Page 96 of The Promise Of Rain

I held out my hand.“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lynn.”Drawing Jenny up beside me, I smiled.“This is Jenny, my, well, my everything.”

Lynn smiled at Jenny and shook her hand while Adam laughed far too loudly.“You always were a total sucker for a pretty face.”

Jenny stiffened beside me, her spine going ramrod straight as she drew back, edging behind me.

I tipped my chin down only to see her shrink into herself.

I turned back to Adam, my eyes narrowed, just in time to catch the look on his face as his eyes wandered over Jenny’s figure.

I cleared my throat.

His eyes darted to mine and he grinned sheepishly.

I didn’t smile back.

Turning to his wife, I said, “Once again, Lynn, it was a pleasure to meet you.Your girls are lovely.They look just like you.”

She smiled, her face brightening for just a moment before shutting down once more.

As for Jenny, she kept her head down, barely waving bye to Lynn as I guided her away with my hand at the small of her back, the bulk of my body shielding hers.

“Can I please have my coat?”she murmured.

I took it from over my arm and held it out for her before turning her around and cupping her sweet face.

Beautiful.

And broken.

But weren’t we all?

“Are you okay?”

She nodded but didn’t speak.

I held her face in my hands, but she held my heart in hers.

She dropped her eyes and stepped back before spinning around and heading for the doors.Crossing her arms over her chest, she bent her head into the wind and marched to the truck with me on her heels.

It wasn’t until we got inside and closed the doors against the wind that she asked, “Did you see the way he looked at me?”

I grimaced as I started the truck.“He was always a bit of a douche.”

“He makes me uncomfortable,” she admitted quietly, then her voice hardened.“I don’t like him at all.”

“I can see why,” I replied, adjusting the heat.“I don’t care for the way he looked at you or the way he treated his wife.”

“Why were you friends for so long?”she demanded as I pulled out onto the road.

I shrugged as I pulled out onto the road.“You grow up with someone, and you don’t realize you’ve outgrown each other.We’ve always been in the same circle—”

“Well, it’s a shitty circle,” she snapped.

I took a breath.“Did he give you a hard time when I left?”

She turned to face the window.“It was a long time ago.It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“It matters,” I growled.“It all matters.It mattered then and it matters now.I won’t have you disrespected.”