Текст книги "Lovely Distraction"

Автор книги: J. J. Dorn

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Текущая страница: 8 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

February 14, 2010…

Things were different now. If I was honest it started once we arrived home from Aspen. Jamieson had grown more and more distant. He still had wanted to see me though. I had talked myself into believing it was just the stress of work. I had tried several times to get him to confide in me about the struggles he was having with work, but he had refused. I knew since his father had died and he took over at the whiskey distillery things had been tough for him. I got the distinct impression that the Wellington whiskey fortune was in great jeopardy but I didn’t know how to help Jamieson if he wouldn’t confide in me. To make matters worse, I was stressed as well. I was interning at a local criminal defense firm trying to prepare for law school. The firm was beginning to try a capital murder case any day so I was working long hours bringing the attorneys endless amounts of coffee and typing up pleadings late into the night.

That is why I was looking forward to Valentine’s Day so much. After what happened between us the week before, I needed to see him. I needed to be reassured that things were okay between us. Jamieson and I had made plans during the week to celebrate Valentine’s Day together. He said he was going to make dinner for me and we were going to watch a movie at home. A cozy night at home with him sounded more than perfect to me.

I got to Jamieson’s house later than I expected that evening. I thought he would probably be waiting on me and I hoped he wouldn’t be disappointed with my tardiness. When I pulled up to Jamieson’s house it was dark. I used the keypad on the garage to enter the house like I normally did. When I got in the house I went toward the kitchen expecting to find Jamieson, but to my surprise he wasn’t there. The stove was off and there was no sign of him. I walked down the long hallway to see if anybody was home but it was quiet. The guys must have all had plans. I headed upstairs to see if maybe he was in his office or in the bedroom.

I called out as I reached the top stairs but no one was home. I entered the large bedroom not sure I was looking for but something instinctively told me to look on the bed. My intuition had been right. On the bed was a note from Jamieson.

Jenna,

I had to go to New York last minute.

I’m sorry to have to cancel. I’ll call you when I get in.

Jamieson

I sat down on the edge of the bed crumpling the note in my hand and began to cry. It was glaringly obvious now that things had deteriorated farther than what I had allowed myself to believe. It was clear now how bad things had gotten. We were in trouble and I was scared. I loved this man. I didn’t want to lose him but something deep down whispered that I was perhaps holding onto something that had already escaped me.

I cried for a long time in Jamieson’s room alone, until I finally regained my strength and left. When I went to my apartment it was cold and lonely. I immediately drew a warm bath and soaked my tired body, hoping it would bring me some relief.

I watched T.V. for a few hours checking my phone like a crazy person but there was no reason to, Jamieson did not call or text.

I fell asleep on my couch and was awakened by my cell phone first thing in the morning. I immediately lunged for my phone hoping it was Jamieson, but it was my sister. I had forgotten I had volunteered to help teach lessons to some of the novice riders this morning. Thank goodness she called to remind me.

I showered and threw on a pair of breaches, my navy quilted jacket and my leather hunt boots. I made it to the barn in record time. Jacks’ barn was about twenty minutes outside of the city but depending on traffic it could take forty minutes. When I pulled up I saw Jacks bundled in her warm coat walking down the row of stalls checking each horse.

“What are you doing here, crazy? You just gave birth two weeks ago. Shouldn’t you be at home?”

“I just wanted to check them. I haven’t been to the barn since I had Libby.” She said still checking the row of horses.

“How is my gorgeous niece? I didn’t get to see her yesterday.” I asked zipping up my quilted jacket and following Jacks down the aisle of the barn.

“She is wonderful. She is such an easy baby so far. She sleeps through the night almost every night and Lukas is amazing with her.” Jacks glowed as she talked about her new daughter. She had gone into labor late at night. She called me completely calm letting me know it was time. I of course was a crazy person running around my house making sure I had everything to go to the hospital. Jacks had told me she wanted me to be in the room when she gave birth, I tried to politely decline but she was having none of that, she insisted I be in there. I can’t exactly say I was glad to have witnessed it all, it is my firm belief that women who haven’t given birth should not be in that room. But I was glad to be the first person to hold my gorgeous niece after her parents had their turns. It was magical seeing her and it made me realize I wanted what my sister had. The question was, did Jamieson want that same thing.

“What’s wrong, Jens?” Jacks said looking up from her inspection of the horses, and immediately fixated on me.

“Nothing.” I walked past her toward the tack room.

“You can’t lie to me, I’m your sister. Now tell me what is wrong.” She stormed after me.

“It’s nothing, I just was let down is all.” I tried to give her a half truth in an attempt to satisfy her curiosity.

