Jack & Jilted (23 page)

“No,” Jack said, growing more uncomfortable.

“It took me a while to get married the first time,” Roy reminisced, and Jack sat down, feeling as if he wouldn’t be able to escape unless he rode out this guy’s story. “I didn’t want to settle down, you know? Thought I’d be trapped. And, believe me, with most of the women I used to date, I would’ve been.”

He laughed, not caring that Jack did not join in.

“Then I figured I was getting older, I should probably get my act together, start a family. Do the right thing. So I married a nice girl.” He shook his head. “Big mistake. We both were getting married because we wanted marriage, not necessarily each other. She grew more pushy and I grew more distant. Thankfully we didn’t have any kids. Still, it was a train wreck. We got divorced about three years later.”

“That’s too bad,” Jack said, and he did mean it. Roy seemed like a nice enough guy.

“The worst part about it was I thought all women were going to be like that. I thought marriage had to be like that,” he said, shaking his head as if surprised by his own stupidity. “Then I met Martha. She wasn’t like anybody else I’d ever met in my life.”

That’s how I felt about Chloe.

Jack grimaced, forcing the thought from his head. That had ended as Roy had said, a train wreck. It was obviously different.

“She just…” Roy’s smile was like sunshine after a storm. “I felt comfortable when I was with her. Hell, I was happy when I was with her…and unhappy when I wasn’t. She seemed to know me inside and out. She made my life sing.” He laughed again. “That sounds completely corny, but it’s true.”

“Wow,” Jack said, trying not to be sour. “You’re a lucky man.”

“Almost biffed it, too,” Roy said. “I assumed we’re both in our sixties so we’ve got nothing to prove to anybody, right? I’d done the marriage thing and it hadn’t gone well. So this time I had the right girl and I wasn’t going to…well, rock the boat, if you’ll pardon the expression.”

Jack’s eyes narrowed. “Did one of my crew say anything to you?”

Roy paused, then started laughing. “Aha. Thought so. You had that look about you.”

“What look?”

“The I’m-in-love-and-I-messed-it-up look,” Roy said, laughing some more. “Which would explain why you’ve been glowering at me since I got on board.”

Jack was torn between feeling offended and feeling aghast. “I didn’t realize,” he said lamely. “I mean…of course you and your wife are welcome on the ship….”

“Like I said, you remind me of me when I was younger. And dumber,” Roy said, obviously not caring if he offended or not. Jack couldn’t help reluctantly admiring the guy for being so forthright. “So, like I was saying, I wasn’t going to marry Martha. Then one day we’re out in the marina—’cause she loves boats, remember? We’re having lunch at this nice restaurant. And she sees this couple getting married and she gets all weepy and emotional. Well, I don’t like seeing her upset, so I ask her what’s up.”

Jack nodded, now completely drawn into the story.

Roy folded his hands behind his head. “She says that there’s nothing more beautiful than two people who get married—who are completely devoted to each other. And there’s this catch in her voice. So I try to joke it off by saying it’s a whole lot of expense and nonsense for something that should already be there. And she turns to me—and I will never forget this to the day I die—and she says, Roy, it’s more than that. It’s not about the flowers or the dress or any of that. It’s showing that you’re willing to say to the whole world, officially, that you’re going to make a go of it. That you’re with each other to the end.” Roy cleared his throat, obviously moved by the statement. “Well, in that moment I realized that I was willing to say that. That she needed—no, she deserved—to hear me say that to her and the whole damned world. So I asked her to marry me.”

Jack didn’t say anything. He frowned, thoughtful.

“And I took her on a cruise,” he said, “because now that I’m in all the way, I know that she makes me happier than I’ve ever been in my life, every day of my life. If I can make her feel even a little bit the way she makes me feel, then I’m not a sorry son of a bitch just along for the ride.”

“Now I know you’ve talked to my crew,” Jack protested, then recalled that he hadn’t even gone over the details of why Chloe had left with either Jose or Ace. “Damn it.”

