Chapter 4

Jenna didn’t want to believe that Tanner was talking about her, but as they made their way back toward the bar, she couldn’t help but ask him. “You really think we were soul mates?”

“I do,” he said.

“So what happened? When I came back, that would have been the perfect time, right?”

“Oh yeah, hit on my ex-girlfriend at her mother’s funeral, perfect timing,” he scoffed. “The timing was only right the night before we left.”

“I didn’t want to stay in Doveport,” she admitted. “That’s why I said no.”

“I know that, and I never asked you to stay,” Tanner told her.

“You asking me to marry you was asking me to stay. Were you going to follow me through my college career? What if I did one of those study abroad programs? Would you have followed me to a different country? It would have been so selfish of me to say yes and then go traipsing around the world trying to find myself. I had to say no.”

“Wait a minute, before you paint this picture of you doing me a favor by breaking my heart, tell me this: If I would have taken things further between us after the funeral, would you have been ready for that?”

“I would have been open to it,” Jenna shrugged.

“Wait! And didn’t you have a boyfriend who wasn’t there for you at the time too?” Tanner stared at her.

“No, once you cheat on me we’re no longer in a relationship,” Jenna said adamantly.

“Okay, but you didn’t find out he was cheating until when?”

“I had my suspicions before my mom passed, but it wasn’t until I was about to go back to school that I found out for sure. I wanted to only take the bereavement time they gave me, but after finding out what Mike did, I was crushed. I knew he was graduating, so burning a semester at home seemed like the best option. And honestly it was. I never would have been able to get back into my classes and do what needed to be done to pass. I spent those weeks crying my heart out. There were even a few therapy sessions in there.”

“Good, I’m glad you took that time. Maybe Mr. F needs to do the same thing. Has he had any time away from everything and everyone to just grieve?”

“I don’t think so. He kind of buried himself in here trying to pay off the medical bills and keep the bar open. And he made it happen. I don’t know how, but he did. He was great.”

“So why are you hard on him about changing the bar? You see how upset he got. Why don’t you try to slow things down with him?” Tanner suggested.

“Hannah told me the same thing. Yeah, I get kind of tunnel visioned at times. But yeah, you guys are right, I definitely need to slow things down.”

They kept walking, taking a random turn that led them past a vacant lot. Tanner stopped walking just to stare at it. It took Jenna a while to realize where they were, and when she finally did, her eyes lit up.

The vacant lot had formerly housed a movie theater. It had only had three screens, and most of the time they were showing old black-and-white films. Every once in a while she and Tanner would cut class to come hang out in the old theater. They’d had some very interesting times there in the darkness of the back rows. All of those memories washed over Jenna, making her feel warm and even a bit moist.

Shifting uncomfortably, she waited for the feeling to pass. Tanner was even sexier than he’d been in high school. The more she looked at him, the harder it was for her to believe she had let him go.

“You remember this place, right?” he asked, glancing over toward her.

“I do,” she nodded.

Tanner couldn’t help but take her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. “We used to walk in there like this, what? Every Tuesday afternoon? I don’t even know how we got away with that.”

“We didn’t,” she laughed. “You remember when my dad and your mom showed up while we were making out. I don’t even remember what movie was playing.”

“Was it ever about the movie that was playing?” he chuckled, running his fingers through his hair. Jenna secretly swooned, wishing that his hair was wrapped around her hands.

“I guess it wasn’t,” she smirked. “We were so young and so dumb.”

“Young, definitely. Dumb? Not so much. We both knew exactly what we wanted, and granted life has certainly happened along the way, but we stuck to our goals. You graduated college and I’m a firefighter.”

“Right, so when did your goals include dating a woman like Brandy?” Jenna tossed the question out there fully expecting him to shut down, but it was the opposite. Tanner was completely honest.

“You saw her, Jen. She’s a babe. I let a lot of things go just because of the way she looks. And don’t give me that ‘I’m so disappointed in you’ face. It wasn’t all bad, and it didn’t start off crazy. We clicked. I met her at the gym because I was training kind of hard for the annual physical, and that was that. Even though I think that’s all we had in common. Well, the gym and… you know.”

“Please spare me the details of my ex and his ex-girlfriend flopping around on a mattress together,” Jenna laughed.

“Oh stop, I never flop. You should remember that,” he said with a wink and seductive grin spreading across his face.