“What did he do?” Jacks demanded.

“He didn’t do anything,” I told her as I pulled a saddle out from the rack on the wall.

“Damn it Jenna, just tell me!” Jacks pushed past me blocking my way out of the tack room.

I sighed in defeat knowing I was about to spill my guts to her. “We were supposed to have a relaxing intimate dinner at his house for Valentine’s Day, but when I got there I found an empty house and a note saying he had to travel to New York for business. I spent most of the night crying and checking my phone incessantly, but he hasn’t called.”

“Oh Jens, I’m sorry,” Jacks wrapped her arms around me and I felt a loan tear slide down my cheek.

“I think I’m losing him,” I squeaked out.

“Jenna, I warned you about the Wellingtons. I was worried this would happen but I had hoped that Jamieson was different from his brother. But it seems they are both cut from the same cloth.”

“I don’t think he’s like Ethan. I think he is just extremely stressed out with the business. I know it has been struggling since his father passed away.” I don’t know why I felt the need to defend him but what Jacks said irritated me. Jamieson was nothing like Ethan. He was good. Wasn’t he?

“Maybe he's not, but he certainly is acting like his brother,” Jacks lifted one eyebrow indicating she was totally skeptical.

“We just need some time to ourselves to get back on track, that’s all,” I said out loud trying my best to convince myself as well as Jacks. She stepped aside and let me leave the tack room to saddle my first horse of the day.

Riding had always helped to clear my head and made me feel better. There was something therapeutic about climbing aboard a thousand pound animal and jumping it over fences so high it made you feel like you were flying. After a full day of riding and teaching lessons I put my last horse away feeling better about life. I grabbed my keys and jacket from the tack room on the way out of the barn. I had been so busy I had not checked my phone all day. I realized this as I got in my car to head home. I was shocked to find a lone text message from Jamieson. He told me he would get in late and would see me sometime later in the week. It was not the exactly the apologetic text message I had hoped for, instead it was rather cold and impersonal.

As I drove home I began to rack my brain as to why Jamieson would be acting this way. I wondered if perhaps it was my confession from the other night in the car. That was my only idea because we hadn’t argued over anything. Then I began thinking, like most woman do in these types of situations, is it me? Is he no longer into me? To this I had no answer, although it seemed unlikely as the one area of our relationship which did seem spot on was our sex life. We couldn’t get enough of each other. Most nights we had sex until Jamieson had his fill and I was so sedated I finally passed out. But like most nights, I would wake to find an empty bed and Jamieson sleeping in his study. It wasn’t a new development in our relationship but I would have been lying had I said it didn’t bother me. It seemed as though Jamieson could never truly rest, always making work a priority.

The more I thought about it, the more I became convinced it was work that was the real issue between us. I decided the best thing to do would be to surprise him at his house. I thought perhaps I could get him to rest a little and maybe pry out of him what was bothering him at work. If only I had known what was really in store for me.

It was just past midnight when I pulled up to the house. Every light in the place looked as though it was on and several cars were parked in the driveway. Julian and Derrick were most likely throwing themselves a little party. I opened the front door and caught sight of a very shirtless Derrick chasing after a half-naked leggy blonde.

“Hey J!” He waved as he finagled the girl into his room shutting the door.

I continued down the hall toward the kitchen to find several people, most of whom I didn’t know drinking and laughing. I continued through the house in search of Jamieson but only found Julian. He was in his favorite reclining chair playing Grand Theft Auto with a very naked girl on his lap. What the fuck?

“Jenna!” He yelled when he spotted me.

“Hey Julian. Is Jamieson home?” I asked pissed. What was he doing? I thought he was into Olivia?

I turned red just watching the dark haired girl that was naked on Julian’s lap. She however, couldn’t have cared less that I was in the room. Where in the hell did they find these tramps?

“Yeah, he has been here a while. Was in the kitchen doing shots with us but I don’t know where he is now. Check his room, he probably is tired from his flight and the ridiculous amounts of whiskey he just downed.”

I spun around on my heels and stormed off up the stairs. I was livid. The fact that he had come home and decided to get piss-assed drunk, not even bothering to call me was too much. I was raging. I was going to give him a piece of my mind.

The grand double doors to his bedroom were closed so I flung them open hoping to startle him awake. Unfortunately for me it was me who was awakened, and it was to a cold harsh reality no one would even wish on their worst enemy.

Jamieson was indeed in his bed, but he was not alone or asleep. In horror I watched as two women turned their heads in utter shock to look at me. I gasped holding my throat as if I was unable to get air. I tried to speak, I tried to scream but nothing came out.

