Seventeen
Jenny steadfastly refused to look in Nick’s direction for the rest of the night, which was no mean feat when she could practically feel his magnetism drawing her across the room. She’d acted like a complete moron, allowing gossip to make her do something so out of character. She used to lecture the girls about peer pressure and here she was doing the exact thing she’d always despised.Idiot.
Thankfully, none of the girls seemed to have witnessed her moment of insanity; they were happy socialising, oblivious to anything going on outside their own social groups.
As the evening progressed, Jenny thought maybe, just maybe, she’d gotten away with it, then Austin sat in the chair across from her when Beth had gotten up to dance.
‘I think it’s been a success,’ he said after a while, leaning forward in his chair to be heard.
‘Seems so. Where’s Christy?’
He nodded towards the dance floor and she spotted his scantily-clad girlfriend dancing with a group of Savannah’s friends.
‘I thought you’d be out there, too,’ Jenny said, trying to keep a straight face. Austin had never set foot on a dance floor in his entire life.
‘You look … different,’ he said after another silence had stretched between them.
‘Iamdifferent.’ Jenny shrugged. ‘I’m happier.’
‘Yeah. I suppose it’s got something to do with the new boyfriend?’
It felt strange to have him looking at her. They rarely ever held each other’s gaze anymore. They didn’t talk, other than about kid-related stuff. In fact, Jenny could count on one hand the number of times she’d actually seen him in the last two years. She didn’t have to. Didn’t have to talk to him about custody requirements as they would have done if the girls had been younger, and the girls were all old enough to drive themselves to see him. They’d simply stopped talking to each other once the marriage ended. Now, though, as he sat there across the table, it felt like a stranger looking at her for the first time.
‘No, actually. I’m just finally in a good place in life. My career is going great. The kids are all happy. Life is good.’
‘So this guy is only new, then?’
‘Nick has nothing to do with anything.’
‘You’ve just never been the impulsive type before and he seems … impulsive,’ Austin finished somewhat lamely.
‘That’s really none of your business.’ She turned to the dance floor.
‘He doesn’t seem much older than the girls.’
Jenny’s head immediately snapped back. ‘Are youseriouslygoing there?’
‘It’s different with Christy and me,’ he started, and Jenny felt her eyebrows disappear into her hairline. ‘This is a male. In a house with young women. You need to think about the girls.’
Was he out of his ever-lovin’ mind?
‘All I’m saying is, what if he looks at the girls, decides he’d rather be with someone more his own age? What are you going to do? I’m trying to warn you before something like that happens.’
‘Oh, right, so a younger, attractive male can’t possibly stay attracted to an older female, yet a bimbo in a dress that barely covers her backside is supposed to find a fifty-year-old balding man completely irresistible? Maybe you should take your own advice.’
‘I knew you’d take it as an attack. You never could handle criticism.’
Jenny let out a small laugh. ‘And yet, I really should be an expert at it, since all you everdois criticise.’
‘Sorry I said anything,’ he snapped, scowling and slumping back in his chair.
Jenny fought the urge to bring up a few more, ‘and another thing’s, that were desperate to get out, wanting instead to take the higher road and not give anyone more ammunition for gossip, so she sat there and fumed until the music stopped and the dancers broke up and came looking for drinks.
Nick was still grinning as he walked around the corner, heading to the storeroom, when he noticed someone sitting across the hall in the armchair he’d placed in the empty nook during the renovations.
‘Jenny?’ Instantly his smile was replaced by a concerned frown. ‘Everything okay? What are you doing out here, all alone?’
‘I just needed to get away from the noise for a while.’
