Taking a Gamble on Three of a Kind (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (2 page)

Jenny remained silent and waited for her mother to continue.

“I’m in trouble…financial trouble.” Her mother’s voice shook. “I’ve run up all my credit cards, and I’ve spent all the money your father left us including his insurance money.”

“What?” Jenny couldn’t have heard her right. They weren’t rich by any means, but her father had left them enough money to more than get by on.

“You know that new casino that opened in Carlton?” her mother asked, not expecting an answer. “Well, I started going there after you went to school. I guess I was bored. Not that this has anything to do with you,” she added quickly. “I only went once in a while at first, and then at some point I started going more often. I won, but I lost, too, and as time went on, the losses started piling up. I kept thinking I would get back what I lost, but before I knew it, I was taking out money from our savings account and the more I took, thinking I would win, the more I lost. I have nothing left, Jenny. I should say, we having nothing left. I’m so sorry.”

Jenny put down her fork and just stared at her mother who had tears running unheeded down her cheeks. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This was crazy. She had never known her mother to ever set foot inside a casino, let alone be a regular customer.

“When you say there’s nothing left, do you mean you spent
all
the money gambling?”

“That’s what I said. I know it’s hard to believe. There was over two hundred thousand dollars in that account. I can’t believe it either. I was like another person. Those damn slot machines were all I could think about. I’ve ruined everything. I even took out a second mortgage. I’m going to lose this house, and I don’t even have the money to help you with your housing for next year.

Jenny was speechless. Nothing could have prepared her for this. It was insane.

“Say something, anything,” her mother choked out.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“I kept telling myself that since your tuition as a PhD student was paid by the school, you would be fine. Then, I remembered that you weren’t eligible for a stipend in your fifth year and you’d need twice to three times as much from me as you have in the past. I don’t have it to give,” her mother all but cried. “You must hate me.”

“I just don’t understand how you could have spent all the money.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Well, sorry isn’t going to pay the bills is it?” Jenny shouted louder than she had intended. “I need to get out of here. Otherwise I’m going to start screaming, and that won’t solve anything.”

“I wish I’d never seen a slot machine. You don’t know how many times I’ve gone over what I did in my head. It seems surreal, like I’m someone else, not me. If I could give my life to get it all back, I would.”

“Don’t go there,” Jenny said sharply. “That would be the ultimate selfishness.”

Jenny couldn’t bear to look at her mother another second. She grabbed her mother’s car keys before she left the house. She needed a drink, not that she was drinker, but after the bombshell her mother had just dropped on her, she might become one. She drove in circles for at least fifteen minutes until she remembered a bar she and her girlfriends frequented when they were in high school. The bartender at the time never asked for ID. Not that it was a problem now. But even at twenty-six, she still got carded.

When she pulled up to the Medusa, she didn’t think she was going to find a spot to park, but someone was leaving, and she pulled in as they pulled out. She never went into a bar alone, but tonight would be the exception. She opened the door and walked into the dimly lit interior filled with smoke and a country song blasting so loud, she wondered how anyone could stand it. Most places didn’t allow smoking anymore, but this place had never been one to follow the rules.

She found an empty barstool and sat down. The bartender came over to her, giving her a lecherous look that made her skin crawl. The guy was old enough to be father and had creepy eyes. “What’ll it be, sweetie?”

“I’ll have a beer, whatever kind you have, I don’t care.”

“Well, we have a few, but I’ll pick out a good one for you.” He winked.

When he placed a bottle in front of her without a glass, she just smiled. She wasn’t about to ask him for anything else. She wanted him gone. She wasn’t even wearing any makeup, and he was staring at her like she his favorite toy. Thankfully, someone from the other end of the bar yelled for him.

“Gotta go, sweet thing, but you let me know if you want anything else,” he leered, his meaning more than clear.

She turned and took a sip of her beer. She heard him laugh as he walked away.

Looking around, she focused on the dance floor in the corner that was filled to capacity. Everyone appeared to be in good spirits. Just this morning, she was happy, too. Looking away, she tried to calm herself. All she wanted to do was forget the last hour of her life. Before dinner she was pretty much carefree, spending an obligatory summer at home knowing she would be back to school for her final year. Now she felt like not only had the rug had been swept out from under her, but the mother she had always depended on was far from dependable. How could someone who had always been so frugal have gone through all that money so quickly? It was beyond her comprehension.

Pushing her dark auburn hair behind her ears and out of her face, she closed her eyes. Would they really lose the house? They must be close to it or her mother would have never told her what she had done. Like it or not, she was going to have to be the adult here and figure something out, that is if it wasn’t already too late.

She opened her eyes and glanced up at the television behind the bar. Some news show came across the screen, but the volume had been muted. Pictures depicting a house fire caught her attention. She was so fixated on the burning building she didn’t realize someone was calling her name until she felt a nudge against her arm.

“Jenny Clayton, is that you?”

At first she couldn’t place the handsome man staring down at her and then it hit her. Luke Rowan continued to stare at her with a big grin and deep-set blue eyes that were sparkling with what appeared to be humor. He was older and, if possible, even more handsome than he was in high school. He was one of the last people she wanted to run into. His father wanted to marry her mother. Well, at least he thought he did.

“Luke,” she said, pretending to be happy to see him. “How nice to see you.”

“So you do remember me?”

“Of course I do. Is your brother here, too?”

“Adam’s around. The last time I saw him he was dancing with April Mathews. You remember her, don’t you?”

How could she forget April? The cheerleader, Homecoming Queen, and all-around girl next door with a superior attitude that had been the envy of every girl in high school. She thought she’d be married with kids by now and not out dancing with the Rowan brothers.

