Past Due (28 page)

“Have you decided what role you want this woman to play in your life, Tres? Governor Hunt called me, he said you gave your two week notice and he asked me to check up on your sanity.”

“I’ve never felt more certain of my sanity.”

“You’re throwing away a great opportunity, so I feel compelled to make sure you’ve thought everything through.”

“There is no doubt in my mind. I need to be here. This is where I belong.”

Barbara nodded. “So I take it by the shouting and the absence of our fair lady that you’ve come to an impasse?”

“No. I just need to speak with Jenna.”

“Hah!” Tanner retorted. “She ran away. She’s crazy.”

“She’s not crazy,” both Maureen and Tres scolded. Tanner shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I just need to talk sense to her,” Tres admitted.

“Listen, Tres,” Maureen said softly, “you should understand Jenna’s resistance to your, umm... financial help is rooted in her... Well, her mom ... according to Sam…” Maureen grasped for the right words.

“Her mother was a whore.” Barbara dropped the words like a bomb.

Tanner’s eyes popped wide open then he burst into a fit of laughter.

“Mother!” Tres barked. Maureen gasped then broke into a coughing fit.

“I told you I knew her entire history. Her mother was a beautiful woman. She even had a promising career as a model, but she had an affair with the boss. Well seems the wife held the man by his purse strings and demanded young Jennifer, Jenna’s mother, be blacklisted. Career over. Foolish not to check where the real power in a corporation is. But I digress. She worked as a store cashier, but earned enough money to spend six digits a year because she had no qualms about receiving gifts from her ‘friends.’ My investigator even scratched up a few cases of her exhorting cash from a few well-stationed and extremely married lovers.”

“Mother,” Tres tried to get her attention as he pointed discreetly, “Tanner?”

“I see him there. Maybe he needs to hear so he’ll quit thinking his mother is insane. She has damn good reason to want to stand on her own two feet.”

“The whole family’s crazy,” Tanner deduced.

“Crazy is always relative, son,” Barbara answered then took a deep breath. “So, what’s your plan?”

“Plan?” Tres asked.

“Yes, plan. How exactly are you going to win her over?”

“I just figured I will go get her and then let things evolve.”

Barbara shook her head.

“But you said...” Tres started to argue.

“I changed my mind.”

“Well, I think you were right. I can’t push Jenna too quickly. And I don’t want to disrupt Tanner’s life anymore than I already have,” Tres explained.

“You? You’re being disruptive? I don’t blame you,” Tanner scoffed. “You’re the only sane one here. Nanny’s mowing yards, Mom’s throwing freakin’ rocks at her own house...I mean, come on, at least you moving in and fixing the roof makes sense.”

“W
h
o
a
. For someone who’s trying to pace himself, you need to think twice about moving in and taking over,” Barbara cautioned.

“I fixed one hole in the roof. The damn thing was leaking.”

“And doubtfully you asked?”

“She was sleeping. It was a surprise. It was supposed to make her happy.”

Barbara snorted and shook her head. Tanner looked at Maureen for an explanation, but Maureen shrugged. He asked, “Are all women insane?” Tanner then turned to Barbara, “My mom makes sense to you?”

Barbara flashed him a cool grin, “Pay attention, young man, and you’ll learn a valuable lesson. This goes for you too, Tres.”

Tres nodded, though the color crept up his collar from frustration. He needed to get to Jenna, not listen to lectures on women’s issues from his mother.

Barbara leaned against her car, “Have you told Jenna you love her? That you want to spend your life with her?”

“Yes, of course.”

“After you found out about your son?”

“I think.” Tres stopped and thought a moment. “I’m almost certain. I know I said it on Friday. I told her exactly how I felt. She should know I still mean it.”

Barbara looked to Maureen, the light clicked on for Maureen and she smiled and nodded approval. In unison, they both shook their heads and sighed in sympathy for Tres.

