Page 49 of Suddenly Single
Jenny picked up her yoga mat. “What the hell? What are you doing here?”
“What do you think?” Brooke asked cheerfully.“We came to check on you.”
“What?Why?”
“Don’t get upset,” Vanessa said. “It’s Friday and I’ve never been to Lake Haven.And it’s not every day one of my besties buys an inn.I wanted to see it.”
Brooke chucked Jenny on the shoulder. “Which way to the bar?”
“It’s eleven a.m., Brooke.And there is no bar. And the inn isn’t really open for business.”
“Which is why we booked rooms at the resort on the north shore,” Vanessa said. “They have a bar.And aspa.” She rubbed her hands together as if she’d just stumbled on a bag of diamonds.
“So let’s go there,” Brooke said.
“I have to change,” Jenny said. “I’ll be back in a minute.” She left her friends admiring the roses in the courtyard and hurried inside to change.
Fifteen minutes later, they were in the SUV Vanessa had rented, driving around the lake.
At the resort, Vanessa and Brooke checked into a plush room, and then the three of them headed to the bar and took a table near the windows.When they’d ordered their drinks and some food, Brooke folded her arms on the table, looked at Jenny and said, “Okay.What’s really up with this inn business, Jen?”
“Nothing,” Jenny said with a shrug.In a most curious twist of her universe, for the first time in a very long time, she did not want to talk about it.
“Nothing? Seriously? You’ve been here a weekend and you’re buying the place? It’s a little nutty, even for you.”
“Actually, it’s been almost two weeks,” she said, as if that would make a great difference. “And so what if I am? You guys are so desperate for me to get a job. This is a job.”
“I was thinking of a job you might know a little about. You don’t know anything about running an inn,” Vanessa pointed out.
“I’ll learn,” Jenny said irritably.“Why are you so against it?”
“I’m not,” Vanessa said calmly.
“She’s not!” Brooke said, less calmly.“We’renot.But you have to admit, you have a tendency to be really impetuous.”
“I admit I can be really impetuous,” Jenny conceded. “But I can also be pretty dedicated.You didn’t even look at the inn.You didn’t see what I saw.”
“Okay,” Vanessa said. “Fair point. But if you’re so down with this idea, then why do you look so sad?”
“I look sad? I don’t look sad.I’mnotsad,” she insisted.
“You looktotallysad,” Brooke said.
Jenny waved her hand at Brook and averted her gaze.“I’m tired, that’s all.” She was completely and utterly exhausted, she realized.Emotionallyexhausted. It was weighing her down.Jenny was pretty good about keeping her spirits up, but even she could admit that the last few months had been a roller coaster, and after last night... Jenny didn’t realize she was slowly sinking into her chair until her forehead rested on the table.
“Ohmigod,” Vanessa said.“Hello!” she called to the waitress.“We need another round over here!”
Jenny slowly lifted her head and propped it up on her palm.“I slept with someone.”
“Who?” Brooke demanded.
“The owner of the inn.Same guy I kissed.”
“Oh, that guy,” Vanessa said. “Well, okay. Maybe it helped you forget Devin.”
Jenny snorted. “I forgot Devin the day I left him.”
“Was it bad?” Brooke asked, wrinkling her nose.
