With a shaking arm, I plucked the card from her fingers.Please don’t be anyone I know. Please don’t be anyone I know. Please don’t be anyone I know.I repeated it over and over in my head until I turned the card over.
That was when my heart slammed into the hardwood floor. I pushed the card into my pocket, turning and wordlessly leaving the coffee shop.
I heard Marika and Susannah say their goodbyes, but it sounded more like an echo in a long tunnel. The blood swished in my ears, and the cold air helped snap me out of my daze as I made my way onto the sidewalk. I blinked up at the white twinkling lights strung between the lampposts.
“Hey,” Lydia said, and I turned to see her concerned expression as she held Jenni in her arms.
Jenni. I had forgotten about my daughter. A wave of shock and heartbreak consumed me. I reached for my baby girl, taking her from Lydia’s arms.
A tear fell down my cheek as I whispered in her ear, “I won’t let them hurt you. I promise.”
“Lola, honey, who was on that card? Was it your brother?”
I shook my head. With a deep breath, I swallowed down my cry.
“No. It was Jenner Cartwright. Jenni’s father.”
Chapter 7
Jenner
“I don’t think this is a good idea, Eric.” I walked with him around the outside of the Hudson Estate. The gravel was frozen to the ground under our feet, making for a hard and somewhat slippery surface to navigate.
“It’s fine.” Eric waved me off as he glanced up at the building. “Do you think the roof needs re-tiling?”
“How should I know? I can’t see up there.” I rubbed at the throbbing pain behind my eyes that was growing more intense by the second.
“I don’t think you understand. This isn’t your property; it’s in Lola’s name. She hasn’t signed it over to you, nor given you permission to use it for a bed-and-breakfast. Now you’re meeting with contractors, as if you’re opening the bed-and-breakfast with or without her approval.”
Eric stopped abruptly and turned. “Now you get it.”
My brows went up. “Get it? You’re actually doing that? As your lawyer, I have to advise against this. And as your friend, I really don’t think this is a good idea, either. And why a bed-and-breakfast? A hotel or a resort like The Blue Spot would be more profitable.”
“All in due time...”
What was with Eric lately? He was talking about listening to his body, and now he’s speaking like he’s a wise old mystic with a little magic in his pocket. He had changed a lot in the last two years.
It was a pleasant change—at least, I believed it to be. I had seen nothing bad yet. He wasn’t so quick-tempered, and he hadn’t once asked if I wanted to go to the bar with him. He was a mean drunk all those years ago.
“Have you been recruited into a cult?”
Cults would love him—a handsome guy with lots of money, who was easily swayed to believe nonsense if it sounded like it made sense. One time we were hanging out, and a commercial for baking soda came on. It simply stated how it was used for so many things, like cleaning, baking, and odor control. He got so excited and made me go to the grocery store with him, where he bought out all the baking soda.
The man didn’t clean or bake, and he didn’t even realize most people put the baking soda in the refrigerator for odor control. He just opened all the boxes and placed them on the coffee table, expecting magic to happen. Thankfully, his housekeeper removed them and put them to use elsewhere in the house.
And his reaction to my question wasn’t what I expected at all. He didn’t get angry or call the question weird; Eric just laughed. He threw his head back and let out a loud chuckle that caused some birds to fly off into the distance.
But what came next surprised me most of all.
Placing his hands on his hips, he nodded. “I can see why you would think that, Jenner. I never had time to apologize for my behavior since we first met five years ago. If I’m being honest, I’m surprised you put up with me, and I want to make amends. Not just to you, but to everyone I affected.”
As he raised his arms, he threw them open and smiled at me. I did what anyone who knew Eric would have done: I panicked. He wanted a hug, and not a brotherly side-hug, but a full-on squeeze.
Now, I was not one of those people who feared hugs. I understood some people were sensitive to touch, but I wasn’t one of those people. But what Eric was doing wasn’t normal. He never even gave a full embrace to his sister, let alone a friend.
I glanced around the property, expecting a camera. Perhaps he was putting on a performance for a documentary or a VidTube channel he was starting. Or, even worse, maybe this was a setup. Some evil plan he cooked up to lure me in before he did something terrible.
It wouldn’t work. I refused to be a sucker.