“The before and after of that moment are as comparable as day and night. You need to tell her you love her still. Tell her you want her in your life. Don’t offer to take care of her. Assure her you realize she can take care of herself.”

“Yeah right,” Tanner retorted. “She does a bang up job of that.”

“You seem pretty smart and healthy, young man. I’d have to say she did a damned good job.”

Tanner thought it over a second then agreed, “I guess I can’t argue with that.”

“Humility. It’s a Coulter trait.” Barbara rolled her eyes at Tanner then turned back to Tres, “Tell me how all this would end if you were writing the perfect script.”

“I’d go find Jenna and make her marry me.”

“Why not just ask her? Dear God, how did I raise such a caveman?”

“I meant I would ask her...and I plan to soon, or in whatever amount of time it takes to feel comfortable, especially for Tanner. I don’t want to upset him.”

“Upset me? I’ve been trying to find someone to take care of her for years.”

“Neanderthal thinking must be in the nature, not the nurture.” She rolled her eyes again and rubbed her temples.

“Look, dude,” said Tanner, “don’t wait. This ain’t half time. You’re like...” Tanner searched for the right words, found them, then rushed on, “you are in the final thirty seconds, fourth down and inches to goal, you’re only down by three. Do you kick the field goal and go for the tie or run a quarterback sneak and go for the win?”

“I always prefer to win,” Tres admitted.

“Then you got to just go get her. Trust me. Take her. It doesn’t creep me out.”

Tres put a hand on Tanner’s shoulder and looked him in the eye as he asked, “So, I have your blessing?”

“If it’d make you feel better, you can give me my car before my next birthday. I can listen to the radio in the driveway. I’m totally willing to do that if it will ease your conscience.”

Tres’s face was solemn, as if considering Tanner’s request.

“Oh, for God’s sakes, the kid’s teasing you. Here...” Barbara twisted the ring off her left hand. “Take this.” She placed the emerald cut diamond in the palm of her son’s hand.

“But you love this ring.”

Barbara nodded, “That’s why I wouldn’t trust it with just anyone. Your father gave me this after dragging me through this awful, greasy food festival. He was never a romantic, but his feelings were genuine. I never looked to get married, I never dreamed of a knight in shining armor, but I was completely taken by your father’s warmth and willingness to love me without asking me to change all my bad habits. Jenna wants the same. She wants you to love her for who and what she is.”

“I can do that.” Tres squeezed the ring in his hand. He could love Jenna for all that she was, is, and would ever be—perfect. “I’m going to go get her.”

Barbara smiled and squeezed her son’s arm. “Good luck.” Tres nodded and headed down the same road Jenna just traveled.

Barbara turned to Maureen, “He’ll need it. Poor child seems to have found a girl who thinks like his mother.”

“Well, I think I like your thinking. Come on in; let me get you a cup of coffee. Tanner, might as well give your new grandmother a hug. Don’t think she’ll let you choose whether or not you want her around.”

“A boy can always use more strong feminine role models,” Barbara said.

Maureen laughed and patted Barbara on the back. “I don’t know about that, but I know this model’s got enough miles under the hood to know you can never have enough family.”

Chapter
21

Tres knew where to go. Knew exactly where to find her. Knew in his heart what needed to be said. He only hoped Jenna would be receptive, that her soul would hear the message logic might silence. He ran from the house, across the highway, and over the dunes. His spirit soared when he saw her sitting in the sand as he had found her two nights ago. Tonight, he approached her without any hesitancy. He pulled to a stop in front of her and yanked her to her feet. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off the ground, her body pressed against him. He held her silently for a moment before he allowed her feet to return to the ground, but he kept her body pressed to his with his hand at the small of her back. He skimmed his cheek across the silky smoothness of her own, his hand smoothing her hair back from her face. Once he was certain she wasn’t going to flee or fight, he relaxed and cradled her face in the palms of his hands, capturing and turning her head slightly to open her completely for his kiss. She responded, her hands gripping his arms, her body melting against his.