Roy shrugged. “Maybe she wasn’t the right girl for you, whoever she was,” he said with elaborate casualness. “You might’ve been totally on the mark and you’re just riding it out. Maybe I’m simply a buttinsky in love for the first time in his life.”

“Maybe,” Jack agreed, and Roy chuckled. The guy was more cheerful than Santa Claus.

“But I know that if I met Martha earlier in my life and walked away…” He shook his head. “I’d want somebody like me telling me I screwed up.”

Roy stood, still grinning, then clapped Jack on the shoulder and headed belowdecks.

Jack sat there for a minute, contemplative.

She hadn’t asked for the moon. She had just wanted to be more of his life. And he hadn’t wanted to compromise an inch. He’d said he was in love with her, but he wanted to give what he felt he could give, and take what she had to offer.

She was right. He had been like Gerald.

He felt overcome with remorse. He’d been so intent on living his life on his own terms and never buckling to other people’s demands and schedules that he’d practically run his business into the ground and driven off the one woman who made him happy.

He needed to fix this, he thought frantically. But what was he going to do? Strand his passengers? And there was still the partnership thing to work out. Just telling her he’d changed would not make a difference. He needed to show her that he was willing to be flexible in his life. And he couldn’t keep living his life the way he had been.

He went to his cabin, and for the first time, he got out a notebook, one of the blank spiral-bounds she’d left behind.

On the top of the sheet he wrote the word: Plan.

Then he charted out what he was going to do next, step by step, right up to the point where he figured he would get Chloe back.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE IT,” Chloe’s mother said, leaning back in her chair at the kitchen table. “You dumped iced tea all over him?”

“Yup,” Chloe said, feeling vindicated, if still a little sad.

“And he paid you for the wedding, as well?” her father asked.

Chloe nodded. “I’m right back where I was.”

Her mother made a dismissive sound. “That…that man should’ve paid you interest. Or, better, his mother should have paid you!”

“I’m just glad the whole thing’s finally done. I know it’s cliché, but I feel like I finally got closure,” Chloe said, swirling what was left of her coffee around in her mug.

“There is that,” her father agreed.

“So have you decided what you’re going to do next?” her mother probed gently, quickly adding, “You realize, of course, that you’re welcome to stay here as long as you like.”

“I’m still thinking about it,” Chloe said evasively.

The truth was, since she’d stepped off the deck of the Rascal, nothing had sounded good to her and all her previous motivation seemed to have been sapped right out of her. She’d tried drawing up a plan but couldn’t manage it. She’d kicked around the idea of working on another boat—maybe even buying a boat. But Jack was right about the fact that she didn’t know anything about steering a boat or maintaining one. She had fallen in love with the lifestyle, but she had a long way to go before gaining the necessary experience to actually be a ship’s captain. Besides, the fun part had been being a part of the crew. She liked booking passengers and promoting the cruises. She liked marketing. She didn’t have any real interest in the inner workings of a bilge pump. So that idea had reached a dead end.

The idea of being a secretary again hadn’t been very enticing, either. She’d applied for a few jobs in marketing, even one for a cruise line, but she hadn’t had enough experience.

For someone as determined, optimistic and problem-solving as Chloe, the situation was shockingly bleak. And she couldn’t seem to muster her usual energy to get herself back into the fray.

“It’s that boat business, isn’t it?” her father asked, his normally booming voice subdued.

She was surprised it was that obvious. Then, seeing her mother’s look of compassion and her father’s look of bushy-browed concern, she nodded.

“You could always get another job on a boat, if that’s what you really wanted,” her mother said with a note of hesitation. Chloe knew it was a huge concession for her—she didn’t see it having any future, it was dangerous and it was highly unstable. But it cheered Chloe that her mother was so intent on seeing her happy.

“I thought about that,” Chloe said. “But…I guess it’s hard to explain. Working on the Rascal was the closest thing I’ve found to perfect.”