It sent chills down her spine, chills that landed right between her thighs. While her cheeks grew hot, she wasn’t sure if he could see how hard she was blushing. “I remember a lot of things about us. You remember when we used to say we’d move to Philadelphia and be city folks?”

“Ha! That’s right,” he smiled brightly, “and we’d raise our two kids. One boy and one girl, with a nanny?”

“That was crazy, right? I thought we were going to be together forever. I thought you were going to be the first and only guy I’d ever love.”

“I felt the same about you, but life has a funny way of teaching you things about yourself. I’m sorry about the proposal, Jenna,” he sighed.

“What? I thought it was real?” She glanced to him but turned away almost as quickly.

He wouldn’t allow her to avoid his gaze. Turning her to face him, he spoke sincerely. “It was. But you told me what you wanted to do, and I knew in my heart that getting married wasn’t a part of the plan. I didn’t respect that. I was being selfish.”

Jenna was surprised, to say the least. “Wow. Thanks, Tanner. I wasn’t expecting that at all. I’m surprised you’re still so open, honest, sweet. A woman like Brandy can ruin a guy like you.”

“Trust me, I’m the only person who can ruin me. I’m perfectly okay with acknowledging when I’m the cause of a problem, and my problem with Brandy was just that… my problem. I never thought I’d fall for her. It was supposed to be a fling, but we just kept ending up together. No matter how hard we fought, we kept coming back.”

“Have you tried dating anyone else?”

“There have been a few in-betweens, but nothing ever stuck. But I don’t want to talk about her. What about you? Anybody else after the last guy?”

“Nope.” Jenna shrugged. “Call me crazy, but having my heart broken right after my mother passed away kind of turned me off to love for a while there. I didn’t believe any guy was sincere after that. I just wanted to be left alone and finish school.”

“So what now?”

There was something about the way he looked at her that made Jenna wonder if there was still something there between them. Perhaps it was taking that trip down memory lane, but there was a tingling feeling trickling down her body as they made their way back to The Wheel. She told him about her plans to go to grad school in the fall while he filled her in on his career as a firefighter. They were making strides toward becoming close again. Jenna hadn’t realized how much she’d missed Tanner until that night.

By the time they ended up in front of The Wheel, Tanner was completely sober and they were on the road to friendship.

“Thank you for walking me back,” Jenna laughed. “I should go in and help my dad finish closing up. You’re going to be okay getting home by yourself, right?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” he smiled. “How about lunch?”

“Lunch?”

“Yeah, I got a couple days off next week. We can grab something to eat, outside of the bar.”

That smile of his was so engaging. All Jenna wanted to do was wrap herself around Tanner. She wondered what them being together would feel like.

“Sure, I’d really like that.”

Tanner stepped closer to her with his arms open for a hug. Jenna didn’t shy away as she welcomed the embrace. The spark between them ignited like a newspaper soaked in gasoline, and Jenna pulled away, not wanting to get her feelings into the mix after he’d just broken up with his girlfriend. But as Tanner pulled her back into him, Hannah’s words rang in her mind: “He belonged to you first.”

His face bent down to hers, and it felt so right… just like old times. When his mouth pressed against her lips, Jenna parted them, giving him room to slip his tongue inside. The passion growing between them increased tenfold with that kiss. She didn’t think Tanner could hold her any tighter. Her bosom pressed against his chest so hard she swore she could feel his heart thumping. But maybe it was just her own pulse racing.

Tanner’s hands moved from around her petite frame down to her waist and around to her back pockets. Grabbing her ass through her jeans, he nearly bent her back as they continued to kiss in front of The Wheel.

The moment felt like it could last forever, but eventually they both came up for air. Jenna touched her bottom lip, gazing into Tanner’s eyes.

“Wow,” was all she could muster.

“Yeah. I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me. Nostalgia, I guess,” he chuckled.

“Yeah, nostalgia, but I don’t remember it ever being like that,” she admitted.

“Things change,” he winked.

Jenna was at a loss for words, wondering where they went from there. The moment between them was short-lived as Brandy suddenly appeared. Her walk was off, but her mouth was on, and it was loud.

“Where the hell have you been, Tanner?!?” she screamed.

“Oh God, she’s drunk,” he sighed.

“What? She didn’t have that many drinks here!” Jenna protested.

“I didn’t say you got her drunk. She must have gone somewhere else,” he mumbled.

