Chapter Four
Simon watched his mother leave and hurried to his cell phone. He dialed a familiar number.
“Yes?” came the perky voice.
“Well, is he or not?”
His best friend, Jenna, now normal and talking to him again, sighed. “Why hello, Simon. Yes, I’m fine. What? Oh, thanks. Ididgo out of my way to gather information for you. And yes, I will collect.”
He grinned, relieved to hear her sounding like herself. “Sorry. Hi, Jenna. I’m so grateful you took my call, since I know how busy you are.”
“Well, that’s true. I am.”
“Now tell me!”
She muttered something he chose to ignore. “I overheard my mom talking to Coach Deacon, then she was talking to her friend, Barb. You know, the one who owns the bakery on fourth? They make the best snickerdoodles. It’s—”
“What did she say?” God, could the girl focus?
“Mitch Flashman is single. Never been married, no kids. He’s worth millions, and if that vitamin company with his name on it goes global, he’s looking at evenmoremoney. The guy is loaded, hot, and available.”
He nodded, thinking. “And not just out to bang anyone who wants him.”
“Real nice, Simon.”
He flushed. “Sorry.” Sometimes it was easy to forget Jenna was a girl. He could tell her anything. They finished each other’s sentences. And he knew she thought of him as her best friend as well. He still had no idea why she’d wigged out on him this past summer. So what that he’d accidentally walked in on her changing into her bathing suit? He hadn’t seen much. You’d have thought he was some huge perv, gazing and all. But heck, it was just Jenna…
“Anyway, if you’re thinking about getting your mom with this guy, you’d better hurry. He’s on everyone’s radar.”
“I’m not thinking anything. Just scoping him out is all.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And it never hurts to have all the info I can on people I have to deal with.”
“Yeah. Sure.”
She wasn’t believing him. Hell, he wasn’t believing himself either. “What if I am looking for her? She’s clueless. The last guy she dated—overa yearago—was a total tool.”
“Oh, right. Darren Scott, the restaurant guy. My mom doesn’t like him either. Says he’s boring as dirt.”
Jenna’s mom knew everyone in town, especially all the big-wigs. A lawyer married to another lawyer, Mr. and Mrs. Mason handled contracts and big business all over the coast. They took turns travelling, one of them always present to watch over Jenna and her sisters while the other flew first class or in private jets to handle their clients. Simon’s mom liked the couple, and he did too.
Not only were they cool parents who genuinely loved their kids, but they had the scoop on everyone in town. From Jenna, he knew that Coach Flash had used the Masons to handle a few local investment contracts, and Jenna’s aunt had sold him his house in the mountains. A sweet retreat with plenty of privacy, acreage, and an amazing indoor pool.
Simon wanted a pool.
More, he wanted to stop feeling so guilty all the time.
The silence on the phone felt heavy until Jenna said, “It’s okay, you know.”
Yep. His best friend knew what he was thinking.
He groaned. “It’s not. I can’t relax, ever, if she’s all alone. Aunt Nora’s great, but she’s got her own life. Mom’s just so… I don’t know. She’s like, vulnerable.” Adults acted as if teenagers couldn’t think about anything but themselves. But Simon had been worrying about his mom for ages.
She’d been devastated when his dad passed. He remembered her crying and never stopping, or so it had seemed. Heck, Simon loved his dad, but as time went on, the memories of his father faded. Neal Bragg’s face blurred in his mind sometimes, and only the picture on Simon’s bedside reminded him of that larger-than-life smile and personality.
Every time his mom teared up, or she spoke softly with a smile about his dad, he felt terrible because he didn’t miss the guy so much. As if numbed to his father’s absence after so much time, he didn’t feel anything but guilt because he didn’t feel anything about the loss.