“Just because I’ve been away at school doesn’t mean I don’t remember people. My mother tells me you’re working with your father now.”

“Yup. Adam and are both helping Dad with his practice. He needs to retire and live it up a little. Keep hoping your mother will agree to marry him. She’s pretty stubborn. Not that much unlike you if I remember that dance you took a fit over.”

Luke and Adam had been seniors when she was a freshman and in a totally different social group, but they had always been cordial to her whenever they happened to run into each other. She had been without a date for the Spring Fling, and her mother had asked the Rowan brothers to be her date. She had been mortified, but pleased that they had said they would. However, her father had been livid. She had heard her mother and father fighting, which was something they never did. She had come out of her room and stood at the top of the stairs where their voices had carried up to her.

“You know as well as I do that those boys are seniors and shouldn’t be within ten feet of a freshman, especially my daughter. She’s no match for them. I can’t believe you asked them to take her the dance.”

“They’re good boys, and Jack said he thought it was a fine idea.”

“I’m sure he did. He thinks those boys can do no wrong. I’m not going to have them break my daughter’s heart or worse. She’s far too good for them, and I’m not giving them a free card to use her. Boys their age like nothing better than to take advantage of an innocent girl like Jenny. Don’t think I haven’t seen the way they look at her.”

“Come on, Carl. You’re not serious. They would never hurt Jenny.”

“They’re Rowans and that’s all I’m going to say.”

Immediately her mother’s voice had lowered, and Jenny couldn’t hear her response. The next day her mother had called Jack and told him it was Jenny that had said no to the dance. What excuse she had used, she didn’t know. The unwanted memory brought with it the warmth of embarrassment that crept upward from her neck, making her wish the memory could have stayed buried along with the crush she had secretly harbored for the twins.

She knew Luke was waiting for a response. Not taking the bait, she said, “You guys come here often?”

“It’s a good place to blow off a little steam, and the drinks are cheap,” he said with a laugh, leaning in closer to her. The woman sitting next to her smiled at them before she inched off the stool and walked toward a neon sign that flashed “Women.”

“You coming back?” Luke shouted to the woman’s retreating back.

Turning, she smiled. “Nope. Sit down and enjoy yourself, handsome.”

Luke gave her a wink and a wave before he turned back to Jenny and sat down.

“You don’t mind if I sit here next to you, do you, Jenny?”

Would it matter if I did?
“Please yourself.”

“Most times I do. Thanks. We’ve got some catching up to do,” he said, his eyes slowly appraising her from head to toe. “You’ve grown up nicely since we used to play doctor.” Jenny couldn’t believe that Luke had just made reference to something she had assumed he had forgotten about long ago. She couldn’t stop herself from wondering what it would be like to play doctor with him now, since he was one. Feeling the heat of embarrassment crawl up her neck, she turned her interest back to her beer and away from the handsome man that was making her stomach do unwanted flip-flops.

Luke held up his empty beer bottle. The bartender nodded in acknowledgement and returned with a new bottle and took the old one. “Glad to see you’ve got some company, little lady,” he said, giving Jenny a knowing smile.

“Old friends,” Luke said. He was smiling, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. The bartender turned and walked away. “Watch out for that guy. He loves the ladies, especially the ones that are beautiful and young. He’s a chronic flirt.”

“And you aren’t? That crack about playing doctor with me wasn’t meant to be flirtatious?” Jenny asked sarcastically.

“I didn’t realize I was flirting. But if you want me to, I can oblige.”

“Don’t talk stupid, Luke,” Jenny said, wishing he’d go away and leave her alone. “I’m not in the mood for it.”

“Damn. What are you in the mood for?”

“Not for your kind of entertainment, that’s for sure.” Normally she would have never been so rude. But nothing about today had been normal, and she was still reeling from her mother’s confession. She wasn’t about to sit here and let Luke Rowan have his fun at her expense, regardless of how many times she had dreamed of him and his brother giving her more than the time of day when she was still a wide-eyed, innocent kid.

“Damn, the kitten’s got claws. But I’m not averse to a little pain if the end result gets me what I want,” he said silkily. “But just to put your mind at ease, I’m not interested in getting you into bed if that’s what you think. One Clayton woman in the family is enough. No disrespect toward your mother, but not sure sleeping with her daughter would help my father’s cause.”

“I’m certainly going to sleep better tonight knowing I’m off your radar.”

“You’re not disappointed, are you?”

The humorous glint in his eyes made her want to slap his face. When did he get so damn arrogant? Maybe he always had been and she just hadn’t noticed.

Luke was just about to continue the conversation she was hoping to end, when a large hand planted itself on his shoulder. He looked up. “Hey, Adam. Look who I ran into,” Luke said, turning back toward Jenny.

“Jenny Clayton,” Adam said with a smile. “Your mother told me you were coming home from school. She’s really missed you. You’re all she talks about.”

“Really?”

“Whenever I see her, she’s always singing your praises. I understand you’ve done very well in school. She was worried you might not want to come home for the summer. I’m glad you did. She missed you a lot.”

“Well, I was busy with school. I had things I had to do.” She knew he wasn’t trying to make her feel guilty, or at least she didn’t think he was. She knew now that she should have never stayed away from home so long at a stretch, but she had her reasons. However, if she hadn’t, maybe her mother would have confided in her sooner and things wouldn’t have gotten so out of control. But there was little she could do about that now.

Jenny felt another set of eyes on her. For the first time she realized Adam, who resembled Luke but was not identical, had his arm draped around who else but April Mathews. She groaned inwardly.
My night is now complete.
“Hello, Jenny,” April said, not smiling. “Fancy running into you in a place like this. I thought you’d be the type to go to more sophisticated places that served those fancy drinks.”