Page 25 of Suddenly Single
“I have no idea,” Jenny said.She thought of Edan. “Brooke—you won’t believe what I did.”
“Yes I will.Tell me.”
“I kissed a man.”
Brooke said nothing.
“I meanIkissedhim.When he was holding a dirty sponge and couldn’t fight me off.”
There was a moment of silence, and then Brooke howled with laughter.“What do you mean, he couldn’t fight you off because he was holding a sponge!”
“He was being polite.And then he told me to go home.”
“Really!” Brooke said, sounding surprised.
Jenny told Brooke the whole story.Of arriving to find the inn closed, of seeing Edan in a kilt.She told Brooke of the drive into East Beach and then the fish dinner, and how when she was leaving, she really meant to leave— “And thenboom,I just kissed him.”
“He didn’t like it?”
“Yes.Not really.Maybe,” Jenny said uncertainly.“Let’s just say he didn’t see it coming.But I like him, Brooke. I like him a lot.”
There was a long pause, and then, “Jenny?” said in the careful tone one might use when addressing someone about to jump off a bridge. “Youjustbroke up with Devin.Don’t you think you ought to take a minute? Maybe do some introspection?”
“Yes,Brooke, of course I think I should take a minute.But sometimes you just get a sense about someone, and I have a sense about him.There’s something that tells me he is kind of hurting and kind of alone, and he’s so fuckinghandsome,and I don’t know, I justlikehim.If you think about it, it’s entirely possible that fate brought me here.” She didn’t add that she liked his quiet patience with her, which she knew was not easy.Or that he actually seemed to listen to her.Sometimes, anyway.
“And it’s entirely possible you’re reading far too much into it because you’ve been starved for good sex.”
“Truth,” Jenny admitted. Devin wasawful.“And I’m not just saying that, Brooke. You and Vanessa and Bethany are always right about me.I’m impulsive, I need a job. I know I have to go home eventually.But I feel...” She paused.It was difficult for her to put into words, but she felt so at peace here. Like she was supposed to be at this inn.Her soul was sheltering here.
She also sensed that there was so much more lurking beneath the surface of Edan’s amazing green eyes.
“Uh-oh,” Brooke said.“You’re not thinking—”
“No, no,” Jenny said quickly. “I’m definitely not staying here. Even I know how insane that would be. Maybe a week, that’s all.Which says I should leave well enough alone with him, right? Why start something I can’t finish?”
“Who is talking right now?” Brooke asked. “This doesn’t sound like Jenny, the queen of embrace your feelings and happiness. The guru of get in touch with your inner self. The yogi of love and peace—”
“Okay, all right, I get it,” Jenny said.
“Look, no one is going to argue that you really need to get your shit together,” Brooke said in a way that made Jenny suspect that she and Vanessa and Bethany had discussed it. “But you’re there. So do whatever it takes. Explore it if you need to.But dosomething,Jen.What did your dad say, anyway?”
“I haven’t actually talked to him,” Jenny admitted. “I emailed him to tell him where I was and explain that Devin and I had broken up. He wrote back and told me not to spend all his money, then added a bunch of emojis that made no sense.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
Brooke clucked her tongue.“So maybe do what dear old Dad says—don’t spend all his money and take care. But promise me that you’ll get your head on straight?”
Jenny didn’t think her head was on crooked to begin with. “Sure,” she said.
“I’ll call you in a few days.Oh, by the way, be forewarned. Vanessa thinks she’s lined up a possible job for you.”
“What?”
“It’s not much, but she knows someone in Santa Monica, and they’re opening a coffee shop on the Promenade and looking for staff.”
A coffee shop? Not exactly the career path Jenny was seeking. She could hear Vanessa in her head.Just to get your feet wet.You have to get your feet wet.“Great,” she said. “Thanks for the warning.”
