The One For Me - January Cove Book 1 (6 page)

"Oh, God, Jenna. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. Come on..." he said as he crouched and slid his arms under hers. One touch and he was taken back in time. Her skin, the smell of strawberries in her hair, her presence. He pulled her up and was taken by how womanly she looked with curves. She wasn't that young girl anymore, but she was better looking now than when they were younger.

He walked her to the sofa and then shut the front door. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself. She'd always done that as a protection mechanism. As her sobs slowed down, she finally looked up at him. One moment of eye contact felt like a dagger in Kyle's heart.

"What happened, Jenna?" he asked softly as he sat across from her.

"Mommy?" Kaitlyn said as she rubbed her eyes and stumbled into the living room. Kyle was taken aback by how much she looked like Jenna. With her sun kissed auburn hair and bright green eyes, the little girl took his breath away for a moment.

"Hey, baby," Jenna said jumping up and kneeling in front of the little girl. "How are you feeling?"

"Hungry," she said and Jenna laughed as she hugged her.

"That's a good sign," Jenna said as she felt her head. "No more fever. Let's go make you some toast. Kyle, I'll be right back," she said looking back at him. He nodded and watched her walk into the kitchen. As he listened to mother and daughter talk, he realized how long it had been. She was a mother now. Someone called Jenna "Mommy". How could that be? Hadn't they just had their first kiss on the big rock at Emerald Cove? Didn't they just go to the prom, Jenna all fancied up in her pink dress?

A few minutes later, Jenna reappeared in the living room, now wearing a pair of tight fitting jeans and a v-neck t-shirt that showed off the changes in her now womanly body. Kyle's heart skipped, and he had to remind himself that he was there on business and she was only a part of his past.

"Sorry about that. She was so sick all night. I barely slept myself," she said running her fingers through her hair with slight smile. He remembered running his fingers through her sweet smelling hair many times.

"You look..." he started to say beautiful without thinking.

"What?"

"Nothing. I was just going to say sorry she was sick." Jenna eyed him carefully for a moment, and he could almost sense a hint of a smile. Had she known what he was about to say?

"Thanks."

"So, tell me what happened, Jenna. When last I saw you, you were speeding off into a life of glitz and glamor and money. I never imagined we'd meet up again this way."

"Well, where do I even begin? I helped put Nick through medical school, supported him through residency, gave birth to his daughter, and then he repaid me by screwing a nurse at his hospital and leaving us with nothing." Kyle struggled with his emotions, which were ranging from anger to some kind of "I told you so" feeling. Because he had told her so.

He’d stood with his hands in his pockets as Jenna stood across from him with her head down. "I don't understand, Jenna. We had plans. We were going to to get married one day. I love you," he'd said to her. She couldn't look at him.

"I love you too. You know that. But I have to do what's best for me, Kyle."

"You mean what's best for your parents. When are you going to live for yourself?" he'd asked her.

She sighed and looked up at the sky. "Why are you making this so hard?"

"Hard? Are you kidding me? Hard is when the love of your life comes home from college to visit and tells you that she is dating another guy because he can give her a better future. How do you think that makes me feel? Not only did you apparently cheat on me, but now you tell me I have no future?"

"Kyle, it's just that my Mom and Dad think I deserve more..."

"More? What kind of more, Jenna? More money? He might be able to provide that. But more love? More devotion? More loyalty? Not a chance. No man will ever be able to give you the love that I can. I've spent years loving you, and whether you believe it or not, I've left my mark. You'll see. He can't love you like I do, Jenna," he'd said as he walked closer to her, his lips only inches from hers.

"Kyle, I..."

"Don't worry. I'm not going to kiss you. The next time I kiss you, I want you to crave it. I want you to know that I'm the only man for you. You know deep in your heart that this will never work. He's not your soul mate, Jenna. Your parents are about to ruin your life, but I'm not going to beg."

"I'm sorry. This is what I have to do. Don't wait for me," she'd said. "You need to move on with your life."

He hadn't said anything else and watched as she drove out of sight and out of his life.

"Kyle? Are you still with me?" Jenna asked looking at him.

