Moment in Time, book 1 of the Summer House Series

Chapter Six

Copyright 2015 Lisa Mondello (All Rights Reserved)

Chapter Six

Bobby

Sigmund Freud said that there is no such thing as accidents. People do things deliberately, even if they don't have the balls to admit it. Well, he might not have said it like that, but I can't argue the truth in it. Going over to The Bluffs the other night may have been a mistake, but even though I didn't know why, I'd wanted to see Jenna. Why else would I have gotten two dinners for us to eat?

I hadn't expected her to be so unraveled when I found her. The dinners had been long forgotten when I'd seen just how broken she was. When she'd walked into the bathroom this morning, I'd been so happy to see her that I'd forgotten I was naked. The look on her face was priceless and nearly made me laugh. But then her reaction was so different than what I'd expected after the other night. Perhaps she was embarrassed. But I'd love to know if it was from her behavior the other night or at not expecting to find me naked. This time of day I'd normally take a swim in the pool. By five o'clock, guests are usually headed back into the Inn from the beach or the pool to get cleaned up for dinner. That made it the perfect time to do laps in the pool without having too many people splashing around me.

But not today. Today I am deliberately seeking out Jenna. It had taken some searching, but I finally find her as she's walking back home after her shift at the Inn. Her face is turned down as she walks, as if she's watching the white foam of the surf make lines on the wet sand as she walks barefoot along the water's edge. She's oblivious to the little boy running up the beach chasing a ball. The red ball hits her leg and bounces into the surf. Only then does she glance up and run after the ball, handing it to the little boy who clearly seems upset that his toy is now wet.

A stab of pain slices through my heart. This little boy is about the same age Wyatt would be if he'd lived. With a heavy sigh, I sprint a few yards in the sand until I come close enough to call out to Jenna.

"Hey, slow down," I say.

Jenna turns toward me and then quickly lowers her gaze. The sudden thrill I'd had at seeing her evaporates with her reaction.

"I thought we were going to talk."

"I just said that," she says, not looking up at me. She continues to walk, but now she's walking in the cold surf getting her feet full of sand. She holds her white sneakers and her socks against her chest. "Why won't you just let me slink away in private. I'm humiliated enough."

"About what?"

She stops walking and glares at me. "Don't pretend. I remember what happened the other night."

I sputter. "What happened? You got naked, ran in the water and I brought you back into the house."

Her cheeks turn red and sun-kissed. But I know it's not from the sun.

"I grabbed your crotch."

"Yes, you did that too."

"Ugh. Why are you making like this is totally normal? It isn't for me."

I stop walking and hold her by the arm to keep her from fleeing down the beach. "I know. That's why I wanted to talk to you. I want to know what upset you so much that you reacted that way."

Tears filled her eyes and glistened. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

"I can't."

The little boy who'd been upset by his wet ball is now laughing and running around them.

"Jacob!" his mother calls out. "If you bother those people with all that splashing, we're going back to the room!"