“So you’re telling me there are no good people in Jericho?”
“I’m telling you there are plenty of good people in Jericho. But none of them owe me back money. The people who owe me are always the dissipaters. They’re always the people who want something for nothing. They have the means to pay, or they would have never gotten the loan. They just don’t have the will. And consider me a terrible person, but I will not sit up and feel sorry for a man who would rather feed his own desires and ego, than pay his debts. He can feed that ego. That’s fine. But not on my dime.”
Charles was speeding now. This was the sorest of sore spots for him. Jenay knew it now. It seemed like such an idyllic, postcard kind of town. And a good chunk of it probably was. Only not the chunk she was going to encounter.
She shook her head. “And I thought Boston was bad,” she said.
Charles laughed. Jenay smiled too. Although, in truth, it was hardly funny.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The Jericho Yacht and Country Club was bursting with activity. Paige Springer was there, with her group of friends, sitting at her usual table and chitchatting. She had, in fact, received a beforehand notice that Charles would be dining there, and with that woman, so she put in her reservation too.
Abigail Ridge had also reserved a table and was there with her circle of friends. And although her motive for being there tonight was the exact same as Paige’s, the outcome went far deeper. For Paige, it was all about revenge and umbrage, and making clear that nobody was going to upstage her.
For Abby, it was all about her life, and her man, and keeping that status quo static so that nobody could ever come along and rock her boat. But if this new lady panned out the way some in town were suspecting she could, her boat could not only be rocked, but walloped. She wasn’t a kid anymore. She gave up on marriage and her own life to be Charles Sinatra’s invisible woman. The woman he could always count on to be discreet. She had nothing to recommend her anymore, outside of what Charles provided for her, and nobody was going to take that away from her.
Abby saw them enter the club’s restaurant first, but she continued to eat as if they were of no interest to her.
But Paige was animated.
“That’s her,” she said to the ladies at her table. “That’s the witch.”
Charles kept his hand in the small of Jenay’s back as the waiter escorted them to his usual table. Jenay could feel eyes on her, but she would not have expected anything less. She was with one of the wealthiest and most attractive men in Jericho. People were going to talk. Women were going to be angry.
But they weren’t seated two minutes, before they were interrupted. But it wasn’t some female. It was a middle-aged businessman.
“Meet Skip Gardner, Jenay,” Charles said. “He runs our Chamber of Commerce.”
“Hello ma’am,” Skip said with a nod of his head.
“Nice to meet you, Skip,” Jenay said. She knew now to never call anybody Mr. or Ms.
“What can I do for you?” asked Charles.
“We need you to settle the issue.”
“What issue?”
“The Knights or the Curves.”
Charles smiled. “Our two high school football teams,” he explained to Jenay. “There’s always a bet going on.” He got up. “I’ll be right back. If that’s okay?”
“Go, it’s absolutely okay,” Jenay said, and pulled out her phone as he went. It was a good time to text Norm and Denise and see how they were doing. Both remained in Boston, but only Norm had found employment. Denise would have, except she supposedly fell in love. She was mainly checking up on Denise, and this new and, according to Norm, distracting love.
But as she struck key after key, she realized someone had arrived at her table. She assumed it was the waiter bringing their drink orders, so she didn’t bother to look up. But then that someone spoke.
“Who do you think you are?” she asked.
Jenay stopped texting and looked up. It was Paige.
“Excuse me?” she said.
“You don’t belong here,” Paige said. “You know it, and I know it. He belongs to us. He’s ours. You show up yesterday, you just got here, and already you’re taking over? We will not allow it. We will not be mocked that way.” Then she clenched her teeth. “Who do you think you are?”
Jenay continued to stare at her until she finally walked back to her table. It wasn’t Jenay who ran her away. Paige had seen Charles returning.
“Was she bothering you?” he asked before he sat down.
“She thought she was, but no.”
Charles sat down. “What did she want?”