"What? Oh, yeah. I was just thinking about something." Kyle didn't know how to feel. Should he kick her to the curb and laugh all the way home at the thought of her being homeless and sad? Should he scoop her up in his arms like he wanted to do? Of course not. That part of his life was long over, and he wasn't signing up for more hurt from Jenna.

"Thinking that you told me so?" she asked looking down at her lap. She'd changed so much over the years, but some things hadn't changed at all. The way her hair smelled, even from a few feet away. The way she looked down nervously when she thought someone was angry with her. He'd seen her do it with her parents many times. Even the way her voice lilted in that sweet Southern way that drew him to her in the first place.

"No. Of course not," he said, lying through his teeth.

"It's okay, Kyle. You have the right to gloat."

"Fine. You want me to gloat?" he said standing up, finally unable to hold back his words. "You left me standing there like I didn't even matter, Jenna. Like our five years together meant nothing to you. So, yes, there is a part of me that feels pretty vindicated in all of this. He might have money now, but you didn't get the benefit of that, did you?"

"I'm so sorry, Kyle. I should have handled it all better. I know that. I knew it the moment I drove away and saw your face in the rear view mirror. You didn't deserve that, and maybe that's why I'm being punished now."

Before Kyle could speak, the little girl came running into the room. Amazing how fast kids could bounce back from vomiting all night.

"Mommy, who is this man?" she asked as she tugged on Jenna's shirt.

"Honey, this is one of my oldest friends in the world, Mr. Parker."

"How old is he?" she asked with her eyes. Kyle let out a chuckle as Jenna tried not to crack up herself.

"No, sweetie, that just means I've known him for a long time. He's the same age as me, which is very young," Jenna said smiling.

"Oh."

"Kyle, this is my daughter Kaitlyn," Jenna said. The little girl looked up at him with her big green eyes and Kyle suddenly felt like the world's biggest jackass.

"Hi there, Kaitlyn. I'm Kyle. Nice to meet you. Are you feeling better?"

"Yep. Lots better. Going to play with my dolls now!" she said before she bounded up the stairs singing all the way.

"She has plenty of energy," Kyle said.

"Yes, she does," Jenna replied with a look of sadness on her face as she sat back down.

"When did he leave?"

"About eight months ago."

"I'm sorry you and Kaitlyn have had to go through that. I wouldn't wish a nasty breakup on my worst enemy," he said avoiding eye contact.

"Not even on the person who did the very same thing to you?"

Kyle cringed a bit at her statement and then didn't respond to it. "He doesn't pay any child support?"

"He's supposed to, but he hasn't so far. He's angry with me, and he doesn't want me to have any of his money even if it means his own daughter goes hungry, I suppose."

"Mad at you? Why? I thought he was the one who cheated on you."

"He did."

"So what is he mad about?"

"Nevermind. It's not important now. Look, about the house..."

"Relax, Jenna. Even though you're probably my least favorite person in the world, I wouldn't put you and your daughter out in the street. I'm not that kind of man." He was lying;  she wasn't his least favorite person in the world.

