Page 14 of The Beach House With You

“I don’t see how,” Jason replied calmly, “he has no money or work ethic.”

“That’s never stopped him from trying to take things from others before,” Jeanette countered.

Jason stopped washing the silverware, pausing before he got to the glasses and stemware, and dried his hands off so he could give Jeanette his full attention.

“Is this something you’re really worried about?” he asked, meeting her eyes.

Jeanette nodded. “I know it seems silly, and frankly it’s none of my business…but yes, I am. Joe…well, he just seemed so sure of himself. That he was going to own this place. I’m sure it was just him being cocky, but…”

“But something in your gut is telling you it’s not,” Jason said, finishing her thought. Jeanette nodded, not saying anything else. She looked at Jason, waiting for him to call her silly or paranoid. Instead, he looked deep into her eyes, as if studying her most inner thoughts, and suddenly nodded.

“Okay,” he said, going back to the dishes.

“Okay? Okay, what?” Jeanette asked, furrowing her brow.

“I’ve got a few security cameras l can spare. It’ll take a little bit of work to get them routed to their own system, but I’ve got a guy on my crew who’s pretty tech-savvy. I’ll bring them over sometime next week and get them installed for you ladies.”

“Seriously?” Jeanette asked, surprised.

“As a heart attack,” Jason replied calmly. “I’m not saying that Joe will try anything, but if it makes you, Amanda and Whitney feel safer with some more protection, then it’s worth getting the cameras installed.”

* * *

The Kitten Caféwas not actually a coffee shop with cats roaming around, as Jeanette had thought it was. In front of the little breakfast and brunch restaurant hung two, bright rainbow flags flying by either side of its bright blue door, and a colorful sign that read, “Life is always better when there’s champagne! Try our rainbow mimosa flight today!”Jeanette liked the place immediately, and as they arrived, she happily followed Amanda and Whitney in, with Javier leading the way.

“How long has this place been here?” she asked once they were seated in the crowded restaurant. “This place used to be Henry’s Hardware, wasn’t it?”

Whitney nodded.

“Henry wanted it to eventually be Henry and Sons Hardware,” she explained, “but Bobby got a big job as a scientist for one of those pharmaceutical companies, and Corey’s a pilot now. Henry gave up on them wanting to take it over about ten years ago and sold it to some out-of-towners, and they turned it into this place. It’s quite…fabulous,don’t you think?”

“Fabulous indeed.” Jeanette laughed.

“They really do have the best mimosas in town,” Javier assured her, “and their salmon eggs benedict is todie for.”

“Well,” Jeanette said cheerily, closing her menu, “I know what I’m getting then!”

Once they had placed their order and received their drinks, Whitney crossed her arms on the table and leaned in close.

“So, I noticed Jason didn’t leave until almost midnight,” she said in a gossipy tone, her well-shaped eyebrows moving up and down provocatively. “What were you two talking about?”

“Jason Flaherty?” Javier asked, intrigued. “Gosh, he’s gorgeous, isn’t he?”

“Okay, you two,” Amanda said, speaking in a motherly fashion. She gave Javier and Whitney a disapproving look and then smiled at Jeanette.

“If you see him before we do, please tell Jason we said thank you again for doing the dishes.”

“I will,” Jeanette agreed immediately, “and it’s okay, really. And anyway, I wanted to talk to the two of you about some things Jason and I discussed last night.”

She began to fill them in on the details of her and Jason’s conversation, touching mostly on his offer to install some securities for them.

“Well, I have to be honest,” Amanda sighed, after Jeanette finished talking, “that would make me feel a little better. As Jason said, it’s unlikely Joe actually has the drive to pull off a plan that would work well. But I think it would make me feel a little better to have a bit more security.”

“Me too,” Whitney agreed, losing some of her sassiness. “Joe can be…unpredictable.”

Jeanette felt her phone buzz in her pocket as they talked. Keeping it under the table, she pulled it out and looked at the screen. Daniel was calling. Again. He’d more or less stayed away when she was staying with Carmen and Franny, but now that she was back in Provincetown, he’d called at least once a day, oftentimes more, and left voicemails. As usual, she pushed the End Call button and sent Carmen a quick text to make sure all was well with her. If there was anything he needed from her, he could contact her divorce lawyer.

A second later her phone vibrated again, and she read the text from her daughter.

---