?”
It took her a moment to figure out what he was talking about. Trivia night. She inwardly groaned.
She swallowed hard and hoped when she spoke that she sounded normal.
“We aren’t going to make it.” But she wasn’t giving up on her presentation.
It was good. Really good. “But I’d like to have a meeting with you tomorrow morning to go over my ideas for the front of the market.
I know you’re opposed to change because of losing Dad, but I think if he was here, he would tell you that if we don’t keep evolving, that the business will die. Dad wouldn’t want that.”
There was a slight hesitation. “This is really that important to you?”
“It is. And I think you’re going to like what I’ve come up with.”
“Okay. Can you come in early tomorrow?”
“I can.”
“Okay. I’ll see you at seven thirty.”
After they wrapped up their call, a little smile pulled at the corners of her lips. But the smile was short-lived because the image of Simon formed in her mind.
She had to face it: she had the worst judgement when it came to men. She was done dating. She was going to focus on her job. If things didn’t work out at her meeting tomorrow, she would start job hunting on the mainland.