“Tanner Devlin! You get over here right now and help me! I knocked on your door but you weren’t home. I thought you were going to be home! We need to talk! We need to figure out how we’re going to make this work!” Brandy continued to ramble.

“I should get her home,” Tanner told Jenna.

“Yeah, go figure out how to make things work,” Jenna said, shaking her head.

“It’s not like that,” Tanner assured her. “Just let me get her home. I can’t just leave her out here like this.”

“No, you can’t, and I’m not your girlfriend, so my opinion doesn’t matter here. Do what you want. Go figure things out with your girlfriend,” Jenna told him flatly.

Tanner wanted to argue with her, but just then Brandy managed to trip over her own feet while she was standing still. He needed to get her home, and he wished more than anything that Jenna would understand.

But Jenna walked back into the bar without waiting to see how he and Brandy left. She couldn’t believe she’d let herself fall into that kiss believing that he was finished with Brandy.

Trying to put Tanner behind her, once and for all, she got to work cleaning up the bar.

“Dad should have been done with all of this by now,” she huffed as she finished turning the chairs onto the tables.

Jenna decided to see what was holding him up. She was half expecting him to be blubbering over her mother’s desk, but instead she heard voices. He was talking with someone in the office, and that Irish accent was all too familiar. Jenna didn’t want to eavesdrop, but she heard something about money and decided that she’d better.

“I already told you I don’t want you talking to my daughter, Sean. Please respect that,” Paul said to the Irishman.

“But she’s such a lovely businesswoman. Didn’t she tell you how she negotiated my rate up?”

“Yeah, she did, and you don’t have to do that. We can keep things moving the way they’ve been.”

“But she tells me you’re having trouble paying the bills again. I can help you out like I did before.”

“That’s exactly why we’re in this mess to begin with. I should have never taken that loan from you. No offense, but I wish we’d never met. I just want you to finish up this lease and be out of here.”

“You know, Paul, I’m starting to think you’re being a bit unappreciative. Here I go, giving you my hard-earned money and the opportunity to make some more in the bargain, and you’re throwing it back in my face. How about I take the other route we discussed and just let the place get foreclosed on and buy it from the bank? I’ll put yer daughter in a miniskirt with her tits out and have her serve all my friends. You best be careful, Paul.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Hannity. You’re right. I’m undeserving of your kindness. Everything stands as is,” he stuttered.

“No, I’m kicking in the extra two grand that I told her, because I’m a man of my word. Besides, the more money I’m passing through here, the faster your debt gets paid. I gave the lovely Jenna your four grand. I already took my share out, of course. I’ll see ya next Thursday, okay? Have my room ready!” Hannity told him.

Jenna’s heart sank, and then she panicked as she realized that Hannity would be heading her way. She knew there was no way that her father wanted her to know anything about what she’d just heard. So she rushed toward the door to pretend she was just making her way back inside. She greeted the Irishman with the fakest of smiles across her face. “Well, Mr. Hannity, I hope you’ve enjoyed your evening here at The Wheel! We all appreciate your business so much.”

She wondered if he could hear the nervousness in her voice. If he could, he didn’t let on. Instead, he smiled just as widely as she had. “Thank you, sweet Jenna. I hope you can teach your old man some of those kind words. But I’ve got something for you.”

“Oh?”

Sean Hannity was intimidating, to say the least. While he wasn’t very tall, his broad shoulders and menacing, broken-nosed face would make anyone cautious, and after hearing how he’d spoken to her father, Jenna was trying her best to keep her distance.

“Here,” he said, handing her a few bills.

“What’s this for?”

“You must have been my lucky charm tonight, because I won a nice little pot playing poker back there with the guys. So this is my tip for you and your excellent service this evening.”

“Oh, Mr. Hannity, I couldn’t,” she protested, trying to hand the money back.

“Aren’t you a bartender?”

“Yeah, but—”

“And isn’t the money you make for yourself mostly from tips? Isn’t whatever money the bar made tonight put towards bills?”

“Yeah, but—”

“No buts. Take it and enjoy it. You earned it.” He walked away before she could try and hand it back to him again.

Jenna watched the man walk out of the bar. She went back to cleaning, refusing to talk to her father about anything else that night. Some of her questions had been answered, but a plethora of others had surfaced. The warm, secure feeling she got with her dad around was fading. She just didn’t understand how he could let a man like Hannity come in and take over. He didn’t belong at The Wheel. So Jenna made up her mind that she’d do whatever she could to get him out of it.