Jamieson broke the silence. “Jenna, what the fuck are you doing here?”

And just like that my heart shattered into a trillion tiny pieces as I realized the man I had given my heart to was a complete and total liar.

I backed out of the door and ran down the stairs two at a time. Looking back now, I don’t know why I was running. There was no reason to run, he wasn’t coming after me. The chase was over. He was the hunter, I was the hunted and this had been his kill.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“I’m going to tell you everything, Jenna. I know I can’t right the wrongs I have committed but I do hope it may shed some light on what happened back then.”

I nodded my head indicating I understood he was about to reveal some hard truths. I clutched my knees and settled deep into the couch readying myself for what was to come.

Jamieson leaned forward on the edge of the couch, almost in defeat. “The night you found me…No, wait I need to start back further.” I watched him readjust himself on the couch nervously before he started again. “When my father died, two years before we met, it was sudden. I had been working for the company but I was not privy to all the financial information. I was young and naive. Partying and having fun was my primary focus in life not the company, I let my dad and Uncle Phillip shoulder that burden. But when he died from a heart attack everything changed. In his will, I was named as his successor. I was ill prepared for the role I was stepping into. I quickly learned the company was in real trouble. Dad had leveraged basically the entire company to put in the new distillery. We were over extended and in dire trouble. I tried for two years to get loans from banks to help cover all of our costs but not one would lend to us. I was just about to start selling off assets and laying off employees when Uncle Phillip presented me with another option.”

He swallowed hard giving himself a moment to catch his breath. I was more confused than ever. I had always known there were problems with the company and he was working himself ragged back then but he refused to confide in me. I was glad to finally know what pressure he was truly under but what did any of this have to do with me?

I rubbed my temples at an attempt to ease my boggled mind. “Jamieson, I appreciate you telling me this but I still don’t see how any of this forced you to cheat on me.”

He let out a deep sigh and started again. “I’m getting to that just bear with me. So Uncle Phillip presented me with another option, one I had not thought of but knew it would save the company. It was perfect, in theory. The only problem was I had met you.” He said fixating his blue eyes on mine. “When I met you it changed everything. I became infatuated with you quickly, but you already know that. I couldn’t get enough of you. I wanted to spend every waking moment with you, day and night. I was obsessed. I had never experienced anything like that in my entire life. You changed me, Jenna and because of that I couldn’t go through with the plan, or so I thought.”

“For a few months, the company limped along and we scrapped by but right before we went to Aspen to celebrate Christmas, I had a meeting with the board. They informed me we had less than a year to continue to operate before we would have to declare bankruptcy. I was out of options. I had called in every last favor, borrowing money from everyone I could possibly think of and then some. Uncle Phillip of course knew all of this and was getting increasingly frustrated with my refusal to go along with the plan. He kept berating me and telling me I was just distracted by you. In Aspen, it all came to a head and Phillip forced my hand.” Jamieson paused again rubbing the back of his head and staring at the ground.

“Jamieson, I still don’t understand. What does this have to do with me?”

“It has everything to do with you because the plan was for me to marry Lars and Violet’s daughter, Trinity.”

I gasped. “What?”

Jamieson was quiet for a long few minutes before he started his twisted tale again. “Lars and Violet own a chain of restaurants and bars all through Europe. Their brand is a powerhouse and a merger of our whisky brand with their businesses would have breathed new life into Wellington Whiskey. Trinity is their only child. On her thirtieth birthday, she was to inherit almost half of the company’s stock. One day she will inherit it all but even just half of the company’s stock would have been enough leverage for my company. It would have been the ultimate merger of sorts.”

“So you were going to marry her just to get her family’s fortune? That is despicable, Jamieson, even for you.”

He winced at my words but continued on. “I couldn’t go through with it. I tried of course, but I couldn’t. I knew in Aspen it was the company’s last hope so I had to at least try, so I did. I decided I was going to end things between us but it was so hard. I couldn’t do it. I tried to distance myself from you slowly but that wasn’t working. Every time I was around you, I was consumed. I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t pull the trigger and end us. When Uncle Phillip called me to a meeting in New York on Valentine’s Day, I knew it was his way of trying to put a wedge between us and I let him. I spent a few days in New York planning what I needed to do next before I flew home.”

I hopped up from the couch and began to pace. I was beginning to seethe. “When you say plan things you mean, figure out which two hookers you were going to screw and then let me walk in on it, right?”

“Not exactly, no. I was making plans for my move to London. I knew I would need to relocate to where Trinity was so I could begin a relationship with her.”

“I don’t think I can hear any more of this. You make me fucking sick, you know that?” He didn’t flinch this time at my harsh words.

