Tit for Tat Baby (20 page)

She looked at him and the hurt was
battling with the fury in her eyes.

“I have to get away from here,
Kev.  I need to … to find perspective.  I can’t … stay here.”

“When do you want to leave?”

“Today, while they’re at the
zoo.  Do you think it is too late to book now?”

“I don’t think so. I’ll go and do it
immediately.” 

He left and Jenna placed the large
painting of a Kings inauguration on the table.  She pushed the stereo
binocular microscope closer and switched it on.  The procedure used to
clean this painting was carried out under high magnification with the aid of
the microscope. It enabled her to refer constantly to photographs of the
painting on a computer screen, of the painting taken before
cleaning.   It also enabled her useful images such as X-radiographs
and infrared reflectograms to follow the proper cleaning methods, ensuring no
further damage.

This specific painting had areas of
damage that became insoluble to normal cleaning solvents and had to be removed
with a scalpel.  This was a slow and painstaking process which she had to
carry out under the microscope.

Callum walked in just as she started
the scraping process with her eyes against the microscope eyepiece.

“Jenna, I don’t want you to work
today.  The twins wants you to join us.”

“It is never too early for them to
learn one does not always get what one wants.  Go away, Callum.”

“Baby …”

“Don’t … why don’t you go and … rub
your fiancé on your lap.  Clearly she is used to sitting on it.  I
should thank her … she must have been the one …”

“Shut up!  Before you say
something we will both regret!”

“Go away, McGregor.  I am busy.”

“Jenna …”

“GO AWAY!” 

Jenna lost it and screamed at
him.  Her voice echoed down the passage.

“I’ll leave, but beware, Jenna, we
will talk when I get back.”

Jenna
trembled so badly she had to put the scalpel down she clutched in her
hand.  She was still trying to get her emotions under control when she saw
Callum watching her through the window, waiting for everyone to get into his
Jeep.  They looked at each other until the twins complained.  He
turned away and got into the SUV.  She turned back to her desk, refusing
to watch them drive away.

Jenna
only relaxed once the plane was airborne.  She sighed and immediately
reclined the seat back to catch up on much needed sleep.  Kevin took her
hand and pressed it.  She looked at him and smiled.

“Thanks for being here for me, Kev”

“I’ll always be there for you,
sis.  You know that.”

“Yes, I do.  What are you going
to do?”

“Forget about him.”

“You’re not going back?”

“No. Dad can send a team in for the
two weeks he is done.  They should be able to make quite a dent in the
work.”

“Are you sure you are doing the right
thing, Sis?”

“You saw them today.  He is not
going to leave her and I deserve more than being the other woman in any man’s
life.”

“Yes, you do.

They fell silent after that. 
Jenna fell asleep and Kevin’s mind wandered back to the night he spent with
Shelly Watts.  He walked into her room without knocking and caught her
just as she got out of the shower.

He did not offer her an opportunity to
deny him, not when he kissed her, nor when he caressed her. Only when he laid
her down on her bed and covered her with his body did he ask the
question.  She denied him nothing, not once throughout the whole
night.  He had a night never equaled before, nor did he believe one that
could be equaled again.

She
was more than he ever imagined she would be.  So much more, that he wanted
more … again and again!  He’d be damned if he was going to walk away from
her.  She would learn she would not just use him and then discard
him.  Hiding behind Callum and their so-called engagement was not going to
keep him from her.

“Daddy! 
I am so happy to see you!”

Devon hugged his daughter clinging to
him and looked enquiringly at Kevin.  He shook his head.  He stroked
her hair until she pulled away and wiped the tears from her cheeks.  He
frowned.

“What is wrong, my girl?  You’ve
been away from home much longer than this before.  You’ve never reacted
like this.  What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it now,
please Daddy.”

“Does the phone call I received from
Callum McGregor three hours ago have something to do with this?”

“He phoned you?”

“To give you a message when you got
here.”

“I should have known Ronan would not keep
his mouth shut. So what was the message mister high and mighty left?”

“That his plane will be waiting for
you at eight on Monday morning.”

“His plane … I do not believe the gall
of that man!  When he phones again, you can give him this message. 
Go. To. Hell!”

She stormed out of the house and sat
steaming on the porch.  Devon looked at Kevin questioningly.  Kevin
sighed and shrugged.

“You don’t want to know, Dad.”

“I’ve known Callum for a number of
years, Kevin. He is an honorable man of high integrity. What the devil is going
on?  He was livid when he phoned.”

“How do you know him?”

“My investment portfolio is with him.”

“He’s the one that turned my
inheritance into millions in two years?”

“Which allowed you to open all those
additional branches.”

“I suppose he did the same with
Jenna’s”

“Yes, but she does not even know
it.  She’s never bothered with it.  Tell me what happened with my
little girl, Kev.”

“Our little Jenna fell in love.”

“With McGregor?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t understand.  His demand
and the way he spoke, he was seriously upset that she left.”

“He is engaged.”

“What!”

“With Shelly Watts.”

“The model you always drool over?”

Kevin smiled wryly and nodded. 
Devon thought back on the conversation and he glared at Kevin.

“He sounded excessively possessive
about your sister when he spoke to me.”

“Oh, yes.  The likes of which I
have never seen.”