“You enjoyed working at the architectural firm,” her father noted.

“I did,” she admitted. “But it was like all my hard work was going toward nothing. I never saw the results. I never saw people happy at the end product. It was always a matter of keeping Gerald out of hot water and keeping the place running. On the ship…” She smiled, thinking of it. “Seeing happy couples thanking me for their food or getting to be out on the ocean, knowing that every charter I booked meant another day I could be out at sea, in the sunshine, on the waves…”

She sighed.

Being with Jack, she added mentally. Spending every day with a guy who made her grin or taught her something and spending every night with a man who made her feel like the most precious, desirable thing in existence.

But, of course, she couldn’t say that.

“So why did you leave?” her father asked, hunkering down. She could almost see his hands itching for pen and paper.

“It’s complicated,” Chloe deflected. “I don’t want to get into it.”

“Well, we’re going to get into it,” her mother said, surprising her with her insistence. “Because you’ve been wandering around this house like a ghost for a week and you’re losing weight and your eyes look like your best friend died. I thought we should leave you alone, let you work it out, but it’s obvious you’re stuck. So…we’re helping you.”

“Whether I want you to or not, apparently,” Chloe said. “You know, this is why I went on the honeymoon cruise in the first place.” She winced. She hadn’t meant that to be so rude. “I mean…”

“No, you’re right,” her father said. “Our family is notorious for plunging in and trying to solve everyone’s problems. Usually everyone else’s problems,” he noted. “But you’re our daughter and we love you. You don’t have to take our advice or listen to us, but you can’t sit here and expect us to be fine seeing you like this.”

She sighed. “I understand.”

In dribs and drabs, she wound up revealing that she’d gotten involved with the captain of the Rascal, editing it carefully so it was a lot less lurid.

“So…you asked to be a partner in his ship?” her father asked, surprised.

“I know it seems a bit risky,” Chloe said quickly. “I mean, I hadn’t even done due diligence or any research, so I suppose it was rash…”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” her father said. “What I meant was, you basically told this guy who had been sole proprietor of this place that you wanted to buy in, and that was that?”

Chloe frowned. “I don’t think I put it like that….”

“And he lived there?” her mother interjected.

“So you were saying you not only wanted to own part of his business, you wanted to own part of his house,” her father summarized.

“I didn’t really put it that way….”

“After only knowing him for a month or so.” Her mother shook her head. “Oh, dear.”

“Listen, I know it sounds crazy, but I really fell in love with him,” Chloe protested. “And it started out as just business. I needed money, he needed help. We helped each other.”

“Yes, and then you wanted to take even more,” her mother pointed out.

Chloe fell silent, feeling betrayed. “I thought you’d be on my side,” she said. “After all I put up with Gerald…”

“Oh, you were right there,” her father said, his eyes growing fiery at the mere mention of her ex. “He was beyond a jerk and you let him walk over you like a welcome mat.”

“So I was trying not to do that again!” Chloe said sharply.

“I think you may have overcompensated a little,” her mother said. “He sounds like a nice man. And, yes, he was being thoughtless. Of course he wanted you to stay. You were helping him, you made him happy just the way you were. Why wouldn’t he want you to?”

“And…you don’t think that’s selfish?”

“Yes, it is,” her mother agreed. “But I also think that you were being hardheaded.”

“How?” Chloe said, then bit her tongue. That had sounded suspiciously like a whine, which reminded her of Gerald.

“You weren’t giving him any time,” she replied. “Men aren’t perfect. He was being selfish, but he had also been open to helping you when you offered. He was caring and kind, you say—you wouldn’t have fallen in love with him otherwise, would you?”

“I don’t know,” Chloe said doubtfully. “I fell in love with Gerald.”

“That wasn’t love. That was convenience,” her father said. “And you made him wait for years before you two decided to settle down. Was this captain guy just a rebound?”