He pulled his head back, but didn’t let her go. A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. Jenna took several moments to recover. Her eyes fluttered open. “What was that for?” she asked.

“I’m done talking with you. I’m done trying to win you over with my deeds of chivalry. It only gets me in trouble.”

Jenna opened her mouth to speak, but Tres silenced her with another kiss. He lifted her body into his arms without a single syllable uttered. He ignored her questions, silently carrying her across the sandy distance to the base of the nearby lighthouse. He placed her gently on the ground and brushed his lips across hers. He gave her cheeks a soft pinch before he broke away. He turned his attention to the combination on the padlock which secured the iron latch on the door. The lock popped open and Tres swung back the heavy door and presented the interior to Jenna with a sweep of his arm.

Jenna hesitated. She peaked into the opening, but made no move forward.

“Impressing me with another trespassing charge?”

“I have more clout now than I had fifteen years ago.” Tres put his hand at her back and gave her a gentle nudge, “Besides, I wanted to bring you somewhere special.”

Jenna’s steps were halted, as if she feared stepping inside. “It used to be special, but somehow it’s different.”

“What’s different?” Tres kissed the top of her head.

“She’s different,” Jenna answered with a frown.

“The light?”

Nodding silently, she allowed him to pull her into his chest. He felt warm and solid in the cool, damp chamber.

“She’s the same as she was,” Tres assured her.

Jenna shook her head. “She’s out of place here. They just lifted her up and dropped her here where she doesn’t belong. And it’s creepy that she’s dark. It’s gloomy—like a dead Christmas tree.”

“Come with me.” Tres pulled her further into the marbled vestibule. The temperature dropped several degrees inside the spire. Jenna shivered and rubbed her hands against her arms. The emergency floodlights lit up the black and white marble floor and the red wrought iron spiral stairs that wound 190 feet to the top.

She looked up the shadowy stairs. “Is it safe?”

“Yes. They’ll light her up in November with a tour for the public, but you my dear, get a preview.”

“Really,” Jenna said with a small burst of excitement—becoming reacquainted with this special place brought with it the swell of hope that she would once again feel its comfort.

She touched the bricks each stacked one atop the other creating this beacon of hope, the queen of the diamond shoals. How many lost souls had she put back to right? She was solid. Serene. Jenna ran her hand along the cool rail as she mounted the iron steps.

“They didn’t break her.” Jenna smiled at Tres, who followed behind her.

“Not a single crack that I see.”

Jenna climbed with Tres behind her. She stepped to the first landing, stopping at the large window with the square glass panes. The sun set across the waving grass as it whispered farewell to a day of discontent. She looked out over the new grounds. The orange fencing was gone and an ever growing nature softened the border of the landscape and blurred the harsh lines. Maybe this new home wasn’t so crude. Maybe it wasn’t so out of place.

Jenna raced up the rest of the stairs not stopping to rest until she reached the top of the light. Tres stood behind her as she stepped out onto the wrought iron platform. The wind whipped at the peak of the light. Jenna stood at the rail and gazed out toward the Atlantic. The view took her breath away. As the sun settled on the water, the wind and the waves wiped away the footprints of the day’s visitors. The fading light softened the span of green that merged with the brown of the beach then melded with the blue green of the water. The white capped waves rolled on and on unaware of the dying light.

“From here it’s beautiful,” Jenna yelled to Tres so he could hear her over the whistle of the wind.

Tres stood behind her wrapping his arms around her as they stared out over the ocean. He held her until the sun dropped below the horizon, leaving them in the gray of twilight. He rubbed her arms to still her shivering, for even the most perfect of moments and settings remained susceptible to reality. The moist evening air nipped at her skin and the crisp wind blew relentlessly making her shiver. Tres pulled her back inside. The door closed leaving a sudden, deafening silence.