Page 53 of A Beach House Beginning

She had always struck Jenna as being thoroughly unpleasant.

Her companion, Susan Lakewood, was tall, almost gaunt, a woman who volunteered at the library as well as managed a string of rental properties on the other side of town. When she wasn’t in Donna’s company, she could be quite pleasant.

The two had also apparently noticed how out of place Wes seemed in the store. It took Jenna a moment to realize they were talking about him.

“I don’t know what Rosa was thinking, to let his type move into that house. Abigail would be rolling in her grave,” Donna muttered.

“He has always been very nice in our few interactions.”

“He’s a criminal! I heard it on good authority that he hasn’t even been out of prison four months. It’s outrageous that someone like that is allowed to live in Cannon Beach at all, let alone in such a nice place as Brambleberry House.”

“I don’t know,” Susan said in a timid sort of voice. “He seems polite enough when he comes into the library with his daughter. She likes to read theMagic Tree House books.”

Donna made a derisive sound. “Doesn’t matter how polite he is. You can’t change the facts. He looks like a man who just got out of prison, doesn’t he? I would be afraid to have him living anywhere close to me. Who knows what he did?”

Jenna frowned, her palm suddenly throbbing worse than ever with the itch to slap the woman, though she knew she never would.

She did not want to have any sort of confrontation with Donna, who had a reputation for being vindictive to anyone who crossed her. At the same time, she would not stand by and let the woman malign a good man who had done nothing wrong and didn’t deserve her disdain.

Under normal circumstances, Jenna would never confront a customer at all, but somehow she sensed Rosa would back her a hundred percent if she were here.

“Can I help you two find something?” she asked loudly.

Susan, at least, had the decency to blush.

“We’re just looking,” she said quickly.

“Let me know if I can help,” she said. Before she could move away to help someone else, she lowered her voice. “For the record, Wes Calhoun was wrongfully convicted and has been exonerated of all charges. He is a loving father and a hardworking employee who is trying to rebuild his life here in Cannon Beach so that he can be closer to his daughter. Don’t you find that admirable? There are so many men out there who are only too willing to abandon their children after a divorce. I’m sure as a former educator, Donna, you saw evidence of that as well with your students. What a tough situation that can be on children.”

“It’s outrageous. Parents don’t care about the harm they’re doing to their children. All they care about is having what they want.”

She let the woman ramble on for a few moments, then finally gave a polite smile.

“Yes. That’s why it’s so refreshing to see a man like Wes Calhoun, who is trying his best to be a positive influence in his child’s life. Don’t you agree?”

“Very refreshing,” Susan said.

Donna still wore a sour frown. “He still looks like he just held up a bank somewhere.”

“It’s a good thing most people don’t judge others wholly on their appearance but on their behavior, isn’t it?”

She walked away before either woman could answer.

She was shaking a little but told herself it was simply a reaction to the pain shot wearing off.

“What was Donna going on about?” Carol Hardesty asked after the two women quickly bustled out of the store.

Jenna sighed, wishing she had handled things a different way. She would have liked to tell Donna she was a sanctimonious cow.

“Donna was bad-mouthing my neighbor. Wes Calhoun. I was gently trying to set her straight.”

“Oooh. He’s Lacey Summers’s ex-husband, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Who would walk away from a guy like that?” Carol asked, shaking her head in disbelief. “I don’t care if he was in prison. He’s the sort of guy worth waiting for on the outside, you know?”

Yes. Jenna understood completely.

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