Page 22 of Loving Vincent

For the most part Jenna barely noticed the security guys unless they were in the house. She tried to treat them more like friends and less like people who were responsible for keeping her and Lola safe. It felt weird being with a man who might be a target. She understood the need for security, she just didn’t know quite how to deal with them yet. She felt like she was bothering them every time she made a request. She actually paused for a moment and seriously considered letting Sharon go to the store instead so she wouldn’t have to ask for an escort. Finally, she decided that it was important to get Lola out of the house and go about her life as normally as she could with a couple of dark-clad sunglass-wearing gentlemen following her around.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and texted Avery, the head security guy: Going to the grocery store with Lola.

Seconds later she received a text back: Bradshaw and Hanes will accompany you.

Jenna texted: I’m taking the Lincoln, they can follow.

She didn’t wait for another message, instead putting her phone away. She knew what was coming next, Avery would try to convince her to let the men drive them, and when she refused he would call Vince, who would call Jenna and demand she go with the security men instead of in her own car. But Jenna wanted some alone time with her daughter, even if it was a short twenty-minute run to the store. As much as she was learning to love and appreciate the newfound supports she was receiving in Vince, Jared, Sharon and the security team, she was almost never alone. She wanted to take a selfish moment and keep Lola all to herself. And drive the beautiful SUV Vince bought for her.

“Be back in a few!” she said to Sharon sailing out of the kitchen and picking Lola up from her spot in the living room, surrounded by a mess of Mega blocks that Vince had bought, insisting his little girl was going to grow up to become an engineer.

She had them bundled up in their outdoor gear in record time and flew into the garage where she buckled Lola into her car seat behind the driver’s seat. Climbing into her seat, Jenna adjusted the mirror and chair for her shorter frame. Vince had taken his motorbike to work that morning, leaving the Lincoln for Jenna if she needed it. She hit the garage door opener and backed out onto the street, waving in her mirror as Bradshaw and Hanes pulled up behind her.

Jenna lost her tail somewhere around the third light and sent a quick voice message letting the guys know what store she was going to. They immediately responded, telling her to stay put in the parking lot until they arrived. “So bossy,” she said to Lola winking in the rearview at her chattering daughter.

When they arrived, Jenna glanced around, looking for the security guys. When she didn’t see them she shrugged and pulled into a spot. There was enough empty spaces on either side for the guys to park next to her. As she climbed out a van pulled into the spot right next to her. She frowned in annoyance and flattened herself against the Lincoln as the guy finished parking.

“There are a million empty spots and you have to park right next to me?” she muttered in annoyance, opening the rear passenger door. She reached for the buckle on Lola’s car seat.

The scrape of a shoe on the pavement right behind her caught her attention, and just as she heard the slide of a van door and turned around to look she was grabbed from behind. She was yanked into someone’s body, a man she guessed, the one driving the van. She let out a yelp before she was flung around and shoved headfirst into the back of a van.

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