He was Jonathon.
And he had lied to her about several things, starting with being unemployed and ending with his chichi apartment. Which meant she couldn’t trust him, no matter how much her heart wanted to believe otherwise.
But Jack wasn’t the only liar. Jamie was lying to herself. She wasn’t staying away from Jack because he had money, or because he had lied to her the day they met. She was staying away because she was in love with him. Because when she looked at him, and talked to him, and watched him with his grandfather and Austin, her heart melted to mush, about the consistency of goetta or grits. She was that much in love with him. And terrified that if she told him that, he’d have the power to hurt her as much as her father had hurt her.
“I’m not calling him.” She was happy with her life the way it was, or she would be as soon as she got over being miserable.
“Well, you know you’re going to see him tonight at the rehearsal dinner.”
As if she hadn’t thought about that every second for the last six days. And regretted that she’d been so abrupt in her dismissal of him at his apartment. She’d never been so cruel in her life—he professed love and she said thank you?—but she had been desperate to get out of there with her panties still intact. “I know.”
Mrs. Davidson swept into the room, bringing a tray of fruit with her. “Here, girls, I brought you some goodies while you’re getting your pedicures.” She set the tray down on a table and smiled at them, beaming with maternal pride.
Jamie couldn’t look her in the eye for fear Mrs. Davidson would immediately know that Jamie had seen her son naked. The knowledge felt fairly burned all over her. Slept With Jack. In neon flashing lights across her breasts.
Caroline looked up from her own seat across from Jamie, her long, tanned legs showing under the feminine floral dress she wore. “Thanks, Mom. That looks great.”
They shared a smile, which made Jamie feel even worse. This was Caro’s big day, and she had done the utterly distasteful by sleeping with the brother of the bride.
Mrs. Davidson was an attractive woman of fifty-something with blond hair shot with silver. She was wearing a sleeveless dress in turquoise, showing well-defined arms that made Jamie feel like a soft down pillow. Caroline and her mother were long and slender, with firm everything, while Jamie was soft and squishy. Jack had called her lush, which had sounded wonderful in the moment.
Now it sounded fat.
Her lip trembled. She felt the signs of a serious pity party descending on her.
“Jamie, honey, are you all right?” Mrs. Davidson asked, picking up one of her hands and rubbing it maternally. “You look a little tired.”
Jamie wiggled her toes in the bubbly water and attempted a smile. “I am tired. I think I’m getting a cold.”
Allison made a coughing sound behind her hand.
Mrs. Davidson patted her again. “Oh, summer colds are the worst, aren’t they? Get lots of rest this afternoon and take some echinacea. Here, have a strawberry.”
She accepted the fruit Mrs. Davidson was pressing on her.
“Thank you.” A tight smile was all she could manage, but fortunately Mrs. Davidson moved on.
“Mandy, you look absolutely adorable. Motherhood agrees with you, and wherever did you get those cute maternity capri pants?”
Her mother might have accepted her lame excuse, but Caroline frowned at her. “Are you sure you’re okay, Jams? You haven’t looked good all week. Maybe it’s the flu. I’d feel terrible if you were sick for the wedding.”
“I think it’s just a cold. The flu would have me knocked out flat. I’m sure I’ll be fine.” Jamie held the strawberry with one hand and rubbed down the front of her loose, long skirt with the other. She didn’t have so much as a sniffle, but she couldn’t exactly tell the truth.
Caroline leaned forward, cupping her hand so her mother wouldn’t hear. “You’re not…pregnant or anything, are you?”
Oh, Lord.
The strawberry fell out of her hand, tumbled down her skirt, and landed with a plop in her feet water.
“No!” She wasn’t, she knew that for a fact. Jack had used protection every time, and it had been the wrong time. Of course, Caroline knew none of that.
Caroline grinned. “Just checking. You’d be a great mom, of course, but I can’t imagine you raising a baby Scratch.”
Not that she had ever actually slept with Scratch. “I haven’t seen Scratch in months.” The implication, of course, was that she hadn’t had sex since then, which made Jamie feel like a Big Fat Liar.
This was awful. The very second Caro stepped off the plane after her honeymoon, Jamie was going to come clean.
Time to change the subject. She fished the strawberry out of her water. “So, everything’s all set, Caro? No last minute things we can help you with?”
Caroline smiled in satisfaction. “Everything is set for the rehearsal tonight and the whole day tomorrow. Oh, I forgot to tell you. You know I’ve packed up all my stuff in the apartment, and I thought Brad would just get it when we got back from Paris. But Jonathon offered to move everything to the new apartment for me while we’re gone.”
Allison gave that horrid fake cough again, her brown eyes dancing with amusement.
Jamie saw nothing funny about it. “Oh, great. Have him call ahead so we can let him in.” And so she could be on the other side of Manhattan when he showed up. Maybe even in Queens just to be safe.
Mrs. Davidson leaned against Caroline’s chair. “I don’t see why you just can’t hire a mover, Caroline. It’s not like Jonathon knows a thing about moving furniture. Unless that’s something else he kept from his family.”
Jamie couldn’t imagine why anyone would keep the ability to lift wardrobe boxes a secret from their family, but Mrs. Davidson looked serious.
Caroline pursed her lips. “Jonathon actually has hired a mover. He’s going to let them in and oversee the loading and unloading so we don’t have to deal with it when we get back. It’s a wedding gift.”
“I’m surprised he has the money since he lost his mind and quit his job.”
And Jamie thought she had issues. Clearly, Mrs. Davidson hadn’t been thrilled when Jack left Wall Street.
“Mom, please, don’t start like this…” Caroline started to rub at her temples.
“I think that’s awfully nice of Jack,” Jamie blurted out, darting an urgent “Help Me” look to Allison. She didn’t want Caroline and her mother getting into a fight in a salon the day before her wedding.