“Then you’d better start looking for another job.”
“Fine. I don’t see that I have a choice.”
“That’s right. Besides I’m flying down to stand by your side and back up everything you say.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. Even when I didn’t work for him any longer, he had my back. “You don’t have to do that.”
“When have you known me to do anything I didn’t want to do?”
Never. “Thanks. I’ll owe you big.”
“Shut up, Dylan, before you make me cry.”
I laughed, something I hadn’t expected to do tonight. “That’ll be the day. One other thing. Is Jack still driving the same car?” I doubted he would have flown down, not wanting to go through all the red tape to carry his gun aboard a plane. And I knew he wouldn’t come here unarmed.
“Yeah. I’ll e-mail you the license number and my flight info when I have it.”
“Thanks. For everything.”
“I got your back, Dylan. Always have.”
“Never doubted it.” I hung up as Jenny walked into the kitchen, her wet hair curling around her face and flowing down her back. Christ, she was beautiful. Instead of cutting myself open for her, spilling my guts, I should be in bed, holding her in my arms, lost in her sweet body.
She scooted onto the stool at the kitchen counter, pulling the glass of wine I’d poured toward her. I’d drunk one glass while I was on the phone with Garrett and was on my second. Maybe I should have gone for the hard stuff.
“What happened with your wife, Dylan?”
I drained the rest of my wine, then set the glass on the counter. “Long story short, I came home from a business trip a day early and found Christine in bed with my partner, Jack.” I’d expected to see shock on her face, but all I got was a nod.
“I thought it might be something like that. I can’t imagine how you must have felt to be betrayed by both your wife and your partner.”
I’d felt like my heart had been carved out of my chest with a dull razor blade, that was how.
“Were you and Jack close before that happened?”
“Like brothers.” I’d lost my wife and my best friend that day.
“I assume he was in love with her, otherwise he wouldn’t be here trying to make your life miserable.”
“He says he was. I told her I wanted a divorce, but she begged me to stay with her, said she loved me and couldn’t live without me. I just didn’t realize she meant that literally.”
“Did he know she didn’t want a divorce?”
Telling Jenny all this wasn’t turning out to be as difficult as I’d thought it would be. It was because of her, though, the way she understood and saw things, along with how she didn’t dramatize what she was hearing. I moved to the counter, pulling a stool around so that I was facing her.
“I don’t know what Christine told him, but I’m guessing not. I tried to tell him after… you know, after she did what she did, but he called me a liar. After that I didn’t bother trying to repair the damage to our relationship. It eventually became clear that one of us was going to have to leave, and I decided a change would be good for me. So here I am.”
I didn’t tell her about the childish games Jack had played afterward. The flat tires, not telling me about meetings, having my utilities cut off, or telling our cop brothers that I’d killed Christine and then made it look like she’d taken her own life. After all, he’d told anyone who would listen, it was my gun they found next to her. Garett had put a stop to the crap Jack was pulling at work, but I never told my boss about the other stuff because even after everything had gone down, I still felt sorry for Jack. He’d loved Christine, too. We’d both lost her.
Jenny smiled as she reached across the counter and put her hand over mine. “I’m glad you picked here.”
“It was good while it lasted, but the people of Blue Ridge Valley aren’t going to want a murderer for their police chief.” Her hand was warm where it rested on mine, and I just wanted to take her to bed, curl up with her, and pull the covers over our heads.
“You’re not a murderer. I don’t ever want to hear you say that again. You have to fight this, Dylan. It’s not right that he can keep taking everything you love away from you. We need a plan.” She squeezed my hand. “I’ll be right there with you, and together we’ll make sure everyone knows the truth.”
Damn burning eyes. She smiled, and there was something about the way that smile seemed special, as if it was meant just for me, that made my heart beat faster. Sitting in my kitchen talking about both the woman and the best friend I’d once loved, it hit me like a ton of bricks dropped on my head. I was well on the way to being in love with Jenny Girl. That wasn’t supposed to happen.
“There’s a plan in the works, but I can’t talk about all this anymore tonight.” I stood and walked behind her, putting my arms around her. “Help me forget for a few hours. Give me some of that TLC you excel at, and tomorrow morning I’ll tell you what I’m going to do.”
