He pulled onto the road and reached for her hand. “Love you, baby.”
Chapter twenty
Fucking Drew Parker
Jon hadn’t felt comfortableleaving Jenna alone to wait for the window company, but he couldn’t take her with him to pick up his friends as he couldn’t possibly fit four large men and her in his truck. So, Jenna was appeasing him by waiting out the time in a public, occupied space where any attack was highly unlikely.
She felt more than a little self-conscious about it, though. Misty Glades was a small town and the staff at LeeLee’s didn’ttend to change. Neither did its regulars. She’d caught more than one familiar face giving her appraising, critical looks since she’d claimed her seat in the small side booth.
With nothing else to occupy her mind, Jenna decided to do what little she could think of to help Jon move forward with his goals.
Jon had taken her to see what had become of his grandfather’s land, now his, a couple of hours earlier. Apparently, it had been quite overgrown when he’d gone there the day before, but whoever he’d called had done an impossibly immaculate job of cleaning it out. All that remained was freshly turned soil and some scattered, healthy trees, leaving plenty of room to build on. Even the access road had been trimmed back.
They’d lingered, walked a portion of it, and Jon had explained his vision. He’d shown her the area of the land he wanted to build on. He’d described what he had in mind. And Jenna had marveled at watching him put the idea together into something more than an abstract notion right before her eyes. It’d taken her weeks just to settle on a name for her bakery, and she remembered how gun-shy she’d been about purchasing the building and property she’d ultimately taken over. All the fears of how it could go wrong, or what if she was missing a better opportunity, had nearly made her miss out. But Jon had none of those. He had a direction, and an end goal, and he was fearlessly marching to meet it.
He was an inspiration, really.
She traced her finger along the sketch he’d come up with of the logo he saw in his mind, a smile playing at her lips as she remembered their fun brainstorming session. He’d let her help toss name ideas around until they found one that sounded good and didn’t seem to be in use elsewhere. It was his project, his future business, just as the bakery was hers, but that small bit of inclusion made her feel relevant all the same.
The least she could do was grease some wheels for him. It hadn’t been that long since she’d had to do the work of setting up a local business. She still remembered some of the process, some of the offices and names to call. So, she pulled out her phone to dial the first one she believed she could truly be helpful with.
“Graphics in the Glades, how can I be of service?” a bright male voice said when the line connected.
Jenna smiled. “Hi, Tony,” she greeted. “You probably don’t remember me, but I commissioned some business signage and stationery from you a couple of years ago and absolutely loved your work. My boyfriend is looking to open his own company soon, and I wanted to get a couple of things made for him if it’s possible.”
“Anything’s possible, sugar,” Tony replied. “What’s your name? I’m good with names.”
“Jenna Hodge. I opened a bakery—”
“Sweet Stop!” Tony exclaimed. She pictured him with a beaming smile. “My husband loves your food. I swear, he’s gained twenty pounds since you opened. But I’m finally getting him to come to the gym with me, so it’s all good.”
A laugh bubbled out of her and Jenna reached for her refilled coffee. “I’m glad I could give you an opportunity for more togetherness.”
“You’re a doll. Now, what d’you need this time? And do you have an image you can send me?”
Jenna shifted back to lean against the wall and described quietly what she was looking for, adding that she didn’t have a timeline so there wasn’t a rush. When the call was done, she took several pictures of Jon’s sketch and emailed them to Tony’s account for reference. From there, she would just have to wait. Good work took time, and time was something she had—at least for that.
She’d barely gotten the sketch carefully tucked away when a body slid into the seat across from her. She tensed and her head snapped up, her eyes only widening when she saw who it was.
Quetzal Ybarra offered a polite smile and waved the passing server over. “Coffee, please,” he said to the older woman, never taking his eyes from Jenna.
“Sure, darlin’. You want a refill, Jen?”
Jenna pushed her mug toward the edge of the table. “Not right now, thanks.” She waited until the woman sauntered off to speak again. “Q, what’re you doing here?”
The man across from her arched a neat brow. “I came in for a late lunch. When I saw you sitting by yourself, I thought I’d keep you company.”
“A lunch of coffee?”
“I haven’t decided what I’ll eat yet.”
She couldn’t explain why, but his words made a cold chill run down her spine. “Did it occur to you I might be meeting someone?” She shouldn’t be being rude. Arguably, he’d only ever been a good, mildly demanding customer. The phone call thing a couple of mornings back had been odd, but in a small town, that sort of oddity happened. She probably wouldn’t have thought anything of it at all if she hadn’t spent a few years in a larger city.
“If I’m in someone’s way, I’ll move,” Q replied. He rested an arm on the table, elbow to wrist, so his hand hung off the edge over his lap. “I’ve heard rumor that the young girl who works for you has gone missing. Is that true?”
That pain flared again in Jenna’s chest. It wasn’t her fault. She simply cared about Steph’s well-being, and the more she learned about the real situation, the more she was forced to realize that the poor girl was definitely not okay. “Yes,” she said, deciding there was no sense in hiding it. Hiding the truth of Steph’s disappearance would only help the enemy.
And what does that make the sheriff’s department?
