Chapter 1

Jenna

“ONE LAST SIGNATURE AND it’s all yours,” Howard, my aunt Liza’s attorney, advised.

Sucking in a deep breath, I scribbled my name for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last hour. Was I crazy for not selling the run-down seven-bedroom Victorian-style home I’d inherited from my great aunt and uncle? If you asked my family and fiancé, they’d say yes, but they never understood my dream of wanting to own a charming bed-and-breakfast in the quaint little New Jersey seaside town where I’d spent so many summers. My parents thought I was taking on more than I could handle, and Brad, my fiancé, didn’t understand how we’d make it work once we were married, being that our current home and his job were both two hours away.

The truth was, with each passing day, I wasn’t sure how this would play out either. But ever since I’d been laid off from my editing position at one of New York City’s biggest publishing firms, I yearned for a change in my professional life, and as much as I tried to deny it, my personal life as well. Brad was a good catch on paper: a successful lawyer, handsome, and loved immensely by my parents, which wasn’t an easy feat.

My sister could vouch for that—seven years and two kids later, and my mother still didn’t approve of her husband. He treated my sister like a queen and was an awesome dad, but that didn’t matter to her because he wasn’t good on paper. He wasn’t a doctor or a lawyer, and he didn’t own his own business. Instead, he attended all my nieces’ school functions, chauffeured them to their after-school activities, helped them with their homework, took care of them when they were sick, made cupcakes for their class parties and delicious dinners he’d have waiting on the table as soon as my sister came from work. It was a decision he and my sister had made when my sister became pregnant. She didn’t want to put her children in day care, and since she was the bread winner in the family, working her dream job as a powerful fashion magazine editor, my brother-in-law put his career as a teacher on hold to take care of their daughters. My mother would get her digs in whenever she could, refusing to change with the times and realize this was totally acceptable in this day and age.

To her, Brad was everything my brother-in-law wasn’t, except compassionate, caring, and lately I wondered about loyal. But he made money and came from money—lots of it, and to my mom, that was all that mattered.

I wasn’t going to look at this as a bad investment, or a phase I needed to get out of my system as Brad insisted. Instead, I was viewing it as a new lease on life, a chance for me to explore my dreams. I was now the proud owner of the home. My aunt Liza and uncle Lou lovingly maintained it and ran it as a successful bed-and-breakfast until my uncle passed away several years ago, and not too long after my aunt became ill and had to move into an assisted living facility. That home was their life. They never had any children of their own, and I was closer to them than I was to my own grandparents. In addition to their home they’d also left me a large sum of money to invest back into it. So, in a way, I owed it to them to bring their baby back to life and make it something they’d be proud of.

“Here are the keys, my dear.” Howard smiled as he placed the shiny key ring in my hand.

“Well, I guess I’m a proud homeowner…or if you ask my parents and fiancé—a very stupid business woman.”

My blood boiled just thinking about all the times Brad would laugh before making his snide comments. “It’s an expensive lesson to learn, but hopefully you’ll get all the money you’re sinking into it back after you realize this type of business just isn’t for you.” I hated when he spoke to me like I was his twelve-year-old daughter, Sophie. But then again, he never talked to her that way. He put her up on a pedestal and left the lecturing for me.

Howard fumbled through the papers on the table before placing them into his briefcase. “Prove them wrong. You seem to have everything planned out well.”

“I suppose. I guess with some hard work, a lot of sweat, and a little bit of tears, I’ll be up and running for the summer season.”

“I’m going to hold you to that. My wife and I will see you in eight months from now for our fortieth anniversary getaway.”

“I’ll be sure to have the best room ready for you guys.” I grinned as I held out my hand and we shook on it.

“If you need anything in the meantime, please feel free to call me.”

“Will do.”

I stepped out into the bright sunlight and mentally went over the to-do list in my head. Who was I kidding? It was more like a novel than a list. There was so much to do, but I was confident I had it under control. I had the plumbers coming in the morning and the electrician and the construction crew the next day.

Since my new residence was somewhat uninhabitable at the moment, I was staying at the bed-and-breakfast next door to it for a few weeks. I’d known the inn keepers my entire life and they’d been great friends with my aunt and uncle. It was a tremendous help since I needed to be close by in case I was needed while the construction was going on instead of my apartment, which was two hours away.

I was also looking at it as a nice break from reality, even though this was more reality than I could handle. I wasn’t dreading it like I was my life back home. I just wanted some time for myself to be able to think clearly, instead of playing Brad’s dutiful fiancée or doing my best to tolerate Sophie, when she was nothing but a downright spoiled brat who knew how to play both her parents to get what she wanted. I was tired of feigning excitement whenever my mother would bring up wedding plans. And most of all, I was hoping the old saying was true, and absence did make the heart grow fonder for the man who’d placed the beautiful diamond on my finger.

Brad and I had been together for three years. He was handsome, successful and at the time treated me like a princess. Even Sophie was great, in the beginning. We’d do girly things like get our nails and hair done together, spend our Saturday afternoons lunching and shopping. It was a lot of fun, until Brad and I had gotten engaged six months ago and Sophie had morphed into a little spoiled brat almost overnight. I tried dismissing it because of her age and her hormones that were coming into play, but the more I tried to make excuses for her behavior the more unbearable she was becoming. So much so, that I did my best to avoid her and Brad whenever it was his weekend or nights with her.

