Page 18 of Polar Prank
“She was sunshine, right?”
“Your mother?”
I nod. “Yes.”
“She was and seems you’ve found some sunshine in your life, too.”
“And I’m not letting her get away.”
I’mon the way back to Charlotte. Grandma’s been released. Dad and I had lunch and talked about everything she told me. He’s found someone, too. I didn’t ask who it was, but there was a familiar face in the waiting room and I had to chuckle. A woman who used to work for one of his businesses.
Like father, like son.
I pull up my hands-free phone and hit the number for Jenna.
“Hello.” The way she answers is almost sharp, like a tac.
“Hi Jenna,” I say and there’s silence. “Hey, I was wondering if you might have?—”
“Brinker, what the hell are you thinking? Do you know how much trouble you could get the company in?”
Ah, so that’s it.
I know they’re close, but I feel momma bear coming out.
She continues to bombard me with why and how this wasn’t smart and wasn’t in the company’s best interest and how much it could cost us and?—
“Jenna… Jenna! Stop! I love her. I really love her.”
I check the signal when there’s no return. “Jenna? You still there?”
“You do?”
“I think I’ve always loved her. I used to come in before her because I wanted to run into her in the breakroom. Last year I was her Secret Santa…”
She gasps. “You gave her the necklace.”
“I gave her the snowflake necklace.”
The one she wears every day now.
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“Because I’ve been… stupid. I’ve been scared. I’ve been hiding behind spreadsheets and acting like numbers could make me happy.”
“Does Iclyn make you happy?”
I remember back to everything. The dinners. The smiles. The words. The heat. It felt right. It felt special. And it definitely made me want more of it.
“She’s my sunshine.”
Jenna chuckles. “Well, I’ll be damned, she thawed the Grinch’s heart.”
I cringe. “Was I really that bad?”
“Yes. But… I have an idea on how you can make it up to all of us.”
This is going to be painful, but I deserve it.
