Page 53 of Love At The Shore
Every now and then, her penchant for reality television came in handy.
Lucas tapped a few more keys on his laptop. “Actually, an old classmate of mine from Berkeley. He comes down next week so it’s crunch time.”
“Wait.” Jenna must have misheard. “You went to UC Berkeley?”
“Just for my MBA,” he said as if Berkeley wasn’t one of the top MBA schools in the country.
Mr. Slack not only owned a summer camp and was an experienced businessman, but he also had a graduate degree. And now he was about to be a beach camp mogul of some sort. Had she ever been more wrong about a person in her life?
“Hence the two-week rule,” she muttered to herself.
Maureen would never let her live this down.
“What’s that?” Lucas glanced up from his screen again.
Jenna envied his concentration. Maybe he’d learned how to tune out distractions at Berkeley. “Nothing. You’re obviously busy, so I’m going to get going.”
She turned to head back to her pizza-less side of the duplex where writer’s block and a vague sense of shame probably awaited her. She’d jumped to conclusions about Lucas. Yet again.
He stopped her before she got to the door. “Jenna?”
“Yes?” She turned to find him smiling at her again.
“We’ll keep it down.”
“Thank you.” He really was a good guy. “You really are full of surprises.”
Chapter Eleven
The following weekend, Maureen invitedAlly and Nick to bowling night and a sleepover for Grayson’s birthday. For Jenna, the evening couldn’t come soon enough. Thanks to several extremely late nights, she’d finally finished the first draft of her manuscript. She still needed to do a final read-through, but the only things on her agenda while the kids were away were dinner for one and a long, luxurious bubble bath.
“Did you guys remember your socks?” she asked as she helped Nick and Ally get settled beside Grayson in the backseat of Maureen and Ian’s SUV.
Ally held up her favorite pair of pink crew socks. They had glittery gold threads running through them. “You can’t bowl without them.”
“Unless you want foot fungus.” Nick giggled while Grayson pulled a face.
“Yeah, I think we get the idea, bud,” Jenna said. Maybe she’d gone a little overboard on her lecture about why socks were such an important part of a good bowling wardrobe. “Have fun! And happy birthday, Grayson.”
“Thanks, Ms. T.” Grayson grinned.
Jenna could hardly believe he was already turning twelve. Before she knew it, Nick and Ally would be off to college and she’d be…
Alone.
Best not to think about that now, though. She had a tub full of bubbles upstairs with her name on it. Besides, there was nothing wrong with living alone.
And anyway, she was years away from empty-nest syndrome.
Still, the thought of Maureen and Ian taking the kids bowling together made her feel suddenly wistful. She loved being a mom, but every now and then she missed being part of a couple too.
Lucas’s lopsided boy-next-door smile flashed in Jenna’s mind, and she blinked. Hard.
Maureen frowned at her from the driver’s seat. “You better relax. It’s your one night off.”
Jenna nodded. “I will.”
Had Lucas been right? Does she even knowhowto relax?