“I know that. I make myself sick thinking of the things I did. But please just let me finish you need to hear the entire story.”

“Fine, but I have a question first.” I told him and crossed my arms over my chest settling down on the couch.

“What is it Jenna?” He asked in barely a whisper holding his head in his hands.

His face revealed the pain he was carrying around and I softened slightly. “Why did you have to cheat on me? Why didn’t you just tell me you wanted to end things? Why did you have to cut me so deeply?” It was an honest question. It made no sense to me that he couldn’t have just ended things and walked away.

“There was no way I could have sat you down and lied to you like that. You would have seen right through my lies. You would have seen how heartbroken I was. I convinced myself on the plane ride home I had to show you I wasn’t worth loving. I also knew it would be a clean break for you. You would believe I was a cheater and you would end up hating me. I knew it would hurt you but I also knew it would give you a chance to move on. There would be no loose ends. I hadn’t planned the party at the house though. That was just a perfectly timed coincidence. So I texted you trying to blow you off and I knew you would show up. And I was right.”

“You killed me that day, Jamieson. A part of me broke so hard I don’t think it will ever be right again. You are such a coward. I hope it was all worth it,” I said shaking my head in disbelief.

“It wasn’t,” he said immediately. “I made the worst decision based upon fear and desperation. Nothing good can come out of such circumstances. You said earlier today was the worst day of your life. Well for me the worst day of my life was the night I betrayed you. It will always haunt me Jenna.”

I let Jamieson’s words absorb into my skin like fresh steam in the shower, but they did little to heal the pain that was still bubbling at the surface. “So what happened? You obviously didn’t marry Trinity otherwise she wouldn’t be busting down my door to stake her claim.”

“No, I didn’t marry Trinity,” he huffed out and readjusted on the couch. I could tell what he was about to tell me was going to be equally as bad. “I did move to London. It was about a week after I came home from New York. I went there for the sole purpose of pursuing Trinity and convincing her to marry me. I knew it wasn’t going to be a quick process but one that took months and maybe years. I committed myself to do whatever I needed to do in order to save the company. Trinity’s thirtieth birthday was over a year away so I had some time to work on it if I needed. I should have known better though. I have known Trinity her entire life. Our families have always been friends and so we practically grew up together. It was natural for me to reach out to her when I got to London in search of a friendly face. Trinity was excited to have me around and we began spending a lot of time together. We quickly started dating and I thought the plan was working perfectly.”

Jamieson paused for a half a second and I jumped in.

“I don’t get it…why didn’t you keep dating Trinity and just marry her? She seems to think you two are still together even though you adamantly deny it.”

“I know you don’t understand but Jenna, just please let me finish,” he pleaded.

I nodded indicating I would shut-up and let him continue.

“Everything was going according to plan. We had been dating for almost a year and Trinity’s birthday was just around the corner. I was planning on proposing soon. I went to see Lars to ask for his blessing and that’s where things took a drastic turn. It was the middle of the afternoon on a weekend and I knew Lars usually was home at his grand estate in the Northampton. When I got there though he wasn’t home, but Violet was. She told me Lars was out golfing and would be home soon so I decided to wait not wanting to make the drive out to Northampton twice. I should have seen it coming, Violet was like a second mother to me. I should have known she would have seen through my bullshit.”

He shook his head almost like he was trying to get loose of his past indiscretions but they were clearly catching up with him. He breathed deep and continued.

“She confronted me while we had tea in the kitchen. She told me she knew I wasn’t in love with her daughter and that I never would be. I was at a total loss. I tried to convince her she was wrong but finally after going round and round with her I caved and admitted the truth. It was odd but she didn’t seem surprised. She told me that Lars and she had suspected what my true motives were. It seems they both were aware of what a desperate situation Wellington Whiskey was in and they knew I was willing to do anything to save the legacy my father had built.”

“What the hell? Why was Violet so understanding? I would have given you a piece of my mind and then kicked you out of my house for the shameful way you treated my daughter.”

“I think most people would have, but Lars and Violet are thankfully not most people, they are special. Lars arrived at home during my confession to Violet and he joined us listening to my disgraceful behavior. He was disappointed and upset for what I had done but said he could understand why I did it. It was cathartic finally coming clean about what my real motives were and all of the struggles with the company. As I was telling them everything I knew I was likely going to lose everything and I was slowly accepting that. But what Lars and Violet did next thoroughly shocked me.”

“What did they do?” I asked engrossed in the twisted tale he was spinning before me.

I couldn’t imagine it getting any crazier, but boy was I wrong.