It suddenly came to me.
“I remember this. I was just so happy to have someone near my age wanting to visit. I thought you were one of Eric’s friends from university.”
Jenner shook his head. “Nope. Couldn’t afford college. Had to wait for a full scholarship, which I got the following year.”
I smiled. “I can’t believe I forgot about this. The housekeeper brought out tea and a few small sandwiches, which you ate—all of them—after I invited you up.” I chuckled at the memory.
“Had to get food where I could.” Jenner shrugged. “I told you about my mom and how she used to work for your dad’s company, and how my dad worked for him in the beginning. Was one of his very first hires. I hated begging, but I’d do anything for my mom. When I asked you for the money to bury her, you agreed, and I was overjoyed. You stepped out of the room, and when you came back, you had changed your mind. It seemed you couldn’t get me out of your home fast enough. I was hurt and angry.”
“That was my fault,” Eric piped up. “I remember Lola coming to me about some guy asking for money to bury his mom. She was on the verge of tears, saying how we had to help him. But I assumed you were just another guy begging for handouts. That you caught wind of my dad dying and wanted to take advantage of us. So, I told Lola no.”
Jenner nodded. “Ahh, that’s why you said it was you who had turned me down, not Lola. Wish I knew that then, because when I got home from your penthouse, I told my sisters how I would take revenge on Lola. Of all my sisters, Jocelyn was the only one delighted by the idea. I explained, since I didn’t have money, I would seduce you and then break your heart. Being only nineteen, I was too young to see how dumb an idea that was. But hormones and grief clouded my judgment.”
I wanted to believe him—it made sense—but how could I trust he gave the crazy idea up?
Jenner sighed and pulled out a folded scrap of old paper. It looked as if it had been folded and unfolded many times.
“This is the list I made a decade ago. Look for yourself.”
Taking the paper, I carefully held it in my hand for fear it would fall apart. “‘Number one: become a lawyer so I can sue the Cartwrights.’ Then it looks like the word ‘sue’ is crossed out and replaced with ‘work for.’”
“That was Jocelyn’s idea. She told me it was better to earn your trust and then destroy you from within. She’s always been evil.”
I shuddered, wondering what it must have been like to grow up with a sister like that. Jenner had to have been on edge around her.
“‘Number two: seduce Lola Cartwright.’ Then it looks like you later added something in different ink. ‘Buy a cheap ring and pretend it’s a diamond, then get Lola to marry me so I can then divorce her and break her heart.’”
It all appeared old and partially faded, even the ink. He pointed to that line I just read. “That’s it.”
“What? You proposed to me. That proves you were following your list.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t buy you a cheap ring and say it was a diamond. I gave you my mother’s ring.”
“What does that prove? That you aren’t a naïve nineteen-year-old thinking you could pass off a fake diamond to a woman?”
Jenner took the paper from my hand and placed it on the glass coffee table. “I gave you my mother’s ring. That was the only thing I had of my mom. I always keep it on me because I look at it like a good luck charm. We were poor. It’s not like she had lots of jewelry or trinkets I could take to remind me of her. We only had one family photo, and Jill got that. The only way I’d give that ring to someone else is if I love them, truly love them... Like how I love you.”
A tear formed at the corner of my eye. “But then, why did you take it back and end the engagement?”
“Because he’s an idiot,” Hamish mumbled.
“He’s right.” Jenner snorted. “I thought once you knew everything, you’d realize I was a terrible person. That someone who could think about those things and make a list like that was not a good person. Jocelyn was about to tell you everything, so I beat her to the punch. I walked away so as not to let you find out through her twisted words that I wanted to do something so terrible.”
He sighed. “I left you before you left me. I worried you’d look at me the way my mom looked at my father... with fear.”
No wonder he walked away.All the anger I had for Jenner melted away.
“I can’t be angry with you.” I lifted my hand and cupped his cheek.
Jenner held my hand to his face as if it were the cure to all his ills. “Really? I love you, Lola. I never stopped loving you.”
My smiled grew, and I climbed onto his lap. “I love you too, Jenner. I ran because I thought you’d reject me for being pregnant. And you ran because you thought I’d reject you because of your past. How about we make a pact?”
He leaned forward and kissed my cheek, sending a shiver down my spine. “What pact?”
“From now on, we tell each other everything—no more secrets. Even if we think the other person will get mad, we be as open as possible.”
Jenner leaned back and tapped his chin. “That sounds reasonable.”