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“It’d be hard to find a nicer place than yours,” Jenny said.
“True,” I said as the elevator doors opened on my spectacular space. I did love the Liberty. “Maybe we don’t need to get you a South End condo. Maybe you can just stay here with me.”
I had intended to buy Jenny a place of her own, but now that we were home, it seemed nuts that she would be anywhere other than right by my side. All the time. Every day. Every night. Inourhome.
“Because really…” I scratched my head. “Why do we need two places?”
We looked at each other. Jenny opened her mouth and then closed it. I was about to say something—being me, I had no idea what—when my phone buzzed with a call from Shirley. “It’s Shirley, I should take this. She’ll be upset by seeing Celia Preston in the news.”
Jenny nodded, heading into the bedroom to change out of her travel clothes.
“Mr. Bryson? Oh, Mr. Bryson, I’m so glad you picked up! I was so worried when I saw the news just now?—”
“We’re fine, Shirley,” I assured her. “Jenny and I just got back to the Liberty.”
“Did your father call you?” she asked.
“Not yet,” I sighed. “But I had a few messages from Kevin while I was away. What’s up? Did my father callyou?”
“Yes, and he said some terrible things.” To my horror, she sniffled, and I realized Shirley was crying. “He made some accusations about J-Jenny that were just awful. And he tried to force me to tell him what I knew about you two. Mike was so upset, he said I should quit?—”
“Sorry, who’s Mike?” I interrupted. I felt a dull headache coming on.
“My husband, Michael. You’ve met him, silly! Anyway, he said that I should quit because your father threatened me. And then I couldn’t stop crying, but I said no way, not when Mr. Bryson finally met a nice girl!” She paused to blow her nose. “But that’s the thing, your father was making up all sorts of lies aboutJenny, things that were really unkind. And then he said he’d go after me if I didn’t cooperate. So I told him where to go!”
She blew her nose again. “I didn’t want to bother you when you were on your nice vacation, but I wanted to tell you as soon as you got back. I don’t know what he’s up to, but I know it’s not good.”
“Thank you, Shirley. I’m sorry you had to go through that. Take the rest of the week off, okay? You need a break. I’ll be fine.”
“Is Jenny with you? Is she okay?”
I was touched that Shirley already cared so much about my girlfriend. “Yes, she is. And don’t worry about my father. I’m handling it, okay? I’m sorry he harassed you—I won’t let that happen again.”
We hung up, and I paced for a moment. My fucking father was a lunatic. He might not be Celia-Preston-level bad, but he was still an absolute ass. I needed to deal with him, but I had to gather my thoughts first. I couldn’t believe he’d called my assistant and harassed her like that. It made me certain that the investigator sniffing around the Liberty had been hired by him, too. Part of me wanted to call him right then and there and have it out with him. But my father was shrewd, and he was always prepared. Going at him when I was off-balance and erratic wasn’t in my best interest. I needed to be calm, rested, and clear-thinking when I approached him.
There was nothing I could do tonight. Resigned, I headed for the bedroom. I found Jenny in one of my T-shirts; she’d quickly changed and was unpacking. “I have someone who can do that, you know.”
She looked confused. “Unpack? I think I can handle it.”
“I just talked to Shirley,” I sighed. I wanted to tell Jenny about my father, but I didn’t want to make her upset. So instead, I asked, “Did you know she was married?”
“Yeah, of course. She and Michael have been together for fifteen years. They met later in life. She said he’s a real good guy.” Jenny nodded.
I shook my head. “I’m an ass, you know that?”
She laughed. “No Cole, I didn’t. Watcha mean?”
“I mean, I didn’t even remember that my assistant was married. Shirley’s worked for me forever. She said I’ve met him—I’m sure I have.” I shrugged. “But when I think about Shirley, I’m never really thinking about Shirley. I’m thinking aboutme. What she can do for me, what she needs to do for me, etc.”
Jenny nodded. “Like I said, buy her a gift.”
“I told her to take the week off,” I said semi-defensively.
“Ooh, even better. Send her and Michael on a cruise! They love cruises.”
I watched as she separated out my clean tees from my dirty ones, put my clothes neatly back into the correct drawers, closed up the suitcase, and put it away. “How do you know that they like cruises?” I asked.
“Shirley and I were talking about vacations,” she said as she unpacked the next suitcase. “She said she and Mike like to go cruising because it’s real relaxing. You don’t have to go anywhere because you’re already somewhere, you know?”