Page 111 of Beach Vibes

Or it could be a thousand things they would never figure out because they didn’t think the way he did.

“I just wanted someone regular,” she said quietly. “A man who cared about me and could welcome Linnie in his life. He didn’t have to be anything special. I never wanted to date a doctor. I didn’t care about that. I thought Rick was…”

“Who he pretended to be.”

She nodded. “I pick the wrong guys. I have all my life. You’re going to say it’s not my fault, but I’m the person all the relationships have in common. I need to be done.”

He put his arm around her and pulled her close. “You’re probably not in the best place to be making life decisions right now.”

“It hurts.”

“I know, kid. I know.”

“Then there’s the whole Beth mess.” She didn’t want to think about her friend because in some ways, what she’d done was worse. “I trusted her.”

“You did.”

“She lied to me.” She stopped walking and faced him. “She hurt Teddy. He’s devastated. He was falling for her.”

“Was?”

She stared at Dex. “You’re saying he’s already in love with her?”

“You know how he is. When it comes to relationships, Teddy doesn’t do middle ground.”

She wanted to curl up in a ball so the pain couldn’t find her. “None of this makes sense. I know she cares about him. I could see it in her eyes. She was practically giddy when she talked about him. Why would she risk everything? She was about to get all she’d been wishing for.”

“You already know the answer.”

Jana did. “Rick’s her brother.”

“You’d lie for Teddy.”

She would do a lot more for him. She understood the whole family thing. They had a lifetime of watching each other’s back. Now their lives were even more entwined with all their kids growing up together.

“I feel sick,” she whispered as they turned back the way they’d come. “You know, it’s strange. I was thinking the other day that I didn’t know if I’d ever leave Linnie with Rick. It was just a gut feeling. But I would have left her with Beth, no problem. I’ve seen her with the people she works with. She’s good and kind, but she let me continue to see her brother, all the while knowing Rick was sleeping with someone else.”

She glanced at Dex. “Are you going to defend her?”

“Nope. She should have said something.”

“She should have.” Jana pressed a hand to her stomach. “This is going to get so much worse before it gets better.”

“But it will get better.”

“I went to his office once. I wanted to tell him I got into nursing school, to share the news.” She frowned as she remembered. “He was really pissed that I showed up like that. It was so unlike him. I remember being confused by his reaction.” She feltthe start of tears. “Now it makes sense. He couldn’t have one of his women appearing randomly like that. It was too risky.”

She brushed her cheeks and tried to focus on her mad. “He was such a jerk. He came by later and apologized for snapping at me. He said he’d been thinking about a patient. I actually felt bad.” She stopped and glared at him. “I think I apologized. I hate that! He manipulated me from the start. He led me along like some…some cow or something.”

“Cow?”

“I don’t know.” She punched Dex’s upper arm, then winced when her knuckles impacted solid muscle. “What do you lead? A goat?”

“What’s with the farm animals?”

“I’m making a point.”

“Not a very good one.”

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