"That makes me sad."
"What does?" he asked.
"That I am your least favorite person in the world. I really screwed this up," she said standing up and looking out the window at the ocean. "You know, when we bought this house, Nick promised me that we'd spend our off days as a family picnicking on the beach. We never went on one picnic. Now I won't have the chance to do that with Kaitlyn."
"Jenna, you'll have plenty of chances to build memories with her even if they are without her father. I'm sure you will meet someone one day who will be your real soul mate, and he can be a father to her." It pained Kyle to say "soul mate" as they had talked so many times about how they were meant to be together forever.
"I had a soul mate," she whispered just loud enough for him to hear. Kyle's phone started ringing just in time to break the tension in the room.
"Sorry, I've got to take this," he said as he pushed the answer button. "Hello? Yeah. Tell him I want the holes patched on the main floor and that damaged wall in the guest room needs to be sheetrocked again. Right. I'll see you guys in about an hour."
"You seem to be in high demand these days," Jenna said smiling as she watched him type something into his phone.
"I guess so."
"How's business?"
"Good. You know Mom has the real estate company. I worked as an agent with her for quite awhile before venturing out on my own a couple of years ago."
"I used to see your signs when I would pass through January Cove."
"You did?"
"Yes. I embarrassed to say that I dialed the number on the sign many times, but never hit send."
"You wanted to call me?"
"Of course. I've missed you. You were my best friend in the world, and now I'm your least favorite person on the planet. That's hard to digest," she said just as Kaitlyn came bounding down the stairs again.
"Mommy, can we get a puppy?" she asked out of the blue.
"No, sweetie. We're moving soon, and we can't have a puppy where we're going."
"We're moving? But I don't want to move out of my house, Mommy!" she said as her eyes welled with tears.
"We will talk about this later, Kaitlyn." The little girl stomped back upstairs yelling the whole way about how she didn't want to move. Kyle felt horrible and realized he had to do something.
"Listen, Jenna, I don't want you guys to have to rush out of here. You've got enough stress on you as it is. There's not much that has to be done to get it ready for sale, so why don't you stay here for another week or two while my guys do the work?"
"Seriously? You would do that for me?"
"I would do it for Kaitlyn. She seems like a nice kid, and she's already had one man disappoint her. I'm not going to be the second one."
"Thanks," she said softly as she looked down at her feet. "I appreciate it more than you will ever know." Their eyes met for a long moment as the tension built between them, and Kyle knew that was his cue to leave.
"I've got to get back to work, but I'll have my guys get in touch to coordinate what they need to do for me."
"Oh... Okay..." she stammered as he walked toward the door. Kyle turned around.
"I meant what I said, Jenna. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy."
"I know," she said. He walked down the stairs to his Jeep and sped away as Jenna closed the door.

Jenna walked across the room and sat down on the sofa trying to catch her breath from the shock of seeing Kyle again. He looked good, better than good. He looked strong and sexy and successful. He looked like everything she'd known he would be one day until her parents talked her out of being with him.
How could it have been a coincidence that the very person who bought her foreclosed home was Kyle? And yet she believed him when he said that he had nothing to do with it. After all, how could he have known that she was J.A. Watson?
A knock at her door startled her out of her dreamy thoughts. Had he come back? Would he sweep her into his arms, cover her with warm kisses and take her away from all of her problems?
"Hey, girl. How's Kaitlyn?" Rebecca said as Jenna swung the door open.
"Oh, it's you..." she said sounding let down.
"Gee, thanks," Rebecca said laughing.
"No, it's not what you think. Come on in. Kaitlyn is feeling much better. Back to her old self it seems."
"I just wanted to come by and check on you. See how you're doing after getting that note last night. Why haven't you started moving?" she asked as she looked around at the un-packed house.
"Well, that's quite a story," Jenna said with a slight smile. For the next few minutes, she recounted the shocking visit from Kyle.
"Wait. Are we talking about soul mate Kyle? THE Kyle that I've heard about for years?"
"The very same one. Only he hates me. He said I'm his least favorite person on the planet, but he will let me stay another week for Kaitlyn." Jenna frowned and stood to get a glass from the cabinet. "Care for some sweet tea?"
"No, thanks. So, let me get this straight. He's going to let you stay a week, but then you're getting the boot?"
"Yep. But at least it buys me some time. Maybe I can find a decent place that will take me and Kaitlyn. I don't make much at the diner, but surely I can find a studio apartment."
"Well, it is the busy season around here," Rebecca reminded her. The whole area was busy from spring through summer, and a lot of people came to the shore for months at a time which made rental properties hard to come by.
"True. I just don't want to have to take Kaitlyn out of her school. She's had enough change and turmoil in the last few months."
"Still no word from Nick?"
"No. He doesn't care, Becca. It makes me sad. I just don't understand how a father, especially a financially stable one, could do this to his daughter. He's mad at me, but she doesn't deserve any of this."
"He's the one who cheated, Jenna."
"I know. But he blames that on me. I wasn't blameless in our marriage, and he says what I did was the same as cheating."
"Oh, please, what a cop out. You didn't cheat. That was..."
"Stupid dreaming, apparently," Jenna said finishing her sentence. She didn't like to talk about what she had done to contribute to wrecking her marriage, and she didn't like to admit that she never loved Nick in the first place.
"Well, I'd better get back. Let me know if you need help packing," she said hugging Jenna.
"Thanks."