“The lodge is only a few blocks away. We’ll walk.”
“I can’t—”
“You can’t driveyourcar when it’s on a hoist.”
He’d forgotten his car was in the shop for a full service, but Jenna hadn’t. And she hadn’t hesitated to do something selfless about it.It would be so easy to fall the rest of the way . . .“I’m sorry about Ed—”
“This is more important, right?”
“Yeah, it is.”
She reached for his hand, squeezing it. “Then go. I’ll be here when you get back.”
ChapterTwelve
Jenna
Jenna’s arms were tired after the uphill walk back to the lodge carrying all her purchases while Graham zigzagged on the leash, but she had no regrets loaning her truck to Cody in his time of need. She considered it fate that she had a full tank of gas when she handed over the keys.
Leaving her shopping bags untouched on a sitting chair, she sat on the bed and rolled her aching shoulders. “Guess that’s what I get forshoppinglike a normal person,” she said to a sleepy Graham. The pup was sprawled out in the middle of the bed, leaving her barely enough room for her legs if she crossed them at the ankles.
Cody ought to be halfway to Anchorage by now. He hadn’t called, not that he likely had cell service in the mountains. He didn’toweher a phone call. They weren’t a couple, much as the idea had danced around in her fantasies lately. They were friends with some . . . complicated feelings. But it didn’t mean he needed to call Jenna with a status report. Or to talk through whatever he was feeling with her.
It left her anxious and stir-crazy.
If this was what being in love felt like in tough moments such as these, she wasn’t so sure she wanted it. Remembering that toe-curling kiss, though, made her understand why some people leapt blindly and head-first into any chance at love. The mere memory or the way she craved a repeat performance was enough to make her forget anything uncomfortable or hard.
“I’m not in love,” Jenna said to herself. Then she said it again to Graham. The dog looked either unconvinced or unimpressed.Probably both.
“Okay, I need to get back to this moose story.”
Graham groaned and stretched all four legs at once.
Determined to keep her mind off subjects that would only make her restless, she spread her sketches out around the dog to decide which elements she liked best in each of the different cartoonish moose she’d drawn. She’d promised her agent and editor both a final sketch of her newest leading character by the end of the week, but she still wasn’t quite happy with any one version she’d drafted. Nor had she settled on a name. “Maybe it would help if I actually met this Ed character since he’s the inspiration.”
The chime on her phone nearly sent her flying off the bed. Graham jumped up with a grumpy old man growl at the disturbance, stepping on a sketch. Jenna’s phone landed on the floor with athud.
She quickly gathered the scattered papers before Graham could puncture any of them with his claws, and her phone chimed again.
Her heart pounded as she recovered it from the floor.
But it wasn’t Cody’s name on the screen.
Whitney:Are you ready to apologize yet?
Whitney:It’s time to grow up, Jenna. Just say you’re sorry so we can finalize my wedding plans. This has gone on long enough. No need to keep being a child about it.
Jenna felt something akin to fury flood her veins. “She’s unbelievable.” The only reason she left the line of communication open was because of her pitiful hope that Whitney would come to her senses and apologize to her. That for once, her older sister would believe her when she told her the truth. Especially in a situation that involved something as serious as marriage.
It wasn’t fair to try so hard to make something work andstillfeel like a failure at the end of it. How many times had she wished she had the type of sister she could share everything with? What she wouldn’t give for her and Whitney to be close. To know she could tell her all about Cody and actually get half-decent advice in return. A tear rolled down her cheek as she mourned the loss of a dream that would never be realized.
Jenna steeled her heart, refusing to shed another tear for the relationship she was about to end. “I’ve done everything I can, right, Graham Cracker?”
Having recovered from the initial shock of being pulled from his half-slumber state, he thumped his tail twice against the comforter.Guess that’s a yes.
Jenna:I love you, Whitney. But I can’t do this anymore. I’m blocking your number.
If a true emergency arose, several people who claimed to be her friend still had this number and could reach Jenna. But she still felt a twist of guilt when she selected the option to block Whitney, carrying out her promise to prove it wasn’t an empty threat.
