Page 83 of Steel & Jenna
Jenna winced, having forgotten about that part. The heat that had been coursing through her body only a second before dissipated. “We do need to talk, Jack.”
He stretched his neck forward to claim her lips. “We’ll talk,” he promised, “and then I’ll make love to you with the stars and the waves as our witnesses.”
Jack liftedJenna into the bed because they couldn’t use the tailgate since it was hanging over open air. Once she was in, he handed up the blankets and pillow. They were both back in their hats, jackets, and gloves.
A metal barrel that was supposed to be used as a trashcan was roughly twenty feet away from where Jack had parked the truck. It took some maneuvering to get the ash-filled bin to roll over closer to the truck bed. As Jenna set up the bed of the truck, Jack pilfered a pile of driftwood from under the stairs of the lighthouse. Luck was with them because he also found a half drunk bottle of bourbon.
After three rounds of collecting the wood and dumping it into themetal barrel, Jack poured in the alcohol and lit the contents aflame. Then Jack hefted himself over the bed rail to join her.
Jenna had put the thickest of the blankets down and rested the pillow up against the cab. Jack took a seat with the pillow cushioning his lower back. Wrapping a blanket around herself like a shawl, Jenna straddled his lap. Once she was settled, Jack used the third blanket to cover their legs and then tucked the ends between them to hold it into place.
“Are you sure you’re warm enough like this?” Jenna asked again.
He nodded. “I want to look into your eyes when you tell me what happened. We’ve lost so much time together. It might not have changed our love, but I do feel like I’m missing pieces of you. Start at the beginning and tell me everything.”
“I’m not even sure what the beginning really is. I didn’t realize that what happened in the fall with your dad and what happened to Mrs. Zarin were so connected until yesterday.” Though Jack’s eyebrows drew down, he did not interrupt. “Here’s what I do know: last fall, my mother paid your father to rob our house here in Port Townsend. But it wasn’t just any robbery. She convinced your father that you were trying to con my family and had recently learned the code to my father’s safe in his office.”
Jack’s jaw dropped.
Jenna nodded as if he’d spoken his shock out loud. “I know. It’s awful. The idea was that she would have her security personnel catch the robbery in progress and you would be arrested. AndI,” she added pointedly, “would see that you are a ‘no-good street rat’. Her words, not mine,” Jenna said with an apologetic smile.
“However, the plan fell through. Your father was arrested, but you weren’t. My parents used my reckless train ride in the middle of the night as the excuse they needed to keep me in Seattle. They uprooted from Port Townsend and decided to return the estate to their vacation home. After Carolyn,” her voice cracked, “well, I think they used her as an excuse too. I don’t have proof, but I think my dad was trying to keep my mom out of the press for a bit in Seattle after there were some speculations about her illicit affairs with her bodyguards. Ididn’t know about any of that when we moved up here, but it explains why they stayed even after sending me back to Seattle.”
Jack took in a large, heavy breath and then let it out slowly. The fire did not provide them with a lot of heat, but it helped them to see, along with the partial moon. “That’s a lot to take in. Do you think Carolyn knew? Is that why she left?”
Jenna shrugged, looking away from him. “I don’t know. I don’t know where she is or why she won’t come talk to me. I have so much to ask her and talk to her about, but I have no idea how to get a hold of her. I can only hope she’ll reach out to me when she’s ready.”
Jack squeezed her gloved hands in comfort. “How did you learn about your mom paying my dad in the fall? She told you?”
Jenna’s laugh was humorless. “Shebraggedabout it to me. Like she was some Mafia Donna with a wicked scheme.” She shook her head in disgust. “It was honestly too easy to get her to talk.”
“How did you know what to ask her?”
Jenna glanced back at him. “Chief Cunningham told me what to ask.”
Jack’s mouth gaped like a fish out of water. “What?”
Jenna looked pained as she continued speaking. “Last week, my mom came to my dorm room. She was pissed. Telling me that I’ve lost weight, that I’m failing my classes?—”
“You are?” Jack questioned.
She nodded sheepishly. “I couldn’t really…concentrate without you. It was like the world had no taste.”
“I noticed you looked thin today, but I wasn’t sure because we were in heavy jackets most of the day. Plus, I know women like to wear those things around your waists to church.”
“Girdles?” Jenna laughed in earnest. “And how do you know about girdles, Mr. Duncan?”
His cheeks heated. “I…read.”
Jenna raised an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah?”
“Fine,” he growled. “Mrs. Zarin leaves—left,” he corrected with a wince, “copies of herCosmopolitanmagazines in the bathroom sometimes. They’re, you know, something to read when I’m in there.”
The night was silent for a single second before Jenna’s laughter rang out. “Jack Duncan, you readCosmowhile taking a shit?”
Jack shrugged, a little defensively. “Like I said, it’s something to do.” To quickly change the subject, he said, “Have you really lost that much weight? Are you okay?”
“It’ssomeweight and not as much as what my mom was saying. She was accusing me of withering away to nothing over aboy. And while I was having a hard time eating and concentrating on schoolwork, I wasn’t dying. At least not on the outside.”