Then there was the added pressure Brad was putting on me to get married. I wanted to wait another year, but he insisted we get married before the end of the year. So here I was embarking on this new business venture while trying to plan a wedding within the next two and a half months. I didn’t understand what the big rush was, but he’d claim he wasn’t getting any younger and didn’t want to waste any more time. He was eleven years older than me, but I hardly thought thirty-nine was old by any means. People got married much older than that these days. I hated being pressured about anything, especially about something as important as this, and if I was being honest with myself, his persistence was only driving me farther away.

God, I had a lot to think about in the next few weeks. I grabbed my phone from my purse to call my best friend, Amelia, silently laughing to myself when I saw the text from her. I swear, the two of us sometimes had ESP.

Amelia: Well?

Me: It’s all mine!

Amelia: Congrats! I have to be in Dallas for my big presentation this week, but as soon as I get back, I’ll take a drive down to help you get things together. Love you!

Me: Sounds good! Good luck and have a safe trip! Love you too!

How I wished my parents and Brad could have been that supportive with this new venture instead of making me feel like a fool for wanting to go after my dreams. I mentally prepared myself for the phone call that was about to come, hoping it wouldn’t end in an argument—the same way most of our calls would end as of late.

“Hey there, beautiful girl,” Brad answered the phone.

“Hey! I did it. The house is all mine.” My stomach clenched over the long pause.

“Well, I don’t know if I should congratulate you or send my condolences.” Now it was me who was silent. “You really went through with it?”

“Umm...of course I went through with it. Why would you think I wouldn’t?”

“Because I don’t understand how you think you’re going to run a business when you’re two hours away from said business.”

“Brad, do we really have to go over this again? I told you before, I plan to only keep it open for the summer season. So, I’ll stay down here for the summer and spend the rest of the year at home. Then after I get established, I’ll see if I could hire someone to run the place, so I don’t have to be here as often.”

“I don’t want a fuckin’ part-time wife, Jenna,” he scoffed.

Well, how about if you don’t have any wife at all, asshole? I bit my lip, holding back the words, and tried my best to diffuse the situation. “Brad, come on. It will be a lot of fun. You can come down every weekend and—”

“Just drop it. I don’t want to discuss this now. I’ve got too many other things going on to worry about this nonsense.”

Okay, suddenly our future living arrangements is nonsense? But if it avoids a fight for the moment then I’m perfectly game to drop the subject.

“Wednesday night I’m going to need you to watch Sophie. Laura is going to be away, and I have an important benefit to attend.”

I loved how he just demanded that I clear my schedule to watch his daughter while he went out and hobnobbed with his colleagues, and his ex-wife was off doing God knows what. Ever since she started dating this new guy it seemed as if Sophie was always at Brad’s. The old Jenna would drop whatever she was doing to appease him and his requests, but I wasn’t that same girl who’d once been so smitten with him. Not to mention, Sophie would be thirteen in a few months. I was fairly certain she could handle being alone for a few hours.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t. Remember I told you I need to be down here for the next few weeks while the work gets started?” Of course he didn’t remember. He never paid attention when I spoke.

“Jenna, you can’t be serious. There’s no way I can miss this event on Wednesday.”

“Well, unless you drive Sophie to me, there’s no way I could watch her for you.” What the hell was I thinking? Sophie and I crammed into a tiny room together for a night? We had a hard-enough time in Brad’s mini-mansion.

“You know she has school! Jenna, you’re being totally unreasonable.”

“How am I being unreasonable? We talked about this several times, and I told you I needed to be down here for the first few weeks. It’s not my fault that you never listen to me.”

“Jenna, we need to have a serious talk when you get back. If we’re going to be married, you’re not going to be able to come and go as you please…”

Red flashed in front of my face. “Excuse me? Do you think you own me now because I’m engaged to be married to you? That’s not who I am, Brad. You knew that going in. I don’t answer to anyone! You act as if I’m here on vacation. I know this whole thing seems like a waste of time to you, but it means something to me, and I wish for once…” My voice cracked with emotion, but I managed to pull it together quickly. I was tired of letting him know he got the best of me. “I just wish for once you could support me.”

“Jenna, come on. You know I support you.” His demeanor softened. “It’s just…this isn’t your specialty. You’re an editor and a damn good one. With the property values being what they are, you could have made a killing if you’d just sold it. Plus, you don’t know the first thing about running a B and B.”

“Well, I want to learn. Don’t you see, Brad? This has always been a dream of mine. A dream I thought would never become a reality. Please just bear with me until I get all the kinks worked out. I promise this will be a benefit to both of us and our future. This is something we’ll be able to pass down to our kids and generations to come.”

He let out an exhausted breath. “Fine, Jenna, I’ll support you through this, but don’t say I didn’t warn you when it starts turning into the money pit.”

“Thanks,” I whispered. “I promise to make it up to you when I get back.”

“Damn straight you will,” he joked. “You’ll be my personal chef for a week straight.” We both chuckled. The way to Brad’s heart was definitely through my cooking.

“I’ll call you later.”

“Sounds good.”

And then there was silence. The screen on my phone read: call ended. No “I love you,” not even a “goodbye”…and that’s how I knew he wasn’t over by any means.