“Did he … did they …?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll kill him!”

“He never told her.  She only
found out when she arrived at the Castle for a visit.”

“I’ll kill him!”

“Yeah … I don’t think our little Jenna
would like that, Dad.”

Devon’s cell phone rang and he picked
it up.  He glanced at Kevin.

“It’s McGregor.”

He swiped the screen and growled in
the phone.

“McGregor … my son just informed me of
a very disturbing piece of information.  I am extremely upset.”

“That is to be expected.”

“I suppose you want to speak with
Jenna?”

“She is not answering her phone.”

“Which means she does not want to talk
to you, McGregor.”

Jenna walked in at that moment and
glared at her father.

“I don’t believe it.  And you are
quite right, Daddy. I don’t want to talk to him.”

“There, you heard her.”

“I just want to know if she is okay.”

Devon heard the concern in his voice
and realized all was not as it seemed. The look Kevin gave him confirmed
it.  He decided to push the boundaries a bit.

“He wants to know if you’re okay.”

“No, I am not!  But that is none
of his concern!” 

“She says she is …”

“I heard what she said! Please hand
her the phone.  I have to speak to her.”

Devon held the phone out to her and
she glowered at him.  He shrugged his shoulders. Kevin only raised his
eyebrows at her.  She yanked the phone out of her father’s hand and Kevin
and he walked to the porch.  Jenna took a deep breath before raising the
phone to her ear.

“What do you want?”

“Running away now, Jenna?”

“I took a break.  There is a
difference.”

“Without telling me?”

“I don’t owe you anything, McGregor.”

“Don’t you, Jenna?  You seem to
have a very short memory, Baby. I on the other hand have an excellent
memory.  Shall I remind you of the promise you made last night?”

Jenna’s heart cried through the
cracks.  Her voice was thick when she answered him.

“You should know better than anyone
that a person says things you don’t even know you are when in the height of
passion.  If we’re honest here, honeybuns … you know how to make a woman’s
body sing and take their ability to think straight, away.  I would have
said anything to get you to give me what I needed at that point.  You
should not read anything into it.  It got me what I wanted.”

He was silent for long moments, then
he chuckled.

“I guess I will just have to prove you
wrong again.  Be on that plane on Monday, Jenna.”

“Or what?  Will you cancel your
trip with your dear fiancé to come and get me and prove me wrong?”

He cursed viciously and Jenna snorted.

“Yeah … I did not think so.”

“You have a responsibility to finish
your assignment still.  I will keep the Smithsonian to it.”

“My Dad will send a team …”

“If you don’t come back and finish
your assignment, I will close that division and discredit your father.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Ask your father if I won’t.  I
will expect you back here on Sunday evening, Jenna.”

“Go to hell, McGregor!”

She
ended the call and threw the phone on the counter in the kitchen.

Her
cell phone woke her early the following morning.  She reached for it and
flicked it to answer.

 “H’lo.”

“Jenna.”

“Please Callum. It is too early for a
fight.”

“Happy birthday, Baby.”

“I … I did not even know you knew.”

“Of course I knew and I really wanted
you here for your birthday.  I had a whole day planned.”

“What, making me watch your fiancé
sitting and kissing on your lap.  Thanks …”

“Jenna … don’t Baby. I hope you’ll
like your gift.  Enjoy the day, little painter.”

Kevin and Devon knocked on her door and
bundled her in the car ten minutes later.  They went for breakfast and
from there to a private airfield. 

“So, sis. My gift is something you
have always wanted to do and we are going to do it with you.”

Her eyes widened. “You didn’t?”

He nodded.

“We’re going skydiving? Really?”

Jenna was as excited as a little
girl.  The day was one of the best she has experienced in a very long
time.  She had so much fun and enjoyed it so much that she did not have
time to think about her broken heart.

They arrived home just after three and
Jenna went to take a shower and change her clothes. Kevin sat on her bed
waiting for her when she came out of the bathroom.

“What’s up, Kev?”

He held out a box to her.  “This
was just delivered for you.”

She took it from him and stood looking
at it.  He got up from the bed and kissed her on her cheek.

“We’ll see you downstairs soon?”

She nodded and sat on the bed. 
Her hands trembled when she tore the brown wrapping from the box and opened
it.  Inside was a smaller box, beautifully giftwrapped and a card.

She picked up the card and opened it
slowly.  She read the hand written note three times with tears in her
eyes.

“This gift represents you in a gem …
infinite beauty, purity of heart, angel’s soul and eyes that adds color to my
sunset sky every day. Come back to me, Jenna.

Jenna unwrapped the package and slowly
lifted the lid.  An Eli Frei jeweler’s box was inside.  She took it
out and flipped open the lid.  Her breath caught in her throat. 
Inside was the most beautiful drop earrings. They featured oval and pear-shaped
amber diamonds, enhanced by full-cut white diamonds in a heart shape with links
on both sides to link the two stones and set in white gold.  They were
exquisite and pure; they looked like drops of sunshine.

The words he wrote kept repeating in
her mind as her tears dropped on her hands clasping the jewelry box.

Come back to me, Jenna.

Kevin
froze as his eyes slammed on the beautiful red head just exiting the
elevator.  He watched her walking to the receptionist and
smile.   He stopped next to her without realizing he had moved.